Book+Reviews+3A

by Eugene Pang The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux is a romance yet a mystery novel about the so-called 'ghost' or 'the phantom' who lived in the Paris Opera. The novel begins with the prologue which tells of the authors claim that he, Gaston Leroux, believes that this 'phantom', who is named Erik, does exist. The protagonist are Christine Daae and he father, a famous fiddler. Christine was later given a position in the chorus in the Paris Opera. However, there, she started to hear beautiful voices that were singing and speaking to her. This voice belong to Erik the Phantom, who is a physically deformed and mentally disturbed character, though charming. This phantom was also one of the architects which took part in the construction of the opera, but secretly build one for himself in the cellar. This phantom fell in love with Christine. Erik soon kidnapped Christine, hoping her to fell in love to her. Christine soon unmasked Erik, and the face reviews the face of a rotting corpse. Christine was released, but Erik started to terrorize people who get in his way, including some of Christine's managers. Erik then kidnapped Christine again, this time, trying to force her into marrying him, and threatening to demolish the opera if she refuses. She finally have to accept the marriage in order to save her saviors and the people. I think the Phantom of the Opera is indeed a good book because of the events that happened, including some minor actions. It's a mystery with some suspense and foreshadowing, making the reader wanting to read on.
 * The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux**

Rating: 10/10

“Summer of the Zeppelin”, by Elsie McCutcheon, takes place couple months before the end of World War I in the small town of Frissington St. Peter. Elvira, a 12-year-old girl, has been waiting for the war to end so that her father can return home to save her from her troubles. Meanwhile, Elvira finds herself a safe haven, away from the growing turmoil in Frissington – a spy amongst their people. They all blame one of the German Prisoners being held in the Old Factory, a closed building by the town. Little do they know that Elvira is not that only one who found a safe haven inside the same small cottage that Elvira first believed to be her own. Slowly, they form a friendship that would prove to be more important in dire times. This book shows how important friendship can be between two people, and how trust is essential in growing up and maturing. I’d recommend this book to anyone who’d like a change in pace, rather than seeing Germans as the ‘bad guys’, they are portrayed as kind and trustworthy people for a change.
 * __Summer of the Zeppelin__ by __Elsie McCutcheon__**
 * Amanda Li**
 * Rating: 7/10**

The second installment of ‘The Hunger Game’ series is “Catching Fire”, by Suzanne Collins, which starts off with Katniss and Peeta’s life after the Hunger Games. Though their lives can never be the same again, they’re just beginning to get back into the normal flow of things, before President Snow makes an unexpected visit to Katniss, threatening her to shut down the rebellion, or else her life and all those dear to her would be in danger. Unfortunately, Katniss accidentally fuels the rebellion, rather than putting it out. Before long, and against all odds, she finds herself with Peeta, thrust into the Quarter Quell to fight for their lives again. But this time, something’s different. Something’s changed. This time, the Capitol is up for an even bigger awakening call. They are weaker than they think. I enjoyed this book much more than the first book, because I felt like the characters were much more relatable, especially Katniss. There were also many heart-wrenching scenes that really made me invest in the plot. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone who likes this genre.
 * __Catching Fire__ by __Suzanne Collins__**
 * Amanda Li**

The last and final book of the “The Hunger Game” series, “Mockingjay”, by Suzanne Collins, is, in my opinion, the best book out of the three. After Katniss is brought back to District 13, she loses herself. But with Gale’s help, and the pressure of the rebellion looking up to her, she takes on the role of Mockingjay, and leads the revolt straight into the heart of the Capitol. But along the way, Katniss Everdeen learns about betrayal, about losing people you love, and sacrificing what’s dear to you to save those around you. I feel that this book was the book that I invested the most feelings into, because it felt like everything was just so real. Though she stayed an extremely strong character, Katniss showed more of her weak and vulnerable side, which I believe made her character more believable. I would recommend this book to any who has not yet read it. It is a wonderful and short read.
 * __Mockingjay__ by __Suzanne Collins__**
 * Amanda Li**
 * Rating: 10/10**

Mitch Albom writes another beautifully woven story of a man who dies saving a child he knows, on a job that he has known for his entire life. In “The Five People You Meet In Heaven”, Eddie dies on his 83rd birthday while trying to save the life of a young child, and goes on to meet five different people from 5 moments in his life. Through these people, no matter how obscure they were in his life, Eddie had somehow made an impact on their lives forever. In the afterlife, they teach Eddie their ‘lessons’ before letting him move on to the next stage in the afterlife. Like most of Albom’s books, this book is very beautiful and moving, with a light covering of nostalgia. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a touching read with a happy ending. Although it doesn’t seem like it, this book is quite suspenseful, because you don’t find out whether the girl he tried to save actually lives or not in the end.
 * __The Five People You Meet In Heaven__ by __Mitch Albom__**
 * Amanda Li**
 * Rating: 7.5/10**

The Chocolate war is a book by Robert Cormier about a Christian High School run by a group known as the Vigils. The main character, Archie Costello, is the Assigner. He is in charge of making people do various things to cause havoc. At Trinity high, there's an annual chocolate sale. Because of complications, the Vigils were essentially contracted to ensure the chocolate sale went well. The antagonist, Jerry Renault however, rebels against the school, refusing to sell the chocolates. The book follows the series of shenanigans the Vigils end up doing to deal with the catalyst known as Jerry Renault. I personally was not too interested in the book, and as a result, I wasted 2 weeks, slowly forcing myself to read 10 pages at a time. It wasn't that the book was bad really, I think I wasn't interested in it because it was in a high school, and I subconsciously assumed it was one of those books about relationships and drama. I'd give it a 9/10.
 * The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier**
 * Owen**

Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher is about a student in Cutter highschool by the name of The Tao Jones, who was named after a book by his biological mother, who gave him up for adoption. It starts out with Barbour, harassing Chris, a mentally challenged friend of T.J's for wearing a letter jacket he did not earn. An English teacher by the name of Simet encourages T.J to start a swim team and he agrees so that he could see the look on Barbours face when Chris wears his very own, properly earned letter jacket. Eventually things get out of hand, and some depressing and interesting things happen. I really liked Whale Talk. There were many dynamics to the book, T.J's adoption, his father's story, Heidi, and his therapist/motherfigure. Following the storyline while getting glimpses of other characters and their stories made the book seem real. 10/10.
 * Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher**
 * Owen**

I'm going to be honest, I read the Stranger for two reasons. One was that I had heard about it, and the other was the fact that it was short. That being said, it was actually a pretty good book. The Stranger is split into two parts, the first part was about the main character's life. Meursault's mother had just died, and he took a couple days off work. Meursault met someone and got hanky-panky with her. As I was reading the first part, I constantly thought to myself "Ms.Kemsley was right, you're an imbecile for picking this book, it's every bit as boring as she said it was, if not more." In fact, I had taken over 3 days to finish the first part. When I got to the second part however, things got a lot more interesting. There were many revelations about the insignificance of life, the purpose of existence, religion, emotions, the mundaneness of a prison cell among other things. Part two was very interesting for me. I think this is an excellent book if you survive the first part. The lessons taught in this book are very interesting. 10/10.
 * The Stranger by Albert Camus**
 * Owen**

iRobot by Issac Asimov is a collection of science fiction shorts. Within these shorts, robots are governed by three laws. 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws. There's a story about Robbie the robot who took care of a little girl, a robot who thought earth did not exist and invented some form of robot religion, and a robot who was modified so that it did not obey one of the three rules. The stories are all very interesting, and they demonstrate the flaws of the laws. This piece of science fiction is very entertaining and gives us all a better picture of what's going to come if robots ever become sentient, which is very unlikely. 9/10
 * iRobot by Issac Asimov**
 * Owen**

Looking for Alaska by John Green is about Mile's Halter, known as Pudge for the majority of the book's, life at Culver Creek. Pudge meets an insanely attractive girl by the name of Alaska at Culver Creek. On his first night there, Pudge is duct taped and thrown into a lake by the Weekday Warriors, rich Birmingham students. This triggers a series of pranks. The book is divided into two parts, one in which Mile's Halter develops his crush on Alaska Young, and the second, where really really sad things happen that I unfortunately cannot divulge without completely ruining the first part. Looking for Alaska was amazing. It was very realistic in it's depiction of what high schoolers are like without supervision, and the many ideas Alaska Young came up with were brilliant. Looking for Alaska, like the Stranger explores the meaning of life, and despite the miserable lesson it teaches, that our life is a "labyrinth of suffering," I feel that this book is a must read, and highly recommend it. 10/10
 * Looking for Alaska by John Green**
 * Owen**

The Enders Game takes place in the future with interesting results. In the future Earth is barely scrapping by after the two by with the aliens, the Formics. The book is about how the young protaganist Ender Wiggan is taken to be taught at the Battle School to prepare for the impending third invasion. The story has many turns and though it gets a little confusing at times, and the book also contains unnecessary violence. Even with some of those faults it is a fascinating read, which I enjoyed a lot. I think the Enders Game is a well-written fiction novel that is excellent in keeping the reader intrigued. Rating: 8/10 Review By Avani Verma
 * Enders Game** By **Orson Scott Card**

The book is the story of a young magicians apprentice named Nathanial and how he summons a 5,000-year-old djinni, Bartimaeus, to do his bidding. Nathanial is an 11-year-old boy learning the art of being magician. His master teaches him nothing, but through books he learns how to be a better magician in order to gain revenge on the man who brushed aside Nathanial’s capabilities. In the book, Nathaniel and Bartimaeus take on many adventures each resulting in more danger for the duo. Although this book starts out slow by the middle the book keeps you at the edge of your seat. Making this book a worthwhile read. (: Review By Avani Verma Rating 9/10
 * The Amulet of Smarkand** By **Jonathan Stroud**

The Perks About Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, tells the story a boy named Charlie in his freshmen year, having to deal with going back to school after his best friend commits suicide. Charlie is an impressionable boy and was coerced into trying many things as he gains friends throughout his freshmen year. Although Charlie is young he deals with many things most kids his age don't have to face, making this book one of the most interesting and refreshing I have read so far this year. Review By Avani Verma Rating 10/10
 * Perks of Being a Wallflower** By **Stephen Chbosky**

by Eugene Pang WARNING: Recommended to number freaks, economist, and extreme leftist only
 * Das Kapital** by **Karl Marx**

Economy - just pure economy. I will not recommend this book to anyone unless they are a number freak or that you just like math or likes marketing (9th grader going marketing and buying stocks - totally). Das Kapital is basically a book of statistics that show the condition of the economy during the 1800s. It shows Karl Marx's criticism towards capitalism as political economy. The main point of the book is to show how the capitalist system of production comes before the socialist system of production. It also show the condition of the class struggle due to the capitalist social class, where there is the bourgeois who controls the factory, and the proletariat who are just the workers. It shows how the working class are mostly put into one small room for their curfew, and the condition which worsened as more and more workers join in the factory. The book also compares the economy, the rate of production, and profits by different company in different dates. To round it up, this thick book is full of numbers. I, personally, think that this book is okay as it shows the condition of workers during the period (which is the way which I like it) and how they live, and how harsh the conditions were. The worse part is really to keep track of the numbers that is in it.

