Young Adult Books

i read this story lats year i found it in my school libaray! i wasn't much of a reader i had to read this book a reading log for english class and i just fell in love with this book!! it was such a cute and moving story i love it and recommend it to anyone looking for a light easy and good read. if you are this is the book for you!!!

I still remember when I read this book in junior high school, and I'm getting ready to graduate this May from college, yet it still puts a smile on my face when I think about the book. It was one of those stories that you think could never happen to you, but it can, and it did happen to Melanie. I really enjoyed it, I suggest it to anyone looking for a lighthearted, good read. And for a little bit of a sequel, read "Eleven Kids, One Summer," which features Melanie, Justin and their families once again. But first, read "10 Kids No Pets."

This book was awesome. I never thought that Justin was a tv star. I was just as suprised as Melanie when I read the part about him being a star. It has all the things I'm looking for in a book. It has romance, twists, and it keeps you wanting to know more about their new found romance. I just wished it would have gave you a better picture of how their relationship worked out in the future. It needs a sequal.

I just read this book and i thought it was fantastic. I could relate to Melanie in so many ways. Justin is everything a guy should be because he was so sweet and kind and just a gentlemen. I knew something was odd with him going to "work" but i couldn't see it. Ann M. Martain it one of my favorite authors, so i knew this would be good. I hope theres a sequal coming.

I first read this book when i was in Junior High school in the 7th grade. I hated books, but one time i had to do a report in order to pass my class. The teacher gave us a few books and we had to pick one of them. I picked Just A Summer Romance because it looked intresting. I started to read the book, and from the first page i read i liked it. I liked it because it reflected my live. I loved that book so much that i read it in three days, i always read the book during math, spanish, social studies and english class, i use to wake up at three in the morning to read the book because i was wondering what would happen next. Now i'm a senior in High School and i still haven't forgotten about that love story.

Lessons from a Dead Girl is a suspenseful story that kept me on edge the whole time. I never felt relaxed even after the last page was turned, and the book was tucked away on my shelf. It shows how kids that are abused at a young age can turn around and abuse other kids. The main character, Laine, has to go through her life wondering if she's as messed up as she feels. All because her best friend, Leah, abused her at a young age and continued to do so through-out high school. This isn't a happy read at all. Although there are some glimpses of Laine having moments where I thought she would pull through; these moments are usually ruined by the Leah.

This is a very emotional story that sucks you in and doesn't let you go. My heart ached for Laine's situation. I also felt anger towards Leah, even though her story is just as heart breaking as Laines. This is a great read, and I can't wait to see what Jo Knowles turns out next.

Having read the first chapter of LESSONS FROM A DEAD GIRL before it was published as one of the panel of judges of the PEN New England Discovery Contest (which the book won!), I knew it was well-written. What I didn't expect when I sat down to read the entire novel in its published form was that it would be a page-turner. I started reading and couldn't stop.

Jo Knowles has done the near impossible: written a novel with a gripping, fast-paced storyline, well-developed characters, important themes, and finally a surprising, yet satisfying ending.

I look forward to reading Jo's next novel. She is a writer to watch!

This is a beautifully written book. At first I was hit by pure emotion, but then I couldn't stop thinking about Laine's story. Sure to be thought-provoking, this is a great choice for any discussion group, but especially for teens.

This story is profound and touching, the main character grabs you by the collar and pulls you into her world, and shows you every part of her emotional thought process through her experiences.

This is another fast read that made me want to keep turning the pages, even when I found myself right there with Laine embarrassed and wanting to look away.

Laine hated her, and wished many times that Leah would die and leave her alone. She didn't understand Leah, or why Leah chose her to be her best friend all those years ago. She didn't understand the things that Leah did to her in the doll closet, or why Leah would torment her with that knowledge and the shame that Laine felt. As they grew older, she didn't understand the problems that Leah faced, or the impact that they had on her behavior. As their English teacher told them once, you only hate what you don't understand.

