Bloody Jack
By L.A. Meyer
Reviewed by: Christina
Plot Summary: Mary "Jacky" Faber is an orphan in the streets of London. When her fellow orphan dies leaving her devestated, Jacky decides to become a boy. She leaves London on a ship called the Dolphin. On the ship, she is disguised as a boy and makes good friends. One is named Jaimy, and Jacky has a crush on him. As Jacky grows with the other boys on the ship, she begins to grow more like a girl and is on the vurge of revealing her gender. Will she, or will she not? Read the book and find out.
Likes/Dislikes: I didn't like how the book was written. Since it was in Jacky's point of view, it was written as if she was talking. The words weren't written the way we talk today, they were written like an uneducated English girl would talk. There were also some akward things mentioned in the book that made me feel a little wierd.
The Sweet Far Thing
By Libba Bray
Reviewed by: Allison
Plot Summary:A girl with an amazing power to go to "The Realms" has to create a new sort of order, but she has to choose her own path or the path predetermined by others.
Likes/Dislikes:I LOVED IT! If you are looking for an amazing read then read this. It is the last book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy and very worth working out all the plot twists to read. If you love 18th century England (I think it was set then) then read this book.
The Lightning Thief
By Rick Riordan
Reviewed by: Alec
Plot Summary:12-year-old Percy Jackson has, once again, gotten himself kicked out of boarding school. But then again, not every student must face their Math teacher transforming into one Hades's torturers, a fury. Percy's problems only get worse when suddenly, he realizes that the Gods of Olympus are real and the most powerful one, Zeus, is blaming him for stealing Zeus's power symbol, the Lightning Bolt. Can Percy get the bolt, find the real killer, and survive what the Oracle has ominously predicted as a "betray[al] by one who calls [him] friend"? Better yet, can he do it by the summer solstice in only ten days? Maybe with just a little help from his friends....
Likes/Dislikes:Rick Riordan has successfully created a modern spin-off of an ancient Greek myth set here in the United States. He combines modern technology and ancient Greek myth, all weaved around a thrilling adventure from coast-to-coast. The plot has many twists and turns that make it a great choice for any reading list. The first few chapters are slow, but once we learn Percy's secret, it all gets better. Just muscle your way through them, then you're good to go. Altogether, it's a great story.
Things Not Seen
By Andrew Clements
Reviewed by: Olivia
Plot Summary: This book was very interesting! It is about a boy named Bobby. When Bobby wakes up in the morning he takes a shower. when he comes out bobby looks in the mirrior and doesn't see himself! The next day he goes to the libaray and bumps into a blind girl, Alicia. Then they try to fix Bobby's problem.
Likes/Dislikes: I LOVED THIS BOOK! You should read this book =).
Girls on Film an A-List novel
By Zoey Dean
Reviewed by: Kelly
Plot Summary: A Girl who had moved from living with her mother in NY to living with her father in CA. And has many complications in her life including ben and her sister susan. She also gets an internship at a new partnership called apex.
Likes/Dislikes: It was a book that used things that happen close to my age with reality and fiticious things. But it used some bad words at the same time:(.
Things Not Seen
By Andrew Clements
Reviewed by: Kayla
Plot Summary: A kid becomes invisable and then meets a blind girl. They have simalar problems so they battle their challanges together. Together they figure out what caused the invisibitity and learn to deal with their differences.
Likes/Dislikes: I liked the story line and the misterios side to it! This is a book worth reading. Both boys and girls will love this book! You won't be able to put it down! I sure couldn't!
The Time Traveler's Wife
By Audrey Niffenegger
Reviewed by: Kara
Plot Summary: Henry, a reclusive librarian, stumbles across his future wife in the library he works at, but claims to know naught her face nor name. Upon further discussion, it is discovered that although Henry in this time has not yet met the woman known as Clare, she has actually known him intimately since he began appearing in her backyard, stark naked, when she was infinitely young. Henry, it seems, is a time traveler unable to control when or where he travels, though often this occurs when he is experiencing great stress, and so often stumbles into dreadfully bewildering situations on a day to day basis--and is forced to fight for his life more times than he would dare to admit.
Likes/Dislikes: I adored the entire book; the plot, the rise and fall of ever-heightened emotions, the passion each of the characters clearly feel and the clear way in which all scenes and circumstances are depicted. What I like best, however, if being able to reread this book countless times... due to the somewhat erratic format, the scenes may be described as "out of order", and therefore rereading the book amounts to picking up the pieces of the puzzle and putting it together. I'd give this book 5 stars if possible, but my browser seems to be displaying an option of merely 4, so I'll leave it at that. This book, however, is not merely science fiction, nor a romance... it's pure magic on paper.
