"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.

New Moon

If you haven't read the book but seen the movie, the movie is close enough to the book it doesn't matter if you've read it or not. If you haven't done either STOP READING RIGHT NOW!!! My short summary isn't so short.
Okay. It is time to catch up on my reviews. I'm way behind. Anyway..........
I read the second Twilight book the weekend after I finished the first one. I may have actually spoken too soon (see my original Twilight post if you wanna know what I said about it). Bella was waaaay more flaky in this book than she was in the first one. Edward left less than a hundred pages in (I think) because his dad was supposed to be ten years older than he looked. They didn't really want anyone to get suspicious of the fact that they are vampires so they moved to Italy. So Bella spent most of her time trying to get adrenaline rushes so she could hear Edward's voice. She heard his voice every time she did something dangerous. Some of these activities were crashing a motorcycle and jumping off a cliff. Oh and walking up to a guy she thought tried to attack her before (She's soo smart, isn't she?). The motorcycle thing is actually important, because she has her friend Jake help her rebuild them from complete and total scrap metal. Jake actually turns out to be a werewolf later, which is really cool. Werewolfs are cooler than vamps in my opinion. Speaking of vamps, did I mention Victoria is back? You know, the red headed vampire who was dating the vampire that tried to kill Bella last year? Yeah, she came back cause Edward killed her boyfriend, so she was trying to kill Edward's girlfriend, who also happens to be Bella. The werewolves tried to keep her in Canada and eventually we didn't hear from her for a while. She did show up when Bella jumped off the cliff, but that was the last time. After Bella jumped off the cliff, Alice (Edward's "sister") came back. Edward ended up thinking Bella was dead and tried to kill himself. This is where the Volturi comes in. He tries to reveal that he is a vampire so the Volturi will kill him so he doesn't have to live without Bella (aaaw so romantic. btw i'm being sarcastic). He ends up failing because Bella shows at the last minute and proves she isn't dead. Then the Volturi comes and takes Edward to Volturi HQ (as I will call it here). They have a long conversation, mostly about how Bella can resist their powers and how mad the Volturi are because Edward told Bella about vampires. It ends up that Bella has to turn into a vampire or be killed by the Volturi. Edward doesn't like this idea. The basic end of the book is the Cullens taking a vote on whether or not to turn her. They didn't even turn her (even though they voted to). Edward refuses to turn her, but he said he will if she marries him, which she says she will.
Now if you're still reading and you haven't read the book or seen the movie, didn't I tell you to stop??? I mean, if you're Ms. Kesler it's different, but seriously if you didn't want to know all of this, then you should have stopped. Anyway...............................................
I liked this one, but Bella was way more flaky this time around. Kristen Stewart did good for once! Edward wasn't even in most of the book, but that was cool. I like Jacob better anyway. Werewolves are waaaay better than vampires. They are like giant fluffy dogs. Of course, if you get one to go wolf you've probably really ticked him off. They only go wolf when they get mad. Jacob was definitely my favorite character this time around. I think I liked this book better anyway. Maybe it had something to do with Edward's absence. I don't know for sure.
I'm going with the same recommendations, but I'm adding werewolf fans. You can't ever forget werewolves. Same age recommendation too. This one wasn't even as violent as the first one. It just kind of tells kids that you can jump of cliffs recreationally, which isn't a good thing.
~Ashleigh

The Wednesday Wars

In “The Wednesday Wars”, Holling Hoodhood is in seventh grade, where everyone in his school is either Jewish or Catholic. Everyone except Holling gets out of class early to go to church, leaving him alone with Mrs. Baker, whom he is convinced, hates him. During the time when he is alone, Mrs. Baker has him read Shakespeare. Eventually, it comes of use because his classmates find out he ate a cream puff, so he must go and buy one for each person in the class. He gets all the money he can, but comes up short, so the baker of the cream puffs makes a deal with him. If Holling performs Shakespeare, which he was in need of someone who knew some, he could have the cream puffs. A lot of stuff happens afterward that doesn't connect with the other parts of the story and I really feel compelled to say this, this was a terrible book. It had no flow, very slow, the characters were hard to relate to.

First, the story was talking about how Mrs. Baker hated Holling, then it talked about him being the only Presbyterian, then it talked about rats. It was just very lacking, story-wise. It jumped around too much and I didn't enjoy it.

It was also very slow. It had so little action that I felt like I had to force myself to read it. It was unbelievably boring. I kept thinking to myself “Why is this taking so long?” It took way too long to get its point across, that I had almost forgotten what that point was.

And, another reason is that the characters are hard to relate to. They seem so unnatural around each other and within themselves. They were very static, flat, and, for lack of a better term, boring.

This book was extremely slow paced, poorly written, and I don't understand why anyone would give this an award.

Words of Wisdom: Contrary to my belief, this book is not about war, nor two people named Wednesday in a fist fight. Buy this if you hate yourself, or if you are an English teacher who hates your students. If neither of the two, don't buy it.

