The Fantastic Eddie Fanta

     The book I read was Eddie Fantastic by Chris Heimerdinger. This book was fiction. This book is about a finding your true purpose, even through trials. This book is in modern times, and takes place right where we live, The Salt Lake Valley.

    In the book, Eddie Fanta, a young man in high school, moves with his alcoholic mother to the Salt Lake Valley after his parents get divorced. In the neighborhood he lives in, there is a rumor of a lizard man. It is said that instead of skin he has scales and he has never left his house. Eddie learns more about the Lizard man and finds out he is really just a man who got in a plane accident and is covered in burns. One day, Eddie has a nagging thought to go see this Lizard man. At first, Eddie thinks it's ridiculous. After a while, the nagging thought becomes so strong he has to see him. He visits the Lizard man, actually named Louis Koffrinkoff, and finds out that Louis is using a scientific invention to call him. Eddie finds out Mr. Koffrinkoff is a scientist. He has created all sorts of impossible inventions. However, Mr. Koffrinkoff wants Eddie to take the inventions and use them to help others. Eddie takes the inventions but instead of using it only for good, he has his own selfish purposes in mind.

     This book is so good. It talked about all sorts of themes that gave you new insights. One of these was that things aren't as they seem. In this society, different is bad and Louis Koffrinkoff was definitely different. However, this doesn't make him bad. Who's fault was it that he got in a plane crash. We don't know but it definitely wasn't him. He is actually a kind and wise man. Louis Kofrinkoff is not who he seems to be to society today.The author also brought up many thoughts to ponder on. For instance, what if this actually happened? Think about the cool inventions that could be. It's interesting to read a book and know it could happen, even if it probably won't. Lastly is that this book has changed my opinion on not judging. Just like the author showed in his book, you can never get to know someone until you know all your secrets. The thing is, no one knows everybody's secrets so you can never truly judge someone.

    In a nutshell, this book was really amazing and really inspiring. I advise you to definitely read it. I give this book an A plus. I know you will like it too and all the insight it gives you.

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James Dashner once again did a fantastic job on the book The Scorch Trials. I was so excited to read this book after reading The Maze Runner the first book in the series. As I said in my review from last time I loved the Maze Runner and it left me wanting so much more. When I got Scorch Trials I thought it would bring me that, but sadly it did not meet my expectations. The plot followed almost the same guidelines except it was a new place with a different quest but not a different goal… to survive. It was a story where global warming pollution and sun flares all worked together to create this new post apocalyptic world. It is very similar to the first book like I said before. That is why I gave the book The Scorch Trials a B+. Even though it was quite exciting it did not hook me like the previous book did.

             After the gladers escape the maze they meet a group of people from WICKED along with Gally who had disappeared from the Glade. Gally threw a knife at Thomas but Chuck jumped in and saved him by sacrificing himself. Soon a group of rescuers come and put the kids on a bus. This all happened after the group learned that there was a second group or group B.  This news came after Thomas had heard Teresa in his head yelling. When he went to her door to check on her it said “The Betrayer” on the door. As They walked in however Teresa is not there instead there is a boy whose name is Aris from Group B. Group B as Aris tells them was almost the exact same. The same Maze, same grievers , and even the same challenges. However the one major difference was unlike group A with all Teenage boys and one girl sent to trigger the ending group B had the exact opposite situation. They had all girls but had one boy sent to trigger the ending. So in a way Aris was the Teresa to group B. Also just like Thomas and Teresa, Aris can talk in his mind with a girl that was in group B.

            A new challenge is discovered though they are told by Rat-Man (a strange man that showed up telling them that they have been infected with the Scorch and that they must get to a certain location to be cured. While they learn about this they also discover Cranks (the new grievers in a way) which are people that have lost sanity to the scorch. They are as I imagined them zombielike creatures without the craving to eat brains. As we follow Thomas on this new and exciting journey he teams up with some cranks who agree that they will help Thomas and his friends get out of the city if they can get the cure as well as the gladers. On their way to the location (I’ll try not to give to much away) they encounter group B a few times. So with so many obstacles ahead of them, will Thomas and his friends make it and what is going to happen with group B? No one will know until you try this great book written By James Dashner.

