Afrika by Colleen Craig

Afrika is a novel about a girl named Kim who has to live in Southern Africa for a couple of months when her mother is doing an article about the apartheide which has ended but still has lasting effects in the country. While she's there she's shocked by the difference between South Africa and her home in Canada. Since this was the country her mother was raised in and Kim was born in, she begins to search for her father that she has never known. With the help of her new friend Themba, she discovers the truth about life in a country only recently free from the apartheide, the cruel relaties that took place during it, and the truth about why her mother took her to Canada away from her father.

-Pages: 240
-Age: 12 and up (some truthful facts on segregation that are for more mature people)
-Reader Type: realistic, informative, makes you look at your life in a more positive way
-Our Rating: This was an amazing book that wasn't action packed but had that way of drawing you into it so you can't put it down. It made us appreciate how wonderful where we live is and made us appreciate things that we had never thought to appreciate.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Do not read this review unless you've read Uglies.

This is the sequel to the high suspense, wonderful book Uglies. But now Tally is a Pretty and she doesn't remember a thing about Smoke or anyone that lived there...most importantly she forgot what the Pretty surgery really does to you. She has left the casual life they had in Smoke to live in Pretty Town where every night is a party. Every day is sleeping in from the party the night before and then getting ready for the party taking place the next night. Life is literally a party there. Tally even gets a boyfriend there named Zane. So when David and his parents try to make contatct with her to eliminate the ill-effects of the Pretty operation, she gives one pill to him and the other she takes. What she didn't know about the pills will change her, David, and Zane's lives forever.

-Pages: 384
-Age: 14 and up (vulgar language, drug/alchol consumption, mature content)
-Reader Type: futuristic, romance, suspense

-Our Rating: This was an amazing book though we found Uglies to be better. It still had the amazing characters but it was hard to see Tally totally forget about David and becoming a whole new person. When we read the book was part of the problem since we weren't mature enough for parts of the book and we'd strongly suggest take our advice on the age section.

Holly's Heart by Beverly Lewis

Holly's Heart by Beverly Lewis is about Holly, a Jr.Higher who is just trying to get though school with her sanity in tact. Her dad moved to Califoria when her parents divorced, she never had a good relationship with him after the divorce because he never writes letters or calls her, her younger sister, Carrie, doesn't even think of him as her father. Her mother has keep up with house, work, and her job. Holly's friend Andie helps her through the problem in life, always tring to help each other with all the problems that being 13 holds, crushes, parents re-marring, and school. Holly will try to get though it all with the help of her family, friends, and God.
-Pages: 553
-Age: 11 and up
-Gender: Girl
-Reader Type: Christian, reality, romance

-Our rating: This was a good book that really gives you a new outlook on life, life being a Christian, and the life of others.

Alex Rider: Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

Strombreaker is a spy novel about a 14 year old boy, Alex, who is recruited to do a mission for MI6. When his uncle is killed reportedly in a car crash when he wasn't wearing a seat belt, Alex is suspiscious. His uncle had always been a very cautious man and Alex knows that he would never have not been wearing one. When he finds his uncle's car, his suspiscions are confirmed when he sees that his car is in perfect condition except for multiple bullet holes in the driver's side. He discovers spy gadgets throughout the car and finds out that his uncle had been a spy. MI6 contacts him and tell him the truth about his uncle and his death. While they reveal this he learns how he had been being discreetly trained his whole life to follow in his footsteps. MI6 threaten him so that he'll complete his uncle's mission and he heads off on an adventure and goes through things no 14 year old could imagine.

-Pages: 234
-Age: 13 and up (intense action, violent scenes, disturbing characters, mild language)
-Gender: Both
-Movie: This is an awesome movie that portrays the book wonderfully. It's rated PG. Zag says three cheers for Alex Pettyfer, the actor that plays Alex Rider.
-Reader Type: lots and lots of action, mystery

-Our Rating: This book is an amazing book on our favorite list. This is one of those books you can't put down, the book that you peek a look at betweeen pauses in the teacher's lecture (Hurry! They're writing something on the board!).

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

The City of Ember is a futuristic novel. Lina is a resident of Ember which is an underground town that was created by a group of engineers when the world was threatening to collapse. They left the town a certain supply of light bulbs which is the only light source for the city and food for 200 years. That 200 years is up. The town is running low on food and the lights are beginning to flicker and go out for spans of time. Lina and Doon become unlikely friends and end up searching for the route out of Ember. As they search for a way to save their friends and family they learn secrets about the city and it's governement that will change the underground town forever.