Similar titles: None that are this incredibly dry and drawn out. Might I suggest the dictionary?

Things Not Seen

In “Things Not Seen”, Bobby is turned invisible and he has to go about his normal life still being invisible, well, as normal as he can. He can't go to school, go to public places without being completely naked or being completely covered in clothes. After he shows his parents he is invisible, which takes some time, his dad tries to figure out why he is invisible.

All that changes after he meets Alicia, a blind girl, at the library. He can talk to her without being exposed as the “invisible child.” And, after she finds out he is invisible, she has her parents help Bobby's figure out why Bobby is invisible. They encounter many obstacles during their quest, including the school board, a truant officer, and the government. They don't actually discover the cure for invisibility, though. They stumble across it when Bobby goes to sleep one night and wakes up visible.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, but I would suggest reading it only once. I read it a second time and didn't think the book was as good as I did the first time. I thought the plot was a bit dumb, I didn't enjoy the characters, I really just did not enjoy reading it the second time. Throughout the book, I was thinking to myself, “Maybe this is the part where it gets good.”

It didn't.

I was very disappointed when I read it the second time, for two reasons, mainly. Reason one: I loved the book the first time. I couldn't wait to start the second book in the series. That one was even worse. The second reason: I thought the story was very poor. Poorly thought out, poorly written, just didn't think it was a very good book.

You can go out and buy the book and see for yourself.

Words of Wisdom: Don't read it a second time.

Similar titles: “Things Hoped For”, “Things That Are”

Suicide Notes

Let me start off by saying, this was a phenomenal book. It was funny, the characters were all likeable and believable, the description and actual writing was great, it was just an all around great book. Let me also say this has some very mature themes in it, such as sex, language, and creepy, morbid death/suicide, though it isn't depressing. It describes his graphic sexual encounters with the other patients, as well. SPOILERS! One of them is a dude.

In “Suicide Notes”, Jeff tried to kill himself and he wakes up in the Psych ward of a mental hospital. His 45 day program doesn't allow him to leave the ward until his “sentence”, as he calls it, is up. There he meets Sadie, Bone, Alice, and Juliet. Eventually, Bone leaves and Sadie kills herself, so two other patients move in. Before those things happen, he goes about his routines for about two-thirds of the book, and then the “juicy” stuff starts to happen. That's also when Rankin, Bone's replacement shows up. Coincidence? Rankin starts bringing back feelings of why he killed himself. Jeff has sex with Rankin, and it goes into detail about the “encounters” let's call them. During his third, Juliet freaks out. It's not because she walked in on them having sex, but she finds Sadie dead after she OD'ed on some pills. After Rankin is sent away for harassing Jeff, Jeff finally starts actually talking to his therapist. Then, he remembers why he tried to kill himself, because he found out he was gay. That was my main pet peeve with this, was that one cliché. “Oh, I'm gay so I have to kill myself. No one can know.” Yes, I know it happens, but that is the one thing that's in almost every story about a gay teenager.

I really enjoyed this book. It was just the way he told it, from Jeff's perspective. He told it with sarcasm and snarkiness. He just did it really well.

Words of Wisdom: Go and buy it. It's a phenomenal book and it's really funny. It only starts dealing with homosexuality about two-thirds in and gives no real indicators the Jeff is gay until he wakes up naked, with Rankin, naked as well, next to him.

Unbroken

Unbroken was an amazing book. This book was about a famous runner named Louie. He ran in the 1936-Olympic games and won many awards. But Pearl Harbor is bombed so he decides to join the Air Force. He and his friends fly a B-24 called the "Super Man" the plane is put out of service, so they get a new plane named the "Green Hornet". He and others members aboard get shot down by Japanese planes and crash in the Pacific Ocean. They have survived in the Pacific Ocean for many days. Then they hit land where they are captured and put in POW camps. Where Louie is usually beaten and abused. I would recommend this book to a person who is a retired veteran or still in the military and anyone who want to learn about POW camps. But I cannot compare this to other books because this was my first book I have read about POW camps.

Specials

I absolutely loved this book. It was my favorite out of the Uglies Series. It's about how a girl named Tally who is a special. A super-amped fighting machine engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties just plain stupid. But when she is offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the new smoke permanently. Now it is up to Tally to do what she is programmed to do. Her life will never be the same. That is pretty much what it is about. What I liked about this book was its details were a little better and it really got me interested into the book. I didn't like it because the more I read I began to realize that it wasn't a really challenge for me. I just wish that it had a little more detail and explained the book a little more. I would recommend this to a young adult or a girl because I think a girl can relate to it more than a boy would if he read the Uglies Series. I would compare this book to Extra’s even though it is written by the same author it sort of has the same content to it. I loved the Uglies Series.

Never Let Me Go

I finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro several weeks ago. Even though it has taken me a while to write the review, I really enjoyed the book. This book is technically an adult novel, so there are lots of mature themes throughout. The main people in this book are clones, which adds an interesting layer to the already fairly complex plot.

