The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Arthur Dent once woke up to find his house ready to be demolished so a bypass can be placed through his property. As he is protesting his good friend Ford Prefect pops out of nowhere and wants him to go get drinks at a bar and claims that the world is about to end. Arthur, of course, didn't want to go because his house was going to be demolished but somehow got convinced to come. Suddenly, huge yellow blocks appear out of the sky and aliens say the world is going to be demolished for a spacial bypass. Out of nowhere, Arthur finds himself on the yellow, alien ship with aliens reading horrible poetry. They then get thrown into space, find a planet making planet, almost discover the meaning of live, the universe, and everything, and find out that Earth was created to find the answer. Mice, in fact, were the key to finding the answer and the world was destroyed five minutes before the answer was discovered.

This wild fiction book by Douglas Adams, had ideas that came out of nowhere but it is probably one of the funniest books I have ever read. It left me crying because I was laughing so hard. The inserts from the electronic book (in the book) The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy are hilarious. It states, for example, why a towel is the most important thing to have with you, or what space really is... big.

Overall, this book was great. Although it had ideas flying into the pages without warning, (a missile turning into a sperm whale) it had clever ways to get the story where it was going. The jokes were clever, and the characters were likable. The book had only a few characters that needed to be remembered, so it wasn't hard to follow along. The characters also had some interesting names, like Slartibartfast.

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan is one of my favorite authors. His books are my absolute favorites, especially his Percy Jackson series. One of Rick's newest fantasy fictions The Lost Hero is the first book of the continuation of the Percy Jackson series. In this new series, Jason, one of the main characters, wakes up to find himself in a bus full of kids. Normal, right? Wrong. He has no idea where he is, who he is, or what the heck the girl next to him is doing holding his hand. It turns out, he was put there for a specific reason, but the question is, what is it? Who is this Percy character that people keep talking about? Why is he missing?
The second main character's name is Piper. Piper thought she finally had a boyfriend. She thought that she finally had friends. But she soon finds out that the whole 2 months she had with her "boyfriend" was fake. On top of that, 3 days previously she had a hellish nightmare. In this nightmare, a dark voice told her to follow certain instructions or her father was going to be killed. If she chose to follow the instructions, her dad would be spared, but her friends would perish, She had no idea what it meant, but her dad had been missing for a while and his "lovely" assistant doesn't know where he is either. After all she goes through, all she really wants to do is die, but she wants so desperately to save her dad and her friends.
The last, but definitely not least, main character is an awesome little dude named Leo. He's super amazing with metal and springs, he can make just about anything you could possibly ask him to. Throughout the book, he's always inventing and fixing all kinds of gadgets and gizmos. He has a killer sense of humor (even when he's so close to death) and is altogether a great guy. Despite his ingeniousness, he has a problem. His abilities end up costing his mother's life and getting him into a lot of trouble. He keeps having dreams of this beautiful ship that he had no idea his mind could dream up. What is this mystery ship? Why is it important?
This amazing story will thrill you, scare you, make you feel joy, sadness, terror, hatred, envy and love. I ran through many emotions while reading this enticing book. Will Jason ever find his memory? Will Piper save her friends or her dad? Where's Percy? These are only a fraction of the questions I had after reading this book. This story definitely taught me all about Greek and Roman mythology (along with many other things). I think that's my favorite part about it. Even though it's a fictional book, it's still jam-packed with adventure stories and legends in mythology that may or may not be fact. I both hate it and love it at the same time. I hate it because there's a HUGE cliffhanger at the end. I love it because Rick Riordan's writing is spectacular and it kept me up all night reading for just one more chapter. There were no dull moments in this book and all the exciting parts were more exciting than ever. If you read this book, you'll know why so many people are so worked up about Jason, Piper, and Leo's adventures. A quick warning though: If you choose to read this book, you MUST read the Percy Jackson series first. Otherwise, nothing will make sense and you'll just end up lost and confused. So, make haste and read Rick Riordan's beautiful works of art before the next one comes out next fall! Grade A.

