Fiction
Nonfiction
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” is a great book to read. This is the first book in a seven book series. If you like fantasy and adventure books this is a great book for you! This book is completely unpredictable with many twists and turns. Some of the characters are relatable to the reader but the story isn’t relatable at all. This is one of the best books I have read all year!
Reviewer Grade: 8th
At first, Raesha thinks she is an ordinary girl. She has a sweet, affectionate boyfriend and her best friend Asia. She loves horses, just like her mother did, before she passed away due to cancer. Everything seems normal until one day, a new girl moves into town, accidentally hurts Raesha's dog, flirts with her boyfriend, and steals her best friend! She suddenly fills with hatred and jealousy towards the new girl and the rest of her friends.
Then, having no one to support her, she starts despising herself until she does the unthinkable.
This story is beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. The characters are very well developed and makes you attached to each and every one of them.
I was definitely able to relate to the main character, and many readers might relate with some situations in the book. I especially enjoyed the poetic style of the author, giving the story a nicer flow. I highly recommend you read this book. You won't regret it.
This book takes a look at the lives of the early Puritans that crossed over to make a better life for themselves in America. While that topic doesn't immediately scream, "Read me!" I was forced to read it for school, and I actually really enjoyed myself. The author, Sarah Vowell, has this dry sense of humor that makes her long explanations about the technicalities of the religion and of how society worked back then interesting while still informing you of the topic and the message she is trying to put across. I think whether I would recommend this book depends on who wants to read it. If you are someone who is looking for a non-fiction novel that gives a different perspective to what is generally taught in history classrooms, I say go for it. If not, you might still enjoy it simply because the author is hysterical, but that might not be the case if you are not interested in learning about the actual topic.
Reviewer: Grade 11
I first picked up this book when I was in maybe 6th grade and I absolutely hated it, I had no clue what it was about and why it was an "adventure" book that didn't really have a lot of action in it. Having picked up this book again this year (and actually finishing it this time) I can honestly say this story made me want to reevaluate how I have lived my entire life. The story follows a boy named Santiago as he searches for his personal legend, in other words, the reason he is alive, his purpose. This is a book that makes you want to go out and chase your dreams no matter what, and it is beautifully written. The novel takes you through the ups and downs of life and proves that sometimes your hard work is worth it in the end, whether you accomplish what you set out to do out not. I think this is a book where the messaged can’t be fully realized until your a little bit older, but to anyone struggling with what they want to do in life or even just where to start, this book is amazing, it made me feel like anything is possible. Just read it, I promise it’s good.
Reviewer: Grade 11
In the midst of desperately trying to find a historical fiction novel to read for my English class, I picked up Lisa See’s book and immediately fell in love. This book is told through the main character, Lily, as she recalls her past as an older woman. As a young girl, Lily was promised to her laotong, Snow Flower. To be a laotong in China means to be best friends, to be closer than sisters, and to never leave each other’s sides. As Lily grows up throughout the book, she recalls her stories of love and loss that shaped her entire life, most importantly in regards to Snow Flower. This book gives an important look into the lives of woman in early China, about the standards they were held to as far as their appearance goes, and the strict rules they had to follow just to live a "fulfilled" life. For anyone who is interested in learning more about the Chinese culture or simply reading a beautiful story of love and friendship, I highly recommend. (Not gonna lie, I cried at the end, this book is actually amazing).
Reviewer: Grade 11
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy is a dystopian novel set in modern day. It follows the main character Cassie as she survives alone during the alien invasion of planet earth. I read this book in 8th grade and to this day it continues to be one of my favorite takes on the dystopian “genre.” I think what makes this book interesting to read in the fact that the author does not shy away from showing how awful Cassie believes her life is. Instead of focusing on hope and the characters figuring out how they are going to single handedly save the entire human race, Yancy instead makes his characters sarcastic, selfish, angry at the world and just overall very “human”. It makes the book feel less cliche and as realistic as the alien invasion of earth can I guess. For anyone who wants to read a dystopian novel (minus *most* of the cheesy romance and heroics) and I definitely recommend.
Reviewer: Grade 11
In this book, Tim O’Brien gives a very blunt and realistic view
of the Vietnam War, not only including stories from when he served himself, but also explaining what happens to the soldiers when they finally do get to go home. I honestly would recommend this book to anyone who is willing to read it. While we love and respect our military for saving our country, I think it is very important to also learn about what actual happens out on the battlefield, about the little decisions that can change everything in the heat of battle, and most importantly the guilt that comes with killing your fellow man. My father served in the military for 25 years and to me this book is just so important, it tells stories of war that do not always have a happy ending, or stories that do not necessarily end with the good guys triumphing over all evil.
Ghostly Echoes is the third book in the Jackaby series. It covers the death of the resident ghost of 926 Augur Lane, Jenny Cavanaugh. She was murdered ten years ago, and her fiancé (a scientist involved with some suspicious
people) disappeared. She has hired Abigail and Jackaby to investigate her death. But when a similar crime happens, they realize Jenny's case is connected.
