Punkzilla by Adam Rapp

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Brandon!

Jamie, a.k.a. “Punkzilla,” is on a mission. His mission: to visit his brother Peter before he dies of cancer in Memphis, Tennessee; not an easy trek for a fourteen-year old boy who has gone AWOL from his military boarding school. As he journeys to Tennessee, he writes his deepest thoughts in the form of letters to his friends and family: his brother, his mom, his dad, and his best friends Branson and Buck Tooth Jenny. Punkzilla chronicles important events in his life, as well as the events of the bus trip from Portland, Oregon to Memphis. He tells his brother of his times working for Fat Larkin stealing iPods and iPhones to make a quick buck. In turn, Peter tells Jamie about his cancer and how it feels to near the end. Intermingled between the main letters of Jamie and Peter are Jamie’s letters to and from his other family and friends.

Punkzilla was interesting content-wise, but the writing style really turned me off from this book, so much that I couldn’t even finish it. It is written primarily in the style that a fourteen-year old writing on a Greyhound would write. This means the book has many run-on sentences and is written more so as if it was spoken word. This makes reading the book a little bit troublesome at times.

--Brandon

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Pendragon Book Eight: The Pilgrims of Rayne by J.D. MacHale

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Jeremy!

In the eighth installment of the Pendragon series, Bobby finds himself on an island paradise territory called Ibara. He quickly finds himself arrested by the locals and accused of being an outsider, which means certain death. After convincing the ruling council of Ibara that he has amnesia, he quickly goes about trying to find the turning point of Ibara, with the unwilling help of Ibara’s new traveler, Siry. Bobby’s involvement with Siry eventually leads to him joining Siry’s gang of outlaws, the Jakills, whose main purpose is to prove the council of Ibara has been lying to the people and there are more things in the world than their little island.
While Bobby is adventuring in Ibara, Courtney, who Bobby dumped on First Earth in the previous novel, is intent on her hunt for Mark, along with her new “partner”, Dodger, who is later revealed to be Gunny’s acolyte. The unlikely duo eventually locate Mark, who, unfortunately, is already on the ship where, according to Patrick on Third Earth, he will be murdered.

In this eighth book, the fact that Bobby and Courtney share the same amount of pages throughout the book is a little confusing at first, but hardly takes away from the epic ness of this novel. The incredible imagery that is becoming very typical of D.J Machale will keep readers captivated, and the surprise ending will leave readers demanding more.

--Jeremy

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Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Brandon!

Carter is a hot-shot freshman, determined to conquer his new high school. Like many freshman, he has slight delusions of grandeur that high school is all about sex, parties, and rock and roll. Carter wants to be accepted most of all. To achieve acceptance, he joins the football team, goes to upper class parties, and just generally tries to fit in. Of course, his attention deficit disorder doesn’t help very much.

Carter is a traditional lazy freshman, so naturally he aspires to be the kicker, the laziest position on the team. Hilarity ensues on Carter’s journey to eventually become the varsity kicker. During his debut, he manages to shank his very first kick so much that the football flies into the pep band and knocks out a trombone player.

Carter is also searching for love and sex, and unfortunately for him, he’s searching for both at the same time, which is often a search which ends in disaster. His main love interest of the book is Abby, a drill teamer, (one of the girls deemed “not-good-enough” for the ever-popular dance team.) Unfortunately for Carter, he doesn’t realize that he has fallen for Abby until she has moved on from him.

Carter’s journey through freshman year is a good tale of the quest for love, acceptance, and most importantly, a sense of direction in life. Although my review may not give a very well detailed view of the book, it was an enjoyable read and one I would highly recommend.

--Brandon

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Death Note Volume 1 by Tsugumi Ōba

Death Note volume 1 is the story of a very bright Japanese student, Light, who finds the Death Note, a notebook belonging to a death god. Possessing the notebook gives Light the power to kill anyone, and he decides to use that power to rid the earth of dangerous criminals. The deaths of the criminals doesn’t go unnoticed, and Light finds himself trying to stay hidden from the government who seeks to find him.

At first I had trouble getting used to the manga style of reading, but the story was so intriguing that I soon got the hang of it. The graphics were done in black and white and were very detailed. I had trouble with some of the images in that they were so detailed, but printed so small that they were hard to see. I wondered if I was missing important details, or was not getting all the information I should have from the images.

I think Death Note would create a lot of discussion in an adult or teen book group about human rights and the death penalty. It is also a great mystery story--who is Light and will he be caught? And who is the mysterious "L" character? I would recommend it.

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I Luv Halloween Vol. 1 by Keith Giffen and Benjamin Roman

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Brandon!

I Luv Halloween is not a normal persons’ manga. It is read left to right in the traditional American comic style, but I must warn any potential readers, the content is quite a bit gruesome.

With that disclaimer out of the way, I have to say that I Luv Halloween was a fun book to read. It takes place in a little neighborhood where the local children are trick or treating on Halloween. The entire book takes place on the night of Halloween, but follows several different story arcs within that time period.

The main story revolves around Finch, and his group of friends, Pig Pig, Mr. Kitty, and Devil Lad. Soon after the opening, Finch loses his sister, and falls victim to the dreaded “Apple Jack Curse.” (If you receive an apple or other non-candy item at the first house, it’s bad luck for the rest of the night.)

Another story focuses on Finch’s lost sister, Moochie, who is dressed up as the tooth fairy. She traipses around town in search of molars, which she usually pulls from live people after knocking them unconscious. A local boy, Spike joins Moochie later on in the story.

Yet another story focuses on the neighborhood bullies, and their conquest of the neighborhood kids, and their candy supply. Unfortunately for them, they cross paths with Moochie, who decides she wants their molars. She proceeds to knock them out, and they swear revenge when they wake up.

The final story is very minor, but it is the saga of two local high school kids, Biff and his girlfriend. They first encounter Moochie, who steals a certain undergarment of Biff’s girlfriend to use as a slingshot while they are engaging in some promiscuous business in the bushes. Biff and his girlfriend then enlist Finch to find his sister, and retrieve the undergarment.

I Luv Halloween is a very interesting tale of an alternate version of Halloween. The kids pile up quite a body count, between their quest for candy, and Moochie’s search for molars, in some very disturbing scenes. I Luv Halloween is certainly not for the faint of heart, but if you can stomach it, provides some laughs as well.

--Brandon

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Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham

Fifteen-year-old Jane Arrowood, a talented artist, survives a shark attack, but loses her right arm. Jane struggles with the overwhelming outpouring of sympathy from friends, family, and complete strangers. She once craved attention for her art, but now scorns the extra attention. A small boy she befriends at the hospital helps her realize that losing an arm doesn’t mean that she must only define herself by the event.

The book is written in an alternative format, relying on letters, phone conversations, poems, and newspaper clippings instead of traditional prose, and I think this is what really makes the book work. The starkness of the text illustrates the fear, hopelessness, hope, and growth of the character without being overly wordy, flowery, or sentimental. I really think this book was well written.

I loved this book. I would recommend it, no question.

If you want to read a nonfiction story about a girl who survives a shark attack, check out Soul surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board by Bethany Hamilton.

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Lightning Thief Movie!

Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief is being made into a movie! Check out the website here, and look for the movie in theaters next February!!

Here's the trailer!!



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