The Ranger's Apprentice: The Kings of Clonmel

     The Ranger's Apprentice Book 8 was written by John Flanagan. It's an adventure that follows Will, who is no longer Halt's apprentice. Just like the last book, there are a few parts where Will is separate from the rest of the group, which is a smaller group by far, and each chapter (minus a few exceptions where there is maybe 2 in a row) alternates between Will and the rest of the group (Halt and Horace). There are several themes in this book, for the most part they are the same as the last books in the series. The theme I'll use as an example though will be friendship, yet again just because it's easy. When Horace is going to fight this "giant" person (he's just really tall and strong, oh and there's two of them) Will keeps getting nervous because he isn't able to share the danger with him, only watch. Also, because of it being a trial of combat, he isn't allowed to interfere with the fight at all. The book starts out at the Ranger's meeting are that all 50 rangers, and their apprentices (if they have one). Halt, Will's old mentor, isn't there because he is on a mission investigating a group of religious people that everyone refers to as "Outsiders." They claim to be followers of a god called Alseiass, and I can't tell much more about that without ruining the first, I think, 10 chapters. Actually, I think that's all I can say about the book without ruining it... Just like the last book, and ALL the other books, there are small details that have something at least slightly important to do with them, even though they seem unimportant. For example... What I'm about to say makes no sense, but if I explain more it'll ruin part of the book. For example, Horace is getting a drink and when the water is pored there is the sound of ice, but the water had been sitting in a hot tent for awhile so the ice should have melted. Like I said, it doesn't make much sense, but yeah... There you go. The entire book is interesting and filled with detail, but a lot of people may or may not like the type of thing most of the book is, and just for those people there a fight scenes that are just GREAT! I feel like adding Spanish in here for no apparent reason, so here's the rest. Tienes que empezar por el principio de la serie para que tenga sentido. Yo doy el libro en algun lugar entre una A o una A+. This translator may nor be very accurate, so just in case that isn't right. Make sure you read from the beginning of the series or it won't make sense. I give this book somewhere between an A or an A+. At least, I think that's what I put in...

Entwined

Entwined is a fantastical book and the world within is riddled with magic, love, and darkness. This book written by Heather Dixon is a beautifully created fiction novel. Entwined is about 12 sisters, all of whom love to dance, and just happen to be princesses. Every last one of them, even down to the very youngest one who had just been born. In Entwined the 12 sisters learn about love, friendship, loyalty, and what evil really is.

Entwined starts out with a ball. This ball, is the annual yuletide ball the royal family of Eathesbury hosts. in fact it is the only ball the royal family hosts. Usually Azalea's mother hosts the ball, but since she is with child and too sick to attend, Azalea, as the Eldest of the 12 princesses, is given the responsibility of hosting it in her mother's stead. That night, the festivities are shortened at the news of the queen's death during child birth.

After his wife's death, the king becomes sullen, mean and snappy. The royal household enters a state of mourning. In this state the princesses cannot wear color except for black, and go outside. In addition, the girls cannot even dance. The girls a furious at these new rules, and insist on dancing still. Soon Azalea finds a hidden, magic passageway through a silver forest to a small dancing pavilion. The girls are elated. Now they can dance in secret without anyone ever knowing. But dancing there doesn't come without a price. The keeper of the pavilion likes to keep things even if it is not his. Soon the girls realize that dancing every night may not be as fine and dandy as it seemed at first. They also discover that Mr. keeper is not as friendly and handsome as he seemed. He may only ever defeated by silver and Azalea's bravery. Entwined spirals into a suspenseful end with unexpected romances, dark secrets uncovered, sad deaths, and families reunited.

I loved Entwined. The story line was very even paced until the climax, where naturally it became a little faster paced. After I had gotten about 3/4ths through the book, it speed up. In fact I actually read the whole last 1/4th of the book in one night because it was so exciting and enthralling. Some parts of Entwined were a bit predictable though. Such as the romance with Clover. I completely saw that one coming. Also, when ever Azalea described a tall dark gentleman with deep brown eyes, I immediately knew she was talking about Mr. Bradford. I think Azalea was kind of slow in the part that she didn't even fully realize she was in love with Mr. Bradford until the last half of the book. Especially because when she first meet him at the Yuletide ball at the very beginning of the book, she described him as very handsome and manly. I also thought the age differences in Entwined was a bit weird. For example, All three of the older sisters, Azalea, Bramble, and Clover, fall in love with guys at least 10, 15 years their senior. OK, maybe Azalea's man is only a bit older than her, but still I've got a point. In addition, there wasn't a single swear word in the entire book. Not one! I really liked that.

Over all, Entwined was a spectacular book. It's thrilling conflicts and tangled romances were very interesting to read about. I would definitely would recommend this book to anybody. (well maybe not certain boys who don't like romance) Entwined should for sure go on your "must read" list. A+

Sweethearts

sweethearts is probably one of my favorite books, which is weird, since i don't normally read this sort of book. i know it sounds waaaaaaaaaay weird, but i normally read more depressing books. they just interest me more.

this book starts out in 1998 with jenna(jennifer at this time)standing in the living room of her only childhood friend, cameron quick. she's all alone because camerons in-trouble. he was late coming home. the first three pages of this book tells you sooo much. it's a little crazy. it tells you that camerons dad is just a little bit abuse and doesn't care that his son is only about nine years old. he looks at his son as a grown adult that needs to be responsible and talk of himself. it also lets you know that jennifer is a chubby kid who likes to steal food from convenient stores. it tells you jennifer is not popular, and never will be unless she changes completely. but she doesn't realize this until cameron disappears.

i think i loved this book sooo much because i could relate to jenna soooo well. she's a girl living in utah who's..not like everyone else. i don't want to say anything that will get me into some trouble, but i feel the same was jenna feels. it makes me happy to know that things get better.

this is such a good book. i loved all the characters and i was glad her step dad wasn't a nikenpoop like so many other step dads are.