Rating - 7/10

__**One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich**__ by __**Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn**__
 * by Eugene Pang**

__ One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich __ by __ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn __ is a literary fiction that depict a man named Ivan Denisovich Shukhov who was been sentenced to a Soviet gulag (work camp). He was accused of being a spy for the Germans during World War II. Even though he was innocent, he was still punished, and was sentenced to 10 years in the gulag. The novel also presents Shukhov's squad, the 104th, which has 24 members in it. If they wanted to survive, they have to work hard to get more food. They have to pressure each other in order to work hard, because if one person in the squad slacks off, the whole squad will get a reduced ration. I think this book really does show the condition of the Soviet gulag. It indeed lets the ready feel what it was like to live in the Soviet Union, working, and the difficult conditions in the gulag.

Rating: 10/10

__ " **The Client** " __ **Jun Taek Oh**

This book follows a boy called Mark Sway, who is born in a rough environment and family: his mother a heavy smoker, and his ex-father a man who severely beat Mark and his mother. Thus, Mark grows up to be somewhat of a delinquent, smoking at the age of 11. One day, when he is out in the woods smoking with his younger brother, Ricky, he witnesses someone attempting a suicide. This ‘someone’ turns out to be a lawyer. When trying to stop his suicide, Mark learns everything from him: the lawyer works for a criminal who killed a politician and hid his body, and that body is currently the most wanted body in America. The lawyer then suicides, and Mark is targeted for having this knowledge. Being a suspense thriller novel, I did not observe any themes in the book. I recommend this book to people who love legal thriller books.

Rating: 9/10

__**The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger**__ //The Catcher in the Rye// is the story of teenager Holden Caulfield's turbulent last few days before his Christmas vacation. During these days, Holden leaves Pencey Prep, a boys' school he's been kicked out of, and takes off for a few nights alone in New York City. Stradler tells the story as a monologue, a mental facility where he's recovering from the stress of the experiences he retells. Holden takes a walk to the house of his history teach, Mr. Spencer, and later on gets beaten up by his roommate, Stradlater. Stradlater tries to hook up with one of Holden’s old friends, Jane Gallagher, and that drives Holden mad and beats Stradlater up. After the fight, Holden decides to leave Pencey immediately. He leaves campus in the middle of the night. He goes on a train which takes Holden to New York City, where his family has lived all his life. Holden never does give a through assessment of his forecast since he’s been under treatment, but his voice in the novel’s last few pages tells us his time recovering has made him calmer, bust still lonely and lost.
 * Eván Fu**
 * Score: 10/10**

__**The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain**__ **Eván Fu** //The adventures of Huckleberry Finn// describes the adventures of a boy named Huckleberry. Huckleberry is kidnapped by Pap, his drunken father. Pap kidnaps him because he wants Huckleberry's $6000. Huck was awarded $6000 from the treasure he and Tom Sawyer found in //The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.// Huck finally escapes from the deserted house in the woods and finds a canoe to shove off down the river. Instead of going back to the widow's house, he decides to run away. While traveling on a raft down the river of Mississippi, they overcome maybe obstacles. Through all of the adventures down the river, he learns a variety of life lessons and becomes a better person. The book isn’t as exciting as I expected it to be, but it is quite vivid!
 * Score 7.5/10**

__**Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce**__ //Sisters Red// is the kind of book you won’t be able to put down once you start because it’s so fascinating. The story begins when the young sisters Scarlett and Rosie March, are attacked in their home by a Fenris (a werewolf). However, Scarlett saves the both of them in the horrible battle but unfortunately, loses her eye in the fight and is left covered in scars. Fast forward seven years, as teenage Scarlett and Rosie spend their evenings hunting the Fenris, along with the help of their friend, Silas, a woodsman. Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax– but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they’ve worked for. The bond between the sisters comes into question, when the relationship between Silas and Rosie tests her commitment to the fight that has become Scarlett’s quest in life. Who is she going to pick, her sister or true love? **Score 10/10**
 * Eván Fu**

Anna Merkt Angels and Demons is the sequel to the Davinci Code. It follows the same protagonist, Harvard professor Robert Langdon as he is called to yet another murder scene to decipher the historical symbols that are present. The single murder leads him and his companions to the city of Rome, where they embark on an adventure around Vatican City. A time bomb has been placed somewhere in the city, and the city is in danger. At the same time, the election for a new pope is going on, and four of the principal cardinals are missing. Langdon must find the time bomb and at the same time, decipher clues to find a way to prevent the murders of the cardinals. This book was just as exciting and spellbinding as the first. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good mystery or adventure. I would rate this book an 8/10.
 * __Angels and Demons by: Dan Brown__**

__**Tiger Moon by Antonia Michaelis**__ //Tiger Moon//, a novel in a story of courage and friendship, set in early-20th-century India, about a talking tiger, a charming young thief, and a doomed princess. Raka is a beautiful woman who got married off to a horrible, greedy, and evil man. Her family has no money, and were not of the same religion. She knows that her death is imminent because unlike what Rajah thinks, she is actually not a virgin. Farhad, the thief who turned into a hero, mounts a sacred white tiger and journeys across a desert to rescue the god Krishna's daughter from a demon king. While reading this book, I felt like I’m on a journey to a Palace flying on a magical carpet! I enjoyed every minute and was plowing through it to find out what happens in the end.
 * Eván Fu**
 * Score:10/10**

Harry Potter was an immediate fantasy classic among teenagers around the world. The Chamber of Secrets is the second installment of the Harry Potter series of seven books. Harry Potter is a wizard who just last year joined Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in which, hence the name, he went to increase his learning of Magic. Harry and his two friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, are all students of Hogwarts and they’re returning after the summer. But this year something is lurking around causing immense hysteria as it terrorizes students throughout the school. Harry Potter is a series that came out a long time ago and I had never gotten around to reading it before now. Though I haven’t read the books I have watched the movies and I have to say that even after watching the movie the book is worth reading because the movie doesn’t show all the things mentioned in the book and the movie has a few things that weren’t in the book. It kept me reading throughout the whole book trying to make connections and seeing the differences.
 * __Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets__** by **J.K. Rowling**
 * Harry Gray**
 * Score: 10/10**

Seung Won Chung
 * __The Old Man and the Sea__** by **Ernest Hemingway**
 * __The Old Man and the Sea__** by famous English writer, Ernest Hemingway, is a story about an old man fishing or catching a fish. The protagonist the Old Man, Santiago went out to the sea for 84 days without catching any fishes. At the 85th day, Santiago went out to the sea and for two days, he had caught a gigantic fish. Nevertheless, a lot of sharks have eaten up the Santiago’s fish and left out emaciated bones. While I was reading the book, I felt that the moral lesson of this novel is that the process is more important than the result. Although Santiago caught a big fish, and fought with it with bravery and hope, the outcome is that nothing was left. It has showed the readers that the process is important than results. In my opinion, the book has uninteresting story line, but it has a strong lessen. I would recommend this book to a juniors and seniors, where the final grades are not important than the process of learning.
 * Score: 9/10**

Kathy and Ruth are friends in Hailsham boarding school as children. Hailsham boarding school is not a normal school. They don’t allow children to go out of the school gates, they don’t teach subject most schools teach. It’s a school for raised future medical donors that are actually clones. Kathy and Tommy come to like each other, however Ruth steps in between them and splits Tommy and Kathy apart. As they grow up, kids are moved to the cottages to begin their contact with the outside world. Ruth and Tommy remain together while Kathy often works as heir peacemaker. The kids hear that if they truly fall in love, they can “defer” from organ donations for three years, and that the art works they were made to do as children were used to judge whether they were in love or not and their personality. Tommy starts working in art as he want to show the “judge” the Madame that he is capable of falling in true love. Kathy leaves to become a caretaker who cares for other clones after their organ donations as Ruth and Tommy become donors themselves. After ten years Kathy meets Ruth again as her carer. Ruth was in a critical condition after her first donation. Kathy, Ruth and Tommy goes on a little trip to the marshes where Ruth confesses that she purposely interfered between Kathy and Tommy’s bond. She hand them the address to Madame’s house to go talk to her about deferring Tommy’s forth donation which is most likely to be his completion (death). Shortly after Ruth dies in her second donation. Kathy and Tommy goes to visit Madame with Tommy art works but finds out the truth about Hailsham which is now closed. It was a facility created to prove that clones had souls too, but failed to do this. The rumor about deferring 3 years from donations if they were truly in love was a made up rumor to motivate students. Tommy gets very upset after knowing this while Kathy accepts her purpose in life. Tommy completes in his forth donation. Kathy is told to resign from being a caretaker and start her donations soon. I enjoyed reading this book. It makes us reflect on the way we live reading about clones who are born to not live pass 20 years of age and never treated like humans till their completion. I recommend this book to everyone.
 * __ Never let me go __** by **__Kazuo Ishiguro__**
 * Susan Lim **
 * Score: 10/10**

