39 Clues by Rick Riordan Etc.

Title: 39 Clues
Author: Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, Patrick Carman, Linda Sue Park, Margaret Peterson Haddix
Publisher: Scholastic 
Reviewer: Louis

39 Clues written by (author name here) is about two kids who go on a scavenger hunt (a deadly one) and compete against their relatives to be the most powerful humans on earth. The clues are around the globe so Amy and Dan (they are the two kids) have to dodge traps and even come close to death! The book is funny because Amy and Dan are brother and sister so even though they are on the same team they can get into fights. The fights are pointless just like real brother and sister fights. What I think will attract readers is that the whole series is around the globe so you may learn things you didn't know before. What could confuse readers is that Book One, Book Two, Book Three etc. etc. aren't written by the same author! What else I think will get readers confused is that in book one Dan's back pack got sucked in the sub way and now in book two he has it back the book does not explain how he got it back! I recommend this to kids of all ages. 


Parents! Check out this series too.


--------------> Yes the language is good <-------------

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: March 2007
Reviewer: Bethany
Rating: 4 cheeseburgers.

City of Bones is the first in the Mortal Instruments series, an urban fantasy set in modern-day New York. It starts when fifteen-year-old Clary Fray witnesses a murder at a club, but is the only one in the building who can see the killer, a boy named Jace. Later, Clary receives a distressed call from her mother, and rushes back to their apartment to find the place trashed, her mother missing, and a demon creature waiting for her. Clary manages to kill the creature, but is injured in the process, and Jace takes her to his home.

There, Clary meets Jace’s adoptive-siblings Isabelle and Alec, and their tutor Hodge, and is told that they are Shadowhunters, a race of people bred to kill demons. The City of Bones is where they take Clary to figure out why she can see Shadowhunters, why she can’t remember ever having seen them before, and how to find her mother.

City of Bones was a good book. Not the best book in the series, for me, but I liked it. There was hilarious humor, interesting characters, and a well thought out plot; the only problem I had was that at times it got a little too dramatic. The romance was believable, but my favorite part had to be the little world Cassandra Clare created for her story. It’s by far my favorite fantasy world to read about, because it’s really convincing. It’s what led me to Cassandra Clare’s prequel series, the Infernal Devices, which I suggest that you check out, because I love that one just as much. I give City of Bones 4 cheeseburgers.

Behind the Scenes at The Maniac Society

A dedicated reviewer with an ARC in her hand, working hard on her assignment... in her pajamas.

Deadweather and Sunrise: The Chronicles of Egg #1 by Geoff Rodkey

Title: Deadweather and Sunrise
Author: Geoff Rodkey
Publisher: Putnam
Pub date: May 29, 2012
Reviewer: Stephen (10)
Rating:  4½  Cheeseburgers


This is my book review of Deadweather and Sunrise. It’s about a boy named Egbert who lives on a really dirty and smelly island called Deadweather, but goes to another island called Sunrise Island on a vacation every year. His family disappeared on a hot air balloon, but a rich merchant takes him in. Afterward, the merchant gets angry when he didn’t sign an adoption thing, and the merchant sends someone to kill him, but things go awry and Egbert escapes and stows away on a ship, which is captured by pirates, he lands back on Sunrise. He tries to escape to Deadweather because there may be a treasure on it.

This story reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean, but is a completely different story and is a very good read. The thing that grabbed me about this book is that I like pirate adventure books very much. This book is good for ages 10-13, and also for adults who like pirate books. My rating for this is 4½ cheeseburgers.

This book has a trailer, where you can hear the author discussing his work:

The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: August 2010
Reviewer: Bethany (14)
Rating: 4 ½ cheeseburgers.

Clockwork Angel is the first book in the Infernal Devices series, my favorite book series to date. It’s set in 1878 London, and centers on sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray, a New Yorker who’s been taken captive by two women called the “Dark Sisters”. She came to London to find her brother after the death of their Aunt Harriet, but she fears she never will, because the Dark Sisters are bent on keeping her, and using her “power”— Tessa is a shape-changer, a kind of magical creature no one’s ever seen before— and preparing her for the Magister, a man she’s never met.

