BRHS Book Reviews

Crank

2012-01-13T16:59:00.001-05:00

By Ellen Hopkins

Genre: Realistic fiction

THE AUTHOR:

Crank, followed by Burned, Impulse, Identical, Glass, Tricks and finally Fallout is Ellen Hopkins's fist award winning series. She started off her career with non fiction books for children such as Air Devils and Orcas: High Seas Supermen. She has written 56 such books. Her inspiration for the book Crank came from her daughter's own life and struggle with drug addiction, in fact this book is her daughter's true story. It had won many awards such as: Quills Award nominee, Book Sense Top 10, NYPL Recommended for Teens, PSLA Top Ten for Teens, Charlotte Award, IRA Young Adult Choices Award, Kentucky Bluegrass Award, SSLI Honor Book Award,and Gateway Readers Awards Winners.

THE STORY:
Kristina is a gifted high-school junior, strait A student, never breaks the rules and always does what she's told; until one day. That one day when she was on vacation at her dads house in Albuquerque, New Mexico changed her whole life. On that day she decided to become someone else, let that completely different girl inside of her finally come, Bree. Bree made her try crystal meth, or crank, for the first time. Her hottie next door neighbor, Adam, was just too gorgeous for her to resist, so of course when he pulled out the crank and asked her if she wanted to try some she said yes. From that day on she was addicted to the terrible thing, the monster. When she went back home to Reno, Nevada there was more ways to get that drug than she thought. She had the money, her friends had the drugs and slowly but surely, her life began a downward spiral. The grades started slipping, she was constantly grounded from sneaking out to go to parties, and at one point she wanted the monster so badly she put herself in a terrible situation that resulted in her getting raped. While all this is going on, her family doesn't know she's addicted to meth and things keep getting worse and worse, putting herself in a lot of danger. Publisher: Simon Pulse. 537 pages. $9.99.

CRITIQUE:
One thing I liked about this book is it's written entirely in poem form which keeps the reader involved and keeps their eyes busy. In some of the parts when the author is describing what's going on in Bree's mind when she's high on meth, the words will be random and scattered all over the page and that helps you understand how she feels.
Crank is written over the course of a year with small time period leaps, which is something I liked about this book. When the book is too spread out, say over 50 years of someone's life, I often feel that the reader will get confused and mix up dates with when something really happened. That takes away from the story if you can't fully understand when things happened because sometimes it's critical to the book's plot.
Something I didn't like about this book was that the author had two different names for the main character, Bree and Kristina. I understand that Kristina was the main character's old identity, the shy quiet goody-two-shoes type and Bree is the outgoing and flirtatious personality, who's not afraid to try crazy things but it sometimes was hard to follow when some of the other characters referred to her as Bree and a different one referred to her as Kristina. This can confuse some readers.
Another thing I did not like about this book was the ending, within the last 30 pages. The author describes Kristina (or Bree) having her child but with very little detail for a couple of pages. Then, she goes back into her regular detailed writing and I'm not really sure why she chose to do that. Maybe that was her way of describing the last few days of Kristina's pregnancy being a blur, no so sure.

REVIEWS:

Amazon.com Review:
"Ellen Hopkins's semi-autobiographical verse novel, Crank, reads like a Go Ask Alice for the 21st century. In it, she chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between Kristina, a character based on her own daughter, and the "monster," the highly addictive drug crystal meth, or "crank." Kristina is introduced to the drug while visiting her largely absent and ne'er-do-well father. While under the influence of the monster, Kristina discovers her sexy alter-ego, Bree: "there is no perfect daughter, / no gifted high school junior, / no Kristina Georgia Snow. / There is only Bree." Bree will do all the things good girl Kristina won't, including attracting the attention of dangerous boys who can provide her with a steady flow of crank. Soon, her grades plummet, her relationships with family and friends deteriorate, and she needs more and more of the monster just to get through the day. Kristina hits her lowest point when she is raped by one of her drug dealers and becomes pregnant as a result. Her decision to keep the baby slows her drug use, but doesn't stop it, and the author leaves the reader with the distinct impression that Kristina/Bree may never be free from her addiction. In the author's note, Hopkins warns "nothing in this story is impossible," but when Kristina's controlled, high-powered mother allows her teenage daughter to visit her biological father (a nearly homeless known drug user), the story feels unbelievable. Still, the descriptions of crystal meth use and its consequences are powerful, and will horrify and transfix older teenage readers, just as Alice did over 20 years ago." -Jennifer Hubert

School Library Journal:
"Grade 8 Up–Seventeen-year-old Kristina Snow is introduced to crank on a trip to visit her wayward father. Caught up in a fast-paced, frightening, and unfamiliar world, she morphs into "Bree" after she "shakes hands with the monster." Her fearless, risk-taking alter ego grows stronger, "convincing me to be someone I never dreamed I'd want to be." When Kristina goes home, things don't return to normal. Although she tries to reconnect with her mother and her former life as a good student, her drug use soon takes over, leaving her "starving for speed" and for boys who will soon leave her scarred and pregnant. Hopkins writes in free-verse poems that paint painfully sharp images of Kristina/Bree and those around her, detailing how powerful the "monster" can be. The poems are masterpieces of word, shape, and pacing, compelling readers on to the next chapter in Kristina's spiraling world. This is a topical page-turner and a stunning portrayal of a teen's loss of direction and realistically uncertain future." –Sharon Korbeck

Barnes & Noble Review:
"It was written so beautifully,and as soon as I read this book, I couldnt help but finish the other one following this book-glass. Her stories are beautiful and loosely based around her real life, which makes this read all the more compelling. If you liked go ask alice this is a must have read. Ever since I have read this book I have been hooked to her writting style." -Not attributed

Something about America

2012-01-13T14:09:00.000-05:00

By Maria Testa
Genre: Realistic fiction

THE AUTHOR: Maria Testa is the author of 9 Novels including Becoming Joe Dimaggio, Almost Forever and Baseball Crazy. She was born in Connecticut and now lives in Portland, Maine, where this book takes place.

THE STORY: in this book starts of with her at 13 living in Kosova with a war that lasted a year, from 1998 to 1999. Maria, her mother and father disided to move to the united states where they thought they would feel safe.

Maria wears a scarf around her neck everyday for one reason. Now that shes been in Amarica for awhile she consiters herself an amarican school girl. happy to blend into eighth grade with her friends. But her parents, seeking a new life in Maine was not a choice but they thought it was necesary, it was a way to escape from a war and find medical care for there daughter. While her parents still talk about "home" and continue to feel like foreigners ten years later, their daughter is torn between the guilt about their displacement and pride in her new identity. Then a hateful event changes everything, stirring passions throughout the entire region and forcing residents old and new to re-examine what it means to be an amarican.

2012-01-12T23:27:00.005-05:00

Pride & Prejudice
By Jane Austen
Genre: Romance, Drama

THE AUTHOR: Jane was born into a family that was not supposed to encourage things like writing because back in the 1700's a writer was not an appropriate profession for a young lady of her particular background. Her family never thought she would be a published writer, but within the walls of their household she was encouraged to write. Growing up in the house she lived in, 15-year-old Jane Austen began writing her own novels, and by age 23 she had completed the original versions of Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice. Some of her most famous works are Sense & Sensibility published in 1811, Pride & Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), Persuasion (1817), andNorthlanger Abbey (1817). Despite Jane's short life and short time being a writer, she remains one of the most well-known and liked writers in history.

THE STORY: Elizabeth Bennet is an average 19th century daughter, she is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their family lives in England. She is one of five daughters. Elizabeth is her fathers favorite because of her personality and how she looks at life. His wife's greatest concern is getting her daughters married off to some nice men. Jane is the most beautiful so she is Mrs. Bennet's highest hope for an easy match and marriage. When Mr. Bingley, a young man from London, gets a country estate near to the Bennet's home, Mrs. Bennet begins her match-making. Mr. Bingley and Jane become fond of one another. Mr. Darcy, who has accompanied Bingley to the country, starts to Elizabeth. Mr. Darcy doesn’t like the country or the people who live there very much. Elizabeth, learning of his dislike, gets angry. Elizabeth immediately has another reason yo dislike Mr. Darcy. She argues with Darcy each time they see eachother, but somewhere along the way he begins to like Elizabeth. When Bingley leaves the countryside suddenly and makes no attempts to contact Jane anymore, she is heartbroken. Elizabeth, who had thought well of Bingley, believes that there is something not right about the way Mr.Bingley left so suddenly. When Elizabeth goes to visit her friend at Darcy's aunts she starts the figure out what happened. After several times meeting with Mr. Darcy while visiting her friend, Darcy proposes to her. Elizabeth refuses him and questions him about the way that Bingley abandoned Jane. Darcy writes a letter to explain, and Elizabeth is embarrassed to learn that she had been mislead. If she knew the truth, she would have loved Darcy. Darcy leaves that part of the country before she can sort out her feelings and fix things with him. Then she meets him again when she is touring the gardens of his estate with her aunt and uncle. Darcy treats her with kindness and she believes he may still love her, but before anything happens, she learns that one of her younger sisters is getting married to the soldier that lied to Elizabeth about Mr.Darcy and she goes home. After the wedding Elizabeth is surprised that Darcy returns to the country with Bingley. She thought that her sister's actions had ruined any chances of a relationship with Mr. Darcy, or Jane and Bingley. Elizabeth learns from her aunt that Darcy did a great part to help get her younger sister properly married to the soldier. Jane and Bingley sort out the misunderstandings before and get engaged. Then Elizabeth and Darcy work out their misunderstandings and get married.

CRITIQUE #1: Pride and Prejudice contains one of the most cherished love stories in English literature. The way Jane Austen writes the love story in this book is amazing, any lover of romance novels would absolutely love this book. As in any good love story, the lovers must overcome numerous obsticles and the author really encorprates a lot of those into the story. This book has love, mystery, pride, and courage, what else do you need to make a wonderful love story?

CRITIQUE #2: The only thing about Pride and Prejudice is that for some people its quite hard to understand. Jane Austen was alive back in the 1700’s, and back then they spoke a lot different then we do now, she wrote the book with words and the way they spoke back then, and for some people parts of this book would be a bit challenging if you can’t understand certain things she puts in the dialogue. Therefore this book might not be for everybody.

CRITIQUES #3: Pride and Prejudice is a very interesting book, but for some people it might not be, in some parts of the book it got pretty boring because it felt like nothing was happening for pages and pages. If your not able to keep up with whats happening in the book it can get pretty confusing also. You have to be pretty into the type of book it is if you going to read it the whole way through. If you like romance and drama you won’t have a problem reading this whole book without putting it down.

PUBLICATIONS:

“Elizabeth Bennet is the perfect Austen heroine: intelligent, generous, sensible, incapable of jealousy or any other major sin. That makes her sound like an insufferable goody-goody, but the truth is she's a completely hip character, who if provoked is not above skewering her antagonist with a piece of her exceptionally sharp -- but always polite -- 18th century wit. The point is, you spend the whole book absolutely fixated on the critical question: will Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy hook up?” - Amazon.com

“Austen is the hot property of the entertainment world with new feature film versions of Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility on the silver screen and Pride and Prejudice hitting the TV airwaves on PBS. Such high visibility will inevitably draw renewed interest in the original source materials. These new Modern Library editions offer quality hardcovers at affordable prices.” - Library Journal

“A wonderful classic! This is one of the best books I have ever read. Jane Austen succeeds in giving us a realistic idea of what life for a woman living in 19th century England was like. The characters in this novel are well developed and make it an interesting reading experience. Elizabeth is a smart, witty woman who is ahead of her time in terms of being able to think for herself.” - Barnes and Noble

I have ever read. Jane Austen succeeds in giving us a realistic idea of what life for a woman living in 19th century England was like. The characters in this novel are well developed and make it an interesting reading experience. Elizabeth is a smart, witty woman who is ahead of her time in terms of being able to think for herself.” - Barnes and Noble

Star Wars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction

2012-01-11T08:39:00.000-05:00

By: Drew Karpyshyn
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

AUTHOR: Drew Karpyshyn was born in Alberta, Canada July 28, 1971. He lived in Sherwood Park, a few miles east of where he was rased. He curently lives in Austin with his wife Jennifer and his cat. He went back to college after being a loan officer to get a bachelors degree in fine arts.Karpyshyn got a job for the game company Bioware, which he has helped write many of there stories for the online and station games alike. What lead Karpyshyn to doing a star wars book was he was asked to write for the brand new online game Star wars: The Old Republic so he decided while he wasn’t working he would write the story behind Darth Bane. He has currently not won any awards.

THE STORY: Star Wars:Darth Bane: Path of destruction Starts out on miners planet where our main character Dessel finds out he has a special power that he is strong with “force”. After he kills a man on the mining planet a bartender helps him off planet and gets him enlisted with the Army of the Sith, which is powered by darkness and rage and the whole republic army is trying to destroy them. Des finishes his training and made to go to a battle ground and hold a sith training academy from the republic forces. With his bad temper they put him in the basement to guard the files and histories of the sith. while down he researched many sith lords learning there ways and what they did wrong so he could become the greatest and only sith lord to be.

CRITIQUE: I enjoyed the way the author explained the back story of Darth Bane he didn't just Half ass it meaning he didn't start in the middle of his journey he told what needed to be to understand

I didn't like how quickly his training went by it should have been longer than it was

I love the way how the author portrayed Bane with a cocky I know I can win attitude because of how big he it really tells you who the character is giving you a perspective of how he gone through life

This story wasn't very predictable you never really knew what was gonna happen next

PROFESSIONAL CRITIQUE: Overall, I really enjoyed this book and having a “bad guy” Sith protagonist was quite interesting. It was easy to see and recognize the Sith’s viewpoint during the novel and how Darth Bane came to his revelation. The overall story had a good flow to it and, from the few Star Wars novels that I’ve read, I’d rate this as the best one so far.

I bought Drew Karpyshyn’s Path of Destruction on the Monday before it was supposed to be released. Found it at Books-a-Million, and snatched it up early. Then it sat on the shelf until I took it to my wife’s doctor appointment on the Friday after its release. It’s now early Saturday and I’m kicking myself for not reading sooner.

Easily one of the very best Star Wars books. This is the first book that looks at the dark side through its own lenses and filters rather than through the Jedi. As humans, we struggle with determining the nature of evil. Why does it exist and why does it continue. This book grapples with some of those issues in ways that are less superficial and nonsensical than many other stories have treated the topic. It provides a historical context for the Sith while making them much more 3 dimensional. Drew Karpyshyn is to be commended for writing an intelligent yet fun to read Star Wars book... which is better than many of them

2012-01-10T09:47:00.000-05:00

Harrry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
By: J.K.Rowling
Genre: Fantasy

Author: J.K. Rowling is the author of all seven books in the Harry Potter series, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, Quidditch Through The Ages, and The Tales Of Beetle The Bard.
J.K. Rowling has won many awards for Harry Potter that include author of the year, W H smith fiction, outstanding achievements, and the blur peter gold badge.

Story: On Harry Potter's 12th birthday, a giant man named Hagrid arrives to take Harry to a school called Hogwarts so that he can learn to be a wizard. What's special about Harry is that he is the only known survivor of an evil wizard named Voldemort who killed many infants, kids and adults. When rumor spreads that Voldemort is back and is looking for the Sorcerer's Stone. All of Hogwarts is kept under careful supervision but what they don't know is that Voldemort is among the schools staff.
Publisher: Bloomsbury 249 Pages $9.99

Critique: One thing I liked about the book was the characters. The way situations ended out made the reader satisfied. When Malfoy threw Ron's ball and it lead to Harry joining the Quidditch team was surprising. Lots of characters are on Harry's side including most of the school's staff.
Something I didn't like about the book is that Harry has it a lot easier than anyone else because he's a celebrity. If he gets into trouble his consequences aren't as severe as they would be for any other kid. Teachers let lots of the things he does slip away and they ignore their instinct with him.
Another thing I didn't like about the book is that Harry found out about the wizard world when he turned 12. There was a letter That explained everything and his guardians kept it all away from him. It didn't make sense because his aunt and uncle hated him and seemed like they wanted him to stay with them.

