The Hobbit

The Hobbit
By: J.R.R. Tolkien
Reviewed by: Megan T., 18
Rating:  It was amazing!




For any of you who want to get into the amazing world of Middle Earth I certainly suggest that you read The Hobbit. Not only does it help to know the story before The Lord of the Rings, it gets one into the mindset I might say is required in order to read Tolkien. But once you're in, hold on. Middle Earth is a vast and wondrous place, casting a spell that has completely ensnared me and will likely ensnare you. It doesn't hurt that poor Bilbo's confusion and complaints make him entirely adorable.

I would recommend this to: Anyone

October Baby

October Baby [DVD]
By: Eric Wilson
Reviewed by: Eliza S., 13
Rating:  It was amazing!




It's opening night for the play starring 19 year-old Hannah Lawson.Only five minutes until the show starts and Professor Watson tells her that there are scouts from New York and L.A. watching her. She's always wanted to be an actress and this is her big chance. Hannah steps out onto the stage in the audience is Jason her friend since she was nine, her parents and hundreds of other people. The bright lights shine on her it's hard to breath in the tight Victorian dress, and it's time for her to say her lines. She gets through the first few lines and then has trouble breathing and collapses to the floor she coughs fighting for air. Her dad jumped on stage to help her as her mom called 911. The last thought Hannah has before she passes out is her and Jason 12 years old holding hands and jumping into clear, blue, water. Why has Jason always been there for her?

Later Hannah finds out that the hip surgeries, asthma, terrible nightmares and her passing out on stage are all related to her traumatized premature birth after a failed abortion attempt. Her parents had adopted her. Why had they never told her?

Hannah sets out on a journey to find her birth mother and find out about other secrets her parents have been hiding from her. Join Hannah in this story of love, faith, forgiveness and self-discovery.

The book and the movie by the name October Baby are both awesome. When I started reading the book, it was almost all I did for three days until I finished it. When I watched the movie I watched it three times in one week. I hope you watch or read this touching story!

I would recommend this to: 13 and up

Undercover Bridesmaid

Undercover Bridesmaid [DVD]
By: Lageson, Lincoln
Reviewed by: Eliza S., 13
Rating:  Really Liked It


Tanya is a Bodyguard who is great at going undercover and protecting people. But, when she's assigned to go undercover as a bridesmaid at Daisy's wedding, she has a really hard time blending in with the girly bridesmaids. The whole thing brings back painful memories of her own past experience with weddings. All of the guests at the wedding have a motive for sending Daisy the death threats she'd been receiving just weeks before her wedding. Tanya gets distracted by one of the handsome groomsmen, but she's not quite sure she can trust him. This movie is a love story with the perfect amount of humor and action.

I would recommend this to: I think everyone, but girls will probably enjoy it a little bit more than boys.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green

The Odd Life of Timothy Green [DVD]
By: Hedges, Peter
Reviewed by: Eliza S., 13
Rating:  Really Liked It


Cindy and Jim Green, a young couple are really looking forward to having there first kid. So when they find out that there not able to have children it comes as a hard blow. That night in the small, dry, town of Stanleyville it rains- but it doesn't rain in all of Stanleyville just at the Green's house.When the storm gets really loud in the middle of the night the couple gets up and finds a ten year old boy, covered in mud, in their nursery.

I enjoyed this movie even though it is a little weird. It's definitely one of the best newer movies. The end was a little bit sad and I wish they could have ended it differently, but overall it is a good family movie.

I would recommend this to: All Ages

The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones
By: Sebold, Alice
Reviewed by: Teralyn E., 17
Rating:  It was amazing!




[TRIGGER WARNINGS: Rape/Sexual Assault, Murder, Pedophilia]
  
Inspired real life events, The Lovely Bones was an engaging novel told from the perspective of Susie Salmon—a fourteen-year old girl--who was sexually assaulted and murdered in a corn field near her home. The story takes no time to swing the reader into action, and is written in a way that makes the reader feel everything that Susie feels, and even the people around her.

Susie observes the majority of the story from her personal Heaven, having to watch her family and friends grieve over her death. Susie also grows to accept her own death as finality, by the end of the book, after years of watching the people closest to her grow to live again without her being there.