Because of the fact that this not only deals with the murder of a liked character, but also includes peeks into Jackaby's past and how he became the seer, this is the darkest book in the Jackaby series. But it also has plenty of humor, mainly in the bantor between Jackaby and Abigail. They feel like The Doctor and their companion from Doctor Who, if they had to take up the role of Holmes and Watson for a day. This also tackles a whole new part of the world building. This always had folklore involved, but now it includes mythology.
As good as this was, there were some problems. I feel like this book series needs more details; I can't see the character's faces all that well. Also, it is implied that Jackaby has feelings for Jenny, which I think needed much more foreshadowing. I only got close friend vibes from them in the first two books. And the side characters still needed some development; they were important parts in the book, but they didn't make much of an impact on me.
Overall, I think this was the best book in the series thus far, and sets up the events for the fourth (and final) book well.
I decided to choose the book because it looked like it would tell a great story and it did. I liked the book due to its great lessons inside about the imperfections of our minds, but the greatness of them too. The part I enjoyed most was the journey f the main characters and how they didn't change their personalities and stayed focused on the topic. The part I didn't really enjoy was that the story went kinda slow. The book was pretty predictable, but the lessons and thoughts behind you need to think more about to get, so it was still entertaining to read. It was an amazing book to read and I definitely recommend it.
Reviewer Grade: 10
Throne of Glass does not fulfill the promises it makes on the back of its dust jacket. Celaena is an assassin, the best assassin in the world, who got a life sentence of hard labor in a mine. But Celaena is nothing like an experienced or smart assassin. She’s reckless, overly arrogant, easily frustrated, and vain; she would rather gape at herself wearing fancy dresses in the mirror, sleep in, eat candy, get angry over her lack of skill at billiards, or read all night than worry over a competition that she knows her life depends upon. A good protagonist could have some of these features, but it is just illogical for someone in her position. In fact, the book soon starts skipping over the competitions entirely to focus more on Celaena, who does nothing to seem either cool or likable. She never acts like an assassin or like her supposed inspiration character, Cinderella. Celaena has very little to no humility, grace, or compassion. Celaena is neither a compelling assassin nor a charming Cinderella.
Reviewer Grade: 9
The First Four Years is the last book in the Little House series. It does not read like a Little House Book. The style is completely different, which is probably because it was an unfinished manuscript which Rose, Laura’s daughter, never edited. A notable difference is that Laura never refers to Almanzo by his name; instead, she affectionately calls him “Manly.” Another thing that differs vastly here from the rest of the Little House books is the sheer amount of tragedy and hardship. At the end of the book everything goes wrong in a cascade of unfortunate tragedies. This book reminded me of Laura’s The Long Winter but without the rewarding change in fortune. The very end manages to be optimistic, but in real life things did not immediately get any better for Laura. However, if you are at all interested in the life of the remarkable Mrs. Wilder, this book is worth the read. I would recommend it not as a Little House book, but as more of an autobiography of the real Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Reviewer Grade: 9
Caraval is about two sisters who find themselves in a game on the island of Caraval hosted by the world-famous Legend. One sister is intrigued by danger and loves to live on the edge. The other sister is cautious and protects her sister over all else. However, they both agree on one thing: The game of Caraval looks amazing. When they finally get invited to play, however, they start to get an odd feeling that something about this "game" is not quite right. Then one sister goes missing...
I liked this book much more than I expected to. Because of the exciting and suspenseful style, I got through this book in 24 hours. I loved all the characters, as well as all the twists and turns in the plot along the way.
Garber writes in a way that makes this book impossible to put down.
My one complaint about this book is with the last 50 or so pages. I found the ending drab and predictable, unlike the rest of the book.
Overall, however, I strongly recommend Caraval.
Maus is a two-part graphic survival story of World War II in Auschwitz. It is a true story of Art Spiegelman's father, who was a Polish Jew and was put into Auschwitz, one of the biggest concentration camps in Nazi Germany.
The comic book style is an amazing way to learn history, as it enforces themes through images and tells a story rather than spitting facts, like some history books do. The author portrays different nationalities as different animals, which stands as an ongoing theme in the book: The Jews are the mice and the Nazis are the cats. This makes for an easy relation between the two (cats hunt mice). I am not a huge fan of learning history for the sake of learning history, but I adored this book. I found it intriguing on a very personal level, but also extremely informative. I strongly recommend Maus.
Reviewer Grade: 11
This book intrigued me immensely. The main character, Feyre, has believed that the faeries are evil for her whole life. However, when she becomes a faerie's prisoner, she sees their ways in a new light.
I liked the storyline of this book a lot. It is sort of an enhanced version of Beauty and the Beast with a few twists. Maas is a great writer, and she uses intricate details to keep the book interesting.
However, I did not care for the characters very much. Some of them seemed cliché, and none were three-dimensional enough for me to relate to or care about.
I do recommend this book to anyone who likes young adult fantasy because it has a compelling plot, and I have heard that the subsequent books in the trilogy are much better.
