The Sea of Monsters

    The Sea of Monsters is written by Rick Riordan. Riordan is famous for his ability to write Greek Mythology books while also relating to the teen audience. He has written The Lost Hero, The Red Pyramid, and The 39 Clues series. The Sea of Monsters is the second book in the series of Percy Jackson. There are five books in total. Reading the first book before the second would help you understand the storyline better.

   Percy Jackson is finishing his seventh grade year. This year had been weird...he hadn't had any monsters attack him . Just when he thought luck was on his side and the monsters were gone they decided to join his dodge-ball game. Percy thinks he is doomed and that the monsters have him this time… Then his best friend Tyson, turns into a Cyclops, and saves him.

   Percy knows that he needs to get to Camp Half-blood in order to be safe but he also decides it would be a good idea to bring Tyson with him. When they get to camp they learn that Thalia's tree has been poisoned, Chiron has been replaced with Mr. D, and that Tyson is actually Percy's step-brother.

   Percy tries to locate his Buddy Grover. He is told that Grover hasn’t been seen or heard from in a long time.  Percy and Grover have an empathy link that allows them to communicate even if they are not by each other. Grover tells Percy that he is trapped in The Sea of monsters. Percy wakes up and tells the leaders that Grover is trapped and just maybe the Golden Fleece that is needed to cure Thalias’s Tree could be with Grover.

   Percy sets out on a quest with Annabeth and Tyson to try and rescue Grover while also obtaining the Golden Fleece. Just like any other Rick Riordan book they run into problems. There old Camp Half-blood friend Luke tries to stop them. He believes that the Titans should be the ones to rule the world. Then they run into the six headed monster, Scylla, Tyson gets lost and Annabeth and Percy are left to believe that he has died. There are a lot more thrilling moments in this book but you will have to read the book to see if Percy can successfully finish his quest.

Overall, this book was fascination because it isn’t just a fantasy book. It is a book that has themes that even the teenagers who aren't totally into Greek Mythology would enjoy. This book also follows the Hero's Journey step by step. Therefore, even though the book was predictable it was still a good read. A.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

            The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, is a coming of age novel, written in the form of many letters by the teenager ‘Charlie’ (his alias), in the early 1990’s. Charlie is the ‘wallflower’ in the book. For those that don’t know, a wallflower is a shy and unpopular person who doesn't socialize with others very well.

            The story begins as Charlie is entering his freshman year in high school without any friends. His only friend Michael had committed suicide several months before. Charlie began writing letters to an anonymous stranger, which is what the book is. He doesn't feel like his parents or relatives understand him, and the only relative he had trusted was his aunt Helen, who was killed in a car crash on his seventh birthday.

The rest is just a summary with spoilers. It’s optional to read this.

            Charlie becomes friends with two other students at his school, Sam and her stepbrother Patrick. Charlie develops a crush on Sam, but he feels he has no chance with her. His two friends begin taking him to parties with some of their friends, on many adventures through Pittsburgh, and even some drug use. There was one party where Charlie had taken LSD and was found unconscious in the snow by the police.

            Even though he still likes Sam, he begins dating Mary Elizabeth, another girl in the friend group. They go on a few dates and to a school dance. At one party, everyone is playing Truth or Dare, and Charlie is dared to kiss the prettiest girl in the room. He kisses Sam, which results in Mary Elizabeth breaking up with him. Sam also begins dating Craig, who Charlie doesn't like, because he thinks that Craig doesn't really care about Sam. Sam later breaks up with Craig after she learns that he has been cheating on her with multiple other women.

            Charlie begins writing about Patrick and Brad’s relationship, the later is the school quarterback who is secretly gay. One day, Brad’s father finds the two kissing in Brad’s basement. He then beats Brad in front of Patrick. About a week later, Brad goes back to school and begins a fight with Patrick, which climaxes with both groups of friends beating each other up in the cafeteria. Charlie comes into the fight to help Patrick, seriously injuring some of Brad’s friends, ending the fight.

            After learning a frightening family secret about his aunt Helen, Charlie has a mental breakdown and is rushed to the hospital. However, his final letters give a feeling of hope, and that he will be able to move on from the past and focus on the future.

The summary is over.

            I loved this book so much; it really brought me to tears in the end. I should warn you though, there is some adult content in the book, so I don’t recommend reading it if you don’t find that suitable. It is a very challenged book, which is specifically why I decided to read it. It also reminded me greatly of The Catcher in the Rye, which I haven’t read all the way through, but I still know pretty much the gist of it. I also could greatly relate to Charlie, because in the seventh grade and about first half of eighth grade, I was a huge introvert. But I have learned not to dwell on things from the past, because it distracts me from the now (I've been watching a lot of Disney lately). It’s incredible how much this book has affected me, this is seriously one of those life changing books. One thing that greatly surprised me was that MTV had published the book, a channel whose current viewer demographics find Beavis and Butthead to be far too inquisitive and intellectual for them, which is why they canceled the reboot in less than a year. Anyway, without one second of hesitation I give this book an A+, and I highly recommend considering reading it. You won’t regret it in the slightest.