The Outsiders

2012-01-10T09:30:00.001-05:00

The Outsiders
by: S.E. Hinton
Young Adult Fiction

The Author:
    She wrote the Outsiders when she was in her teens. Once The Outsiders was published it gave her a lot of fame and publicity. She has written over a half dozen books and has turned four of them into movies including The Outsiders. She has won the New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Books List, the Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Book Festival Honor Book, the Media and Methods Maxi Award, the ALA Best Young Adult Books, and the Massachusetts Children’s Book Award.

The Story:
    The book takes place in the 60’s back when they had socs and greasers. It takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma where if you are you on the wrong side of that town you town you will be beat up by a soc if you are greaser or vise versa. The mood is violent because there is a lot of gang fights between the socs and greasers. First published by The Viking Press 1967 then it was published by Puffin Books in 1997, then another edition was published by Speak in 2008.

Critique:
     I like how there is a lot of violence where gangs are fighting each other and injuring each other. For example when the socs have one of the greasers held down trying to beat him up one of the greasers stabs one of the socs and then the greaser run away to another town.
     I like how the author showed how they had to get money to live and also to get a couple of drinks. For example a couple of the greasers would go down to a local bar that they knew the owner of and were good friends with and would buy soda and hustle people to get money to buy a soda or two.
     Also i like how the author showed that it doesn't matter what side of town you are on you should just hang out and have fun and not have big gang fights. For example one of the socs named Cherry starts hanging out with the greasers because she thinks that the socs are jerks.
     I didn't like how the author made so many people die, like when the bar owner got shot in the head and died.

Reviews:
    “On a scale of 1 out of 4, with 4 being the best, we rate this book a 4 because the exciting plot is appealing to both boys and girls. The main theme of this book is the importance of friendship and brotherhood.”
-Sam Ransohoff
     "The story lineis good, but what sparked my interest is how S. E. Hinton, who was 16 at the time she created this, writes. Everything flows smoothly, and with so much detail. You get to know the characters so well it’s hard to believe the story just covers one week of their lives. This book is extremely hard to put down."
- Michael J.
      "The book has a strong message of staying young and innocent. It teaches us not to create a shell to block emotions and the importance of friendship. This is one book you definitely will not want to skip."
- NOT ATTRIBUTED

2012-01-09T16:23:00.000-05:00

Percy Jackson and the Olympians V: The Last Olympians
By Rick Riordan
Genre: Fantasy, Action-Adventure

THE AUTHOR: Rick Riordan used to be an English teacher in certain public and private schools in the San Francisco bay area and in Texas. Thanks to this, he decided to write stories for both young adults and children. He wrote the first Percy Jackson book, The Lightning Thief, as a bedtime story for is eldest son. Since then, he wrote four more books in the series, leading up to this book, the final story in the series. He has also written other books, including the Tres Navarre mystery series for young adults, Big Red Tequila, the successor to the Percy Jackson series, Heroes of Olympus, The Kane Chronicles series, The Widower’s Two-Step, The Last King of Texas, The Devil Went Down to Austin, Cold Springs, SouthTown, Mission Road, Rebel Island and 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones. He was the winner of the top three awards in the mystery genre.

THE STORY: The setting of The Last Olympian takes place in modern time, New York City. In New York, Percy Jackson, who is the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, and his human wife. Percy is one of the Greek myths known as demigods known as a demigod (or half-blood) is preparing with his other half-blood companions for the epic battle of the entire series: the final battle with a resurrected Kronos. So far, Kronos has taken over a former friend of Percy, named Luke, set free the monster, Typhon, from a volcano and has nearly conquered the United States. Percy now has to save the world, and everybody and everything in it. The story, however, starts off like everything is fine. Percy’s just driving in his step dad’s car with a friend, Rachael, across the beach, just loving the view, when all of a sudden a pegasus crashes down on the hood, with one of Percy’s half-blood friends shows up and asks him if he’s ready for their mission. Percy goes and tells Rachael to tell his step dad that he’s sorry about the car. They go on the mission destination, which is on a cruise ship, and basically everything starts right around there.
Publisher: Disney Hyperion Books 381 pages $17.99

CRITIQUES: My critiques for this book are mostly good. It has a lot of strengths. The first strength that the author has in this book is the story. He tells it in one of the most inspiring ways to date. It’s inspiring because it has some of the greatest battles I have ever imagined, the characters are nicely thought out, and one of the most surprising endings in history. Another strength is the use of humor in this book. The way that the characters treat each other is just hilarious. An example would be when Percy is talking to one of his friends, Annabeth, about a flying chariot and two cabins fighting over it. However, this book does have weaknesses. Sometimes the story was hard to follow along with because it went in one direction and then another.

New York Times:

"The action, never leisurely in any of the five books in the series, runs at a frantic pace here — monsters pop out with a rapidity that becomes almost predictable, except that they are so enjoyably hair-raising, and that Riordan has such clever ways of dispatching them." -Elizabeth Devereaux

Barnes and Nobles:

"The action, never leisurely in any of the five books in the series, runs at a frantic pace here — monsters pop out with a rapidity that becomes almost predictable, except that they are so enjoyably hair-raising, and that Riordan has such clever ways of dispatching them.

Perfect

2012-01-09T14:24:00.003-05:00

by Natasha Friend

The Author
Natasha Friend, author of Perfect, has also written Lush, Bounce, For Keeps, My Life in Black and White, and Paul Tucci en ik/ drunk 1. She’s won many awards, Milkweed Prize for Children's literature, The Golden Sower Award for State of Nebraska, A.L.A. Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers Association Teen Choice, and Rhode Island Teen Book Award Winner 2008. Natasha has always wanted to be a writer. She also sees herself in a lot of her characters. While writing Perfect she saw herself as Isabelle because of her problems and strength, yet many of her friends might say she’s more of an Ashley Barnum because from the outside shes perfect. She had a personal experience with an eating disorder when she was younger. As a gymnast she took laxatives (once) and binged then vomited. She found the name Perfect because of the simplicity and irony.

The Story
Perfect is about a typical teenage girl. The main character Isabelle Eliza Lee is a 13 year old 8th grader who faces many daily challenges like the death of her dad a few years ago and an eating disorder. She thinks she’s too fat so she finds a dangerous way to “diet.” She starts going to an eating disorder group once a week where she discovers one of her classmates, Ashley Barnum, also attends. Ashley’s the prettiest person in school and she seems so Perfect, it shocks Isabelle when she sees her.
Milkweed Editions. 172 Pages. $7.95.

Critique
In this book I loved how the author describes her thoughts in great detail. It helps the reader understand the story line more because you know all her feelings. Another thing I liked was how at the beginning of a chapter the first sentence either gives what you’re going to be reading about or some of the setting. I also really liked the part of the story line where things were kept secret, because it made the story so much more interesting and fun to read. Last I liked the little icon pictures at the beginning because it also helped get a visual of what would be going on.

Book List. “Isabelle's grief and anger are movingly and honestly portrayed, and her eventual empathy for her mother is believable and touching.” DEBBIE CARTON.

Publishers Weekly. “The story arc here is fairly predictable: Isabelle learns that Ashley's life is not so perfect after all, and this combined with therapy puts her on the road to recovery.” COPYRIGHT 2004 REED BUSINESS INFORMATION.

Teenreads. “PERFECT would be an excellent book for mothers and preteen/teen daughters to read together. The damaged relationship between Isabelle and her mother is a key element of the book, as is the acknowledgment that eating disorders are becoming problems for younger and younger girls.” NORAH PIEHL.

Misery

2012-01-09T13:41:00.005-05:00

By Stephen King

Genre Horor

AUTHOR: Stephen King was born in Maine and lived there for the greater part of his life. This was the inspiration for the setting of many of his stories. He has written over 70 books, the first of which was in the year 1984. Many of these were made into movies. Some of his more famous novels are Pet Cemetery, the Shining, and IT. The book Misery earned the 1987 Bram Stocker award, and King has won countless other awards from his many stories
STORY: widely known writer Paul Sheldon is most famous for his series of books, Misery. After he finished his newest novel at a hotel, he ha a bit to much to drink and decides to drive to L.A. At the same time, a blizzard hits the area. Paul loses control of his car and went off the road, seriously injuring his lower body. A woman driving by, Paul's "Number One Fan" Annie Wilkes who is a former nurse, sees the crash scene and saves Paul. The woman takes him back to her house where she plans to take care of Paul until the roads clear from the snowstorm. Paul soon learns Annie just a crazy fan. She has a short temper and even after the road clears out, she refuses to call the hospital or let Paul talk to anyone outside her home. While he is there, Annie finishes reading the newest Misery book that she found in his briefcase and finds out the main character dies in the end. Annie becomes very angered and tortures Paul, forcing him to bring her back to life in a new book. Annie's need for the Misery series and her psychotic need to keep it going has the reader wondering just how much she will do to continue reading.
Publisher: Viking 320 Pages $9.99
CRITIQUES: Misery is very well written story with many high points. One is the suspense that is carried throughout the story. The reader never knows just when Annie will snap and go completely crazy. For instance, there are times when Paul is carefully searching the house he is in while Annie is away. He knows he will pay if Annie finds out what he is doing, this adds much interest to the reader. Another good quality of the story is that the story is told in the third person from the narrators point of view. Even though the story is written this way, we get to see what Paul is thinking quite often through the story. This gives a way for us to see the pain Paul is going through and how he is dealing with it. The part that really took away from the story was that when Paul was writing the new story for Annie, the script of the new story was incorporated into the actual book. Adding this boring manuscript talking about unknown characters was just a waste of time which had nothing at all to do with the actual story. The reader is better off just skipping it and saving the time it would take to read the 25 or so pages.
(unnamed publication)
This book is without doubt the one that I have read and re-read most. Every time I pick it up I get a tingle of anticipation nibbling at my fingers, as they know they're going to have some fun turning the pages to get to the next bit. -Chris High
The Occasional Review
This is certainly a gripping idea, and King develops it with great skill. It met, for me, the simplest test of a good novel: except for some pages from Sheldon’s ongoing captive manuscript, I never skimmed or even had the urge to skim. I was as interested in how things happened as what happened.- Akshay Ahuja

Someone Like You

2012-01-08T12:11:00.002-05:00

By Sarah Dessen
Genre: Realistic Fiction

THE AUTHOR: Sarah Dessen was born in 1970, and grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She grew up with parents that were both professors at a University, they taught classicist and Shakespeare. She went to college at the University of North Carolina, where she studied creative writing and received a degree in English. In 1996 she wrote and published her first book, That Summer. Then soon after she published Someone Like You in 1998. In 2003 a movie called How to Deal was produced based on the stories of That Summer and Someone Like You. Since then she has written eight more teen romance novels, including Along for the Ride, This Lullaby, and her newest book, What happened to Goodbye.

THE STORY: Scarlett and Halley are best friends, and their story begins in the summer before their junior year. Halley was sent to a sisterhood summer camp and learns that Scarlett’s boyfriend, Michael, had died from a motorcycle crash. Halley leaves camp to comfort her friend and they spend the rest of the summer together. When they go back to school, Halley starts to fall for Michael’s best friend, Macon. Macon is a bad boy kind of guy and gets Halley to start skipping school, staying out past her curfew, and disobeying her strict mother. As all this is happening Scarlett finds out she is pregnant, with Michael’s baby. Penguin Group Inc. 281 pages. $7.99.

CRITIQUE: One thing from this book that I liked was the setup. This book was setup in three sections, Part 1:The Grand Canyon, Part 2: Someone Like You, and Part 3: Grace. I think this set up organized the book and all the big events in it. It also filled up the big time periods in the book. For example, Part 2 ends in January, then Part 3 begins in the late spring time.

I also really liked the character description. You could really picture the characters as well as their personalities. You can also relate to the characters because you have a good understanding of the way they act and think. For example, “Ginny was a cheerleader with a wild streak a mile wide and a reputation among the football team for more then her cheers and famous midair splits. She lived a few miles away at a fancy development of Tudor houses with a country club, pool and golf course. Her mother weighed about eighty pounds, chain smoked Benson and Hedges 100’s, and had skin that was as leathery as the ottoman in our living room.”

Another thing I really liked was that there was two stories in this book. One, Scarlett is pregnant with her dead boyfriends baby, and two, Halley’s relationship with Macon and how she “grows out of her shell.” I really liked this because you were always entertained, there was never a boring part in this book. Also, the two stories are very balanced and connect with each other.

SLJ
“Without preaching or posturing, Dessen has written a powerful, polished story.” (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

The Horn Book
“In this novel whose first-person voice is remarkable for its authenticity, Dessen more then fulfils the promise of her first book, That Summer.” (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

Booklist
“Dessen has a perfect ear for the immediate daily details of the middle-class teenager’s home, school, job, party scene...Many Teenage girls will find themselves in this story.” Booklist, boxed review. (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

2012-01-07T22:16:00.005-05:00

Becoming Marie Antoinette
By Juliet Grey
Genre: Historical fiction
THE AUTHOR: Juliet Grey lives with her husband in New York City and Vermont. She has always been interested in European history, especially in Marie Antoinette's story. Becoming Marie Antoinette is the first book in the trilogy that follows Marie through her reign of France. The next book in the series is Days Of Splendor, Days Of Sorrow.

THE STORY: Marie Antoinette grew up loving her governess more then her own mother. She was very down to earth even as a young child. She has no desire to go into politics but knew that she had no choice as her mother taught her from a young age that she had no choice in her destiny. At ten years old Marie is informed that she is to be wed to a prince of France to settle and argument that had been going on for almost a thousand years. She will have to leave her sister who she has never spent a day away from and venture off to a country whose language she can hardly speak and whose ruler she doesn't know. When the king dies Marie becomes queen. She is clueless to what is going on in the kingdom. She doesn't seem to realize the suffering that her people are barely enduring. The book follows close to her story as she is shifted from her protected innocent childhood to the corrupt, falling apart society that has become new life.
Publisher: Balintine Books Pages: 466 $9.99

CRITIQUE: Juliet Grey follows the history of Marie Antoinette very closely. She sticks to the actual events that took place while adding interest to the book. She lets the history speak for itself. Grey also does an incredible job adding personality to the characters. She decides how to create characters so that they will enhance the story that already exists. Historical fiction will many times be written very dull and hard to read. Juliet Grey creates realistic characters that make the story easier to stay awake while reading. Becoming Marie Antoinette shows that history can be a rumor. Marie Antoinette is portrayed in real life as a selfish naive girl. In the book, she is almost a likeable character. Grey shows that a simple change in interpretation can create an entirely new person. A negative aspect of this book is that it is very similarly written to Michelle Moran or Phillipa Gregory's books.

Name of Publication

"A sympathetic take on the fascinating and doomed Marie Antoinette."- Publishers Weekly (non attributed)

"Grey's mix of relatable characters, vivid scenes, and a rich evocation of two courts make this a wonderful first book in a planned trilogy." -Library Journal (not attributed)

"Becoming Marie Antoinette offers readers an enthralling window into the gilded splendor and treacherous intrigue of one of the most fascinating times in history and a unique portrait of a woman who has captivated millions." --The Manchester Journal (not attributed)

Words In The Dust

2012-01-07T15:22:00.002-05:00

By Trent Reedy

Genre: Fiction (Based on a true story)

The Author: Reedy attended the University of Iowa before enlisting in the Army in 2004. He was in the Army for six years spending 2 years of that time based in Afganistan. His time in Afganistan inspired this book . After the Army, Reedy became an English high school teacher and directed school plays. While he was in college, Reedy volunteered to read to children and remembered that he loved to tell stories. Reedy started writing books in his high school years. His first book was Lion and the Bad Man. He wrote it for kindergarten kids in 2001. The most popular books Reedy has written are Words In The Dust and Stealing Air.