The plot centers around Kathy and her two best friends, Tommy and Ruth. They went to school together at what was apparently one of the better schools for clones. The book is divided into three parts, which are the three parts of clone life, childhood (their schooling), adulthood (life in the cottages, most freedom), and donors (where Kathy is a “carer” or nurse for both Ruth and Tommy). The Donor stage is the part of life for which clones were bred: to make donations to help the medical community.

I really liked that this book was complex. It’s not just Kathy’s story, it’s the story of Kathy uncovering the truth about clones, her school, and her future. The plot is never void of surprises, and it never really gets dull, even when the life being described was. It was a great “make you think” book.

The only problem I had with this book at all was some adult content. I mean, I was able to handle it just fine, but it was there. The book talks about things like sex and death quite frequently, plus some other things. Nothing very graphic, however.

I would recommend this book to any adult looking for a thought-provoking read and any mature teenager looking for the same. This is adult fiction, so the content is the only snag point, but with a certain level of maturity, it should be fine.

I would compare this book to books like Ender’s Game. The plots are nothing alike, but the “make you think,” the dark twists, and the skewed view of the future (even though this book was supposed to take place in the 90s). Both are very interesting to read and I would recommend both very highly.

Purple Heart

In Purple Heart the main character is a 19 year old named Matt. He is in the ARMY and his squad is located in Iraq. In the beginning of the story his squad meets this young Iraqi kid and they take care of him throughout the story. Matt starts in the hospital where he has recently been injured. He has suffered from a minor brain injury but eventually recovers. He isthen sent back out to his squad. They are hapy to see him back but when he returns they are in a ceize fire. Matt does have to deal with all the flashbacks from where he was hurt. But he can't seem to make any sence of it. I liked this book because it was about a current war and was very interesting because it felt like you were a current soldire while reading it. The only thing i didn't like was how the pages were organized, because there wasn't any chapters. It just went from scene to scene. I could sort of compare this book to "All the Broken Pieces" because of all the flashbacks that Matt had, and some of the characters in All the Broken Pieces had flashbacks. I would reccomend this book to anybody that enjoys war or has a military family.

Blood Red Horse

Blood Red Horse took place in the 12th century when King Richard was alive. Will and Gavin, brothers, are sent off to war along with their father, Sir Thomas. Meanwhile, their friend, Ellie, is left home since she is a girl and cannot fight.

Will isn’t very nervous because he has his trusty horse, Hosanna. Hosanna is very loyal, capable, and loving. When Hosanna falls into the enemies’ hands, Will is heartbroken.

Kamil, on the other side of the war, loves Hosanna as much as Will. Hosanna is happy in both places. But, when Hosanna has a severe, near-death injury, can Will, Gavin, and Kamil come together to save their horse?

This book shows both sides of the story- the Christian side and them trying to regain Jerusalem, and the Muslim side, trying to protect the land they currently inhabit.

It was okay. Slightly boring in some parts, but it kept me wanting to read to see what happened. I found myself really liking Hosanna, too. I also liked Ellie a lot. She was gutsy and quick to get her way, but still really nice.

This book compares well to the Heartland series. Heartland is about a girl (Amy) whose mom has devoted her life to caring for horses, without being harsh at all. Amy continues her mother’s job and brings many horses back to life, just as Brothers, Will, Hal, and Kamil help Hosanna.

I’d recommend this to any young adults that like war (in-battle) stories that don’t mind horses, or to those that really like horse stories.

Molly Fyde

This book is about a girl that gets expailed from a space academy. This book personally I didn't like. I didn't like because I don't like science fiction at all. I will reconize that the book did have things that I liked in it like it expressing detail and or doesn't go on and on about one topic. He makes the book interesting to gwt through I just didn't like the book. The types of people that I would recomend this book to are the people that actually like Sci-Fi. Books like these are strange to me and I dont't like that. I have not read anything to relate to this book.
****** ps. I am sorry Hugh that i didn't like your book =,(*********

Mockingbird

This book is about a girl thats' brother got shot in a school shooting. She has aspergers.
Somehtings that I liked in this book is that I could relate to it in someway. My little brother has aspergers. I saw in this book that their worlds are way differnt that an average persons. They think in a very differnt way than a average person. They also do things differnt like read the dictionary (which the main character does) for fun or reads bat books. (my brother reads them for fun) Something that I didn't like was that the author put the beginning of random words in big letters and the rest of the word in small letters. That really bugged me that the author did that. Something that I kind of liked and kind of didn't like was that the book had A LOT of dialog in it. I understund what the diolog was for but didn't get why she put that much of it in there. I would recomed this book to anyone. This is a book that anyone will enjoy. They will enjoy it because it is kind of relatible to everyone that has a sibling. If you have a sibling that has aspergers than you will understand what they are really like, what they do and why, and just plain understand what they go through on a daily basis. I could not relate this book to anything that I have read because I have not read anything like this.
****** I hope that you will enjoy thins book! =)*****