A+

The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society, written by Trenton Lee Stewart, is a fantastic story that will keep you reading until after midnight. This is the first book in a series of three so far, but I think there will be a fourth in the future. This fiction story tells you in a special way that you shouldn't judge others, especially children.

Reynard Muldoon (known as Reynie), George Washington (no, not the real one, he's known as Sticky), Constance Contraire, and Kate Wetherall meet for the first time after taking several hard tests. They're all there because they have a powerful love of truth. I know, you're thinking that sounds dumb and weird. However, it doesn't seem weird at all when Mr. Benedict, the genius who brought all of them together, introduces them to a top secret, dangerous, life-threatening mission that involves saving the world. The kids must go to an Institute where the students don't learn math or science, not even history. Turns out the head of the Institute, Mr. Curtain, is secretly inserting messages by television and radio that could give him power. The children broadcast these messages to the world. These messages are known as the Emergency. The Emergency was created from these messages and they must be stopped. How will the kids stop Mr. Curtain? Will they do it in time?

This book was so much fun to read. It makes you laugh, cringe, bite your fingernails, keep you reading in the night, and cry if you're really sensitive. Every chapter ending makes me want to keep reading for hours on end. There are many riddles and puzzles in the book and I loved to do them along with the Mysterious Benedict Society. I admit, some parts can be a little slow, but it's worth it. This also kept me thinking . . what if there were some hidden messages being sent by television and radio? What would I do then? Would I be on the Mysterious Benedict Society?

All in all, this was a great book. It's so exciting and I would recommend it to anyone. Not only does it challenge you, it's a lot of fun to read and gets more exciting the further in you get. The story comes to life and it has kept me thinking about it for a while. As I said a couple paragraphs up, the theme is not judging people, especially kids. In this book, adults and older people at the Institute are always judging them, saying they're not smart enough, and that they wouldn't figure that out, they're only kids and such. Turns out, even one of the kids is smarter than 5 adults combined. No one should judge until they really get to know that person. Remember, everyone read this amazing book!

Grade: A

Thinandbeautiful.com

Thinandbeautiful.com by Liane Shaw is both a book and a website. However, I of course chose to read the actual book. I have read many works containing Anorexia Nervosa, but when it comes to finding something a little cleaner I would definitely say that this particular book falls into that category. Very realistic in some parts but clearly fiction Thinandbeautiful.com combines "normal" teenage issues with a devastating mental illness.

Very different from the usual books containing eating disorders this one starts in a psych ward specializing in eating disorders. Seventeen-year old Maddie was slammed into one by her worried parents. As part of her treatment plan she must come up with a personal goal to aim for before she will be discharged. As her goal she has decided on writing down her personal memories and feelings leading up to her hospitalization. As she begins to write you can see that she thinks she is perfectly normal. She doesn't believe she has a problem and can't see why she has to be here. But since her thinking is pretty messed up, we as readers, can see that this all started with one young teen's passion to be thin. From crazy diets to constant exercising things are bad but about to get worse. When she stumbles upon a site called thinandbeautiful.com she doesn't realize it's a site for thinsporation. Instead, she believes it's only for people who want to lose a bit of weight. On the site she becomes part of a chat room whose members call themselves the GWS, or Girls Without Shadows. She finds respect and support that she can't seem to find in the real world. But now as she is in a hospital her precious Internet is taken away and she must work on recovering from a disorder she doesn't believe she has.

Although I can see how the author is trying to convey true facts about Anorexia Nervosa the dialogue seemed too forced. I couldn't feel the real personalities of the various characters and the emotion was pretty well, flat. The text just didn't match the plot. I also had very mixed feelings about the characters. More specifically, Maddie herself. I thought she was a little too vocal and not self aware at all. She kept pushing her family and friends away when they wanted to talk or help. I sympathize with her on that but I don't think the author knew how to create a very good protagonist. I mean I get that her refusing to accept that she has a problem was the disorder speaking but I just couldn't like her. However, I do believe that it is much better to have a realistic, honest character instead of an unreal person.

As a former Anorexic I could personally relate to Maddie despite my dislike to her. I know what it feels like to be in a facility where you feel like you're locked up in a prison. In my honest opinion, I don't think these treatment centers help many recover at all. In fact I think they might make you worse. Instead of focusing on recovery many times the patient will be trying his/her hardest to just get out. Nevertheless, many times I could easily place myself in Maddie's shoes. I know what it's like to just want to be thin and lose weight but all around you people think you're insane. They just don't understand that we are our own person and that we as individuals can't control anyone else's thoughts or actions. We can only have control of ourselves.

