5 comments about Let Me Tell You How I Died.

1. This book was really great. I loved it so much i wasn't able to put it down and i read it in 2 days. I really enjoyed all the mystery that was in it.



2. I finished this book yesterday and thought it was rather boring. Three-fourths of this book was about how she dicovered she was Laura.The rest was about how the killer was after her. And Mr.Parrish was discribed as a man in his fourties, really he should be 36. Laura died 18, 18 years later. Do the math. The book was good but I would like more horror.



3. Let Me Tell You How I Died is a great book if you are looking for a novel filled with weird and amazing thoughts. Have you ever felt like the girl in this book Delia, like you knew someone closly by reading their diary? Then join the hundreds of readers who sat on the edge of their seat.



4. THE WAY SINCLAIR SMITH WROTE THE BOOK WAS VERY DARING. I MEAN, IT WAS SORT OF A THRILLER/MYSTERY BECAUSE YOU TRIED TO SOLVE WHO KILLED DELIA. IT WAS SO GRIPPING TO READ. SOMETIMES I'D WAKE UP TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANYONE IN THE HOUSE WITH ME OTHER THAN MY FAMILY. I THINK IT IS A 5 STAR BOOK!!!!!



5. I THINK HE SPENT SO MUCH TIME ON THIS BOOK AND TO TELL HIM THAT IT TURNED OUT WONDERFUL. I THINK HE SOULD BE PROUD OF HIMSELF FOR WRITING ALL THESE BOOKS. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VE EVER READ BUT AMNESIA AND ALL CAROLINE B. COONEY BOOKS ARE ALL THE PERFECT BOOKS FOR TEENS TO READ!!!

5 comments about The Time of the Ghost.

1. I really did not enjoy this book very much. While I love Diana Wynne Jones' work, the book is not her best at all. Almost none of the characters were likable and the ending was strange. However, there is one reason to read this book. This book is something of an autobiography. I read an auto biography of DWJ on her website, and the descriptions of Cart, Imogen and Fernella (or whatever her name is) in this book matched those of young DWJ and her sisters in the autobiography.



2. The four sisters, Imogen, Sally, Cart and Fenella, are all unpleasant and unlikeable. They are immature and uncared for in much of the novel, and perhaps that is the reason for their often bizarre behavior. Their parents, in their callous behaviour to their own offspring, are also very unlikeable.
   
   Unfortunately, it takes at least half of the novel to make sense of what is happening in the plot. By that time, I was out of patience with it, although I did finish the book.
   
   Diana Wynne Jones has written many better books. Try Archer's Goon, The Dark Lord of Derkholm, The Year of the Griffin, Howl's Moving Castle, Power of Three, the Merlin Conspiracy or Deep Secret. Give this one a miss.



3. I have so far enjoyed all of Diana Wynne Jones' books, and this one was no exception. It's a good story as well as an adventure. Besides just that, having a favorite author consistently providing good stories of varying subjects is refreshing.



4. This book is a difficult read. It is not easy sailing, though the writing is superb. This book is unconventional to the extreme. There are two confusing points in the book, one of which is the ghost's identity (which sister is it?), and the other is that fact that the ghost is NOT a ghost of a dead person. But you can figure out the ghost's identity fairly quickly if you pick up several obvious clues that many seem to miss, and this book is one of my favorites.
   I won't go into the plot--other's, such as the publishers, have done it already--save to say that it is not gory or freakshly disturbing. If you are zealosuly religions, then you may not like this book, as it does have a "dark, old, female something" (a goddess-like presence) and severe neglect from the parents regarding the four sister-protagonists. One of the sisters goes missing, and the parents doen't even notice after several days, even though the mother comes in to say good-night and the father throws a rage at them later, even going through all four names without noticing before leaving.
   This book is more like a window into a at-once familiar and fantastical world than a science-fiction/fantasy novel, a world where things that most people go through in childhood (such as a play-sceance using scrabble-letters or a belief that there is a ghost in the house) do not collapse into disbelief with time but are confirmed in a subtle, definite way. THAT is the whole of the 'horror and occult' in this book.
   The characters are exactly drawn. Perhaps others do not know people as unusual or interesting as the four Melford sisters, but they are the sort of people who are at the edge of the population, who turn into famous artists, writers, musicians--the sort of people who go into history books (the sort of people who are very unusual). They are disinctly portrayed, and you can feel that you would recognize them on the street after reading the book. The personalities are very vibrant, and the entire book is a pleasurable read. You may want to reread this book later, because it is one of those books that can be reread many times; not open and direct, but secretive, mysterious, and very well-woven. Five stars on this one. Diana Wynne Jones has done an excellent job and has not been afraid to step out of the borders of conventional fiction writing to turn out a novel of striking originality.