Now that Leah Greene has died, Laine forces herself to try to understand Leah, and the things that Leah taught her about friendship and secrets. Friends are forever, Leah told her. Permanent just like the ink that Leah used to stake her claim on Laine's hand back when they were young. Laine must now face the impact of what "forever" really means, and how it has affected her own aspects of the world.

Jo Knowles has penned a stunning book that takes an introspective look at the scars of childhood abuse at the hands of a child's peers. Laine's experiences will have a profound impact on anyone who has ever wondered about the dynamics of child sociology, and how the damaging effects of abuse resonate from the original victims. For the mature young adult.

Reviewed by: Allison Fraclose

I loved the book i could not put it down, the charecters are so envolved and when you read it while you are a beach no matter how hot you are you will get a chill up your spine. i promise you will fall in love with the boys in the book i know i did i felf like you become friends with them and you will have a great ride when you read this book!!!!!!!!!***************

In the beginning I pretty much guessed who it was. The ending was sort of confusing. You really have to pay attention to the ending, or you'll get lost. I also felt, that the author stuck in some things, that have no explanations, just to throw you off. Things that didn't make sense. But all in all, I thought it was pretty good. I couldn't put it down.

The Lifeguard by Richie Tankersley Cusick is a great suspenseful thriller. This marvelous novel pulls you in like a fish on a hook.
Kelsey, a young 15-year-old girl, goes with her mother to Beverly Island to visit her mother's fiancée Eric. When they show up at the island, Eric immediately tells Kelsey and her Mom that his daughter, Beth, has been murdered. After Kelsey and her Mom settle in, Kelsey starts getting notes from Beth who is supposed to be dead. Soon, she always feels like someone is watching her. Then, someone starts to follow her but she can't quite guess whom. Does someone know that Beth is trying to communicate with Kelsey? Is Beth really dead? You'll just have to read this powerful must read book in order to find out.
The Lifeguard is an awesome book for 7th graders and up. This is a great fiction novel. So great, that I even finished it in 5 days. Richie Tankersley Cusick also wrote The Mall, and Teacher's Pet.

Richie Tankersley Cusick delivers another great thriller here with "The Lifeguard." The storyline revolves around a girl named Kelsey. Her and her mother go to Beverly Island to visit her new father-figure. When they arrive, they are bombarded with news of his daughter's disappearance. Things also take a turn for the worse when Kelsey discovers a note under her pillow, written by the missing girl! On top of all this, Kelsey finds out about the recent mysterious drownings on the island, and comes face to face with a creepy fisherman. All of this makes for a terrifying visit she'll never forget!

"The Lifeguard" was a good book. Not the very best I've read from Cusick, but close. Along with most thrillers, it gets you hooked immediately, and never lets go. I also took a liking to the ending. Not entirely surprising, but very dark and ominous. Also, it was a relatively long climax, unlike most stories, which was good. Overall, it is completely worth your time.

Also recommended:
a.) "Starstruck" by Richie Tankersley Cusick
b.) "April Fools" by Richie Tankersley Cusick
c.) "The Train" by Diane Hoh
d.) "The Invitation" by Diane Hoh
e.) "Slay Bells" by Jo Gibson
f.) "My Bloody Valentine" by Jo Gibson
g.) "Silent Witness" by Carol Ellis
h.) "Camp Fear" by Carol Ellis
i.) All R. L. Stine young-adult thrillers
j.) All books by Joan Lowery Nixon

Oh, I love this book. OK. Here's the summary.

***Kelsey and her mom went to stay at an island with Kelsey's mom's boyfriend. When they get there, Eric was Kelsey's mom' boyfriend, told them that his daughter Beth was missing. The police can't find any clue about the disappearing. But that's not all weird. There are more disappearing before Kelsey even arrived. Some girls were missing mostly from their dates. Kelsey met Justin and his brother Neale. Both are also Eric's son. Justin is so sweet and incredible nice to Kelsey from the start. He seem to like her a lot. But on the other hand, Neale is so strange and he's mean to her. He dislike her and wouldn't talk at all to her or even to welcome her staying on the island, unlike what Justin like. Then there's Skip, a very handsome guy that Kelsey had attracted on the first place. Donna, who's really nice to Kelsey and befriend with her.
Kelsey found a note from Beth saying the she was in trouble. Kelsey put the note away and when she get back to it, it was gone. Then strange thing happen to her.***

This book is so good. But at the ending is pretty sad. When the culprit was being revealed. But I really do recommend this book along with "The Drifter", another one of my favorite; "April's Fool", "Help Wanted", "Vampire", "Someone at the door" and "Silent stalker". Enjoy!!!