Pretties

Pretties is such a good book. It is mainly about how a girl named Tally is finally gets turned pretty and she goes from uglyville to prettyville. Everything she has ever wanted. She has a hot boyfriend, parties, and last but not least her pretty self. But in all of the cool stuff going on she realizes her ugly past and what is wrong with being pretty and now she is fighting to save what she knows. Then she becomes a special. I pretty much liked the whole book but I wish they would have given more detail. I loved this book and can't wait to read specials.

the Hate List

The Hate List is a book that shows what bullying can become. Valerie and her boyfriend Nick make a list of all the people they hate, but one day Nick goes crazy and shoots people who are on the list. He kills 6 people, and then himself. Now, Valerie must face her senior year with people "hating" her.

I really liked the way the author portrayed Nick. It was so different. I mean you CANT hatehim just what he has done. I mean he loves Shakespeare and Hamlet. He was more than what other people saw and thought of him. He had a side that only Valerie unlocked. The thing I didn't like was how they didn't really describe the main characters. Nick, was a skinny kid with baggy clothes, but I couldn't get a sense of how he looked, which I guess is good but I would have preferred a more set out description.

I would recommend this book for people 11+ because of the language and content. I believe boys and girls would like this book, but mostly girls.

I haven't really read a book like The Hate List but I look forward to reading Bitter End!!!

Mockingjay

The Final retaliation stage has come when Katniss takes the face of Mockingjay. She and her allies/friends try to gain control of the capitol. They go through many, many challenges, but Katniss has one goal in mind: to kill Pres. Snow.

I really liked this book, although I think too many people died. I feel like they either went insane or ended up dead.

The whole thing was very clever and like a true retaliation story. I really liked the parts with Katniss, Peeta (who is still recovering from shock of tracker jacker venom, and Finnick and how they tried to get around the city’s Capitol without being discovered. I got really sad because SPOILER:: Prim died, the one Katniss was trying to save from the very beginning, Finnick died and Annie had no one again, Boggs died, and everyone else she had come to know except her mom, Gale, Peeta, and Haymitch. But, her mom is too busy at the hospital, and Gale is far away, Haymitch is drunk and of no help, and Peeta ends up being her husband. I think Gale was way better for her, though. Not that I didn’t like Peeta. END OF SPOILER.

I recommend this book to anyone who read the first and second book and liked one or both of them. It’s worth reading, but kind of depressing.

Comparison: Molly Fyde. It is similar because they both deal with political issues and take-overs like the capitol in Mockingjay and planets like Glemot on Molly Fyde.

Catching Fire

It is hard to write a review without giving a lot away.

In Catching Fire, Katniss is entered in the seventy-fifth Hunger Games along with all of the other victors of the Hunger Games. She and Peeta have to keep each other alive once again.

This book was AMAZING! I loved it. I really like the writing of Suzanna Collins. It is so creative. I can’t explain how much I liked it :).

I would recommend this to anyone who has read the first Hunger Games and enjoyed them. I would also recommend the first Hunger Games to anyone who likes adventure and/or sci-fi.

Again, I can compare this book to Molly Fyde with the futuristic technology and the survival adventures.

Review for Ship Breaker

I read Ship Breaker for an English assignment. It was about a boy named Nailer who worked as a ship breaker, the job was very dangerous. He finds a broken hip for rich people and finds a girl in it. He has to make the choice whether to help her or taker her treasure.
I liked some parts of this book, and I think a lot of it was boring. It made me think of how I would act if I had to live like him. He had a hard life and a hard job. I felt bad for him a lot. I think it shows you that some people and kids really have to live like that and have jobs at young ages just so they can eat.
I would recommend this book to 7th grade and up, because of the language in it. I think boys and girls would like it (surprisingly), even though the main character is a boy and it is about his life.
This book is like Hunger Games is some ways, like how much action is in it and it has a lot of fighting and running away from your enemy’s. It is also like Hunger Games, because it’s about two people falling in love and choosing if you love someone or not.
~Emily :)

Shooting the Moon

This book was written at a lower level content wise it's more 12-15 year-olds.

Jamie Dexter and her brother TJ have grown up full-fledge army. With their father the Colonel being all about service to your country. TJ and Jamie have grown up knowing exactly what they want to do with their lives. When TJ enlists to join Veitnam Tensions and Emothions are high in the Dexter house, but when TJ's first letter reaches home, it's not even a letter at all. I'll it is, are rolls of film. With this film fallowed by more, Jamie slowly has to rethink her intire life plan.

This book is again for 12-15 year-olds because Jamie does describe some of the pictures in detail. This book is similar to Cracker and All the Broken Pieces since they all deal with the same war. It is more like All the Broken Pieces because they both show how the war affected families in America.

~Dana

"Book Thief"

I bluntly did not believe that the "The Book Thief" was not a even remotely decent book.

