Pollen and the Ring of Harmony

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 14, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

Pollen and the Ring of Harmony is a wonderful book for tweens. It begins when some lumberjacks try to cut down a tree. Reb, an old man who has lived in isolation near this tree, tells them to stop because the tree is under government protection.

The men scoff, saying his government broke its promise, and that the tree is theirs. Then a young boy emerges from the trees and tells the men to stop. Before they know it, the trees are magically "fighting back." This was made possible by this boy’s ring.

The boy tells Reb he is on a mission. His name is Pollen and he was sent from another planet to save human kind from a meteor that is going to smash the Earth. Pollen and Reb begin a 3,000-mile journey to Washington, D.C. to warn the president that everyone must start working in harmony, or there won’t be a next week.

Along the way, Pollen stops to help anyone in need. He puts out fires, stops a tornado and saves people from a snowstorm. As Pollen’s ‘miracles’ become more and more famous, so does his ring. And everyone wants the power that comes with it, including the vice president. As the story unfolds, it becomes more and more apparent how corrupt the system really is.

This book is a great inspiration for tweens who feel strongly about global warming and the environment, but there were some problems with the literature. For instance, the author introduced too many characters at once — many with similar names — so I got confused easily. Neither the plot nor the characters held my attention, so I was forced to re-read entire pages after my mind drifted.

And the author told the story instead of showing it. For instance, here's a "telling": sentence: The boy is nervous. And here's a "showing" sentence: With sweaty palms and creased forehead, the boy waited for his turn before the audience.

Another problem was that the characters were unrealistic. Pollen was a real "goody-goody" and it got on my nerves. And one of the reporters was constantly "hitting on" Pollen." I THOUGHT HE WAS A YOUNG BOY, WHY WAS SHE TRYING TO "GET WITH HIM"!! It was also kind of corny, with a predictable romance and some lame descriptions.

Despite these problems, after reading about 100 pages, I did get into the book. I loved the great message, and that the book included a couple of pictures — that’s rare in a chapter book.

The book was extreme and used a "Rubber Band Strategy" to persuade the reader to act more green and environmentally sound. Think of it this way: If you want to move someone from "A" to "B," make a case something even further away, such as "C," and they will "snap back" to "B," which is the outcome you wanted.

I also liked Reb's amazing dream. It was brilliant and creative and really made you think about the future of our planet. I wish the author had put as much thought into the entire book as he had into those few pages.

One a scale of one to five, I give it a one. Reading level, 10-14.

Pompeii

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 14, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

Pompeii is a novel by Robert Harris about Marcus Attilius Primus, the engineer of the main aqueduct along the Mediterranean coast, which brings water to a quarter-million people. Attilius is called to Pompeii to restore the flow of water to the towns north of Pompeii, where he falls in love with Cornelia, the daughter of Ampliatus. Cornelia runs away from her father to be with Attilius at Mt. Vesuvius, but Attilius sends her back to Pompeii, where he believes she will be safer. However, Attilius was mistaken, and when he realizes his mistake, he returns to Pompeii to save her.

It took me a long time to get into the book, but as the plot thickened, I became interested in the characters. However the book has two weaknesses: The story was too complicated — I had to take notes on every chapter just to keep track of the plot. And the novel was very predictable — a kindergartner could foresee that Attilius and Cornelia would end up safe at the end while the ‘bad guys’ would all die. But would I recommend it? I don’t think so. If it weren’t a summer reading requirement, I would have abandoned it within the first 20 pages.

Food, Girls and Other Things I Can’t Have

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 14, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

Andrew Zansky is the second fattest kid in the class. Weighing in at 307 lbs,, he is constantly worried about what others think of him. He doesn’t really understand much about popularity and how the connections work but he sure does understand that there are winners and losers.

At first, this is the classic fat-boy-meets- beautiful-new-girl story, but it twists when they both want the same thing: to be "in." Andrew tries out for football. At first no one will even acknowledge him but that quickly turns as he starts to learn the game. He is suddenly thrust into the world of football jerseys and partying. But is this what he really wanted?

