Name: A League of Their Own

Cast: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty

Director: Penny Marshall

To begin with, A League of Their Own is a movie based on history; it has thoroughly introduced the circumstances, the nature and the thoughts about women’s baseball team a long time ago. American’s baseball teams were based on males, but however, as war started, men went to fight. American lost a good population of baseball players, being unable to accomplish a baseball team until World War II came to an end. In the hope of reestablishing baseball and bringing back to the American population, the Americans established a women’s league, where women qualified and were chosen to compete for a baseball team. The American population, like many other countries in the past, assumed women weren’t talented in sports like baseball. They believed there was no need to watch them compete, as there was scarcely any Americans at the start of the women’s league as the audience. Two women/ girls who made it/ partook in the women’s league as a member/ participant were Dottie and Kit. As sisters, rivalry developed/ arose between both; Kit was jealous of Dottie, her older sister’s beauty, popularity in public and her skills/ talents in baseball. This women’s league was recognized as the Peaches. The Peaches made it to the World Series, but days before, Kit was traded onto another team. At the World Series, the Peaches and Kit’s team were the two competitors. Near the very end, Dottie, who was the pitcher, was thrown off/ pushed to the ground by Kit as she ran towards home run. The ball, initially caught by Dottie rolled off her hands, allowing the opponents to be recognized as the winners.

From my point of view, I find this movie to be a little funny. Overall I liked the movie, and I enjoyed watching it.

Vol. Hrs. 11/ 30mins

Remember The Titans
Starring:Denzel Washington, Will Paton, Wood Harris, etc
Director:Boaz Yakin

Remember the Titans remains as a memorable and a movie of significant importance in my heart, as it has brought great impact in my life and to the many people who have watched this unforgettable and exalted movie. The scenes that share great importance to this world is what has earned this movie the title of “an eminent and a prospering movie”. Some scenes in the movie that are portrayed as significant importance have been a great impact in my life and to the many others; therefore, they are portrayed as unforgettable and most cherished. These scenes emphasize the change of periods in history and the period of segregation in America’s history that was in the need to be stopped. Some scenes in this movie, I watched with great concern and care than others for they were of much more meaning than others. Hence, the importances of these scenes are thoroughly portrayed and described with great clarity to why these scenes were watched with great detail and care.
Remember the Titans is a movie that is based on true lives and a true team; the story and the lessons behind each scene is what has earned this movie the title of “an eminent and a prospering movie”. All the same, this movie is very meaningful as it shows what barriers and circumstances Africans confronted in the period of racism, but a crucial portion of this movie is based on how a football team titled as “the Titans” overcame the obstacles of integration, of society and the colour barrier to unite as one, despite the different races and to become one, successful and great team. All the same, Remember the Titans comprises/ consists meaningful words and scenes that should be world- wide known to make this place a better place for the better. This movie in fact taught me and the many others who watched this movie that it is important to make yourself comfortable with whom you are surrounded with because they will always be around you; that when it is the time for change, accept the change and go with the flow, just like Gerry accepted the change to his football team to treat his African American teammates with equality. Nonetheless, Remember the Titans is a movie that should remain in the hearts of everyone who have watched it for a lifetime, for it is that eloquent, influential and powerful.


Overall i would definately reccommmend this move for it is a movie that shows what are some type discrimination that has took place in the world. I enjoyed watching it and i know many will too.

Vol. Hrs. 11

Title: The Greenies

Author: Myra Paperny

# of pages: 291 (298 including author's note and acknowledgements)

Plot Summary:

The Greenies are a group of orphaned European Jewish children immediately after the Second World War, who survived the Holocaust in their homelands. Inside, they grieve for the family members they lost, but most of them do not show their true feelings when their wartime experiences taught them not to.

Over one thousand of them, preteens and teenagers (for the younger ones would not have survived the war), have been carefully selected to immigrate to Canada with the Canadian Jewish Congress' assistance. However, living in a new land contains many surprises, and sometimes it's difficult to blend in with the rest of the Canadians.

