This story is about 12 year old Rump-who was only given half his name before his mother died. In his town your name is your destiny - and his name is a joke. Orphaned young Rump lives with his elderly grandmother and must work in mines to find gold like everyone else. Then Rump discovers that he has inherited his mother's ability to spin straw into gold - something that his grandmother hid from him. Rump experiments with his magic, but soon find that a price comes with it. Soon Rump is forced to go on a journey and find his name and try to fix the mistakes his magic has caused. This book is a twist on the fairy-tale Rumpelstiltskin. I found it very entertaining, and there were plot twists at every corner-even though I was familiar with the classic tale and knew the general outcome of the story. The author was very creative in how she stayed true to elements of the original, but also put her own spin on the story. I recommend this book to anyone who loves fairy-tales and even those who don't. This book is great for middle grade aged kids who love adventures and fantasy, although I believe older people will also enjoy it. Overall, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars

This story is about 12 year old Rump-who was only given half his name before his mother died. In his town your name is your destiny - and his name is a joke. Orphaned young Rump lives with his elderly grandmother and must work in mines to find gold like everyone else. Then Rump discovers that he has inherited his mother's ability to spin straw into gold - something that his grandmother hid from him. Rump experiments with his magic, but soon find that a price comes with it. Soon Rump is forced to go on a journey and find his name and try to fix the mistakes his magic has caused. This book is a twist on the fairy-tale Rumpelstiltskin. I found it very entertaining, and there were plot twists at every corner-even though I was familiar with the classic tale and knew the general outcome of the story. The author was very creative in how she stayed true to elements of the original, but also put her own spin on the story. I recommend this book to anyone who loves fairy-tales and even those who don't. This book is great for middle grade aged kids who love adventures and fantasy, although I believe older people will also enjoy it. Overall, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars

A Time to Die is one of my new favorite books. Nadine Brandes's narrative is a wonderful balance of description, action and dialogue that really brings Parvin's world to life. And the concept behind the book is really unique and Brandes pulls it off beautifully. The whole idea is that every person is given a clock at birth, that counts down to the person's death. But Parvin Blackwater has been sharing a clock with her twin brother, both managing to evade the authorities questions. But the clock runs out in less than a year - and the twins don't know who it belongs to. Parvin believes it is her clock, and decides she wants to do something with the rest of her life - a quest that ends with her being thrown through the Wall ( a death sentence). She surprisingly survives, finds a whole other civilization and now must struggle to survive and fit in in this new world. There were twists and turns and amidst it all is Parvin's struggle to figure out what her faith to God truly means, and figure out the secrets her brother has kept from her. I recommend this book to dystopian and fantasy fans, as well as people who enjoy reading Christian fiction. I recommend this to middle school ages and above. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Bad Kitty is the first book of the popular comic series about Kitty, a mischievous cat who gets up to a lot of trouble. Like the others of the series, Bad Kitty is a funny and easy read. In this book Kitty ends up getting sent to camp...a camp for dogs that is. Will this new adventure end in disaster? Or will Kitty survive the wilderness? I would recommend it to elementary school kids. I think some middle grade kids would like it as well, it is just a little below their reading level. I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Every few years two children are taken in the middle of the night - the best and the worst. Years later they appear as characters - as heroes and villains -in fairytale books that appear in the town. Sophie has dreamed of going to the School for Good and becoming the perfect princess. But her best friend Agatha is completely opposite from her, with a fondness for black clothes and cats, and keeps to herself. Everyone assumes that she will the other child taken from the village, but will attend the School for Evil. But things are completely turned upside down and both girls are out of their element when they are switched. Sophie is forced into the School for Evil and Agatha is a student at the School for Good. All Agatha wants to do is go home. All Sophie wants is to be taken to her true school, and win the heart of her true love. Will their friendship survive as they are set against one another? Will they find what they both think is their happily ever after? Or was the mistake really not a mistake at all? The School for Good and Evil is one of my new favorite books! Going into reading it, I thought that the concept wouldn't be pulled off right, but I was wrong, and it was amazing! My favorite part was definitely watching the character growth of Agatha and Sophie, as well as their interactions with the characters around them. It really pulled me into the character's heads, and I never was bored, I always wanted to keep reading. I love reading books about fairytale stories, and I thought this was a really original tale about how fairytales come about. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to fairytale and fantasy lovers.

Every few years two children are taken in the middle of the night - the best and the worst. Years later they appear as characters - as heroes and villains -in fairytale books that appear in the town. Sophie has dreamed of going to the School for Good and becoming the perfect princess. But her best friend Agatha is completely opposite from her, with a fondness for black clothes and cats, and keeps to herself. Everyone assumes that she will the other child taken from the village, but will attend the School for Evil. But things are completely turned upside down and both girls are out of their element when they are switched. Sophie is forced into the School for Evil and Agatha is a student at the School for Good. All Agatha wants to do is go home. All Sophie wants is to be taken to her true school, and win the heart of her true love. Will their friendship survive as they are set against one another? Will they find what they both think is their happily ever after? Or was the mistake really not a mistake at all? The School for Good and Evil is one of my new favorite books! Going into reading it, I thought that the concept wouldn't be pulled off right, but I was wrong, and it was amazing! My favorite part was definitely watching the character growth of Agatha and Sophie, as well as their interactions with the characters around them. It really pulled me into the character's heads, and I never was bored, I always wanted to keep reading. I love reading books about fairytale stories, and I thought this was a really original tale about how fairytales come about. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to fairytale and fantasy lovers.

Mangus Chase: The Sword of Summer was as equally entertaining and well-spun as Riordan's other series. He puts a modern twist on Asgardian gods, adding to the collection of his Greek, Roman, and Egyptian series. This time though, Riordan took a fresh new spin. For one, the POV was a mix of first person and second person, which really drew me into the story. Another thing that was really awesome was that within the first few chapters Magnus Chase, the main character, dies! And yet his story continues in an amazing way, as he realizes he needs to go on a quest to avoid Ragnarok (which is the end of the Asgardian worlds). But it was such a unique way to tell Magnus's story, and I love how Riordan gives us a new perspective on the regular structure of an adventure story. I recommend this book to middle grade and young adult age groups, especially those who enjoy adventure stories in the modern world, and to those who enjoy Riordan's other books. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Mangus Chase: The Sword of Summer was as equally entertaining and well-spun as Riordan's other series. He puts a modern twist on Asgardian gods, adding to the collection of his Greek, Roman, and Egyptian series. This time though, Riordan took a fresh new spin. For one, the POV was a mix of first person and second person, which really drew me into the story. Another thing that was really awesome was that within the first few chapters Magnus Chase, the main character, dies! And yet his story continues in an amazing way, as he realizes he needs to go on a quest to avoid Ragnarok (which is the end of the Asgardian worlds). But it was such a unique way to tell Magnus's story, and I love how Riordan gives us a new perspective on the regular structure of an adventure story. I recommend this book to middle grade and young adult age groups, especially those who enjoy adventure stories in the modern world, and to those who enjoy Riordan's other books. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.