The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop

This is a story about a boy named William. His house-keeper, Mrs. Phillips has worked for his family his entire life. But now she is going back to her home in England. He doesn't want her to leave but she leaves him with a toy castle. The soldier that comes with it is really real and his name is Sir Simon. One thing leads to another and William is in the world of castles and dragons where he has to complete his mission to get home and have everything return to normal.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun and interesting concept. I liked the writing and the characters. I would recommend this book to elementary aged children because it's an easier and shorter read and the story might interest them a little bit more as well.

I think I would rate this book a 8.5 out of 10 because it was really good, but it could have been longer and more detailed.

-Flounder

A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

I loved this book, it's a modern version of Sleeping Beauty. I found the story fun and thrilling, and the writing really pulled me in. There were some parts, missunderstandings of course, that bothered me- because I am so against missunderstandings. I mean seriously! Just tell the flat out truth instead of hinting and people will understand! Most of the time.
Anyway, I think this was a wonderful and sweet romance. I'd recommend it to people who like romance, or the theme of re-telling classic fairy tales.
I'd rate this book a 9/10
~Mushu



Wow. I saw this on the blog as one of Mushu's top books and I thought I should probably give it a go. Well let me just tell you that this book was AH MAZ IN! I loved it! It's totally a princessy book (Sleeping Beauty to be exact) and it was just super awesome. I loved how the author mixed a classic princess story with reality and had his own twist to the fairy tale. This is just the cutest book ever. The first few chapters are from the perspective of a girl who lived a really long time ago so she talks differently than we do which is probably the reason why my sister started reading this book and didn't really like it.

I would probably rate this book a 9.6/10 because it wasn't perfect but it really was an amazing book! I would recommend it to anyone who likes romance and fairy tales with twists.

-Flounder

The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper

This was a cute story that really caught me with its summary. The Juliet Club is actually a real place by the way. So this is where people send letters asking for love advice from Juliet (the girl from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare). Kate vows to never fall in love again after getting dumped. That summer, she goes to a Shakespeare symposium. There, Kate just might fall in love with the wonderous Giacomo (especially because she's staying where Romeo and Juliet were set to be together).
This book was really amazing. The author expressed everything really well, the plot kept me going, and never made me just want to quit and overall, it was like an exciting adventure.
I'd suggest this to people who like seemingly hopeless romances, or just like Romeo and Juliet
And I'll rate this a 10/10
~Mushu

Destined by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Well... I was looking forward to this book, I've just finished it and... wow. Sad. It's not the last book. Darn. How I'd rate this whole series... is going down. I'm not exactly thrilled with the House of Night anymore. But when I rate this, I'll rate the book. Not the series. Though for the series, I'd rate it 6.25/10

I'm constantly shocked at the amazing writing ability the Casts have. They can write like, half a book, and it seems like nothing happened (of course, something did- but yeah). I just love how well they write, but I'm not sure I'm liking their plots anymore. First of all: ew. The bad guy is together with a bull. There's also a bunch of other disturbing romances. Maybe just not my age? But some of them are so weird.
Compared to the more recent books, I'm very happy with how Destined turned out. Some of the problems are being tied up, bad guys are turning out good, the truly bad ones are being found out- I'm very happy.
*Alright, SPOILER ALERT(the summary): Zoey and the Nerd Herd are finally settling down- kind of- and now Zoey's preparing to face off with Neferet, while dealing with the recent death of her mother. All around her, everyone seems to be experiencing their own problems too. Rephaim must turn away from his own father and make sure he stays with good, Stark has major troubles sleeping, the Twins aren't getting along, and Stevie Rae's more than a little protective of Rephaim. And there's still more...* END OF SPOILER
I'll recommend this to mature people and those who've read the rest of the series.
I rate this book a 8.3/10
~Mushu

The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler

I loved this book! It's a tale of a girl who finds out she's a mermaid and the story of everything that comes with it. I don't want to spoil the plot so I won't say any more except that you have to read this book!

I would recommend this book to people who like fantasy.. like realistic fantasy if that makes any sense. This is a story of our world and the world under the water. I would also recommend this to someone of a lower reading level because it's sort of an easy read, but also to anyone who wants a day book that could easily be read in one day.

I would rate this book a 10/10 because it was well written, the plot was exciting, the characters were great and I just have nothing against the book.

-Flounder

Matched by Ally Condie

Hm. Read this quite some time ago.
Matched was a dramatic book that I did enjoy quite a bit. The story is set in the future, and like what seems to be a theme for futuristic stories, the area which the main character lives is a controlled one, kind of like The Giver. A fantasy for the future.
The writing was good, the plot was interesting, the cover was really nice, I just really didn't like the characters personalities. I also hated the ending since it was super dissapointing.
The squel is called Crossed. Which I suggest reading as soon as you finished Matched. Except I am much too upset to want to relive in this world.
You should try going on the site after reading the book. It's super creepy (kind of).-->  matched-book.com
I'll recommend it to people who like a hopeless romance, and scientific stuff...
I rate this book a 5/10
~Mushu

The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas

There are three books in this series:
The Magic Thief
The Magic Thief: Lost
The Magic Thief: Found
Overall, I very much enjoyed this series. Whenever I was about to start reading one of the books, I was always hesitant. But then I would be pulled right in and wouldn't be able to put the book down.
It's about a gutterboy named Conn. After he steals the locus stone of a wizard, Nevery, he becomes very much involved with magic himself.
Specifically, I'd like to write a review on the third (and final, I think) book- Found.
I can't tell you specifically about this book, because then that might ruin the other two books. IT is a very good one though. I suggest all three books and highly suggest reading them in order. I liked this book all the way until the end. The story wraps up really well, and it's pretty much happy; but I'm a little bit confused. I think the author was trying to describe something without flat out saying it- which didn't work for me. If I'm right and this was a nice, happy ending, I still think it was a tad open. Even if most issues were wrapped up.
I rate this book a 7.4/10
I rate this series a 8.258/10 because... I can't really decide on a good number. even this doesn't seem good enough...
~Mushu

2012 is here

Hey guys, did you have a good new year? It's 2012! I hope you all had a good year in 2011 and that you'll have an even better year in 2012. Enjoy!

-Flounder