The Cupcake Queen

The Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler is a young adult novel about life, love, and creativity. The main theme of the book is life, and learning to deal with whatever it throws at you.

14 year old Penny Lane has grown up in the big city her whole life. But when Penny's mother tells her that she will be opening a bakery in Hog's Hollow, Penny is forced to leave her home in Manhattan and move out to Hog's Hollow with her mother and Grandmother. Penny has to start at a brand new school where Little Miss Popular, Charity, constantly bullies and makes fun of Penny. Charity and her other stuck up followers spend each and every day planning new ways to ruin Penny's life. But Hog's Hollow isn't all that bad. She soon meets two new friends, Tally and Blake, and they try to find ways to get revenge on Charity and her friends. Plus there's Marcus. A boy with a dramatic past who also seems to be taking an interest in Penny. On the flip side though, Penny is crushed when she finds out that she will have to make a life changing decision between staying in Hog's Hollow with her mother or moving back to Manhattan with her Father.

This book really had nothing special about it. In fact, I thought it was rather boring. The story is very slowly paced and the more you read, the more you want to stop. This book is very confusing. You have to do a lot of infering which I do not like. Serioiusly, they don't explain ANYTHING! Also, most books I read seem to drag on, however, this book didn't do that at all. Instead, I felt like the story ended too early! On the other hand, there were things about this book that I did like. First of all, I LOVED all of the characters in this book. The characterization was done very well. Charity for example, is made out to be a snooty, mean, brat and she does so many things that make me just want to reach into the book and strangle her. AND I LOVE THAT!!! I love it when the characters come to life. Also, I have a particular interest in baking and culinary arts (haha, I wanna be a chef when I grow up) and since this book focuses a lot about creativity, baking, and decorating, I was definately interested in it. This book has no swear words, bad scenes, or anything bad. One last good thing about this book, is that I liked how a lot of kids can relate to Penny and her problems. Divorce, moving, bullying, and fitting in are all major issues that Penny has to deal with. I like being able to actually relate to the characters.

All in all, I felt like this book deserved a C+. There were many things I liked about the book, but I'm sorry, I just cannot deal with all the infering and confusion that comes with this story. But if you can handle having to guess what's going on every 10 pages, then you might like this book.

When the Bough Breaks (By: KayLynn Mangum)

When the Bough Breaks

By: Kay Lynn Mangum

               

“It was just a normal evening. February, and I was hanging out with my best friend Teresa. We were watching movies, eating ice cream, and playing Truth or Dare. Then everything was shattered… My family fell apart. Mom, she never wanted to get up, locked herself in her room and didn’t come out except for church. With my brother, she’s completely oblivious that Ryan has an alcohol addiction. Though now that’s changing with my new step dad and step brother Dallin. I still feel alone, like the weight of the world is on my shoulders, and it all happened after he died…”

                Rachel Fletcher she was the usual teenage girl. Worried about her weight, and had that usual crush on the high school quarter back. She hung out with her friends, had a happy family and a great life. That was changed though, when her dad died the year before she went into her first year of high school.

                For a long period of time she had to deal with her mom’s depression and her brother’s alcoholism. Then before Rachel realizes, she has a new stepdad Bill, who is completely different from her deceased father. Her dad was funny; he lightened a room just by walking into it, and was just amazing. But Joe, he’s serious, not exciting and to her he’s changing her mom completely. Rachel also has a new stepbrother, who is just few years older than her. It’s weird for her though, because she feels like she has a connection to him. With that Rachel starts to realize how it might not be her against the world after all.

                You can connect this book with a very important thing; the effect death brings on a teen when a close family member dies. Really you can see how a person turns to a specific thing to get their mind off of the pain, especially teens. For example, “When the Bough Breaks” Rachel, the main character turns to her poetry. She expresses her feelings through writing, and doesn’t share them. She keeps them personal. Also she uses her religion; she relies on it and studies it for something to lean on. So many teens do that, they use something that makes them feel better, and takes their mind off of the sadness. They take a great helpful activity and just jump into it. Sometimes though they’re not always the best ones to jump into, like Rachel’s older brother, Ryan with alcohol. He drinks it because he believes it’ll make him feel better, or better yet feel nothing. And lots of teens have done this. They turn to drugs, alcohol, smoking, and other harmful substances to make them feel nothing. Because they don’t want to deal with the pain you feel after a death, but in doing so it soon leads to addictions and more problems that follow. But with this book you can see the real toll the death of a family member at a young age really affected these teens.  