Opinion:

The Greenies was a very touching story. How the children felt about their past and how the Holocaust would leave a permanent mark on their lives was moving. Their reactions to certain foods, etc. they never saw before in their lives were also interesting, though I was quite displeased when they rejected food on their way to their foster homes while they constantly complained about how terrible concentration camp life was. It was unfortunate for them that some things didn't turn out the way they wanted, but they repeatedly assumed that all Canadians were disagreeable. As a Canadian, I believe that it was unwise to make such comments when they only recently arrived (i.e. they met few people), and complaining wouldn't change any circumstances, or make things worse since there was nowhere else to go for the Jewish orphans.

I would recommend The Greenies to all teenagers because despite some of the opinions expressed that contradict mine, the story was unique in its own way and I appreciate the authenticity of it.

Main themes and subjects:

• Holocaust
• Immigration to Canada
• Orphans
  

Target audience: Teenagers

Genre: Historical fiction

Rating: 4/5

Book review by Fiona T.
* 63 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter

THE SANDLOT 2

This movie is a sequel to sandlot 1 which was produced in 1993. This movie is basicly about a group of baseball players which are 12-year olds who happen to meet good girl baseball players. They are always arguing and fighting because the boys don't believe girls can play baseball. Eventually, they become good friends and began to play on the same team. One of the girls, Hayley's dad works for NASA, therefore he works with rockets. Johnnie, also a part of the group Hayley hangs out with, loves rockets.

One day, Johnnie mistakenly sends a model rocket, which belonged to Hayley's dad, over the junk yard of the great fear's yard. Great Fear happens to be a so called "mutated dog" owned by a person who breeds dogs who eat kids. The gang has no choice but to get the model rocket before Hayley's dad comes back home.

Basicly, this movie then focuses on how the kids try the wierdest techniques to get back the model rocket.

I'd say it's a very good past time movie, but not exactly a "must-see" type.

Volhrs= 30 mins (total hrs- 3 hours and 30 mins)

Title: Judy Collins, Trust Your Heart

Author: Judy Collins

Number of pages: 275

Judy Collins was a very successful singer. In this book, she shares her life story from the beginning to the point where she became a succesful singer. Judy's life began in middleclass family, her dad was blind, and her mom did practically everything.

She used to go to piano classes, and her parents expected her to become a classical pianist. Soon, she discovers folk music and decides that she wants to become a singer, not a pianist. This really disappoints her parents and her piano teacher. This was the first disappointment that she caused to someone she loved, from that moment on she continued to disappoint her loved ones. She continued to do things the way she watned to do, and beleived that everyone should understand her. Her life consists of many so called "lovers", who eventually end up ditching her for her career life is so much more important to her than her personal life. Her marriage ends up as a total disaster and her four year old son's "Clark", life is ruined.

This book is all about the challenges one has to face to become succesful in life. This book teaches the reader that to gain something, loosing something is essential.

I really wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, because it gets quite boring in the middle. it's always the same thing, she is having troubles settling between personal and career life. I also didn't like this book, because Judy seemed to be so selfish and self centered. She didn't even care about her kid when she asked her husband for divorce. I'd say read the book if you are really into the depressing kind of novels.

Vol hrs: 3 hrs

Title: The Age of Innocence
Author: Edith Wharton

This book is about a guy named Archer Newland who is engaged to a girl named May. During the time period that has been left for the wedding, Archer falls in love with another woman named Ellen who rescently has been divorced and Ellen also has feelings for Archer. However, in order to make sure that Archer doesn't marry the wrong person, Archer hurries the wedding and marries May, and still loves Ellen. During the married life of Mat and Archer, Ellen did sometimes came and met the couples and Archer and Ellen did try getting together but in corner of both thier heart, it sayed no. May and Ellen has lived together for 25 years, and they had 3 children, during this time frame May dies of a disease which i can't remember now. After some time, Archer's son asks Archer to come with him to France and under some circumstances and Archer and his son goes and visit Ellen but at the last minute Archer says no to the visit and just allows his son to go and visit. Archer lives of his memories.

