"LAIKA" Review

The book "LAIKA," in my eyes is a decent graphic novel, it has a well done story, it gets you to care about the characters, but the one thing that really falls short on this story is the animations that are throughout the story. You would think that in a graphic novel, the graphics would be a huge part of the story, and that the creators would spend a lot of time perfecting the art of the story, but the book "LAIKA" does not follow through on this, and instead gives a ton of poorly animated slides that are plain ugly to look at. Does the animation help develop the story, definitely, I could not imagine this story without them, they just could have been better.

Although other than the animation, everything else is extremely well done. The story is about a dog who's name changes throughout the book because she goes through many owners, but it is about the story of a dog who goes from a stray all the way to the first living animal in space that we know of. The story is a little dark though, and sad, because of what exactly this dog goes through, it is treated as a science experiment instead of a dog. To say the least, I believe that this story is excellent and develops the character's personalities very well. Also the story makes you care about the story.

I would recommend this to teenagers because in order to understand this book you need to understand the Soviet Union, and a few other things, also because the story is a little dark. Also I would loosely relate this to a graphic novel called "Watchmen," and only because the art style is vaguely similar.

"C.H.E.R.U.B. The Dealer" Review

"The Dealer" is the sequel to the book "C.H.E.R.U.B." I personally thought that the book "C.H.E.R.U.B." had some potential to be a decent series, but "The Dealer" seems to follow the set trend of only being mediocre, and not reaching it's full potential. The main character of the book is James, he is a secret agent at an organization called C.H.E.R.U.B. In this book he is sent out on a mission where the goal of it is to take down a large cocaine operation, by getting close to the leader's children. I thought the story was decent, and had some good ideas, they just were not told well and seemed forced. A great example of this is when a character tells James he is gay, well this idea is bought up maybe two times, and one time seems weird and forced, and the other time is so out of place I almost started laughing because it seemed like he was forcing this idea both times and it did not really work. This is what happens to most ideas in the story, good ideas, poorly implemented.

I would recommend this book to a younger audience because more than likely they will be more willing to overlook these critical flaws and enjoy the book for what it is, a decent book, with a decent story, but tons of flaws that keep it from being good. Also instead of reading this I would read the Alex Rider series because I believe the story more, and it is over all much better written than "The Dealer."

My fake boyfriend is better than yours REVIEW

This is my review on My fake boyfriend is better than yours.
The book was about a girl named Tori and her best friend Sienna. Tori and Sea were always best friends until Sea went away for a whole summer, and changed completely. Sea had a total makeover, got a “boyfriend”(Fake of course), is popular, and acts like a total snob. Tori decides that 2 can play that game. So Tori makes her own “Boyfriend” and the competition begins between the 2. (You have to read it to know how it ends!)
I liked this book a lot. I could relate to some parts, like how someone thinks a person pretends to do/have something so they pretends the same thing. I would be really mad if I was in Tori’s position because she just lost her best friend, her only friend.
I would definitely recommend this book to girls. I think an age group from 10-15 would be about right for this book. I enjoyed this book a lot, but it’s really girly and I don’t think any guy would like it.
This book is a lot like The Clique, because a lot of people try to pretend they are someone they aren’t and they have things that they really don’t. I also liked The Clique, and I think if someone likes My fake boyfriend is better than yours they will also like The Clique. But I liked this book a little more than The Clique.
~Emily

"The Surrender Tree"

The "Surrender Tree" is about the Cuban revolution, it goes through around five different point of views that show all of the sides and aspects of the revolution. The main two point of views though are a woman named Rosa, she was a medic and one of the main people who helped leaders who helped lead the revolution, and Lieutenant Death, who is trying to hunt Rosa down.

I really enjoyed this book, I thought it was simplistic and well written, also it had a very nice style where every page is a type of poem or short snippet of information, that can be seen books like "Locomotion," and "All The Broken Pieces." Also I thought the story was a very good one and the fact that it is a true story helps the book a lot. So not only are you getting a decent story your learning something along the way.

