The Tiffin By Mahtab Narimhan

Author Mahtab Narsimhan
Pages: 192
Year Published 2011
Publisher: Dancing Cat Books

Introduction
       In Bombay, a pregnant teenager is forced to rely on tiffins (Lunch boxes with warm food inside) and dabbawallas (The people that deliver the tiffins) to get a very important letter to her boyfriend. She trusts that the letter, tucked inside tiffin will reach him. After all, a tiffin rarely gets lost.
       The story centers around a twelve year old orphan boy named Kunal. He works as a slave for Mrs. Seth and Sethji. Each day one thing puts a smile on his face. Seeing an old dabbawalla named Vinayak.  Vinayak understands what Kunal is going through and offers Kunal a place to stay if things ever get too bad. Kunal quickly takes him up on his offer. Before leaving though, Mrs. Seth gives him one piece of information: His mother is alive and is living in Bombay. Now Kunal only has one thing on his mind. Finding his mother. First, he needs a job. Vinayak is trying his hardest to get Kunal a job as a dabbawalla but in the meantime he is stuck with a job at another restaurant. He soon figures out a plan. All he needs to do is send a note in every tiffin asking to meet his mother. Now all he has to do is get a job as a dabbawalla. Unfortunately, Vinayak is unable to get Kunal a job due to his family situation. Just as Kunal has lost all hope, the dabbawalla leaders agree that although they can't let Kunal become a dabbawalla, they can send some notes in the tiffins. A small glimmer of hope lives inside Kunal once again. But now the only thing he can do is hope for a reply.

Characters/Relationships

       Kunal at some points was a little unrealistic about finding his mother. Luckily he has Vinayak to keep him from getting his hopes up too much. I have say that throughout the whole book, Vinayak was my favorite character. He cares about Kunal a lot more that Kunal actually realizes. Vinayak can seem kind of mean sometimes but everything he does is for Kunal's own good in the end.
       No love story involved in this book. And no past relationships with anybody mentioned.

Conclusion
       Overall, this book was alright. I probably won't pick up this book for a second read. I was able to stick with it to the end, but it just wasn't as promising as I thought it was going to be. Boys and girls could read this book, either gender could enjoy it

       
       

Variant By Robison Wells

Author: Robison Wells
Pages: 373
Date Published: October 4 2011
Publisher: Harperteen

Introduction

      Benson Fisher is wishing to get away from his life as a foster child. When he gets accepted to Maxfield  Academy he couldn't be more thrilled to finally have a chance to have friends and settle into a place for more than a few months at a time. Once arriving he finds out that the school is blocked by a wall, and separated by miles of forest from any sign of civilization. That's not all. No phones, Internet access, or adults. You get no contact with anybody outside of the school. Even though there are no adults, there are still rules and still punishments. The biggest rules are, no sex, no violent fights, No refusing punishments, and trying to escape.  if you break any of those four rules you end up in detention. Those who go to detention don't come back. After hearing all of this though, all that is on Benson's mind is escaping this weird school. No matter how many people try to convince Benson that it is was a lot worse before the students spit up into gangs. The society, the people that want to be follow the rules, Havoc, the people that want to cause trouble, and Variant or the V's. They are the people that hate the school and want to escape, but generally follow the rules. Benson joins the V's. He makes friends and fits in fine. He even grows close to a girl in his gang named Jane. he even finds himself having fun. Until, finding out a secret that the school had kept hidden since it was built. Now that he knows the secret he has no doubt in his mind that he has to get out of the school.


Cover
       The cover to variant is a boy and a girl walking in the woods. The boy has his back turned, but girl is looking backwards. Most of the cover is sort of blurred out. I liked this cover a lot because it the way the cover is blurred out is mysterious just like the story is.

Characters/Relationships
       In the book you learn about many members of all the different gangs. Mainly the people in the V's. Benson himself is a little stubborn and rebellious at times. He was a pretty believable character. Two of my favorite characters in the book were Lily and Curtis. Lily has only been at the school for a few months and is also very content about leaving. She wasn't in the book a whole lot when she is it is mostly when they are  playing paintball. My other favorite character was Curtis. He always helped Benson and always forgave Benson when he had done something stupid to jeopardize the safety of the gang.

       As I said before Benson gets quite close to Jane and at one point takes her to a dance. The relationship didn't last long at all though. Other than Benson and Jane, Curtis and another girl in the V's named Carrie are also dating. You don't hear much about this couple but Benson always sees the holding hands and walking together

Conclusion
       Variant was an amazing book that kept me interested to the very last page. The characters were believable and very easy to connect to. I highly recommend this book.
     

Endure By Carrie Jones

Author: Carrie Jones
Pages: 262
Date Published: May 8 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury

Introduction
       Nick isn't the same anymore. He can't get over the fact that Zara is now a pixie. Sadly, that's the least of Zara's problems. The end of the world is near, and Zara doesn't know how to prevent it. That is until being attacked by a women who in half rotting while on a patrol. She is the leader of Hel, a place for people that die from old age and sickness go. They suspect she knows how to stop the end from happening. After doing lots of online research they find out how to get to Hel, to talk to the half rotting lady who is also named Hel. They believe that the way to get to is in Iceland. It isn't that easy though. It leads them to a top of a volcano. Once they reach Hel, Zara is given a choice. She could see one person that she never thought she would ever get to see again, Or reveal how to stop the end from happening. For the final time the fate of the world rests in Zara's hands.