I thought this book okay. Its not that bad or that good in my point of view.

***3/5 ***

P.S There will be lot more reviews by me more, since i will be putting on reviews on books and movies that i have watched and read while i was absent.Lolz. I will try to keep my reviews short and up to the point.
:)


VOL. Hours 10 hRs. & 30mins.

Movie:Finding Forrester
Director: Gus Van Sant
Cast:Sean Connery,Rob Brown,Murray Abraham
This movie is good for all high school students, since the movie about a high school student. Jamal a high school is really good at writing, well beyond excellent. However he hides his talents at school since he doesn't want to be seen as unusual. Therefore, to keep him busy Jamal plays basketball and he is pretty good at it too. While he plays ball with his friends, there is always a man (William Forrester) looking at them through the window (his apartment). William is an author, and he writes and reads a lot too. Jamal develops a good relationship with him. He gets some advice from William on life, and on writing. When the whole school has to do like SAT test, Jamal did pretty well. For this reason a private school wanted Jamal to come to their school for free, and Jamal does accept the invitation. In there Jamal got an assignment of reading one of Forrester’s books. Jamal asks Forrester for info on him, and Forrester does give the some info about himself, but he asks Jamal to not tell anyone about anything. At one point Jamal hand in an essay that he wrote with Forrester but it was Jamal’s work, The professor accuses Jamal of plagiarizing since his writing is well beyond excellent. How Jamal solves this problem, how William helps him, and how he overcome basketball competitions is what the rest of the movie is all about.
I find the ending to be really sad.
I will recommend this movie to you all, cause it talks about how your environmental surroundings can affect the way you choose to do well in school.

VOL. Hours 7 hrs. & 30mins

The It Girl
By: Cecily Von Ziegesar
Pages: 272

The It Girl is a series derived from the Gossip Girl series, although there really is no connection between the two except for the fact that its main character is from Gossip Girls. It stars Jenny Humphrey, who left Constance Billard in NYC to go to a boarding school called Waverly Academy in Upstate New York. Once there, she strives to leave the “Old Jenny” behind and is determined to become the school’s next “it” girl. Adjusting to the role of being “New Jenny”, she rooms with the campus’ two biggest hot shots – Callie and Brett. Unfortunately, there are rumours going around about who she really is, what’s more is that she is thrown into a scandal involving Callie and her boyfriend – Easy Walsh; so much for starting off a perfect school year. But with some small twists and turns, Jenny soon earns the respect of the student body at Waverly. However, tension is in the air when the girls learn that Tinsley (the former “it” girl) is returning back to the Academy after she got expelled. And with that, the book wraps up. With Tinsley back, who will be the new “it” girl in the next book?

As I have never read the Gossip Girl series before, I can’t really find something to compare this book with. There are definitely way more mature issues being discussed in here than the “Clique” series; obviously. Such as: drinking, smoking, foul language, and minor sex. Told from multiple points of views, it allows the readers to really get inside the heads of all the main characters; no matter how snobby or jerk-like he or she is, the book will find a way to make you sympathize them.
Rating: 7/10

s.t.e.p.h.i.e.
volunteer hours – 3 (total 43 ½)

Title: The Wish House

Author: Celia Rees

# of pages: 216

Plot Summary:

Richard and his family has visited the Welsh village every summer, and he longs for the times when he can reunite with his close friend Dylan, two years older than him. Unfortunately, though, this year, 1976, Dylan has begun working for his father on his farm, and is no longer able to spend entire days with him.

Richard remembers the old times when he and Dylan would have thrilling adventures in the Wish House, an abandoned, crumbling building. However, upon revisiting the structure, he finds a nude woman sunbathing on the lawn. He later discovers that the Dalton family has resettled in the house. J. A. Dalton is a famous artist, but it is his daughter's striking beauty that constantly captivates Richard.