I would recommend this book to teenagers and adult, I would not recommend this book to children because of some of the graphic imagery that is shown throughout the story. Also books that I can relate this one to are "All The Broken Pieces," and "Locomotion," because of the writing style.

dear John, by Nick. Sparks

Dear John was about this "army grunt" as John Tyree describes himself and "sheltered goody-two shoes" Savannah Curtis. They met at the beach over spring break and fell in love. Two weeks was all it took. Then things changed, John had to go back to the army and Savannah had college. Things change drastically for each of them.

I really enjoyed this book! The characters where always keeping me on my toes, but my favorite character was John because I could relate to him in many ways. The only thing I didnt like about the book was the ending because I never found out if John and Savannah got back together!

I would recommend this book to any true romance and drama lovers. I also would narrow that down to just girls because I believe a guy would get sick of the book very quick.

True Believer and The Notebook are very similar to this book because they all the the gripping romance and tear-jerking endings.

~AW

The Divine Invasion

The Divine Invasion tells the story of the return of a divinity called Yaweh to Earth, through a boy called Emmanuel. Basically, it attempts to tell about the return of God to Earth, through the Second Coming of Christ. The concepts of the book are extremelly controversial in my oppinion. I feel that Mr. Phillip Dick sometimes oversteps boundaries, but I rather enjoy the bluntness of the book. I would recommend this book to people that want to further understand their own faith. This book reminds me of Ender's Game, because of the growth of the main character and the science fiction asspects of the novels.

The Scorch Trials

***ALERT!! DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE SCORCH TRIALS. THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS***

The Scorch Trials- The Gladers have escaped and are put to the test again. The boys are put in one room and Teresa in another. In the morning they awake to cranks screaming at them. They are locked in but they break down the door and go to find Teresa. When they get in her room she is gone, and a boy is in her place. They then find that they are tattooed on their necks. Minho is “The Leader” and Thomas is “to be killed by group B.” They find that they must make it through the Scorch before two weeks are up, or they will be killed. Follow the Gladers through the Scorch in this exciting book.

I didn’t like how much death there was. I also didn’t like how the people died. Like when the balls of goop fell onto people’s heads, engulfed them, and killed them by making their heads fall off. I liked the plot of the book. I liked how action packed the book was, like how they got through the Scorch

I would recommend this book to a middle school because of all the death. A kid that is younger than middle school age might get scared from all the death, but someone older than that probably wouldn’t get scared from the death.

I would compare this book to the Hunger Games because of all the death in this book. So many people died in these books by numerous things. Also, it reminded me of The Hunger Games because they were both just big games. Although, The Hunger Games was for enjoyment, the Scorch Trials was to find a way to save the world.

-Serena

Pretties

I'm still going.........................
I read the second book in the Uglies series, Pretties, maybe a week ago(?). Pretties is set after Tally goes back to New Pretty Town. Tally meets Zane there. Zane can already tell that being pretty messes with your brain. He has figured out how to keep his mind focused. He does dangerous things like climbing a tower. Tally does this stuff with him. Eventually Tally, Zane and a bunch of their friends escape New Pretty Town and go to the New Smoke. Zane made it there but Tally landed in some kind of reservation where people live like cavemen. She meets Andrew Simpson Smith there and he tries to help her escape. She ends up stealing a hovercar and getting caught by the Specials. This book has a lot of action as well. I'm not sure which one I liked better between the first two in the series. They were both good books. I would recommend this book to girls who are in 5th-10th grade.

Review on Out of My Mind

I read out of my mind by Sharon M. Draper, It’s about a girl named Melody, who has a mental condition and is unable to talk or walk. She goes to school when she gets older, but often feels left out and learns to adapt. Towards the end of the book Melody learns a way to communicate.
I really liked this book, because how I would feel if I was like Melody, and how people who ARE like Melody feel. I enjoyed reading it. It was different but I loved it.
I would recommend this book to 5th graders all the way through adults. Many age groups can enjoy this book. I think girls would enjoy it more than guys, but some guys will enjoy this book.
The book Out Of My Mind Is different, and I’ve never read anything like it or anything that can relate to what happened in it. (I don’t read many books.) I haven’t seen any books like it either, but I think I would enjoy something if it was similar.

