All Book Reviews

The book 'My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen' by David Clawson is a funny LGBT version of Cinderella. The main character Chris lives with his step-mother, step-sister, and step-brother who have recently lost their family wealth. The family wants to keep up with their rich lifestyle, and the best way to do that is to try to find his step-sister a wealthy boyfriend to marry, which they will do by attending a fancy ball. Chris's family does not buy him a ticket to the ball, but he meets a drag queen who helps him get into the ball. What happens when Chris meets the richest boy in the state and falls head over heels for him?
I thought this book was absolutely amazing! I would definitely give it five stars. It is very funny and entertaining, I spent hours reading this book without even moving because it was so captivating.

This book 'The Upside of Unrequited' is by the popular author Becky Albertalli, who also wrote 'Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. This book follows Molly, a hopeless romantic who has never even had a boyfriend. When Molly introduces her twin sister, Cassie, to a new girl who Cassie may be developing a crush on, Molly realizes that she and her sister may be growing apart. This book goes through the journey where Molly struggles between her two new crushes, Will and Reid. The boys are very different... who will she end up with?
This book was absolutely amazing! A must-read for fans of 'Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda'. This book easily earns five stars.

I have just re-read 'the Lightning Thief' by Rick Riordan for probably the twentieth time because it is so amazing.
In this book, Percy Jackson starts to notice strange things happening in his life at boarding school. When he gets kicked out of the boarding school he starts to notice weird things are happening in his life. Things start to get even stranger on his beach trip with his mom. Percy soon finds himself face to face with the real-life Minotaur. What will he do when the monster captures his mother?
I would give this book 6 stars out of 5. Truly worth the read.. and the several re-reads after that. The beginning of a lovely series for any age.

My cousin recommended this book and at first I was really skeptical because i felt that it’s typically more something a girl would read but it is a really good book. After is a book about starting new beginnings in life. Tessa the main character who has always been the good girl and always had followed her mother’s rules, she then met Hardin the bad boy and they made an instant connection. Meeting Hardin is when things started to take a turn, they fell in love but by doing so her wild side was instantly switched around. Although the love is real and pure It did start off a dare. The way the book was written in such detail, describing each emotion such as heartbreaks, humiliations, and disappointment really made feel as if I was the character in the book. 10 out of 10 recommended.

The Hate U Give is about a 16 year old black girl raised in a fictional poor community of garden height who goes to a private school on the other side of town. The main problem in this book is when Starr the main character’s best friend Khalid, who gets pulled over from leaving a party and sadly gets shot by a white police officer. The book contains some sensitive topic about black oppression and police brutality. Although it does talk about cop brutality it isn’t a police- bashing book. The book's intention is to spread awareness on the deep conflict with in poor black communities in our nation. I highly recommend this book 10 out of 10.

I read this book in my eighth grade L.A. class and surprisingly it stuck even though I thought it was boring and had a hard time comprehending most things. The book does have a PG-13 vibe where it does carry some “sexual content”, but it’s basically about a really strict and emotionless society. A society where everyone was equal which sound really boring. I’m not going to lie that this was the most boring part in the book, learning about how strict it is and how love is forbidden kinda lame. The only interesting parts were when the main character would rebel against the society’s values by expressing his emotions, finding love and most importantly running away so he could give baby Gabriel a less uncompromising and more unconfined life. The most annoying part of the book is the ending not knowing what happens to Jonás and Gabriel. (The movie was better)

The reason I chose this book is because of the many books I have read this one stood out the most. The story is about a girl and a boy meet one day in New York. The girl is trying to get her deportation reversed and the boy has a Yale interview. The meet during several events and become fast friends. What I enjoyed most about this book was the events that lead them to become friends, then more than friends. What I didn't like about the book was the ending. I didn't like how everything turned out.

This book has so much heart and lots of problems and resolutions. There are 7 main characters, Alexia, Ana, Danielle, Jessica, Jeffery, Peter, and Luke. Their perfect teacher and their worlds crashed in a minute with a snowball. Mr. Terupt is the best teacher they ever had and then he wasn't there. Then in the end there is a very happy ending for everyone.

Letters to The Person I Was is a pretty recent book published on February 25, 2020. The genre of this book is poetry and for me I did have to re-read some pages because poetry is a little hard for me to understand. This book consists of poems on the past, present, and future with reflections on experience, forgiveness, and self-love. The book is basically about what she wish somebody would have told her as a struggling little girl. I on some level do relate to this book in a way because I have dealt with pretty painful stuff in my past and I’m the process of forgiveness and learning how to live myself. I 100% percent would recommend this book to anybody who ask about this book.

Marshall McEwan, a successful Washington D.C. journalist, returns to his hometown of Bienville, Mississippi to take over his dying father's newspaper business. He encounters his childhood love, Jet Talal, who is married into a powerful family and whose husband rules the town through an exclusive poker club. The poker club has offered salvation to the town through the form of a billion-dollar Chinese paper mill. Along with that power, Marshall discovers, is corruption and how far reaching it is, going generations back. Ilse will keep you on the edge of your seat and you won't want to put this book down!!

One afternoon in a small town in Mississippi, a gunman comes through the doors of a reproductive clinic and shoots several employees and keeps everyone else hostage. Police hostage negotiator, Hugh McElroy, is distraught to discover that his 15 year old daughter, Wren, is one of several people caught inside. The story starts at the end of the day and winds its way backwards, unfolding the backstory of the hostages as well as the gunman.