As I mentioned before, the title doubles as a website, http://thinandbeautiful.com/. After I finished the book I decided to check out the site too. It turns out that Ms. Shaw apparently is very interested in Anorexia Nervosa much like me. In this website she has compiled various news articles as well as her own thoughts to make a point against this mental disorder. It surprised me that she had also had her own battle with Anorexia. Much like me she must have been pretty obsessed with the topic to devote her time to an entire website. I think that because she has written this book and made Anorexia known to people, especially teens; we an image based society can actually realize how much this disorder is taking a toll on the population. I think that both the book could have a major impact if people weren't so ignorant. If we took a look at the problems afflicting our world we could actually make an effort to fight them.

In closing, I feel as if this book could reach out to almost anyone willing to read it. There is not much language, nor is there any sex content. However, there is some underage drinking involved. All in all, I think it's a pretty clean read and I wouldn't be to concerned about anyone else reading it. Considering the many books I have read concerning Anorexia Nervosa, this one was a little higher on my list than others like Massive by Julia Bell. Many people, especially teens are ignorant and self obsorbed. I'm not afraid to admit it because I am myself. Nevertheless, I strongly suggest paying attention to other issues that the media has developed. If we don't learn about them now, when will we?

A Child Called "It"

This heartbreaking memoir by Dave Pelzer, sends you through the third worst abuse case in California as an eye-witness. It will change every reader who can finish the book.

David was born into a loving home. His father provided for them as a firefighter and his mother nurtured them. They'd go on gourmet picnics, long Sunday drives and annual vacations. All was well.

But, that all changed when David's mother became an alcoholic. She started not caring. He noted that she wouldn't bother getting ready in the morning, and most days she'd lounge on the couch and drink, and drink, and drink. Her drunkenness lead to multiple abuse attacks on one of her five children. Dave was her prey.

At as little as about three he was beaten against counters, hit and ordered to do slave work. Some days she would send Dave searching for an unknown item. She'd swear and scream and slap until her husband came home.

Soon those treatment's were too small for her "bad-boy." She would starve him, and make him sprint to school. He'd earn food and thirst by doing the dishes within a certain time limit. If that wasn't successful he'd scrounge through the garbage cans and well fed pets' bowls. Later did she catch on, and she'd do all she could to prevent him from eating, even out of the wastebaskets. He was forced to live in the basement on an army cot and he would run to school every morning.

His father and hero soon found out about this abuse. He would do very little to help. He'd given him a little food once or twice, and came home on time so Dave wouldn't get beaten, but Dave's hero soon turned into a silent bystander.

The abuse happened everyday. His mother thought out her plans elaborately, and the accounts of each one are described in this book. She had put him in a homemade gas chamber, full of Clorox and ammonia and at one point stabbed him. All I could think throughout this book was, "What human would do this to a poor child?!" The abuse was straight from heck and it was so hard to read through the tears.

I am absolutely amazed by this guy. He seriously survived all of this and is able to share it to millions. Despite all the stuff that had happened to him, he was able to think that one day, he would be out and all would be well. He's a great example of being positive no matter what and this book really showed me that if he could do it through all of that abuse, I could keep a smile on my face with challenges fifty times less than that.

The book was obviously violent. It was sad and very disturbing. But somehow I still managed to love it. I feel weird saying I loved a book like this, but it was very good. There was also some strong language sprinkled in there, but it was justifiable, I mean he's an abused child and there would be some strong feelings against the situation.

A Child Called "It" is an emotional, inspiring book. It is hard to read, but once you are through, you can't help but feel for all the children who need help. It opened my eyes to child abuse. I felt so bad for David and all the other children involved. I didn't yell once for a long time after reading this book, because I just couldn't be angry, knowing I wasn't in anything like David. Like I said before, it's life-changing. This book deserves an A, and a very large box of tissues.

If you're looking for a heartfelt, meaningful, and touching story, this is not it. If you're looking for a dark and depressing story, this is not it either. But if you're looking for a hilarious twist on the Twilight series that will make you laugh the entire time you read, this is definitely it.

Nightlight was written by the Harvard Lampoon. (Whatever that means.) I would say there isn't really a theme to this book. There's not really much of a plot either. It's basically just a bunch of really funny events put together. Seriously, it is so random, and that's what makes it so awesome! The main character is Belle Goose who is extremely klutzy and in my opinion, insane. But that's why I love her so much. She has just moved away from her juvenile-minded mother in Phoenix, Arizona, to a tiny little town called Switchblade, Oregon to live with her father, the town window wiper. She immediately falls in love with a geeky computer nerd, with reddish blonde-brown hair, named Edwart Mullen. She basically does the most bizarre stuff to get him to bite her and turn her into his eternal vampire soulmate.