"The Book Thief," as the name implies, is about a thief, more specifically it is about a small girl in WWII Munich Germany. Who's name is Liesel, and lives with a poor family after her brother dies on the train headed to her new home, and her mother has been taken away for being a communist. I thought the story was pretty stale though, with little character development. The only thing that it had going for it was the narrator, who is Death, and that makes the story, but there is nothing else special about it at all.

I would not recommend this book to most people because it is so boring and slow, but if I had to, I had to I would recommend it to younger readers because if the main characters and the events that happen during the book.

Also if I were to compare it to a book, I would compare to almost any WWII book that is on any shelf because that is what this is, except for the narrorator.

"All but my Life" :))

Review on “All but my Life”. ((:

“All but my Life” was a really good book. Even though it’s not usually the type of book I would pick out, I found it very interesting. It really shows how living around World War II wasn’t the best time to be. They usually were forced to go to concentration camps, and they had to spend their life there, being tortured to work until they die. The main character, Gerda doesn’t have an easy life. Her brother Authur goes off to war, and has to leave the family. Then, soon enough her dad, Julius, was sent off by a train to a concentration camp. Next, her mom and her were separated, and they both headed to different concentration camp. Gerda had to adjust to not having a family, not having her home and all her things, and mostly learning to live in such as a concentration camp. She started to adjust and actually made some friends, which soon enough later she had to basically watch the die. She had to do a lot of work, and sometimes she would sleep in a cabin with her bunkmates, and other times in a cold barn. It shows how life was a lot different around World War II. I really enjoyed this book, and think others would too. It expresses a great story, and brings you along into it! I liked it because of her detail with some things, the way she would talk about the camps she had to go too, and the mood in the book. I didn’t like how some of the time, it would be really good, then it would turn not as good, and would take a while to get interest. I would recommend this book to probably a girl, and 12+. I’m sure a guy would enjoy it, but since you kind of have to feel bad for Gerda in the story, it wouldn’t hit them as hard. I would compare this book to Number the Stars, which is also about the Nazis, and around German World War II. Overall, this was a very good book that I never thought I would like!


~ Bailey ! hahahahahaha. :)

Uglies

This book was really good. It was alo really different so I'm not quite sure how to describe it.

In this book you are 'ugly' until you're 16th birthday; where you under go surgery to make yourself 'super-model pretty' after that all you have to do is party in a new city until you're given your job. Seems great right? Well Tally thought so too, until her new friend Shay shows her a world she never knew about. Suddenly Tally has to make a decision (or two, or three) that will change her life forever.

I really enjoyed this book. I'd recommed it for kids most teens. The government control in this book is similar to the Giver, MATCHED, and The Other Side of the Island although Uglies is the best then MATCHED, then The Other Side of the Island, then the Giver.

~Dana

Out of my Mind

*spoiler-ish alert*
Out of my Mind is an amazing book. Melody is 11 years old with photographic memory. She has Cebral Palsy and has never spoken a day in her life, even though she has so much to say.
I really liked this book because of the story it tells, Melody overcomes her disability and proves everybody wrong. The only thing I didnt like is the ending. It could have ended SO much better. I would almost say dont waste your time because I hated it SO much! They just left her because she had a disability. I was so angry because of it.
I sugest this book to all people who frequently use the word "retard". I for one have stopped saying it as much because it is so wrong. I also found this book touching because of my word I do with the Special Olympics.
I have been told that this book is similar to Mockingbird which I look forward to reading.

