Steven Barwin

"What you don't know, Lizzy, is that you get what you give."

I was not a fan of this one. The message was way to heavy handed and so extreme. It was interesting to hear about Olivia's love of music, her want to join a band and play her own stuff. Also, I loved that she was the drummer which felt like a nontraditional role for a main character that is female.

But the underage drinking danger message was just....far too extreme. There are more subtle ways that even light drinking at such a young show more age is a bad idea. I liked that it showed how she got into the situation and how it turned but it turned too quickly and into way to extreme. I can't imagine a teenager reading the story isn't going to feel like it's just another adult warning them about the dangers they don't take seriously anyways. show less

This is about a 16 girl who wants to grow up a little too fast. Being in a high school band isn't good enough, she wants something more. She auditions for a band and gets in, but lies about her age and pretends that she is actually a college student instead of in high school. Next thing you know she is a 16 year old alcoholic that is failing school and in a seriously abusive relationship. The story was well written, but it was just missing something for me.

This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys books that are about baseball and mystery. If you like books about baseball and mystery you will like this book because Wade is taking steroids during the baseball season and plants some in Carson’s locker which gets him caught and kicked off of the team. Griffin and his little cousin Carson are on a mission to prove that Wade planted the steroids in the locker to get Carson back on the team.

Griffin and Wade are the two seniors on the South show more Coast Sharks baseball team and Wade treats all of the freshmen like dogs. He makes them do all of his homework and get anything he wants. Griffin does not like this and tries to make them feel welcome on the team. Once Griffin finds out that Carson had steroids in his locker he knew exactly who put them in there. Griffin was fed up with Wade's games so Griffin and Carson went on a mission to prove that Wade planted those steroids in his locker. Griffin was trying to receive a baseball scholarship and didn’t want this to interfere with it but once Carson was caught with steroids Griffin knew he had to step in and prove that Wade planted the Steroids. The overall theme of this novel is that you can take care of problems by yourself before getting other people involved.

I recommend this novel because you never know what is going to happen next, but it can be hard to follow at some times, so if you like books where you don’t know what is going to happen next and can read books that are hard to follow then I would recommend this book. show less

Story about rock climbing with a basic plot. There are some plot holes but the younger students this story is geared for will not notice. Can see this as an enjoyable read for boys in grades three through five.