5. Charlotte (Cart), Selina (Sally), Imogen and Fenella Melford had a tugging contest over a rag doll. The doll lost and was ripped into quarters. Cart felt guilty and sewed the doll back together. Then to make it up to Monigan she invented the Worship of Monigan and awakened an ancient goddess whose out for blood.
   
   Sally's spirit travels back into the past after her boyfriend Julian Addiman, also a Monigan worshipper, throws her out of his speeding car. Sally, possibly due to the trauma of this incident, can't remember who she is. As things start to come back to her, she tries to influence her sisters to fight Monigan or the goddess will claim Sally's life on July 17th, as promised 7 years earlier.
   
   This is a very dark story that deals with mature subjects like domestic violence, parental neglect, dark occult worship etc. I thought the plot was very original but a bit confusing when Sally didn't know who she was yet I kept reading because Jones peaked my curiosity. I wanted to know what was really going on. This book starts out rather slow but it just draws the reader into the story.

5 comments about The First Horror (99 Fear Street, No. 1).

1. Twins Cally and Kody Frasier are not thrilled that they are moving into 99 Fear Street. They've heard the strange stories about the house. About a family who checked out the house and five minutes later, the wife and the children had no heads..



2. I read the first,second, and third horrors on a drive to Massaschussets with my family. They were such mind grabbing books. The first book was the best!
   It's so creepy how she writes in her diary,"dear diary, tonight i died" that was very very creepy.
   I can be a fast reader at times but sometimes i am slow. But i read the series quickly because they were attention getters!



3. this story is a must for any stine fan like me. the book is gory scary and it actually involves the whole family instead of just one teen. the book can also be sad sometimes but is totally unpredictable. sure its just a haunted house taken to the extreme but this house was so evil in the book that it was indeed sad. but even though it ended with a not so wonderful ending (like most stine books.) but its an awesome book and a must for any stine fan.



4. Cally Frasier and her family have just moved to Shadyside and bought the 99 Fear Street house. Following their arrival, a lot of accidents occur: a tree branch nearly falls on Cally, a window slams on Kody's (Cally's twin sister) hands, their father accidentally stabs himself, Kody falls off a ladder, and Cubby (the family's new puppy) is missing, yet they can still hear his barking and howls in the house. Plus, someone or something has been knocking on Cally's bedroom door late at night. Kody insists the house is haunted or cursed--and she just may be right when a local teen tells them about their house's history. Thirty years ago, when it was being built, several burial plots were found where the foundation would be poured. Instead of ceasing work, they continued with the job, which resulted in a mysterious massacre of the family that moved in. Thus the evil curse of 99 Fear Street. Will the Frasier family follow the previous owners' fate--or will they escape in time to save their lives?

   I had started this series because I had heard it was supposed to be pretty good; however, I thought it was quite disappointing. (This can be said for most of the R. L. Stine books I've read.) For starters, the horror scenes in this book are almost comical; they're just flat-out ridiculous sometimes and not very scary at all. Sure they're bloody in parts, but each character pretty much reacts in the same manner by saying "Nooo!", "Owww!", or some other nonsense expression we obviously know they'd say when attacked or hurt. Plus the way each chapter ends with a cliff-hanger is so predictable and tedious. A little variation, please! Bad things don't need to happen in every chapter.