Narnia was under the rule of King Miraz brother of the precious king. The rightful king of Narnia was Prince Caspian the previous king’s son. The Pevensie children came back to Narnia through the train station after leaving Narnia for a year in Earth time, they realize that 3000 years had passed in Narnia. Their castle Cair Paravel was in ruins no Narnians were no where to be see. The Talmarines came to Narnia and became king. Native Narnians were known to be long extinct, but actually they were not. Narnians welcomed the kings and queens of Narnia; the Pevensie children back. Prince Caspian joined the Pevensies and old Narnians to defeat his uncle and get back his throne. Miraz’s army and the old Narnians’ army battles infront of Aslan tomb. The old Narnians win th battle as Aslan comes back. Prince Caspian became king of Narnians and the Talmarians. Aslan helped send back Talmarians to where they came from;Earth, if they wanted to. Susan and Peter Pevensie tells Edmund and Lucy that they were too old to come back to Narnia now.The Pevensies gets back to the train station just in time to catch Susan and Lucy’s train to their boarding school. I enjoyed reading this book. It shows a lot of conflict and change compared to the last two books it the Chronicles of Narnia. I recommend this book to readers that enjoy fantasy novels.
 * __ Prince Caspian __** by **__C.S.Lewis__**
 * Susan Lim **
 * Score: 9/10**

The main character Tristan Thorn is in love with the beauty of the Wall village Victoria Forester. He promises to get her the newly fallen star by her birthday as her birthday present. Tristan uses a Babylon candle that brings you to wherever you wish to go and brings him self to where the star had fallen. The star had fallen over the boundaries of England and the enchanted world over the town wall. When he reaches the star, it is in a form a beautiful girl. In the enchanted country of Stormhold, a star’s heart can grant you immortality and power. Tristan and Yvaine the star is tracked by the witch Lamia and Prince Septimus who wants what Yvaine’s heart can give them. In their journey back to England, Tristan and Yvaine falls in love. Tristan brings back Yvaine’s hair to Victoria to tell her he doesn’t love her anymore. He realizes Yvaine cannot keep her human form in England as her hair turned to star dust in England. Tristan hurries back to Yvaine to stop her from crossing the boundaries, but she is taken away by Lamia. Tristan fights Lamia and the manipulated corpse of Prince Septimus who turned out to be is uncle. As Lamia almost kills Tristan, Yvaine releases her power to kill the witch and saves Tristan. Tristan becomes king of Stormhold with Yvaine as his Queen. They literally live happily ever after as Yvaine “gave” her heart to Tristan by falling in love with him. After generations and generations, Yvaine and Tristan goes back to the sky an lives forever as two happy stars. I enjoyed reading this book. I recommend it to fantasy lovers!
 * __ Stardust __** by **__Neil Gaiman__**
 * Susan Lim **
 * Score: 10/10**

Melinda Sordino is raped at the summer party before the new school year. She doesn’t tell anyone about not to her friends or her parents. Melinda becomes a loner when she comes back to school for ruining the party by calling the police in at summer party and disappearing. Melinda’s used to be friend Rachel dates the boy who raped her, Andy Evans. However helps to reveal Andy when he turns aggressive on her. Through the book Melinda works on her yearlong art project. Her product shows how she went through change, recovery and confession. She suffers internally and externally everytime Andy looks at her. In the end Melinda is not afraid to speak up for her self making the title of the book “Speak”. I personally didn’t like this book, but it's very meaningful book, therefore I recommend it.
 * __ Speak __** by **__Laurie Halse Anderson__**
 * Susan Lim **
 * Score: 8/10**

Anna and Kate Fitzgerald are sisters. Kate suffers from acute promyelocytic leukemia, a blood and bone marrow cancer. Anna was born so that she could save Kate's life being a life long donor. When Anna turns 13 she is told that she has to donate one of her kidneys. This may kill Kate and have a huge impact on Anna life. To make her own decisions for her medical treatment and the donation of her kidney, Anna petitions for medical emancipation with the lawyer Campbell Alexander. Anna's mother is an ex-lawyer and decides to go against Anna in court. She tries to make Anna drop the lawsuit, but Anna refuses every time. During the trial Kate’s asking Anna to sue for emancipation because she believes that she will die anyway and not wanting her sister to go through a big risk is revealed. The trial ends in Anna's favor. However, after the trial as Campbell drives Anna home their car gets hit by a truck and Anna becomes brain dead. Anna’s kidney is donated to Kate, and Kate survives the surgery. Six years later Kate believing she survived in place of someone who had to go, remembers Anna every time she sees two girls giggling together. This is a great book that makes you cry over the characters. I recommend to it everyone.
 * __ My Sister’s Keeper __** by **__Jodi Picoult__**
 * Susan Lim **
 * Score: 10/10**

Sophie Amundsen comes back from school one day to find an envelope in her mailbox. Starting that day onwards she receives envelopes that contain letters about the history of philosophy every few days. Sophie gets interested in philosophy from the anonymous sender’s letters and starts to look at things differently, also often annoying her mother by asking sudden philosophical questions and criticizing her answers. Sophie along with her philosophy letters receives post cards addressed to Hilde Møller Knag, care of Sophie from Hilde’s father. This confuses Sophie, she starts thinking the sender of the philosophy letters and the post cards addressed to Hilde must have some sort of relations. Later Sophie learns that Alberto Knox is the name of the philosopher who is teaching her through the letters. When they move on to learning about Spinoza, it becomes obvious that who ever it is, Hilde’s father has a special power over them. Later Sophie finds out they exist inside the mind of Albert Knag, Hilde’s father. The story switches to Hilde’s point of view as she receives a book //Sophie’s World// for her birthday. Hilde comes to believe that Sophie is not just a character in a book. Alberto and Sophie plan to escape Albert Knag’s mind when he comes home for Hilde’s birthday, but in order to do that they must finish the philosophy courses first. They desperately try to come up with a plan to escape, even if Hilde's father knows about everything they do. Then at the end of //Sophie's World//, Alberto and Sophie disappear. Hilde's father comes home on Hilde’s birthday and they talk about the book, and Hilde is sure that Sophie is real. Sophie and Alberto newly “born” into spirits invisible to others as they escape from Albert Knag's mind. The story ends with Sophie wanting to get involved in the world of Albert and Hilde Knag and learning how. I enjoyed reading //Sophie's World,// it has an interesting plot as it goes from one world to another which actually exists in a person’s mind in another world, and explains logically what each philosopher thought and how it connects to our lives. I recommend it to people who are interested in philosophy and a patient reader.
 * __ Sophie’s world __** by **__Jostein Gaarder__**
 * Susan Lim **
 * Score: 9/10**

__**1984 by George Orwell**__ Winston Smith is a low-ranking member of the ruling Party in London, in the nation of Oceania. Everywhere he goes, even at home, the Party watches him through telescreens; everywhere he looks he sees the face of the Party’s leader, a figure known only as Big Brother. Everything in Oceania is controlled by the Party, even the people’s history and language. Winston feels frustrated by the rigid control of the Party and wrote his criminal thoughts in a diary. Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, and notices a coworker, a beautiful dark-haired girl. One day, Winston receives a note from the girl saying “I love you.” She tells him her name, Julia, and they begin a covert affair, always on the lookout for signs of Party monitoring. Eventually they rent a room above the secondhand store in the prole district where Winston bought the diary. Winston is sure that they will be caught and punished sooner or later, while Julia is more optimistic. As Winston’s affair with Julia progresses, his hatred for the Party grows stronger. After reading 1984, you’ll find yourself a bit paranoid, but I guess that’s good. Because that means you’ve really understood the book by having taken a step closer to respecting the importance of freedom and dignity. **Score: 9/10**
 * Eván Fu**

Anna Merkt The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is just what it sounds like, it is literally the adventures of a boy named Huckleberry Finn. The book is set in the southern United States during the 1800’s and follows Huck through his many adventures, close shaves, and exciting times. Huck and his African American friend Jim, escape from Huck’s guardian the Widow Douglas and start a new life, living on a raft paddling down the Mississippi river but they encounter many obstacles and problems. Throughout them all, Huck manages to add fun and humor to all of them, and sometimes he comes close to getting in big trouble. The book was very funny and I enjoyed it. The one downside was the many Southern dialects that were used; sometimes it was hard to understand. I would give this book a 7.5/10.
 * __The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By: Mark Twain__**

The Last Song is a novel about the life of Veronica “Ronnie” Miller, a seventeen-year-old teenager. Ronnie was living a perfect life until her parents divorced. This had wounded Ronnie extremely, reason why she became angry and isolated herself from her parents. One summer, Ronnie’s mom finally decides that she and her brother, Jonah, should spend summer with her father in Wilmington, North Carolina. There, she meets Will and deeply falls in love for the very first time. During her stay, she reminisces about her previous memories of moments she had spent with her father and also discovers truths about the past. Ronnie eventually finds her way back home and decides to give her father a second chance. I think that this book is very heartwarming as it speaks about the power of relationships, how it can shatter our hearts into pieces and heal its wounds. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone who is willing to be moved by a story about the astonishing power of relationships.
 * __The Last Song__** by **__Nicholas Sparks__**
 * Karisse Cuenco**
 * Score: 10/10**

The Catching Fire is the second book of the Hunger Games Sequel. In this novel, Katniss and Peeta now lives in Victor's Village in District 12 as a reward for winning in the Hunger Games. Katniss and Peeta both go on a victory tour around the twelve districts. As President Snow discovers Katniss and Gale's secert hiding place (the woods), Gale's life is now at risk. The only way for Katniss to keep Gale safe is to convince President Snow that she loves Peeta. Now, Katniss and Peeta risk their lives once again as they join the Quarter Quell (similar to the Hunger Games but is done every 25 years), and unknowingly puts their very own District 12 in danger. In my opinion, this novel is filled with a combination of action, drama and romance. It also had a lot of suspense and unexpected events. I think that this novel is also one of a kind, following the first book, The Hunger Games.
 * __Catching Fire__** by **__Suzanne Collins__**
 * Karisse Cuenco**
 * Score: 10/10**