I honestly laughed out loud throughout the entire book. Every single sentence will make you wonder what is going on in Belle's mind. I loved how over-exaggerated everything was. I mean, in Twilight, Bella is a pretty clumsy girl, but she never tripped over a toddler causing her to topple into a keychain display, then fall down an escalator and somersault over a pile of luggage. Nightlight goes to the extreme when mocking the Twilight series.

I would recommend this book to literally anyone, even if you haven't read the Twilight books. It would seem a little bit funnier in some parts if you've read them, but it doesn't matter all that much. I would also suggest wearing a diaper or at least sitting near a bathroom while you read this, because you will literally be wetting your pants from laughter. No joke. A+.

The Throne of Fire

For the eighth time in a row, Rick Riordan has scored a success! The Throne of Fire is truly an amazing book. Just like the first book in the Kane Chronicles, The Throne of Fire is Egyptian mythology, fiction, adventure and this time around he even threw in a little bit of romance. The theme really shines a great message about friendship. However, if you want to have any connection to the characters, or if you want to understand the plot completely then you need to have read the first book The Red Pyramid.

Sadie and Carter are young mentors trying to teach young magicians how to channel their magic through the Egyptian Gods. The only way for them to defeat the extreme lord of chaos, Apophis,was to bring back the god of the sun, Ra. In order to do that, they need to find three scrolls that would make up The Book of Ra. With that book Sadie could speak the spell to bring Ra back to existence. However, it was not so simple. Both Carter and Sadie had to go through detours and trials, but they had the aid of their friends, Walt, Bes, Bast, Amos, Zia, and all of their trainees along the way.

I LOVE this book, not only because it is adventurous and exciting but because it taught me a very good lesson. Through multiple examples in the book, I determined that good friends are very important because they are always there for you. The first example is from the very beginning of the book when they are trying to steal the first scroll. Even though there is an obvious threat in front of them, Jaz tries to heal Walt, and then Walt and Sadie try to help Jaz. It is because they care so much about each other that the other person's health comes first. Another episode of friendship comes when Sadie is with her mates Emma and Liz. Although they had never heard about any of this Egyptian god stuff they trusted Sadie whole-heartily and were willing to help. Because of this book, it has become very clear to me that we need to have and honor best friends who will help us or support us in all of our doings.

If you liked any of Rick Riordan's other books then you will for sure love this one. As the second book in a series it can be kind of hard to keep the energy in a story moving. However, this book is even better than the last one and is a must read. I read it in less than eight hours and I couldn't put it down. The characters and the plot are all so wonderful! I should be grateful to Rick for putting such a great new joy into my life.

Overall this is one of the best books I have ever read and I would strongly recommend it to anyone. (As long as they have read the first). And now I must hand the mic. to someone else.

The Afterlife

The Afterlife is about a young boy who is murdered for an innocent crime. 17 year old Chuy comments on a guys yellow shoes while combing his hair in the bathroom waiting for his date, Rachel to arrive. Chuy said to the guy, "I like your shoes." The man in the yellow shoes pulled out a knife from his pocket and stabbed Chuy 3 times till he fell to his knees and drowned in his own blood.

As Chuy's soul rose from his bloody death, it sank in that he was dead. Chuy thought his life was over, but this is when his life gets exciting. Chuy gets used to flying around in his new ghost body. He visits his family and his killer. Chuy discovers he has ghostly powers. Though he can't be heard or seen by others he can be sensed. When he meets yellow shoes again he digs his hand into yellow shoes's heart. Yellow shoes gets the chills and he knows somethings up.

During Chuy's afrerlife, he meets two other ghosts. First he meets a pretty girl named Crystal and falls in love with her. He finds out she overdosed on pills because she was afraid she wouldn't make it and that she wasn't good enough. Even though she was intelligent and popular she couldn't see the talent she had in herself. As Crystal and Chuy are strolling, they come across a homeless guy. He was sitting outside underneath a tree and shivering like crazy. THe man had a fever. Chuy saw the homeless man's ghost start rising from his body and touched the man's forehead with his icy breath. The man's ghost sank back into his body. Chuy had saved this man's life for the moment but he eventually died. Chuy met him again as a ghost and they became friends.

one thing Chuy realizes is he is slowly disappearing. Crystal and the hobo, Robert, are disappearing too. Chuy is kind of scared because he doesn't know where he'll go when his ghost body is all gone. THe book leaves you somewhat hanging because it never tells you where they go after they disappear but it insinuates that they go to heaven.

