by Colton, age 9

Theodore Boone is a 13 year old and knows a lot about the law. He is friends with a judge and is in the courtroom a lot. Both of his parents are lawyers. Everything is fine until one of his friends’ parents is getting divorced, a lot of his other friends have problems, and the biggest murder trial in the history of Strattenburg is happening. Does he have the clues? Does he have the answer? Can he help his friends and solve the mystery behind the murder trial? Read the book and find out.

I really liked this book and I would recommend it to anyone.

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In her debut novel The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, Kelly O’Connor McNees blends facts from Louisa May Alcott’s personal journals with fiction to create a summer romance perfect for your beach bag or a literary afternoon at home.

In the summer of 1855, Walt Whitman’s controversial Leaves of Grass has just been published and Louisa is still trying to determine how she will become a famous writer as she is moving with her family from her beloved Boston to Wapole, New Hampshire. The Alcotts are to live in a house that a generous uncle is allowing them to stay in, due to their financial shortcomings. While in Wapole, Louisa meets the fictional Joseph Singer. Even though Joseph irritates Louisa and she is determined not to marry because she wants her independence, his love of books, his views on the world they live in, and his respect for her writing make it difficult for Louisa not to fall for Joseph. Her new-found love is threatened when she finds out Joseph may not be free to return her love. Louisa has to decide to fight for Joseph or fight for her writing career.

As a fan of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, I could not wait to read The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott and McNees did not disappoint. McNees’ interpretation and creativity created a wonderful combination of the story behind the real Jo March, and the struggles her family faced, and a beautiful love story that one can imagine could have been the inspiration of the relationship between Jo and Laurie. The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott is a must-read for Alcott fans!

You may also enjoy:

Little Women by Louisa May AlcottThe original, classic tale of four young sisters growing up in 1860′s New England.

March by Geraldine Brooks
With events that coincide with Little Women, this is the story of Mr. March away at war.

On the Thursday before Labor Day, in the summer of 1987, thirteen-year-old Henry convinces his reclusive, divorced mother Adele to take him to the local Pricemart to get school supplies and clothes. While there, they meet Frank, a bleeding man that asks for their help. To Henry’s surprise, his mother agrees to take Frank to their house. Over the next few days, Henry and Adele learn of Frank’s troubled past and his recent escape from prison. With all of the odds against them, these three lost souls find love and understanding as they dare to imagine life as a family–all while there is manhunt seeking Frank’s capture.

Labor Day is a beautifully written story of love and loss, adolescence and jealousy, and the longing to belong.

Hannah Swensen, the co-owner and operator of the local bakery and part-time sleuth, discovers yet another dead body in the 11th book of Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen Mysteries, Cream Puff Murder. With the upcoming release of Hannah’s mother’s first Regency romance novel, Hannah has committed to meeting her sister Andrea every morning at Heavenly Bodies gym in order to lose enough weight to fit into the dress she is supposed to wear to the book premier. One cold Minnesota morning, Hannah arrives early and discovers Ronni Ward, one of the fitness instructors and the town flirt, floating in the Jacuzzi. To make matters worse, she discovers the cream puffs she had given to her sometime-boyfriend Mike Kingston all over the floor. Hannah has a lot to deal with when Mike, now a suspect, asks for her help in solving Ronni’s murder and clearing his name and the name of other prominent male citizens of Lake Eden that were present at the gym the night Ronni died.

Joanne Fluke delivers another wonderful book full of twists and turns. Like good cookies, it leaves you wanting more!

Hail to the Chef is a fast-paced culinary mystery centered on the White House executive chef Olivia “Ollie” Paras. With only a few months as the executive chef under her apron belt, Ollie finds herself planning the upcoming Thanksgiving feast and the Christmas Decorator Tour all while deferring matchmaking attempts by the First Lady with her nephew and a Senator’s assistant begging for preferential treatment for the Senator’s children’s entries in the countrywide gingerbread man decorating contest. After an attempted terrorist attack, the head White House electrician is electrocuted, and the First Lady’s nephew dies under suspicious circumstances, Ollie, suspecting more is going on than meets the eye, has to watch her back as she questions the recent events at the White House.

Hail to the Chef is the second book in the highly praised White House Chef Mystery series by Julie Hyzy. Hyzy’s first book, State of the Onion, tells of Ollie trying out for executive chef while getting caught up in a White House intruder attempt by a world-class assassin. Both of these books grab you at the beginning and keep you interested until the very end.

by Colton, age 8

Tiki and Ronde Barber are identical twin brothers starting the 7th grade. They are trying out for the Hidden Valley Eagles football team. Tiki and Ronde make the team and are 3rd stringers, which means they sit on the bench for most of the game waiting for their chance to play. Tiki and Ronde finally get their chance to play and show what they learned in football practice. Tiki and Ronde also go to meetings with their mom who is trying to prevent a factory from being built in their neighborhood that would pollute the air and cause health problems and threaten the football team from playing.

Kickoff! is the best book I have ever read! I recommend this book to any kid that likes football.

Tiki Barber went on to play for the New York Giants. Ronde Barber played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They have also written together By My Brother’s Side, Game Day, Teammates, and Go Long.