The Story: Words In The Dust is about a 13 year old girl named Zuliakha from Afghanistan born with a clef lip. Her whole childhood, she was teased and called Donkeyface. Whenever she walked to the bazaar or to the shop she would get held back by a young boy named Anwar who teased and called her names. Zuliakha hates her childhood and she wanted a miracle to happen that would make her normal. She wanted her lip fixed so she could eat normally and do everything a normal kid did. When Zuliakha's father, Baba, got a new job at a construction site, her life started to change. Her father met the American soldiers and they made an appiontment for Zuliakha to get surgery on her lip. Zuliahka was full of excitement and joy, but things started going wrong after that point. Zuliakha knew there would never be a miracle for her to be normal ever again.

269 pages $7.00 paperback $12.50 hardcover

Critique: Somethings that I liked about the book, was how the author described his characters. On page 220, he described how Zeynab had been after her bad accident. It was as if I could imagine it in my mind. Another advantage about the book was how the author went out and told all the main characters on the very first page. He described who they were to Zuliakha, what relation they were with her or how she knew them and their names. A disadvantage about the book is that I didn't like was how violent the author made the book. On page 240, the narration was very harsh. It described what Baba had done to Malehkah in very bad ways. Part of it says, Baba swung his arm back and struck Malehkah with the back of his fists. She flew backward onto the floor and landed hard, her head hitting the cement. Another part says, If blood from her nose hadn't bubbled when she breathed, I would have thought she was dead.

Kirkus Reviews

"An inside look at an ordrinary Afghanistan family trying to survive in

extraordinary times,

it is both heart-wrenching and timely."

(NOT ATTRIBUTED)

Laura Bandura

"Still, "Words in the Dust" is a beautifully written novel that introduces young readers to a fascinating culture."

(Pittsburg Post Gazette)

2012-01-06T16:52:00.000-05:00

Misery
by Stephen King
Genre: Horror Novel

AUTHOR: Stephen King was born in Maine and has lived there most of his life. Some of his books take place in Maine because of this. He wrote his first book in 1984, and has written over 70 books, many of which were made into movies. Some of his most notable works are Carrie, the Shining, and IT. The book Misery earned the 1987 Bram Stocker award, and King has won countless other awards from his dozens of works.

STORY: Paul Sheldon is a writer, famous all over the country for his best selling series of books, Misery. After finishing his most recent book at a hotel, Paul goes on a drunken urge and decides to drive to L.A. At the same time, a snowstorm hits the area. Paul gets into a horrible crash, and the lower half of his body smashed. A woman driving by however, notices the wreck, revives Paul, and brings him back to her house. The woman was Annie Wilkes, who just so happens to be Paul’s “Number One Fan.” She is a former nurse, she plans to take care of Paul until the roads clear from the most recent snowstorm. Paul soon learns Annie isn’t quite “all there.” She gets angry very easily, and even after the road clears out, she refuses to call the hospital or let Paul talk to his family. While he is there, Annie finishes reading the newest Misery book, and finds out the main character dies in the end. Annie becomes enraged and imprisons Paul, forcing him to bring her back to life in a new book. Annie’s sadistic nursing style and emotional instability will keep you on the edge of your seat through the whole book.
Publisher: Viking 320 Pages $9.99

Critiques: Misery is a well written book with great qualities. One of these is how the story is told by the narrator. Though the story is told in 3rd person by the narrator, we get frequent looks into Paul’s mind and see exactly what he is thinking, seeing, and the pain he is going through. This use of an omniscient outside speaker is used in some of King’s other works, but is very well done in this story. Another great characteristic of the book is the suspense that holds throughout the entirety of the story. Whenever Annie and Paul are talking, you always wonder when and what will make her snap, or just go totally bonkers. The segments when Annie is out of the house and Paul is in his wheelchair, meticulously searching the house for something to save him, knowing if he’s caught there will be hell to pay, are some of the most interesting parts of the whole book. The book’s one downfall though, that really takes away from it, is that when Paul is writing the new book fro Annie, the transcripts are placed in the actual book itself, typos and all. Not only does the manuscript follow the boring story of a character we know almost nothing about, but it does not pertain the actual storyline at all. You are honestly just better off skipping it, saving yourself 20+ pages of time.

(Unnamed publication)
“This is Stephen King at his terrifying best. Misery crackles and ripples with electricity at every paragraph, and insists that the next page is desperate to be read.” -Chris High

New York Times.
“Even if 'Misery' is less terrifying than [King’s] usual work - no demons, no witchcraft, no nether-world horrors - it creates strengths out of its realities. Its excitements are more subtle. And, as such, it is an intriguing work.” - John Katzenbach

2012-01-06T16:44:00.000-05:00

The Catcher in the Rye

by J.D. Salinger
Genre: realistic fiction

The Author: J.D. Salinger was born and raised in Manhattan New York. He started writing when he was in high school. When he grew up he published The Catcher in the Rye in 1951. The book brought him great fame that he didn’t want. He wrote many other stories but Catcher in the Rye was Salinger’s only book that was overly popular to the public. It sells around sixty five million copies a year. J.D. Salinger died in 2010, at the age of 91.

The Story: Catcher in the Rye is about a teenage boy with plenty of angst in him. It is set in the early 1900’s, in New York City. The story is told in first person by Holden Caufield (the main character) a 16 year old boy. He travels to New York after being kicked out of a prep school. He goes to New York City because he isn’t ready to face his parents about expulsion. This teenager has some mature experiences that normal teenagers today wouldn’t have. Some of it may just surprise you.

Publisher: Little, Brown and company Pages: 214. $ 6.99.

Critique: This novel has both good and bad critiques that I can give to it. My first critique is the dialect, it adds character to the the dialog in the book. For example Holden Caufield seems to speak just the way I would when he says things. On page 72 he said “listen. I toleja about that. I don’t like that type of language”. Although the book was written quite well, at times it seemed that the plot would wonder away from what he was getting at. For example Holden Caufield was eating breakfast and these nuns come in, and they have a suitcase. Holden goes off talking about how he had a roommate that was crazy about suitcases. Lastly Catcher in The Rye was very detailed about explaining things like people and places. An example of this would be Holden’s explanation of Robert Ackley as the annoying kid that has lots of pimples and always touched his belongings without asking.

-New York Times: What really knocked readers out about “The Catcher in the Rye” was the wonderfully immediate voice that J. D. Salinger fashioned for Holden Caulfield — a voice that enabled him to channel an alienated 16-year-old’s thoughts and anxieties and frustrations, a voice that skeptically appraised the world and denounced its phonies and hypocrites and bores.

- The Washington post: "The Catcher in the Rye is now, you'll be told just about anywhere you ask, an American classic,"

You Have Seven Messages

2012-01-06T13:27:00.002-05:00

By Stewart Lewis

Genre Romance; Mystery

THE AUTHOR: Stewart grew up in Boston but now lives in New York which is where the book takes place. He pursues his music career more than his writing career so he hasn't won any awards for his books, since he has only completed three. The other two books he has written are Relative Stranger and Rockstarlet.

THE STORY: This book takes place mainly in the upper west side of Manhattan where Luna and her family live most of the time. Luna's mom was a fashion-model and her dad is a film director. Since both of her parents occupations called for a lot of traveling the family had a driver who took Luna and her brother Tile to school. Now fourteen and a year since her mom was hit by a taxi and killed Luna had been questioning some of the details about her death. So when Luna was cleaning out her mom's modeling studio and found her mom's cell phone fully charged with seven unheard messages she wanted to know the whole truth. She thought she could do it alone but all the stress and grieving that was happening in her life she just couldn't take it. So she sought out her neighbor Oliver, who she has had a crush on since she was eight to help her. Each day they listen to one message that was found on the phone and each and every time they get closer to figuring out what really happened that night of her mothers death. Once she finds out the truth about the death will she regret it and will her family still be the "happy" family they once were?

Delacorte Press/Random House. 289. $17.99.

CRITIQUE: One thing I liked about this book was how Stewart Lewis didn't have just one problem that was ongoing in the book, he had two. One of the problems is the mysteries of her moms death and the other is her relationship with Oliver and which direction it will end up going. Another thing I liked about the book was how he included the letters that Luna's mom wrote to her but didn't get to give to her before she died. The way he wrote them was not in quotes but were just introduced like this "There are only three entries. I start to read the first one."(pg.110) Or they were just placed in between phrases and thoughts that have to do with Luna's mother. The one thing that I dislike about the way Stewart wrote the book is he didn't put very much about character description so I couldn't picture the people as I read about them. Especially Luna, you should know what she looks like because she is the main focus throughout the book.

"Luna is someone to weep with and to cheer for, to wish was your best friend. Readers will fall in love with Luna and her dazzling world."-EMILY WING SMITH, AUTHOR OF BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE

"Following Luna through a hazy grief state after the death of her mother is like a beautiful dream. This book takes your hand and leads you on a wonder-filled adventure."-MELISSA WALKER, AUTHOR OF SMALL TOWN SINNERS

“Luna narrates her story in fluid, thoughtful prose, and her unfolding of her mother’s story is absorbing and, despite the more contemplative pace, genuinely suspenseful; her growing understanding of her parents as people rather than icons is delicately traced. . . . a lovely contemporary fairy tale, with a sad Upper West Side princess at the heart of it, and that’s a kind of folklore that many readers will enjoy.” —THE BULLETIN OR THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS, RECOMMENDED

Heat by Mike Lupica

2012-01-06T12:34:00.000-05:00

Heat
By Mike Lupica
Genre: Sports Fiction

Mike Lupica is an amazing children's author in my opinion. He has written around 30 books "Heat" being one of them. Most recently mike has written the "Batboy" and the "Million Dollar Throw". He has also won multiple awards, Lupica was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe award for best first mystery. As a child Lupica grew up in Nashua, New Hampshire. He graduated from Bishop Guertin High and also Boston College.

   "Heat" is a Children"s novel written by mike Lupica in 2006. It was his second of many children's novels. Michael Arroyo the star in the book was orphaned after his father led the escape of his family. They moved to the Bronx, New York. Michael now only has his seven-teen year old brother Carlos. Michael is a baseball player with serious power he wants to be in the little league world series. Michael can clock a pitch at around 85 miles pr hour! that's amazing for a kid his size and age. Sadly his baseball dream starts to go down hill because nobody believes his age. He has no birth certificate, and no parents to fight for his cause. Michael soon learns that family can come from anywhere.
Penguin Books. ###220 pages###

   In "Heat" I dislike the use of bad role modeling. In the book the boys lie to the authorities about Michael. That could show kids that it could be ok to lie which clearly is is not. Carlos being a baseball lover would do anything for tickets so he stole tickets. If Carlos was caught he would have gone to prison for stealing. During the baseball game, which Carlos stole tickets to one of the rival team members made a racist remark on one of the other players. Clearly these characters are bad role models in this point of the story.
I did like how the author put positive messages into his book. Lupica showed anyone can overcome any odds if they try hard enough. But he did put in negative messages that could miss guide children into thinking that lying is always good. lying can be good but only sometimes.
   I like how Lupica has a great range of knowledge about the cubans. Lupica provides a wonderful multi cultural world. It's almost like your in the Bronx with Michael.

     Michael Arroyo is a 13-year-old Cuban American who lives in the shadow of Yankee Stadium. Yes, he is a Little League ballplayer, and, yes, he has a dream: to pitch in the Little League World Series. To do so, his South Bronx All-Stars will need to beat the best the greater New York area has to offer in the regional championship, to be played in--you guessed it--Yankee Stadium. This setup sounds like yet another Rocky meets Bad News Bears tearjerker: the immigrants from the Bronx take on the white-bread rich kids from the suburbs. It is that (with some notable twists), but it's much more, too. American Library Association

     When Michael Arroyo is on the baseball diamond, everything feels right. He's a terrific pitcher who dreams of leading his South Bronx All-Stars to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA. It's a dream he shared with his father, one they brought with them as they fled Cuba and wound up living in the shadow of Yankee Stadium. Michael's ultimate dream is to play in the major leagues like his hero, El Grande, Yankee star and fellow Cuban refugee.
Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

     Michael Arroyo's lightning fastball makes him the envy of all his teammates, but this speedy southpaw labors under a secret that allows him no rest. Softspoken 12-year-old Cuban refugee Mike worries that he and his 17-year-old brother, Carlos, stand in danger of being separated, even deported. Mike Lupica's middle school novel touches all the bases: suspense, excitement, convincing characterization.
by: Barnes and Noble

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2012-01-06T12:02:00.000-05:00

By J.K Rowling
Genre: Fantasy

THE AUTHOR: JK (Joanne) Rowling was born July 31 1965 in Yate, Glouchesterhire, England. She is best known for    being the second richest female entertainer for her books on the Harry Potter Series. She has written 10 books and soon to be 11. Her Potter books won multiple awards and sold over 400 million copies worldwide.

THE STORY: It takes place in a magic castle called Hogwarts where students are taught how to control and use magic.   The main character Harry is still recovering from the death of one of his friends Cedric. Who was killed by an evil wizard named Voldemort, who has risen back to power. The wizard government, the Ministry of Magic, in fear denies his return and covers up the facts. Thinking that the Headmaster Dumbledore is forming a wizard army to take over the ministry, They take over the school, forbid all magic, and send the headmaster to the wizard prison Azkaban. While the Ministry takes over Hogwarts, Voldemort is looking for a secret weapon hidden in the Ministry that will kill Harry. Harry must do whatever he can to stop the ministry and Voldemort.
Scholastic. 870 pages. $18.99.

CRITIQUE: One strength of this book is that it had a very good message to it. To always believe in the truth and what’s right. No matter how many times Harry got called a liar for the return of Voldemort he always stuck with the truth. He got shot down numerous times and just stuck with the facts.
Another strength of this book was the believability through use of imagery. J.K Rowling used her imagination of spell creation and mythical creatures she painted a whole new world of magic. She made the audience feel like they were a student at Hogwarts learning the magical ways. When Harry got attacked by dementors the author described how being in their presence sucked the happiness out of you. She described them as hooded black figures that would kill you with no reason at all.
My final strength of this book was the character development. Harry in the beginning was a mad about how no one believed the story on how Cedric got killed. He was angry at himself and everyone else for not being able to do anything about Voldemort or the Ministry. At the end he learned to accept Cedric’s death and the only thing that he could do now is to stop him from hurting anyone else.

The New York Times Book Review

“ As Harry gets older, Rowling gets better.... She has looted the shelves of literature and mythology, fairy tales and folklore, anthropology and comparative religion firing up a pop-culture crockpot and adding pratfalls word play and dread.... Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is rich and satisfying.” JOHN LEONARD

Entertainment Weekly
“By the time we finish The Order of the Phoenix, with its extraordinary passages of fear and despair, the distinction between ‘literature’ has ceased to exist.... This is one series not just for the decade, but for the ages.” STEPHEN KING

USA Today
“You don’t have to be a wizard to appreciate the spell cast of Harry Potter” (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

Star Wars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction

2012-01-06T12:01:00.000-05:00

By Drew Karpyshyn

Genre: Science Fiction
THE AUTHOR: Drew Karpyshyn works with Bioware. A video game company that focuses on Sci-Fi games (mostly Star Wars). He was the lead writer of the 2003 Xbox game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. It got the "Game Of The Year" award, and so did the sequel. His Darth Bane novel was selected by the School Library Journal for one of the “Best Adult Books for High School Students of 2006”. There are also two sequels following “Path of Destruction”. He has a new novel out that is a novel of the new “Star Wars” video game, “The Old Republic”.

