Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop

Reviewed by Emily C., age 11
Sixth graders Dara and Zoe are best friends. Zoe is surprised when Dara wants to try out for the school musical. While Zoe waits for Dara outside the tryouts, she spots the strange new kids, Lucas. He is writing in a small notebook in front of the door. When the door hits him, he runs away, leaving the notebook behind. Zoe picks up the ntebook to give to him at school the next day, when she realizes that she is late for her job (feeding lizards, then observing them). When Zoe gets home, she looks in the notebook, but can’t read it because it’s written in cipher/code. As Zoe looks through it, she spots her name (her brain figured out the cipher without even knowing it). The next morning she confronts Lucas to as why her name was in there. Af cfka Irq texq exmmbkp kbuq, vlr jrpq obxa qeb yllh. In other words, to find out what happens next, you must read the book. I really enjoyed this book and think it is a good book for ages 9-13.

Reviewed by Jessica H., age 10
Solving Zoe is about a girl named Zoe. She discovers that she can read ciphers. When a boy named Lucas finds out that she can read ciphers, he won’t stop bugging her. this is a great book for kids with logical minds.

Reviewed by Jerica D., age 8
Zoe goes to Hubbard School. She only has one class with her best friend and that’s gym. One day she finds a notebook that belongs to a new boy at the school named Lucas. When she reads his writing she finds strange words that look like a code, like ab+H+oowb. Can you read that? She solves one of his stories and Lucas calls her a code-reading genius. He starts to give her more codes to break. Zoe learns a lot about friendship and how to believe in herself. I loved this book because it is full of this strange writing. Anyone who reads it will love it.

The Last Leopard is about two friends named Ben and Martine. It begins with Martine planning to ride her white giraffe and spend time with Ben on the wildlife reserve during their school vacation. However, their vacation dreams turn sour when their grandmother's friend gets hurt in an accident. Their new plans involve finding a great leopard named Khan in Zimbabwe in order to uncover the king's treasures. This book is full of exciting and sometimes scary adventures. My favorite part was when Khan found Martine. Overall, this was a great book. I would recommend it to animal lovers and adventure seekers.

Reviewed by Lindsey Z.

The Beef Princess of Practical County is about a twelve-year-old girl named Libby Ryan who lives on a farm. She has just picked out two calves to raise and enter in the annual steer competition at the Practical County Fair. This will be the first year Libby is old enough to participate and she is full of excitement. Soon she decides to name the calves Piggy and Mule. Piggy loves to eat and Mule is quite stubborn. But her dad warns her that if she names them, it will be hard to let them be sold at the end of the fair. Soon she realizes her dad was right. As if she doesn’t have enough worries, her mom is trying to get her to enter the Beef Princess beauty pageant. The problem with this idea is that no one except one of the three Darling sisters has won in years. This is an enjoyable book, best for ages 10-14.

Reviewed by: Jahnavi C.
"The Reluctant Heiress", wraps you into the world of the counts and duchesses of 20th century Austria. Contrary to the average princess, Princess Theresa-Maria of Pfaffenstein prefers time spent in the theater, running errands and organizing costumes, to a life inside the great castle of Pfaffenstein. However, when the castle is sold to a mysterious millionaire by the name of Guy Farne Tessa realizes exactly how much is at stake after a coincidence encounter with the millionaire. And as she slowly falls in love with the man, complications incur and Tessa's life is changed forever. Following the ideas of her other novels, Ibbotson sweeps you into the romantic world where anything can happen. Recommended for readers 12+.