It's the future. Kat Falls’ second book, Rip Tide, takes place in a world where sea levels have risen and half of the world’s population have been driven out of their homes. So now, most people live underwater. Selling kelp and diving for sunken treasure, Ty’s family has it pretty good. Until one day, while making a trade with the captain of Drift, one of the largest townships in the ocean, Ty’s parents get kidnapped. With his close friend Gemma, a girl who ran away from her home on the surface, Ty tries to track down Shade, Gemma’s brother, and ask for his help. But Ty soon learns that this is not the only problem. Someone is anchoring townships, causing the hundreds of people inside to either suffocate or freeze to death. Searching the vast corners of the ocean, and encountering new allies and enemies, they soon find out that the REAL enemy is the one you never expect. I enjoyed both Dark Life and Rip Tide, both give a fun and adventurous look at the ocean, and also a sort of precautionary warning about what COULD happen if sea levels get too high. But read Dark Life first, because you'll be really confused about what's going on if you don’t This book is jam-packed full of twists and turns, and definitely a must-read.

Inheritance by: Christopher Paolini Reviewed by: Nick Drown Gr. 7 “Inheritance” by Christopher Paolini takes place in the ancient realm of Alagaesia where a hero’s struggle for the final battle against his antagonist Galbatorix - the evil king of Alagaesia - may or may not be successful. The kingdom of Alagaesia is a lot like the middle ages in the sense that there are castles and dragons, swords and shields. Elves, Dwarves, Urgals, and Ra’Zac roam the kingdom and make their civilizations throughout the Empire. The hero is Eragon and he is struggling to win the war against Galbatorix. Many times he has tried to thwart the mad king’s plans, and many times he has failed. Galbatorix is a usurper and his people live in fear. Eragon hopes to stop Galbatorix’s reign of terror by overthrowing him. Galbatorix seems to be winning the battles with the laughing dead - men who can feel no pain. Eragon must beat him or the Varden will die. Even though they are winning, the Empire is very worried. Galbatorix is insane, and the Varden have ACTUALLY captured two of their strongest cities: Gil’ead and Dras-Leona. The, Empire send out hundreds - even THOUSANDS of men but the Varden win most of the battles no matter what the odds. Now, because of a werecat’s prophecy, Eragon must journey to the Rock of Kuthian in order to find the power that will help him fight against Galbatorix. This could very well be the turning point of the war. What he finds there is legendary, perhaps even more than he can handle. He finds his true name and unlocks the Rock of Kuthian, which is the Vault of Dragon Souls, but, can he control what he finds? Saphira, Eragon’s great dragon, is one of the three dragons left on Alagaesia after Galbatorix’s purge and almost Extinction of Dragons. Saphira battles the two other dragons, Thorn and Shruikan, endangering her safety and the safety of her race. With two Dragons against her, can Saphira defeat her foes? However, unfortunately, if she kills them, she is the last of her kind. “Inheritance” by Christopher Paolini is a truly wonderful book and is full of action, adventure, suspense, and surprises that are unforgettable.

This is Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare...By: Darren Shan. This book contains thrilling and exciting passages which leaves you hungry for more when you close the cover. The story is set in a town, an old library, a school, the hospital, Steve's house & Darren's house. During day & night for two weeks. As the main character Darren Shan is the protagonist. While overtime his best friend Steve Leonard becomes the antagonist because of not being able to become a vampire. The two conflicts are that Steve turns his back on Darren and will probably never change from that, and After becoming the new person he thinks he is, Darren won’t do something that'll keep him alive, because he thinks it will change him from being human emotionally. Darren had to fake death. The turning point in the book would be when Darren does something that will change his life forever. I love this book and probably buy the whole series because of how wonderful the storyline went.