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is about a beautiful, and youthful man named Dorian Gray who gets negatively influenced by a man named Lord Henry Wotton. The two first met when Basil, a painter, was painting a picture of Dorian. He claims that Dorian inspires his art, so he does not want Henry to negatively influence the young man. But despite his warnings, Henry tells Dorian, in a friendly discussion that beauty is ephemeral. His beauty, like everyone else’s will fade away. Dorian fears this, and he curses the painting of him self to bear the burden of aging, while he stays beautiful. With each selfish and sinful dead he does, the man in the portrait turns old, and shriveled. Score: 9/10
 * __The Picture of Dorian Gray__ by Oscar Wilde**
 * Chelsea Lee**

__ **“** **Whale Talk** **”** __ **Jun Taek Oh**

“ __ Whale Talk __ ” takes place in Cutter high school, where sportsmanship and athleticism are a matter of life and death. Star athletes even get to be the favorites of teachers, even to the point where a teacher will overlook them bullying another student. A teacher named Mr. Simet tries to start a swimming team because he does not want to be the assistant coach for the wrestling team. He persuades and encourages the protagonist, T.J, to start a swimming team as he used to be an accomplished swimmer. T.J manages to recruit enough members to form a swim team, although the members seem to be very “unlikely”. The members include Chris Coughlin, who is mentally challenged, Dan Hole, who is very smart but is considered obnoxious by other students, Tay-Roy Kibble, who used to be a talented wrestler but had lost interest in the sport, Andy Mott, who had lost a leg, and the extremely shy Jackie Craig. “ __ Whale Talk __ ” deals with themes about discrimination and isolation. The swim team members were all picked on, bullied, or outcasted for their cultural backgrounds, different personalities, physical handicaps, etc. But by the end of the book, they all gain enough confidence to overcome these obstacles of isolationism. I recommend this book to people who enjoy reading about sports with an emotional and deep plot.

**Rating: 9/10**


 * “ __ The Chocolate War __ ” by Robert Cormier **
 * Jun Taek Oh **

This book focuses on Jerry Renault, a freshman at Trinity High. In Trinity High, there is an absolute hierarchal rule, and an organization called The Vigils stand on top of the hierarchy. The Vigils maintain their power by giving students “assignments” to carry out. Jerry is given the assignment of selling but refuses. The Vigils continue attempting to persuade Jerry to cooperate, but Jerry refuses everytime, inspired by a poster in his locker that says “Do I dare disturb the universe?”. Soon, Jerry inspires other students to not sell chocolates, and becomes a “hero” figure. However, the Vigils does not sit and watch Jerry’s uprising, and start threatening and assaulting him. I feel like the book dealt with the theme of “disturbing the universe”. On other words, impacting or changing the natural order of society. Throughout the story, Jerry constantly make attempts to make an impact on the school society by not listening to the powerful Vigils. However, this heroic attempt comes at a heavy cost. I personally thought that the book had an interesting cast of characters, such as the sly and cruel Archie. However, because of the ending cannot be considered a “good” ending at all, and makes the story rather dark. I personally felt shivers down my spine reading the cruelty and the dark ending of this book. I recommend this book to people who do not exactly prefer happy endings and enjoy suspense.


 * Rating: 8/10 **

Chelsea Lee Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom tells of true story of a professor dying of ALS, a terminal neurological disease that destroys her motor neurons (which controls your muscles). “Mitch, he continued, softly now, you don’t understand. I want to tell you about my life. I want to tell you before I cant tell you anymore” p63. A past student of his, Mitch flies a 700-mile journey every Tuesday to discuss philosophical subjects, and life lessons with Morrie just like they had done when he was in college. Morrie believes that he is a life teacher, he teaches people to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, and to embrace love. We learn of the elderly man’s tragic past, and his astonishing achievements. This is an heartwarming, non-fiction story that will note only spread awareness of the disease, but share with you important life messages, and commemorate Morrie for his bravery and selfishness. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, it was really amazing, and the fact that it was based on real life makes the book even more enjoyable.
 * __Tuesdays with Morrie__ by Mitch Albom**
 * Score: 10/10**

The novel, The Five People You Meet In Heaven, is a religious fiction book which expresses the author’s concept of heaven. The story is about the life and death of Eddie, a maintenance guy at the Ruby Pier amusement park. The story began with Eddie’s death. He meets five different people in heaven who significantly impacted Eddie’s life when he was still living on earth. Eddie lived a life full of anger, guilt, and regret. From every person that Eddie meets, he discovers truths about his life which he had never known, understands the reason for the events in his life and learns important lessons from them. Personally, I think this book is very interesting because it creates a beautiful concept of heaven. This book is also very interesting because Mitch Albom wrote it in a way that makes the readers feel as if the story is real and alive. I would recommend this novel to anyone who would like to be amazed by the Mitch Albom’s concept of heaven and his creative ways of expressing his ideas and teaching the readers important lessons in life.
 * __The Five People You Meet In Heaven__** by **__Mitch Albom__**
 * Karisse Cuenco**
 * Score 10/10**

__**Ashes by Kathryn Lasky**__ //Ashes// by Kathryn Lasky tells a story about the time of anti-Nazi in Berlin. Gaby is a thirteen year old independent thinker who loves literature, and her father is a German Physicist. She isn’t quite sure about what goes on in the political world, but tries to observe on the members of Hitler’s private army. She becomes aware that Jews become singled out as scapegoats, although she doesn’t seem to figure out the reason why. People supporting the Nazi movement are part of their family’s lives – a beloved teacher, servant, boyfriend, etc. As Hitler and his forces grow in power, the plot intensifies. Gaby’s story is one of personal growth, as she matures and must stand up for her own beliefs. Eventually, Gaby’s family decides whether they can live in a country where so much freedom is restricted. Gaby is around the same age as I am, so I really stepped into her shoe while reading the story and imagined myself going through all of it! Score: 8.5/10
 * Eván Fu**

__ **The Dead and the Gone** __ by Susan Beth Pfeffer by Stephanie Tang The Dead and the Gone is the book after Life as We Knew It. Life as We Knew it was about a meteor that hit the moon, which knocked it out of its orbit, which caused natural disasters and phenomenons to begin in Earth. The dead and the gone continues with this phenomenon, except with a new character named Alex living in New York City. After a tsunami, Alex's parents are nowhere to be found, and he is left with taking care of his two sisters with small amounts of food, lack of electricity, and having to take items from houses of dead people. I liked this book because I think it really shows how everyone has responsibility, and that people should appreciate the normal and easy lives we have compared to the events in this book. I thought this book a little boring some times because it felt like nothing was happening, but I still thought that it had important thought-provoking ideas. I would rate this book a 9 out of 10.

by Stephanie Tang Life as We Knew It is about a meteor that hits the moon and knocks it out of its orbit, which causes natural disasters and phenomenons. This book is about a girl named Miranda, who's family is lucky not to live near areas of natural disasters, though is still greatly affected. She sees how people near her die and others go into their houses to take any supplies. She sees how her position in her family is so important when her family gets sick, and she has to take care of them with no heater, not enough food, not enough gas, not enough of anything really, except for dead people. I liked this book a lot as that it showed how different life can become with change and also how challenging living without the necessary resources can be. There was a lot of sympathy for Miranda, which helps the reader stay very interested. I would rate this book 10 out of 10.
 * __ Life as We Knew It __** by Susan Beth Pfeffer

**Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky** by Eugene Pang Crime and Punishment is a crime fiction written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It is about the dilemma of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a poor ex-student in St. Petersburg who plans to kill a pawnbroker for her cash. Raskolnikov explained that with the pawnbroker's money he can perform good deeds to 'pay' for the crime, while ridding the world of a worthless parasite. He also commits this murder to test his own hypothesis that some people are naturally capable of such things, and even have the right to do them. Several times throughout the novel, Raskolnikov justifies his actions by connecting himself mentally with Napoleon Bonaparte, believing that murder is permissible as long as it is for greater purpose. I like this book mainly for the suspense and the details of the book (though a little bit too overdoing the plans!) - but it still bring interest into readers! 9/10 only because its a bit long… still, its one great mystery book which I know of! 9/10

__**Montmorency by Eleanor Updale**__ “Gentleman by day, thief by night”. //Montmorency// by Eleanor Updale is a dark, spooky crime novel, but at the same time, addicting at some point. The setting of the book is in the 1800's, London. This is a city full of poverty and violence. The book is about a thief who falls through a glass roof trying to escape from the police, but surprisingly lived. He becomes the most indefinable burglar in Victorian London. Later on, he has two identities- the wealthy, sophisticated gentleman Montmorency and his filthy, corrupt servant, Scarper. Montmorency, while not a super hardcore criminal, does evolve into a better person by the end of the book. I like his mysterious character, I actually had to reread some sections of the book to understand the plot, but once everything starts making sense, you’ll realize it’s actually a great book!
 * Eván Fu**
 * Score: 7.5/10**

Chelsea Lee Fearless by Francine Pascal is about a girl named Gaia who is literally fearless. Her adventures take place when she is searching for clues about her tragic past. She meets a man named Nikolai, who shows her clues starting from before her birth. She learns of her parent’s frustrating, and complex past. As the last clue given to her, she uncovers her violent past. I would give this book a 7.5/10, some of the parts were extremely predictable, and a little bit cliché. Though, many things kept me interested such as the reason behind her fearlessness and extreme intelligence. This book is just the first part of the Fearless series, so there are several questions that are left be unanswered.
 * __Fearless (Before Gaia)__ by Francine Pascal**
 * Score: 7.5/10**