THE STORY: Path of Destruction takes place in a galaxy far, far away during the Old Republic. Des was a cortosis miner on the planet Apatros, and got into a big fight killing someone after a couple drinks at the bar. The Republic forces were after him. So on the run he joins the Sith Army to go to war and fight against the Republic, and the Jedi. On a stealth mission he kills a lot of targets and gives into his anger. This is when the Sith notice him and bring him to the Sith Academy on Korriban. This event leads to him becoming Darth Bane.
Ballantine Books. 389 pages. $7.99

CRITIQUE:
Combat- The author does a good job describing the combat that happens during the story. Like when the Sith have lightsaber combat at the academy, and Des cut open his opponents lightsaber. The look on his face when he was beaten.

Character Descriptions- The character descriptions are very weak in this book. In the intro when the author is introducing the founder of The Dark Brotherhood, Lord Kaan he doesn't say anything except for that. Also when the two of the most powerful Sith approach him the author says that one is human, and one is a twi'lek. Then he says that one is tall, lean, and and appears almost skeletal. He doesn't say anything about the other one. He doesn't even say which character is which race.

Dialog- Dialog was good because there wasn't too much of it. The author focused more on describing what the characters were doing then what they were saying.

Suspense- This book had no part that was boring. Every time I read it something exciting was happening. This book was one of the only books I have read this year that I could not put down.

Publishers Weekly
"A solid space adventure (that) charts the evolutions of an antihero almost as chilling as Darth Vader." Not Attributed

Dreamwatch
"It effortlessly explores the way in which the class system and worker oppression can make the dark path look attractive...a well told filling-in of Sith history" Not Attributed

School Library Journal
This is an entertaining read, well written and consistent in its history. Readers new to the Star Wars series will like it, and fans won't be disappointed. Dana Cobern-Kullman

The Lost Hero

2012-01-06T11:21:00.009-05:00

By Rick Riordan

Genre: Mythology

The Author: Rick Riordan attended Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio. He has a wife and two sons, Haley and Patrick. He Likes to read swim and spend time with his family in his spare time. He likes all his books for different reasons. He has a dog and two black cats. The first book he read for fun was the Lord of the Ring. He liked greek and norse mythology books too. In high school he read mostly fantasy and science fiction. The first story he submitted for publication was when he was 13. It wasn’t published. His first published works were two short stories in the UTSA literary magazine. When he was in college, He worked for three years as the music director at a summer camp, Camp Capers. This is where he got the idea for Camp Half-Blood. His first full-time job was teaching middle school in New Braunfels, Texas. In 2011 He won the author of the year award at the children's choice book awards.

The Story: In "The Lost Hero" theres a boy named jason and he wakes up on a bus not knowing where he is. A girl named piper who is supposedly his girlfriend is sitting next to him. Anyways he doesn't know who these people are and they arrive at a museum. Their supposed teacher is a satyr who is suppose to protect demi-gods. Jason, Piper, and jason supposed best friend Leo are all demi-gods. Thats when the adventure begins. When they arrive at a camp called camp half- blood, a half man half horse comes up to the three demi-gods and talks. As they talk the half man half horse tells them that theres this thing called the mist that is making them think jason is piper and leos friend. So they go on a journey to try and find out who he is and as they move along they end up finding out they might have to save the world. Leo finds out he is a son of hephestus. He then finds out there is a mechanical dragon in the woods near camp half blood. So he fixes it up and thats what the three characters use to travel. This is as much as i can tell you without ruining the story.

Disney- Hyperion 557 Pages $11.35

Critique: My opinion on this book is both good and bad. One of my critiques is good because Leo, Jason's best friend, is a very funny character and he makes me want to read on when the chapter is about him. He is very comical. Leo is also very interesting to me because he is the son of hephaestus. And hephaestus is the god of smithing and fire and such. Another good critique would be that the book is adventurous and wicked fun to read. Learning about the characters was interesting cause they all have their own stories. A bad critique i have about the book "The Lost Hero" is that percy jackson from the earlier books went missing. And that made me pretty upset cause I thought percy was an awesome character in the other books. But then Rick Riordan showed me that jason, the main character in the lost hero, is also a very cool person and also as talented as percy. A final good critique would be that the book itself was amazing. I couldn't put the book down. Rick Riordan kept me reading and reading i hope he makes more books that tags along to this series.

The anticipation surrounding Rick Riordan’s latest novel The Lost Hero was so strong, we could have built a temple atop it! What’s not to love?- Modern papyrus.

Posted by Ethan Burge at 5:36 P.M.

The Blind Side

2012-01-06T11:20:00.005-05:00

By Micheal Lewis
Genre: Sports Biography

THE AUTHOR: Michael Lewis (born 1960) in New Orleans is an American non-fiction author. He went to Princeton university. Lewis's first marriage was to Diane de Cordova Lewis. He has one son and two daughters. He worked for New York Times before he wrote books he was a columnist for bloomberg.

THE STORY: The setting of blind side is in a Christian School, the Tuohy household, the Ghettos, and other areas, which are all in Memphis, Tennessee. The plot of the blind side is that a family gives a kid a second chance and to restart his life and his proceeds to play football because of his weight and height and gets a chance of a life to play pro does he go for it or not?
Norton, W. W. & Company. 352 pages. $7.99.

CRITIQUE: This book The Blind Side is perfect for sport fans that love the game of football and love to read. The good thing about this book that the author just did not write about sports he wrote little about behind the sport and what was really going on in his life.
This book was too much football and not just about Michael and his family. There was a lot of the book that I got tired of reading because it was to much about football and not enough about he family.
In the book blind side if you did not know much about football then some of it would not make that much sense to you that’s why there should have more things about his family so the people that don’t now much about football would understand.
I found many parts of this book boring because it was too technical and focused too much on recruiting and football strategy, rather than the interpersonal relationships between the player, coach.

The Washington Post

"The Blind Side, perhaps the best book written about a college football player since Willie Morris's The Courting of Marcus Dupree (1983), grabs hold of you in several ways. On one hand. At the same time, you'll be furiously turning the pages, rooting for Michael Oher to succeed. And the story isn't over: If Oher makes it into the NFL in three years, Lewis should have a dandy follow-up." ALLEN BARRA

Barnes & Noble

"We are huge fans of Michael Lewis. look at professional football and the changing nature of a game now tightly focused on speed, size, and strength. Typically, Lewis provides an appealing, human-interest hook to his deft analysis of America's most popular spectator sport. At the heart of The Blind Side is the remarkable story of a rising gridiron star, a young man" (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

NY times

"Another thing missing, fortunately, is a synthetic happy ending. By the time the book ends, Mr. Oher is wealthier than the college recruiters who pursued him. He is headed for a likely bright future in the National Football League. This is the point where the artifice ends and the real world takes over." Janet Maslin

JRR Tolkien

2012-01-06T11:04:00.001-05:00

The Hobbit
By JRR Tolkien
Genre: Fantasy

THE AUTHOR:
JRR Tolkien has written 43 books in total. He has won four awards for the books The Hobbit (New York Herald Tribune Best Juvenile Story of the Season), The Lord of the Rings (International Fantasy Award at the 15th World Science Fiction Convention), and The Silmarillion (The Locus and Gandalf awards). He won one other awards in 1972 when he was honored as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

THE STORY:
This story is about a hobbit who was living a normal life as a Baggins (his father's side of the family), and he thinks he is content until a wizard comes to him and reminds him of his mother's adventurous life as a Took (her maiden name). The wizard wants him to go on an adventure with thirteen dwarves, the reason being they needed a fourteenth member to help them on their quest to take the treasure from a dragon in a far away place. Bilbo is worried about not coming back alive, and although the wizard doesn't help him feel so much better about that, he still goes. This book is about his travels on the way to the dragon and back, and all the fights he goes through, a very famous one being with a creature Gollum, who agreed to show Bilbo the way out of the underground tunnels if he answered the riddles Gollum asked right, and if not, Gollum got to eat Bilbo. Will Bilbo make it out alive? Will he get the treasure? What will happen to the thirteen dwarves? Read the book to answer these questions.
George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. of London. 319 pages. $9.60

CRITIQUE:
I didn't really like how slow this book went in the beginning. It was a good book, and when Bilbo and the dwarves were in a predicament, it seemed to go really fast afterwards, but in the beginning it was just so hard to start. We were given every detail about what a hobbit's house looks like, and we were told what his normal day was like, but literally that entire part could have been summarized in two sentences so we could get on to the good stuff. "The hobbits house was organized, with many rooms and no second floor or basement. He enjoyed going on small walks and drinking coffee, and having safe, comfortable routines that gave him a good-guy reputation with his neighbors; he was just like a Baggin." There, I proved it. The book also seemed really slow between the different trials. What I mean is, when the wizard came with the dwarves who were talking about the adventure planned--it was interesting, but then Bilbo goes and for almost a whole chapter we hear about him walking and where he was going and whether he wanted to go or not. Then they run into the trolls, and it gets interesting again. Then they keep going and are explaining needless facts, until they reach their next predicament. This was the routine throughout the entire book. This book could easily have been maybe 100 pages less, but maybe some people prefer it long like this. I also didn't like how hard this book was to read. It not only was slow and a little boring, but the story line was complicated and confusing, along with the language used to write it. I guess this may be what the author envisioned for this book, but I for one did not like the fact that reading a book would be such torture at times and would leave me knowing nothing more. What I mean is, after a week of finishing reading the book, I did not remember anything of what I read. I couldn't remember why they went on the adventure, or what anyone's name was, and many other things, and it was like pulling teeth trying to remember. I just think maybe the book could have been written better, but I know plenty of people who would disagree, this is just my opinion. Maybe I just hate reading long books.

George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. of London

HarperCollins

"one of the best children's stories of this century...Mr. Tolkien has succeeded superbly...No fiction I have read in the last five years has given me more joy." The New York Times by W.H. Auden

MogWorld

2012-01-05T13:30:00.004-05:00

By Ben Crowshaw

Genre: Fantasy, Humor

The Author: Ben “Yahtzee” Crowshaw is a comedian and columnist for Escapist Magazine, originating from England, but currently living in Australia. He made online fame when his online series “Zero Punctuation” -a series critiquing recent games- exploded on the web. He currently has no other publications. He has also not received any awards.

Story: A recently reborn zombie who simply wants to die. The only problem? He can’t. Jim (the main character) goes on an epic quest... to kill himself. But when no one is allowed to die, he must learn more about how this world is run, and who runs it. This story is set in a common fantasy setting, knights, wizards, elves, etc. For the most part, it is a woodland setting in the Spring.

$7.99 USD.

414 pages.

Critique: The humor in this book is very funny to those with a dark sense of humor. If you like suicide jokes (and who doesn’t?), the humor in this book may appeal to you, probably. But really, if you can’t take a joke, particularly very dark jokes, this book isn't recommended.

Critique: If you are a gamer, not a Call of Duty gamer, more of a WoW gamer, you may indeed like this story. It has TONS of subtle references to little things. Repeatable quests, unlimited lives, characters acting very unrealistic, and MANY other video game troupes and cliches.

Critique: Some characters in this story, namely the villains, have the tendency to become INSANELY POWERFUL. Let me explain: The main villain, Barry, starts out as a simple pastor. Who, at the end of the story (spoilers), becomes an avatar of GOD. This turn of events isn’t explained very well, and it never is.

Other Reviews:

“Whether Croshaw should stick solely to critiquing video games is up for debate. Mogworld isn’t going to bowl anyone over, but Croshaw undoubtedly has a strong, unique voice and I would hate to see that limited to only critiques. I’m very interested to see what he’ll do next in the world of fiction.”

-Chris Greenland, Stepping into Fiction

"Although the book may be somewhat inaccessible to those unfamiliar with Internet culture or the nature of MMOs like World of Warcraft, that's OK; writing for a niche isn't necessarily a bad thing, and considering how fast the numbers of Internet users who know about WoW are growing, Mogworld is probably accessible to most people anyway, because it is just so funny."

-Not Attributed

"The dialogue and characters are wonderfully fresh, and while the most prudish may object to some of the innuendo-laden dialogue, I honestly think this is a novel that will appeal to all ages. As an American, I can't truly say whether all that makes Mogworld literary "Branston Pickle", but I loved reading it, and I imagine most others will too. I can't help but lament that it would have been more funny if I'd hated the novel and spent the review picking it apart, but I'll leave the satirical reviews to the Three Wolf Moon Shirt guys. "

-Not Attributed

Sweet_Tooth

2012-01-05T13:29:00.001-05:00

By Jeff Lemire

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic

THE AUTHOR : Jeff being a new writer has won awards. He has won the Xeric Award, Young Adult Library Services Association Alex Award, Joe Schuster Award, And Doug Wright Award. He also worked with DC Comics for his book Superboy he is also working on the fourth Sweet Tooth book.

THE STORY : Sweet Tooth takes place in a near future Post-Apocalyptic time period. There is almost no one alive and who is are dying from a plague. Sweet Tooth was published by Vertigo, it has 128 pages the book cost's $9.99.

CRITIQUE : In Sweet Tooth I enjoyed how the illustrator drew the whole book in a dark style of drawing. Also how the charters act the ones against sweet tooth or with him.
CRITIQUE : Sweet Tooth is a quick read and is simple to follow. Being a Graphic Novel the book uses word bubbles and pictures. The book is a good read for people who enjoy a comic book every now and then.
CRITIQUE : In sweet tooth there is gore and I think that it shows the illustrator can draw more than a boy with antlers. Also that he is open to draw what is needed.
CRITIQUE : To write this book you would have a lot of creativity and Jeff has that. He has a idea that not much people have of a post-apocalyptic time with animal kids. Also how he keeps the books short make them more of comics choice.
Steve Aryan-"As far as first volumes go, this intrigued me a great deal and I really want to keep reading. I’m a big fan of post apocalyptic stories to begin with, but there is also an unexpected sweetness to the story, despite the desperation and horror we witness."
Chad Derdowski-"I really like the way Gus and his father speak. They’ve got sort of a backwoods, hillbilly dialect that is handled very consistently throughout the book and adds quite a bit of realism to the story."
Not Attributed-"At its best, Sweet Tooth is surprising and emotional, not to mention truly interesting to watch unfold."

Why I Fight

2012-01-05T13:01:00.011-05:00

By: J. Adams Oaks
Genre: Adventure
About the Author: J. Adams Oaks received his MFA in Fiction writing from Columbia College Chicago. His work has appeared in the Madison Review and River Oak review, as hair Trigger 21 in which the beginning of his novel appeared and won the National society of Arts and Letters regional competition. His work won Chicago public radio's stories on stage contest and was performed and recorded at the museum of contemporary art. Currently he is an invited lecturer at the University of Chicago. He curates a reading series for around the coyote and is a member of the serendipity Theater Collective, for which he writes, teaches, and performs. He lives in Chicago. This is his first novel. You can visit him on his website at jadamsoaks.com

Story: Why I Fight is a book about a kid named Wyatt and he travels around the state with his traveling uncle who is a a salesman of some kind of mysterious object. His uncle has many lady friends and does’nt really want Wyatt to get in there ways. Wyatt favorite lady friend of his uncles is Lynnesha’s. She was the 4th lady friend of his uncles lady friends that they have stayed with. He did not want to leave her house he felt safe there. When they first arrived at her house he did not feel comfortable at her house, because she was being nice to him and he wasn’t use to people touching him. Later in while Wyatt and his uncle are traveling, His uncle see's the potential in Wyatt to earn some cash. The way his uncle wanted to earn cash was by fighting and he knew that Wyatt would most likely win because of how big and strong he is. If u ask him to stretch out on asphalt he makes a parking space. So his uncle gets him into fight matches with bare fists to earn them cash. That is what this story is mostly about.