I though this book was uniquely written because Gary Soto added some spanish in it. It made it more real in my opinion. This book didn't have much suspense because right away it told about the murder. It had a great intro and it hooked me. Even though this book wasn't exactly my type, I still enjoyed reading it. B-

The Red Pyramid

Rick Riordan introduces us to many of the mythological gods and goddesses. In the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, we meet the Greek gods. He later starts a sequel series, Heroes of Olympus, introducing us to Roman gods. In the first book of The Kane Chronicles, The Red Pyramid, we meet the Egyptian gods and goddesses. We get to find out what great of a mystery this book is. 

To start you off, Carter and Sadie are siblings, but they were separated six years ago when their mother died. They only get to see each other twice a year.  Carter stayed with his archaeologist dad, traveling all over the world. Meanwhile, Sadie has been living with her grandparents in London, going to school with friends and having a regular life...that is until her dad took her and Carter to the British Museum, exploded a part of the museum and released more than one god.  Now Sadie and Carter have to flee with their long lost uncle Amos where he takes them to Brooklyn, New York. 

As soon as Amos leaves, the house they're staying in is attacked and they're forced to escape with Bast, the goddess of cats (a.k.a. their cat, Muffin). Carter and Sadie soon find out that they are the most powerful magicians born in three-thousand years. Together they must fight to save Set, the god of evil, from destroying the world and to save their father. 

As they travel, they must confront other of the Egyptian gods and uncover their family secrets. There are many hard things they must accept, however, when they trust each other, they can overcome their problems...except when it comes to Carter liking a girl. That's when Carter can't trust Sadie. 


This book reminded me that my family should be really important to me. No, I'm not paranoid my parents will die, it's just always a good reminder that I have siblings to take care of, right? ;) I would agree with Bruce Handy from NY Times when he says "fans young and old will eat this book up". I promise you that this book definitely won't be a waste of your time. I'm really exited to read the next book, The Throne of Fire!
Grade: A ;)

Lockdown

The second book in Traci Hunter Abramson's Saint Squad series. This book could either be read alone or you could read it in order. Lockdown is a fast paced novel that follows Riley Palmetta, a survivor of the Virginia Tech Massacre.

After that horrible day that countinues to haunt her, Riley is assigned to work with a team of Navy SEALS to try and prevent something like the massacre from ever happening again. This means creating a week long conference in which law enforcement officers are taught what to do in a hostage situation.

It is through this team of Navy SEALS that Riley meets Tristan Crowther, a SEAL who's dealing with his own share of problems. Mainly his mother, the general, who abandoned him during his childhood.

The two start a tentative relationship that quickly becomes much more serious as they're thrust into situations of peril and danger. What started as a simple week of training local law enforcement, uncovers deadly plots that are taking place around them.

Traci Hunter Abramson is an amazing author that manages to pull you into the emotions and personalities of the characters. They all become real and exciting to you.

The story was based on a true event and at times it was scary and kind of disturbing to listen to what happened and to see how people could influence you. It was also kind of disturbing at times as they discussed the motivations behind how people reach a point in which they can do horrible things to others.

Overall it was a great book and I deffinately plan to read the other books that Traci Hunter Abramson comes out with. I look forward to reading more about the Saint Squad.

Runner

Runner by Carl Deuker is a fast paced and intense book. Chance Taylor has to think about that things that people our age NEVER have to think about. How will I pay for food? Who is going to pay the electricity bill? Is there enough money for moorage fee? These are questions that Chance has to think about every single day.

Chance has had a pretty hard life. His parents got a divorce and while he was living with his mother, one day she just disappeared. Chance's only choice was to live with his father. His dad wasn't the kind of dad an ordinary kid had. He was drunk every minute of every day. He smoked and he didn't have a job. When his dad did have a job, it was never stable and he usually got fired two days after he was hired. Chance also had to have a job to support him and his dad. He worked as a dish washer at Ray's Restaurant. He didn't get paid much and he had to work a long shift. As Chance was walking around the marina a fat guy randomly came up to him and offered him this job that gave him $200 a week. Of course Chance took it. This job was running to a big oak tree and "stretching" while looking around in the rocks nearby to find mysterious packages. When he found the packages he would put them in a backpack and run back to the boat and shower and put the packages in his locker and the fat guy would pick them up without anyone knowing. This went on for a few months and everything was going great. Until a girl at school, Melissa, discovered what he was doing and was curious. Chance didn't even know what was in the packages and so whenever Melissa asked what was in them...he never had an answer. Things were starting to get difficult when Chance started being followed and the packages had the same similarities as plastic explosives. One night Chance was wondering how the packages got there and who delivered them. Chance discovered that he was part of a smuggling ring. Now he was in big trouble.

To find out what happens to Chance, you'll have to read Runner. It's really good. I loved it. But it does have bad language. So watch out.