This is an amazing book. The author's imaginative powers are on a
par with those of great Fantasy and Science Fiction writers
like Ursula K. Le Guin. James lets us enter a world that exists
nowhere, is quite alien to us, yet is filled with exquisitely
vibrant details. An especially enjoyable aspect of this book is its
magical and mystical undercurrent.

I was as enthralled by the exquisite prose and poetry of this book as I was by the plot, which asks no less of the reader than to explore the meaning and mystery of life and our contribution to it. The author created rich and diverse cultures and languages, leading this reader to examine the serious issues of tolerance and intolerance, especially in these troubled times. This was not a "peaceful" book and there are no easy answers to difficult questions and dilemmas. There is mayhem galore. Yet music weaves it way throughout the story and will have its way. Ms. James' use of the English language was so rich and varied that I did not see how she could possibly maintain such a high standard throughout an entire book; yet, with each turn of the page, there it was! This book is categorized as an "adolescent novel"; however, I am a mature woman who appreciated the "adultness" of this book about the quests of a young woman.

Ever since Kat was a young girl, she has been considered an outcast because of her forbidden parentage: her father is a Leagueman from Upslope and her mother is a Hill woman from Creek. Leaguemen are supposed to lead religiously simple lives while being wealthy traders, not marry natives. After her mother dies, Kat is sent to live with her strict aunt and uncle to learn the ways of being a Leagueman's wife. Kat is often met with disapproval because of her wild red hair, a reminder of her native mother. When Kat is 10, she returns home to her father Ab Drem, along with her caring, older brother Dai, who prefers living the simple life as a farmer instead of working with sums. It is during this time that Kat becomes curious about the songs of the Rigi, a legendary island tribe rumored once to have been seals.

After a fateful visit to the market in the seaside community of Downshore, Kat hears a song about the Rigi that she secretly sings to herself as she completes her daily chores. A few years later, when Kat is 15, she dares to sing the song out loud --- calling a young man out of the sea. He is an outcast as well; "killed" by his father and his tribe, he has no identity because his sealskin was destroyed as part of his exile. The Rigi is now named Nall. Kat frequently visits Nall after he is taken by Dai to live with Mailin, an elderly healer in Downshore. As Kat falls in love with Nall, her happiness is cut short when she discovers that her father has agreed to have his daughter be married off to the chief Leagueman's youngest son. Furious, Kat decides to run away from Upslope and live with her mother's family in the mountains.

Kat is considered an outcast there as well, but in comparison has a better life than in Upslope. A year later, she decides it's time to return to Upslope, Dai, her Downshore friends, and Nall. However, many things have changed, and Downshore and Upslope are now at war. Then Dai is taken prisoner and Kat decides that the only way to save him is to travel with Nall to the Gate. Kat soon begins to realize just how very different she is from Nall and yet how much they have in common. They are led on a fantastic, unimaginable adventure that will have far-reaching consequences for each of their contrasting worlds.

LISTENING AT THE GATE is a powerful saga about family, love and knowledge, and how --- like a tumultuous ocean --- each be changed in a single moment. Throughout the novel there are songs and folklore that reflect each of Kat's and Nall's changing worlds, which I found to be a creative idea and a great part of the story. While LISTENING AT THE GATE is a sequel to Betsy James's previous books, LONG NIGHT DANCE and DARK HEART, I found it to be just as memorable and well written as a stand-alone novel.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle (SdarksideG@aol.com)

Betsy James is a heck of a writer. This is an unputdownable book with great depth, a young adult book that reverberates on an adult level, and more - down to your toenails, as far as you want to take it. Each book in the series is kicked up a big notch. I had read the two previous books several years ago and read them again before the third came out, and I was still unprepared for "Listening at the Gate". It's a BIG BOOK - big in scope, big in ambition, big in imagination, big in emotional presence. No light snack - you better have an appetite!