He finds himself in love with Clio Dalton for the rest of summer, until he finds out how deeply he was betrayed.

Opinion:

The synopsis described the novel as "a brilliantly gripping and original coming-of-age story". I suppose that would have been the case if the transition from childhood to adulthood was based primarily on sex. It seems as though Richard has nothing more on his mind than his longing for Clio to be alone with him, as though he would have absolutely nothing to do had Clio not existed in his life. He does not face challenges other than fulfilling his desires. He does not suspect that the Daltons expect something valuable from him when they provide meals for him every day. The way much of the story is based on their sexual relationships, and the detailed descriptions of their activities is very disturbing - for this reason, I would have to object to the rating on Chapters Indigo's website as "Ages 7-9". When Richard discovered that he was betrayed by Clio the whole time, I was hardly sympathetic; several incidents in the storyline, within his knowledge, made the ending so obvious that I wasn't surprised by it.

Personally, I would not recommend this novel to anyone. Fans of romance novels in general may find the story uninteresting, since Richard and Clio seemed to have developed their relationship instantly (plus the lack of a happily-ever-after ending). There is little adventure, certainly no action, and mystery is scarce. Perhaps Celia Rees could have made the story more exciting by adding some twists in the plot, or at least reduce the repetitions of events.

Target audience: Teenagers

Genre: Romance

Rating: 1/5

Book review by Fiona T.
* 60 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter

The Princess Diaries
By Meg Cabot
283 Pages
4/5

I love how this book wasn't all formal and smart alleck-y with big words and confusing thoguhts. i really felt like I was reading a journal (really, sometimes, books that are intended to be journals are SO non-journaly). i love how she writes, and I love how Mia puts random math and homwork notes into her journal!

So, Mia Thermopolis is a five foot nine flat chested freshman who thinks there is nothing worse on earth than being herself. She is majorly flunking algegra, while coincidentially, her mother is DATING Mr. Gianni, the Algebra teacher. So.. things can't really get more embarassing.

So after, Mia's father reveals that he is the Prince of Genovia (population: 50 000) which means.. MIA IS A PRINCESS! But.. somethings not right. Okay, so, she's a PRINCESS, but she doesn't have a boyfriend, while everyone else does. She can't help but feel sorry for herself! Ohh, but now what? The most popular guy in school asked you to the school dance?? OooOOhh..

*Jessica
*Would have been 108
*Can be published in a newsletter

Princess Lessons
By Meg Cabot
128 pages
4/5

Another great book. Mia Thermopolis (Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo of Genovia) is giving us Princess Lessons! in this book, you will find stiff like how to dress, proper table manners, how to write guest invitations, and basically everything you need to know to be a princess, or at least live like one.

Again, with all the funny illustrations and stuff, it was a really quick read and I loved it. AND I also love how there was blakc AND pink font. So cool. (Sorry, I get excited about pink.)

*Jessica
*Would have been 105
*Can be published in newsletter

Holiday Princess
By Meg Cabot
144 Pages
4/5

This book didn't have a storyline; it was info and facts about how people celebrate their holidays around the world! There were so many pictures which made it a super quick read. It was also really funny, but of course, cuz it's Meg Cabot. Oh, and I LOVE her random humour.

There was stuff about how people celebrated holidays years ago (history), how epople celebrate holidays now, and stuff like preparing for a Christmas party, and little art projects and stuff in between. There was tons of stuff about traditions in different cultures, which was pretty interesting.

Overall, this was a great book, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a short little book to brighten their day!

*Jessica
*Would have been 102 hours
*Can be published in a newsletter

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

Cast: Jack Lemmon, Hank Azaria

Director: Mick Jackson

Last week, I saw the movie of the book that i have read. I think the director did a pretty good job on the movie. It was all the same. Usualy, i don't sometimes understand some things about some movies. But, by reading the book and then seeing the movie i could see the connections. By actually seeing the actors act out the scence, I got to understand how important Morrie was to Mitch. If you want the review of the movie, i have put the review of the book today, since its the same story. I will reccommend you all to read the book first and then see the movie. I think both main characters did a pretty good job on their acting especially Morrie. He says some good dialogues such as "There is nothing wrong with being number 2". I find the both the book and the movie to be good.