A-

Stormbreaker Book Review

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz is an intense real-life fiction novel. The story takes place in the UK, fourteen year-old M16 agent Alex Rider (how he became an agent at 14 is beyond me!) is challenged with the task of stopping a man from destroying all of Britain with the click of a button! ....But how?

As the story begins fourteen year-old Alex Rider is living a normal life in the Ol' UK when he hears about the death of his uncle/adopted parent, Ian rider. The police said that Ian rider was killed in a car accident, but Alex knew that Ian was a safe man and always wore his seatbelt (like everyone should). When Alex goes into investigation he finds his uncles car with crystal clear evidence that Ian Rider had been murdered. Later, he is kidnapped and wakes up in the M16 HQ, where he is told that his uncle had been training him to be a spy. They put him through training and assign him the mission of hunting down a very suspicious man: Herod Sayle. Herod has an evil plan to kill off all of Britain using his Stormbreaker computers. Alex goes through all sorts of obstacles and adventures to find out exactly what Herod is up to, and even more action when the plan is unraveled!

This book is slow in the beginning but so is almost every action book so once you get into it enough, it's non-stop action and suspense! I could not put this book down; I read it every chance I got! This book and most books in the series stress the possibilities and dangers of terrorism, and how some people just want to watch others burn. This book made me wonder more about terrorism and I started to think how far some people are willing to go to make others suffer so then I started freaking out.

I give Stormbreaker an A, it is an amazing book, trust me, if you're into this kind of genre: read this book, you will not want to put it down!

The Throne of Fire

Rick Riordan's The Throne of Fire is a great sequel to the Red Pyramid. The story continues to follow Egyptian mythology and it begins when Carter and Sadie Cane take us back in time. They explain that the world is about to end because Apophis, the god of Chaos, is about to escape from his prison and since they are magicians they must stop him from succeeding. To do this they must awaken Ra, the god of the sun, in five days or he will escape and the world will end. On this quest Sadie and Carter travel to London, Egypt, and New York. The whole way they kick gods' and monsters butts.

Throughout the book an underlying theme is evident. It is never doubt yourself. For example Sadie, while trying to open a hidden door, starts to get discouraged and starts thinking that she won't accomplish anything. Because of this she wasn't able to do anything for about an hour. This of course wasted a huge amount of time and when you only have five days to rescue the world from complete obliteration you can't waste any time.

This book is especially for those that enjoy adventurous books, but I would recommend reading the first book in this series. It was a great book so I would give it an A. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this book.

Sybil

Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber is the amazing true story of a girl, named Sybil, who has Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). Throughout the book, Sybil suffers extreme childhood abuse, which causes her to separate into SIXTEEN different personalities. She often forgets days or weeks at a time, but after her grandma died, she couldn't remember anything from third grade all the way to fifth grade. The reason she couldn't remember anything was because Peggy Lou (one of her personalities) took over for Sybil because Sybil was mad she couldn't attend the funeral, and Peggy Lou is the personality that deals with anger. There is another Peggy, but she's Peggy Ann and she deals with fear. Then there are also Mike and Sid, who are boys and help Sybil deal with the things that men would normally do, there's Vicky, who "lives" the exact opposite life that Sybil did. These are only a few of Sybil's other selves, but you're gonna have to read the book if you want to find out the others. :)

Throughout the book, you hear some of the therapy sessions that Dr. Wilbur had with Sybil. As their sessions continue, you discover many horrible things about Sybil's childhood. First of all, her mom was schizophrenic, which should have been bad enough by itself, but Sybil's dad left it up to the mom to take care of Sybil. Sybil's mother consistently physically, sexually, and physically abused Sybil. Chaining her to a piano at times and just flat out hitting her at other times. One time she even went far enough to show Sybil what it felt like to be dead. To do this, she shoved Sybil in a trunk and suffocated her with cotton and towels until Sybil passed out. Her dad never noticed, and if he did, he never did anything to stop these awful events. Many of these events caused Sybil to separate herself in order to deal with the pain of the almost daily abuse from her mother.

Sybil did not love her mom, in fact she hated her, but there was one person she did love, and that was her grandmother. Sybil's grandmother was always nice to Sybil, and even took care of her at times. Then her grandmother died. And her parents wouldn't even let her go to the funeral. Sybil attended the burial, but at the end, she became someone else because she was mad. Peggy Lou to be exact. Peggy L. had control of Sybil for almost two whole years. Until Sybil was healed, she had no memories of those two years. She couldn't even do simple multiplication.

While Peggy L. took over for two years, I believe that Sybil had three main identities. These are Vicky, Peggy Lou, and Peggy Ann. Vicky takes over when Sybil feels that her life is too much to handle. Vicky is not an only child, unlike Sybil, and she has caring parents, so it makes sense that Vicky would take over when Sybil needed a break from her hard life. Peggy Lou takes over when Sybil feels extreme anger. Peggy Ann deals with Sybil's fears. When Sybil gets very frightened, Peggy Ann takes over, cries (which Sybil doesn't do because the other personalities do it for her), and then gets angry and deals with the problem.