I ran across a quote from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes recently that came to mind as I read the book: "A mind stretched by a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions." Nominally written for the young adult woman as a coming of age novel, it challenged me as a 58-year-old man and made me nervously, and excitedly, wonder how far I fall short of what I could possibly be. It is a potentially life-changing book, for an adolescent girl or young woman, or for an adult man or woman. I can't help but think that some adolescent girls and young women who have the courage to take it in will be bigger people as adults, more alive, more courageous, more aware. Some may be transformed for life, in their hearts and souls, not just their minds. The bar's a little higher even for me, and I'll reach a little farther.

One of the fascinating things about the book and the trilogy as a whole is that it creates a whole world of the imagination, peopled not just by a wide range of personalities, but by several whole and separate cultures in conflict with each other, thereby establishing the creative tension that makes the book so enthralling. The only thing I can think of to compare it with is William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County. The range of creative imagination in the book is amazing. Each culture comes full-blown with its own mythology, songs, and prejudices.

Weaving the book together throughout are dozens of poems, chants and songs that would stand alone as a wonderful book of poetry.
The book is a literary achievement, and a damn fun read, exciting as "The Da Vinci Code" but emotionally deeper and more real!

It's been a long wait for the third in the Seekers Chronicles, but worth the waiting and wondering. Listening at the Gate is a dense, chewy, odd-tasting at times experience of Kat's coming of age through a journey that tightropes over several cultures.
The sounds and scents of the warrenhouses, living and abandoned; the different ways of talking to and looking at each other that each distinct village allows its tribemembers; the bringing into present day a land and people of myth and misunderstanding, all caught and wrapped me up in a story whose end I couldn't guess. I loved the richness of this book, it has an honored place on my bookshelf.
And the Roadsouls made me wish that such a life was still possible.

Certainly not great literature (and not great editing), but this hilarious and fast-moving urban fantasy had me laughing out loud and wanting more. The excellent character and plot development makes the wonderfully absurd storyline almost credible and totally engaging. The chapters are short, making it light on the attention span, but it is so suspenseful that I was reading large chunks at a time and came to the end too soon. Fortunately, while most the loose ends are tied up, enough is left unresolved for a sequel. All in all, a lot of fun!

The unconventional characters and incredible plotlines that Millar embraces are an ingenious strategy that can serve to disarm any preconceived notions or defenses that a reader might bring to the arrangement. The resulting depth, realism, and very rare warmth exuded by these characters, are qualities carefully wrapped in narrative about fairies, hippies, ancient Greece and now werewolves. What adult in their right minds would pick up a copy of a book titled, "the Lonely Werewolf Girl" and read it in public? I will tell you, that these books are incredibly smart, and the characters experiences and attitudes are refreshingly honest, sad, funny, and always very touching. I used to get very frustrated that Millar was not getting the notoriety enjoyed by his contemporaries and followers (e.g., Giaman, Pratchett). On several occasions, these authors have even shared similar vexation! However, I have now become certain that he is exactly where he wants to be. Just like the lessons carefully woven-in for many of his fantastical characters, Martin continues to coerce us into taking a chance by embracing the ridiculous. The rewards to come are such a treasure and well worth red cheeks or an occasional sideways glance by a server at a restaurant.

Very good book. I told 2 other people about the book and they enjoy the book as well.

The first thing that hit me about this book was the richness of backstory and the sheer size of the cast of characters.