People will really like this book, especially ones who like poetry. The main character in this story writes different types of poems and also uses a couple of really famous poems to express her feelings. Also “When the Bough Breaks” it talks about inner beauty and that it doesn’t matter the shape or size it’s all based on the inside. It’s the fact that you’re kind and embrace a loving heart. Along with that I think most people will love how this book connects with “The Secret Journal of Brett Colton” Kay Lynn Magnums first book. It’s not exactly a sequel, it’s more they go to the school at the same time. Only this time you see the main character of the other book in a different perspective.

                Lastly Kay Lynn Magnum is such a phenomenal author. You can tell when they’re her books; because she has this style where the story is about someone whose family member died, very recently or a long, long time ago. She sort of writes like Nicholas Sparks, because in his books he would always have at least one character be diagnosed with a type of cancer or Alzheimer’s or just would have it  end in a tragic death. And that’s how she sort of writes. Except the deaths usually happen at the beginning and you don’t know the character that well yet. Furthermore I mainly like how she has no sequels. She just leaves the story off and makes you imagine what happens next. And I’ve just always loved books that do that. Magnum wrote this book in such a realistic way that I just love it so much and she has become one of my new favorite authors. And I think anybody who reads this book or one of her others will think so too. I give “When the Bough Breaks” an A+.

Matched By:Allie Condie

I really loved this book. If you enjoyed the hunger games I would really recommended reading this. It’s a dystopian romance book and it is very entertaining!!

The book is about a dystopian community. A community where the government decides who people love, where they work and when they die. The system is perfect it makes everything fair for everybody and keeps everyone in optimal health. 

When a boy or girl turns 17 they go to a match banquet were they are then put with their perfect match, the person they will spend the rest of their lives with. The story starts on the way to the match banquet for a 17 year old girl named Cassia. She is nervous knowing that the boy she could end up being matched with could be living in a whole other providence. Despite her nerves her banquet is perfect everything has fallen into perfect place. Until after the banquet when Cassia goes home and later watches the card they gave her about her match and comes to find that things aren't as perfect as they had come to seem. 

Read this book and go along with Cassia as she watches her "perfect world" gets turned upside down. And that her decisions that will not only change her life but the life of everybody living. A+

 

The Return of The King

      The Return of The King by: J.R.R. Tolkien is the third and last part in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The book begins with Gandalf and Pippin riding by horseback to Minas Tirith. As they are riding to Minas Tirith great forces of evil are gathering to try and defeat the race of man. These great forces start by capturing Osgiliath, then Sauron's forces gather on the Pellanor Fields to begin the siege of Minas Tirith. Then, of course, the good guys win, but that doesn't mean that the fighting is over. The part of the Fellowship that is in Gondor is going to distract Sauron by knoking on his front door, the Black Gates, and starting a war to distract him from Frodo and Sam. Now on to Frodo and Sam's journey to Mordor. When they left off, Frodo had been captured by orcs and taken to the tower of Cirith Ungol. Then, being the trusty sidekick that he is, Sam comes and saves Frodo from the tower so they can continue their quest to Mount Doom. Once they have traveled across Mordor to the foot of Mount Doom, they must scale the mountain to destroy the ring. Once they destroy the ring they can head back to the peaceful and quiet land of Hobbiton right? Wrong! When they arrive they find that the Shire had been overrun by Saruman. After things get taken care of in Hobbiton, Frodo feels the need to leave Middle Earth at the Grey Havens along with Bilbo and Gandalf, therefore, ending the trilogy.
     This book was amazing to read! First of all because it's Lord of the Rings...duh. It was also great to read because of the feeling of success you feel from Frodo and Sam destroying the ring once and for all. Although, I didn't really like the ending because I didn't really understand why Frodo wanted to leave, especially Gandalf and Bilbo. When I finished the book I was thinking, "I've read Lord of the Rings... now what do I do with my life?!?" Overall, I hope you end up reading this amazing trilogy.

The Death Cure

The Death Cure is the final book of The Maze Runner trilogy.  Like the other books in the series, this book also follows Thomas and the gladers into their adventures.  When they are taken by WICKED in the second book they are told that their tests are finally over.  They go with WICKED  and Thomas hears a faint voice in his head that says, "WICKED is good."  But Thomas still isn't quite sure.

    In the beginning, the gladers are told that some of them are immune to the deadly disease called "the flare".  The gladers are also told that the tests they were in were to study brain patterns so WICKED could find a cure to the disease.  Since the tests are done WICKED tells them that their memories can be restored if they want.  But Thomas says he already knows too much and that he is scared to remember anymore about his past.  Thomas and some of the other gladers come up with a new plan, because they don't trust WICKED.  This plan is to escape from WICKED.  They go to Denver, but instead of dealing with WICKED they have to deal with the real world.