-Pages: 270
-Age: 9 and up (no bad language, no overly intense scenes, mild, easy read)
-Gender: Both
-Reader Type: mystery, action
-Movie: There is a movie for this book. It's a wonderful movie rated PG.

-Our Rating: We read this book when we were in about 3rd grade and it was a wonderful read for us. We wouldn't suggest it to people that like lots of action or are older, it's great for younger kids.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies is a sci-fi, romantic book. It's about our world in the future as the author Scott Westerfield sees it: a place that has been taken over by disaster and then brought back as a very organized, orderly society. Part of this new society is that when you turn 16 you get a "pretty" operation that fixes all your outer flaws and makes a perfect human. Tally is turning 16 soon and is excited to finally not be an outcast. But her friend Shay isn't ready for the world of parties, boys, and a perfect life in their new "pretty" home. She tries to run away to avoid the surgery. Then Tally is recruited to find her rebellious friend and goes on an adventure that opens her eyes to many things.

-Pages: 425
-Age: 13 and up (bad language, mild romantic scenes, intense action, disturbing characters)
-Gender: Girls
-Reader Type: romance, futuristic, action

-Our Rating: This is a great book with lots of depth and some great characters. It gives you a new perspective of having the perfect life.

Dark Life by Kat Falls

Dark Life is a futuristic novel about how the author, Kat Falls, views our future. A large portion of the continents have been submerged in earthquakes and other natural disasters so all the residents have to cram into the small sections of land still above water. Some have become pioneers, creating settlements on the bottom of the sea and growing aquatic crops and raising aquatic animals. When Ty, one of the pioneers living on the bottom of the sea, finds a submarine with a "toplander" named Gemma who's in search of her missing brother, they become unlikely friends. Ty helps her find her brother while she ends up helping with his search for the bandits that have been invading the homesteads of the sea. Their adventures and search for the truth leads them to some very unexpected answers, gives them a journey of a lifetime all while Ty has to try to hide some huge secrets from Gemma.

-Pages: 304
-Age: 11 and up (frightening characters, intense action, and somewhat intense scenes)
-Gender: Both
-Reader Type: futuristic, adventure, action, romance

-Our Rating: This book was amazing! It is on Zig's favorites list. It has a wonderful balance of reality and fiction!

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

Notice: Do not read this review unless you've read Inkheart.

Inkspell is the sequel to the book Inkheart. In this sequel, Dustfinger finds another "Silvertongue" to take him into the book again. His faithful friend Farid, isn't taken along so he goes to Maggie, to read him into the story. But after hearing so many stories about the Inkworld from her mother, Maggie wants to come along. This leads them on an intense journey through the Inkworld in search of Dustfinger. But finding him is harder then expected since neither have ever been inside the book. In their searches they find new troubles and obstacles that don't help in any way finding Dustfinger.

-Pages: 639
-Age: 12 and up (slightly romantic scenes, intense action, frightening characters, mild lanuage)
-Gender: Both
-Reader Type: adventure, magic, romance

-Our Rating: Just when we thought the series couldn't get better! In rolls actually going to the Inkworld, a newfound relationship, and lots more fantasy creatures! Even better than the first!

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Inkheart is a fantasy novel by Cornelia Funke that brings one a new appreciation of books. This story follows Maggie and her father Mortimer as they go on a mysterious journey that she later finds out is a search for her mother. Her father has a gift, a gift that when he reads out loud the words come to life. But when something leaves the books, something must go into it.  It's that fact that begins all their problems; when one night people came out of a story that weren't supposed to and a loved one is taken in. This sends them on a journey to find the rare book that will bring their family back together. Through this search they're kidnapped, taken to places that are like a fantasy land, and befriend people, from the real world and books alike.

-Pages: 534
-Age: 11 and up (intense action, somewhat frightening characters, small amount of inappropriate language)
-Gender: Both
-Reader Type: fantasy, magic, action
-Movie: There is a movie for this book, which interprets the characters wonderfully. This movie is rated PG.

-Our Rating: We loved this book and it's on our favorites list. What's not to love? Books coming to life, fire tamers, and freaky people, oh my!

Who we are.

Hey, this is Zig and Zag. We're sisterly bookworms and are always wondering what books are good and bad and whether it's age appropriate or not. So here we are, to let you know what the book's about without giving the good parts away, let you know if it's worth the read, and if your parents will approve.

From your fellow bookworms,
Zig and Zag

P.S. If there's a book we don't have a post about, let us know and we'll try to fit it into our book list.