ElfQuest vol. 13
By Wendy Pini
Reviewed by: Mary-Kate
Plot Summary: The wolfriders reunite with their loved ones as tales of wild dreams begin to unfold.
Likes/Dislikes: Wendy Pini truly makes her characters special in their own way.
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
By Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Reviewed by: Grace
Plot Summary: Fresh, funny, and politically incorrect, Freakonomics: A Rouge Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner will blow your mind away. What other book would explore the the question of what sumo wrestlers and schoolteachers have in common? Levitt and Dubner manage to make a seemingly drab subject, economics, into the most fascinating experience in this 207-page book. Don't let the subject of the book turn you off, and conversely, don't let the title of the book make you think that the author is writing about a pseudo-science. Levitt says “Freakonomics” is an invented field of study, but to me, it's just the term the author coins to describe the way he explores the “science of measurement (i.e., economics).” The most interesting aspect of this book is the author's unconventional way of exploring the subject, but his methodologies are the same as any other economist's. He follows the numbers. The book does contain some math to he!
lp support his explanations of certain phenomena (with no surprise, as economics can be heavily dependent on math), but the book is written so that the general public can understand the material very easily. That being said, Freakonomics is not in any way a lecture or a textbook. This is apparent by some of the questions the author explores such as, “how is the Ku Klux Klan like a group of real-estate agents?” and “why do drug dealers still live with their moms?” From questions like these, he delves more deeply into the answers to these questions and makes novel, enlightening conclusions. However, to some people these conclusions are startling, even morally detestable. Levitt doesn't force his ideas down peoples' throats. Rather, he presents the data and shows us his conclusions in the most unbiased way.
Unfortunately for some intellectuals (as the author often mentions), Freakonomics does not contain a “unifying theme” that scholars so demand, but this book will change the way you look at life. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone. However, note well that the book at some points contains strong language. Nevertheless, if you are interested in the book, you will most certainly have the maturity to overcome this issue. Instead of saying cliché things like “you won't be able to put this book down” and “this is the best book I have ever read,” I will leave it up to you to read this awe-inspiring book. You will not regret it.
Likes/Dislikes: I loved how funny the author was and the material was absolutely fascinating. I just wished that the book was longer!
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
By Avi
Reviewed by: Kristen
Plot Summary: the plot is hard to understand there are way too many characters and it is boring! no thank you AVI
Likes/Dislikes:
Twilight
By Stephenie Meyer
Reviewed by: Clara
Plot Summary:A girl name Isabella moves to a small town called Forks to live with her father and falls in love with a vampire named Edward.
Likes/Dislikes: I loved the characters, the plot, so pretty much just about everything!!!
The Star of Kazan
By Eva Ibbotson
Reviewed by: Sally
Plot Summary:[From back of book] Annika has never had a birthday. Instead she celebrates her Found Day, the day a housemaid and a cook for three eccentric Viennese professors found her and took her home. There, Annika made a happy life in the servants' quarters and surrounded herself with friends, including the elderly woman next door who regaled Annika with stories about her countless admirers- especially the Russian count who gave her the legndary emrald, the Star of Kazan. And yet Annika still dreamed of finding her true mother. But when a glamorous stranger, claiming to be Annika's mother, arrives and whisks her away to a crumbling, spooky castle, Annika discovers that all is not as it seems in her newfound home...
Likes/Dislikes: I lovvvvved this book It was so funny and good. It was quite an adventure reading this book.
Dracula
By Bram Stoker
Reviewed by: Holden
Plot Summary:A vampire is terrorizing England.
Likes/Dislikes: It was very poorly written.
The Fellowship of the Ring
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Reviewed by: Amy
Plot Summary:The one Ring to rule them all has been found by the most unlikely person, Frodo Baggins. Frodo along with some other friends go on this journey to destroy the ring that threatens everyone on the kingdom Middle-Earth.
Likes/Dislikes: I love all the Elves and difrent creatures. I didn't like that each chapter was very long. The best fantasy book I ever read.
ElfQuest vol. 2
By Wendy Pini
Reviewed by: Mary-Kate
Plot Summary: The elves journey to find the mysterious source of the cry ends in a surprising twist with a solution that will tear families apart.
Likes/Dislikes: I loved the way all the characters had different views on this situation, some not minding at all and others not being able to live with themselves.