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Trout Summer by Jane Leslie Conly

Rating:

This book is about two children who's father leaves them and their mother.  They move into a cabin along a river in the woods where they intend to spend the summer.  When the two children meet an old man who claims to be a ranger they think he is mean and scary,  but after they get to know him better they discover that he is just lonely.   Then the ranger decides to canoe through a dangerous canyon they have to follow and try to stop him.  They don't know how much trouble they are getting into.

Reviewed by local teen,  entered 7-2002

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Driving Lessons by Catherine Dexter

Rating:and a half

This book is about a fourteen year old girl named Mattie who struggles with her father's death and the possibility of her mother's remarriage.  She is sent off to a small town in South Dakota to stay with a friend of the family.  There she meets Lester,  seventeen,  who is from Chicago,  where he was caught stealing cars.  He takes her out for "driving lessons,"  and she is never the same.  I enjoyed this book,  and I thought it was interesting how Mattie solved her problems.

Reviewed by local teen,  entered 7-2002

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Fair Maiden by Lynn Hall

Rating:

This book kind of freaked me out.  If Lynn Hall had left out the disturbed older brother,  it would have been much better in my opinion.  In short,  the book is about a girl named Jennifer who has a lot of problems with her family.  She gets a job at a weekend fair that reenacts the 15th century.  There she can get away from her problems at home.

Reviewed by local teen,  entered 7-2002

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The Everlasting Hills by Irene Hunt

Rating:

The Everlasting Hills is the best book I have read this summer.  This book is about a boy who is retarded.  His father doesn't love him for this reason and scolds him all the time.  His sister,  Bethany,  protects him and helps him.  One day the boy runs away from his family and gets hurt very badly.  An old man finds him and brings him to his house.  The boy takes care of him in his last months of life.  At the end the father and the boy finally form a bound.  This book,  along with any books by Irene Hunt,  are marvelous.

Reviewed by local teen,  entered 7-2002

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The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt

Rating:

The Lottery Rose is a very good book.  It is about a boy who is considered retarded.  He lived a very hard life when he was with his mother.  His mother's boyfriend beat him and sometimes his mother would join in.  When the boy won a rose he would never let it out of his sight.  I think this book is something everyone should read.

Reviewed by local teen,  entered 7-2002

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My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

Rating:

This book is very interesting and worth it to spend time to read.  It really is detailed and exciting.  I even had a fun time reading the whole book.  It's one of those juicy kind of books that has you standing up to shout.  I think that if you like adventure books you will enjoy this exciting tale.

Reviewed by local teen, entered 6-2002

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In Summer Light by Zibby Oneal

Rating:and a half

This story,  full of light and metaphors,  is beautiful and well written.  The author is,  in a way,  writing about her experiences and views of life.  I would definitely recommend this book to those who love the world of arts.  The main character,  Kate,  is the daughter of a famous artist.  Even though she loves art herself,  she refuses to become an artist,  wanting to do "her own thing."   But when an art student,  Ian,  comes to catalogue her father's art,  everything changes.  I think it is interesting that even though Kate has mono,  she doesn't let it stop her form doing what she wants.

Reviewed by local teen, entered 7-2002

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Happily After All by Laura Caroline Stevenson

Rating:

Happily After All was an exciting and touching book.  I like to read books that actually take you into the story,  like you're actually there.   Where you can feel they're pain,  they're anger,  they're  happiness.  All kinds of different emotions.  This book is about a girl whose father dies and she is sent to live with her mother,  who lives in Vermont,  later in the book you find out what happens between her parents.  The true story comes out.  In the beginning Becca acts harshly towards her mother,  later on though she becomes less and less bitter,  partly due to Billy,  a "J.D."  or also called an orphan who has been adopted by Mr. Jones  and also Mr. Davis.

Reviewed by Amanda,  entered 7-2002

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Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White

Rating:

When Woodrow's mother vanishes and his father starts drinking he goes to live with his grandparent's.  Gypsy is Woodrow's cousin and lives down the street from him,  they become best friends.  They do a lot of fun things together and share funny jokes.

Reviewed by local teen,  entered 7-2002

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