Cover

       The cover of the final book in the need series is a gold eye, with some swirly type designs in the background. It's pretty, but I don't think it's as pretty as the other ones were. maybe it's the fact that the face is sideways, or the designs in the background. I'm not entirely sure, I liked the other ones more.
Characters/Relationships
       Devyn is not in the book very much since he stays in Bedford with his parents. Betty stays in Bedford as well, and prepares for the pixie's attack.       
       Nick is not the same as he was before. Nick and Zara have stopped dating. There was no official breakup but it is obvious that she and Nick are no longer a couple. It's kind of sad Zara does love Nick and it is hard for her to let go. She wishes for nothing more than for Nick to love her again. After all, it was one of her biggest fears when she went to get Nick back from Valhalla. 


Conclusion 
       Endure was a fantastic book full of big decisions. Zara kept me entertained for the final time in the ending of the Need series.

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.

Entice By Carrie Jones

     

Author: Carrie Jones
Pages: 266
Date Published: January 23 2011
Publisher: Bloomsbury
    
Introduction 
       Zara changed into a pixie queen to get Nick back from Valhalla. No matter what the cost she needs to get him back. Only, she doesn't actually know how to get to where Nick is. She does get many leads throughout the book with the help of her new king Astley. The first one brings them all the way to Iceland. Then to a bar. Last to Astley's freaky mother's house in New York. Finally the pixie council gives them the answer they need to get to the land of the gods. Now that Zara knows how to get to Valhalla, all she needs to do is convince the gods that Nick is needed more in Bedford more than he is needed in Valhalla  to fight the biggest war that may end the world.

Cover
       This book has two covers. On the cover of the book that  I borrowed had golden finger nails on the side of a face. The other cover that the book can have is Zara  blowing gold dust out of her mouth. In the background of the one that I had is what looks like smoke. On the bottom corner of the other edition is a small golden  tree. I think that they are both very pretty and I can't decide which one I like more.

Character/Relationships
       Zara still cares a lot for Nick but has put much of her trust in Astley. She has stopped doubting him even though many people in Zara's life are still skeptical about whether or not he is trying to set them up. Zara's mom comes up to Bedford. It is the first time she has seen her daughter since she turned pixie. Zara's mother expresses a lot of hate toward Astley for changing Zara. I can't really blame her. But the hate becomes so strong that Zara is convinced that her mother doesn't love her anymore.

Conclusion
       Entice was a very good book and was defiantly worth reading. At some points I found myself wishing that Zara would see that she was taking the whole, "We need Nick" and "I miss Nick" thing a little bit too far. Zara looses a lot of people and pixies in this book. At one point in the book Zara's mother says that one boy is not worth loosing all the people that she loves. I almost agree with her.

Captivate By Carrie Jones

Author: Carrie JonesPages 273
Date Published: January 5 2010
Publisher: Bloomsbury

Introduction

       In the Second book in the Need series, Zara's problems are far from over. She finds a wounded pixie in the woods about to die. Being the way that she is, she can't just walk away and let anything die. She saves the pixie but soon finds out that he is more than just a pixie. He is a pixie king. He wants to fight Zara's biological  father for his territory and his pixie's. To do that though, he will need to be a queen to make him stronger. If Zara were to become his queen, her being part pixie would make the whole process much easier. Of course she completely resents the idea of becoming a pixie, let alone becoming a queen. As things begin to fall apart in her life, she begins think that becoming a pixie queen may be the only way to hold things together.

Characters/Relationships
       The new pixie kings name is Astley. I find him a better character than Nick is. He is nice and always calm and respects Zara and the decisions she makes.
       Issie and Devyen finally starts to acknowledge that they like each other. (Yay!) Plus Devyn's injury is makes a lot of progress throughout the book which is fantastic because in Need he was in a wheelchair.

Cover
       The cover of this is a gold eyelid with a gold tear running down a cheek. I like it because does have some sad moments in the book (Don't worry it has happy moments too.) I think I liked the cover of Need a little better though. I think it is because of the trees is the bottom of the Need cover that makes me like more.


Conclusion
Captivate was an excellent it held my interest.Though this book did lack some of the creepy elements that Need had.

The Town That Drowned By: Reil Nason

Author: Riel Nason
Pages: 288
Date Published: October 7 2011
Publisher: Goose Lane Edition

Introduction
       When survey stakes appear around the town of Haventon people assume it is because the Haventon bridge is going to be replaced. Unfortunately that is not the case. A dam is going to be built. Once the dam is being built the town will slowly begin to flood. Everything will eventually be underwater. Everybody in the town is forced to move into a new town that is being built over the next three years. People are very reluctant to leave the town where they had grown up. 14 year old Ruby watches as her town becomes empty right before her eyes.


Cover
       I don't like the cover on this book. It's because of the face that the girl that I assume is Ruby is making. Personally I don't like when book covers have a close up of a face as the cover.


Characters/Relationships
       My favorite character in this book is Mr. Cole the elderly man that Ruby works for. I love how nice and awesomely generous he is. I spent a lot of time feeling bad for Percy in the book people judge him because he doesn't like things to change, and they bully him because he cries a lot.
       Ruby does get into a relationship when she meets Troy. Only a small part of the book has Troy in it though, because his father is a antique dealer and is only in town for the for a few weeks here and there for his father to buy things. Then he returns to Kingston where he lives.

Dislikes
       The book tells you a lot about stories that happened in the past. I wouldn't mind so much if these stories actually came up again and served a purpose, but many of them don't . Most of them are just pointless stories that are never really acknowledged later in the book.

Conclusion
       Overall I didn't like this book very much. It didn't hold my interest like I thought it would. A boy could read this book too. But I can't say which gender would like it more.