   Although the Fear Street books are geared for preteens, I don't think most young adult readers will be as frightened by these books as, say, elementary children (10 years and younger). So, I'd probably only recommend these books to younger readers. If you enjoyed "The First Horror" though, then you might like the following two books in this series: "The Second Horror" and "The Third Horror". Otherwise, try the Fear Street Saga. That trilogy is much better than this one.




5. A new family moves into this house in Shadyside. They are the Frasiers. But little does the Frasiers know that the house is a seed of Evil. They're terrorized by it. Will the Frasiers be able to live in this house of Evil that has been haunted? Can Kody and Cally Frasier beat the evil that haunts this house?

   Find out when you read the book!

5 comments about The Runaway (Fear Street Series #41).

1. Felicia is a runaway who runs away all the way to Shadyside. And she ends up on Fear Street. Even though she knows no one in Shadyside, she has to find a job and a place to live. But everything is in her favor in that department. She also quickly finds friends. She quickly gets a life and people to hang out with. How cool.
   
   But it appears that someone wants to kill her. Are these people really her friends? She receives a threatening note; the place where she is staying is ramshackled. Should she leave Shadyside? But if so, where will she go? Will she be safe and will there be a happy ending?
   
   I discovered R.L. Stine Fear Street books when my oldest child was in 5th or 6th grade (I don't remember which). She had to read books for the school's reading program. The student with the highest amount of points each six weeks was the winner. (It was usually her.) Her school had lots of Fear Street books on the reading program; that's how she discovered them. She loved reading them so much, I just had to read one and see what all the hype was about. After I read the first one, I've been hooked every since. They are good books, fun books, and have a fun atmosphere. Even though some are better than others, most all of them are 5-star books. A few of the better ones are "The Babysitter" (4 books in the series - I through IV), "Hit and Run", "The Rich Girl", "Halloween Party", "The Secret Bedroom", "Cat", and many, many more.
   
   I am an adult. Adults are allowed to read fun books, too.



2. Have you ever heard of a girl with telekinetic powers? Well in the book Runaway a girl named Felicia has powers to move things with her mind. One problem, she couldn't control her powers. So she became a runaway. After he escaped all the tests people were doing on her she went to a town called Shadyside. There she met a boy called Nick and his girlfriend Zan, short for Alexandria. Felicia became runaway because at her old town she killed two people. Zan found out about her secret and tried to kill her. Next her friend Debbie tried to kill her. Do you think she think survived?
   While I was reading the book, I was on the edge of my seat. Everyday I read two to four chapters. When I was reading the book I pictured I was in the book watching everything. Everyday when I was in school I couldn't wait until my study hall so I could read the book. One weekend I stayed up from 9:00pm to 1:00am finishing the book. I absolutely could not put the book down. The book had so much action and excitement. That is what I look for in a book.
   Felicia, the protagonist, is tall, slender, brown eyes, and long brown hair. Her personality traits are nice, caring, helpful, concerned, generous and courageous. She showed she was helpful by helping out at the Burger Basket. She showed she was courageous when the Burger Basket started on fire and people were still trapped inside the building. She went inside and cleared the fire with her telekinetic powers. She has a couple of strengths and weaknesses. Her strengths are that she has telekinetic powers. Her weaknesses are that she cannot control them. They just go off when ever they feel like it. An example is when she was in school, she felt the powers swell inside of her, then they just burst out and a row of lockers began to tremble and books began to slam against the lockers.
   Felicia seems like a nice girl. She seems she would help out no matter what the situation. She acted strange a few times but people got used to it, except for Zan. It seems like she had a lot of adventures. This was a good book, I hope you read it.



