The Pricker Boy by Reade Whinnem

Whinnem, R. (2009). The Pricker Boy. New York: Random House Books for Young Readers.

Summary

14 year old Stucks and his best friends Pete live year round at a sleepy lakeside community and await the summers when all the "summer kids" come and hang out. Stucks and Pete love listening to ghost stories around the campfire, especially one about The Pricker Boy. Legend tells a tale of a boy who was lured by a mean joke into the dark woods and got caught in an animal trap. When he didn't return, searchers found only blood and ripped clothes laying about, there was no sign of the boy. Now, Pricker Boy seeks revenge and he has found the perfect group of boys to seek it on. 

Review

Author Whinnem is great at making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and his silence between words is scary and believable. I was constantly looking over my shoulder while reading this and I would sleep with all of the lights on for a whole week after reading this book. Tweens will devour this book the same way they devour anything written by R.L Stine. 

Genre

Horror

Reading Age/Interest Level

10-13 years/Tween

Similar Books

Monstrumologist- Rick Yancey

Coraline- Neil Gaiman

Fear: 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror- R.L Stine

Readers Annotation

Not your typical ghost story around the campfire! You will need all the lights on for this one!

The Gift by James Patterson


Patterson, J. (2010). The Gift. New York: Little Brown and Company.
Summary
This book picks up where the book Witch and Wizard leaves off and Whit manages to save his captured sister before her execution. Now Whit and Wisty Allgood are running away from "The one who is the one" and using their recently discovered magical powers to find and join the rebel forces at the same time of running from the brutal government who are chasing them.
Review
I have always been a fan of Patterson and was pleased that he started writing for tweens and teens. Although this book gets readers off to a great start, there are weird holes in the storyline and characters that make absolutely no sense. Some of the instances in this book are a bit ugly and extreme and are better suited for his adult novels. I think I will still give this another shot, but it is definitely better for the older tweens and teens.
Genre
Fantasy
Reading Age/Interest Level
12-18/ Older Tween/Teen
Similar Books
Witch and Wizard series by James Patterson
Maximum Ride series by James Patterson
Daniel X: Demons and Druids by James Patterson
Readers Annotation
Whit and Wisty barley escaped with their lives from the forces of the totalitarian regime, New Order, and they must join forces to save those that share the same magical abilities and secrets. 

Bud Not Buddy- Christopher Paul Curtis

Curtis, C. (2004). Bud not buddy. United States: Delacorte Books for Young Readers.

Summary

Bud Caldwell is an orphan living in Flint, Michigan during the Great Depression.  When his mother dies, he is placed into different foster homes and orphanages and he only has a bag of stones, a photograph of his mother when she was a child and five concert posters for Herman C. Callaway and band that he can call his own.

The story begins with Bud being placed with a foster family that is cruel and abusive and after being tormented and locked up in a shed overnight with an angry swarm of hornets, he runs away determined to find Herman C. Callaway who Bud believes is his father. Readers will be encouraged by Bud's determination and heart as he makes it to Grand Rapids, Michigan and where he meets his "father" Herman Callaway and his jazz band.

Review

This is a great story about a young African American boy who does not let the circumstances of his race or the time of the Great Depression get in the way of his determination to find where he belongs. Author Christopher Curtis balances heartbreak, meanness, and racism with love, family, and humor and readers will want to read this book over and over again. It is hard for kids to get into reading historical fiction but this book, tweens will love because it generates a young boy's powerful fight to get what he wants, even if it means breaking a few rules.

Genre

Historical Fiction

Reading Age/Interest Level

9-12 years old/Tweens

Similar Books

Because of Winn Dixie- Kate Di.Camillo

Hatchet- Gary Paulsen

The Watsons go to Birmingham- Christopher Paul Curtis

Characters

Buddy Caldwell - Bud is a ten-year old African-American orphan boy who has seen and suffered through a great deal in his short ten years, but who is definitely a survivor. His determination to find his father and his ability to use his survival skills to do so make him a heroic character for the reader.

Mr. Herman E. Calloway - He is the band leader of a Depression Era Negro Band whom Bud believes is his father. He turns out to be a rather cranky old man who doesn’t trust Bud and acts mean to nearly everyone. He is actually a very sad man who yearns for the daughter he drove away with his need for her to be what he wanted her to be.

Angela Janet Caldwell - Although she has died before the story begins, her character is a very real presence for most of the other characters in the story. 

Todd Amos and his parents - This is the foster family from whom Bud runs away after he is abused. They are typical of some foster families who would take in children just for the money the state would pay.

                                                                       Awards

                                                        Newbery Award Winner- 2000

William Allen White Children's Book Award-2002

Coretta Scott King Award- 2000

Readers Annotation

Bud Caldwell has no mom, dad, or home and definitely has nothing to lose as he uses his only possessions to guide him to a place called home. 

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Hahn

Hahn, M. (2010). The ghost of crutchfield hall. New York: Clarion Books.

Plot

Twelve year old Florence Crutchfield figured that her life at her uncles manor in the English countryside would have to better than Miss Medleycoates's Home for Orphan Girls. She would finally have family, a place to call home, and a cousin who she would call friend. Instead, she arrived to a crumbling old manor with acres of empty space and hallways that are both empty and cold. She will live there with her uncle, her mean and nasty aunt, her invalid cousin and a few servants, and the ghost of Sophie, her cousin who died mysteriously on the grounds of the manor. When things start to get worse as the anniversary of Sophie's death draws near, it is up to Florence and James to send Sophie back where she belongs, or they will be next.

Review

What a bummer! This cover had me at hello and I could not wait to dive into it. Well I dove headfirst into an empty pool. Hahn seemed to take the good parts of the Secret Garden, added a bratty ghost, and ended with little hope for any of the characters. There were too many references or inside jokes that would go completely over the heads of tweens and the writing style was boring and lacked depth. Although Hahn is a great writer and throughout the book she would make me pause with her brilliant sentences, the story needed more work.

Genre

Horror

Reading Level/Interest Level

9-12 years/Tween

Similar Books

Coraline- Neil Gaiman

The Dollhouse Murders- Betty Wright

The Haunting- Joan Nixon

Readers Annotation

Florence was expecting a new home, a new family, and a place to call her own. What she wasn't expecting is to be possessed and haunted by her deceased cousin and in a race to save herself from trading positions. Florence's uncle said that the dead don't return, he was wrong.