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Message in a Bottle
Nicholas Sparks
Romance
This book was amazing! Nicholas Sparks knows how
to grab his readers and keep them holding their breath for the next page. He
is a true writer of romance novels. This book will make you laugh and cry.
You cry because things are so beautiful or because something has gone wrong,
but you laugh because of the sense of humor the characters have.
The author Nicholas Sparks lives in North Carolina with
his wife and kids. He has written plenty of amazing romance novels
including; The Notebook, A Walk To Remember, and my favorite
Dear John. This book didn’t have a best part. It was good from the
beginning until the very last page.
I have read a lot of Nicholas Sparks books and this one
would have to be most like Dear John. I believe this because two
people fall in love and are separated because John won’t give up his army
life to be with his love. In Message in a Bottle it’s kind of the
same. Garret doesn’t want to leave everything he has made for himself, but
Theresa has a son, a thriving career as a journalist for the Boston Times.
She can’t leave all of that and she can’t take her son out of school when he
is doing so well. So they are pushed apart because of their separate lives.
Then in the end something tragic happens and Theresa wished she would have
never let Garret go.
Rating:
4 stars
Reviewed by Elizabeth, grade 12
Someone Dies, Someone Lives
Lurlene
McDaniel
Realistic Fiction
Katie finds out
that she needs to have a heart transplant or else she will die. When she
receives a letter with a check enclosed for 100,000 dollars, all she wishes
is that some how she could use the check to pay for her heart. But she knows
that it won’t happen. Her mother and her father take her to the best
doctors, and the doctors tell them she will have to be put on a waiting
list. Katie’s father went crazy asking, “Is there anyway you can bump her up
on the list”. The doctors said there was no way they could do that. The
doctor then told her parents that people on the waiting list die everyday
still needing a compatible donor.
Josh and his brother Aaron had to move in with their
grandfather, because of their parents. Aaron plays football at the
University of Michigan. He is a freshman and he is one of the kickers.
Gramps and Josh went to go see the game. It was Aaron’s first game. During
the football game Josh and Gramps where having such a great time. But when
Aaron went on the field, something was wrong. He just fell to the ground.
Josh ran to the field trying to see what was going on. Come to find out
Josh’s brother Aaron died.
Gramps and Josh were then
left to make the biggest decision that no one should have to make. The
doctors asked Josh if he would like to donate Aaron’s organs. All Josh could
think was, "My brother just died and now you want to cut him open." He
finally agreed to let them donate his organs. But Josh wanted to know who
was going to be getting them. Come to find out Katie got his heart. Yet she
wanted to know the family of her donor. Josh and Katie meet and they have
been friends ever since. They talk about Aaron all the time; she even got to
see pictures. But she still could not understand why someone had to die just
so that she could live.
This book touched
my heart. I just don’t know how I could live my live having to deal with
what Katie had to deal with in this book. My favorite part in the book was
when Katie got out of the Hospital. And Josh came over to her house to see
her.
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Tyesha, grade 12
Vince Carter:
Slam Dunk Artist
John Albert Torres
Biography
Vince
Carter is a professional basketball player in the NBA. For six years he
played for the Toronto Raptors. He was traded in 2003-2004 to the New Jersey
Nets and he still plays there today. Vince is not the average player
because his vertical is huge, over 40”, and he can fly through the air and
display a massive dunk. In the first few years of his career he was playing
the Miami Heat and posterized Alonzo Mourning and it was thought to be one
of the best dunks of the year. He has the talent to lead the league in
scoring and also has lead all-star voting for several years.
Vince Carter was born in and raised in Florida and was
brought up by his single mother and later a stepfather. They taught him to
be hard working and he was. He really liked basketball and played a lot. So
it was only natural for him to be on the high school team. He would go to
score almost half of his team point totals. In his free time he played with
his left hand and developed to become a more all around player. Colleges
heavily recruited him and when he was going to college, he chose North
Carolina for its scholar programs and Michael Jordan went there.
Vince didn’t have to carry
the scoring load because the coach there had a policy of nearly no playing
time for frosh players no matter how good they were. Later in college he was
helped by Antwan Jamison and the duo led them to the final four the next
tree years. In
Vince’s third year he went to the NBA but later earned his college degree by
doing summer school for the next two years.
