THE LIST by Siobhan Vivian - REVIEW

Nobody knows who writes "The List" each year. The Tradition has been passed on for years. The week before Homecoming "The List" appears with the names of the ugliest and the prettiest girls in each grade. Nobody has ever claimed to have written "The List." Years before the seal of the school was stolen and is used to officially emboss "The List." Each year it is passed on to someone else in secret. That person doesn't know who was the list maker before them, but then it is their turn to make "The List."

For the 8 girls on The List life changes dramatically during the week before Homecoming. This year Bridget Honeycutt is chosen as The Prettiest for the junior class. Immediately the pressure is on Bridget to look her best. This manifests in an eating disorder that she thought had been put behind her over the summer. But she is determined to fit into that smaller dress size by the end of the week. Jennifer Briggis becomes the first four-peat girl as ugliest. Her former best friend Margo was chosen as prettiest which puts her in the top running for Homecoming Queen. When Sarah finds her name on the ugliest list she is determined to fight back. She decides to not bathe for the entire week much to the disgust of the student body that have to be in classes with her. Each girl handles their fame or rejection in her own way, unfortunately letting The List change them whether for positive or negative. With one girl determined that this will be the last List EVER.

My Thoughts:

There were a few things that I disliked about this story. The cursing, the sexual situations, and the drinking/smoking. BUT, I think the story brought out a lot of how fragile young adult self-image can be. And then to have their flaws or assets brought out in public like "The List," how damaging it can be even to the most put-together teen. This was not a "feel-good" story, it didn't end with everyone experiencing their "happily ever after." High school is messy, egos and self-image are fragile and the author was able to show that in this story. And there were moments when friendships and relationships weathered the storm which made the story more palatable for me.


Sexual Content=Some sexual situations, but not graphic
Language Content=There were quite a few swear words peppered throughout including use of the "f" word
Other Content=Teens using alcohol and smoking cigarettes, partying

LOVE BITES(Vampire Kisses #7) by Ellen Schreiber-Review #4

Alexander’s best friend Sebastian shows up in Dullsville. Raven is happy that Alexander has someone his own kind to be with until Sebastian meets her best friend Becky. Sebastian is instantly infatuated and thinks himself in love. Becky is flattered but very much in love with her boyfriend Matt. Raven and Alexander decide to throw a party for Sebastian so that he can meet someone else to be the love of his life. What they don’t count on is the party being crashed by Trevor and his followers. What started out to be a small party turns into quite a blowout.


This installment of the Vampire Kisses series wasn’t my favorite. With the way this book ended with a cliffhanger hopefully the next installment will be more exciting.
This series is fairly clean. Very little language and just a bit of kissing.

SKELETON CREEK THE CROSSBONES by Patrick Carman-REVIEW

Sarah’s family has left Skeleton Creek. Leaving Ryan without his best friend. The town has benefitted from the gold found in the old dredge. Ryan’s father has purchased a fishing store which he insists Ryan spend his summer working in.


Ryan has a secret from the old dredge that he hasn’t revealed to anyone. He shares with Sarah a new clue for another mystery in Skeleton Creek.

Sarah’s parents agree to let her drive across country visiting family members on her way to CA for film school. Unbeknownst to them she is also hunting clues in this new mystery. The scary thing is that the ghost from the old dredge seems to be following Sarah.

Ryan is frustrated still being stuck in Skeleton Creek while Sarah once again deals with cemeteries in the middle of the night and the ghost turning up at odd times during her trek.

What mystery are they chasing and will it bring them harm before they solve it?

I liked this installment of the Skeleton Creek series but I was disappointed in the video’s this time around. Sarah is no longer showing herself in the video’s. I think it is for privacy purposes, but that is what made the other Skeleton Creek books more personable and frightening. Although the book was good it did lack the scariness of the other books. I still enjoyed reading the book and going online to watch Sarah’s video’s and look forward to the next installment of Skeleton Creek because of course we were left hanging at the end of the book.

AFTER by Amy Efaw - REVIEW

Devon is a young, athletic girl with a bright future as a soccer player. The Olympics have even been linked to her name. How could a girl like this end up doing something as horrible as throwing a newborn baby in the trash along with other refuse from around the house?

While canvasing the apartment building looking for information about the abandoned baby, a police officer finds his way to Devon’s door. Her mother, recently home from a night shift at Safeway, answers the door and starts her usual flirting. She informs the police officer that her daughter, Devon, stayed home from school that day because she was sick. It didn’t take long for the police officer to put two and two together.

Very quickly, Devon is thrust into a world she never imagined for herself. A world filled with kids with problems more complicated than she ever experienced. A world in a juvenile detention facility under observation 24 hours a day. A world without anyone she can call a friend.
The reader witnesses Devon’s story unfold piece by piece, almost as if we are understanding what transpired at the same time Devon does. What readers will find most amazing about the entire story is the level of denial Devon immerses herself in order to function everyday. Devon isn’t a likable character, mostly because of the strict discipline holds herself to in terms of school work and soccer. She rarely lets herself loose, which means people don’t know who she really is – including the reader.

I didn’t want to stop reading. I needed to find out what pushed Devon to do something so horrible. Through conversations with her lawyer in preparation for a trial to determine whether or not she’ll be judged in the juvenile system or be sent to the adult courts, we get a good pictures of what was going through Devon’s head.