Avi: Beyond the Western Sea - The Esape from Home

Wow! Very intense and full of interesting characters and events. The plot is very enthralling and I really want to know what happens next (although none of the main characters will die, of course). I thought it was well written, although the series of events are not very likely to happen. I think this is overall a success story, because a lot worse things could happen to the characters than did. I will be getting out the sequel on Friday
9.5/10 Why did the mother have to stay home!!! Only thing I didn't like.

Rudyard Kipling: Kim

A very complex book. There are essentially 2 storylines, the story of Kim being the chela to the Lama, and the story of Kim the spy in the Great Game. Kim is a white boy who grew up in teh slums of a city in India. He lived with all sorts of different people, so he learned how to act like any of them. He started on the Great Game at a young age by running messages for a "horse trader," really another player in the Great Game. His father was in the army, and told Kim that if he ever saw "A bull on green grass" (the welsh flag) it was his future. So one day, white walking with the Lama, he did see the flag, and so went and joined himself to it. One of the masters of the Great Game was there, so when he was sent to school he knew it was just preparation for the Great Game. He spent his summers learnign and practicing arts for the Great Game, and in wandering around with his Lama. His Lama was searching for a river that would apparently "wash all his sins away." Finally in the end of the book, he helped on his first mission, but spent a white recovering, and hid Lama found the river, or so he thought.
9/10 long and complex, and I didn't understand everything that was going on because of the differnet cultures, however, I really enjoyed it. Although it was complex, all the important details were there, and very few unimportant ones.

Agatha Christie: The Body in the Library

A very complex set of characters, with 4 police officers and so many suspects I get lost trying to count them all. However, I have to say I at least guessed the right suspect this time, but I had no clue how. Perhaps the reason why so many people come back to Agatha Christie books is because the surprise ending never lets us down.
The story was written from a lot of different perspectives, but with so many characters, it was hard to keep them all straight. Even the final answer was confusing and complicated. Some people had different connections than was originally thought.
8/10 I guessed it, so the character wasn't hidden well enough, and it was quite confusing. However, it was better than reading other books :)

Eric Knight: Lassie Come-Home

Classic Collie story about a boy and his dog, or perhaps, a dog and her boy. She travels nearly a thousand miles to be with him again. It is nicely written and describes the life of the working class in that time period very well. It has some interesting subplots along the way. However, the way of looking at dog intelligence has changed since the book was written. I think Lassie would be much smarter in real life than the author described her. I may have read this book before, as I seem to remember the ending and one of the little subplots.
8/10 below my reading level , outdated science, but full of good morals and strong affections.