The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker (214 pages)
Princess Emeralda, or Emma, ventures out to the swamp to avoid her arranged match with Prince Jorge and she runs into a talking frog. He admits he is Prince Eadric and that all he needs is a kiss to become human again. She’s unsure, but decides to do it anyway. The kiss has the opposite effect though - it turns her into a frog! Soon, the two go on an adventure to find the witch who originally turned Eadric into a frog and find out why the spell wasn’t reversed when Emma kissed him. While on their journey, they encounter another witch who is set on using the two frogs in a potion, but with the help of the witch’s bat, they escape. Emma and Eadric are feeling a bit hopeless until they find Emma’s aunt and she tells them that Emma’s bracelet had a magical power to reverse any spell cast on her, which meant that instead of turning Eadric into a human, it turned her into a frog. Will they two ever become human again - or will the spell last a lifetime?
Miss Simer’s Rating: ***
This book is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It is great for people who like adventure, danger, and spies. This book is about a boy who was recruited to be a spy. His name is Alex Rider and he’s back in this thrilling book. Alex Rider is on his own when he gets recruited by the special operation division, MI6. He is therefore sent to the academy of Point Blanc to investigate but it soon turns into a fight for his life. Dr. Greif is determined to take over. Will Alex stop him in time? 
The Book of Time (Book One) - 213 pages; Miss Simer’s Rating: ***; Sam Faulkner’s dad has been missing for 10 days. Worried, Sam explores his dad’s bookshop looking for clues about his disappearance and he stumbles upon a large stone statue that looks completely out of place. After inadvertantly inserting a strange coin into the statue, Sam is suddenly transported back in time! His adventures take him to medieval Ireland where he faces attacking Vikings, ancient Egypt where he must protect the pharoah’s tomb, and eastern Europe during the Renaissance. All the while, Sam is desperate to find his father, who he believes is being held prisoner by the original Count Dracula. Filled with adventure and interesting historical details, this novel is sure to thrill - but beware the ending - you must read the sequel to get the full story!
The Gate of Days (Book Two) - 249 pages; Miss Simer’s Rating: ***; In this sequel to Prevost’s The Book of Time, Sam has just discovered exactly where his dad is trapped in time: with Vlad Tepes in 1462. Vlad is better known as Dracula or Vlad the Impaler. In other words, he is not a nice guy! Sam uses the stone statue to travel in time in hopes of gathering 7 coins, which will give him the power to travel to a specific time and place in history - namely to Vlad Tepes in 1462. His travels take him to Ancient Greece, Pompeii, Chicago in 1932, the Stone Age, and more. Something is seriously wrong during his travels though; someone else is one step ahead of him and is destroying stone statues everywhere to trap Sam in time! Will he find his father or will he become trapped in time too? Find out in this second book of the Book of Time trilogy!
The Circle of Gold (Book Three) - 288 pages; Miss Simer’s Rating: **1/2; In the conclusion to the Book of Time trilogy, Sam is on a mission to stop the Arkeos man and save his mother from her early death. When Sam discovers the true identity of the Arkeos man, he is shocked to learn it is someone so close to him! He also comes to terms with his true feelings for Alicia when she is kidnapped and he must head to Rome in the 1500s and China during the first empire. Sam’s quest for discovery also unveils the locations of the two Golden Circles and the Eternity Ring. With these tools, Sam will be well on his way to conquering time travel and all its impurities. This conclusion was somewhat of a disappointment because Sam works alone in this novel, without the help of his father, Alicia, or Lily. 
Ten years after the attack by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, reporter David Cullen gives the public all the details about what really happened that April morning at Columbine High School. Cullen outlines not only the events of that day, but the years leading up to the attack and the aftermath of the tragedy. Cullen’s no-holds-barred look at the deadly school shooting dispels many myths created by the media and eyewitnesses, including Cassie Bernall’s martyrdom, the angle that the boys were bullied and out to kill the jocks, and the description of the boys as being members of the Trench Coat Mafia. Cullen researched this novel using police reports, the boys’ own journals and videos, eyewitness accounts, interviews with friends and family of the victims, and legal documents. Though some of Cullen’s novel is difficult to get through (i.e. reading the boys’ own writing about how and when they were going to kill everyone), it is definitely worth reading. It gives new insight into the tragedy and puts faces on the victims and their families who have been living with this pain for ten years.
Megan’s Island is a great book about family and friends, and is full of mystery, adventure, and hope. Megan Collier and her little brother Sandy imagine a great summer full of swimming and days at the beach. Fun-filled days running around and having fun. But then suddenly, their mom tenses up and moves them to their grandfather’s house in the middle of the night. What they discover there is a secret so chilling yet intense that will have you reading the whole book non-stop until you figure out the mystery of their past. Are they really who they think they are?
Greg Heffling is determined to make this the best summer vacation ever! Well, his mom is at least. Greg makes trips to the town pool where he is mortified by seeing grown men in the showers. He and his best friend Rowley spend time at Rowley’s country club, ordering $83 worth of smoothies, which they later must find a way to pay back. The boys end up in an argument and stop speaking to one another for a month. Meanwhile, Greg’s family gets a new dog that makes Greg’s life miserable by sleeping in the middle of his bed, crawling under the covers when he’s wet, and barking constantly at the tv. Luckily, Greg’s older brother Rodrick doesn’t bother him too much during the summer, but without Rowley, Greg finds himself bored most of the time. When their mothers hatch a plan to get the boys talking to one another again by organizing a beach vacation, things do not go well. Discover all the fun Greg has during his “best summer ever” in Dog Days.
This novel, told in poetic form, gives the reader a glimpse into the life of a young girl, Rachel, whose mother has abandoned her family. The novel begins with the mother packing up her car and leaving for an unknown destination, and Rachel blaming herself and her father. What Rachel doesn’t understand is that her mother is ill with bipolar disorder, which means she has serious depression one minute and then major happiness the next. Rachel definitely struggles as she tries to cope with her mother’s abandonment - she stops doing her homework, hides her mom’s whereabouts from her best friend, and is angry with her father all the time. The simple poetry makes this tough subject matter an easier one to grasp and it is written with younger teens in mind.
Teens Omar and Becky have been best friends since early in their childhoods. They’re outcasts in their school and have been tortured by school bully, Kyle, for years. When a new student, Akhil, arrives and is different from any other student they’ve ever encountered, Becky and Omar befriend him. Akhil has strange scars up and down his arms, he refuses to sit in the chairs in the classroom, talks back to his teachers, and is the first boy to give Becky a flirtatious flutter. But, Kyle sees Akhil as fresh meat and his impending plan puts not only Akhil in danger, but everyone at the school that he has on his hit list. With an interesting approach to school violence by comparing it with a wolf pack, this novel will make the reader wonder about how far bullies will go and what students can do to stop them before it’s too late.