3. Have you ever had telekinetic powers and want to get rid of them? Well, a girl named, Felicia, in Runaway by R.L.Stine did. Before her telekinetic powers start up again, she wanted to run away. However, everyone knew she had these powers and that her two best friends were dead as a door nail because of them. Rather than staying where she was, Felicia ran away from her family and friends to a small town called Shadeyside. There she meet two new wonderful friends. Their names were Zan and Nick. They got her a job cooking hamburgers at a local resturant, and seemed pretty nice. Zan Nick and Felicia stayed friends for quite a long time. One day, Felicia, overheard two boys talking about how they can't watch a man's cat while he was on a vacation anymore. She needed the money and a place to sleep at night, so she asked them if she could watch the cat. They said sure,why not. The next day at work, Zan told her to change the light bulb in the storage room. When she got there, the room was flooded with water like an indoor pool. When she took the light bulb out of it's socket, it started a fire. No one was hurt and everyone got out safly. That night, when Felicia entered the den area of the man's home, it looked like a hurricane had hit. There were papers off the desk and on the floor. Just a she was about to clean up the papers, she noticed there was blood on the walls, too. When Felicia went to wipe the blood off the walls, she realized it was only red paint. The thought that someone knows who I really am scared her silly. When Felicia is about to runaway agian, someone finds out who she really is. Who could it be? Ladies and gentlemen, I invite and encourage you to read this fabulous book, Runaway, by R.L. Stine.



4. This book diserves a 5 because the way that he puts out the story just blows your mind... I like the way he put a little bit of drama, suspence, and a tiny bit of romance. Don't forget the crazy people. He is one of my favorite authors. Next to Stephen King that is.



5. i love it!r.l stine did a great job on this but isnt for childeren uder at least 13 because how the gresome detail about "oh kristy!"felicia cried.one of the support beams had cut off kristys arm.felicia could see the white bone and the ragged layers of muscle."bricks had cruched anys face his nose and lips and eyelids scraped raw" so i warn u this is not for young childeren if you are in to gruesomw stuff like me you should reaf this but i just wanna warn you the details are pretty gruesome if you love r.l. stine read this during the day cause at night when kristy and andy are found you may see visions of them beware!

5 comments about Look for Me by Moonlight.

1. I really don't like science-fiction books so this was not my type of book. I was expecting a romance between two people who shouldn't be together but there was a lot more to it than that. It had a really good plot and a good ending but like I said not my type of book.



2. I love this book. at first I thought it was just another stupid story where the plain girl falls in love with a perfect guy runs off with him and doesn't care what others want for her, but it isn't. the perfect guy isn't so perfect he's horrible and the average guy starts looking way better. i'm happy that the story was this way. I hate when stories are too predictable and this one is much more real than other books of its kind. I love it!



3. it was not what i had thought. i thought this was going to be kinda romantic. i was totally wrong. the vampire guy sounds enchanting, and he is, but he comes with a price.
   the pain he puts on the girl is horrible! and she cant say a word. she has to live with this creature that is hurting her every night and she cant make him leave. draining her of life and energy.. making her so sick she can barely move. she's dying and no one is helping. i felt sick while reading but i couldn't put it down. it was like watching Bourne Identity and trying to stop the movie half way. you just cant stop reading. i wanted to scream to the character or get sucked into the book to help.



4. I've been reading this genre (i.e., paranormal young adult fiction) with a vengeance and this was one of the few books that kept me reading with few stops.



5. I'm a huge fan of vampire literature, so naturally I was excited when I started the book. It has some really good parts, but there's an odd aura about it that I can't explain. Definitely not your typical vampire story. Whether that's a good thing or not is up to you!

4 comments about Faces of Terror (Fear Street Sagas #13).