The Great Expectations is about how love, loyalty and character are more important than wealth and social advancements. Pip, an orphan who lives with his sister and brother in law does not have a high social status. In the beginning of the book Pip is “forced” to obey a convict get food and a file to remove his chains. Later when Pip’s stealing for the convict is revealed, the convict claims that he stole the items and sets Pip free. Pip’s uncle Pumblechook takes Pip to the rich Satis house of the dowager Miss Havisham who wishes to live forever in her own world with time stopped at when her fiancé disappeared on the day of her wedding. There Pip meets the beautiful but frozen hearted Estella. Pip falls in love with Estella and wishes to become a gentleman worthy to marry her. One day a lawyer named Jaggers brings news that a secret benefactor has given Pip a large fortune and he has to go to London immediately and begin his education as a gentleman. Pip goes to London and makes friends with Herbert Pocket, he looks down on his family and former friends but continues to chase after Estella. In London Pip meets Magwitch, a convict and his secret benefactor. Pip feels responsible to help Magwitch escape. After that he finds out that Magwitch is actually Estella father, making Estella originally someone of even lower social status than he is. Pip finds out that Compeyson, Magwitch’s former partner in crime was the man who left Miss Havisham on their wedding day. When everything falls in place, Estella marries a rich man Bentley Drummle. Pip goes abroad with Herbert to work in the mercantile trade. Many years later he returns to the ruins of the Satis house garden where time is no longer stopped and meets Estella again. Estella’s husband treated her cruelly but was now dead. Pip sees that Estella’s stone heart is replaced with kindness. Pip and Estella leaves the garden believing that they will never part again. I enjoyed reading this book. I recommend it especially to anyone who likes stories that unwinds to reveal that everything was connected in the end.
 * __ The Great Expectations __** by **__Charles Dickens__**
 * Susan Lim **
 * Score 10/10 **

__**Under The Same Sky**__ by **Cynthia DeFelice**
Under The Same Sky is a novel about a farm boy who learns to respect what adults do throughout the day; work. It’s Joe Pederson’s birthday and when he sees a motorbike in a catalog he knows that he has to have it, after all his friend Randy is getting one from his dad so why shouldn’t he. When his dad says he has to earn the money through working on their family farm along side the Mexicans they pay Joe goes right for it. Manuel is the leader of these people and he has a lot of trust from Joe’s father. But over time Joe comes to respect those who work vigorously everyday to earn money for their lives. This helps Joe to come to the realization that his fathers trust and pride is worth much more than a motorbike that he would likely rarely use. This story is inspirational in that it truly helps to respect your parents who work most days to provide for their family. Though it started out in such a way that I thought it would be boring, it eventually became a book in which I thoroughly liked to read.
 * Harry Gray**
 * Score: 9/10**

Stephanie Tang Fahrenheit 451 is a book about a society where books are forbidden by law. 'Firemen' are hired to find and burn books, which the main character, Guy, has been doing. One night, Guy meets a girl called Clarisse, who asks him meaningful questions on his life as a 'fireman'. After Guy accidentally reads a line of a book when he was burning them, he finds changes in the way he thinks, and loses the joy in burning books. He finds the importance of books in the society though his job requires him to burn them. I thought that this book's main idea is quite interesting, a society where books are forbidden seems so ironic when it is described within a book. However, some areas were somewhat boring, like the beginning, but I thought that this book was very interesting and thought-provoking to read. I would rate this book a 9 out of 10.
 * __Fahrenheit 451__** by Rad Bradbury

Stephanie Tang City of Bones is part of the Mortal Instruments series and is about a girl named Clary Fray who realizes that her life is not what it seems. One day she comes across a special group of people called "Shadowhunters" who hunt demons throughout the city of Manhattan, and she soon finds that she herself is a Shadowhunter, and suddenly her life is on the line. She encounters both beautiful and frightening creatures of all kinds and gets a taste of what it is like to mix danger and forbidden love. This book, to me, is quite well written and I feel like reading more more fantasy books. However, I found that Clary is hard to understand and this is a downside to the book. The author could have tried to make her more relatable to the reader. Still, I think that this book is entertaining and a mind-blowing book to read. I would give this book a rating of 9 out of 10.
 * __City Of Bones__**, by Cassandra Clare

Chelsea Lee The Chocolate War is about the lives of Catholic high school students being ruled over a hierarchy system called the Vigils. The school has an event where each student must sell fifty bars of chocolate, double the quota of which was last year. The story tells about a boy called Jerry that goes against the Vigils by disobeying his assignment to start selling chocolates. The book’s moral is very cynical, but also somewhat realistic. I would give this book an 8/10 because some parts were more for male audiences to understand and that I found the book slightly on the boring side. Though I also found one character, Archie Costello, especially interesting because of his wittiness, and merciless characteristic. (Which kept me reading) Score: 8/10
 * __The Chocolate War__** by Robert Cormier

Chelsea Lee Shanghai Girls by Lisa See takes place in Shanghai 1937,and is about two in-separable sisters that lead a carefree life in the streets of Shanghai. Their family is well off, and poverty is out of the question. Pearl, the oldest sister, loves and cherishes her younger sister, May. Though she also envies May because she is favored amongst her parents for May’s beauty and amicability. Though, despite the seemingly one-sided love, the two stick together as best friends, celebrating their youth and freedom as the luxurious bourgeoisie in Shanghai. But soon, the two learn that their father has gambled away their fortune, and sells them as brides to a family living in Los Angeles, California. Lisa See uses tragedy, love, and accurate historic events and behavior to create a realistic story. From this novel the reader will learn many things about the history of China, the role of women, discrimination of Chinese spread throughout the two sibling’s journey. I give this book an 8.7/10, because I learned many things about the Chinese living in the United States during the revolution and although I had already somewhat known some of the rights of women in the 1900s, it was still shocking to read about the women who were thought of as replaceable machines for producing sons. The downside to this book is that there is a lot of tragedy in this story to the point where I find my self-lacking emotion for some of the characters. (Though I wouldn’t really take off too many points for this. Mainly the points were taken off for the ending, but do not let it discourage you since the overall read is enjoyable) (I had a hard time rating this)
 * __Shanghai Girls__** by Lisa See
 * 8.7/10**

Chelsea Lee
 * __Of Mice and Men__ by John Steinbeck**

John Steinbeck tells a story of an unlikely pairing of men. George is “small and quick and dark of face”. And Lennie is big man, who has the naive and ignorant mind of a child. They soon find work in California’s vegetable fields, yearning to raise enough money to fulfill their childhood dream of living in a ranch occupied with animals to take care of. But soon enough, Lennie’s mental disabilities and brute strength lead the pair to a dilemma that cannot be solved easily. The relationship between the two is very deep, as childhood friends they have stuck together enduring many difficult situations as they work. George’s tolerance of Lennie’s mental incapability and Lennie’s loyalty to George easily creates sympathy for the any kind of reader.

Score: 9/10

Whale Talk is a novel about the creation of the Cutter High School swim team led by T.J. Jones. The Cutter High School takes sports seriously for it has a well-known reputation in the state. The Cutter All Night Mermen are a group of misfits who seem to be struggling to belong to a school that is not welcoming them. The Cutter High is a bit hesitant about creating a new swim team for two reasons: Cutter High does not have a swimming pool and they think that there aren’t really any outstanding swimmers in the school. Now, T.J. thinks that a varsity letter jacket, which only chosen respected athletes receive this, is the key for the team to finally have a place and purpose in Cutter High. For T.J., it is the journey that really matters. Along the way, he faces a lot of challenges together with his family and friends which make them stronger. Together, they work together to fight for their dignity and finally earn respect and acceptance from Cutter High. This novel speaks about the importance of believing in oneself, that nothing is impossible as long as one does so. I would recommend this novel to anyone who is interested about how believing in oneself can earn the respect and acceptance of an ignorant and discriminative world.
 * __ Whale Talk __** by **__Chris Crutcher__**
 * Karisse Cuenco **
 * Score: 10/10**


 * “ __ Of Mice and Men __ ” by John Steinback **
 * Jun Taek Oh **

“ Of Mice and Men ” takes place in California during the Great Depression. The protagonists are George Milton, who is very sharp, intelligent, and quick-witted, but also has a negative view upon the world and humanity, and Lennie Small, who is mentally disabled but has an abnormally strong body. The two men can almost be viewed as polar opposites, but are very close and show great care for each other. Lennie also has something like an obsession with touching soft objects, and this results him in being accused of rape and causing an unintentional crime. Aspirations and dreams seem to be the main theme of this novel. Several characters’ dreams are revealed throughout the book. Also, the plot involves George and Lennie following and chasing their dreams. I recommend this book to any type of person. The tragedy in the end is truly touching. The author also uses several foreshadowing throughout the book, all of them holding extraordinarily deep meanings and symbols.

Score: 10/10

“ __** Night **__ ” **by Elie Wiesel**
 * Jun Taek Oh **

“ Night ” is a book much like “ The Diary of Anne Frank ”. It deals with the events of the Holocaust. However, “ Night ” is from the perspective of a male, and is also much more mature. The plot of the book follows a rather lengthy timeline of the Holocaust, from the Nazis taking over, restrictions on Jewish people gradually increasing, etc. The protagonist (and author) even loses faith in God, showing how harshly the Jews were treated. His loss of faith in God is also a major theme of the book. He initially shows great trust and faith in God, praying often, studying the Talmud and Kabbalah, and discussing about the God with Moishe the Beadle. However, after witnessing how cruel humans can get, he states that he loses faith in God. However, he still continues to use religious metaphors, forming irony to some degree in the book. “ Night ” also deals with several other deep themes, such as human cruelty, paternal/filial bonds, etc. I recommend this book to people who enjoy reading about dramatic events in history.

