Book Review: Where She Went

Title of Book
Author
Forman, Gayle
Rating
4 stars = Really Good
Review

Where She Went is the sequel to If I Stay. It takes place 3 years later when Adam, a rising rock star, and Mia, a successful cellist, reunite in New York. The story is in Adam's point of view and follows them as they explore the city and reconnect.

I liked the story. I feel like they should've let the story end in the first book, but it wasn't bad. It was kind of fun to revisit these characters and discover what happened to them after the accident.

Reviewer Grade: 12

Reviewer's Name
Alex M.

Book Review: If I Stay

Title of Book
Author
Forman, Gayle
Rating
4 stars = Really Good
Review

In If I Stay, seventeen-year-old Mia is in a coma after a terrible car accident that killed her parents. She must decide whether to live with her grief, or join her family in death.

I really enjoyed this book. It was sad, and the end made me a bit emotional. It seemed to focus a lot on love and music. Being a huge music fan, I really liked all of the references, but a love for music isn't necessary to enjoy this story.

Reviewer Grade: 12

Reviewer's Name
Alex M.

Book Review: The Outsiders

Title of Book
Author
Hinton, S. E.
Rating
4 stars = Really Good
Review

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton is a great read. I love the main character pony boy and his brothers each character that he encounters seems to have a story. Each character both main and minor have two sides to them. The plot is easy to follow her not boring. It is also an adventure for anyone who likes a loyal friend to stand by them on the run. The only problem I have with this book is the ending. Smallish book, quick read, I recommend the book and the movie.

Reviewer Grade: 11

Reviewer's Name
Diego C.

Book Review: The Boy from the Basement

Author
Shaw, Susan
Rating
5 stars = Bohemian Rhapsody Awesome!
Review

The Boy from the Basement is a story of a boy who escaped child abuse and neglect. This is one of the books that we are required to read for Battle of the Books. I went online to find a summary about this and I decided it would be a great book. I sure wasn't disappointed. It was so beautifully written that I could easily picture everything that was going on with the main character through all of this. This is one of the books I recommend to anyone who wants be moved and be captivated.

Reviewer Grade: 7

Reviewer's Name
Isabella Z.

Book Review: The Fault In Our Stars

Title of Book
Author
Green, John
Rating
5 stars = Bohemian Rhapsody Awesome!
Review

I love how this book really moved me and how it's written. This girl truly wants to be normal but having cancer makes it impossible. She hates everything and is forced go to a support group. Her life is seemingly unbearable until she meets a boy named Augustus Waters. This is a story that will make people enjoy the little things in life. I love how it was written and how it is a modern book.

Reviewer Grade: 7

Reviewer's Name
Isabella Z.

Book Review: Speak

Title of Book
Author
Anderson, Laurie Halse
Rating
3 stars = Pretty Good
Review

Speak is about a girl named Melinda who was raped at a party. She calls the police, but is unable to tell angry partygoers why she did it. As she struggles with her secret, she eventually stops talking. The book follows her as she overcomes her past and finds her voice.

I liked the book. Nothing in it really amazed me, but it wasn't a bad read.

Reviewer Grade: 12

Reviewer's Name
Alex M.

Book Review: Wintergirls

Title of Book
Author
Anderson, Laurie Halse
Rating
3 stars = Pretty Good
Review

In this book, estranged best friends Lia and Cassie both struggle with eating disorders. When Cassie dies, Lia must come to terms with her death and find a way to hold on to hope and recover.

The book was alright. There were a lot of metaphors and other figures of speech, which sometimes proved to be a little excessive. Nothing else really caught my attention in it.

Reviewer Grade: 12

Reviewer's Name
Alex M.

Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Title of Book
Author
Asher, Jay
Rating
4 stars = Really Good
Review

In this book, a box of cassette tapes appear on Clay Jenkins' doorstep. Curious, he starts to listen to the first one, only to find out that they're from his crush and former classmate, Hannah, who recently committed suicide. He spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

I really liked this book. It was sad, but it was also very insightful. You never know what's going on in someone's life or how your actions might affect them.

Reviewer Grade: 12

Reviewer's Name
Alex M.

Book Review: Just Listen

Title of Book
Author
Dessen, Sarah
Rating
3 stars = Pretty Good
Review

In this book, a girl by the name of Annabel suddenly finds herself unpopular. After a lonely summer, she goes back to school and becomes friends with a boy named Owen, whose honesty and passion for music help her to face what happened at the end of year party that changed her life.

This book was okay. I found it a bit confusing in the beginning because it'd skip around between past and present a lot. It wasn't a bad book overall, though.

Reviewer Grade: 12

Reviewer's Name
Alex M.

Book Review: Mosquitoland

Title of Book
Author
Arnold, David
Rating
5 stars = Bohemian Rhapsody Awesome!
Review

When she discovers that her mother actually is sick back in Cleveland, Mim steals a thousand dollar emergency cash fund from her stepmother and hops a Greyhound bus headed north. The details of Mim’s personal story are revealed through the reflections she writes in her journal. Her musings are frequently funny, super snarky and make the motley crew she meets along the way more memorable.

She says of her bus driver:
“I’ve only known two other Carls in my lifetime—an insurgent moonshiner and a record store owner—both of whom taught me important... life lessons.
In my book, Carls are a top-notch species”.

On the bus, the thousand-mile journey takes a few turns that Mim could never see coming. Then she must define what it means to be a Mim.

Reviewer's Name
Renee
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