Picoult once again takes on a tough and controversial subject and demonstrates there are many sides to every story, including a twist ending. A great read to consider, since we had such a situation happen here in Colorado Springs several years ago.

"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way", were the words of Martin Luther King. Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse with 20 years of experience and she is black. During her shift, when she goes to check the newborn child of white supremacist parents,she is immediately reassigned away from the baby. The next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while she is alone in the nursery. She hesitates before giving CPR and as a result is charged with a serious crime. Sadly, this novel takes place in current times and displays the discrepancy and inequality that still exists in our country. As with many of her other novels, Picoult does an incredible job of telling the story from several characters' point of view and shows us, that nothing is truly black or white.

To Kill a Mocking Bird is about the racism and false accusations towards African Americans in the 1930s. The book is for a more mature reader because of the language used and some of the ideas that are introduced. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the racial prejudice in the south in a book with a good plot. The characters are also relatable to a reader which I really enjoyed. Overall I think Lee did an amazing job writing this book.

I am Malala is an autobiography that a young girl wrote about her life after she was shot in the head by the Taliban and survived. She is a woman’s activist who was standing up for the right for young girls to even go to school, when the Taliban tried to silence her. The story is truly inspiring, and shows just how much of an impact someone can make. I would highly recommend this book for everyone because it really is able to explain what is happening in other parts of the world in an interesting and dramatic way. Although it is at times hard to keep up with all the names and what is happening, it is still a great read.

In a city with no contact to the outside world, everyone is divided into factions. In this world Beatrice needs to navigate doing what is right and what she wants while being different. In this book being different is dangerous and deadly, so she must keep it all secret. This book can keep you reading and interested in. This book is easily one of my favorite books because of how well written it is and the amazing plot The book is very easy to visualize and keep up with. I recommend this book to anyone who loves action, romance and suspense.

Lets Get Lost is about a girl who somehow gets involved in strangers lives by chance, and ends up making them realize something or helps them. The book is very real on teen life, and learning things about yourself. The people in the stories are always facing some type of hardship which makes it easy for the reader to relate. While this book is good it is often frustrating when it switches to a new story without giving you what you wanted at the end. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys short stories that turn into one big one that is easy to follow.

When two abused teens who grew up together meet again their worlds collide. They both got out of the situation in very different ways, yet they both have issues that they work through together in one way or another. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is wanting a book that they will not be able to put down until you have read it all. While it is up and down on your emotions, it is very realistic on the topic of abuse and real-life hardship. This book is perfect for someone who wants a romantic heartwarming yet painful book.

The Family that Couldn’t Sleep is a bit of a misnomer. Although the underlying thread revolves around a mysterious and terrifying disease called fatal insomnia, multiple chapters are devoted to other diseases, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (better known as mad cow disease) and kuru (a fatal neurodegenerative disorder thought to be caused by cannibalism). All of these conditions are caused by mutations in prions, which are proteins of the central nervous system.

Most of the information on these diseases is fascinating, though some of the more technical information might require several re-reads if you’re a non-specialist (like me). Also, if you picked up this book wanting to learn exclusively about fatal insomnia, you might find yourself wanting to skip some of the other chapters.

Even so, this book provides a fascinating look at the tragic nature of fatal insomnia, especially the Italian family genetically predisposed to it. You’ll find yourself both sympathizing with them and horrified by the unrelenting nature of the disease.

I would recommend The Family that Couldn’t Sleep to anyone who is interested in prion diseases or epidemiology in general.

If you’re a fan of British detective novels, What You Left Behind is a great read. It follows Detective Inspector Lorraine Fisher, who can’t catch a break from fighting crime even when she’s on vacation. While visiting her sister, Lorraine finds herself investigating a cluster of teenage suicides, wondering if there’s more to their deaths than meets the eye. At the same time, Lorraine’s nephew Freddie sinks into a deep depression, and despite her efforts to reach him, his mother worries he’ll be the next victim.

Although this novel has elements of mystery, it’s more of a thriller than a traditional “whodunit.” But there are plenty of surprising reveals to keep you turning the pages, including a twist ending that you won’t see coming.

While the subject matter might be too dark for some, What You Left Behind provides an unflinching look at the damaging effects of bullying and the lengths we’ll go to keep secrets.

You might know Richard Preston from his nonfiction thriller The Hot Zone or Micro, a techno-thriller Michael Crichton started before his untimely death in 2008. Although the subject matter of The Wild Trees is very different from these works, it continues Preston’s trend of combining scientific detail with narrative finesse. Specifically, this book focuses on the California redwoods, but readers will learn as much about the redwoods themselves as they will about the men and women who study them. Steve Sillett, for instance, started climbing redwoods freehand without any equipment to break his fall. Considering some redwoods are nearly 400 feet tall, this feat is as awe-inspiring as it is terrifying.

This book also provides fascinating detail on redwood canopies, which house salamanders, copepods (a type of crustacean), and even other trees! Thanks to Preston’s meticulous research and eye-popping descriptions, readers will feel like they’re exploring the redwoods alongside him.

The Wild Trees is a must-read for anyone who loves the redwoods or nature in general.