    This was a good book considering that it came after two amazing books before it.  The author has such an incredible imagination that can take me to different places.  When I read his writing it feels like I am living the book.  Although it was a good book, it wasn't the best in the series.  In trilogies it is harder to come up with more things to compare with the first book, but I think it was still great.  These books are wonderful because they just get you thinking about our world.  I mostly think about how we can do things better and how a good government will keep us moving forward.  Lastly, I think of just the motivation humans can have to keep the human race alive.

This book was a perfect ending to this trilogy.  I think everyone should read these book, and if they do they will never stop reading until they finish.
   

"The Schwa was Here" by: Neal Schusterman

   

 
  "The Schwa was Here" by: Neal Shusterman is about Antsy who meets a kid named Calvin Schwa who is creatively nick-named the Schwa. The Schwa has a special "ability" to go completely unnoticed in public. Once they've met Antsy becomes a complete user and convinces Calvin to rob a guy, called Crawley who owns a restaurant named Crawley's...of course. After the Schwa has broken in, he gets caught by Crawley's guard dogs. As a consequence Antsy and Calvin have to walk his dogs. In the process Crawley makes both of them walk around with his granddaughter named Lexie...oh...did I mention she was blind? Things begin to get competitive when the two boys fight over Lexie. Their fighting causes Schwa to run away from home to find his mother that disappeared many years ago just when he was a little boy. To find out what happens next, you'll have to read the book for yourself.
     l, this book was very eye opening because it makes you wonder if people actually feel so excluded that they seem like Calvin.The story itself was very different as well. It was very different because of how the characters were completely random and just...weird. The reason why this book is so good, is the fact that it isn't have any ideas or characters than any other teen novel has today. For example, Calvin is so "normal" that he appears to be invisible sometimes and two boys are competing for a beautiful blind girl. I would highly recommend that you read this book because of how different it is.
           

Being Sixteen

Being Sixteen by Allie Condie, author of Matched, is a young adult novel about life as a teenager and struggles that they have to go through. The main theme of the book is relationships (especially with family)
Juliet Kendall is having her sixteenth birthday party, which in the Mormon religion, is a very big deal. Not only does she get to start driving in a car that she has already received, or get a cell phone, she finally gets to start dating the boy of her dreams, Nate. Juliet seems to have the perfect life. A dream boyfriend, a great car, a spot starring on her basketball team, a great spirit, and a happy family. Or so she thinks. Juliet's 14 year old sister, Carly, has always been a happy, fun loving girl, but lately things are starting to change. Juliet starts finding things that worry her. She notices how Carly avoids eating with the family and is starting to look skinnier. Later, Juliet discovers hundreds of boxes of laxatives that Carly has kept hidden, and discovers that her little sister is bulimic. Juliet confronts her mother and together as a family, they try to work to cure Carly's illness. After this scary discovery, Juliet has to learn how to deal with change and hardtimes along with keeping her faith and helping her sister overcome an eating disorder.
Honestly, I read the back summary of the book and I didn't think much of it. I'm not a huge fan of the Matched series. However, as soon as I started reading, I fell in love with this book. It is probably one of the best books I have ever read. It had a great storyline and great characters. I personally find eating disorders and mental illnesses rather interesting and I am also Mormon so I can relate well to the religious things they talk about in this book. This book is very appropriate. There were no swear words or parts that were bad. The only bad thing about this book, is that after a while, the story kind of started to drag on. I mean, Carly's eating disorder was discovered before the halfway point of the book, so it took her more than half of a book to talk about her recovery. Also, if you are not Mormon or do not know the standards and beliefs of the religion, you would probably have a hard time understanding some parts of the book, as Juliet makes a lot of references to the religion and it's teachings.
All in all, I think this book deserved an A+. It was AMAZING. As soon as I started reading, I couldn't stop! The story and plot line was great and I loved the characters. I didn't xpect much out of this book and I was suprised by how good it was. I loved it!