LOSER

Loser

By: Jerry Spinelli

Book reveiw by: Brendan Larsen

       This is a book is about a boy named Zinkoff. Donald Zinkoff. He is not quite your regular kid, but he is close enough. He is easy to make laugh. He is a gullible, but out going person. He is very kind. But he was also born with a birth defect. One of his stomach valves is up-side-down. This causes him to throw-up regularly, but other than that he is an ordinary kid. Another thing about Zinkoff is that he never wins. this causes him to lose a big event for his team in fourth grade. From then on, he will be forever branded as "Loser." And it will change him.

       I thought that this book was pretty good, but that it was kind of confusing in some parts. Eventually, you will come to understand it, but for a while, you get left in the dark. I didn't enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed other books, because it wasn't as upbeat as I usually like to feel. It still is a good book, and I suggest it to people that like half-sad, real life scenarios, but if you like all of your books to make you feel positive, then I advise against reading this book.

Nancy Drew the demon in River Height

Nancy drew by Stefan Petruch

This book is about this young girl name Nancy Drew who is known as a great detective  in the there small town River Heights. Nancy friends Ethan and Nathan are filming the in river height  when a mysterious demon ghost appears in  river heights Nancy has to start a investigation.Soon after the starts she starts the investigation her two friends Ethan and Nathan have gone missing . After they go missing she goes to investigate the place they were filming with her two friend Bees and Liz .While checking for clues they come across a bear which then starts to chasing Nancy get chased into a tree.After that a object shaped like a man starts chasing all if them out of the woods until they got to the car where then a car pulls up and a man gets out his name Mr.Angle and now he own the minding shafts in River heights.He  then ask the girl if they want a ride to town they say yes he drops the girls off at police office. after they left the police office nancy want to go and investigate at Nathan and Ethan dorm room  but there she  finds  nothing but there roommate that tell her he has not seen them in 2 day so on the drive back to river heights she runs out of gas.She tries to call her friend but there is no reception were she is stuck at.So she see a light coming out of the woods so she goes to check it out little does the know that two men are following her.Finally she see that they are following and she began to run but the falls and they catch her and takes her to a minding shaft and drops her in the shaft were she finds her friend that were missing.

This was a good book if you like mystery . It was a very interesting and very suspenseful and had a lot of good details and more.   

Heaven is for Real By: Todd Burpo Review By: Andrew Williams

Heaven Is for Real is the true story of Colton, the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor. His stomach begins to hurt, he goes to the doctor and it is misdiagnosed as the flu. As his symptoms get worse they find out his appendix has burst and it has been flowing poison into his body for weeks now. While operating on it he goes unconscious and enters heaven. He survived and told the story about being able to see the doctor operating on him and his dad praying by his bedside. He also tells amazing stories about Angels and how they all had wings, his mom then asks if he had wings. He said yeah, but they were small and then there was Jesus who didn’t have wings and just floated up and down. His mom then remembers in the bible when it said almost exactly that. Colton said he met his miscarried sister, that no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born. He told them things that he would have had no idea about, if he didn’t meet them in heaven.

        As there is really not much more I should tell you, so you can find out for yourself. I can just flat out say that this is an amazing book that will make the non-believers wonder and thrill the ones who do believe in heaven. This book will keep you thinking and on the edge of your seat wondering how in the…? You will sit there thinking the whole time about Colton and I really enjoy a book that keeps me thinking. I give this book five thumbs up. I suggest that everyone read this no matter who you are, or how old you are, or what you believe in, this is a book for everyone who wants to be astonished.