1. It is 1867 and Elizabeth Nelson is working in a textile mill, separated from her twin brother Thomas. Her brother's ambition to be an artist has led him to seek employment with Peter Gustavson, a talented sculptor who builds strangely lifelike wax models. After a nightmare that convinces her that something terrible has happened to Thomas, Elizabeth and her friend Margaret journey to Cliff House, the home of the sculptor. The moment she arrives, she knows that something is wrong. The house is full of gruesome sculptures of death and terror and Thomas is nowhere to be seen. Soon Margaret is ill and Elizabeth begins to uncover the terrible secret of Cliff House. Determined to uncover the truth about her brother, she soon realises that to do this may result in her suffering Thomas's fate....

   "Faces of Terror" is the thirteenth book in R.L.Stine's "Fear Street Sagas". The action was fast paced and actually scary in some parts, even if the plot was fairly typical and sometimes there wasn't enough explanation given. I would recommend it to fans of the series and of the author's other works. This wasn't the best of The Fear Street Sagas, but it was still pretty good. If you enjoyed "Faces of Terror", I would also suggest the Blair Witch Casefiles series, which are great for any teens who like to be scared.

   ~**Jenna**~




2. This book definitley had a formula, but it worked. The ending was somewhat predictable, but I really liked the main character and the story did scare me. It was a bit weaker than some of the others, but it was enjoyable, and I guess that's what matters.



3. You have to admit the plot was kind of boring



4. This book was really good

5 comments about Story Time.

1. "Story Time" is a creepy, quite amusing, horror children's story. Those are a lot of descriptions, right? Well, "Story Time" is a lot of things. It's a mockery of the education system, a frightening horror story, a fun romp through the park, and an amusing read, all in one.
   
   For readers coming from "Tangerine" and "Crusader", it may be a bit difficult to digest. "Story Time" is not quite as good as those other books, but it's not bad either. Instead of the strong character and structure that his previous books gave us, Bloor now gives us a dark, humorous book that deals with something completely different.
   
   Moments of "Story Time" are disturbing. The deaths have little impact, though, and that's why it's not quite so difficult to absorb the first time around. Then again, when rereading, one realizes just how many creepy, frightening moments there are.
   
   The humor, though, is quite worth it. The mind-numbing aspects of the school and their obsession with top scores on standardized tests just made me laugh aloud. It's an accurate mocking of some systems that teach purely around the "fill in the bubble" system. Can anybody truly learn from that? No, and enjoy laughs while reading those parts.
   
   The characters are interesting, the plot fun. Overall, it's an enjoyable book, even if a bit creepy, and I liked reading it quite a bit. No, it's not a masterpiece of fiction, and no, I don't love it as I do Bloor's other works, but for someone looking to laugh at school systems or just sit down with a fat, slightly creepy book one afternoon, here's something to read.



2. Bloor creates a satirical world where gifted children are invited to attend Whittaker Magnet School, created by the local County Commission which has developed a Leave No High-Scoring Child Behind Program. All the children do is focus on a Test-Based Curriculum. Creativity and personal connections are crushed. Standardization, routine, scripted lesson plans, and memorization become the norm. Sound familiar?!?!
   
   It should! Because these days, public school children spend about eight percent of their time taking standardized tests, and your child's teacher probably is required to perform a highly proscribed lesson plan most of the time.
   
   However, most of this wonderful satirical story could have been written as a longer short story, or a novelette, as there is a great deal of extra material here that's not very interesting or relevant, and makes the whole thing drag on (hence, only two stars).



3. Story Time is about Kate and her genius uncle George going off to a school that is like a cross between military school and horror movie. First only the test every day and the protein shakes seem to be a problem at the school, but later Kate and George see that the principal has been try to cover something up. That something is a demon that takes over people through books. The plot of lies and the demon glues you to the book, but with a few people dead, several posesed and a very bloody tramatic ending I would not advise this book to anyone under 8
   [...]



4. THIS WAS THE MMOST BORING BOOK THAT I HAVE EVER READ. I WOULD NOT RECCOMEND THIS TO ANYBODY.IT IS CONFUSING AND DID I MENTION BORRING.
   