Stargirl

 Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is such a good book. This book is fiction, and young adult. Stargirl starts off with just your average high-schooler. In this case, his name is Leo. It's everyone's first day of school, and everything is going fine util he hears a name, Stargirl. Stargirl is definitely not you normal teenager. She's different. Stargirl sings during lunch, while she strums away on her ukuele. She also carries her pet rat around. And not just that, but somehow she knows everyones birthdays. So, she sings "happy birthday" to them in frot of everyone during lunchtime. Another thing that makes her different is her style in clothes. She wears things from the 1900s. Eventually the students all began to enjoy her company, and they grow to love her. Especially Leo. But they were also curious about where she came from, why her personality was so different. At school events, like basketball, she would cheer and cheer so much that it led the school to finals. And not just that, but the cheer captain offered her a sopt on the team, and Stargirl would soon become one of the most popular students in school. But, popularity doesn't last forever.
       Stargirl will delight you until its very last words. This book will keep you thinking. One thing that Jerry Spinelli teaches in this book is acceptance. Like I said before, Stargirl is different from all of the other students. But, that doesn't mean shes bad. The students accepted her for who she was, and they liked her that way. Sometimes Stargirl would be so strange that you would think to judge her, but then later on, she was strange for a reason. The author keeps you guessing about her for a reason that will be revealed at the end.
       Another issue this book brings up is not caring what people think about you. Stargirl sure didn't. Even though some people thought she was just plain weird, and that she should stop her hobbies because she was different in a bad way, she didn't care. She didn't let popularity get to her, either. She stayed herself through the whole thing. No matter what people said. The author tell you that it doesn't matter what people think of you, if you're happy then don't change. He tells you this through this fun, memorable book.
     I thought this book was so good, I keep reading it over and over again. It never gets old. The lessons taught in this book are life lessons tied into a fun, compelling, and just plain amazing book. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a great read. This book gets an A.

The Scorch Trials

     The Scorch Trials, written by James Dashner, is the second book in the Maze Runner Trilogy.  In the first book, The Maze Runner, teenagers are put into a maze to test their skills.  Their goal is to try to get out of the maze.  These teenagers are called gladers.  After the gladers make it out of the maze in the first book they are taken by unknown people to a "safe place".  All the gladers are so happy that they are out of the maze and are safe.  They go to bed with the thought of it being all over, but they couldn't be more wrong!

     The Scorch Trials begins with the main character, Thomas, sleeping.  Thomas has a friend named Teresa.  Thomas and Teresa can speak to each other in their minds.  While he sleeps, Thomas' mind hears that she has been taken again by other people.  Suddenly loud screams come bursting from outside of his room.  He wakes up and sees zombie like people outside the windows of the room.  Thomas gathers up the gladers and decide that they should leave the room.  They open the door and it is pitch black!  They feel like they are running into something, and turn on the lights.  There are dead bodies hung from their feet.  They keep going and find where Teresa is supposed to be, but instead they find the name Aris next to Teresa's door.  They go inside the room and find a boy that is all alone.  He tells the gladers that there were two mazes and he was in group B.  Instead of a ton of boys and one girls, in his maze there was him and a ton of girls.  Then the gladers walk outside and the bodies are gone and right away they know that they are being watched.  A couple days latter a man appears in the main part of the building and tells them that they have caught a disease called the flare and that they need to find the cure.  He tells them that they need to get to a place called the safe haven.  Although that seems easy, they have difficult challenges ahead.  Right away the gladers know that this is just another silly test.
     This was a great book that interested me very much.  One night I read 160 pages straight just because it was so entertaining.  Books aren't usually what I do for leisure time, but this book was my leisure time.  Instead of watching television, computer, or video games I chose to read.  In the past month James Dashner became my favorite author.  It seems to me that he knows me, and what I like to read.  This book made me think about how our country would be like if people didn't work together, and if we didn't have our freedom.  It made me appreciate our country's government, although it isn't perfect.

     All in all, this book was an amazing book.  It was very interesting and mind blowing how an author can create a whole different world for his readers.  I would encourage you to read the Maze Runner trilogy because I know that it will fascinate you like it fascinated me. 

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

(warning! Possible spoilers!)

    This book is told from the point of view of Lena Haloway, a seventeen year old girl living in the town of Portland, Maine in the future United States. In the future, love is seen as a disease. They have named this disease "Amor Deliria Nervosa", but many people just call it the deliria. Lena is afraid of the disease, mainly because her mother committed suicide do to the affects of it. However, she is counting the days until she receives her cure, a surgery which can make you immune to the deliria, when she turns eighteen years old. Then, in a strange turn of events, Lena meets a boy by the name of Alex Sheathes, who is cured, while she and her friend Hana Tate are on a run. They have met once before, when Lena received her evaluation, which was disastrous. Lena then begins to fall in love with Alex, but she is blind to it because of her knowledge Alex is cured. But when Alex reveals to Lena he in fact not cured, and was born in The Wilds (where those who resist the cure live), she is terrified for her life. 

   Delirium is a wonderful book. I absolutely adored the idea and also the well development of characters in it as well. It is well written, adventurous, and romantic all in one. There is a lot of swearing in the book, including the mother of all curse words twice. There is also one love scene where it gets a little steamy, but nothing much really happens. Overall, Delirium was fabulous, but it did have a little short of an ending and some inappropriate scenes. In the end, I give this book and A-.