Score: 8/10


 * __ Tuesdays With Morrie __** by **__Mitch Albom__**
 * Karisse Cuenco **

Tuesdays With Morrie is a true life's story of a professor who continuously touched the life of his family, friends, colleagues, and students up to his very breath. He was professor Morrie Schwartz. Professor Morrie's last class was held at his house in West Newton, Boston, once a week, every Tuesday, which only had one student, Mitch Albom. Morrie was Mitch's professor when he was in college. The two had a very close relationship, similar to a father and his son. Every Tueday, Mitch would fly to Boston to listen to Morrie teach life's greatest lesson. I honestly learned a lot of new things from this wonderful novel. This novel has touched millions of people, including myself, and has changed millions of lives. I would strongly recommend this book to everyone because it can definitely change the way that you view life as it teaches you the true meaning of life.
 * Score 10/10 **

__**The Boscombe Valley Mystery**__ is one of the most trilling and suspenseful detective stories of Conan Doyle. The story is about an obvious case of a murder, which Mr. McCarthy’s son killed his father near Boscombe Pool. However, he and the other witness tells Sherlock Holmes that McCarthy’s son could not committed this kind of murder. Thus, Sherlock Holmes and his assistant, Watson, investigate the real murderer. Through the journey, there were many suspense occurred, when Holmes notice a lot of evidence of the murderer it made me to drive into the story to find out the killer quickly and how did he also tricked everyone and made an innocent Mr. McCarthy’s son to be a murderer of his father. I would recommend this book to people who enjoys trilling and detective stories, since this story is one of the most occurring incident, where people leaves their own mistake to guiltless people.
 * __The Boscombe Valley Mystery__** by **Sir Arthur Conan Doyle**
 * Seung Won Chung**
 * Score: 8/10**

Anna Merkt I think that the The Davinci Code was the best book I have read all year. The book begins with a murder. The rest of book follows several characters as they each try to uncover the truth about the murderer and the clues lead them into a race to discover the mystery of the Holy Grail. The main character is Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of symbolism in art and history. He is charged with the murder for no reason, and as he tries to uncover the truth to prove himself innocent, he is pulled into the quest for the Holy Grail. The book was very intense and full of cliffhangers, which came at the most unexpected spots. The book was exciting the entire time, with no dull spots at all. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in art and history, as well as anyone looking for an extremely captivating mystery. I would give this book a 10/10.
 * __The Davinci Code by Dan Brown__**

Anna Merkt The Power of Six is the sequel to the book “I Am Number Four”. While Book 1 was extremely exciting and entertaining, the sequel was just as good, if not better. The book once again follows the protagonist, “John Smith” or Number Four of the nine children from the planet Lorien that were sent to earth. Chapters interspersed throughout John’s narration, are the voice of Number Seven, a girl living Europe, and they tell her story. In the sequel, John and his allies (Number Six and his best (human) friend Sam) begin their quest to find the numbers Five through Nine (One, Two, and Three have been killed) and defeat their constant enemies, the Mogadorians. I finished the book in one sitting, and I literally could not put it down. I think the book was extremely exciting and one of the best I have read this year. The only downside was the cliffhanger ending which made me wonder if there is going to be a third. I would give this book a 9/10.
 * __The Power of Six by Picattus Lore__**

Anna Merkt
 * __Into Thin Air by Jon__****__ Krakauer __**

Into Thin Air is Jon Krakauer’s personal retelling of his 1996 climb of Mount Everest and the disaster that occurred there that year, killing 12 people. The book covers his entire climb and the things he went through, as well as the aftermath of the disaster. Throughout the book, Jon describes his journey all the way from the Base Camp of Everest to the summit of the mountain in vivid detail, describing everything so that one can imagine it easily. The book was extremely nerve-wracking, at points, I felt as if I was watching the events from above. Because Jon was telling the story after the 1996 disaster occurred, he described all the hints and signs of the storm and mistakes that caused the disaster, creating intense suspense for me, while I wondered what happened. The exact happenings of the disaster occurred in about the last 50 pages of the book, after John had safely returned from the summit of Everest to Camp Four. This book was once more a page-turner and I enjoyed it very much. I would rate this book a 9.5/10.


 * __Hills Like White Elephants__** by **Ernest Hemingway**
 * Seung Won Chung**
 * __Hills Like White Elephants__** by Ernest Hemingway is a story that has a deep meaning even though you can tell it from the text as itself. The main topic of the book is about abortion between two protagonists, an American man and his wife, Jig. This story is one of the model examples of ‘tip of the iceberg’, where the readers have to interpret the information in the book through protagonists’ dialogues. In addition, the book has some visual imagery where Jig compares the hills and white elephants as her baby. In my opinion, the story has a strong theme and vivid dialogue to describe the situation of the story, in other words, we can see the tip of the iceberg on the text but has a deeper meaning underneath those texts. However, I think the story has a flaw on the story line where when one scene alters to the other scene seems to have a big ‘gap’. Yet, I recommend this book to every people who enjoy reading books and like the deep meaning in the book.
 * Score: 9/10**


 * __Ho-Ichi the Earless__** by **Rafe Martin**
 * Seung Won Chung**
 * __Ho-Ichi the Earless__** by Rafe Martin is a short story with effective theme to the readers to learn. As Ho-Ichi, who is a blind storyteller in Japan, telling stories about the battle between the Heike and Genji. One day, a samurai ‘kindly’ asked Ho-Ichi to follow with him to his Noble Host where he tells the story of the story of a war between Heike and Genji. If he tells the truth about their clan, Ho-Ichi will lose his life. However, when two of his owner’s servants noticed the truth, Ho-Ichi was painted with sacred words and he was asked to sit still like a mountain. However, they made a fatal mistake that they forgot to paint his ear, and the samurai chopped his ear and return to his basement. Even though his ear got chopped, he was sitting still and did not make a single sound, which delivers to the readers that we should always be brave and strong; no matter we face any obstacles.I would recommend this book to middle school students entering high school. Since we all have a feeling about high school being a harsh and scary place that makes students to death. But they should have courage and braveness to fight off their 'dark'.
 * Score: 7/10**

__**Small Steps**__ by __**Louis Sachar**__ __**Small Steps**__ by Louis Sachar is a story after __**Holes**__, where two protagonists, Armpit and X-ray, are re-introduced in this book. Actually, Armpit’s real name is Theordore John, where he met X-ray in the juvenile detention and correctional facility camp, Camp Green Lake. The reason why Armpit was sent to the camp is because he fell while he was finding his seat and the audience tripped him and complains Armpit of spilling popcorns onto their shirts. In Small Steps, Armpit and X-ray are selling counterfeit tickets of a famous singer’s concert, Kaira, where it foreshadows Armpit and X-ray’s future. In my opinion, I think people who enjoy reading a simple but have many suspense stories will like this story. One of the examples is because when a police was introduced to investigate who had sold the counterfeit tickets, at the moment where the police asks both of the protagonists, as a reader, it makes me to read more and want to know what will happen to them, will they go to the jail or send to Camp Green Lake again, or they will lie fluently in order to rush through the dilemma.
 * Seung Won Chung**
 * Score: 9/10**

Chelsea Lee
 * __Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury__**

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is set in a dystopian society reflecting on the possible future of our world. A fireman, Guy Montag, who’s job is to set books on fire. The world views books as ridiculous objects that bring only bring misery to people. The whole world is afraid of them because they tell the cruel truth that they do not want to know. Guy Montag met an odd 17-year old girl named Clarisse McClellan who loves to think. A useless action in the dystopian world. The odd girl changes his views completely, allowing the firemen view how wrong, and unethical the world is now. He then sets out on a journey to change the views of the people.


 * Score: 8.5/10**

“ The Hunger Games ”, much like the previous book I read (“ Fahrenheit 451 ”), takes place in a futuristic world. In this world, North America has been destroyed, and a new society called the Capitol rose to take its place. The Capitol is divided into twelve districts. Every year, each district is to release one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to the Hunger Games. These boys and girls are known as “tributes”. In the Hunger Games, the tributes are forced to fight each other to the death. During the latest Hunger Games, the protagonist’s sister, Primrose Everdeen, is selected as one of the tributes in her district. Not being able to bear her sister’s loss, the protagonist, Katniss, volunteers and takes Primrose’s place. After the dramatic selecting of choosing, Katniss and her male partner, Peeta Mellark, soon enter the Hunger Games. Despite being an action-packed story, “ The Hunger Games ” deals with serious, deep themes. It emphasizes the sufferings caused by harsh poverty and severe starvation and how it is caused by corrupt governments and leaders. In the beginning of the book, it is revealed that Katniss and Primrose live under poverty-stricken conditions. It is also noted numerous times that the reason why Katniss and Primrose are destitute is because of how the Capitol’s government works. The reason why teenagers have to enter the Games and kill each other annually is also because of the government. The only flaw to this action-packed story is the violent idea of teenagers our age killing each other.
 * __The Hunger Games__** by **__Suzanne Collins__**
 * Jun Taek Oh**
 * Rating: 9/10 **

__**Zorro**__ by **__Isabel Allende__** Zorro, by Isabel Allende, is a thrilling story about a young man, Diego de la Vega, and his journey to become Zorro. Along with his milk brother, Bernardo, Diego transforms from a sapling of a boy with a strong heart to a bringer of justice to protect those he loves, especially the lady of his heart, Juliana. The book stresses the themes of companionship and caring for those you love, but also to be true to yourself. Take action! Though this book was very fun to read, it is separated into the parts of Diego’s life, not chapters, which to some people may seem extremely long. Also, there are some parts where I felt like the plot just dragged on for a bit, and it got a little boring to read. However, my biggest problem with the book was the ending, which I really did not like. Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to those who love to read about adventure and coming-of-age books with a bit of romance mixed in.
 * Amanda Li**
 * Score: 9/10**

The Hunger Games is a book by Suzanne Collins that follows Katniss Everdeen, a girl from one of the poor districts in Panem, District 12. Every year, two ‘tributes’, one boy and one girl, from each district are chosen to participate in the annual Hunger Games held by the Capitol. To save her sister, Katniss volunteers herself for this bloody game of survival, since the only way to live is to kill everyone else in the arena. Peeta Mellark, the baker’s son, is the other tribute, and together they must survive the weeks in the arena. But in the end, only one tribute can go home. Who will it be? The Hunger Games is a fast-paced book that captures the reader’s attention and doesn’t let go. I finished this book in a couple hours, because I just couldn’t put it down. The only downside was that I felt like I couldn’t really connect with Katniss. I felt sympathy for her, but I couldn’t totally invest myself in her character.
 * __The Hunger Games__** by **__Suzanne Collins__**
 * Amanda Li**
 * Score: 8/10**