   
   P.S. MS.D PLEASE DON'T TAKE OFF MY GRADE SPELLING ERRORS
   
   SIGN_
   THE BOY WHO DIDN'T LIKE STORY TIME



5. Story Time is about two kids named George and Kate. George is a genius and Kate ... well isn't. One day George an Kate get invited to the Whittaker Magnet School which boasts the highest test scores in the U.S. The school is a dreary place where kids take tests all day long and never have any fun. The school turns out to have a terrible secret of demonds and murder. George and Kate must end the demond's murdurous ways and at the same time bring the school to justice.
   
   luv-
   Sam
   
   P.S. This is my second book review because I didn't like the first one and realized I needed a better grade in Ms.D's class
   
   P.S.S Hi Ms.D!!!! and Gabe

5 comments about Haunted (Fear Street, No. 7).

1. A ghost haunts Melissa and tells her that she was the one who killed him. Lissa knows she's innocent but how can she prove it to the ghost?



2. A Fear Street prowler is on the loose, and Melissa is determined that he is in her bedroom and harrassing her. Her parents do not believe her. Is it her imagination, or is the prowler actually in her bedroom?
   
   There are some fun adventures. You will keep wondering about this "prowler" until you reach the end; you will want to keep reading until you find out.
   
   The end has a very interesting and unique twist. I liked the end. However, this book wasn't quite good enough to give 5 stars to. My favorite R.L. Stine books are "Hit and Run", "The Rich Girl", and my very favorites, "The Babysitter" (I-IV).
   
   This is a good teen book, and I would recommend it to a teen. I would not recommend it to an adult, unless it is an adult who occasionally enjoys fun, less serious, teen books.



3. PARENTS & TEACHERS: Please be alert to what your children are reading! HAUNTED (FEAR STREET 8) contains sexual references, disrespect of a young girl by boys in several chapters, drinking, guns, and bloody violence. I won't provide the details, as I'm sure young kids read these reviews as well as adults, and my whole purpose in this review is to protect their young minds. How are these books marketed to nine year olds?!?! This is a popular author, R.L. Stein, also known for the Goosebumps series. If you're a librarian in an elementary school, please pull these books.



4. Having read a few books from the Fear Street series, I decided to read a few move, including "Haunted" for fun.
   
   There is a prowler in Fear Street who is breaking into everyone's houses and robbing them. Melissa Dryden, a teenager living in Fear Street is scared that they prowler might attack her family one day, and gets terrified when small things like tree branches hit her windows. Soon, she starts experiencing strange things like a shadow prancing in her room, her new car steering out of control, and someone trying to push her out of her bedroom window. No one believes her since they think she is imagining it because of her fear of the prowler. However, she knows that there is a ghost in her room trying to kill her, and she tries to get to the bottom of it by figuring out who he is, and how she can prevent him from killing her.
   
   Although the ending was a little predictable, I still enjoyed reading this book because it had a lot of twists and turns. I found it really intriguing during the middle where Melissa is confused as to whether the ghost is really a ghost or not. What I also liked about it was the fact that it was simple enough to enjoy. Some of Stine's Fear Street stories tend to be really confusing, especially towards the end, but this story was fast paced and not complicated.
   
   On the whole, I would rate this as one of the better Fear Street books that Stine has written. I would recommend this to anyone who likes reading ghost stories or is a fan of R. L. Stine's work.



5. An angry ghosts haunts Melissa in her bedroom!He claims SHE killed him, but she has no memory of this!
   Oddly, she then meets a living version of the avengeful ghost boy.And he is even scarier and meaner than his doppelganger.
   How will Melissa protect herself from the living Paul and the dead one?How will she prove that she is NOT the killer?And why are there 2 of them anyway?
   I could not keep my head out of it!

