Life of Pi By: Yann Martel Review by: Andrew Williams

This story starts out with Pi Patel telling a wonderful story about one thing that affected him most in life. His story starts in Pondicherry, India where it is controlled by the French, one day his dad said that Pondicherry could no longer support a zoo, so he decided that they needed to move the zoo to Canada, where the family animals would be sold. So they get on a Japanese Cargo Ship with the animals and then there is a storm and then the ship capsizes and he is left in a lifeboat, with an injured zebra, orangutan, a hyena and a 450-pound Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. During the first night Pi was scared he wasn’t sure if the lifeboat could spot him in the dark. After the first night Pi wakes ups to an unpleasant sight, to see that the hyena has bit of the broken leg of the zebra and was eating it, and the Zebra was still alive. Then the hyena goes head first into the zebra and starts eating it inside out, as he is eating the orangutan steps in and the have a standoff. Blood drips down and the sharks swimming around the boat start bumping the boat and Pi gets frightened, and the standoff ends, the hyena goes back to eating the zebra. The hyena then attacks the orangutan while it’s not looking, she puts up a fight but she is no match for the hyena, as he decapitates her. As Pi is about to through himself into the hyena he sees the Tiger as he gives him a look then he has a strange feeling and just decides to fall asleep. He must try to survive to keep any hope left of being rescued.

As I really wish I could tell you so much more, I can’t you will just have to read the book. This book is about finding who you are, and finding both your personalities, (hint). This book is confusing at times but I think you should really read it no matter who you are. Just get ready for a sick and twisted journey with an unexpected ending that will leave you thinking. There may be a little gore in this great novel, so I wouldn’t read it if you can’t handle it. Overall this book rely does deserve an A++++. Just don’t drop the book at the beginning because I promise you it’s very boring, but it gets way better as this is one of my most favorite books. There are some points were I wish that he explained a little better were I was really confused. But some parts I was just amazed at how descriptive his writing was, as I could perfectly see what he wrote. All in all it was an amazing book that I suggest everyone to read. 

Yearbook!!!!!!

        Welcome to the adventures of the book called Yearbook! It was written by: Allyson Braithwaite Condie. She is a very good author. THIS BOOK IS A RELIGIOUS BOOK! It reverts back a lot to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints religion. If you don't like that then I would suggest not reading this book! This book's main purpose is to say that no matter what, you have Christ in your life, and that anything is possible if you set your mind to it.
       Let's get started! This book is told from many points of view. It is about 7 kids in high school and then a couple of the teachers and the principle. Each chapter changes to a different person. Each person has their own trials and different things that they are going through. Their names are Michaela, Ethan, Andrea, Julie, Tyler, Avery, and Dave. This book can bring you to realize so many things if you let it! It's hard to summerize this book when being told from so many points of view, so we will see how it turns out!
      This is one of those books that uses real-life experiences that happen in high school probably all the time. It teaches you how to cope with hardships, while telling you a story at the same time. I am going to give a quick rundown of each character. Michaela is a girl who is having a great time in high school and she ends up helping her friend and converting her into the church and she likes Ethan. Ethan is on the cross country team and he also likes Micheala. Andrea is Ethan's older sister. And she is also on the cross-country team and the fastest one on it. She decided to fall away from the church, and you'll have to read to find out why. Julie had a rough life! She was always wishing that she was never born becuase her brothers were criminals! Turns out, her brother's killed one of her teachers Mother but, she herself is a wonderful person. Tyler has to move to a different state and finds himself trying to figure out where he belongs. Avery isn't the kid that you wished was your friend. You would normally stay away from her. She smokes and doesn't really care about anything, just goes with the flow. Dave. Dave is in love with Andrea and he is on the cross-country team and spends some time tutoring other kids. It sounds confusing but you just kind of have to connect the dots...
      This was a book that I think was memorable and one that I won't ever forget. It was very interesting to watch and go on the adventures and trials that these students/kids went through. It was fun to see how they would change as a person and come to realize what is truly important. This book taught me that no matter what life throw's at you, you can handle it. If you have Christ with you and always turn to him in every doubt and time of need. He will always be there for you no matter what.
     Again, this is a book that refers a lot to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. So if you don't want to read a book like that then I wouldn't read this one. This book was by far one of the best that I have ever read and I would give it an A+.
       
       

  
       

Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury

If you want to read a book that makes perfect sense, has a loveable plot, and is constantly grabbing your attention, GO AWAY!!! You won't find that here. I'm sorry, but I did not like this book at all. The characters had little depth, it made practicaly no sense, and the premise was totally wacko. Wacko...wacko... that's not a word is it? Oh well. Even though I strongly disliked this book, the show must go on. I will start by giving a quote from the back of the book, to give you some background knowledge.

"Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires. And he enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs or the joy of watching pages consumed by flames, never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. then Guy met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think. And Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do..."

So, to sum this up, Guy is a guy who burns books. He likes it too. But then he meets a young girl (Who dies) and an old guy (Who almost dies) who change his mind. Then he goes crazy because he reads books. After that, the Firecheif, Beatty, sends a hound with a poisonus proboscis after him. Meanwhile, his wife goes crazy and is addicted to TV. Then he lives with hoboes who have book upon book memorized. As you can see, this book had a confusing plotline, and isn't all that great. Sigh...