Although the plot centers around the titular lonely teen werewolf, Kalix MacRinnalch, she lives in a rich world populated with numerous other characters whose actions interfere with or drive important developments in the story. Fifteen-year-old Kalix is the youngest daughter of the Thane of the MacRinnalch Clan of werewolves. She's strong and she knows it, and she doesn't get along well with others--she escapes from the clan stronghold in Scotland and makes her way to London after almost killing her father in a fight. Addicted to laudanum and in poor shape, she is set upon by members of her own Clan who think she should pay for what she did to her father. Her older sister and London-based fashion designer, Thrix, helps her as best she can, but when Kalix sells the protective amulet Thrix gave her, she's easily discovered by other werewolves trying to hunt her down.

Kalix's attempts to escape the members of her clan who are trying to kill her lands her squarely in the path of Daniel, a normal university student in London who's never thought about anything like werewolves before. He and his roommate, Moonglow, do their best to protect Kalix and convince her that there are things worth living for, but outside forces intervene and place Kalix directly in the middle of MacRinnalch Clan politics.

This sprawling narrative can be unwieldy at times, and the large numbers of characters and situations initially may seem disjointed, but when the plots begin to intertwine and work together, the many different storylines coalesce into a whole that is better than the sum of its parts.

The beginning of the novel works to set up all of the information necessary for the reader to understand the world that Kalix and her friends and enemies move in, preparing the reader for the meatier middle scenes. The occasional rapid-fire scene shifts and point of view shifts were initially difficult, but these problems ironed themselves out as the ook progressed.

I was really impressed by the different characters portrayed throughout. Kalix is by no means the only one with depth; some of the other werewolves, paranormal creatures, and humans that she runs into are equally well-drawn, with their little quirks and amusing habits. Thrix, Kalix's older sister, is the werewolf enchantress, and yet she enjoys designing clothing, some of which appeals to buyers from alternate dimensions. Malveria, one of these customers, begins as what appears to be a comic character but ends up having a real impact on the plot later on. The politics of the MacRinnalch Clan are carried out by a large array of characters, each with their own distinct motivations and machinations.

LONELY WEREWOLF GIRL is not a simple read, but the complexity is part of the pleasure of reading this book.

Reviewed by: Candace Cunard

Like others, I bought this book on a whim at the airport and read it straight through. What a fun read! Maybe not for everyone, but if you are or ever were a fan of Gaiman, Vertigo Comics, Douglas Adams, etc., I think you'll love it. I haven't read this sort of thing in years, but LWG is great.

This is the first online book review I've ever been moved to write.

The story is sophisticated (few kids' books I know of dare first-person narration; fewer still go beyond a neatly-put-to-bed ending), yet it is both accessible to a young audience, and engaging for the adults.

The Lost Thing is cinematographic in its detailed, industrial-style illustations. The matter-of-fact storytelling about an extraordinary experience somehow add to the magic.

This is one of the books my kids will examine for ages, "reading" long before they can really read.

Wonderful.

The eerie illustrations are strangely appealing. However, I found the end to be anti-climatic.

The lost thing is about isolation and indifference. The hero of the story is a bottle-top collector that suddenly finds a very interesting thing and decides to help it find its place. It makes funny of our busy and boring day-to-day life, of how indifferent we are to what happens around us. I laugh aloud every time I read the book; Shaun's humor is so unique!

The story is told in a very special way, with lots of details in the graphics that must be observed carefully. The drawings are just wonderful; Shaun tan mixes the grey and yellow of the cities and adds a touch of color in the lost things. I believe that the book is a great adventure to children and adults alike, every reading brings new discoveries.

As the sub-title of the books reads: "A tale for those who have more important things to pay attention to".

Words could not describe the brilliance of this book...if only i could convey it through the wonderful images that Shaun Tan creates to convey much of his emotion. One of the best picture books I have ever seen. Shaun does it again!

I discovered Shaun Tan in my small town local library. I live in a rural farming community in Upstate NY. I found his book The Viewer and took it home. It wasn't long before I purchased my own copy of The Viewer and then went out to seek what else I could find that Shaun Tan had a hand in. I now own Memorial, The Red Leaf, The Viewer, The Lost Thing, and The Rabbits. I can sit for hours and look at these books. The Viewer invites me into the illustrations as if it was the actual viewer to the boy in the story. Shaun Tan has buried treasures hidden throughout. I have held 12 year old boys entranced when reading it to them.As for The Lost Thing, it is another of his marvelous books with illustrations that beg to be poured over and a text that begs to be pondered. I have shared this book and the others with children and adults. All of them become involved in the books.