When Vince Carter came to
the NBA, he went to Golden State Warriors. But right after the pick he was
traded to Toronto
for former teammate Antwan Jamison.
Vince became the rookie
of the year and brought an expansion team to the playoffs for the first time
but they lost in the first round. Then after that year, Toronto acquired
Tracy Macgrady and the duo had taken them to the playoffs several times but
never won a Conference Championship. The Toronto Raptors were beaten by
Allen Iverson at the buzzer by 1 point. After that year he was traded to the
New Jersey Nets. Vince Carter is still playing today and he is still
questing for the NBA Championship
This
book is an easy read and I give the book a 4 out of 5 because it has
pictures and interesting side facts.
Rating:
4 stars
Reviewed by
Jeremiah,
grade 12
Wild Man Island
Will Hobbs
Realistic Fiction
Andy Galloway was on a kayak trip when the wind shoved him off course he
ended up on an abandoned island and was looking for his father’s grave when
he ran across a wild man on the island he thought that maybe he could be his
dad. There are many survival stunts he has to go through like shelter,
finding food, making clothes, and tools.
This book could be compared to Hatchet. It’s another
survival book. It was interesting because it made me think of if I was to go
and get lost, how I would survive. It was an easy read. This book stands out
because of its storyline. There’s always something new and interesting every
few pages.
The author is an award
winning author of twelve books. The best part was definitely the survival
hints and interesting facts you pick up when you read this book.
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Garrett, grade 9
Years of Wonders
Geraldine Brooks
Historical Fiction
This particular book is
about a village in 1666 and how the townspeople cope with a deadly plague.
The plague is brought from infected clothing material from England. The
dressmaker who worked with the infected cloth became ill. This sprouted a
plague throughout the entire village. The main character, Anna Frith, tries
to help her village overcome this disaster all throughout the book. The
village rector convinces the townspeople to stay in the village boundaries
for fear of spreading it elsewhere.
This book is full of mystery and surprises. I have
read many books about deadly plagues and how they started. But, not one book
I’ve read made the feelings of the characters and their problems seem like
my own except for Year of Wonders. This book made me laugh at
times and at others it made me feel deep sympathy for the characters and
their problems. It was easy to understand and took me awhile to read since
it is a long story. My favorite character was Elinor Mompellion. I liked
the way she responded to how she handled her issues. Also, I liked her
wisdom and understanding personality. The author of the book wrote the
story based on a village’s history in Eyam, Britain. Some characters are
fictional and others aren’t. Geraldine Brooks was fascinated with this
village and their courage so she wanted to tell it for herself. If you like
books that have unpredictable events and a little bit of factual information
about the past, then Year of Wonders is for you.
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Mary, grade 9
Flowers in the
Attic
V. C. Andrews
Realistic Fiction
This book is about four
children Carrie, Cathy, Cory, Chris. They are all brothers and sisters.
Their father dies and they have to move into their grandmother’s house. It’s
a big mansion. If her father dies she inherits his fortune. The only problem
that arises, is the mother had children with her half uncle. The children
were locked in the attic, so no one would find out they existed. When the
father died the mother never let them out. The children weren’t allowed to
play outside or go anywhere, in worry they might be discovered. The youngest
brother Cory died. The mother poisoned donuts she brought them and they
killed the little boy. Cory ate them and died. The mother buried him under a
false name. Eventually they broke free.
This book proved to be an
easy read, as it was so real. At points in the story I actually got upset. I
felt concern for the children. This could happen in today’s world to almost
anyone.
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Tasha, grade 9
LeBron James,
the Rise of a Star
David Lee Morgan, Jr.
Biography
This
book is about LeBron James, a high school basketball phenomenon. He grew up
around the city of Akron, Ohio. He had a pretty tough life. His mom became
pregnant with him at the age of sixteen and did not ever settle down in a
permanent house until LeBron was in high school. He also had to grow up
around the streets infested with drugs and violence. But everyone around
LeBron knew that he was going to be special, so they made sure that he
stayed on track and made him do the things he needed to do in order to stay
on track. LeBron grew up playing with his close friends who ended up being
called the “fab five” and winning the state championship twice in high
school. LeBron was named one of the best high school basketball players
ever. He was a first round draft pick straight out of high school. Now
LeBron is in the NBA and is still on the uprise of dominating the
competition.
I would definitely suggest to people to read this book.