Inheritance by: Christopher Paolini Reviewed by: Nick Drown Gr. 7 “Inheritance” by Christopher Paolini takes place in the ancient realm of Alagaesia where a hero’s struggle for the final battle against his antagonist Galbatorix - the evil king of Alagaesia - may or may not be successful. The kingdom of Alagaesia is a lot like the middle ages in the sense that there are castles and dragons, swords and shields. Elves, Dwarves, Urgals, and Ra’Zac roam the kingdom and make their civilizations throughout the Empire. The hero is Eragon and he is struggling to win the war against Galbatorix. Many times he has tried to thwart the mad king’s plans, and many times he has failed. Galbatorix is a usurper and his people live in fear. Eragon hopes to stop Galbatorix’s reign of terror by overthrowing him. Galbatorix seems to be winning the battles with the laughing dead - men who can feel no pain. Eragon must beat him or the Varden will die. Even though they are winning, the Empire is very worried. Galbatorix is insane, and the Varden have ACTUALLY captured two of their strongest cities: Gil’ead and Dras-Leona. The, Empire send out hundreds - even THOUSANDS of men but the Varden win most of the battles no matter what the odds. Now, because of a werecat’s prophecy, Eragon must journey to the Rock of Kuthian in order to find the power that will help him fight against Galbatorix. This could very well be the turning point of the war. What he finds there is legendary, perhaps even more than he can handle. He finds his true name and unlocks the Rock of Kuthian, which is the Vault of Dragon Souls, but, can he control what he finds? Saphira, Eragon’s great dragon, is one of the three dragons left on Alagaesia after Galbatorix’s purge and almost Extinction of Dragons. Saphira battles the two other dragons, Thorn and Shruikan, endangering her safety and the safety of her race. With two Dragons against her, can Saphira defeat her foes? However, unfortunately, if she kills them, she is the last of her kind. “Inheritance” by Christopher Paolini is a truly wonderful book and is full of action, adventure, suspense, and surprises that are unforgettable.

Gym Candy is a book with an emotionally strong ending. This book is about an eighth grader named Mick Johnson(protagonist). He goes through a series of tests like the 40 yard dash and stats in a scrimmage. His friends Drew and Deshawn are trying to get on the varsity team too. Mick is trying to beat the best running back in tryouts Matt Drager(antagonist). He has better stats than every other running back except Drager. Mick tries as hard as he can to be the first string running back. Mick makes the varsity team, but he is second string. His dad is happy with the results. During the season the whole team was working out in the school weight room Matt Drager and one of his friends come in and Matt's friend hold on to Mick and Matt punches him in the gut multiple times. The reason why he did that is because Matt wanted the starting spot on the team. Matt got kicked out of school and off the team after that so Mick got the starting spot. In the championship ship game against Foothill high school Mick played the whole game. He took handoffs, pitches, tosses and screen passes. Then toward the end of the game Mick and his offense where 4th down and goal. Coach downs told drew to hand the ball off to Mick for a dive. On the field when Drew snapped the ball he handed it off to Mick and Mick thought he had the winning touchdown, but one of Foothill's best linebacker tackled Mick behind the goal line and the game was over Foothill had won the championship. Later that summer at Mick’s house, Mick’s dad told him that his company got into a partnership with Popeyes gym and he said that he could get Mick a free membership. Mick says sure. He goes to Popeyes and he checks in. His dad also got Mick a personal trainer. Mick meets his personal trainer Peter Voltz and talks to him gets to know him and sets his workout schedule. After Mick’s first workout, Peter takes Mick to the back room and tells him about steroids. Peter gets Mick hooked up with a stack of steroids Like Dianabol (D-bol) and injection steroids. After starting the stack his trainer enhances the difficulty of Mick's workouts. It pays off. At the start of the season Mick was bigger and stronger than ever. After he started the steroids he was smashing through his team's number one defensive line like no one is in front of him! I like this book because the ending is very strong and emotional and teaches a good life lesson that it is never good to cheat, play with your own skill and not rely on other things. Will this be Mick's big break or will his accomplishments all fall apart. Find out in Gym Candy by Carl Deuker.