Now, I will focus on the deeper meaning of this book. I didn't have to search very hard, because the whole time the book is screaming them at your face. Here are a few: DON'T WATCH TV, READ BOOKS, LISTEN TO PEOPLE, BE CURIOUS, DON'T DO DRUGS! All of this did get annoying after a little while, so if you you read this book, don't be suprised if you find yourself wanting to put it down.

To conclude, I did not like this book. If you want to read it, go ahead, but I sure feel sorry for you. D-

Stormbreaker by Antony Horowitz

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work for Britain's top secret intelligence agency, MI6. Don't you think that it would just be cool? Well, this is not what 14 year old Alex Rider thought as he was being offered to work with MI6.

It all started when the police knocked on the door in the middle of the night. While lying in bed, Alex overheard the cops speaking to his housekeeper. The cops said in funeral voices that his uncle, Ian Rider, was killed in an automobile accident because he was not wearing a seat belt. Ian Rider was what was left of Alex's family. Ian Rider was a bank manager that traveled a lot. Hmm...that's weird.?!

Well, after Alex finished his ride on the emotional roller coaster, He came to think more about the details of his uncle's death. Then, Alex realized that Ian Rider always made him wear his seat belt and that he wouldn't even turn down the street if Alex wasn't wearing it. After much thought, Alex decided to take a look at Ian Rider's car. After much digging, Alex found his uncle's car. Ian Rider's car did not look like it went through an automobile accident that killed someone; the car had a spray of bullets, similar to the ones of a machine gun's, caught straight on with the driver's side. After making this huge discovery, Alex came to wonder why someone would kill a bank manager. What was so important that was worth killing a bank manager for?

A little bit farther in the book, Alex Rider is sitting across from the MI6 head and is being asked whether or not Alex Rider would like to be a part of Britain's top secret intelligence agency. Well, more like forced to accept since his uncle was the person paying for his education, the person paying for the house and the housekeeper, and, most importantly, Alex's legal guardian. Or in other words, Alex will have nowhere to go. Without throwing a fit, Alex accepts the offer. Then, Alex discovers that his uncle was caring some vital intell. and that is why the enemy killed him before he could tell what he discovered. After that, Alex is put on the same case that his uncle was working on and has to retrace Ian Rider's footsteps to find out what was so important.

This book contained many of the author's opinions that I agree with. First of all, Alex Rider is 14. Can you believe that. A 14 year old working as a spy let alone Britain's top secret intelligence agency, MI6. This means that no matter what age you are, you can be anything ,not necessarily an MI6 operative, but maybe something similar. Another of Horowitz's opinions that I agree with are that you have to keep on walking forward. In the book Stormbreaker, Alex Rider all of the connections he has with his family and continues on working on with his life. I agree with this because though things might weigh you down, there is no time to sit and whine about the past. What is in the past is in the past, but whatever is in the future can be altered by how you recover.

After reading this rather epic book, my opinions about possibilities. I mean everyone has heard the saying," Anything is possible if you just believe." Well, I didn't really think that everything is possible. I mean, some things in life are challenging and seem rather impossible to think about. This book showed me that if you get up when life pushes you down, and you believe, then everything is possible if you just BELIEVE!!!

Here is one of my many favorite lines from this awesome book.

"He's[Alex Rider] is 14 years old! We can't do it. The boy's not ready yet. He'll make mistakes. It won't take them long to find out who he is. I don't think Alex has got much chance at all."

Said by Mrs. Jones. Page 72-73

Stormbreaker is an interesting, memorable, and a pretty fast paced book. Many things might not be important at the time you read it but, everything will soon come into play and will all make sense in the. Also, before you read this book, make sure that you have the time because you wouldn't be able to put it down until the last page of the book.

Wonderstruck By Brian Selznck

This is a Big Spoiler Alert! This story starts by describing two different people in two different times, but in the end, the two people meet! This is also a very different story, instead of just words, it also has big pictures, that also describe one part of the story!



This is who it all goes... Ben, is deaf in one year. He lives with his Aunt and Uncle, but one day he sees a light on in the house he lived in before his mother died. When he goes and investigates, his cousin is up in his mothers room dancing to music in his mothers clothes and smoking. The cousin stops, and puts everything back but mentions a rainy day fund in the closet. While looking through his mothers stuff he finds a phone number, that could be his fathers. Just outside, the wind is blowing like crazy and lightning begins to strike. Ben dials the number and just as he puts the phone to his ear, he blacks out.

At the same time in the book there is a little girl that looks to be in the 50's. She ends up to be the daughter of a famous actress. Her mother doesn't like her because she is deaf. But she finds her older brother and eventually goes to live with him.

When Ben wakes up, he finds out that he is now deaf in both ears. So he goes and takes the rainy day fund from his mothers house travels to New York, where is father may live. HERE IS ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT!!! (His father died.) He goes to a museum that he could have worked at. He doesn't find his father, but he finds a good friend, at least he thinks, that will help him to find his father.

Just like every story, there is a fight, and a revelation that always occurs. He doesn't find his father, but he finds some one just as important! The girl in the pictures! :)

Brian Selznick did an incredible job on this book. He is also the author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which was also a great book, though very easy to read. Wonder Struck was the first book that I had read by this author, and it was a great experience. My favorite part was the pictures. Each one drawn to perfection! It was also so inviting as a book, and it was fun to make a hypothesis about what was going to happen next. Though switching from pictures to words confused me at first, by the end it was easier to understand! And I most definitely could not put this book down! An "A" to this book I say!!