5 comments about Crossings (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

1. Set in season 5 of Buffy the vampire slayer, after "The body" and "Forever", Mel Odom's story has different plots that all end up meshing together.
   Buffy and Willow are on the hunt for a demon, that's been stealing body parts.
   Spike is in a bar, where he meets a stranger and gets in a fight.
   Xander and Anya are trying to enjoy a Star Trek marathon, when someone Xander knows attacks the theater.
   Giles and Tara are at a live taping of the show the othersyde when he sees something like he's never seen before.
   The story has the humor and action of a good Buffy episode. Worth a read for any Buffy fan and fun too. The video game story line isn't like any of the episodes on the show, and if it sounds similar to any other shows, then you're in for a surprise.
   
   I liked how it showed what everyone was thinking. It was nice to see Buffy's struggle to fill in as the part of a mother and learning that Dawn needs a sister.



2. Fairly average, and despite Anya on the cover, she only has a minor part.
   
   The most interesting parts are a demon slayer from Louisiana, and the main antagonist, a demon, is using a virtual reality game testing environment to gather the bones of an old entity he wants to take power from after he resurrects him.
   
   He is using a bunch of possessed arcade game geeks, some of whom Xander knows, and Xander ends up involved.
   
   From the head duped kid, inside the game environment :-
   
   "Come on you gold-brickin' grunts!" Robby yelled to the rest of his team. He did his best to sound like Nick Fury...
   
   And when Xander is possessed and roped into the same game :-
   
   "Okay, those are definitely my Spidey-senses tingling."
   
   and on the next page
   
   "Go on," Xander yelled. "Beat it. You don't want to pick a fight with me. You'll make me angry." He flexed his arms and shoulders, making the big body he woere appear even bigger and Hulk-like. "You won't like me when I'm angry." He raised his voice. "Xander smash! Xander crush!"
   
   when someone notices his antics :-
   
   "Xander crush!" the gargoyle shouted, then shook his head. "Man, that is so lame. I kept waiting for you to shout, 'It's clobberin' time!'"
   
   "Anybody who reads comics knows that's The Thing's battle cry," Xander said automatically.
   
   When Xander finds Robby :
   
   Robby started pacing again. "I knew you hung out with some strange people, X-Man. The old guy that used to be the librarian at your high school. That girl, Buffy, who always seemed to be around the weirdness."
   
   So, some of that stuff is fairly entertaining, but the plot doesn't seem to hang together completely, making you lose interest here and there.



3. I enjoyed Crossings for the most part. It could be a little slow at some parts and the story was pretty standard sci fi but the relationships - especially Buffy and Dawn's relationship after their mom's death - were explored well. I would recommened this to someone who has a few hours to relax and wants a quick read.



4. Beware video game buffs! The trouble starts when gamers get snared in the web of the demon Dredfahl, who usurps their bodies for his minions and sends their souls to a video game dimension, where they have to capture enough bones to bring forth the master demon, Torqualmar. The victims don't realize that the video game dimension is real, and when they die in it, they are truly dead.
   
   The Scoobies need all their combined talents to save Xander, whose body gets hijacked, and save the world once again. Willow uses magic, seances, Spike uses his strength and warrior sense, and Buffy uses her Slayersense to solve this case. Even Dawn is useful in this book, making an important discovery.
   
   
   Mel Odom is my favorite Buffy author. This book shows his humorous side. The portrayal of Anya and Xander at the Star Trek festival is very funny (Don't wear a red shirt!). The names of the demons are also entertaining-"Dredfahl", "Manik" and the name of the other dimension "Ollindark". The story is fast-paced, the characterizations well done. There were no boring parts at all!
   
   The book also ties into the series at that time, with Buffy struggling to assume the parental role, Willow's increasing immersion in magik, and Tara's growing concern.