I was really surprised by this story – a kid who’s fat and everyone picks on him? That isn’t very original. But as I continued I realized that this was an amazing book with many dynamic characters and a humorous plot. I also really liked the short chapters even though this wasn’t a particularly short book. It went by fast and let me take a break between events.

I have to say I really didn’t like the ending. I've found that the last paragraph of a book is one of the most important parts because it is what you walk away remembering most. Those last few lines have the power to make the book.

This book was really wonderful but the last chapter left me feeling annoyed. It left no strings left untied. No one’s life is like that – it was just too unrealistic to enjoy. Don’t get me wrong though, I loved this book and really encourage everyone to read it. A great use of my time, just skip the last chapter.

2 thumbs up!

Reading level: Middle school& up - Posted on August 16, 2009

Twisted

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 14, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

In Twisted, Tyler Miller is the typical high schooler who sits unnoticed in the back of the class — until he gets arrested for graffiti on school property. After working with the janitors to pay for it, he got the muscles most teens could only dream about.

And those muscles earn the notice of the queen bee, Bethany Milbury. Bethany is the sister of Tyler’s worst enemy, Chip. As Tyler falls more and more for Bethany, Chip tries to get Tyler away from his sister. This chain of events takes everyone by surprise.

I really liked this book. Even though the story was very shallow and without much of a theme, I still found it interesting. This book surprised me because the author, Laurie Halse Anderson, wrote Speak, which was very deep.

In Twisted, the writing is excellent. The voice was one of a defiant, high-school boy. For a quick and simple read I give this book one thumb up. Even though everything was above average, this book was very shallow and without symbols or themes.

HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ONLY!

Undercover

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 14, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

In Undercover, Elisa writes love poems for her fellow students who are in relationships. But she finds herself falling for Theo, one of her clients, who she tries to woo with her writing. At first it seems as though Theo likes her back, even though he has a girlfriend who is both beautiful and popular.

Elisa is that weird girl who no one really gets, and who is all about nature and finding one self in nature. All of her poems are metaphors for nature or emotions found in nature. The only person who really understands Elisa is her father. While her mother and sister will be off shopping, her father will take Elisa into the forest to explore a new world.

As the story continues, it begins to reveal that the family isn’t what it appears. Her father spends more and more time away from home. Her mother spends more time working and crying over the phone. As Elisa tries to get out of that environment she spends more and more time at the pond trying to ice skate. She says she feels the music within her bones, allowing her passion for the sport show through.

But as Theo’s girlfriend becomes more jealous of Elisa’s friendship with Theo she gets in the way of Elisa’s ice skating dream and trying to bring her family back together.

I thought this book was really weird. The poems sounded like a third grader's poor attempt at college level poetry. (No offense to any third grader.) The synopsis of the novel sounded amazing but I wish I hadn’t ever read it. It dragged on in an annoying manner that seemed as though it would never end. The writing was poor and I found the voice to be of a much younger girl. This was a sad attempt of a plot that was supposed to "speak to teens."

Two thumbs down

Grades 5-7

Slob

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 13, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

Slob is a predictable story told by an overweight boy in elementary school who is being teased. The main character, Owen Birnbaum, is 57% fatter then average twelve year old. The twist is his past and his genius IQ. He continuously says that his mother won’t let him tell anyone about his IQ because he used to brag about it.

The extra flare to the book is that Owen tries to create a television that can pick up signals from the past. He wants to find the footage of his parents’ death so that the police can arrest the criminal.

Anyone could understand why Owen tries to fill the emptiness he feels with food — the stress and grief of his parents' murder. On top of that, he is sent to a new school where all the kids make fun of him.

His sister "Jeremy" provides an odd twist — quickly making new friends by joining the group of girls pretending to be boys: GWAB (girls wanna be boys). They dress in boy clothes and cut their hair short. They even play with boys' toys and make speeches about their right to be called by their new boy names.

I thought the book was very good, but yes, it was also predictable. There were many original characters and ideas, but the plot and theme were unoriginal.