This book was really good. It's a true diary from a girl, named Katie, who has to move to Paris with her family leaving her 4 best friends at home in Canada. The book starts by telling you that the girl that wrote this diary died suddenly in Paris, from a fast moving cancer. So, her mom was reading her diary and letters, while on the plane flying back to Canada, and decided it would be neat to make a book of her writings. The book really shows you through the life of a teenage girl. She loves to hang out with her older sister Christelle. And she loves her friends all SO much.

This is a very good book I would recommend it to anyone looking for a interesting book to read!

This was the best book I have ever read!!! LITERALLY I love this book and although it's sad, I'm so glad that Katie's mother let Julie publish it. This is truely an insperation to me and some of the friends that I have! I read this story to a friedns and a cousin and although my cousin is young she really enjoyed it. This book should a a Nobel Prize because it helped me to realize that friendship is really important to have with you and to help you through the rough and hard times. So I honestly know tat you will like this story because if I did then I know other people of my age and the backround I come from will really relate to some of the things that Katie was going through.

AFter I read this book I relized how much you need to savor your life and what friendship really means!Its really touching and will keep you reading until you finish this book!

From page one I became enthralled with the charactors of this book. Amazingly enough is the fact that these are not charactors but real people. It is the true story of a girl's last moments dialogued in her emails and letters to her friends. It reminded me alot of myself and my friends. I feel that many will identify with Katie. This book is a reminder to all that life can change in an instant and we must cherish those that are placed in our lives!

This is a wonderful book about friendship. A girl named Katie goes with her family to live in Paris for a year, but was going to return to Canada to graduate grade 12 with her friends. Katie and her friends; Ashley(who was her best friend), Maude and Heather kept in touch often through letters, e-mail or sometimes the phone. Katie always ended her letters with Ilove you, or Love you like a sister.(LYLAS) Ashley and Katie had just arranged for Ashley to visit w/ Katie, but then ... THIS BOOK ROCKED!!!

Making the Run is the best fiction book you could ever read. The characters are really memorable. They are their own person. They don't try to be someone they're not. They do their own thing and they don't care what other pepole think.
While living in Rainey, Lu has it rough. She lives with a single parent who's hardly home and never there for her when she needs them. She has had a dream of doing something she loves doing and then one night that all changes. Then she falls for someone that she has known since she was little.
This book just sounds so real. Once you start reading it, you won't be able to put it down. The more you keep reading on, the more it keeps you guessing and wanting to know what happens next. I think it's one of those books that would keep you guessing and wanting to know what happens next.
I would suggest this book to anyone who is having a hard time in their life. I loved this book so much. Out of most of the books that I have read, I wouls have to say this one was one of the best. This book reminds me of someone I'm really close to. My friend is pretty much going through things that Lu is going through.

In the book Making the Run author and first time novelist Henson shows a dramtic very different girl Lu. Lu lost her mother when she was little and witnessed the whole thing. Since then shes hated her father.Lu although somewhat messed up keeps her self busy with the help of her best friend Ginny and having her first real love,Jay, her older brothers band member. Lu has to deal with Ginny getting pregnant and her dad dating.Emotions start to going crazy and Lu always seems to be floating (from the drugs) a horrible tradgey tends to change Lu's life forever. Henson was writing this book to show that drugs may not always be the way to go. I recommend this book to teens mostly because it teachs you the way life is.

In this book there is a girl, Lu that doesn't exactly know how how to deal with life. With drinking,drugs,and sex she becomes caught up in a crazy world where she's constantly floating not really knowing anything except for one thing she wants to get out of Rainey, the small town shes stuck in, but when she find news about her best friend Ginny things start to change. After a horrible tradgedy, will she stay or leave....