__**Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins **__ Chelsea Lee Katniss Everdeen is a survivor. Her younger sister, Primrose is her life. But when Prim gets chosen to participate in a violent, and murderous survival games called the Hunger Games, 16 year old Katniss steps up to take her place. One girl and one boy from each of the twelve districts are picked each year in the ‘reaping day’ to later on kill each other in the fight of survival. She soon befriends a few participants, but there can be only one winner. Locked in the grip of the Capitol, Katniss is forced to ruthlessly murder her fellow participants in order to survive. This story constantly keeps you interested by it's action and suspense, I highly recommend this book. The only flaw is that I felt like some of the parts were too rushed. Score: 9/10

__**My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult **__ Chelsea Lee What if you were born to save someone’s life? What if your egg was specifically picked out by genetic scientist to contain the materials needed to save your sibling? My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult tells a story about a thirteen-year-old girl, Anna who is a bone-marrow donor to her older sister, Kate. Her sister was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia at a very young age. Every time Kate had a relapse, Anna had to go through the painful experience drawing out blood from a thick needle, and of surgery from scraping out bone marrow. “If Kate dies, then I would be free” the shameful thought echoes through Anna’s mind daily. The young woman is constantly pressured to hold up her family. Stress and tears are inevitable as broken family struggles to keep things together as Anna sues her parents for her medical rights. **Review: 8.7/10**

__** ShadowLand **__ By Meg Cabot Shadowland is a story about a young mediator, Susannah Simon. She goes by the name 'Suze'.She spends a lot of time guiding the unhappy dead to the afterlife, but not all ghosts are willing to be guided to afterlife. She is very worried that these ghosts would not leave her until she somehow helps them finish their unfinished business. After her mother remarries and they move from New York to Carmel, California Suze feels that she can have a new beginning where she can be a teenager and go to the malls and movies and hang out with her peers without being bothered by all the ghosts and their afterlife problems. Unfortunately this does not happen. There is a ghost, Heather, who has killed herself after her boyfriend Bryce Martinson, broke up with her as he did not want to get married. Heather feels that Suze is taking over her life. Father Dominic (Mediator, Principle and the Priest of the church) helps Suze with Heather. He tells her to use more friendly ways to persuade Heather to go to the afterlife. In the end Suze manages to send Heather into the afterlife. This book is not that great but it’s an interesting fantasy read. Review 7/10

__** The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffery Zaslow **__ Randy Pausch was a Professor in Carnegie Mellon University. He was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer with very few months to live.Pausch based the lecture on the generic "Last Lecture" given by some professors in the university that if someone had one last chance to share their knowledge to the world what would the tell everyone. A few weeks around his diagnoses of cancer he was asked by the university to give this “Last Lecture”. He gave this lecture basically explaining his childhood dreams and how he accomplished (or tried to accomplish) them. How he drew a rocket and brick wall on his bedroom in his parents wall. He talks about the things he accomplished and things he didn’t and hit “brick wall”. He talked of some of his childhood dreams like being in zero gravity, playing in the National Football League, being the author of a World Book Encyclopedia article, wanting to be Captain Kirk, being "one of the guys who won the big stuffed animals in the amusement park". Unfortunately Randy Pausch died in April,2008 and his co-author Jeffery Zaslow died tragically in a road accident on February 10, 2012. This book was really inspiring and the best non-fiction book I have ever read. Review 10/10

__**Time Riders By Alex Scarrow**__ Maddy Carter, Liam O’Connor, and Sal Vickram are three teenagers that were taken out of different time periods. Each of these three teenagers were saved from certain death. Time Riders is the first book in a series and it tells the story of how these three teenagers must learn to navigate time and save the planet from a permanent time change. All three characters had to overcome challenges and learn to work together. I think this book was an interesting fantasy but not one of my favorite books, although it has a well written storyline. Review By Avani Verma
 * __Rating 9/10__**

__**The Chocolate War By Robert Cormier**__ This book has a storyline that appeals mostly to boys. The story is about a freshmen boy named Jerry, going against the hierarchy set up at his school. The book is a little hard to understand, and it is in third person making it even harder to understand. Jerry the main character is someone who grabs the audiences attention by how much he is willing to stand up for himself and his beliefs. The book has some great moral lessons and although it was not the greatest book I have ever read it is not that bad. So I think I would give this book a 8/10 for a well written plot but a plot that is slightly boring. Review By Avani Verma

__**Fearless By Francine Pascal**__

This is one of the most interesting fantasy stories I have ever read. The book is about a girl named Gaia Moore; this girl does not feel fear. This is the first book in the series and in this book we earn about Gaia’s tragic past as she learns to cope with normal life, all while trying to understand what was happening in the park at the same time. This first book is pretty short and gives a basic intro to the life that Gaia had moved into once she moved into New York City. I think this book was really interesting and it is one of the best I have read in a while. Review 9.5/10 Review By Avani Verma

__Fahrenheit 451__ is a sci-fi fiction book, set in the future, where they burns book instead of reading it. The protagonist, Guy Montag’s job is a firemen but their job is the opposite of today’s firemen’s job. They have to burn books since books were banned in that period. However, after he meets a neighboring girl, Clarisse, his point of view of the world changed. He starts to obey their leader, Betty, and many other conflicts occur as the story grows. In my opinion, I think Montag is a courageous but short mushy headed character where he risks his life (and the other relating people) to lose their life. While I was reading this book, I think the strength was the story plot where there were suspense and tensions for the readers to read. However, it seems that some parts of the books are wordy. Yet, I still recommend this book to students who enjoy reading sci-fi books.
 * __Fahrenheit 451__** by **__Ray Bradbruy__**
 * Seung Won Chung**
 * Score: 8/10**

//How To Steal a Dog// is told from the point of view of a 13 year-old girl, Georgina. It is the story of her family's (single mom and little brother) struggles, which include homelessness, poverty and living in their car. Georgina desperately wants to move into a house like all of her friends do, and out of luck, she sees a reward sign for a lost dog. She misguidedly thinks that if she steals a dog, waits for the reward sign to go up, and returns the dog, she would get enough money to give her mom a down payment for an apartment. Clearly, this doesn't work out. The owner of the dog Georgina steals from is not much better than they are. Even though from the curb the house looked like it would have an affluent owner, it turns out the woman is struggling nearly as much as Georgina and her family was, which fills Georgia with guilt. While trying to keep her homelessness a secret from her friends and holding a dog hostage, Georgina tries to pretend to all that everything is just fine. This book explores this journey, and is mainly about Georgina's conscience and doing the right thing.This book is great for class discussions, but I would still recommend especially after reading a difficult book! **Score: 10/10**
 * __How To Steal a Dog__** by **__Barbara O'Connor__**
 * Eván Fu**

__**Salamandastron**__ by __**Brian Jacques**__ Salamandastron by Brian Jacques is - first off, quite a mouth-full - an adventure tale of two different kingdoms. One is called Redwall for which the series is known for and Salamandastron. Each ends up, both voluntarily and involuntarily, sending out a young one to complete a task that would bring honour back to their home area. Though neither place knows each other the valiant young ones find each other through luck and help to do each others task. But back at Salamandastron a world-renowned assassin has brought much havoc and death through war and poison. The plot in this story is very well structured. I never found it hard to read, in fact the exact opposite. Brian Jacques, though with some static characters, even has the sense to kill a lovable character, which was actually a very emotional part. Oh! And I forgot to mention, they’re all animals.
 * Harry Gray**
 * Score: 9/10**

Owen Lu Night is an edited, translated autobiographical memoir written by Elie Wiesel about his experiences during World War II within the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. It is a record of Elie's mental deterioration and the hell Nazi Germany had unleashed upon the Jewish people. The book starts off by describing life in Sighet. In Sighet, there were only murmurings about the Nazi occupation. A beadle by the name of Moshe is taken, and somehow he manages to escape. He tells everyone about the Gestapo, but the Jews would not listen, they thought he had gone insane. Eventually, Hitler lives up to the hype, and Elie's disgust with God, his patience with his father, as well as Elie's identify itself is challenged. This book was a great read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested. __Of Mice and Men__ Of Mice and Men is a novella by John Steinbeck about two migrant workers during the Great Depression by the names of George Milton and Lennie Small. George Milton is the smarter, and more sardonic one, while Lennie Small the is strong, and mentally limited one. They are running away from Weed California, because Lennie's obsession with petting small soft things led to an accusation of rape. On their trip, George shares his dream of settling down on their own land repeatedly, and Lennie states that he just wishes to pet soft rabbits on the farm. Eventually, when George and Lennie find jobs at a ranch, things begin to change, and predictably Lennie's love for soft things gets him into trouble again. I think this is an amazing book, there is a lot of foreshadowing and I really like how Candy's dog was shot in the back of the head as an act of mercy. Not the act of killing the dog, mind you, but what it symbolized. If you think about the plot and symbolism while you read this book, you will not be disappointed.
 * __Night by Elie Wiesel__**
 * __10/10__**
 * __Owen__**


 * __10/10__**

Anna Merkt Night is a book that is made up of the memories of the author’s terrifying trip to Auschwitz and other concentration camps during the Holocaust. He tells of all the horrors he has seen and experienced. By the end of his time in the concentration camps he loses his family, friends, and some of his faith. Though his story was very frightening, it was a overall a good book. Once I began reading it, I didn’t put it down until I finished it. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Holocaust. I would give this book a 9/10.
 * __Night by Elie Wiesel__**

