This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

Author: Courtney Summers
Format: Paperback
Pages: 336
Date Published:  June 19 2012
Publisher: Saint Martins Griffin

Introduction
       The zombie apocalypse is here. Six kids have taken shelter in an old high school. While everybody else in the group is finding ways to fight for survival, Sloane Price is struggling to find a good reason to stay alive. Nothing in life is going right for Sloane. When she was to home, her father would beat her. The only thing that made life worth living was her sister Lily and their plans to run away together when Sloane got old enough. Six months ago, Lily ran away without her. With Lily gone her father was unbearable. When apocalypse came, Sloane left, and found 5 other kids, Rhys Cary, Harrison, Trace, and Grace. Now at the school, nobody is really ever in a good mood. Nothing looks good. Soon they will run out of water, eventually out of food, and they can never get enough sleep with all the zombies aching to get inside.

Cover
       The cover is pretty cool. I love the blood spatters in the corner.

Characters/Relationships
       The characters in this book are all pretty awesome. No huge complaints. Except, everybody gets super angry at Harrison for crying all the time. When in reality, that is probably what I would be like. I know that I wouldn't be the only one freaking out all the time. I mean, lets be real here, I can't handle a spider. I would not be brave in times like that.
       Rhys and Sloane might like each other, but in my opinion they were both just lonely. It was never super personal or serious.

Conclusion
      I really liked this book. It wasn't action, explosions, or all blood and gore. It tugs on your heart a little and you might end up shedding a tear, but you probably won't end up in a full out cry every time you read the book. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes zombies and is okay with sad elements. I wouldn't recommend this book to younger readers, as there is mention of sex and some clothes do get shed.

Testify By Valerie Sherrard

Author: Valerie Sherrard
Pages: 144
Date Published: August 4 2011
Publisher: Dundurn

Introduction
       Shana Temain and Carrie are best friends. So when Carrie comes to Shana saying that she is being molested by her stepfather, Shana knows that Carrie is telling the truth She will do whatever it takes to help her. Carrie convinces Shana to testify in court. Shana's testimony states that she saw Carrie's stepfather molest her. Which of course is a lie, but for a while Shana doesn't care about her lie. Especially after Carrie's stepfather ends up in jail. Now Shana just can't wait for everything to get back to normal with her group of friends. Unfortunately, that's not what happens. Carrie accuses Hayley, another one of Shana's friends of stealing. Everybody believes Carrie, but soon Carrie reveals some pretty nasty things that she claims Hayley said. Shana just wants to find out the truth, so she goes to talk to Hayley. As secrets become revealed, Shana begins to doubt how trustworthy Carrie really is.

Characters/Relationships
       I liked the characters in this Testify, although, it didn't tell you a lot about any of the characters besides Carrie, Shana, and Haley.
       There was no love story involved in this book. It does tell you about a past relationship that Shana had and how they broke up though.

Cover
       The cover to this book is a girl looking down, hiding her face. The cover is plain ans simple but very pretty.

Dislikes
       The book didn't go into very much detail about anything, if I remember correctly, It didn't even give a description of what the characters looked like, If it did it was very small. Like what the general weight of what the characters were. I don't really know what the characters were supposed to look like, but in my mind, I pictured Carrie, with very short brown hair, and I pictured Shana, tall with black hair. 


Conclusion

       Overall, Testify was a good book. Boys could read this book, although it only really has a few male characters. Most boys can't get past that though.