Lulu or " Crazy Lu" is desperate to get out of a small town in Kentucky but is weeks away from graduation. She drowns out her sorrow through drugs, sex, and pictures. She has a keen eye for photography and is constantly wearing her camera around her neck, even when it's dark. When her stepbrother's old friend comes back, she falls in love. When her relationship becomes steamy, her brother and father disagree it results into abuse. At first she experiments with drugs with her best friend Ginny, then it becomes a daily ritual. Smoke. School. Smoke. Grams. Smoke. Jay's. Smoke. Drink. Bed. Making the run was a clever, enlightening, and truthful story.

I've read this book multiple times. It not sounds just like the typical life of a teenager, but it's kind of scary how close in personality the main character is to me. I've even gotten to the point where i'm underlining thing's she's said in awe that they are some of the same things i've said to other or even just myself at times. If you're my age, which is 16, soon to be 17, you'll love this book. If you're 20, you'll love this book, anyone will love this book because it's about a young girl who discovers herself, and we all have either gone through that, or are still going through that and because of that, everyone can relate.

I don't think I can describe what this book did for me twenty years ago. At an age when I didn't have any clue who I was in this world, let alone what drove me to be passionate, I was given this book in the library by a wonderful teacher and was immediately hooked. Not only did I realize my love to read (and be involved in what I was reading), this amazing love for books, but I realized my love of words. I had never known, to that point, that just mere words put together in sentences could bring about the same emotion as everyday life. I remember crying when Colin was abandoned! I remember running in to my mother and telling her all about it - sobbing! I knew then, at twelve, that I wanted to be a writer. I, too, wanted to really invoke in someone the love of books. Today I am an up and coming childrens book author, something I've worked hard for over the last twenty years and I attribute my realized and fulfilled dream to this book.

After reading this, I had my son read it, and my friend's daughter read it. I think all teenagers should read this book.

I first read this book when I was ten years old. It was my introduction to the fastasy genre, as up until then, I'd read primarily The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High.

At the time, I thought Colin was whiny and annoying, but I fell in love with the world he was in. When I read it again a year later as a pre-teen, I related to his heartbreak. Again a year after that, I saw how important it was to keep trying, even when everyone else has given up and try to discourage you so that you can join in their misery.

Colin starts out as a self-centered whiny boy, learns to keep going when others say it's impossible, help those in need, when to fight back and when to run, how to love another, mend a broken heart, and keep sight of a goal. Each group of people that Colin runs into faces a different challenge emotionally... and he grows up as a result.

I loved this book as a child, teen, adult, and now as a parent who recently introduced it to my own nine year old. He loved it for the same reasons I did and insisted that we buy a copy for his school library.

"Everybody should read this one Mom, not just the kids who are already readers."

When I first read this at age sixteen it instantly became one of my favorite books of all time. Being young and dumb I didn't realize the incredible depth of the book and even thought the plot was poorly structured, yet I felt there were hidden meanings in it and it facinated me more than any other book I owned. As I age I find greater and deeper meaning in it any read it at least twice a year. I hope it goes back into print someday so other people can enjoy it :)

Like other reviewers, I also read this book for the first time at the age of about ten or eleven, and since then have read it six or seven times. I'm not sure if it's the adventure story aspect of the book or the allegory that keeps me coming back to re-read it year after year. Now 26, I still find something new in the book every time I read it (significance of the color of the fruit?). I doubt that any book that I've read (and I've read many) has stayed with me and given me as much insight as this simple children's book.

Very, very highly recommended for all ages, especially pre-teens and teens. If the prices being asked here are too high, check public libraries in your area.

Meru Puri Vol. 2 is a great shojo manga. If you like romantic comedies then this manga is worth owning. Hino Matsuri did a great job. Buy it, seriously. You don't know what you are missing.