The book is very powerful and, due to the subject matter, may be upsetting for some readers. I loved it, but I couldn’t read it all at once because it was emotionally disruptive. The chapters are large enough chunks to read one or two a day.

The main themes, aside from death, are individuality, family, and happiness. Throughout the story, Susie is able to see her friends and family in a way that she had not been able to see them when she was in the world with them. She begins to see her mother as a woman, and not just ‘mom’. She watches her younger sister and brother grow into their respective personalities—strong willed and independent, reliable and collected—while observing the way that her family begins to heal together, without her.

Her crush, Ray Singh, also plays an integral part in her acceptance of her death, as well as the girl who she touched when her spirit fled her body—Ruth. Ray and Ruth become very close friends, bonding over the mutual loss of Susie.

Alice Sebold’s writing style brings the reader into the story, and illustrates it as if it were a movie. The themes that are covered in the book are not preachy or overbearing, and the story itself flows seamlessly from chapter to chapter. While the subject matter is dark, the portrayal has a very even-kilter tone, although it is emotionally heavy in some places.

Overall, I really loved this book, and I would read it again.


Recommended to: Older Teens, Adults

Homestead Blessing: The Art of Crafting

Homestead Blessings: The Art of Crafting
By: West, Vicki
Reviewed by: Eliza S., 13
Rating:  It was amazing!



Do you enjoy doing crafts? And giving out homemade gifts? If so you will really enjoy this fun crafting DVD. Vicki, Jasmine, Hannah and Cece West will inspire you to make homemade gifts. In this DVD the West ladies teach you how to build a birdhouse, artfully fill a jar with cookies, put together a gift basket and more! The West ladies southern accents are fun to listen to as you learn from them. If you watch this I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!


Recommended to: Girls ages 6-100

NightShade

NightShade
By: Andrea Cremer
Reviewed by: Katharine C., 19
Rating:  Really liked it

NightShade is a book you won't be able to put down...I sure couldn't.

About a girl who grows up a guardian of a life only her kind know about. Calla knows her path and prepares her self to follow through on one of the most important nights of her life. Out of the blue she meets a boy who captures her mind. She can't forget about him or leave him alone. Directed to keep this boy happy, she takes him under her wing so to speak. Unknowingly, she ends up falling in love with him. Her life, as she knows it, is turned upside down and only she can correct it ... but can she just evacuate the life she's known? Or run from this new love she's fallen into?

It's a book I couldn't put down until it was finished.

Recommended to: Teen girls 15-19

Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book

Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book
By: Betty Crocker
Reviewed by: Eliza S., 13
Rating:  It was Amazing!

This cook book is full of wonderful cooking, baking, and hospitality tips. Some of the things you learn from it may be a little bit old fashioned, because it was originally published in 1950, but there are still a lot of great things to learn from it. One of things you need to know as you read this book is that some of the recipes include uncooked eggs, which in that case you just need to figure out a way to cook the eggs first. My mom used the recipe Texas Hash from this cook book and it was really yummy! After reading parts of this book I put together a menu from it that I plan to make for dinner some time. One thing that I think is cool is that the pictures are the original pictures from the 1950's edition. I love this book and I really want to encourage you to read it!

Recommended to: Girls who enjoy cooking.

Hollywood Holdup

Hollywood Holdup
By: Jerry Jenkins and Chris Fabry
Reviewed by: Eliza S., 13
Rating:  It was Amazing!

This time the 13-year-old twins, Bryce and Ashley, are trying to solve a chain of fast food robberies. At the same time they're trying really hard to not kill off all the pets in the house they're house sitting for.You get both the twin's reactions as they feed a mouse to Binky, the six foot long snake, because of the unique, fun way the authors alternate between Bryce and Ashley's perspectives.
This book is constantly exciting and fun. Once you start it you will not be able to put it down!

Recommended to: Boys and girls who enjoy mysteries between the ages 10 and 13.

Sucker Punch

Sucker Punch (DVD)
By: Emily Browning
Reviewed by: Hadiya R, 16
Rating:  It was Amazing!

It literally touched my black heart. If you like deep, here it is.

Recommended to: Everyone