weedflower review

I read the book weedflower. It’s about a Japanese-American family that lives in California. There life is peaceful until Japan bombs Hawaii (starting ww2) causing chaos for all Japanese Americans. The main character Sumiko and her family have to move to a relocation center/ Internment camp until they are releases. Sumiko learns to have friends of different cultures while this is happening.
This book teaches a lot about racism. I like how you get to see life in America from a Japanese girl’s prospective. I enjoyed reading it because it is funny at some times and you learn how hard Japanese or other cultures life’s are.
I would recommend this book to 5th graders and up. I think girls would enjoy it a little bit more, but boys can enjoy it too. Older kids might understand it better and get more from it but younger kids can still learn things.
I can’t think of any books that are like weedflower.
~~~Emily

Uglies

Uglies is a very good book. it was a very different read for me because the grammar and it is not a very high reading level compared to most of the books I read.Uglies is manly about how a Tally and Shay were going to be pretty at sixteen. She has longed for one dream ever since she was a little girl and that was to be pretty. I liked the book because it was different not like other books I have read before. In some way's I didn't like the book because it was a very low reading level. Also it keep going from place to place. Which was a little hard to understand but half way threw it got better. I would reccomened this book to girls who think they have flaws with them because it kinda of shows how you don't have to be perfect to be happy. I love this book!!!!!!!!

Twilight

Yes, I know Ms. Kesler said something or other about Twilight in the letter she sent home at the beginning of the trimester but I didn't get it from Ms. Kesler. I bought it myself because honestly I had a gift card and needed to buy something. Twilight isn't as bad as the movie portrays. The book is actually quite interesting. Everybody knows what the book is about so it feels weird to have to write a summary, but I guess I have to.
This book is about seventeen year old Bella Swan, who moves in with her dad when her mom moves to Florida with her new Phil (I'm saying Phil because I can't remember if he was a boyfriend or husband. All I remember is the name and that he is a baseball player). Bella falls in love with Edward Cullen, who is a vampire. For an extremely long time, Bella doesn't know Edward is a vampire and most of Edward's adopted family does not approve of Bella being told that they are vampires (Rosalie in particular). Oh and did I mention Edward and his family don't drink human blood? Well, I did now. They actually spend most of the end of the book saving Bella from vampires who do drink human blood.
The movie and the book are two very different things. We find out Edward is a vampire earlier in the movie than in the book. Edward Cullen actually has a sense of humor in the book. He is very sarcastic unlike Robert Pattinson and his extreme seriousness. I like book Edward more than movie Edward. I have also found out that the entire reason the movie is awful is because of Kristen Stewart. Bella Swan is an interesting character and is completely ruined by Kristen Stewart, who happens to be a horrible actress (I know this because she was also in another movie I've seen, Zathura). Bella isn't as delicate as she seems in the movie. It is actually kind of funny: She isn't afraid to run off to face a lethal vampire, yet she is highly afraid of needles (I can't say much because I am too but if you think about it, it is kind of funny). This is my comparison because I haven't read any other vampire or romance novels.
I would recommend this book for anyone who hates the Twilight movies because just by watching the movies, you are missing out (At least there isn't a fail of an actress in the book). I would also recommend it to those who love vampires and romance novels. At least I would as long as they are in sixth grade and up anyway. This was a quick read for me (2 days), but there is quite a bit of violence so sixth and up is good.
~Ashleigh

Hunger Games

Katniss lives in District 12. She is soon to be known as the Girl of Fire.
Every year, the Capital puts on the Hunger Games. It is basically a way to punish people for rebelling. Kids 12-18 have their name entered in a drawing, and if their name is picked, they go into an arena and fight the other kids until death from hunger, murder, or other. Katniss ends up in the Hunger Games. Katniss misses her friends, Gale, while she has to put up with Peeta, who she doesn’t know how she feels about him. Her hunting and plant skills come in handy to keep her alive, as they did in District 12, a very poor district.

I thought the Hunger Games was very good. I loved the way the author made up a complete political system and portrayed different feelings among the characters. I liked how she created the events in the Hunger Games in Hunger Games and the other character’s personalities.

I would recommend this to young adults that like survival/adventure stories.

I think I can compare this book to Molly Fyde because they are both in the future and so different than many books. They are both great sci-fi adventures (although Hunger Games is more adventurous and less sci-fi).

The Healing Spell

This book was really sad. It was definetively a low reading level, but I still enjoyed it.

This book is about a young girl whose mother is in a coma. The girl "knows" she's the reason behind it. Can she reunited her family, and save her mother, before the guil eats her alive?

This book I'd say are for 3rd-maybe 7th graders. It's not really like anytihng else I can think of

~Dana

All the Broken Pieces

I'm not a huge poem fan but I really enjoyed this book. It had good content, was eay to understand, and really showed emotions.

"My name is Matt Pin
and her name, I remember,
is Phang My.
His name
I will never say....."
~All the Broken Pieces

This book is about a young boy who was airlifted away from is home in Vietnam during the Vietnam war, by American soilders. When he reached his new family in America he sees a different side of life, but being Vietnamess leads to lots of challenges for Matt. Matt attends a group of veterans who are talking about experinces in the war, but once he faces the memories there is no going back.

Through out the book Matt deals with racism and more then his share of blame

"...Because of you, Matt-the-rat,
there's no place for me.

Becayse of you, my wife left.

Because of you, my brother died.

Because of you, I have stumpps instead of legs...."

~Dana

Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets

Harry Potter is an orphaned boy. He is taken in by his mean Aunt and Uncle, the Dursleys. When he turns eleven a giant man knocks down the door ands states, "Yer a wizard 'Arry,''. Harry goes to Hogwarts, a school which teaches magic. His two best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger go on a fantastic adventure.

I really enjoyed the way the book was written. It flows so well. Also I love the way J.K. Rowling doesnt give you exact detail of each character. It lets you imagine some. The only thing I don't like is Hermione's name because I couldn't pronounce it till a year ago.

I would recommend this book to all young readers, boys and girls because it tells a great story. I compare it to Lord Of The Rings because its both World Stories. They both have a different world within their book.

The Gardener

SPOLIER WARNING!

The Gardener is about the shady experiments of a company called TroDyn. The company plans on making a new type of human that can produce energy from the sun. These people are called autrophs.
A boy called Mason ends up involved in the less than moral dealings of TroDyn. He and a girl invlved in the experiment, Laila, run away together. As they get farther away from the rest of the subjects in the experiment, Laila becomes ill.
They meet up with a former TroDyn employee. Dr. Emerson, the ex-employee, informs them that Laila has to be near other autotrophs to stay alive. This is because of the fact that the experiment is not yet complete and the kinks in the system haven't been worked out yet.
Mason takes Laila back to TroDyn, and gets a tour of the buliding from a woman named Eve. The woman says that he will ba able to meet the head of the experiment, who is known as the Gardener.
When Mason meets the Gardener, he is shocked. The Gardener is his father, who he thought had just left his family or died.
Eve trys to kill Soloman, the Gardener, because she wants to sell the autotrophs to the government, but Mason stops her. Laila and the other autotrophs have to be moved to a new holding facility, but Soloman promises Mason that he will see her again.
The story picks up again, and Mason is going to Stanford. He sees Laila, and the book ends.

In my opinion, this is not a worthwhile read. Not only is the plot decidedly unoriginal, NOTHING happens until page 120 of 230. 130 pages is not enough space to create an nteresting and deep plot. I would not recommend this book to anyone, seeing as it was a huge disappiontment. I would compare this book to the first Molly Fyde book. Both books took forever to pick up, but Molly Fyde actually managed to capture my attention, unlike the Gardener.

The Surrender Tree

I know a lot of people who really enjoyed this book but I HATED it. It might be beacuse I'm not a big poem person.

This book is about a nurse in the battle for Cuban independence. It was all poems, and had different points of view.

This book is simialr in style to All the Broken Pieces, but it was way, way, way, worse. It'd say it's for kids 10-14

~Dana

Impossible

This book is extremly weird. I think it was good, although all the riddles made it confusing. There was alos some adult content in the book. I'd recommend it for mature middle schoolers and high schoolers, maybe a lower reading level collage student, due to the rape in the book.

This book is about a girl Lucy, she has everything she's ever wanted. She lives with her foster parents, as nobody knows who her real father is and her mother went crazy after having Lucy, due to rape. Lucy is excited for her school prom, although at points leading up to prom, including the actual, it looks like her crazy real mother, Miranda is going to ruin it. Sadly Lucy's prom date rapes her then dies in a car crash! *SPOILER ALERT* They later find out that Lucy's date was being controled by an evil spirt, elf, thingy, who has cursed Lucy's family, to be raped, have a little girl, then go crazy *END SPOILER ALERT* In order to break the curse Lucy must complete three impossible tasks - To make a shirt with no seams, or needlework, to find an acre of land between salt water and sea strand, which she has to plow with just a goats horn, and to sow it all over again with just a grain of corn. Will she succeed or will she fail?

This book is similar to the Hugh Howey books with the levels of weirdness, similar to Speak in the rape content, but it's really not similar to anything.

~ Dana

Wings

The book WINGS was very good. It did take a little wait to get to the good part but over all it was very good. It's definitively for more mature reads as there was a lot of language and some sexual content.

This book is a realistic fiction book about a girl flying for WASP,Sally, in WWII. Over the course of the book she faces lots ofchallenges from the men hoping to disband WASP. In the end these
people with all their power and sextets ideas manage to shut down WASP before Sally has a chance to prove herself as more then a trainee witha lot of potential.

This book was luckily way better then the book FLYGIRL though theywere about the same to topic. Where FLYGIRL was dry, confusing, andboring, WINGS was exciting, suspenseful, and for the most part easy to understand.

~Dana

The Dreamer

The Dreamer was a really strange book. It was about Neftali and his “journey.” Neftali’s dad was very stern. He didn’t like it when Neftali wrote or collected cool things like leaves, rocks, or anything else. When Neftali’s family takes a trip to the beach, his father abuses him and his sister. Back home, he takes a job with his uncle where he wrote articles.

There wasn’t much to The Dreamer. It was interesting, but I felt like it didn’t have much of a plot. It also doesn’t match the description. It says that he hears voices and “cannot ignore the call,” but he only hears a voice once in the beginning and once very briefly in the end. It has nothing to do with it.

Honestly, I don’t recommend this book to anyone.

I don’t think I can compare it to anything. It’s just so weird.

Matched review

I read the book Matched by Ally Condie. I’m excited for the book Crossed to come out, and the movie Matched to come out!
The book was about a city/place in the future that has a society that pretty much controls everything, from who you marry, to when you die. Cassia (the main character) was matched with one of her best guy friends, but one night when she was looking for her match on a screen, another face pops up. She has to choose between Xander(The original match), or Ky.