The Anti-prom

The Anti-prom by Abby Mcdonald, is a young adult novel about rebellion, romance, and revenge. It focuses in on three unlikely friends who all seek one thing. Revenge. Revenge is the main theme of this book along with romance.
Bliss Merino is one of the most popular girls in school. She has the perfect boyfriend, perfect friends, and a perfect life, so she expects her prom to be, well...perfect! She IS having a perfect prom, that is until she finds her boyfriend making out with her best friend in the back of their limo. She then meets up with Jolene in order to find a perfect way to destroy them. Jolene is the baddest girl in school. You cannot say no to her. No one expects to see her at prom, yet here she is! The scarriest girl in school is standing here in a pink ruffle dress and high heels. Jolene's date fails to show up and she agrees to help Bliss with her destructive plans. As they are running away from an alarm that they set off, they run into Meg Zuckerman. Meg is the ultimate wallflower. She literally has zero friends and her prom date, who was set up by her parents, stood her up. She is determined to end her life as a wallflower and go experience new things. She, Jolene, and Bliss then go on many adventures in seek of new relationships and revenge.
I am going to be straight forward with you. I hated this book. I thought it was terrible. I had 5 main issues with the book. 1: I felt like the entire book was just about a couple of stuck up brats who never stopped complaining. The story takes place in high school, which i know is full of drama, but this book made it out to be like if you aren't popular, then you aren't happy. 2: I had a couple moral issues with the book. Every single page had a swear word. I'm almost positive that I did not go through one page without seeing at least one swear word, and I had issues with that because I don't necessarily mind if one swears, but it does bother me when people swear over and over again. This did more than bother me, it drove me crazy! Also, there were a couple sexual scenes and underage smoking and drinking. 3: There were a couple main events in the story, but after a couple, they really could've ended the story. But no! It dragged on and on. It felt like a never ending story. 4: Like in the book Flipped, this story is told in the point of view of multiple first person. The story switches off between Bliss, Jolene, and Meg's point of view. It was very hard to keep track of who was speaking and it was very confusing. Lastly, 5: The characters drove me nuts. Bliss was a brat, Jolene was a jerk, and Meg let people walk all over her. I did not like any of them at all. Also, there were so many characters. Too many. They introduced more than 20 different character throughout the book. That is WAY too many! The only thing in this book that I liked was the way how Meg grew as a character. She started as a shy wallflower and grew to be more outgoing and fun.
All in all, I would give this book a generous F. It was really that horrible. There were so many issues with it. I know what you're thinking, "Why in the world would she continue to read this if it was so bad?" There is only one reason why I didn't choose a new book for my report... I didn't have time to go find a new one! Believe me, I wish I didn't read it and have chosen a diferent book. So, unless you like reading long books that are all about brats and jerks, DO NOT read this book.

Dreamland- Sarah Dessen

     This book 'DreamLand' is a hard book to really find a main theme behind, so if I, personally had to decided I would say its probably about family, and never giving up on trying to see them even if things tear you apart.
     This book shows you "around" through Caitlin's eyes, one of the main characters. The book starts out with Caitlin's older sister running away, and the whole family ( her mom, and dad ) go absolutely bonkers. But what her mom and dad don't realize is the day Cass left ( the older sister ) they forgot it was Caitlin's birthday. The book carries on and it turns out that Cass left a note on Caitlin's bed, which read, "Caitlin, I'll see you in Dreamland". So I don't ruin the book for you all I will tell you is that Dreamland is a place where, Cass, Caitlin, and their mom all meet up. Dreamland is a land that once you fall asleep you can be with whoever else traveled their in their sleep, but its only the people you want to see there that you see. Although you can't just plan on going to sleep and going to Dreamland, you're lucky if you can make it there, it's not technically hard you just have to really want it.
     I personally didn't enjoy this book, but that's just me. The reason why is because I feel almost as if it drags on with a little to much unimportant things throughout the book, it adds way to much detail and thoughts in my opinion.. Although I would recommend it to others. Dreamland, although does sound very interesting to me. I mean if I wanted to go to another place of my dreams, and see people I didn't get to see everyday I would absolutely try and go every single day. If there were an actual Dreamland, I would be in awe.
      I suggest that if you take a long time to get into a book that you don't read this one, it took me about to the middle of the book to really get hooked on it. But if you like stories with a lot of back story then this is the perfect book. Happy reading

Wonder

Wonder, by R. J. Palacio, was wonderful to read. It is a story about August Pullman (Auggie), a new fifth grader at Beecher Prep Middle School. However, he's not like all the other new fifth graders. Auggie has what many people unkindly call a "deformed" face -- his eyes are small slants on his face that are about an inch lower than they should be, he had to get part of his hip bone implanted into his chin, and he doesn't really have regular ears, in fact, he doesn't really have ears at all. Despite all this, he has some of the most patient loving parents in the world, and an even more patient sister, Olivia, who puts up with just about everything.