I enjoyed it very much. It gives you the inside story of what happens
throughout LeBrons life. It also includes sixty color pictures that give you
a better perspective of how athletic LeBron really is. The author of this
book was David Lee Morgan who is a sportswriter and gives great detail of
how LeBron became as successful as he is today. If you want some good
motivation to work hard and become successful at basketball, this may be a
book you would want to read.
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Justin, grade 12
Forever in
Blue
Ann Brashares
Realistic Fiction
In the fourth
summer between four friends Lena, Bridget, Tibby, and Carmen the girls are
learning to deal with issues of adulthood, not their high school crushes and
family issues. Now, during their freshman year in college, they are learning
to deal with pregnancy scares and other numerous relationship issues that
come with growing into an adult. They each have their ups and downs to
growing up. The pants have been there for them for the past three summers
and now this final summer.
During this closing summer,
Lena absorbs herself into her
painting while at school in Providence and an exhilarating summer fling with
a classmate with the reputation of an amazing artist, fearing that the
moment she forgets about Kostos her first love, will be the moment she sees
him again. Carmen becomes friends with a sophisticated college student,
Julia, and values a theatrical role more than the traveling pants. She also
has some issues with her mother moving away from the house that she grew up
in. Bridget joins a dig for an ancient city in
Turkey and
discovers that her archaeology professor is available in every way except
one. She also realizes just how much her boyfriend, Eric, really means to
her. Tibby is starting film classes in New York City and during the course
of the year she leaves behind someone she loves, her boyfriend Brian,
wrongly thinking that he will stay where she has left him whenever she wants
him back.
This book is compelling and I
recommend it to anyone who is looking for an escape from their world filled
with their own drama. In the first few pages alone you realize just how much
the girls have changed within one year. When reading this book, I had
realized that there were not any illustrations, but they had made images of
the letters and instant messages that the girls share and that made me enjoy
the book even more. My favorite character is Lena, because she is the one
who I could relate to the most and she was the one who had changed so much
into the
adult that I would like to be. This book was very simple reading and I would
like it if there were more than just the four books in the series.
Rating:
Reviewed by Angie, grade 12
2nd Chance
James Patterson
Adventure Fiction
In the book 2nd Chance Lindsay Boxer is just coming
back to work with the homicide investigation team after she left for a while
after the last murderer case she was in. Now there is another murderer on
the run killing people. The first one was at the church and the killer
opened gunfire on the kids exiting. One little girl named Tasha Catchings
was shot and killed instantly. Her father worked for the San Francisco
Police Department. Shortly after she was killed detectives showed up. After
the murders started occurring, more and more clues were found. But now the
killer had murdered the Chief of the Police Department, and now all of the
detectives want to take down the killer. But what they don’t know is that
there is more than one killer.
I wouldn’t change the book because everything that had taken
place was just right. It all had happened at the right time and at the right
place. It definitely grabbed my attention right from the start because the
book opened up with the killer shooting.
Frank C. Combs is a
person in this book that’s not that great of a person. He did work for the
police force and now he is killing some of the people he worked with.
Rating:
5 stars
Reviewed by Michael, grade 12
Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of
Sisterhood
Ann Brashares
Realistic Fiction
The realistic novel, Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of Sisterhood is a
great continuous story with a twist. This is the third book in the series
written by Ann Brashares. The author picks up at the beginning of the third
summer as Tibby, Carmen, Lena, and Bridget have recently graduated from high
school. The girls are looking to move on into the next part of their lives.
But before they head off to college, they have the entire summer vacation to
just be girls.
Each girl has a unique character that holds the readers
attention. Bridget, the athletic soccer player, goes off to a sports camp as
a coach, not a player. While at camp, she hooks up with a former
participate from the camp. Life lessons come full circle in this story
line. Tibby, a film making artist, relaxes for the most part because she is
dedicated to helping her family and friends in the time of a crisis. Carmen,
the brain of the bunch, searches for the right college to attend in the
fall. However, she doesn’t like change and her relationship with her step
dad is pretty rocky. Her mother has a baby boy and Carmen wants to be a
part of the new situation the family is experiencing.
Lena, the artist of the four, wants to go to art school; her
father doesn’t agree with how she is going about getting colleges to look at
her artistic drawings. The events of the summer are not what you would
expect to happen based on the two previous summers.