5. CROSSINGS
   Mel Odom (2002)
   
   RATING: 3/5 Stakes
   
   SETTING: Season Five
   
   CAST APPEARANCES: Buffy, Willow, Anya, Xander, Spike, Willy, Tara, Giles, Dawn, Amy (as rat)
   
   MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Robby Healdton (Xander's friend); Stephie McConnell (Robby's girlfriend); Bobby Lee Tooker (demon hunter); Derek Traynor (medium); Dredfahl (villain); Malik (demon); Torqualmar (demon)
   
   BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: "Buffy and Dawn are having difficulty settling into their new roles, now that their mother is gone. Buffy herself is reluctant to cross over to the role of parent, and the two are bickering more than usual. In fact, Buffy's distraction prevents her from noticing strange behavior among the video-game crowd. One of Xander's friends goes medieval outside the Sunnydale movie theater, laughing and babbling that he can't be stopped-he's only in town on a temporary visa. Puzzled, Anya and Xander investigate. It seems that people who've been testing a new video game have been demonstrating creepy tics. As the Slayer attempts to put all of the pieces together, Anya is abducted into an alternate demon universe. Buffy had better figure out how to get her friend back to Sunnydale, before the game is over, for good. . . ."
   
   REVIEW
   
   Crossings is a solid, standard Buffy novel with a straightforward plot. In a demon dimension, a bad guy named Dredfahl hopes to resurrect a powerful demon named Torqualmar by assembling all of the latter's bones. In other to quicken the search, Dredfahl has hit upon a clever scheme: he uses virtual reality video game testers on Earth as the minds and souls of actual demons in his native dimension, thus increasing the demons' intelligence and combat ability. While playing the "game", however, the gamers' own bodies on Earth are taken over by the demons' original minds. As expected, chaos ensues (though the back-of-the-book summary contains a mistake and Xander, not Anya, ends up in the other dimension).
   
   Set shortly after the death of Joyce, author Mel Odom does an excellent job developing Buffy and Dawn's grief, as well as Buffy's difficulty figuring out whether she should try to be a sister or a mother (or somehow both). Although more humor would be a plus, the characterization of all the Slayerettes is good, with Xander and Tara getting more of the spotlight than usual for Buffy novels.
   
   Two new characters have potential, although their introduction seems somewhat unnecessary: Bobby Lee Tooker, a southern musician-turned-demon hunter and Derek Traynor, a John Edward-style psychic medium. The action is exciting and easy to visualize, and the heroes figuring out the problem early was actually refreshing. The main downside is the villain, Dredfahl. He has no personality to speak of and his major motivation, resurrecting a powerful demon, is now extremely clichéd in the Buffyverse and should be ruled out of bounds for all future stories.
   
   All in all, Crossings is a middle-of-the-road Buffy book. There are others I would recommend before it, but on its own terms it's not bad.

5 comments about Daughters of Silence (Fear Street, No. 6).

1. Was Rob really Robert, Simon and Angelica's oldest son? Would they really kill their own son? It wasn't that clear unless I missed something.



2. When i first saw this book i saw it and i said to my self its just a book. After i heared i was suppose to read it for 15 min so i did. When i started readin it i didn't want to put it down. This book is fiction but if you like scary books you may want to read this.



3. Jenna is visting her best friend Hannah who has recently moved to Shadyside. Jenna and Hannah run into Angelica and Simon Fear, whose daughters died a few years ago. Jenna doesn't trust the Fears, but Hannah loves them since they give her free things. But there's a terrifying secret Angelica and Simon are keeping from the girls. They have a plan to kill Hannah and Jenna so their dead daughters can start living again.

   I really loved this book, but there were some boring parts which convinced me to give this book four stars. If you take away the boring parts, this book is awesome. The beginning and the ending are the best parts. There are usually never surprise endings in Fear Street Sagas, but there is in this one. Well, it's not a huge surprise. It can be guessed if you think hard about it. Anyway, Simon and Angelica are my favorite Fears. They're so evil that it's funny.

   Read this book!




4. This is the SCARIEST book i have ever read. The begining is freaky, and every part of the book kept me on the edge of my seat. This book should defintally become a movie. It's the scariest!!!!!!!!!!!



5. I LOVE Fear Street,it is UNREAL!!!...Unreal certainly IS the word isn't it??This is another very strange,very spooky,very EXCELLENT edition in this ..erm,imaginative..series!!