The Maze Runner

   The Maze Runner is a fantastic book that will keep you reading all night long!  The mystery and action in this book make it thrilling and suspenseful.  Although it is confusing at first, you will get a hang of it and then you will know why so many people love this book.

  The book starts out with a boy named Thomas waking up in a contraption like an elevator that seems to be plummeting to the ground.  As he falls, he begins to forget simple things like his family and how old he is.  Suddenly he has no memory of his past, except that his name is Thomas.  The elevator finally stops falling. When the elevator doors open he is surprised to see a group of  boys huddling around him.  They help him out and take him to where he will sleep, and he learns that he is in a place called the "Glade."

   Out of all the books I have ever read, this is my favorite without a doubt.  One night I stayed up and read 170 pages because my eyes were glued to them.  The author does a great job of making it so exciting and creepy at the same time.  I loved how he starts out with Thomas and the audience not knowing what is going on.  It made me want to keep reading and learning about Thomas and the Glade.  When I read this book it made me realize that the choices I make will impact my life forever, and I can always try to make things better.

   The Maze Runner is the most amazing book I have ever read and I think anyone will like it.  The Scortch Trials is the second book to this trilogy.  I am planning to read it next and I hope you will read it too.  I encourage you to read The Maze Runner and I guarantee that you will enjoy it as much as I did.

  

    

         Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick is about a normal...no, wait...nerdy 8th grader named Steven Alper who has a passion for playing the drums. One morning his little brother, named Jeffery, complains that "his parts hurt" so being the well natured brother that Steven is, he made him his favorite "moatmeal." But Steven lets him sit on the tall bar stools they have, which his mom never lets Jeffery sit on because he might fall.(Hint, Hint, Nudge Nudge...) So of course, he falls off the stool, but he doesn't just fall off of the stool, he smacks his face of the counter top causing a nose bleed. This "special" noose bleed doesn't stop bleeding causing him to be sent to the E.R. While Jeffery is at the hospital, Steven is at school having a normal day not thinking about Jeffery, but still having problems talking to girls. When he gets home he expects to see Jeffery all normal and happy, but he isn't. When his mom gets home he learns that Jeffery is very sick and will be in the hospital for a while. It turns out that Jeffery has leukemia which is why his nose didn't stop bleeding. Earlier that day his jazz band teacher assigned a song for their big spring concert which ends up turning into a charity for the Alpers. They end up raising over 22,000 dollars for Jeffery, who in the end was cured of his disease.
         Overall I thought the book was sad, yet the author kept you entertained with Steven's witty and funny personality. One part quote from the book that I found , which will definitely change my ways, is from Steven's school counseler: "Don't keep agonizing about the things you can't change, try to change the things you can." All in all, I believe that this story is well worth your while because it teaches you mushy life lessons but at the same time it keeps you laughing and full of suspense.
    

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You (By: Ally Carter)

I’d Tell You I Love You,
But Then I’d Have To Kill You

By: Ally Carter

“I’d Tell You I Love You, but Then I’d have To Kill You”, is an adventurous, fictional young adult book about how a less than ordinary teenage girl found impossible love, and the sacrifices she would have to make in the future.

To the average person The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Woman is a high class, rich kid school. To the outside world this all girl school has a high performance average, and is just a school for geniuses. Though what the average person doesn’t know is that it’s really a school for spies in training. They teach high end Martial Arts in GYM class., and give out extra credit for cracking special CIA database codes. So truly they’re not your usual school.

Cammie Morgan is one of the exceptional girls that go to The Gallagher Academy. She is just starting her sophomore year and is ready to go. Cammie and her two friends, Liz and Bex are ready to start their spy training. This will be the year where they start Cove Ops (covert operations) and they will see how true of a spy they really are. This is where their spy training really kicks in the they gain true field experience.

Cammie is a natural when it comes to hacking international databases, hand to hand martial arts, or even killing someone with a dry piece of spaghetti. But when it comes to love, nothing in all her years of training could have prepared her for this unexpected adventure.

As Cammie and her friends embark on this challenging adventure, she goes undercover for a special assignment where they are tested to their limits. They soon realize what dangers and responsibilities follow with being a field agent; not only to them, but to everyone around.

This book is really great, and fun. It’s so entertaining the way Ally Carter incorporated the thoughts of a teenage girl and a highly trained spy into the same person. Throughout the book you are always on edge and you never loose interest. This book is really a Romeo and Juliet tale, with forbidden love, and all the trouble it brings. Also it shows how worked up teenagers get over “love” and how much it changes them.