Read it! And.... Watch it!

VOl. Hour 7 hrs.

Tuesdays with Morrie


This book is based on a true story. Professor Morrie, who was Mitch’s favorite professor of all time has developed some sort of disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease where it results in progressive muscle atrophy that starts in the limbs. This disease made the moving man to be still, after some time Morrie couldn’t move some parts of his body. After some months, Morrie’s life was to end. After seeing that his friend didn’t get to hear all the nice things that people said in hi
s funeral, Morrie arranged a living funeral for himself. At Mitch’s graduation, Mitch has promised Morrie that he will keep in touch with Morrie, but Mitch has broken that promise. Mitch who wanted to become a pianist has abandoned that aim and became a sport journalist, which made him become a workaholic; he never takes time to enjoy life. During this time, Mitch met Janine, where both fall in love. While Mitch was just randomly changing channels Mitch saw someone whom he has never seen before; Morrie, Morrie was giving an interview for a show. This made Mitch to remember the classes that Mitch had with Morrie. Seeing, the interview made Mitch to go where Morrie lived, finally getting some time for something else other than for his job. At the reunion, Mitch and Morrie eat lunch together, Mitch keeps on remember back to some of time with Morrie in school and Morrie talks about life philosophies. After that Mitch go backs to Detroit and thinks of how his life, how he is chasing the wrong things life such as athletes and money rather than love. Since Mitch’s union is on a strike, Mitch pays another visit to Morrie on a Tuesday. They meet outside of a class and talk, Mitch felt comfortable and shares some of his problem, and Morrie gives some pointers on life. These visits continued, every Tuesday Mitch would come and visit Morrie and talk, which helped Morrie and Mitch. At time, Mitch brought Janine too. Once Janine (who is a singer) sang to Morrie, which made Morrie to cry. So, the visits continued, and Morrie and Mitch became like a father and a son. Mitch recorded each of his meeting with Morrie to write a book.

I will recommend this book for everyone to read. It is a really a good book. Its kind of sad at some points.


VOL. Hours: 6.30

"The color of Water"

"The color of Water" is an autobiography book of James and Ruth McBride. The biography that I read is not on a famous celebrity, or some famous community worker. He is someone who is an ordinary world with very normal problems. James is a black Jewish-mixed person born in New York to a black father and a white Jewish mother in the early 1960s. The 1960s was a rocky time for the black skinned people; a lot of discrimination and prejudice were taking place. For James it was more racial discrimination and prejudging since he was from a mixed background of black and white and people in his black community hated him and his family for that. Also, Ruth also had a rough time growing up. From listening to Ruth’s life, we as humans can learn how to be positive and confident even in the worst times possible, which is what helped Ruth overcome social prejudice. Not only that, but from James’s life, we can learn how to appreciate a parent’s hard work. Last but certainly not the least, this book has to be read, for it is a well-written book with hundreds of recognitions. A powerful aspect of the novel that I find interesting and that adds an interest to the novel is the way the author chose to write the memoir. James, the author of “The Colour of Water” chose to write the memoir using the writing technique page turner. “The Color of Water” comprises autobiographies of two fine people, James McBride and his mother Ruth McBride. In one chapter of the book, the author informs us with the events occurring in Ruth’s life with great detail, and then in the next, we read about James’ life. The page turner technique is quite effective in this novel. The technique helped me understand how each character would have felt in certain circumstances. In each chapter, the focus was on either Ruth’s or on James’s feelings and perceptions.
The page turner technique also built some suspense in the book. Personally, as a reader, I enjoy books with suspense. A book with suspense is often a book that’ll keep the reader spellbound. At times, the author ends several chapters in a confusing or in an interesting style. I would have to read not the next chapter, but the following chapter to clarify my doubts and to discover what happens next to Ruth or James.
The Color of Water” teaches its’ readers both big and mini lessons that are essential in life. None of our lives are flawless.