Take a school and a magical world, a fifteen-years-old girl who searches for true love, a bratty but cute little prince, connect them with a star-shaped mirror, add some idiot brother, a lot of misteries and - above all - love... and you'll have a very fresh and funny manga, definitely worth reading!
Plus, Matsuri-sensei's style is gorgeous, rich and sensual at the same time, so you won't be disappointed.
The icing on the cake is Viz's edition: best image editing, lettering, paper quality, image-printing.
I'm very happy with this item <3

Let me start off by saying that "MeruPuri" is one of the best manga I have ever read. I read the first volume at Borders several months ago and loved it, but I did not want to start buying a new series. Recently though, I found out that it was only four volumes long, so I immediately went out and bought it. And I'm really glad I did.

"MeruPuri" is a story about a girl named Airi who dreams of finding her soul mate and living a simple life with him, raising a family and appreciating the simple things in life. Things are going well, and Airi has found a boy named Nakaoji whom she thinks would be a perfect match for her. But things are about to change. One day, much to her chagrin, Airi's plans are disrupted when a little boy named Aram, who claims to be from the magical kingdom of Astale, appears from her heirloom mirror. He is rude and a little annoying, but cute, and he and Airi quickly become friends. The next day, Airi is shocked to find that a spell has transformed Aram into a handsome young man, and worse, he says that she is his "favorite", and only her kiss can return him to his original self. And it just gets better from there.

I absolutely fell in love with this series, mostly because of the characters and their relationships. Airi is a well-balanced heroine. She is not too whiny or perfect or unbelievably strong like the girls in a lot of the manga I read. I can easily relate to her. And you can't help but love Aram. He's a prince in every way, courageous and fair, but he's still acts childish. The romance between Airi and Aram is really sweet, it really has me hooked. The supporting characters all have personalities of their own and contribute to the story well.

This is also a pretty funny manga, especially when Aram looks like a teenager but acts like a child. Airi too, is humorous in her obsessive quest to find the perfect man.

The art is beautiful, and the story is very interesting and creative. I love all the fantasy elements. It's a bit of a cliched subject, but Matsuri uses original and fresh concepts.

I cannot reccommend "MeruPuri" strongly enough. Everything about it is absolutely wonderful. But don't take my word for it, read it for yourself! You won't be disappointed!

Tired of manga where guys are surrounded by hot girls who are all in love with him, a la Tenchi Muyo, Love Hina or Ranma 1/2? Try a manga where a girl is surrounded by a bunch of hot guys who love her. Toss in some magic, mirrors, and mayhem, and you have something of an idea of what MeruPuri is like.

Airi Hoshina searches tirelessly for the perfect man. She wants a family life just like the ones in her favorite soap operas. One day, whlie checking her appearance in her antique mirror, a boy climbs out of it. A cute little boy, too. He tells her his name is Aram and that he is a prince. Airi decides to take care of him because he has no place to go, but imagine her surprise when she finds out that he turns into a gorgeous teenager in the darkness, an appearance which can only be reverted by her kiss. This bizarre change is a side effect of a spell placed on Aram by his older brother, Jeile. After meeting Aram, Airi is constantly surrounded by...er...very NICE looking boys, like Aram, Jeile (Aram's goofy older half brother, caster of the spell), Nakaouji ( her prime suitor, the only non-magical one in the bunch), Raz (who doesn't love her but wants revenge on her over something that happened in the past), and Lei(also doesn't love her, just surrounds her because he is Aram's servant), but are any of them the perfect man she's always dreamed of?

Hino-sama's often funny, sometimes touching love/comedy/drama story is made even more appealing by her gorgeous, flowing artwork. The characters are, as a bonus, fleshed out and believeable, even though the story sometimes isn't. And, of course, the guys are all totally gorgeous.

If you like MeruPuri, try Hino-sama's other stateside published manga, Vampire Knight, which, though an entirely horse of a different color when compared to MeruPuri, is still very, very good.

I was given this 4 volume set by a 15 yro friend, I am 31. She said I would like it. AND I DO! - to the point that I wish there was an after story or even a movie. A movie off this book would be good.
Story is good; makes one want to turn the page.
Characters are good.
Illustrations are good.