I really liked how this book was romantic but not cheesy, like most romance books. The book really made me appreciate that we can choose who we marry, what job we have, and how we live. There were many parts of the book that made me think hard about if I was in Cassia’s place what I would do. It would be hard to choose to live your life that’s controlled by the society, or not listening to what they say, but risking loosing your life. I didn’t like the end of the book.
I think this book is similar to the Hunger Games, because its about someone choosing between loving their best friend, or a charming stranger they don’t know very well. It’s also like twilight, because the girl main character has to choose if she loves one person, or another. I would recommend this book to 7th grade- high school. I think you have to have a certain aount of maturity to understand events in this book and to learn something from it.
Overall I loved this book, and it’s the best romantic book I’ve ever read. I enjoyed everything about it.J

Ps. I wish I had the dress Cassia wore to the matching banquet!!

~Emily

Someone Named Eva

Milada lives in Lidice, a town in Czechoslovakia. Suddenly, Hitler’s soldiers come and raid the town of all of the people. Men are sent to a “work camp.” Women and girls are taken to a gym and moved around. When Milada fits the description Ayran, she is taken a camp with other girls that had blond hair and light eyes. They learned German, got new German names (Eva), and were trained to be a German. Many were upset. Milada had trouble remembering who she was before and sometimes even forgets her name: Milada. Milada/Eva was sent to a German household where they would reside. After Hitler was killed, Milada/Eva is ready to find her family and go back to who she was.

I loved this book! It is amazing! It has become one of my favorites. It is about something that few people know about. Plus, I like reading about history.

The only thing I can compare this book to is The Rock and the River because they are both about something that isn’t often written about. It is also similar to Anne Frank because it was also about Hitler’s rule, just in a different perspective.

I’d recommend it to any young-adults who like to read about history. Although, it is told from a girl’s perspective and I don’t really think boys would enjoy this.

The dream of Night

This book was very good since I am not a very big horse person. This book is mainly about how a little girl and how she finds this abused horse and calls it her own. Through out the book it talks about how she trains it to be a race horse and maybe a chance for both to find hope. I liked the book but it was a little confusing at the begginning because of the way the writer wrote her book, but i think it has a very good story behind it. I would recommened this book to someone who likes horses or animals. This book reminds me of Secret of Night Ponies. Which I read the first 8 chapters and gave up on it.

A Little Piece of Ground

Karim lives in Palestine while in the late 1960’s and the early 1970’s when it’s under the Israeli rule. There are strict curfews and weeks at a time where the citizens are not allowed outside. All Karim wants is to play soccer with his friend, Joni. He wants to escape the cramped apartment where he lives with his brother, his parents, and his two little sisters who annoy him greatly. When he meets brave Hopper, a Palestinian refugee, things change. Karim, Hopper, and Joni clear an area for a soccer field during the times they are allowed outside. When Karim gets stuck outside when the curfew is called, he cannot go out of hiding to get home because he might get shot by a gun or even a tank. Can his brother, that he doesn’t get along with, save him?

A Little Piece of Ground was well-written. I liked it. The author portrayed the fear of the people at the time well. It gave you a look at someone’s (fictional) story of what that time was like. Although, I thought it focused too much on soccer. I feel like that was the only thing that made Karim want to do anything.

This book compares to Time of the Angels only in the way that the main characters both felt trapped at home. For Karim, it was the curfew and the Israeli tanks. For Hannah, it was the threat of influenza.

I would recommend this book to young-adults who like sports or survival stories.

The Other Side of the Island

The Other Side of the Island is extremley different. While I thought it was good it was confusing at many points. This book is definetivley a lesson based book, if you read it the way I did. I think though depending on the person, and what they know or have read it could be taken way different then I did.

In this book, the world is contorlled by Earth Mother, who has protected the world with enclousure, and has taken away all freedom. When Honor and her family are forced away from there home in the north to island 365. School fills her head with fake ideas and memories. As life changes, danger approches and nothing will ever be the same again.

This book is similar to MATCHED and The Giver as they all deal with controling governments. I think this book is better The Giver but not as good as MATCHED.

~Dana

Review of “The Invention of Hugo Cabret”

The book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” is an extremely well done book, even though, even though it is limited in words.

The story is about a Timekeeper named Hugo Cabret, who steals and fixes clocks for a living, and the only thing that he ever wants to accomplish in life is fix an old automaton that belonged to his now deceased father. Everyday he steals from an old toy shop owner, but one day he gets caught, and it changes his life forever. This is only the beginning, but the story is one of the best that I have seen this year so far.

Along with an excellent story, Brian Selznick has an extraordinary way of telling the story. Along with his text, in the book there are 284 original drawing that help the story, pushing the line between book and graphic novel. The images help show the surroundings, the words show you sound, touch, and everything else, it is a truly amazing experience. Though the images help the story in so many ways, they also take away the amount of time it will take you to read it, for me it took right at three hours, but this was with many stops, and being away from it. Also with less text you might expect a less detailed story, but the images and text combo for fill this very well. I can not really compare this to ant other books, because the fact that this book is written and told so differently. Also there is the fact that it has a brand new type of story.

So over all I very much enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to teenagers, or even adults, because it is such a well rounded story that I think anyone will enjoy.