I know like a lot of us might find biographies as boring but if you eer have to read a biography, i will reccomend you guys to read this one.The book is not boring.

Vol. hours; 3.30

Title: Then He Ate my Boy Entrancers

Author: Louise Rennison

# of pages: 320

Plot Summary:

Georgia Nicolson is determined to find one of the best-looking guys she has ever known of. Masimo. Her boyfriend, Robbie the Sex God, is still away in New Zealand. Georgia is known to be obsessed and gossipy about her boyfriend situation; these traits are revealed more than ever when Masimo is constantly the only person on her mind.

She is delighted that her whole family is vacationing in the United States, where Masimo is coincidentally visiting. Unfortunately, she only sees him after returning to England, but they still went out one night and, at the moment, Masimo has yet to decide whether or not he should become Georgia's boyfriend.

Opinion:

I enjoyed reading this novel because of how realistic some situations were, because friendship, hatred, anxiety, and heartbreak are part of life. However, perhaps the author could elaborate on Georgia’s life besides friendship and love, such as outdoor activities, or attending school. If I were in Georgia’s shoes, my life would seem quite monotonous, only brightened up by communication with friends and Masimo.

One of the aspects of this book that bothers me is the way the author uses cliffhangers in the plots in each of her novels. Rather than finish one phase of Georgia's life for each book, the story instead continues on, making the series seem like a single book with multiple volumes (it's difficult to distinguish what happened in each instalment). Rennison practically forces readers to search for the next book! In my opinion, a better conclusion would show Masimo's decision on the "Georgia's boyfriend" issue. This would successfully end the story, concluding one taken from Georgia's experiences. I read the sequel, Startled by his Furry Shorts, and even when it ended, the issue was still only larger than before.

Then He Ate my Boy Entrancers is recommended for teenage girls whom enjoy humour and romance, which this novel is mostly composed of. Otherwise, it is rather dull compared to more adventurous and action-filled tales.

Target audience: Teenage girls

Genre: Chick lit

Rating: 2/5

Book review by Fiona T.
* 57 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter

Title: The City of Ember

Author: Jeanne DuPrau

# of pages: 270

Plot Summary:

The City of Ember was a large project, built years ago by a group of "Builders" deep within a cave. Two hundred pilgrims settled in the city, stocked with enough supplies to last two hundred twenty years. It was ensured that they would remain in the city until those 220 years by forbidding adults from sharing any memories of the world outside, so that the babies would not grow up to yearn for their past and would not know of places beyond the city.

The City is run entirely on the electricity generated by the river's movements. Light bulbs are the only source of light, and citizens have no professional knowledge of the mechanics involved in the making of their city. And so, when the city runs out of supplies, everyone searches for ways to survive.

Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow are twelve-year-olds who believe that there must be ways to solve the city's problems. When she discovers an ancient parchment from the Builders that leads the way out of the City of Ember, she and Doon embark on a journey to save the citizens.

Opinion:

The City of Ember was a thrilling read, filled with adventures and suspense. It was difficult to put it down when Lina and Doon were running through the city, searching for the message of the Builders. Antagonists are aplenty when the authorities abuse their powers by stealing scarce supplies, hiding that knowledge from the general public, and attempting to arrest both Lina and Doon for "spreading vicious rumours".

I also appreciated DuPrau's creativity in writing this novel. The concept of the city, isolated from the rest of the world and having no knowledge of how their city worked, was ingenious. However, the way the society was organized was similar to The Giver or Gathering Blue, both by Lois Lowry. Children were assigned their jobs and everything just happened according to the government's interests.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this novel to all teenagers. Fantasy and science-fiction fans would especially enjoy DuPrau's work.