~Emily

Ghostopolis

Ghostopolis is about a boy, Garth, who is accidently transported to Ghostopolis by a a middle-aged agent of the Supernatural Immigration Task Force, Frank. The rest of the book is about Frank and a ghost he knows, Claire, trying to bring Garth back to the land of the living.
It is a graphic novel, meaning that everything is in a comic format. The artwork is very well done, and the story is also well done. I particularly enjoyed the artists style.
I would recommend this book to most younger readers, particularly those who have problems understanding what is happening in a story.
I haven't really read any other graphic novels, so I cannot relate Ghostopolis to another book.

Uglies

I'm getting there.................
Recently, I read the Uglies by Scott Westerfield. Uglies is about Tally. Tally is a girl who lives in a world where on the day you turn 16, you don't get a driver's liscense. You have surgery that makes you pretty. Tally is alone now that her friends have had the surgery and all she wants is to be pretty, but a girl named Shay comes along and tells her about a place called the Smoke, where they live their entire lives as uglies. Shay doesn't want to be pretty and leaves for the Smoke before she turns 16, but Tally stays. Shay leaves Tally a coded message so she can get to the Smoke if she wants to. On the day Tally is supposed to have the surgery, she is taken to Special Circumstances and is confronted by Dr. Cable about Shay's disappearance. Tally acts like she knows nothing, until Dr. Cable says she can't have the surgery until they tell her where Shay went. Tally gives up after a few days and is sent to find Shay and destroy the Smoke. When she gets there, she finds out a terrible secret about being pretty and falls in love with David. Can she destroy the Smoke now?
I think this is one of my absolute favorite books I have read this year. I love the concept of it. The idea of a surgery to make everyone pretty is interesting to me to me, but I don't like the price. Brian lesions? Really?! I don't think being a pretty is worth what they do to your brain.
This also realtes to real life. In China, people are getting shots in their eyes to make their eyes prettier. I think that if they ever develop a surgery to make everyone a pretty, I would create the Smoke. I have two reasons:
1. I don't want people to mess with my brain.
2. I don't want to look like everyone else!
Anyway, I loved this book. The action was very enjoyable and the plot was very interesting. I would recommend this book to girls from 5th grade to 10th grade.

Review on "Bitter End" ! :)

I recently finished with “Bitter End”! Wow, this book was totally amazing. It’s by the same author as “Hate List”, by Jennifer Brown, which I absoutely love her writing style! This book was about a girl named Alex, and she had two bestfriends that she has had since young-young grades, then a boy comes along. He is from Pine Gates, and his name is Cole. Cole seems like the cutest, sweetest, boy ever. She thinks he so cute, and almost decideds she loves him. They start dating, and that’s when the abuse starts. Cole isn’t as nice as he seems. Hanging out with her best-friends started to make Cole mad, and that’s how he started getting bad, until she find out it’s not his first time doing that. This book did scare me alittle to think, that there are guys like that out there. I really liked it because it was a true thing. There are guys that abuse girls. It wasn’t as sexual as I would have thought, but that’s good. It wasn’t descriptive in those kind of parts. This is a really brillant book; and I loved it. I would recommend this book most likely to a girl. Because, a boy might take it offensively, or some may even learn from it. Yet, with a girl it will give almost a warning, and they will appreciate the style more. They would definitely need to be atleast in 7-8th, and the better the higher. Because, it’s a big topic to take it as a kid. I might compare this book to “Hate List”, because it’s by the same author, so it’s the same kind of style, and the same way how she gets her topic out there. I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely read anything Jennifer Brown has written.


~ Bailey :)

Bitter End

Alex has never had it easy. She's looking forward to her trip to Colorado with her three best friends. Colorado holds answers that Alex despretely needs. Alex also is amazed with her first 'real' love Cole. Until he hits her. Can Alex find the will to leave her 'soul-mate' before it's to late?

This book was incredible deep. I know somebody who has been through a similar situation so parts were a little disturbing. I'd reccomed this book for mature middle school and high school girls.

