The Girls' Guide to Conquering Middle School

The Girls' Guide To Conquering Middle School *****
By Erica & Jonathan Catherman

Overview: This book is basically a guide to different topics in middle school. For example, there is one chapter about handwriting and one about gossip. They have a joke or quick pop quiz on the bottom of the page sometimes. Then they have a picture with a thumbs up and a thumbs down showing what you should do and what you shouldn't do. There are also some pages that refer a little more to public school. Like there's one that talks about riding the bus and another one about locker rooms.

Negative Elements: I does kind of talk about some of those things that start to happen in middle school like dating, boyfriends, swearing. Some of those kinds of things.

Positive Elements: It has some of those funny questions or pop quizzes at the bottom of some of the pages to make the page a little more fun. The pictures in them make it also a little more fun.

Conclusion: Depending on where you are in middle school, there might be pages that are more helpful than others. This book is pretty cool. I know about most of it, since my parents are great about helping me out with things in middle school, but some middle school girls might not. I think your middle school daughter should read this book. I gave it four stars.

Here's one of the pages from it:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DpFWbxJV4AAbsmP.jpg




By: Summer Staples, 12


I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

La La La

                                                                                                                                                *****

                                                                                       La La La: A Story of Hope

                                                            By Kate DiCamillo

                                                             Illustrated by Jamie Kim

                 

Overview: This book is a picture book, with basically with the girl saying, "La La La," and "La." Then she sleeps and it says, "zzz..." So besides those few couple words, it is just pictures. It illustrates that she's singing and no one is answering. Find out if anyone answers.

Negative Elements: None

                                                                          

 Positive Elements: It's a sweet story.

 Conclusion: I think you should read this sweet and 

                       colorful book. I gave this book five stars.                                                                                                                                                

By: Summer Staples, 12 

Raymie Nightingale

                                      *****
Raymie Nightingale
By Kate DiCamillo


Overview: Raymie Nightingale is a great story about a great friendship. Three girls start of in a baton twirling class trying to compete in Little Miss Central Florida Tire, a baton twirling competition. Raymie's father had run away with a dental hygienist, and she wanted to get her picture in the paper so her father would come back, but instead she begins to reveal a friendship with Beverly and Louisiana, the girls in her baton twirling class, they work together to accomplish many goals.


Negative Elements: An old lady dies that was Raymie's friend. The break into an animal shelter and take a dog while looking for Louisiana's cat, Archie.
Positive Elements: Raymie saves Louisiana from drowning in a pond. They have a very sweet friendship. It has a very sweet ending,too.
Conclusion: This was a very sweet and awesome book. I loved it! I really like Kate DiCamillo's books. I think this book deserves five stars.



By: Summer Staples, 12

The Courage of Sarah Noble

The Courage of Sarah Noble *****

by Alice Dalgliesh

The Courage of Sarah Noble is a book about a girl who went on a journey with her father to build a house. They met Indians. Soon they became friends. Sarah loved to play with the Indian children when the house was finished. Sarah’s dad had to go back to get the rest of the family. Sarah had to stay with the Indians in their house in until her father came back. She was very excited. They all lived in the house they built. Sarah’s mother and siblings were happy to see her and so was Sarah. I think 8 to 10 yr. olds will enjoy this book.

by Sophie, age 8

The City of Ember

The City of Ember 
*****by Jeanne Duprau 

The City of Ember is a book about Lina and Doon. They know that Ember is breaking down. So, they start looking for clues. They find a note that Lina’s little sister had in her mouth. When Lina puts together the pieces she has of the note, she shows Doon. She shows her friend Clary the note, and Clary says that the note is the instructions for the way out of Ember. While Lina is excited, Doon has been down in the pipeworks looking too for the way out of Ember. Lina showed him the note. He found a door that says it’s caved in, but it’s not. It’s the secret hideout for the mayor. He has been hiding food and lightbulbs. Because the city is underground, the citizens of Ember don’t know this. Lina and Doon find out that the huge river in the pipeworks is the way out of Ember. But the guards, who know about the room where the mayor has his hideout, put up signs and are looking for Lina and Doon. Will Lina and Doon be able to get to the pipeworks without being caught? Will they have the courage to go down the huge river? You have to read the book to find out.

I think ages 10 and up will like this book.

by Sabrina S

Master Your Money

Master Your Money *****
by Ron Blue

The sub-title of this book is "A step-by-step plan for experiencing financial contentment." That subtitle does a great job of summing up the book. The book does walk you through how to biblically handle finances in many different aspects.

The book is full of charts and worksheets to help you assess where you currently are financially and then to create a personal financial plan.

The book speaks on debt, taxes, investing, stewardship, common financial mistakes to avoid, and more.

This is a great resource to work through from front to back and then to return to as a reference.

This book was originally published thirty years ago. In this new edition, the author and his son add comments at the end of each chapter in a section called "Thirty Years of Reflection." It's interesting to read those perspectives from different generations.

I received this book for free from the publisher for an honest review.

Hidden Among the Stars

Hidden Among the Stars *****
by Melanie Dobson

Overview: The book divides itself between two time periods: 1938-39 in Austria and present day in the United States.
Present Day...Callie has just turned 30 and finds her life has become very small and comfortable as she owns a tiny bookstore with her married sister. For her birthday, she received an old book with some strange writing in it. She begins to research who this book once belonged to. She finds herself being pulled out of her comfort zone and into an tragic Holocaust story.
1938...Annika is a girl in Austria at the time of Hitler's invasion. Austria and her life will never be the same again. She must find her way without her father and fight again evil in her own sphere.
Negative elements: A Jewish woman is raped, but thankfully the scene isn't graphic.
Positive elements: Well-written, well-paced story. Speaks of the power of friendship and self-sacrifice.
Conclusion: This is the first book I've read by Melanie Dobson. I was pleasantly surprised by the story. The book has some twists that I didn't see coming at first. Callie's love story was predicable but at least it wasn't sappy. I also appreciated how carefully Dobson handled the Holocaust's atrocities. She mentions somethings that happened but isn't graphic.

This was an easy to read and interesting historical fiction romance appropriate for teens and adults.

I received this book for free from the publisher. The opinions in this review are mine.