Midnighters: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld

Midnighters is written by the same person as the Uglies series. It’s about a girl called Jessica Day who moves to Bixby from Chicago with her mum, dad and younger sister, Beth.

When she arrives in Bixby, things are a little strange but soon she discovers that it’s because she’s a midnighter. Midnighters are the select few people who are born within a second of midnight. They alone can live in the secret hour between midnight and one. But for some reason, this only happens in Bixby. Jess can’t enjoy it though because the darklings and slithers (the creatures who live in the secret hour) keep attacking her for no reason she can understand. The other midnighters try to help her. They all have a special power but Jess doesn’t seem to have one.

Jess is on a journey of discovery as she tries to understand this secret world that she has become a part of. The first half of the book seemed to drag a little and the story didn’t move on as fast as I might have liked. But the second half was worth the wait because it was interesting and exciting and I couldn’t put it down. It shows you all of the characters’ points of view and how everything affects them, and it makes you care about what happens to them. Definitely worth a look if you’re prepared to work through the first half.


By Zobdy

Age 13

Relaunch

Ok folks, there are changes afoot on Young & Un:Bound. We have had a wonderful new logo designed and will be revealing a new look. This is all happening in October, the relaunch will tie in with Everybody's Reading in Leicester where we are having a bit of a gathering at Kona Blue in the Highcross, 4pm onwards 6th October. If you are around drop by and say hi.
We will continue to post occasional reviews between now and then, but I am very excited about the relaunch and will be back with more news about the extension of the team and some new tie ins soon!

Perfect Chemistry | Simone Elkeles

Review for Perfect Chemistry By Simone Elkeles

Things look perfect in Brittany's life. She has the perfect hair, the perfect car, the perfect boyfriend and she is the perfect head of the cheerleading squad. To other people she looks, and acts, like a princess but when Brittany gets behind her front door she goes into overdrive looking after her disabled older sister, Shelley. Infact, Brittany's home life is a mess. Her parents only care about appearance, not about their Daughters' feelings.

As if Brittany wasn't juggling too much already, On the first day back to school, her chemistry teacher partners her with the biggest bad ass in school, Alex Fuentes. He's Mexican and in a gang. Not a stupid little group of bullies though, a proper gang that deals with drugs, killings and blackmail.

Forced to work together on a chemistry project, Brittany and Alex get to know more about each other and their feelings towards each other get more serious and it's only when Alex is forced by his gang to do something incredibly dangerous and illegal that Brittany decides that she has to go to extremes to keep him out of harms way. Even if others have to get hurt.

Simone Elkeles has created a wonderful romance novel. When I read this book I thought that it was really realistic because I could picture everything that was described. I would reccomend this book to all my friends but I think it is aimed at young adults because there is strong language and some of the contents of the book wouldn't be suitable for anybody under the age of 13.

All in all it's a great book and I could read it and re-read it over and over again.

PomPom.

The Chosen One | Carol Lynch Williams

The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams.

The chosen one is a book by carol lynch williams about a girl who doesn't find it strange that she has twenty brothers and sisters, and his father has three wives. She does, however, dislike the fact that she cannot choose who she falls in love with. when she finds a travelling library and starts to read books, which are strictly forbidden by 'the prophet', and falls in love with Joshua, she wishes she could choose who to fall in love with, not be forced to get married-being the seventh wife to her sixty year old uncle. Kyra wishes to escape, but that would endanger all the other members of her family. this book is about what she does and how all the above happens.

This is a very touching book, although i didn't understand it at times. i think it is for maybe slightly older readers, of maybe 13 or 14, as lots happens at once and it can be very hard to comprehend. there is great detail in the writing and carol lynch williams is a very clever woman.

AV. age 12

Dark Secrets 2 | Elizabeth Chandler

Two stories with only one thing relating them. They are both about an unsolved murder.
In No Time To Die, Jenny’s sister, Liza, who she is closer to than anyone in the world, has just died. Jenny decides to go to the summer drama camp where Liza was murdered by a serial killer. But she goes under a false name so that no one will know who she is. Everything is exactly how Liza described it. But, as Jenny digs deeper, she begins to wonder if Liza was really murdered by a serial killer after all.

In The Deep End Of Fear, Kate’s father recently died. He left her two requests. One, to return a ring to Adrian Westbrook, and, two, to regain contact with her mother who she has not seen since she was five. Deciding to return the ring, she takes a job looking after Adrian’s son, Patrick. But that means returning to her childhood home where her best friend, Ashley, had died by falling through the ice on the pond. Patrick is behaving oddly and saying he can see Ashley even though no one has ever told him about her. Kate isn’t sure that Ashley’s death was an accident. There are plenty of people who would benefit from her death…and Patrick’s.

I couldn’t put it down. I just had to know what happened next. Certain characters I loved and others I hated. The bit I loved the most was that the outcomes are completely unexpected. I could have made a long list of the people I thought might have killed Liza and Ashley but the people who actually did wouldn’t have been on it. But then I saw that it was them all along. Well written and I would definitely recommend it.

By Zobdy
Age 13

Wicked , Resurrection | Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie

Resurrection is the last in the five part Wicked series. It is particularly focused on the witch cousins, Holly, Nicole and Amanda, but there are so many other characters doing different things, it’s almost too hard to keep track of where everyone is or, even, who’s still alive. Definitely not a stand alone book. Do not try to read any of the books out of order or you will end up in a very confused mess.

The Houses of Cahors (Holly, Nicole and Amanda) and Deveraux (Jer and Eli) are forced to put aside their differences to face an enemy more powerful than any they have encountered before. New friends are found and old ones lost forever. It is full of action as the final battle begins. It makes you feel happy and sad and angry along with the characters. You feel like you are there with them experiencing everything they do. A real page turner. Brilliant, if you can keep up.

By Zobdy
Age 13

Nation | Terry Pratchett

Nation by Terry Pratchett

Nation is set in a world which is almost identical to ours. The Nation is a tribe that live on a tiny unknown island. That is, it was, until the wave came and wiped out everyone except Mau. But he’s not alone because there is a shipwrecked “trouserman girl” called Ermintrude and a very rude parrot. Ermintrude hates her name so tells Mau that she is called Daphne. They try to understand eachother’s cultures and languages and together they help all of people that come to the island.

I loved it right up to the end, which I hated. I’m not going to say what happens but it’s not what you want to. I know several people who agree with me. It’s a great book because it makes you care about the characters and what happens to them.

I tried reading it a few years ago because I got it for Christmas. At the time, I wasn’t particularly interested so I couldn’t get into it. But now I’ve picked it up again, I’ve really enjoyed it so even if you try it and don’t like it, try it again later and you might surprise yourself.

BY Zobdy
Age 13