The Chronicles of Avantia First Hero

           Title: The Chronicles of Avantia First Hero

   Author: Adam Blade

   Pages: 155

   Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

   Age Recommendation: 5th grade or lower

   On the back: Firepos had been a patient trainer. Tanner wasn't sure what he was being trained for, and when he tried to ask, his Beast would close her eyes and wait for the questions to cease. For a long while he hadn't been sure if Firepos understood him, until he realized that she could read his thoughts.
      He learned how to hold on to the Beasts back during her steepest dives, how to live on a mountainside without dying of exposure, and where to hunt in the most barren places. He was no longer the skinny seven-year-old who'd watched his father die. He was stronger now, in body and spirit. Firepos had taught him how to survive.

Plot: Tanner enjoyed his life living with is grandmother, Esme, and getting trained by his beast, Firepos, but he knew one day he would be called to action. Then a person named General Gor and his huge army came to his town, Forton. He wanted the Mask of Death that was said to be able to control all the beasts of Avantia. Will Tanner and Firepos be able to stop General Gor? Or will his army take Tanner and his hometown down?

Review: I was recommended this book my Ms. Plisko( my language arts teacher) to see if the book was at a 7th grade level. In my opinion the book was at a 5th grade level or lower, because it sticks with the themes of beasts, soldiers, and warriors, which seem to be below a 7th grade level. None-the-less I felt this was a really good book. I was interested and focused on the book the whole time. I can't say one time during the book that it got dull and not an enjoyable read anymore. I really enjoyed all the characters (my favorites the beasts) and I wanted to see the other beasts that would be in the next stories in the series like Nera and Falkor. One problem I had with the book is I wish there was more of a background story. I wish the author let me know more on how Firepos trained Tanner and how Derthsin started. Overall, this was a very good story, even though I think it was not at our 7th grade level. If another one came out in the series, I would be one of the first one to grab and read it.

                                                                     Casey Lowe

Stargirl

Title: Stargirl

Author: Jerry Spinelli

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (Random House) in 2000

Pages: 186

On the back: She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew.

Age recommendation: 10 & up

Plot: In Mica High, everyone is talking about the new girl. And what does she call herself? Stargirl. She's not real. She's not real. This is what echoes through the minds of the students as they watch her wacky activities, like strumming her ukulele in lunch, and dancing in the rain. Maybe everyone else thinks she's not real, but Leo Borlock knows otherwise. But somehow, everything turns out wrong, with the students not willing to accept Stargirl's differences, and Leo is left trying to piece everything back together.

Review: Stargirl really spoke to me. It is all about individuality, and never changing yourself just so others will be content. It tells you that you can change things, and leave your mark on the world, even if others are against you.
Stargirl is a girl that comes from home-schooling to Mica High. She wears floor-length skirts, strums her ukulele to wish people happy birthdays at lunch, sets up a vase with a flower in it on her desk each day, and cheers for both basketball teams. To put it simply, Stargirl is a shock to everyone at Mica High.
Leo Borlock becomes interested in the girl, and finds that everything she does has meaning. She purposely drops coins on the sidewalk, hoping that some little kid will come along, pick it up, and will have a smile on his face. She reads the newspaper “fillers”, to try to find out about what the local people will need in order for their day to be fantastic. Never once does she think about herself.
Stargirl may not be connected to the people, but she is connected to the earth, and to thought. She absorbs all of the ideas, all of the wonderments, all of the puzzles the world has to offer. Stargirl enjoys life as an individual, and lives life to the fullest.
Leo, however, is having his doubts when he becomes Stargirl’s boyfriend. He soon realizes that he will not be able to keep both Stargirl’s, and the students at school’s affections. He has to choose, and when he finally does, it is too late.
Stargirl is a beautiful book, and will inspire everyone who reads its words.