     His parents want the best for him and for that reason, he has been homeschooled up until now. When his parents decide it's time for him to go to school for the first time, Auggie is really nervous. He's pretends he's used to kids averting their eyes when they see him, not playing with him on the playground and even running away from him. But at school it would be ten times worse. Finally, he agrees to go on a tour and three kids come to lead him around. One turns out to be a jerk but the other two are nice enough that Auggie decides to go to school.

     This book tells the story of Auggie's fifth grade year from six different points of view and it is amazingly well done. Most people would shy away from using six different characters to tell the story but not Palacio! These six characters change and grow with Auggie and stand up for him when society has a hard time accepting him. It was interesting and really thought provoking. The author brings up many issues in this story, mainly having to do with the phrase, "Don't judge a book by it's cover", though in this case (as the back of the book says), "Don't judge a boy by his face." Although some of the reactions caused by Auggie's face are unconcious, instinct reactions, some of them are purposefully mean and rude. I thought this was a very important issue to have because that is what everyone faces everyday, whether or not they have something wrong with their face. We are constantly being told not to judge people and this book put it into really great perspective -- especially from the bully victim's point of view. This book was very hard to put down, mainly because of how the author manages to rope you in from the very beginning and create such real emotions and relationships. It was very touching and I guarente that there will be at least one character in that book that you can relate to.

     This was an amazing read and I would recommend it to everyone. It is not very difficult and is so interesting that it is a pretty quick read. Hope all y'alls find time in your busy schedule to fit in this wonderful book! A

To Kill a Mockingbird, By: Harper Lee (Fiction)

To Kill a Mockingbird

Written by: Harper Lee

               

             "Kill all the Blue Jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird." The title, "To Kill a Mockingbird", is a metaphor representing the slaying of innocence. Harper Lee's story represents how truly horrible it is to kill something as innocent and beautiful as a mockingbird. It comes in so many different forms. In this case, someone’s dignity, an innocent man being killed, or the shattering of a child's innocence. 

Jem and Scout Finch, live with their father in Maycomb, Alabama. Their story starts off in the summertime, right after school gets out. While playing in their oversized yard, they meet Charles Baker Harris, or as they call him, Dill. These three friends like to make up crazy plans, leading to intriguing adventures and sometimes landing them in big trouble. 

They live by a creepy, broken down house owned by Arthur Radley, sometime known as Boo. Jem, Sout and Dill have never seen Boo so they spend much of their time trying to convince him to come outside just to see if he's real. 

Their summertime fun ends when their father, Atticus, gets a case, where he has to defend Tom Robinson, an African American.  Throughout this case they learn how people in their town truly are and how some people who seem like good hearted people, and not self-centered or dangerous, are really the complete opposite. Who actually is the bad guy? Well soon Jem and Scout will find out and their troubles won’t seem as big, and they really learn what it means to killing a mockingbird. While I wouldn't call this an action packed thriller, it did have some adventure here and there. Each event added to plot and slowly built up to the climax of the story where Mr. Ewells tries to kill Jem and Scout. 

I really thought that Harper Lee had a really great point on trying to make it so meaningful when someone tries to commit a sin as tragic as killing something so virtuous. Also while something so beautiful dies, Lee shows what real pain it inflicts on someone, while once again using the symbol or an allusion of a mockingbird. This book was great and wonderful, but I will warn you it does end vague, but it does leave a little mystery that you can make up your own idea of what comes next. Really this may sound cheesy but it makes you see things from a different perspective. Truly it can make you see people 

In closing I think it's a great idea to read this book. Though a piece of advice is, it does sometimes drag. So if you’re the type of person who enjoys excitement at every part or war, this book is probably not for you. Really this book is awesome and so great, that I think most people would like it. The outcome is extremely great and will catch you by surprise. It's a very informative book that I think anybody should read, because it's truly to me one of a kind and is an A in my book.