On the day Tessa is set to meet the Magister, she gets rescued by William Herondale, a special kind of demon-killer called a Shadowhunter. He takes Tessa back to the Institute, where he and his fellow Shadowhunters let Tessa stay. They think she’s the key to their latest mission— to uncover the source of all the disappearances over London. They need Tessa to solve the mystery, and Tessa needs them to help her find her brother, the Magister, and to figure out what she is.

Clockwork Angel is a fun mystery, and once I started it, I couldn’t put the book down. It’s got an interesting, but not overly dramatic love triangle, and lots of action, humor, and fantasy. It’s got something for everyone— I give it 4 ½ cheeseburgers.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Book: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication date: 2008
Reviewer: Jacob (12)
Rating: 5 Cheeseburgers

My dad hates this book, but I honestly think he has no idea what he's talking about.

I first heard about this book in my Church group, where, honestly, it would ALWAYS be brought up in every conversation. Not wanting to be left out, I FINALLY read the book and loved it.

It's about a girl, Katniss, living in what used to be the United States, but it is clearly not America, after being ravaged by a nuclear war and a failed revolution years after.

She lives in one of the twelve districts, District 12, which is pretty much the poorest. She has to kill animals with a bow (and we're talking squirrels and rabbits here) to feed her family and to deal to buyers who are also hungry. The leaders, who are stationed at what is known as the Capitol, demand one boy and girl between 12 and 18 years old from each district to compete in an annual televised gladiatorial battle called (you guessed it) the Hunger Games. After her sister is selected, she volunteers in place of her sister.

After being displayed, interviewed, and trained (also told by the tribute, Peeta Mellark, that he's in love with her ON CAMERA), she is put in the arena, which is different every year. This time it's a thick, piney, forested area. The 24 tributes (what the kids in the Games are called) are released to get weapons and begin. The arena is littered with supplies, food, water, weapons, whatever tributes might need, but the problem is that lots of tributes lay ambushes near lucrative piles of supplies. Katniss survives by getting a bow and arrow and hiding in the trees. She survives a fire and homicidal tributes, when a twelve year old girl named Rue saves her life from genetically modified wasps that can kill a person in four stings. They form an alliance and find a larger group of allied tributes' camp. Rue distracts them by making a noise while Katniss tries to destroy the food stores, which is really just a big heap of food. She learns that it's not just booby trapped as she expected, but mined. She detonates a mine, setting off a chain reaction that destroys the food and nearly Katniss in the process.

SPOILER ALERT! Select the text in the following paragraph to reveal it, if you already know the end.

Rue is sadly killed by one of the tributes, who is in turn slain by Katniss with an arrow through him. She finds Peeta, somehow still alive but seriously injured, and nurses him back to health, and in the process falling in love with him. Turns out that the whole lover thing caught on camera earlier is so popular with the audience that a rule for this year's Games is that if two tributes from the same District survive till the end, they both win. When all the other tributes are dead, the amendment is dropped. Just before Katniss commits suicide with poison berries, they are both declared winners.

In conclusion, I loved this book and I think it's a great read (though too intense for younger readers), and if you've read Pure (mentioned earlier), you're definitely ready for this one. I give it a full 5 Cheeseburgers.

The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas

Title: The Magic Thief
Author: Sarah Prineas
Publisher: Harper Collins Kids
Pub Date: June 2008
Reviewer: Shira (11)
Rating: 3 1/2 Cheeseburgers


One night, Conn, a boy just wanting to fill his stomach, picks the wizard Nevery's pocket.  He takes out the wizard's power stone. Shocked that Conn was not immediatly killed by the stone, Nevery takes Conn on as a servant. Seeing Conns inquisitive nature and promise for magic, Nevery keeps him around.  But Conn must find his own unique stone, his "Locus Magicalus" that will focus his magical powers.

One of Neveries fellow wizards convinced Nevery that one of his friends was in cohoots with the city's dark underlord.  On a quest to defeat the evil underlord, Conn also must find his Locus Magicalus in time.

Readers will love this unlikely adventure by Sarah Prineas.

I rate this book 3 1/2 cheeseburgers.

Note: Sarah Prineas has a new book out for 2012: Winterling