Shut Out is a modern re-telling of an old Greek playwrite written by Aristophane's, Lysistrata. Keplinger is very successful in giving it a unique twist all its own. Set in a modern high school, where she pits the Football team against the Soccer team in a ten year long rivalry, the girls become fed up with it and decide to go on a sex strike pitting them against the boys. It is a highly charged, edgey, and sarcastic lesson in human sexuality, the power of manipulation, and all of the double standards that come along with it. I don't necessarily know that I would personally call it a game well played, but it was a pretty decent novel over-all despite a couple of issues that I may have had with it. I did manage to admire Kepling's best efforts in tackling such controversial subject matter and utilizing a bit of her own personalilty. She does her best and succeeds well, in getting a pretty good positive message across, that can sometimes come with unexpected consequences as well. Shut-Out has managed to leave me with a few mixed emotions, in that I liked it to a degree and then I sort of didn't. There were certain things that bothered me and one of those things was the main character, Lissa. At certain points throughout the novel, it felt as if she was using the sex strike for her own personal reasons instead of the reasons that it had been initiated to begin with. Suddenly, it stopped being about ending the ten year long rivalry between the Football and Soccer teams, and started to become more about her own personal issues. For example, the fact that she felt as if she'd been rejected by Cash and she was going to use the sex strike to manipulate his feelings for her. That completely turned me off and it made me dislike her character a great deal. I stopped feeling sorry for her the minute she started acting like that and encouraging the other girls to use the sex strike as a weapon against the guys they were dating, as well. All in all, though, Shut-Out is a well rounded novel, that isn't afraid to speak candidly and openly about sexuality and explore the questions that come along with the territory or how it affects the youth of our generation. For that alone, I can give it four solid stars and be alright with it.

In today’s society we enjoy brutal sports like World Wrestling Entertainment and the Ultimate Fighting Championship – imagine, if you will, a world where we also couldn’t wait for the next gladiator match.

Lyn lives in just such a world. In fact, she is deeply entrenched in the Glad lifestyle. Lyn’s mother has had seven husbands – all Glad fighters. She has been widowed six times – her husbands always dying in the arena. Her latest husband, Tommy, is set to fight in a championship battle against Uber – a young up and comer in the Neo-Glad world. When the worst possible thing happens and Tommy is killed in the fight, Lyn, her mother, and her brother are left in a desperate situation. Either Lyn marries Uber and becomes a Glad Wife or the family loses everything.

Lyn must look deep within herself to decide what she is willing to do.

I really enjoyed reading GIRL IN THE ARENA even though the writing style took a little getting used to. The only reason it didn’t get 5 glasses is the ending. It seems a little rushed and leaves too much up in the air. GIRL IN THE ARENA doesn’t seem to need a sequel so the reader will be left with their questions forever.

Things are out of control at Hamilton High. A rivalry that started over ten years ago is escalating. What may have started as name calling and taunting has turned into something is getting people hurt.

Lissa is sick of it and she is going to do something about it.

For too long the football and soccer teams have been fighting. The girlfriends of the players are the ones paying the price. They are the ones getting stood up because of a their boyfriends getting hurt during a fight; they are the ones being left alone in the car at “make out hill” when their boyfriends run off to chase someone who egged their car; they are the ones with the plan.

Lissa proposes a sex strike and slowly, but surely the other girls agree. One by one they place their hands on a recent issue of Cosmo and take the pledge.

"I hearby swear to abstain from all forms of sexual activity. This includes but is not limited to anything involving body parts below the belt. That’s either party’s belt. Oh, and second case is outlawed, too. Nothing, um, under the shirt…I’ll stand my ground, even in the toughest of times, and will resist temptation until the rivalry is put to an end."

The girls are sure it will be a quick victory, but as the weeks drag by and the boys don’t give in, tension run high.

Are the boys going to learn anything by being subjected to this punishment? Even a better question might be, what are the girls going to learn from dishing the punishment out?

SHUT OUT is another great look into the mind of a mostly typical teenage girl. While not as endearing as Bianca from THE DUFF, Lissa does pull at your heart strings. Keplinger has a knack for painting realistic pictures of high school and the many characters that walk the halls of the thousands of buildings across the U.S. I can’t wait to see what she come up with next.

She's a Witch Girl
by Kelly McClymer

4 stars


Prudence Stewart is FINALLY getting her witch on at Agatha's Day School. Sadly, her love life isn't quite so charmed. Boy trouble is lurking, big-time:

• First, there's Angelo, Pru's adorable crush-next-door. When he shows up at Agatha's, it spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E for Pru. Especially when it comes to...

• Samuel, Pru's best bud and tutor in all things magical. For Angelo and Samuel, it was loathe at first sight.

• And then there's Daniel, the bad boy with wicked talent -- who also happensto be the great-great-great-great-grandson of Pru's nemesis, Agatha herself.

With all this boy drama, it's all Pru can do to prep for the national cheerleading competition -- the one that will bring her broomstick-to-spirit-stick with her former squad AND her boy-stealing ex-BFF.

A little magic just might come in handy right now....


My Thoughts

A cute fun read.The book is pretty much like the movie Bring it on movie but, in witch mode. Story takes place with a girl in high school going to and all witch school who is on the cheer-leading team. They want to do away with the cheerleaders and just have the sports so she goes on to campaign to win the right to keep cheering. She , is hoping that is she does that the she can convenience them to enter a cheer competition.The have strict rules on mixing with mortals. Her love interest has a secret that is revealed and the mystery of it all unravels and she helps her pal learn his witch(y) abilities.This book was rated for a Teen but, I found it to be for the much younger kids.
Most of what went on in this book was figuring how to out mover the counsel and get them to do it her way. But, she needs to be sneaky to win .She lives and breaths cheering so she not ready to give up even if she has to break the rules and spy on her competitor's.