~Dana

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

This book was like a graphic novel and a novel combined. Like every other page was a picture, but the pictures really help you invision the story, characters, and setting better. But personally I like books better when I can see them in my head myself, not when somebody draws it for me. This book was about a young boy that lived like in a clock tower (i think) and every day he would set the clocks at the train station. he discovers secrets about his long lost family, and what their profession and others used to be. He meets a toy maker, and in the end he ends up being a famous movie maker that Hugo's dad was fond of. This book reminds me of "The August Sky" . I would reccomend this book to someone who is good at whizzing through books, and is up for a little confusing, but a good ending.

~Abby

Half Way Home

***ALERT!! DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ HALF WAY HOME. THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS***

Half Way Home- You are grown in vats and raised to be colonists on a foreign planet. You must report back to the leader on Earth when you know if your planet is good or bad to live on. A, it is habitable and you live your lives working your planet. Or B, it is not habitable and you will be terminated along with your planet. This planet is on the verge of habitable and uninhabitable. You are born fifteen years premature and must learn to live without much of the necessary knowledge you should have learned. Out of five-hundred people only fifty remain alive. Welcome to your half way home.

One thing that I liked was the plot of the story. It had action and romance, both of which every good book should have. Maybe not every good book has it, but a lot of them do. I also liked the vinnies. I thought that they were very cool and I imagine them being very cute, somewhat like a hedgehog type thing. I was very sad when they ate them though, but they had to survive, so I understand.

I would definitely recommend this book to no one younger than middle school age because of the content. It talks about people being gay, which I don't think is a good subject for anyone younger than middle school.

I would compare this book to The Mazerunner because of the creatures. In The Mazerunner there were the grievers, which were weird creature things. In Half Way Home there are the vinnies and the beast that poops gold, which are also weird creature things.

-Serena

Will Grayson Will Grayson

Will Grayson Will Grayson is the story of two young men, both of which are (unsprisingly) named Will Grayson, coming to terms with themselves. One of the Will Grayson's is gay and the others best friend, Tiny Cooper is also gay. One of the main themes of the book is coming to accept yourself and others.
Even thought the book has a lot of good messages, I think that the style of one of the authors(David Levithan) wrote in is rather annoying and badly done. I much perfered John Green's writing style. Also, there is an excesive use of profanity. I found this to be unnecessary. They didn't have to curse on every single page.
I would recomend this book to mainly mature young adults and adults.

Eclipse

Still catching up.........
OK. I read Eclipse, the third Twilight book, a few days ago. The third book is about Victoria (the evil one) creating a bunch of new vampires so she can kill Bella. During this time, Bella is worrying about her wedding, becoming a vampire and breaking Jacob's heart. This is really where the whole love triangle shows. Jacob and Edward both love Bella. Bella has to choose one. The other gets his heart broken. End of story. Until the wolves and the vampires get together to kill Victoria's army.
I liked Eclipse. I thought it was really good. It wasn't as lovey-dovey as the second book, which was good. It isn't the best in the series. So far I like the fourth one best. It's about as good as the first Twilight book.
I would recommend this book for Twilight Movie Haters (the books aren't that bad!) and werewolf/vampire lovers.

Extra

In the fourth and final book in the Uglies series, the focus switches from Tally to young Aya. Aya's face rank is 451,359. She's tired of being out shined by her older famous brother who's ranked in the top thousand. With her hovercam Moggle by her side she is ready to launch the biggest story since the mind-rain. Until she stumble upon a grave secert.. With her friends, brother, and Tally Youngblood (and the rest of the cutters) behind her it's up to Aya to save to world!!!!

This book was very different. The writing style of all of this series is very unquie the content was strange. All of the books provoked thoughts on governmen. Most of all this book gave a unquie point of view on self-worth. When everyone around you is supermodel pretty and you're, you start to think they know everything. You start to think less of your self, and not even notice the change in yourself. I loved this book and would recommend it to middle school girls.

~Dana

Real Time Review

I finished Real Time by Pnina Moed Kass. This book was a little harder to read than some others I’ve been reading lately, which is a nice change of pace. The story jumps in between times and people to tell the story of how their lives converge around one traumatic event.