I'm still trying to decide if this book is one of my favorites or not. It uses a lot of big, psychiatry words, but other than that, it is pretty easy to understand. The only reason it wouldn't be one of my favorites is because of all the abuse I read about in that book. I never knew a mother was capable of such awful acts of child abuse. Other than that though this is a seriously great and interesting book.

I would NOT NOT NOT NOT suggest this book to anyone who has a weak stomach, or anyone that really doesn't care for hearing the detailed description of Sybil's sexual abuse. Grade:A+

The Sunflower

The Sunflower, by Richard Paul Evans is an awesome book, and the coolest thing about it is that it's a true story! In this book the main character, Christine, is ditched at the alter and her best friend Jessica signs them both up to go to Peru on a humanitarian trip; without telling Christine beforehand, of course. So, they go to Peru, and start their trip at an old Hacienda converted to an orphanage. It's called The Sunflower, hence the name. Anyway, Christine meets this person, named Paul, who is running the orphanage and they fall in love. Then through a series of rather unfortunate events Paul ends up leading Christine's group through the rain forest.
This book is all about trust and how when love is right, it always works out, kind of cheesy right? Anyway, it is very well written and is very clean, nothing bad at all. At some parts I was nervous that it was about to get bad, but it never did. Other than being morally clean it had an amazing plot that can't be matched.
I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind romance, loves adventure and likes to learn about foreign cultures. The Sunflower includes encounters with savage tribes in the rain forest and creepy incidences with wild animals, such as spiders, snakes, crocodiles and much, much more.
I came across this book by a recommendation from my Aunt, I was a little reluctant to read it; because of the general type of books she reads, but it turned out great anyways. Overall I loved this book, and for that and many more reasons, I give The Sunflower an A.

Tattoo Book Review

Tattoo by Jennifer Barnes is an amusing book. With its magical accessories and its mystical fairies, this book is definitely fiction. The character we follow in this story is Bailey Morgan, a teenage girl with three best friends- Delia, the Queen of Fashion; Annabelle, the smartest person that Bailey's ever met; and Zo, Annabelle's cousin who is obsessed with food. Zo is the kind of girl who absolutely hates malls and anything to do with fashion. She'll do anything for her. All of them will. Their friendship is tested as they find out shocking truths behind some of the most ordinary of objects.
When Delia suggests to go to the mall to look for dresses for an upcoming school dance, they pass a booth swelling with accessories that would look just perfect with their dresses. Once they reach the booth, the woman working the little kiosk gives them exactly what they're looking for. Except for Bailey. The old woman, who calls herself Morgan, tells Bailey that she has to pick her own accessory. Bailey ends up choosing some temporary tattoos, feeling an odd feeling rush through her as she picks them up, then later on when they apply the tattoos.
As time moves forward, the girls start to notice odd things- first, Annabelle (or A-belle) has a weird habit of hearing others thoughts and being able to put hers into their minds. She can even make them think certain things if she wants to.
Delia, on the other hand, can transform an object into whatever she wants just by thinking it. This comes in handy later on, obviously.
Zo has the ability to the the near future, while Bailey can make fires out of nothing using her mind. She also gets these weird voices in her head, giving her cryptic riddles and warnings.
They use these powers to save the lives of people who are getting their life forces and souls sucked out of them by an unexpected foe. As they come to learn the importance of the powers they've been given, they also learn of the upcoming apocalypse that is going to take place unless they put an end to it. This book definitely includes adventure and thrill!
Upon reading this book, I found it very interesting. It included information about many dead languages all brought together to create one, mind boggling world. This is one of those books that has mysteries within it that nag at the back of your mind- then BAM! You figure it out, and it is so fascinating to learn and even more interesting given that it is not at all what you were expecting. This book made me think, but also made me daydream. While there was depth to it, it did have a romantic streak to it, which I think we all enjoy.
This book had an interesting affect on me. It made me look at the world with new eyes, making me question things I never noticed before. It is so entrancing!
Even though I think that this book is fantastic, there were some things I would have changed. The climax wasn't as big as I would have liked it to be. One thing I especially didn't like was that the "hero" of the book didn't even attack the enemy- one of her friends had to because Bailey was struck dumb on the ground. That had no appeal to me. Another thing that would have made the book better was making the love/crush part have a bigger role. Granted it was refreshing to not have a book with sappy vampires and love all over the place, but the crush was briefly mentioned and played around with- I'm not even sure of the point of bringing him into the story.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to someone. While it had it's downs, it was still engaging and was a fun read. Overall, I liked the book very much. Good job, Barnes! Looking forward to the sequel! A-