Travis and Freddy’s Adventures in Vegas by Henry Johnson and Paul Hoppe (216 pages)
Best friends Travis and Freddy are the definition of opposites. Travis has a million-dollar smile and can charm his way out of anything, and Freddy has a million-dollar brain and can solve his way out of anything. When Travis’s gambler father loses a bet and has the chance of losing his home or his life, the boys concoct a plan to go to Vegas and win big at Blackjack to save Travis’s dad. Using a computer program he created, Freddy is positive hey can beat the system and win the jackpot. They manage to convince their sassy cab driver to play Blackjack for them with Freddy communicating to her through a tiny earpiece. The team hit it big, but the boys get in over their heads when they literally run into notorious Vegas gangster Johnny Large and his henchmen. With everything played for laughs, including Johnny Large’s stereotypical gangster dialogue in which he constantly uses big words but incorrectly so, and the boys being dangled in their underpants from a 32nd-floor balcony, this novel is fast-paced and fun to read.
Miss Simer’s Rating: **1/2
In this modern-day retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, sixteen-year-old New York private school student Kyle Kingsbury is anything but kind to his classmates. He is known for being extremely handsome, yet very snobby and cruel to others. An unfortunate run-in with a witch transforms him into a hideous beast. The witch tells him he has two years to kiss his true love in order to break the spell. Sent away by his high-profile father, Kyle moves to a mansion in the city where he closes himself off from the outside world. He only has contact with two people: Will, his blind tutor, and Magda, his live-in maid. At first desperate to find a girl who will kiss him, he looks for love on the internet and at Halloween parties. All tries end in disaster. Soon, a bedraggled man breaks into Kyle’s home in an attempt to make a little drug money, but Kyle catches him red-handed. In exchange for not turning him in, the man offers Kyle his daughter Lindy. Lindy is sent to stay with Kyle and she hates him for it. After time, the two are able to share their interest in books, snow, and roses. Will Kyle find his true love in time to reverse the spell, or will he live his life as a beast forever?
In a not-so-distant future, the battle between pro-life and pro-choice has finally been won. Abortions are illegal and mothers of newborn babies have the opportunity to “stork” their baby by leaving it on anyone’s doorstep. The person that finds the baby legally becomes its parent. Another option given to parents in this society is to have their child “unwound.” Unwinding is a process in which all of a person’s body parts are harvested and given to the highest bidder. The pro-life leaders believe this ensures the person still lives on, just in pieces. Sentenced to be unwound are sixteen-year-old Connor, whose temper tantrums and fighting led his parents to their decision, and fifteen-year-old Risa, who is part of a “teen cleanout” at the state home for orphans. The two manage to escape the juvy cops assigned to take them to harvest camp and soon find themselves being passed from safe home to safe home along with several other runaway Unwinds. Both creepy and thought-provoking, this novel gives the reader a look into a bleak future, and it will definitely please fans of Shusterman’s Everlost or Margaret Peterson Haddix’s Shadow Children series.
Leo Caraway is the leader of his high school’s Young Republicans, he has earned a full scholarship to Harvard, and he is just counting down the days until college. While taking an end-of-the-year Algebra exam, Leo says “pinball” to a neighboring student to help him remember how to find vectors, and then he is accused of cheating and stripped of his Harvard scholarship. Desperate, Leo decides to track down his biological father - the lead punk rocker of the band Purge - and beg him for Harvard tuition money. When he finally meets Marion X. McMurphy AKA “King Maggot,” he is surprised by how fatherly the man turns out to be. Leo joins the band on their summer tour as a roadie and gets to know the life of a rock star. Join Leo on his path to self-discovery in this rocking novel by Gordon Korman!
I know what you’re thinking: What on earth is Smekday?? I could be mean and tell you you’ll have to read the book to find out, but I’m happy because it is winter break, so I’ll tell you… Smekday is the day formerly known as Christmas. Why is it now called Smekday, you ask? It is the day that Captain Smek and his Boov army invaded the Earth! The Boovs are not terribly mean aliens, but they have decided that the Earth is theirs. They force all U.S. citizens to move to Florida while they inhabit the rest of the country. Gratuity Tucci, our narrator, informs the readers that her mother was taken by the Boov and she’s on a mission to find her. On her way, she encounters a nice, harmless Boov who calls himself J. Lo (yes, like the singer) and together they find ways to avoid being captured. Unfortunately, the Boovs are not the only aliens interested in Earth. The Gorgs have also landed and they are e-v-i-l! They tell all U.S. citizens they must relocate to Arizona and they destroy all the cats they can find. Gratuity is able to hide her cat, Pig, and she and J. Lo travel to Arizona in search of her mother. Will the earth be destroyed by aliens or will their be a glitch in the aliens’ plan? Find out in this comedic sci-fi novel!
Sequel to The City of Ember 
It said on the back cover that the book I was holding was extremely unpleasant and if you don’t like unpleasant books you should drop this book at that very moment. To be honest, I was very glad not to have dropped that book because it may be one of the best books I have ever read. The only people who probably don’t like this book are the characters Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. The book describes how this horrid man, Count Olaf, tries to steal their money by trying to adopt them after their parents died in a violent fire that occurred at their house one evening when they were gone. The most amazing thing was that each character had their own special ability. Violet, the eldest, was the best inventor in the world and probably could build anything you told her to. Klaus, the middle child, never stopped reading, and he could remember anything he read at any given time or place. Sunny, the youngest, could use her mouth to bite! During the book they say her bite is as hard as a crocodile and she was only a toddler. What’s amazing is there is not real certain unexplainable moments. During the series, Count Olaf tries multiple times to take advantage of the three kids. One time he even tries to marry Violet to get their money. A bank accountant named Mr. Peo is in charge of their money and he doesn’t believe them that Count Olaf and his henchmen are out to get their money. Every time he tries to get them, they just barely get away from him. A very sad part of the book is that every time the siblings go somewhere new, he kills the person they are staying with. These books are so sad at the end it makes me want to pick up the next book just to see if they find happiness. I assure you after reading this book that these books are my favorites and I think you should consider reading this book.
Cass, Em, and Lydia attend a private, somewhat snooty, Australian school and their English teacher has assigned them some penpals from a neighboring public school. Lydia and Seb hit it off almost immediately as penpals, trading barbs and giving each other secret spy missions to complete. Em and Charlie have a rough start, but eventually grow to really like each other. Cass, on the other hand, only gets terrible responses from Matthew Dunlop. He pretty much tells her to drop dead every time she writes. Cass keeps writing, despite the negative responses, and soon Matthew’s letters begin to be more open and friendly. When the three girls arrange to meet the three boys, Matthew does not show. Cass gives him another chance and agrees to meet again - only to have him humiliate her with his cruelness. The girls, along with Seb and Charlie, plan a revenge attack on the mysterious Matthew Dunlop that is beyond imagination!
At the end of The Golden Compass, Lira decides she must pursue Lord Asriel to stop him from his scientific studies. In this sequel, protected by the witch Serrafina Pekkala, Lira discovers she can travel between parallel worlds. In one world, she meets Will. Will has gotten into some trouble in his own world and found a gateway into Lira’s world. Together, Lira and Will work to track down Will’s long-lost father and uncover more secrets with Lira’s alethiometer. They come upon a world where all the adults are killed by “Specters” and the only weapon to protect themselves is the Subtle Knife. This powerful weapon can cut through any object - and open windows into other worlds. Will becomes the bearer of this weapon, thus the two children are hunted by more and more people. I found this sequel to be okay, but not as exciting as the original.