A Clash of Kings is the second book in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. After adoring the first book, I was not at all disappointed with the second. The immensely complex fantasy world only continues to grow and develop in this book, as do the characters. George R. R. Martin perfectly juggles all the different storylines, making them all interesting, suspenseful, and fascinating. His characters are so 3-dimensional that characters the reader hates in the first book begin to be shown in a new light. I very strongly recommend this book to anyone that read A Game of Thrones. Every paragraph in this book is so richly embellished and detailed that as I read these books, I felt like I was learning the history of another country.
Reviewer Grade: 11
I checked out "The Story We Carry in Our Bones: Irish History for Americans"
to do research on Irish culture for my novel. It was an extremely informative book that describes what life was like for ancient Irish people and I'd highly recommend it if you would like to learn more about this fascinating culture.
Grade: 11
"The Looking Glass Wars" by Frank Beddor is a vivid, imaginative, retelling of the Alice in Wonderland story with interesting characters and a complex setting. This book was really fun, but I felt that some of the plot twists were a little predictable and the villain was a little stereotypical. But, it is definitely worth a read if you want a fun fairytale adventure.
Grade: 11
The second installment in J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Two Towers," takes up the challenge of doubling up on the success of Tolkien's previous novel. This is a daunting task, as fans clamored to the brilliant and wonderfully crafted masterpiece of "The Fellowship of the Ring". Though after having read and thoroughly reflected upon Tolkien's most recent work, I am pleased to say that he was able to exceed my expectations.
The novel begins directly where the last left off, with Frodo Baggins having been taken hostage by a group of vicious orcs. In spite of this setback, he is still on a quest to destroy the mystical ring, but as is to be expected in such a story, his journey is neither simple nor straight-forward.
Along the way, Frodo makes encounters with a number of new characters, ever-diversifying this creative and beautifully crafted story. Their journey stands witness to a number of conflicts, wars, and battles, with various different social groups across the realm taking part. Through it all, as Frodo inches closer to his destination, the faded shadow of Mordor- where the Dark Kingdom and Sauron await- gleams in his foresight.
I originally picked up this novel immediately after the last, and am glad to have read it. Some may not enjoy the novel quite as much, due to the fact that the language is very particular and can sometimes present readers with a bit of a learning-curve. However, the story manages to continue to enhance the rich narrative setup in the previous novel, and does a wonderful job with transitioning the story forward. Tolkien’s colorful and imaginative lore’s, histories, and descriptions truly make this novel a must read!
Reviewer’s Grade Level: 10
The Giver, written by Lois Lowry, was about a boy named Jonas who is about to turn twelve. Jonas lives in a community where everything is the same and fair, because with any differences it can cause arguments. Because everything is the same, everyone gets bicycles at the same age, gets their job at the Ceremony of Twelve, and is only allowed to have one boy and one girl child in their "family unit". When the Ceremony of Twelve arrives, Jonas has no idea what job he is going to get, but lots of kids his age do. When the day finally comes, he gets told that he has the rarest and highest of honor job there is- he gets to see memories from a long time ago in history. The person training him, or as Jonas calls him, the Giver, gives him memories of a long long time ago when things were way more strange. Everything in his community is the same- that means no colors, animals, and everyone is treated the same.
The Giver shows him some very important memories, and Jonas sets out on a quest to show everyone these memories that he has. I really enjoyed this book, and it was not predictable. A thing that I enjoyed about the book is that it shows how Jonas started to change and act different, for the better, when the Giver gave him more memories.
Reviewer grade: 8
As is likely the case with many readers, I was assigned to study the play "Romeo and Juliet" in a high school English class. While it's true that I was led on to read the book out of obligation, I ended up forming some pretty spirited opinions on the novel. I definitely was not engaged in this read, but even still, am able to respect its excellence in the context of Shakespeare's time.
As a reader, you can tell that the language used is vastly different from that of the common, English vernacular. For this reason, it can sometimes be a challenge to understand what is going on in the plot, especially since the story is told through the lens of a play. Before attempting this read, I would certainly brush up on some basic play terms, to grasp a better understanding of the composition of such a work.
Another factor contributing to the difficulty of this read is Shakespeare’s use of Iambic Pentameter, a rhyming scheme ideal for sonnets where three sets of rhyming quatrains and two lines of rhyming couplets are alternated. I found it truly impressive that Shakespeare manages to devise these rhymes with so much detail and insight. To go through with reading this novel, I would have to suggest to understand the rhyming scene of Iambic Pentameter, as doing so allows you to come to terms with a greater appreciation for Shakespeare’s work.
I found the plot itself to be a bit too inconstant. While at first the novel seems somewhat believable, the ending turns totally wild and unpredictable. I don’t mean to critique Shakespeare’s work, as his play was truly revolutionary for its time, but to a 21st century teen, this novel may not be the most enjoyable.
In terms of the themes, the novel excels with powerful and proactive lessons.
Reflecting on the plot, and Shakespeare’s use of literary devices such as foreshadowing, can lead to meaningful conversations and analyses about life, love, and happiness.
Overall, I would pin my recommendation on this book, but only if you take the time to understand the niche delicacies of Shakespeare’s writing. At face value, the novel may not seem the most exciting or engaging to the reader, but by appreciating the literary masterpiece found in Shakespeare’s work, you’ll definitely enjoy the read!
Reviewer’s Grade Level: 10