Price: 16.99$
Critique: Why I Fight is a book i would enjoy reading, Because as i was reading this book it was never getting boring and it kept me into the book and was interesting. It was good how they had him traveling. It was well put together and i would read it again anytime.

The Complete History Of Why I Hate Her

2012-01-05T12:53:00.021-05:00

By Jeniffer Richard Jacobson
Genre: Young Adult Realistic Fiction

THE AUTHOR:
She attended Lesley College and Harvard Graduate School of Education. She lives in a cottage, built in 1802, in Maine. She was born and raised in New Hampshire, it's relevant to the book because the book takes place where she grew up and spent her life. Jennifer Richard Jacobson is the author of picture books, stories for beginning readers, and middle-grade novels and many more genres. Many of her 14 children’s books have been Junior Library Guild and Scholastic Book Club selections, included in “Best Children’s Books” lists from Publisher’s Weekly, the New York Public Library and the Chicago Public Library, selected for the Texas 2X2 List, Children’s Curriculum of School Library Journal, and among Booklist‘s Top 10 First Novels. She has been nominated for awards across the United States, and her Andy Shane and the Pumpkin Trick has sold over 100,000 copies.

THE STORY:
The book takes place near Bucks Harbor, Maine. Nola moves to Maine for the summer to get away from all of her stress at home. She leaves her younger sister Song, who has cancer, while she goes to Maine and explores her own life. She works as a waitress in a Maine resort. Nola becomes good friends with a girl named Carly, who seems like a nice person. Carly changes through the story and Nola eventually realizes she isn't a true friend. Carly was stealing her life away.
Atheneum. 188 pages. $16.99.

CRITIQUES:
This book was hard to relate to, because I don't have a younger sister with cancer and I'm not trying to find out who I am. I may relate to this book because it takes place in Maine near where live and she's also a teenager. It was also hard to relate to Nola. I will never understand why she wanted to move away from her sister and her family when they need her most. And she also felt it would be easier to be free and find her independence away from home. It seemed like the author had a weakness with developing characters because there weren't many emotions expressed. The author kept you hanging after each chapter and never explained what happened. For an example in chapter 33 it says, "So when I get to the front door, my heart stops. So does my breathing. I don't know what to say." The author ended up never telling us who it ended up being.

School Library Journal

"This is a well-written story about finding yourself and staying true to that self, an important message for young adults." ROBYN ZANESKI, New York public library

Booklist

"It's a compelling story of self-discovery with plenty of insights into the motivations that drive relationships." FRANCISCA GOLDSMITH

From The Critics

"This slim volume is a good choice for reluctant readers and fans of stories about overcoming adversity." Reviewer: BETHANY MARTIN

Snakehead

2012-01-05T12:48:00.003-05:00

By Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Adventure, spy, thriller

THE AUTHOR: Anthony Horowitz holds many awards for all sorts of entertainment types. His book awards include "Author of the year" from British Book Industry Awards- "The Oscars of the Book Trade."

Other popular series' created next to the "Alex Rider" series are "Diamond Brothers"and "The Power of Five".

THE STORY: Off the coast of Australia, the valued teenage spy has just landed from his last mission, from space. He is immediately picked up by an Australian military ship and they recruit him to work for their spy service, only because he did not land with his visa. Alex is determined to work for them because his godfather who is also in spy work would be coming with them on a misson. Unfortunately, he is separated from him when they are at Jakarta which is where the real action starts. Alex is then captured and sent away to a place located in the Australian rainforest for a reason only revealed by reading this book.

Walker Books. 398-400 pages. $8.99-13.99

CRITIQUE: Anthony Horowitz, the proud author of the Alex Rider series uses every scenario to get Alex in trouble and captured and every technique to get him out. In this book, Alex is used, shipped, desguised, shipped again, captured and used again before anything is spoiled. It is a disadvantage when you read the whole series which makes it repetitive but all the action makes up for it. The best part of the book is the ending where Alex saves the world from a killing posed as a natural disaster. It is a massive ending with Alex and others is hard to explain without giving clues to the ending and the best way would be to find out yourself.

Best Seller World
"Snakehead is the seventh installment in "The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series". Get ready for an exciting adventure with Great Britain's most popular spy-Alex Rider!" Kirsten Leong
Google Reviews
"WOW! Can it get any better? This series takes you through unexpected twists and turns until you are done (and then you have to read the next book)! This is the best of the Alex Rider series!" Not Attributed
Book Shelf Online
"From the slums of Bangkok to the Australian Outback to the middle of the Timor Sea, Snakehead is Alex Rider’s most action-packed adventure yet." Not Attributed

into the wild

2012-01-05T12:47:00.008-05:00

By :Jon Krakauer
Genre: Biography, Adventure
THE AUTHOR: Jon Krakaue was born in 1954. He did a lot of mountain climbing. He graduated from Hampshire College in 1976 and in 1977 he attempted the Devil’s Thumb in southeastern Alaska. He has written a lot of books including into thin air and Iceland.
THE STORY: Most of this book takes place in Alaska although parts of his journey took place throughout America and Canada. In Alaska it’s in a forest with rivers surrounded by mountains. He finds a old abandon bus and lives in that. It has a wood stove and a bed in it. The yeas are 1990-1992. In the beginning McCandless graduates from college and decides he wanted the ultimate freedom. He travels across America and meets a ton of people. He goes to Alaska with only a few things and wants to live off the land for a few months.

CRITIQUES: Although Krakauer, comparing and contrasting between himself and McCandless added a personal touch to the book, I think this book should have completely focused on McCandless. We can see on page 155 how Krakauer compered himself to McCandless.

“The fact that I survived my Alaska adventure and McCandless did not survive his was largely a matter of chance; had I not returned from the Sticking Ice Cap in 1977, people would have been quick to say of me-as they now say of him- that I had a death wish. eighteen years after the event, I now recognize that I suffered from hubris, perhaps, and an appalling innocence, certainly; but I was’t suicidal.”

I feel that Krakauer should not have compered his Alaska adventure to McCandless allowing himself to point out how he survived and McCandless did not.
I didn’t understand why he abandon his old yellow Datsun along with his guitar, money, clothes, rice, and all his other belongings that were in the car. He also donated the rest of his college fund, $25,000.

“When the rangers pulled off the top they found an old yellow Datsun with no license plates. A note taped to the windshield read, “this piece of shit has been abandon. whoever can get it out of hear can have it.”...Walsh found a Giannini guitar, a saucepan containing $4.93 in loose change, a football, a garbage bag full of old clothes, a fishing rod and tackle, a new electric razor, a harmonica, a set of jumper cables, twenty-five pounds of rice, and in the glove compartment, the keys to the vehicle’s ignition.”

He gave up and burned all of his money because he wanted to disappear, but still while he was hitchhiking he had to look for jobs to survive the travel until Alaska, why didn’t he just keep his money to survive?
McCandless wanted to disappear but why didn’t he disappear from the world instead of just his family. Throughout his travels we can see that he sent post cards back and forth to the ones he met, Jan Burres and Bob, Ron, Wayne and others, but never his family.
When McCandless was walking back to the highway the stream he crossed got a lot bigger and he couldn’t pass. He had options on how to cross it. He could have tried to built a raft or start waking up stream more.

” If McCandless walked a mile or so upstream, he would have discovered that the river broadened into a maze of braided channels. If he’d scouted carefully, by trial and error he might have found a place where these braids were only chest-deep.”

Instead he turned around and began walking to the west, back toward the bus, back into the fickle heart of the bush. This book was published by Anchor Books, has 207 pages and cost $12.95.

OUTSIDE REVIEWS:
“Compelling and tragic...Hard to put down.” (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

“Terrifying...Eloquent...A heart-rending drama of human yearning.” (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

“Engrossing...with a telling eye for detail, Krakauer has captured the sad saga of a stubborn, idealistic young man.” (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

Into The Wild

2012-01-05T12:45:00.040-05:00

By John Krakauer
Genre: Biography, Adventure
a

THE AUTHOR:
-Jon Krakauer was a great author he was sort of a crazy guy like Chris. He went rock climbing and went on adventures like hiking. He wrote this book with the help of Chris even though he died because he wrote a journal.

Setting

- A young man named Christopher McCandless was an outdoors man who enjoyed hiking and rock climbing. He always liked an adventure. So he did what most average Americans would not do, he gave 25,000 dollars in savings to a charity. He also abandoned his car and burned his wallet with everything in it.

Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Engrossing...with a telling eye for detail, Krakauer has captured the sad saga of a stubborn, idealistic young man." (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

New York Times
"Terrifying...Eloquent...A heart-rending drama of human yearning." (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

San Francisco Chronicle
"Compelling and tragic...Hard to put down." (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

1 Critique was when the author compares himself

to Chris. I just think that the author had know idea what chris had been through and how he really felt out there!

LOCKDOWN

2012-01-05T12:45:00.039-05:00

By Walter Dean Myers

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Author:Walter Dean wrote 18 books all together. They are about many different things sports, America, drugs, drive by shootings, gangs, and wasted lives, etc... The Game, and Dope Stick were some of his best projects.
Story: "Lockdown" Reese is going to get himself out of Jail in only one way he knows how, which is work. Almost every adult he knows wont give him help or advice to get out. Reese has to be brought up by a brother that is out of jail, and always getting sent back and his mom who is an addict won't give him any help towards freedom.
Critique 1: This story Lockdown is actually a book i wouldn't mind reading for a second time. It has intense, and dreadful peaces that tie his time in jail. The book has a great ending which you would have to read to find out. Critique 2: Lockdown is a intense book but in the middle of the story it can be vague at times which can get boring, but after you get over that hump its a very interesting book. Critique 3: In the beginning it isn't hard to read one bit, but it made me look different at how he was living compared to me.

New Moon

2012-01-05T12:45:00.033-05:00

By: Stephenie Meyer

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

THE AUTHOR: Stephenie Meyer graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelors degree in English. Right now she lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and three young sons. After Twilight she was chosen by Book Sellers as one of the “most promising new author of 2005!” Other books aside from “New Moon” that she has written is, “Twilight”, “Eclipse”, and “Breaking Dawn”. All of those are apart of the Twilight Saga. She also wrote “The short and second life of Bree Tanner.” Which is about a girl in Eclipse. Some awards she has won is A New York Times Editor’s Choice.

THE STORY: "New Moon" is the Sequel to "Twilight" or the second book of the Twilight Saga. It's about Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. Edward decides that him and Bella being together isn't safe for Bella or her family. Also people were starting to get suspicious that none of them looked like they were getting a year older after twenty years had gone by. So they decide to split. Or at least Edward decides for them. Bella knows that Edwards sister Alice will be able to see what happens in the future so Bella decides to do numerous dangerous things so she would tell Edward and soon enough get him to come back. After a while Alice came to check on Bella because one of her visions showed her jumping of a cliff into the future. All Bella can think of is if she will ever be able to see Edward again?

CRITIQUE: Something I liked about the book is I liked that it was apart of a series so each time I finish one of the books I have another to look forward to. Something I didn't like about the book was how it was mainly all about Jacob. Jacobs family, or stories that his Grandfather told. So far the first book in the series ("Twilight") was better than "New Moon" by far. Another thing I liked though was that although it was all surrounded by Jacob it made you want to keep reading to see if Edward will ever come back. So really it was also a good thing that it was all about Jacob because then you wanted to keep on reading.

"Teens will relish this new adventure and hunger for more" -Booklist

"New Moon piles on the suspense and romance." -USA Today

"[A] near-genius balance of breathtaking romance and action" -VOYA

"New Moon will . . . leave [fans] breathless for the third"-School Library Journal

Shutter Island

2012-01-05T09:11:00.000-05:00

By Dennis Lehane
Genre: Fiction

About the Author

Dennis Lehane is the author of nine novels including the New York Times bestsellers Moonlight Mile; Gone, Baby, Gone; Mystic River; Shutter Island; and The Given Day, as well as Coronado, a collection of short stories and a play.

Story: When U.S federal Marshal Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule are sent to shutter island, an insane asylum, to investigate an escaped criminal, they find more than what they are looking for. As they are on the island, they have to find the missing criminal and survive the danger of other criminals that are there. They have to use their quick wits and skills to find the escapee and survive.

                                                         Harper Collins
                                                         393 pages, $9.99
Critique:
Scene Description: Dennis Lehane did a good job of describing every little thing that the characters were doing in a scene. For example, when they are on the boat headed to Shutter Island, he describes every little detail of a cigarette. He describes the smell and describes the ash as it is falling to the ground. Character Description: In the beginning, Dennis did a good job describing how the characters look and act. He told how Teddy got his scars and he described Teddy's emotions when he was talking to Chuck about his dead wife. He made Teddy have a kind of laid back attitude while chuck has a very hyped up attitude. Dialog: Throughout the entire book, there is dialog on every page. This is good because a book without dialog is very boring to read. Everything the characters say is important to the story line so you have to really pay attention when you read.

Professional Review.

(San Francisco Chronicle Book Review )
“Combines the claustrophobia of . . . Agatha Christie . . . with the creepiness of a good Stephen King yarn. . . . Good luck putting this one down.
(New York Times )
“Startlingly original…instantly cinematic… unfolds with increasing urgency until it delivers a visceral shock in its final moments.”
(starred review)
“There is no mystery…about how good this book is; like Mystic River, it’s a tour de force.” (Publishers Weekly)
(Miami Herald )
“The ride this novel provides is as good as entertainment gets.”

Fast Food Nation

2012-01-04T12:39:00.008-05:00

By Eric Schlosser

Genre: Non-fiction

THE AUTHOR: Eric Schlosser is the author of three highly praised books including Fast Food Nation, Chew On This, and Reefer Madness. All three of these books are documentaries and are considered very important sources of information regarding how our world works.

THE STORY: The book begins with Schlosser telling about an ironic Dominoes pizza delivery to a top secrete military base in Cheyenne Mountain Colorado. If in an emergency situation the soldiers were to parish, fast food warpers would be found all throughout the base. The story after that is a collection of shocking facts about major food distributers and how they are affecting our nation and our world. Did you know that kitchen workers at fast food restaurants don't actually "cook" anything? Most of the food is delivered to them already cooked and freeze dried. Did you know that working in a meat processing facility can be very dangerous and degrading work? Many people that work in these "meat factories" loose fingers and even die in terrible accidents. Also, some can't even go to the restroom when they need to but instead are forced to urinate right next to the coveter belt where the meat is packed. These are just a couple of many gross-out facts that will shock and dismay you.
CRITIQUE: Although this book has very interesting facts, most of them are buried beneath page upon page of pure ramble. The author tends to write a whole page just describing the area or a particular person. For example, at the beginning of the book Schlosser spent a good two pages describing the mountain the military base was located in. I found myself half falling asleep reading through each chapter until I finally found an interesting fact or story. Another critique is that Fast Food Nation is very similar to another book that Eric Sclosser wrote, Chew On This. Chew On This is a book that has the same facts to tell but is intended for younger readers. I have found that Chew On This and Fast Food Nation are so similar, that they even share some of the same exact pages. My last critique is that the authenticity of Schlosser's information can not be guaranteed. The major fast food corporations all refused to be interviewed. Most of his information is from individuals and other experts on the subject.
Publishers Weekly:
"Schlosser's incisive history of the development of American fast food indicts the industry for some shocking crimes against humanity, including systematically destroying the American diet and landscape, and undermining our values and our economy." -Not Attributed

Life As We Knew It

2012-01-04T12:38:00.006-05:00

By: Susan Pfeffer

Genre: Realistic Fiction

About The Author: Susan Grew up in New York City. She wrote her first book in 1970 as she was just getting out of college, sense then she has been a full time author and writer. She has won numerous awards for her books.