I think it would be intriguing to be a spy and know 14 languages when you’re only in 10th grade. I also wonder if Alley Carter's portrayal of a spy’s life is genuine, and if they really have to give up love for the job. 

Overall this book was just so great and fun. It was enjoyable to read a book that wasn’t predictable. The best part was that it is really hard to put down and it’s always amusing. I think a lot of people would enjoy it.

The Hunger Games

     The Hunger Games is written by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games follows a 16 year old girl named Katniss. She lives in a nation called Panema. In Panema there are 12 districts. Each year the have the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is where a boy and a girl from each district gather in an arena and fight to the death. To choose the boy and girl they have a reaping. Ones name can be placed in it multiple times. This is where the story begins!

     Katniss lives with her mother and her sister, Prim. Katniss starts off the day of the reaping with her best friend Gale. They always go hunting in the woods together because Katniss loves using her bow and arrow. After hunting she goes home and heads to the reaping with Prim, her 12 year old sister(the youngest age for the reaping) and Prim is terrified of being called. However, Prim is chosen for the girls and Katniss volunteers to take her place! The boy chosen is Peeta and Katniss has a small connection with this boy. As a couple they draw attention to themselves in many ways. As the go in the arena to fight to the death who will survive?

     The hunger games is a very intense, action, adventure, romance book. The book hooks teenagers easily because it is a little bit of everything. I think Suzanne Collins wrote this book extremely well for the components she pit into it. It is fast paced and exciting! This book can be violent, so if you don't like violence or kids trying to kill other kids, I suggest not reading this book. On the other hand if you don't mind a little, go ahead and read this book! I give this book an A+. Here is a link to the movie trailer that is out already. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FovFG3N_RSU (this has two trailer in one video)

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

     Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is a really good book by James Patterson. It is the first book in the Maximum Ride series. It is a science fiction, young adult, and fantasy book. It was very creative and I enjoyed reading it.
    The book starts with 14 year old Maximum Ride and her group of friends who are the closest thing she has to a family. They have escaped from a facility known as the School, where they were raised. While at the School, mad scientists grafted bird DNA into them, giving them wings and strange powers. They think they have safely escaped the School, but they have been found. Erasers, which were also created at the School and are part wolf have found Max and her family. They kidnap the youngest child with wings, Angel.
     This book is about the rescue mission to save Angel and to figure out the family's past and parents. Things are going smoothly when all of the sudden Max gets terrible headaches and a strange voice inside her head. While trying to sort things out, she runs into an old friend named Jeb, who helped them escape the School, but is now sided with the School. Meanwhile, the voice in her head is guiding her and agrees with Jeb. She doesn't know what to do, or why Erasers are hunting her down, but tries to help her friends in anyway she can.
     One of the big themes in the book was that the line between good and bad can be blurred. Because the main characters have no money or caregivers, the author talks through Max about when stealing is okay and when it is unacceptable. Also, the School says that they are the "good guys" because they created the bird-kids to fight crime. I agreed with most of the authors views, but I was unsure of others.
     I liked reading Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. A.
                                   
      

The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye is told by, and is about, a teenager in his junior year of high school at Pencey Prep. Throughout the story he is just telling you of his adventures around New York City. Now, one might begin to ponder at the fact that he is a junior in high school, and is wondering around New York City. Well, it is because although the main character, Holden Caulfield, is in a family of intellectual thinkers (his brother is a writer who lives in Hollywood), Holden is a rather lazy scholar, resulting in the fact that he was expelled. Holden does not want his parents to find out that he was expelled, so he waits until the Christmas break on the Wednesday of the next week to go home and visit family. At that time, when he arrived home he planned to either inform his parents of the tragic news, or run away and work somewhere else, visiting when able. He has a few days to spend in New York before Christmas break and he tells us of his crazy adventures, including the fun places he goes and the interesting people he meets and talks to.

This book perfectly outlines the basic thoughts and actions that the average teenager feels and experiences when alone, or when the chance comes up to make a decision. The writing is in a style that a teenager would most likely be speaking in, as a young adult in the 50’s- including using the same phrases over and over again, using slang and swearing to get his point across no matter what the case is and no matter who he is talking to. On multiple occasions, to get his point across, Holden mentions the fact that he is stupid. However, I do not think he is dumb. It is just that he does not care. Other than the fact that he doesn’t care, He seems to be quite smart and caring. For instance, he has this daydream of a bunch of children playing in a rye field, and it happens to be on the edge of a cliff, and he is to be the sole guardian of the children if they fall of the cliff, to catch them if they fall. To be the “Catcher in the Rye.” He thinks himself to be the sole protector of children, or to protect their innocence. When in an elementary school visiting, he sees graffiti which reads “f*** you”, and he is infuriated with it, wiping it off with his sleeve, knowing that if a child saw it they would be uncomfortable. He appreciates when a child like his sister, who is expected to be at a lower level of language, understands what he is saying. Throughout the book, Holden mentions how many people he thinks are good for nothing d*** phonies. This might be a result of the fact that very smart people constantly surround him, and his own brother is a genius writer in Hollywood. Being used to being around these kind of people, he seems to build up a high expectation about the entire society, looking down on them unless they are as good as his smart friends, or his smart brother. Leading him to opinions that are quite dreary and dull, showing that he is sort of a depressed person. In fact, when he gets home, he has a mental break down and gets sick, resulting in a stay in a mental help hospital to regain his well-being.