Because there are so many characters, summarizing each of their stories would take too long. The point at which their stories converge is when a new volunteer to a Jewish farm is picked up at the airport by another, older volunteer and their bus is bombed. We slowly learn how each of them, along with other people from the farm came to be there.

I liked the overall story of this book. I think it gave a unique view of how life works inside Israel. The different viewpoints make you think about different ways one could view an experience like this, and some of them take you just a bit out of your comfort zone.

While I liked the different viewpoints, I didn’t really like their presentation. The story was broken up with large headings which contained the persons name, the place, and the time. It was confusing to have to keep up with different time zones and so many different people.

I would recommend this book to pre-teens and up. The writing is at a higher level, and the main subject (a bus bombing) is pretty graphic. However, this is a real-world issue, one that should be dealt with.

I would compare this book to books like Little Piece of Ground for subject matter. They do have opposite viewpoints but it is about the Palestinian-Israeli issue.

Half Way Home Review

I recently finished Half Way Home by Hugh Howey and absolutely loved it!!! Hugh Howey is a relatively new author who I think has tons of potential. I’ve also read the other books by him, the Molly Fide series, and really enjoyed them too. I really can’t say enough good things about them.

Half Way Home is set in a futuristic world where colonies of people are sent out to explore planets and are born as full grown adults. We follow a group of young people who were “born” too soon, only halfway through their training for their jobs in the new colony. The main character, Porter, struggles with his own emotions as he accidently becomes the leader of a group that has broken off from the main colony. This second group goes on an exploration mission and discovers the true, dark reason their mission was nearly aborted.

I really like the way the plot and the characters were developed. In some books by other authors I’ve read, I’ve felt I didn’t get to know the people well enough. In this book, I really felt that I knew Porter and Kelvin and Tarsi. I felt their pain, their losses, and their happiness. I loved the pacing as well. The story didn’t move too fast that your head was spinning, but I never felt it dragged. I hate to use this old line, but here it is: I laughed, I cried, I loved it!!!

I would recommend this book to older teens and adults. There are some pretty mature themes in this book, such as homosexuality, abortion, and fairly graphic death. I would only recommend this book to mature people who would be able to handle this.

This book is definitely unique. I have a hard time coming up with a point of comparison in books. This book is remotely similar to Star Trek, but even that is a stretch. It is about exploring a new planet with new creatures and a “crew” of sorts, but it is definitely different and worth reading. It is not only well-written, but thought provoking as well. It’s a “make you think” book, one that I would certainly read again.

Where Men Win Glory

Where Men Win Glory is about football star Pat Tillman. 9/11 Terrorist attack occurs. Pat decides to join the "Army Rangers" and help the fight. Pat gave up a 3 million dollar contract to do this. Pat goes on 2 tours of Afghanistan but is later killed.

I really liked this book. Because I like books where it felt like you were there just watching battles. It had very much detail and that is what I like in a book.

I would recommend this book to a military veteran either past or present. Or a person who wants to learn about the War on Terror

I have read a book kind of like this before I can relate to a book called Purple heart. But that is the only book I ca relate this to.

Elsewhere

***********************SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**************************
This book was about a girl that died in a bike/car accident. When she died she was on a boat. All of the people that die they go onto that boat. The boat goes to a place called Elsewhere. Elsewhere is a place like a earth off of earth. There you can have a job, a car, a pet, and even a home. There in Elsewhere they have things called observation decks where the dead can see the living but can't communicate with them. There is a place where the dead can communicate with them it is called the Well. This place is forbiden becaues it makes the living and the dead crazy. It makes a lot of people very upset. Lizzie went to this place and she got pulled up by a boat in a net. There was a man on the boat that was a lot like a FBI agent. He had the sunglasses and everything. (that is how they discribed him) She got really mad and only got a warning and if she did it again she will be taken to prison. She also got a job. She is working with the animals that dont know they are dead. There was a dog drinking out of a towlet named Susie. Lizzie told her that was nasty water (if you know what I mean) and she got freaked out.

I loved this book. It was very well written. I found nothing that I didn't like.
I would recomend this book to people that don't really get all that upset if someone out side of there family dies. I will also recomend this book to people that don't get grossed out really easily. I can't relate this book to anything that I have read.