Story: The story starts off with a family watching a meteor shower at there house on a summer night. As the family was watching the meteor shower a meteor hit the moon and pushed it closer to earth. After a few days the family starts to realize that there are natural disasters going on around the world. When the family starts to see the storms and everything happen around them they begin to stock up on food and supplies. As the storms get worse the family faces struggles that they don't think they can make it through........... Will they?

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 498 pages. $7.99.

Critique: I believe That the Author did a good job keeping me interested in the book. The suspense throughout the book made it so I didn't want to put it down. Also the author did a good job describing the characters and talking about their strengths and weaknesses. Also I believe that the author did a good job describing the setting and everything throughout the book. She was good at be very detailed about the things that were happening throughout the book.

Booklist
"Each page is filled with events both wearying and terrifying and infused with honest emotions." (NOT ATTRIBUTED)
Booklist
"Pfeffer brings cataclysmic tragedy very close." (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

Liar

2012-01-04T12:38:00.000-05:00

Liar
By: Justine Larbalestier

Genre: Non fiction

The author: Justine Larbalestier wrote a trilogy magic and madness series. she grew up in a small town in Austrailia sydney to be exact. When she got older she married a fellow author Scott Westerfeld she would travel from New York and Austrailia because she didn't want to leave her home.

The story: The story starts off with “My father is a liar and so am I.

But I’m going to stop. I have to stop.

I will tell you my story and I will tell it straight. No lies, no omissions.

That’s my promise.

This time I truly mean it.” Micah will freely admit she is a liar and a compulsive one that is.A few years after her compulsive lying her boyfriend is murdered and her lies start to come back and haunt her, She think and tells to herself I have to stop lying, But how can I when lying is as easy as breathing. This book takes you deep down into a teenagers life with bone chilling, and page turning suspense. Through this book you will see what trouble and great things that come from lying when your troubled and young.

Critique: Parents need to know that this book is for teens of the ages if 14-17. Micah the main character, is a compulsive liar that claims to be a werewolf, her secret boyfriend is murdered, and later micah reveals how she fund his body, which had been ripped to shreds.This book is also bad for because of there intense sexual relationships and the language is very vulgar languages. This boo however is well put together and was truly clear and had no bumpy parts. If i had the chance to read it again I would, The author obviously had an open mind with this book. tThe story really flows with everything else in it. It was like she really connected with the book which made it so much better.

Professional Reviews:

“A spectacularly imaginative and gripping story . . . If your adult book group is interested in trying a teen novel, this will make for a great discussion.”

—Nancy Pearl

“Dark, gripping . . . an engrossing story of teenage life on the margins.”

—Kirkus (starred review)

“Readers will get chills paging through Larbalestier’s suspenseful novel . . . with a masterfully constructed unreliable narrator [they] will be guessing and theorizing long after they’ve finished this gripping story.”

—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The chilling story . . . will have readers’ hearts racing. In the end readers will delve into the psyche of a troubled teen and decide for themselves the truths and lies.”

—School Library Journal (starred review)

“By the end of this extraordinary book, listeners will either be desperate to discuss it with others or ready to delve right back in to listen again in an effort to figure out the truth-and most will probably want to do both.” (Review of the Brilliance/Bolinda audio book edition.)

—School Library Journal (starred review)

“Ever since Micah began high school, she has layered falsehood upon falsehood. And even though the entire school knows she isn’t trustworthy, Micah somehow continues to dupe them. But when her boyfriend is brutally murdered, Micah must come to terms with the truth in all its horror. In this intriguing novel, readers must decide if Micah is what she says, or if she is simply spinning herself deeper into a web of lies.” —Megan Graves, Hooray for Books!, Alexandria, VA

Winter ’09/’10 Children’s Indie Next List

“One of the most original, oddest, and ultimately satisfying YA books I’ve had the pleasure of reading.”

Perfect

2012-01-04T12:30:00.001-05:00

Perfect
By Natasha Friend
Genre: Fiction

THE AUTHOR: Natasha Friend was born in 1972 in a small town in New York. She knew from when she was eleven years old that she wanted to write books for a career. Natasha taught at Brearley School in New York City as a English teacher. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Bates College and earned her M.A. in English at Clemson University. She realized she wanted to write when she noticed how much fun it was, she grew up watching her father as a professor. She enjoys singing, song lyric writing and sports and plans to write many more books in her future. Natasha enjoys writing books that have to do with teenagers and that will interest them. She has written four books.

THE STORY: Isabelle is a thirteen year old teenager. She has a problem, and its not just her sister or her mother, or her father just recently passing away or even her eating disorder. Its the pretty girl Ashley, the popular girl that has been inviting her to sit with her at lunch and to sleepovers. She has got moved up to the popular social group. She has been wondering if its worth keeping her and her families secret. Isabelle is stuck with the emotions of waking up and seeing her father dead. With living in a family that don't talk about it, it makes it harder for her. They all cry in their own rooms and wake up in the morning pretending like nothing ever happened. Isabelle also has another struggle to deal with. She is bulimic and hides it until her sister April figures it all out.

Milkweed Editions 232 Pages $7.95

CRITIQUE: One thing I liked about this book was that they had dialog but not a lot that it ruined the book. The author Natasha Friend wrote this book in a very unique but good way. One other critique is that parents of the kids that read this book should know that there is a little swearing and maybe be only appropiate for ages fourteen and up. Also another thing that was good about this book was how the author in the beginning first set the setting , also really described the emotions and feeling the characters had.

PUBLICATION:

“Isabelle's grief and anger are movingly and honestly portrayed, and her eventual empathy for her mother is believable and touching.” DEBBIE CARTON.

"Isabelle learns that Ashley's life is not so perfect after all, and this combined with therapy puts her on the road to recovery.” COPYRIGHT Dec. 3 2004 reed business information

“Believable characters and smart dialogue make this story both memorable and entertaining. Fast-paced and full of little twists, Josie’s story is a sweet and savvy coming-of-age tale.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Friend’s subtle use of language, her delicate touch, brought me to tears and out-loud laughter. . . . An excellent novel.”
—Midwest Book Review

Something About America

2012-01-04T12:29:00.002-05:00

SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA
by Maria Testa
Genere: Historical fiction
THE AUTHOR: Maria Testa was born in Hartford Connecticut, grew up near Providence Rhode Island, and currently lives in Portland Maine with her husband and two sons. She received a bachelor's degree in sociology and American civilization from Brown university. She also got a J.D. from Yale law school. Maria went to college for 20 years straight. She decided she wanted to be a writer while she was living in Ireland. Some of her other books include, Almost Forever, Becoming Joe Dimaggio, Some Kind of Pride, and Someplace to go.

THE STORY: In the book Something about America is about a girl who lives with her family who moved to America from Yugoslavia. Her and her family are having a hard transition living in America. When something happens to a town near them, they all think about what being an American really means.
Candlewick. 85 pages.

CRITIQUE: One of the strengths of the author was use of dialogue. The author really showed and explained what a person was saying. On page 45 it says “A wise man, your father”. The author put dialogue within the story. Another thing the author did well was putting the story into poetic form. The book was enjoyable and easier to read in poetic form. One thing the author didn’t do well was describing things. She didn’t say people’s names or where they lived.

Booklist
“Maria Testa’s stirring words enhance a sense of the characters’ experiences and emotions, particularly those of a young person caught between cultures” (not atributed)

Kirkus reviews
“The narrator’s voice is full of youthful wisdom and candor...riveting-and tender.” (not attributed)

To Kill a Mockingbird

2012-01-04T12:08:00.008-05:00

To Kill A Mockingbird
By Harper Lee
Genre: Fiction

THE AUTHOR: Harper Lee was born on the 28th of April 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. She was the youngest of four children. Her father was a lawyer, a member of Alabama State Legislature, and owned part of the local newspaper. Her closest friend was Truman Capote, Harper Lee was basically his body guard, because the other boys of his age would tease him. She won the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill a Mockingbird.

THE STORY: To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a small town called Maycomb in the 1960s.The very beginning of the book starts with two young kids, Scout and Jem, growing up in a small town with limited education.

CRITIQUE: The story line of this book is not exactly the best, considering it goes from a small town to a court room. I enjoyed the character's interactions, there was a lot of good dialogue and actions; ""Come on, Scout, Don't just lie there!" Jem was screaming. "Get up. can'tcha?"" . It was easy to tell when and why things were happening. I also liked the character descriptions, I could seriously see the characters in my mind as I was reading the book. It would be so much better if there was more dialog and less description of location, the dialogue is really good.

Name of Publication: J. B. Lippincott Company, Subsidiary of Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., East Washington Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19105.

Crank

2012-01-04T12:07:00.025-05:00

By Ellen Hopkins
Genre: Fiction

THE AUTHOR: Ellen Hopkins started writing once she could put words on paper. She loves reading and has wrote many books, such as Glass, Fallout, impulse, and her most recent Perfect. Ellen especially likes writing poetry. Her books are written in poetry form. She wrote the book Crank about her daughter who had a addiction to crystal meth and had a child at a young age.

THE STORY: Crank is about a girl named Kristina who was a straight A, good girl, never any trouble that turned into a addict to crystal meth. When Kristina visits her father, she tried crystal meth for the first time. After it was all she could think about, she always wanted more. Kristina sneaks around and starts doing things she would have never thought about doing before she met the monster. She needs help, the road to recovery is not easy, but there is help out there. Rehab can't be forced on the addict and that the addict themselves will have to want to recover. Will Kristina choose to recover from her addiction or keep using?
Margaret K. McElderry Books. 537 pages. $10.99.

CRITIQUE: The book, Crank, is very well formatted thanks to the creative writing style of Ellen Hopkins. It is wrote in a neat poetry form and is eye appealing. She used some neat formations for some of the pages, such as forming a v or a circle with the text. She also did a good job being descriptive. The word selection was entertaining. You can tell the mood and setting of the book well. A negative thing about this book was that it talked about sex and drug abuse throughout it the whole time. Some parents may not want their kids reading this material. It is not appropriate for all ages, also depending on how mature the reader may be, they may be able to handle it and others may not.

"The poems are masterpieces of word, shape, and spacing . . . stunning." - SLJ

"Troubling but beautifully written." - Booklist

"A fast, jagged, hypnotic read." - Kirkus Reviews

Frindle

2012-01-04T12:07:00.017-05:00

By Andrew Clements

Genre: Fiction

THE AUTHOR: Born May 29, 1949 is an American author of children's books. Clements grew up in Camden, New Jersey and Springfield, Illinois, United States,. As a child, he enjoyed summers at a lakeside cabin in Maine where he spent his days swimming and fishing and his evenings reading books. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Northwestern University and a Masters of Arts in Elementary Education from National Louis University, he worked as a teacher sharing his passion of reading with elementary, middle, and high school students.

THE STORY: At the start of fifth grade, Nicholas Allen is unhappy because his English teacher, the one who no one likes, Mrs. Granger. One day, to stall time in class, Nick decides to question why every word means what they do. After hearing Mrs. Granger's explanation, and having to write an essay about it for homework, he makes a new name for the pen: "frindle". Soon, every child in school is using the word, and it gains national attention. Mrs. Granger does not like this new word because she thinks it is not respectful to the word pen, which has a long history. She makes the kids stay after school and write lines for saying the word "frindle", but this proves to be a problem, as almost every kid has to stay after school. Parents complain, and the bus drivers that have to work overtime are also unhappy. The principal decides to visit Nick's house to end the use of the word, but the situation is out of Nick's hands now, and the word's usage cannot be controlled.

Aladdin Paperbacks. 105 pages. $3.99.

CRITIQUE: This book “Frindle” is a great book for young kids who like books about things that get started but cannot be stopped. This book was a great book because it was about a kid who was bored one afternoon and created his own word and had others go along with it.

This book was not good because they never explained how the word got worldwide. They just said that the whole world knew the word. They could have came up with a way that the word was put online and everyone saw it and that is how it got that way.

I found many parts of the book interesting but some were boring. Parts where they get the word around by action and how they try to stop the word was interesting, but parts where the book didn’t have any action was boring.

The Horn Book

“Will have readers smiling all the way though... hilarious.” (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

Kirkus

“A captivating tale-one to press upon children, and one they’ll be passing among themselves.” (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

Publishers Weekly

Trying to aggravate a tough language-arts teacher, a fifth-grade boy invents a new word for pen: "frindle." Soon, the whole country is using it. "Dictionary lovers will cotton to this mild classroom fantasy," said PW. Ages 8-12. (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception

2012-01-04T12:06:00.001-05:00

By Eoin Colfer
Genre: Fantasy Action/Suspense

THE AUTHOR: Eoin Colfer originally went to college to teach like his father and went on to teach in many places. His experience with children gave him insight into their preferences helping him shape his books. He wrote some books before the first Artemis Fowl. He tried to wrap up Artemis with his third book but brought him back with this one. He has written 21 books including, The Supernaturalist, Airman and the Artemis Fowl Series. He has gotten many awards for the Artemis Fowl series such as the Independent Booksellers Prize in 2011.

THE STORY: Opal Koboi, an insane narcissist pixie, has escaped and is planning on taking revenge on the people responsible for her incarceration. Artemis, who has no memory's of his fairy ventures is attacked and must help his old ally Holly Short. Dodging both Opal and the fairy police Artemis must defeat Opal once more, or die trying.
Disney Hyperion Books. 342 pages. $7.99.
CRITIQUE: Eoin has a habit of giving seemingly unimportant characters a quick bio. Later these characters get a big role. This makes the book more interesting, because you can never tell when the character will come and save the day, or ruin it. In the book Artemis has had his mind wiped, so theoretically he would have the same attitude as in the first book, but he doesn't. Readers are likely to overlook this because of the flow of the series. Eoin added a few things into the book that seem like a far stretch, like a never before mentioned unique talent of a certain fairy species. Normal this would be no big deal, except their are situations in previous books where this ability could have been used. Eoin chose to kill one of the important characters. I thought his choice was very good. The character, while important to the others, could have been killed after the events of the second book. At that point he has no major role.

Entertainment Weekly
"The characters -- especially sarcastic Artemis, now 14 -- are still a blast, but Colfer seems too dazzled by all the gadgetry and explosives jammed into this tale." GILLIAN FLYNN

Bookstove
"You must not let the mention of Fairies, Centaurs and dwarves put you off this book, Colfer has written no fairytale. Fairies have been re-invented, they are as technologically advanced as most of us expect aliens to be, and still with a hint of magic." FOALY

2012-01-04T08:48:00.025-05:00

Christopher Groneng

Ms. Hammond

Honors English 9

January 3, 2012

Book Critique

The Kite Runner

THE AUTHOR: Khaled Hosseini Has only written two books; The Kite Runner, and A Thousand Splendid Suns. In 2001, while working in a medical practice, wrote his first book, The Kite Runner. It was published in 2003, in seventy countries. It was put on the bestseller list, and stayed ther for over 200 weeks. The book was even adapted into a movie in 2007. The Kite Runner earned the San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year Award in 2003. That year, he also won Entertainment Weekly’s Best Book Award. To reiterate, he has written one other book, which happens to be the sequel to The Kite Runner: A Thousand Splendid Suns, also a bestseller. His novels were based on his young life in Kabul, Afghanistan.