Between the evil Gym teacher, the ‘bad to the bone’ sort of bully who is rumored to have a knife in his sock, and the Indian neighbor, there isn’t much of a lack of personality.

However, I think this is a great book for any middle schooler. 1 thumb up!

Fade

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 13, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

Fade is the second book in a series written by Lisa McMann. This book is the tale of a girl named Janie, who falls into the dreams of anyone sleeping around her. On top of that, there is a twist: she's a spy. Janie must use her dreams to find criminals.

Then yet another twist — Janie’s boyfriend and spy-partner, Cabel, begins acting very protectively. Janie thinks Cabel's behavior is sweet until he doesn’t want her doing the bare minimum of her job. Then Janie receives a diary from a dream and realizes the horrifying truth about her ability. To arrest the criminal, Janie must push her ability so she can "pause and rewind" to catch all possible details.

Personally, I really liked Janie and Cabel. There were so many questions constantly buzzing around: Why is Janie going blind? Why won’t Cabel talk to her anymore? What's with the burn scars on his arms? Will they solve the case in time?

Lisa McMann's books are short and simple. They're fantasy — perfect for getting your mind off things. I read this book overnight because it was such a page turner. 1.5 thumbs up…wait, can you have half a thumb?

Grades-7+

Harmless

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 13, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

Harmless is about a group of girls with a problem: They think the only way they can get out, without getting grounded, is to lie.

Lying is often an easy way out — everyone lies sometimes. But when the girls say they were assaulted, the whole town gets involved.

Police try to catch the assailant, even though there was no assailant. Then a girl in a nearby city gets kidnapped, and everyone believes the man accused of assaulting the girls is the kidnapper.

Lies lead to more lies. The girls convince themselves that the kidnapper is their assailant.

This book switches narration from girl to girl to girl to show what was going on in each girls’ mind that night and after. Some of the characters were flat and stereotypical, but they were balanced by the deeper, more sophisticated ones. I enjoyed this book, even though it was way too predictable.

The Boy Who Couldn’t Die

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 13, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

The Boy Who Couldn’t Die is a great book for boys – it's spooky and creepy, but worth reading.

The story is about Ken, who is afraid he will die after his best friend is lost in a plane crash. Ken visits a witch who offers to protect his soul for 50 dollars, making it impossible for him to be killed, or even harmed.

This sounds like a dream come true for Ken, until he realizes that the witch can control him — anyone the witch didn’t like, Ken will kill against his will.

Ken begins killing strangers, but then he dreams of trying to murder his family. So he and his girlfriend embark on a journey to find his soul and retrieve it before he kills again. To do so, they must skip school, lie to everyone, and understand that they may never come back.

I loved this book, somewhat. And I don’t mean to say that girls can’t or shouldn’t read it. It was brilliantly written and well organized. Of course, it was unrealistic, but fantasy is nice to keep in mix. I liked having a break from longer books and relaxing with this quick read.

This book isn't emotionally sophisticated — it's just a fright tale that's fun to read before bed.

For Grades 5 and up

Repunzel’s Revenge

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 13, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

In this graphic novel, Repunzel — or Punzie — is Jack, the mysterious boy who is afraid of giants. He has a goose that lays golden eggs and has a knack for climbing bean stalks, calls her go on an adventure to save the land behind the wall. Punzie has been fascinated about what was behind the wall even since she was little, so she climbed it. She discovers the land is a desert that hasn’t seen water or food since her stepmother took over. She becomes wanted, dead or alive, for multiple crimes that she is forced to commit while trying to get her stepmother out of power and her real mother out of jail.

It is a brilliant and sweet read, bringing an old fairy tail to the present. It wasn’t deep, but it is definitely good — a fun book to encourage kids to read more.

It shows that every book doesn't need to be long and sophisticated. It isn’t the type of book you would deconstruct. It's a child’s novel — like a summer read that shouldn’t be examined in great detail. Of course, I still enjoyed it. 1 thumb up!