Target audience: Teenagers

Genre: Science fiction

Rating: 5/5

Book Review by Fiona T.
* 54 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter

Tuck Everlasting
By: Natalie Babbitt
Pages: 139

The Tucks have a secret in their family that only they knew, until 10-year-old Winnie Foster accidentally stumble upon it. One morning in the first week of August, Winnie became fed up with her rich family and decided to run away into the woods. There, she found Jesse Tuck drinking from a mysterious spring coming from out of the tree. So the Tucks had no choice but to bring her home to explain their secret to her and why she mustn’t at all cost tell anyone of this. Apparently, the Tuck family has the gift (or the curse) of living forever. They were granted eternal life after drinking from this mysterious spring. Unfortunately, Winnie wasn’t the only one getting the inside scoop of this story. A strange man in a yellow suit was listening to every single word to what the Tucks had to say; and he intended on marketing the spring water for a fortune. What's more is that in the end, it all came down to Winnie and her decision of drinking the spring water or not.

This book was truly amazing! Even though it is considered a children book, there were issues in the story which can be discussed beyond the boundary of children; such as the meaning of living for all eternity. Sure, lots of people don’t want to die, but have they thought about the consequences which come from living forever? – this story explains it all. It was also a beautifully written book with rich imagery and poetic language (tons of metaphors and similes were used). And since I just recently stopped reading the Clique series, this book was a nice change compared to all the trendy fashion and girls with attitudes. What’s more is that the movie for this book is just as good, and possibly even better. It definitely did the story justice. Okay, maybe it’s time to stop raving about how good Tuck Everlasting is and just end it with a rating which sums up everything I had said.
Rating:9.5/ 10 (I would have given it a 10 if it was a *bit* more descriptive with the story extended, but seeing that it was a book intended for kids, that probably explains why the small amount of pages – only 100 something)

s.t.e.p.h.i.e.
volunteer hours: 3 (total – 40 ½)

TRAP Reviews

hi, everyone!

Andrea has asked for your selections for the teen webpage. She wants these in preparation for its' startup.

Here is what I submitted:
My choice is Star Girl by Jerry Spinnelli.

Janey’s Girl chosen by Jessica.

Lesia’s Dream chosen by Fiona.

Dial L For Loser chosen by Stephie.

Twilight by Jenn. I know you did not like the sequel.

Catherine

True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet
By Lola Douglas
268 Pages
5/5

The cover of the book is what caught my attention at Chapters. It was so sparkly! Well, at least the star was. I think I got a little overexcited about the book at the time, but.. that's okay. This one seemed really similar to Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita, but there were also many differences. They were both mainly about popular, young Hollywood celebrities going undercover and going to high school. One of the differences is that this book is written in diary/journal format. The other book was a first person narrative, .. but I still loved both of them!

Morgan Carter is a recovering drug addict, and her mom is sending her out of the spotlight for a while. Morgan hates the idea, but what can she do? She's given a completely different identity - her new name is Claudia Miller. When she meets some new friends, she horrified by how everybody believes tabloids and has so many opinions about celebrities. But she can't blow her cover and tell them the truth that she knows about, right? Yeah. She gets into trouble when she's making up all these lies and excuses to everyone, especially a guy named Eli. Eli obviously likes her, and she's lying to him so much. Claudia can't believe it, but she keeps doing it. She can't even remember all the lies she's told, but she has to go with it. It's not like she would go up to Eli and tell her that her dad didn't actually strangle her dog and break the dog's neck. .. She told him that.

Will Morgan, err.. Claudia, like high school more than Hollywood? Will she ditch Hollywood for high school? Or will she return to the spotlight?

I loved this book. The beginning was very similar to Secrets of My Hollywood Life, but as the book went on, they were had more and more differences. This book was enjoyable, and it was worth buying! (Even if it's only to look at the sparkles every once in a while..)

*Jessica
*Would have been 99 hours
*Can be published in a teen newsletter