THE STORY: The novel, The Kite Runner, is about Amir, a young boy, and his life story in Afghanistan, and also in the U.S. It starts in Afghanistan, as a preteen, in the year 1975. He and his friend, Hassan, like flying kites. It was a popular thing to do and thehy even play games with them. They have tournaments in which they attach shards of glass, or sharp materials, to the kites’ tails and battle each other, cutting each other’s strings from the kites. Whosever kite is still flying at the end is the winner. Sometimes, Amir and Hassan work as a team. One day, He and Hassan win the tournament. Amir sends Hassan to retrieve the kite because it had lost wind and fell. Hassan had returned, and it was getting late, so Amir went looking for him. What he found was absolutely horrifying. A group of older boys, lead by Assef, had lost to Amir and Hassan. They had coaxed Hassan into the alley where they then pulled down his pants, and pinned him to the wall, while Assef brutally raped him because Hassan shot him with a slingshot the day before.
Things were the same after that. Because of the rape, Amir was too afraid to say anything to Baba, his father. Amir decides that he needed to do something to get Hassan away from him. He sneaks over to Hassan’s bed and plants money and a watch near Hassan’s pillow. When he tells Baba about it, Baba confronts Hassan about it. Hassan and his family soon leave.
Years later, Amir and Baba leave war-torn Afghanistan, and relocate, for a short time, in Pakistan. The later move to California. Amir is succesful in school and goes to college. He marries an old friend’s daughter, Soraya, and Baba dies shortly after.
Amir gets a call from Rahim Khan, a friend from his childhood, and is asked to come to Pakistan. When he gets there Rahim Khan tells him of the horrible things that happened in Kabul after he left. Hassan and his wife had been killed by the Taliban and their son, Sohrab, was sent to an orphanage. When Amir goes to the orphanage he discovers that Sohrab had been taken by the Taliban. He tracks down the Taliban, finding out that Assef was the leader of the Taliban. What will happen to Sohrab? Will Amir save Sohrab from the Taliban? And if so, what will happen to them? These questions, and more, will be answered when you read the fantastic novel, The Kite Runner.
347 pages
$14.00 paperback only

CRITIQUE 1: The novel, The Kite Runner, has a fairly suggestive story line. In the novel, the books tells how Amir, the main character, witnesses his friend, Hassan, getting raped, and that’s just part of it. Later in the story, it depicts Hassan’s child, Sohrab, who had been taken by the Taliban. Sohira was dressed as a girl and had been used for sex during his time with the Taliban. There are a few points in the book where you may question the author’s integrity when writing this book.

CRITIQUE 2: In the novel, The Kite Runner, the story jumps around quite a bit. The novel starts with Amir recalling his childhood, 26 years before, in 1975. Then, the story jumps to 1981, when Amir and his father, Baba, are escaping the war-zoned Aghanistan. Some readers may find it hard to follow.

CRITIQUE 3: The novel, The Kite Runner, is hitrorically accurate and interesting because of that. It tells how life during the time of the Soviet takeover and the Taliban’s rise was; forcing people who inhabited the area were forced to leave, or left on their own accord because of the horrible living conditions, due to the war-zone Afghanistan had become. It is a great story.

“A beautiful novel... ranks among the best-written and provocative stories of the year so far... a heartbreaking story of [an] unlikely friendship... This unusually eloquent story is also about the fragile relationship between fathers and sons, humans and their gods, men and theirv counrties. Loyalty and blood are the ties bind their stories into one of the most lyrical, moving and unexpected books of this year.”

-The Denver Post (courtesy of the preceding pages of The Kite Runner)

“Evocative... acute and genuine... One of the great strengths of The Kite Runner is its sympathetic portrayal of Afghans and Afghan culture. Hosseini writes with warmth and enviable familarity about Afghanistan and its people... a desciptive and easily readable account.”

-The Chicago Tribune (courtesy of the preceding pages of The Kite Runner)

“A more personal plot, arising from Amir’s close friendship with Hassan, the son of his father’s servant, turns out to be the thread that ties the book together. The fragility of this relationship, symbolized by the hites that the boys fly together, is tested as they watch their old way of life disapear. Hosseini’s depiction of pre-revolutionary Afghanistan is rich in warmth and humor, but also tense with the friction between the nation’s different ethnic groups.... Full of haunting images: a man, desperate to feed his children, trying to sell his artificial leg in the market; and adulterous, couple stoned to death in a stadium during the halftime of a football match; a rouged young boy forced into prostitution, dancing the sort of steps once performed by an organ grinder’s monkey.”

-The New York Times (courtesy of the preceding pages of The Kite Runner)

http://www.khaledhosseini.com/hosseini-bookfacts-text.html
http://www.khaledhosseini.com/hosseini-bio.html

2012-01-04T08:48:00.024-05:00

Night
by Elie Wiesel
Genre: Historical Fiction

THE AUTHOR: Elie Wiesel spent most of his childhood in a German concentration and elimination camp due to his Jewish religion during the Holocaust. He later became a journalist after he survived. His life in the camp inspired many of his novels including his first novel, La Nuit, and Dawn. He authored over thirty books, using his experience and knowledge with the suffering of persecution and death because of their religion. He has received the Nobel Peace Prize and other awards. He was knighted in the United Kingdom and also received over 100 honorary degrees.

THE STORY: Eliezer, a fifteen-year-old boy part of a Jewish family, lives in Sighet, Hungary during the time of the Holocaust. Eliezer meets Moshe, who is then removed from the community by the Hungarians along with the other Jews who were not from Sighet. When Moshe comes back, he told the Jews that the deportation trains were given to the Germans, who killed the arriving people. Soon after, the Germans take over Hungary. The Jewish are forced to wear yellow Jewish stars, or the Star of David. They are then deported, on their way to Auschwitz Concentration Camp. They face horrible human conditions, such as dehydration, starvation, claustrophobia, and are driven to insanity. Eliezer’s family is then separated and he is left with his father. The arrive and are told they should lie about their age. They then get ready for the intense labor after witnessing humanity being burned. Eliezer starts togrow with the camp, learning how to live in it without attracting the Nazis. They are then evacuated out of the camp due to war against the Russians. They are moved to another camp, Buchenwald, wear his father falls ill and is sent to the crematory. Later, thousands of Jews are murdered as an unexpected comes.

Bantam Books. 109 pages. $9.95.

CRITIQUE: Elie Wiesel told the world about his real-life experience in during the Holocaust. He uses emotion and his shocking, most terrifying memories to hook the readers to the book amazing plot line. “We looked at the flames in the darkness. There was an abominable odor in the air. Suddenly, our doors opened. Some odd-looking characters, dressed in striped shirts and black trousers leapt into the wagon. They held electric torches and truncheons. The began to strike out to right and left... We jumped out. … In front of us flames. In the air that smell of burning flesh. … We arrived at... [the] reception center for Auschwitz.” (25-26) Wiesel expresses, throughout the book, his traumatizing memories with great detail.

Wiesel delivers a clear, strong message about the will to survive and the horrilble sacrifices you have to make for them. Throughout the book, Eliezer slowly grows with the camp. He learns how to not bring undesired attention to himself. He just watches as his father is beaten several times and feels relief when he dies. “They must of have taken him away before dawn and carried him to the crematory. … I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I had no more tears. And, in the depths of my being, in the recesses of my weakened conscience, could I have searched it, I might perhaps have found something like- free at last! (106)

Night is a very simple book with a first-hand account of the real story. This is a book that the world should read because it is a story that nobody could ever forget. He uses first person narrative of Eliezer, who takes the reader on his terrifying journey through camp. This book also allows young readers to simply understand the complicated hardship of the Holocaust. “Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. … Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as a long as God Himself. Never.” (32)

THE NEW YORK TIMES
“A slim volume of terrifying power.” (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

SATURDAY REVIEW
“Wiesel has taken his own anguish and imaginatively metamorphosed it into art.” CURT LEVIANT

MIRRORS OF THE JEWISH MIND
“Wiesel’s books... have marked him as the messenger of the Jewish dead to the living.” LOTHAR KAHN, MIRRORS OF THE JEWISH MIND

The Kite Runner

2012-01-04T08:44:00.025-05:00

The Kite Runner
By Khaled Hosseini
Genre: Historical Fiction

THE AUTHOR: Khaled Hosseini, grew up in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, the main city in the book. He described it as a cosmopolitain city with a mixture of western and Afghani traditions. The slaves in the book were Hazaran, a culture looked down upon by all others. Although this book is highly fictional, Khaled said that it was influenced by the Afghanistan he knew a a child. He later moved to California, which is where his main character lives later in the book. He published The Kite Runner, in 2003 and received the Boeke Prize, the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, and the Literature to Life Award. In 2007, he published his second book, A Thousand Splending Suns, which also became a bestseller.

THE STORY: The Kite Runner, is set in Kabul, Afghanistan and Fremont, USA (later in the story) in the 1970’s to 2001. Amir, and his slave, Hassan grew up together as very close friends, they did everything together. Every so often, they would walk to their favorite pomegranate tree a little ways from Amir’s house. They would sit under there for hours while Amir read to Hassan who was illiterate. Every winter, they look forward to the annual kite fighting tournaments. Amir’s father Baba, has great faith that Amir will win that year’s tournament. As the tournament rages on Amir survives until the last two. He makes a sharp move and defeats the last kite, and Hassan runs for it. After a long while of celebrating in the streets, Amir goes looking for Hassan and finds him trapped in an alley with the three boys that had harassed him in the past. They threaten him for the kite but decide that they don’t want it but still “teach him a lesson” any way. As Amir stands hidden at the entrance to the alley way he watches his friend be raped. He decides that he is too scared to help Hassan, so he runs away and meets him somewhere closer to his house. The Kite Runner, is about Amir’s struggle to relieve himself of the guilt he felt for not helping his friend that horrid day in the winter of 1975. What will he do in the future to rid himself of the guilt and “make amends” to Hassan?
Riverhead Books. 371 pages. $14.00.

CRITIQUE: I felt at some points the book moved too slow, using details that I felt didn’t need to be written. I was drawn out many times which made me bored with the story. “In the summer of 1988, about six months before the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, I finished my first novel, a father-son story set in Kabul, written mostly with the type writer the general had given me. I sent query letters to a dozen agencies and was stunned one August day when I opened our mailbox and found a request from a New York agency for the completed manuscript. I mailed it the next day. Soraya kissed the carefully wrapped manuscript and Khala Jamila insisted we pass it under the Koran.....” Areas such as these, with unimportant details would drag me away from the real purpose of the story.
The raw moments that defined the outline of the story were very touching and heartbreaking. Khaled is very good at describing intense moments that draw you back to the story in between the drawn out parts. “I don’t know how many times I hit him. All I know is that, when I finally stopped, exhausted and panting, Hassan was smeared in red like he'd been shot by a firing squad. I fell to my knees, tired, spent, frustrated. Then Hassan did pick up a pomegranate. He walked toward me. He opened it and crushed it against his own forehead. 'There,' he croaked, red dripping down his face like blood. 'Are you satisfied? Do you feel better?' He turned and started down the hill.” There were many parts in the story where the moments were raw and emotional. It keeps you reading after the prolonged periods of unnecessary detail.
Khaled made Hassan an extremely loyal character. Amir was not a fighter; every time Amir got in trouble with other kids in the neighborhood, Hassan would stand up for him. Khaled did an excellent job developing Hassan’s personality. “ ‘Self defense has nothing to do with meanness. You know what always happens when the neighborhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fends them off. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And when they come home, I say to him, ‘How did Hassan get that scrape on his face?’ and he says, ‘He fell down.’ I’m telling you, Rahim, there is something missing in that boy.’" This is a great example of how Khaled uses details as a prelude to more important events in his book.

Khaled Hosseini did an excellent job writing the beginning of the book. You don't realize what has happened, all you know is that Amir is guilt stricken and scared to return home, because of his past. "One day last summer, my friend Rahim Khan called from Pakistan. He asked me to come see him. Standing in the kitchen with the receiver to my ear, I knew it wasn't just Rahim Khan on the line. It was my past of unatoned sins." You can feel the worry and guilt in his voice. Khaled did a great job of hooking you into the novel at the very beginning.

San Francisco Chronicle
“A marvelous novel...... the story of two young boys who are friends in Afghanistan, and an incredible story of the culture. It’s an old-fashioned kind of novel that really sweeps you away.” (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

People Magazine
“This extraordinary novel locates the personal struggles of everyday people in the terrible sweep of history.” (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

“This is one of those unforgettable stories that stays with you for years. All the great themes of literature and of life are the fabric of this extraordinary novel: love, honor, guilt, fear, redemption.” Isabel Allende, Author

2012-01-04T08:44:00.021-05:00

The Color Purple

By Alice Walker

Genre: Non- Fiction

The Author: Alice Walker was born February 9, 1944 just before the end of World War II. Alice had eight brothers and sisters and was the last and youngest child. In 1952 she was in an unfortunate BB gun accident that left her blind in one eye. Despite her eye she lived a fairly normal life, she graduated high school then went to collage in 1961. Before leaving her mother gave her three thing, a suitcase, typewriter, and sewing machine. In 1965 after having an abortion she published her first book The Hell with Dying. About a year later she became pregnant again with her husband and published her second book Once in 1968. She became pregnant again with second child and published her third novel The Third Life Of Grange Copeland. Later on she published multiple children’s books and books about poetry. In 1992 she published the help as a way of retelling her life.

The Story: The story starts out with an African American women, Celie, who has been raped by her father. A few weeks later he sold her to another man as his wife. Her new husband beats her black and blue. They ha many children together and he seemed to just sit around the house and do nothing when she was taking care of the children and working the fields. She meets a friend, Shug Avery, who has aspirations of becoming a singer. As their friendship grows Celie begins to realize that she has feelings for Shug, and that she is falling in love with her. At the end of the book they both admit that they are in love with each other, because men have been so mean to them all their lives, and run away.

CIRTIQUE: I liked they way that Alice portrayed the character of Celie and her emotions toward men. Her descriptive use of language helps you stay interested in the book and wondering what happens next. Through out the whole book her writing make you feel like you are in Celie's place, during the rape and the beatings. The feeling that she described toward Shag were of love and her ways of telling you were very unique. The use of violence (suggested violence) and descriptive language. During the beating the emotions described were very disturbing. During the rape the suggestive language makes this book very sexual in many ways, I would not recommend this book to kids under the age of 15.The books plot is good because it isn't completely action filled but its also not slow, there is always something going on. There are parts of the book like, Celie realizing that she is gay and falling in love Shug, keeps you turning the page. I think a good book is when its well written and keeps you interested the whole way through

REVIEWS:

"A lovely, painful book: Walker's finest work yet." -Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

"The Color Purple is one of the strongest statements of how love transforms and cruelty disfigures the human spirit that this reviewer has ever read." - New York Times

"The Color Purple is about the search for joy. Reading my copy of it again, I found joy myself."- National Book Foundation

The Notebook

2012-01-04T08:39:00.009-05:00

By Nicholas Sparks

Genre: Romance, Realistic Fiction

THE AUTHOR:

Nicholas Sparks had many publications. He has had over a dozen novels published. Some of the most known are The Notebook, The Last Song, Dear John, The Lucky One, and Message in Bottle. In particular these novels were made in famous movies with many great actors. Nicholas Sparks spent over a year on the New York Times Best Seller List.