I give it an A! This book is a quite interesting read to say the least. If you get past the constant use of the same phrases, and constant swearing, it is a read that you wont forget. It has many things that really put your teenage thoughts into consideration. It also shows what a life for your first time without parents in a social environment can be very different indeed. I highly encourage someone to read this; it is an experience that will leave you pondering life for days. If you leave this suggestion behind you, and decide not to take the short time to read this book and gain new knowledge, then Holden Caulfield thinks that you are a big phony.

After Hello

 After Hello by Lisa Mangum is a realistic-fiction novel about fate, and letting go. In the book there are two main characters, Sam and Sara who meet by chance in New York City while Sara is on a business trip with her father. Sara is an aspiring photographer and only has one day to spend in New York, but finds herself spending the day alone when her father is not able to be with her. As Sara is standing alone she takes a picture of somebody she does not know, and later ends up following him. This person is Sam. Sam is a finder, he finds what people need and trades them for something else in return. When Sam and Sara officially meet they decide to spend the day together. The two of them end up having to go on a "quest" for unique artwork to give to a celebrity who Sam's brother works for. If they do not find something wonderful for the celebrity, Sam's brother will be fired. Sam and Sara travel all around the city in the search to find a piece of art. Along the way both characters learn how to deal with their tragic pasts, and change themselves for the better.
     In After Hello the point of view the story is being told from switches between Sam and Sara each chapter, much like Flipped. However the way this book chooses to do it, is pretty confusing. When Sara is telling the story, it is told from first person. When Sam is telling the story, it is told in third person. For me, when I first read one of the chapters being told from Sam's point of view, I was so confused and had to re-read some of it to actually realize what was happening. Throughout the story it gets easier to get used to the way the book switches points of view, but in the beginning the reader might be thrown off a little bit.
     Also this book is very predictable. I could easily guess the ending of this book from the beginning of the story, and it is so obvious that I think anybody could tell you how it will end by reading just a few chapters. At some points it was frustrating because you wanted the characters to see the so obvious solution the problem, but they don't realize it till the last few chapters. There are very few exciting, unexpected moments in After Hello. The only parts in the story that were somewhat unexpected are when we learn more about Sam and Sara's past. But I think that most people could get a pretty good guess on those too. Bottom line is, this book didn't keep me hooked for the entire time.
      Overall I did actually enjoy this book. I like the concept of fate and how everything happens for a reason which this book demonstrates perfectly. Both characters in the book learn important lessons from each other that I believe everybody should learn at some point in their life. They learn how to open up about things they may otherwise keep a secret, and how to move on from their past. Sam and Sara bring out the best in each other, only if they are together for no more than one day. At the end of the book they are both changed for the better and finally learn to let go. None of this would have happened if Sara wouldn't have taken the one photograph of Sam. It just shows how everything really does happen for a reason, and I find that fascinating. I think that if everyone could learn to let go and just live in the moment, we would all have a much happier and better life.
     I ended up giving the book a B- because I think the idea for the story is really great and teaches a good lesson, but it's just plain predictable and sometimes that's not always fun to read.
   

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25

     Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans is about a kid named Michael Vey. He is a 9th grader who is a little bit unique. He lives in Idaho. Besides that, not only does Michael have Tourette's syndrome, but he also has the ability to shock people when he is in contact with them. When Taylor Ridley, a cheerleader that Michael Vey has had a crush on since first seeing her, witnesses him using his ability on the school bully, he soon finds out that she also has a special ability. She can "reboot" people's minds, making them forget what they were doing. She can also read the minds of anyone she is touching. Taylor, Michael, and Michael's friend, Ostin, decide to make a club called the Electroclan. Not long after that, the Electroclan discovers that there are more electric kids. Later, Taylor and Michael find out that they got a scholarship to the Elgen Academy, a school where these electric kids are being kept. After that, Michael's mom gets kidnapped by the person running the Elgen Academy. Michael goes to rescue her, and stop the Elgen.

     This was a fun book to read. I enjoyed the characters and plot. There was also a lot of humor in this book. I recommend that you read it. A.