The author is successful in
catching your undivided attention at the beginning of this book. However,
it does make sense to read the two prior books in the series. You can see
yourself doing some of the activities that these four girls experience
during the three months of summer vacation. The best part of the book is
when Carmen has to adjust to her mom having a baby and Carmen is truly
clueless about how to act around her new family. Remember, change sometimes
is the hardest thing to accomplish. I would give this novel a four star
rating because the characters have certainly inspired me to look ahead into
the future.
Rating:
4 stars
Reviewed by Laura, grade 12
A Child Called
It
David Pelzer
Autobiography
A Child Called ‘It’ by David Pelzer is a detailed account of the
author’s struggle with child abuse in his youth. David grew up in the
perfect family, with two happily married parents and brothers. He loved his
Mother more than anything and she was the perfect Mom. David began to get
into trouble a lot in school, so his Mom began punishing him. Eventually,
his Mom began heavily drinking and the punishments turned more violent. His
brothers no longer acknowledged his presence in the house, and even his
Father began to have no control over what happened to David. He was treated
as less-than-human and became an outcast at school and at home.
David’s Mother would harshly beat and starve him until
he was near death. He would try to sneak food at school or at home but was
caught almost every time, and received even worse punishments for it. If
David did not get his chores done in time, he was given no food. He was not
allowed to play with the others; instead he was confined to the garage where
he had to sit on his hands until he had permission to move. The punishments
became more harsh as time went on. His mother once made him stick his arm in
a gas-heated stove, drink ammonia, and she once stabbed him with a kitchen
knife. Any cuts or bruises that were seen by anyone had made up stories
behind them, so that no one would expect abuse. David’s case of child abuse
was eventually reported as the second worst case in California history.
This book was very
interesting, and very easy to read. It catches you in the first few pages,
and there isn’t a dull moment throughout the whole book. It is very sad and
kind of graphic so I wouldn’t read it if you can’t handle that. Overall, it
teaches a good lesson and gives a first-hand account of something which many
of us cannot relate to. It also helps to show that the kids who get made fun
of in school maybe have more going on at home that we don’t realize, so we
shouldn’t judge them so harshly. I would highly recommend this book to
anyone who is interested.
Rating:
Reviewed by Kelly, grade 12
Dark Waters
Catherine MacPhail
Realistic Fiction
This story was told in the eyes of a boy named Col. It was about a boy who’s
family had a bad reputation. He went to the lake and saw a boy jumping
around on the ice. The boy fell through and before Col could think he went
in to save him. After this his whole life changed.
Col
had great character. He tried to act tough but really he was kind. He had
the heart of a hero. This book got my attention in the first few pages. The
action started right away. It made me think that whatever happened could
happen to anyone. This book shows a bit of realistic events. It was very
easy to read. The words were simple and way the story was told was exciting.
Reading this book made me think about loyalty. I think no matter what
happens you should be loyal to your family and no one should get in the way
of that.
My favorite part of the book was finding out who Klaus really
was. Klaus was an illegal immigrant but he had a secret. Not even
Col found out until the
end. Throughout the book
Col slowly made friends after they found out how he really was.
You shouldn’t try to be anyone but yourself.
Col looked up to his
brother and was trying to be just like him. But in the end he found himself
and became his own person.
Rating:
3 stars
Reviewed by Meg, grade 10
One Love, One
Heart: A History of Reggae
James Haskins
Nonfiction
To begin, the book One Love, One Heart is
written about Jamaica’s rural background. This book contains information
about Jamaica
and also Jamaica’s struggles containing population and hunger needs.
Jamaica
also has problems with peace and drug addictions that’s were Bob Marley
comes in to the mix of all the mayhem. Bob Marley made his music for the
listeners of reggae to feel that perfect peace. He does this with both his
instruments and also vocals. Bob Marley also is very well known for the
lyrics that he expresses in his songs. James Haskins includes in the book
One Love,
One Heart
the magnitude of
Jamaica’s
rural background and how reggae relates to the life of the Jamaican culture.
Pertaining to my aspects and my genre of books I would say
this book has good detail. I was searching more for a book that had more to
do with Bob Marley and his background of music and details on growing up in
Jamaica. James
Haskins does include how famous Bob Marley’s music became later on in his
life. I believe to this day he is still very well known for his music and
how many people support him in his reggae music.
Rating:
Reviewed by Radel, grade 11
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