THE STORY:

Set in North Carolina in 1940's, feeling set around the enduring power of love. Allie Nelson summers in North Carolina and is very wealthy. Her parents expect a lot from her and she has to live up to expectations and Noah is not one of them. Noah lives in North Carolina year around, and works at the local mill making around fifty cents an hour. He meets Allie one night at a carnival. It was love at first sight, he set eyes on her and knew he had to have her. She played it off slow even though she knew she was interested. Noah liked the fact she was hard to get, and he had a challenge. Allie, then couldn't resist any longer and they fell madly in love. They spent every moment together, and couldn't get enough of each other. At times they fought like cats and dogs, but after separating the differences they knew they were crazy about each other. The summer romance ended badly, and Allie had to go home. Her parents split them apart and wanted the relationship to end. Noah was heartbroken and Allie was too. Noah wrote letters, everyday for a year to Allie. He never got a response. He sent one last letter saying good bye and good luck to her future. Allie on the other hand thought that Noah had forgotten her. It wasn't her that was ignoring the letters, it was her mother stealing the letters to keep her away from Noah. Allie had no control over this and she moved on as well. Over the years that passed Noah built up an old warehouse and made it his beautiful home, he went into the military. Allie became a nurse for the wounded in the war and met this handsome, wealthy man, that her parents approved of. Allie then became engaged to this man and they planned out the wedding. Days within the wedding, Allie decided she'd take a trip back to the small town in North Carolina. Allie then realizes her old feelings never really disappeared, they just were ignored. She loves her soon to be husband but never fell out of love with Noah. She can't have both, and soon comes to a conclusion. This book is narrated by Noah as an old man. Allie has Alzheimer's disease and doesn't remember any of her past. Noah is desperately trying to retrieve her memory and reads her the story of their love day after day. Doctors tell Noah she will never remember but he's determined. After each time reading her the same story, she remembers. She only remembers for a moment, but she does.
Grand Central Publishing. 226 pages. $7.99.

CRITIQUE:
The Notebook flows very well throughout the whole story. The story itself has a very good beginning, middle, and ending. It starts off strong, with love slowing becoming the main theme. Then it moves into the full effect of love and how it changes people and how it effects people. Noah and Allie fell in love at first sight.
"..talking to a girl he'd never seen before. She was pretty, he remembered thinking, and when he finally joined them, she looked his way with a pair of hazy eyes that kept on coming. "Hi," she'd said simply as she offered her hand, "Finley's told me a lot about you." (11)

The Notebook changes time periods throughout the story many times. If you are not engaged in the book, then you may fall of course and become very confused. It goes from being a elderly man in present day, telling the story to back in the day when the love story is happening.
"I wait. Her words will hurt me. They will tear a piece from my heart and leave a scar. "Who are you?".... We have lived at Creekside Extended Care Facility for three years now. It was her decision to come here... " (156) This quote from the book explains that while telling the story of their love, Allie has no idea who Noah even is. But as he reads, she remembers.

Nicholas Sparks thoroughly thought through the theme piece in The Notebook. Also, he choose a theme and stuck to it throughout the whole book. It never really changed and gave a different sense. It stuck to love and he stayed with it. Theme was love conquers all. This is because the story begun as young love and then ended in true love.
"... My heart aches for her, and I wish for the thousandth time that there was something I could. She says: "I'm sorry. I don't understand anything that's happening to me right now. Even you. When I listen to you talk I feel like I should know you, but I don't. I don't even know my own name."She wipes at her tears and says, "Help me, Duke, help me remember who I am. Or at least, who I was. I feel so lost." I answer from my heart, but I lie to her about her name. As I have about my own. There is a reason for this." (158-159) This quote explains that even when Allie doesn't even realize who she is, Noah doesn't loose hope in her and goes along with it. He lies about his name and lies about hers so it doesn't ruin the story. If he used their own names, Allie would become very confused and wouldn't understand and remember.

Nicholas Sparks wrote this novel in the point of view of telling a story. This can be very confusing. Not only to the story itself but to the reader too. The most confusing part about this is that he reads it in past tense because he is trying to get Allie to remember. She doesn't know the story is about her. She has a sickness that causes her to forget her entire life, but Noah is determined to prove that she is who he fell in love with and that he is the one she fell in love with. So throughout the whole story, he switches between using I, as in now and present tense to Noah and talking in third person.
"And so the years passed. We led our lives, working, raising children, loving each other. I see photos of Christmases, family trips, of graduations and of wedding. I see grandchildren and happy faces. I see photos of us, our hair growing whiter, the lines in our faces deeper. A lifetime that seem so typical, yet uncommon. We could not foresee the future, but then who can? I do not live now as I expected to. And what did I expect? Retirement. Visits with the grandchildren, perhaps more travel. She always loved to travel. I thought that perhaps I would start a hobby, what I did not know, but possible shipbuilding. In bottles. Small, detailed, impossible to consider now with my hands. But I am not bitter." (161)
"Noah nodded, then stood without a word. He carried the quilt, and the two of them walked to her care while fallen leaves crunched beneath their feet." (74) These quotes from the novel explain why he is reading the story to Allie. Also, they show him using the past tense.

USA Today
"A one-night read... Sparks generates authentic emotional power... If you are in need of a good cry, THE NOTEBOOK is absolutely the right book." (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

Cincinnati Post (OH)
"A highly romantic story." (Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate)

Book Page
"The kind of story that tugs hard on your emotions and makes you cry whether it's Christmas or July." (NOT ATTRIBUTED)

Decision Points

2011-01-24T13:47:00.018-05:00

George W Bush

Autobiography

The Author: George W Bush was president of The United States of America from 2000 to 2008. Prior to that he was governor of Texas. He was educated at Yale and Harvard. He majored in history at Yale and in economics at Harvard. He was a fighter pilot in the air national guard. His father was a political figure and a president and this no doubt affected him.

The Story: This is a story about Bush’s eventful time as president and how he got there from his personal view. It covers every thing from his thoughts and actions on Stem Cells to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Critique: This book is lied out in 14 chapters and in each are multiple sections which range and length from one paragraph to 4 pages. The sections all fallow the main idea of the chapter but cover cretin event or belief of Bushes. They may confuse some and require some basic background knowledge of the topics to understand why they are were they are.

Critique: This book offers a wonderful look into the thoughts of a president and the actions that were taken during Bush’s period as president. The book includes the thoughts of his opposition and what he thought made what he was doing right. I was impressed he included that into a personal autobiography and that he did not just state why he thought he was correct.

Critique: Many events in this book are fresh in our minds or still taking place, and some topics cause stiff debate. Events like 9/11 though are events were both debate and emotions run high. I thought that he did a wonderful job bring those to aspects together. Instead of just cold hard facts which would lead to a feeling of detachment or perhaps even worse, just emotional quotes with little facts. He combined the two well.

“Am very impressed with how this book turned out. I really appreciate President Bush’s open honest approach to sharing how he came to many of the decisions that he made as the 43rd President of the United State of America.”

(Not Attributed)

“The former president delivers an unexpectedly engrossing rehash of what he considers to be the pivotal moments of his eight years in office.” (Timothy Rutten for the LA Times)

Dawn

2011-01-20T10:04:00.009-05:00

DAWN

By Elie Wiesel
Genre: Historical Fiction

THE AUTHOR: Elie Wiesel is a Romanian Jewish-American and he was controlled by the Germans in WWII. He and his family were placed in a ghetto and lived in poverty for many years. He also was sent to a few different concentration camps until the war's end. After the war he became a professional journalist and wrote newspapers for the Israelis and the French. I think his experiences are what made him such a popular writer. He also wrote Night, Day, and The Gates of the Forest.

THE STORY: Dawn is about a Middle-Eastern freedom fighter that is tasked with killing an important member of an enemy society. It takes place in a time shortly after WWII, when the British had control of Israel. The freedom fighter (Elisha) believes that he must take part in helping create a new Israel, but his heart is telling him that murdering this man is wrong. He must make a decision, before the time comes.
Bantam Books. 102 pages. $4.00.

CRITIQUE: Elie Wiesel has an interesting writing style, but I don't think it is the style for me. He is all about description, and the mood of the book can quickly change, leaving the reader confused. Many parts were hard to understand, and I felt like it was missing many things when I finished the book. Sometimes, the book will go from past to present to past to present so many times that you will be confused about where you are in the story.

CRITIQUE: Another critique I have about the author is that he uses about seven dialogue phrases from the characters in the book about every 4 or 5 pages. For example, during battles, there will be a lot of dialogue, then, it will simply stop and go to a narrative point of view for the rest of the battle. It removes the readers from the feeling of the characters and makes them wonder about how the characters were communicating.

CRITIQUE: My final critique about the authors writing style is that although sometimes confusing, the description is very thorough. He describes the scenes of the feuds very well, even though dialogue is sometimes scarce. For example, on the bottom half of page 35, he demonstrates his amazing talent of description. He also does this in many other parts of the book. However, with a blocked flow of dialogue, the descriptions are sometimes worthless or confusing.

Saturday Review said, "Shines gemlike with delicate writing." This opinion doesn't share my thoughts completely, but I do think that the author had some gemlike description. Another quote by a critic from The New York Times is, "The author...has built knowledge into artistic fiction." This quote partially shares my opinion, because, he did build knowledge into an artistic fiction, just not very well.

Speak

2011-01-20T08:11:00.010-05:00

By: Laurie Halse Anderson
Genre: Young Adult

Author: Laurie Anderson wrote this book in 1999. This was one of her most famous books, and won numerous awards and was a The New York Times best seller. It was then made into a book during 2004. Since her first book in 1999 she has written 30 others; Fever, catalyst and Twisted are some of hers.

Story: Speak takes place now, in a high school. Melinda the man character start high school being an outcast. Some happened over the summer, something that ruined, her life. A few weeks in she makes a friend who just moved from Ohio. Her name is Heather. Melinda finds Heathers weird. Heather then becomes popular and leaves her alone once again. Melinda makes a hide out in the high school, were she goes during school to get away, and does talk to anyone. Will she talk to anyone, and tell what happened at that party?
The Outsiders & Things not Seen
198 $10.00

Critiques: In the book Speak I think she did a great job. She made it easy to read and understand. I could relate to what she was saying, because its how high school really is. One thing she did really well was making it so you had to keep reading to see what happened. She kept you on your toes. Another thing is that she kept the characters low so there wasn't and confusion and you could remember who was who. Something I didn't like was at the end and how she left Melinda and David at there conversation.

Published by the Penguin Group
A book all teens should read, Steven R. McEvoy
Excellent for Teens. Steven R. McEvoy
Excellent! Lizbeth Armstrong

The Angel Experiment

2011-01-20T08:00:00.005-05:00

The Angel Experiment
By James Patterson
Genre: Science Fiction/Adventure

THE AUTHOR:
James Patterson is an amazing author and when I read his books I just can’t put them down cause I have to finish them first. Every time I read his book I feel like I am right in the middle of the scene in his book. James Patterson has sold over 16 million books in north America alone.

THE STORY:
The book called The Angel experiment is about a girl named Max who has to save the world. She has a special ability and that would be because she has wings and she is able to fly. Max also has five others just like her and there names are Iggy, Angel, Fang, Nudge and Gasman. They were created by evil scientist who also created erasers and the erasers are on a hunt to capture Max and the others. Right now Max has a job to do and that would be to save the world and find out about her real parents.
James Patterson. Pages 420. $ 8.00.

CRITIQUE:
The first critique I like about the way James Patterson writes his books is by the way his books have such short chapters. One thing I don’t like about the way James Patterson writes his books is when he is in one scene he jumps right to another subject and that is one way I don’t like about the way he rights his books. The last critique is that I like the way James Patterson writes his description on the setting of the book. An example would be when Max, Iggy, Nudge, Fang, Angel and Gasman are in New York and James describes what's going on around the main characters between the vendors the street performers and the people and the traffic.

If you like House of the Scorpion, then you will love this book.

NAME OF PUBLICATIONS:

". . . this exciting SF thriller that's not wholly original but is still a compelling read. " -( not Attributed) -School Library Journal

. . ."grafting avian DNA onto human genes." -(not Attributed) -From Booklist

Swapping Lives

2011-01-18T13:25:00.005-05:00

Swapping Lives By Jane Green
Author:Jane Green is a British writer living the life that is so dearly wanted by her Maine character Vikki Townsley. She is a mother of six , a wife to her second husband, with 2 dogs and 3 cats. She worked as a journalist for many years and also wandered in the television and film world. She is almost exactly like her 2nd Main character, Amber Winslow. Living in Connecticut with her family she strives to write a book a year. Several of her books are
-Second Chance
-Bookends
-Jemima J.
-Babyville
-To Have And To Hold
-The Christmas
And many more. Her book ~Promises To Keep~ was written about her dear friend that was diagnosed with cancer. She works with many charities such as, The Whole In The Wall Gang Camp, Bethel Recovery Center and various breast cancer charities.

Story:Amber Winslow and Vikki Townsley are living the dream life of everyone in England and America but they both feel as if the grass is greener on the other side. Vikki wants the married life with children and a house in the country. Being an editor for Poise! and a single woman still hitting the streets, sneaking in little rendezvous’ and strutting in her fabulous wardrobe. Vikki wants to settle down though, shes had enough of the fast life and is ready to find love.
Amber Winslow is the “it” mother and woman in her little town in Connecticut. She has the biggest house, the most amazing wardrobe, the perfect children and a husband with the most well paying job. There are meetings that she helps run and she shows off her cloths in her glory, what more could a married women want? Amber feels as if something is missing. She doesn’t just think the grass is greener, she knows it. She no longer desires the rush of keeping up with the “Joneses.”
When they swap lives, living in each others house, wearing the same clothes and doing the same things the other one does every day. They realize exactly who’s grass is greener, and who has the better life. They learn if there is anything better in life, and if they really even like their life.
The Penguin Group pg#410 $13.00

Critique:Jane Green is superb at catching 100% of your attention when you pick up her book. Each page pulls you in and you want to find out what happens next in the crazy lives of Amber Winslow and Vikki Townsley. When you read this book you will find however, that several people are lost within the pages and in the end you wonder what ever happened to them. For example near the end, Vikki is flattered by a new friend that lives in the country but… he seems to disappears in the book at the end. Nonetheless, Jane causes you to feel like your living the lives of Amber and Vikki. You want both of them to find out who they are and also find happiness. In each chapter, you feel as if you are them and those are the two things you want most. She keeps you intrigued throughout the book and that, in my opinion, is a great strength in Jane Greens writing.

Paper Back Swap
“This is a story of a successful single woman in England swapping lives with a mother of two in America. It was a very thought provoking book.” Carol G.
Goodreads
“The writing was very good and the story even better.” Forooz
-Sequoia Hoinsky

Catching Fire

2011-01-18T08:05:00.008-05:00

Book: Catching Fire

BY: Suzanne Collins

Genre: Science Fiction

THE AUTHOR: Since 1991 she has been busy writing for child's television. She has worked for several Nickeloden shows. While working on kid WB show called Generation O! she meet children author James Proimes, who talked her into writing children books. She won U.S. Today's Bestseller, NY Times Bestseller, Wall Street Journal's Bestseller, and Publisher's Weekly Bestseller.

THE STORY: The main characters are the same as in the first book, The Hunger Games. They are Katniss and Peeta. This book is a continuation of The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games ended with Katniss and Peeta winning and Katniss telling a lie which caused Mr. Snow to come talk to her because he knew she was lying. Katniss had this huge burden to carry knowing that lie could cause open rebellion.

391 pages $18.oo

CRITIQUE: I read the first book, The Hunger Games, and liked it. So the sequel would be something I wanted to read. Unfortunately, it was a bummer. I didn't like how the author left out the action and the suspense. It was more about the lie that Katniss told. For what seemed like forever, Katniss was talking to the President about her lie. " ' I have a problem, Miss Everdeen,' say President Snow. 'A problem that began the moment you pulled out those poisonous berries in the arena'". Another weakness of this book is the way the author did not develop the plot in order. Towards the end of the book an event appeared out of logical order which didn't make any sense. To write about this in more detail would be to give away the ending. The third weakness in this book is the dialogue. There is too much dialogue and not enough about how each new character is involved with the story.

BOOKMARK MAGAZINE: ...should be viewed as somewhat of a "sophomore slump." (not attributed)

EW.COM: The decidedly weaker sequel, Catching Fire, chronicles the fallout from Katniss' victory. Unfortunately, such startling apparitions too quickly appear and disappear, baubles randomly affixed to a story that's been stretched to gossamer thinness.(Jennifer Reese)