__**Night by Elie Wiesel**__ Chelsea Lee “In front of us, those flames. In the air, the smell of burning flesh.” The Holocaust engraves it’s self in earths history as one of the most cruel and shameful pastimes. __Night__ by Elie Wiesel reveals the true face of the human race when man is placed in a situation where survival is dependent on one notion. One man is for himself. Just sharing one ration could affect your chances of survival. The Jewish, in this period of time had been murdered, forced on their knees, and stripped of their rights. Over six million Jews perished due to the acts of one man. Adolf Hitler. Elie Wiesel tells his story of he and his father’s struggle as Jewish, working in a labor camp during the Holocaust. The pair faces many challenges, one, having to confront the gruesome reality that their family, including his mother, and three sisters have been burned alive in a crematorium. God, for these individuals who have been abandoned by society is now nonexistent in their once devout minds. The author is brave enough record his sincere and raw feelings as teenage boy, during the fight to survival. Where one man is for himself, which will he choose? His father or himself?
 * Score: 8/10**

For One More Day is a novel about Charley “Chick” Benetto, a former major league baseball player, and his life long wish to be given one more day to spend with his mother. Charley chose to be a daddy’s boy until his father left them and eventually became a mommy's boy right after his father left. On the day his mother died, Charley was not beside her. He felt guilt for he was not able to stand up for his mother even on their last memory together. On the night he miraculously survives after committing suicide, he decides to return to his mother's house and reminisces on his memories with his mother. This novel speaks about how powerful and everlasting a mother's love is. The author is able to effectively teach the readers a very important life-long lesson, to value every second spent with our mothers and that we should not take our mothers for granted. I honestly think the author was able to effectively send his message to the readers. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to be moved and touched by a story of a mother's love.
 * __For One More Day__** by **__Mitch Albom__**
 * Karisse Cuenco**
 * Score 10/10 **

__**Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury**__ Anna Merkt Fahrenheit 451 was a very interesting book to read. The book is set in the future in a very different society than we have today. In this future world, books are banned and burned rather than read, and the ideas in them are said to be “ridiculous”, “lies”, and “too complicated” for men to understand. Most of the people in the book don’t think deeply about the world and how it works, they only pay attention to simple pleasures such as TV, music, and other varieties of entertainment. The people seem to all live the same type of life, the same routines everyday, without much love or laughter involved. The protagonist, Guy Montag, is a fireman and his job is to burn books. When he meets a girl named Clarisse, his world is turned upside down. He begins observe and think as she does, examining the world in a deeper level and using his eyes and ears to constantly learn more. As he learns more about the world surrounding him, he is eager to make a change, and he takes action. This book was very fast-paced and exciting to read. At times, the narration was confusing because of how quickly the protagonist’s thoughts moved, but otherwise it was very easy to read. I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a interesting and exciting read. I would give this book an 8.5/10.

__**Incarceron**__ by Catherine Fisher Anna Merkt Incarceron was interesting and exciting book. Set in an underground prison, the main character Finn, is a very unusual boy. He is different than the rest of the prisoners and he stands out. He uses his differences to find a way to contact the prison warden’s daughter and together they try to help him escape the prison. On their way, they encounter many dangerous things and have several close shaves because the prison is, in fact, alive. Overall the book was extremely entertaining, and once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down. The story line is very fast-paced and interesting. I can’t wait to read the sequel! I would give this book an 8/10.

__**Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin**__ Anna Merkt Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters was a quick and easy read. The book follows the main character, Kelsey, as she travels through her freshman year of high school and all the problems she faces. She and her friends encounter problem after problem but in the end, they manage to finish off freshman year on a happy note. The characters were all very realistic and the book was easy to relate to. The dialogue was fun to read and the book was very funny. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a quick and good read. I would give this book a 7/10.

Stephanie Tang This book is about a boy named, Matt, who is a clone of an extremely rich man named El Patron. He was created so that if El Patron ever needed extra organs, he would take one from Matt. Matt grows up with a nanny named Celia, whom loves him very much, and kept him a secret for years. Sadly, Matt gets found by some children in a mansion, and soon gets closed in a room in the mansion, so that he wouldn't 'contaminate' anyone. Later, El Patron finds out what the people in the mansion were doing to Matt and orders them to treat him with more respect. Years go by and Matt falls in love with one of the kids who found out about him when he was living with Celia, but El Patron has a heart attack, and needs a new heart. I really liked this book and really couldn't put it down. I was really well-written and suspenseful. The author made it so that the reader had so much sympathy for Matt, and feel like he's just another normal boy. I think about it sometimes, and I know that if I met a clone, I probably would act the same as those in the mansion, but the author was able to make me feel like he wasn't just some clone. It even makes me feel better about clones, and not as disgusted. I would rate this book a 10 out of 10.
 * __The House of the Scorpion__** by Nancy Farmer

Airhead is a novel about Emerson Watts, a typical 16-year-old tomboy, is nerdy (she takes a lot of AP high school classes), and loves to spend time playing her favorite computer game, Journey Quest, with her best friend, Christopher. One day, she encounters an accident which changes everything in her life. The guy whom she crushes on, whom she thinks is the perfect guy, does not even recognize her anymore. On the day of her accident, Nikki Howard, a teenage supermodel happened to be at the site of the Em’s accident. Em and Nikki have nothing in common aside from the fact that they both suffered from the accident. Meg Cabot is able to effectively develop her characters and make it seem as if they are real persons which engages the readers to the book. Overall, I would recommend this book to people who loves teenage romance. Although the climax was predictable, I still think the novel was well written and is very interesting.
 * __Airhead__** by **__Meg Cabot__**
 * Karisse Cuenco**
 * Score: 8/10**

By: Anna Merkt
 * Miss Peregrine’s Home Peculiar Children by Ransom Rigg’s **

The book Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children begins with a boy, Jacob, as he witnesses his grandfather’s tragic death and is troubled by what he has seen. In order to soothe his troubled mind, he strives to discover the mystery of his grandfather’s childhood, and his haunting last words. He travels to a tiny island near Wales where his grandfather stayed at and orphanage as a child refugee during WWII. Here he discovers many secrets of his grandfather’s past and begins a fast paced and frightening journey trying to solve the mystery of his grandfather’s death. Overall, the book was very exciting and enjoyable, although it took some time to get into. The ending was somewhat disappointing and abrupt, but it ended as if there would be a sequel eventually!


 * Rating: 7.5/l0 **

“ Fahrenheit 451 ” is set in a dystopian society in the future where possessing or reading a book is considered a crime. This is because books are considered to be a very boring and bland type of media. In the setting of the book, people (especially youths) enjoy very stimulating and “dangerous” kinds of entertainment, such as fast cars, loud music, and movies over books. Because of this, the “firemen” in the story burn books for a living (whereas the firemen we know today take out fire). Guy Montag, the protagonist of this book, is initially seen as an average fireman. However, he soon meets a girl called Clarisse, who is different. She does not enjoy the stimulating and fast-paced action and entertainment like the others. Rather, she is steady-paced, likes to observe, and thinks and speaks of her own free will, free of society’s judgement and criticism. Guy begins to bond with her, which causes his ideas about society to change. The novel deals with themes about censorship, as firemen burn the books in order to restrict knowledge among the people and maintain sameness and equality. I recommend this book to people who have enjoyed other titles like “ The Giver ” for its creative and engaging dystopian plot.
 * __ Fahrenheit 451 __** by **__Ray Bradbury__**
 * Jun Taek Oh**

**Rating: 8.5/10**

__**Nigh**__t by **__Elie Wiesel__** **Eván Fu** //Night// is narrated by Eliezer, a Jewish teenager who, when the memoir begins, lives in his hometown of Sighet, in Hungarian Transylvania, 1941. All the people in his village including him and his own family were forcibly sent to concentration camps. The Germans gave the Jewish a hard time by forced them to do hard labour, and merciless beat them till they were unconscious The SS guards’ were brutal mass murderers.They hung people and made the other prisoners stand and watch those poor peoples’ last breath get taken away. Every evening, they get a snack consisting a small piece of bread and soup. As described in the book, the soup that evening “tasted better than ever.” There’s nothing particularly special about that, but the last sentence on page 65 really nailed an impression in my head. On the evening of the second execution, prisoners were given soup and bread as usual, but what really shocked me was the line, “That night, the soup tasted of corpses.” It created a vivid image in my head, because I understand that there are hidden messages in this quote, and it really shows how cruel the SS guards were to the Jewish. Personally, I'm not into armies and wars, but this book is exceptionally interesting. I learned so much about the World War ll after reading it!
 * Score:10/10**

Avani Verma Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins is the second book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. The story about Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark tells the tale of a country which is ruled with an iron grip. In Catching Fire Peeta and Katniss are once again thrown into the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are yearly held violent games that cause the death of 23 people. Until the previous book the Hunger Games two people were the victors. In this second book I feel like reading Catching Fire is like having reread the first book the Hunger Games. However Catching Fire is well written but still lacks the charm that can be found in the first and third books. Catching Fire is still an excellent book in the trilogy that is one of the best books I have read since the Harry Potter series ended.
 * __Catching Fire__** By **__Suzanne Collins__**
 * Review 8.5/10**

In the nation of Panem, lies the harsh and cruel Capitol surrounded by twelve distinctive districts. Their history remains alive through the annual Hunger Games which takes place in the Capitol. One boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen from each district are sent to the Capitol to participate in annual Hunger Games, where they all fight to death on live TV and only one survives and stays alive. Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen-year-old girl, decides to volunteer to replace her sister in the Hunger Games. To survive the Hunger Games, Katniss would have to make choices that would challenge her virtues. The Hunger Games is a novel which consists of action, suspense, and romance combined altogether. I personally think that the author is able to effectively keep the readers engaged and keep them to continue reading.
 * __The Hunger Games__** by **__Suzanne Collins__**
 * Karisse Cuenco**
 * Score: 10/10**


 * __The Three Students__** by **__Sir Arthur Conan Doyle__**
 * Seung Won Chung**
 * __The Three Students__** by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a detective novel where Sherlock Holmes and his assistant, Dr. Watson, solving a mystery crime from their acquaintance, St Soames, who is a tutor as well as a lecturer at the College St Luke’s. The dilemma is that somebody had read and copies the exam paper for the Fortescue Scholarship about Greek language. There are four people who are doubtful as criminal, three students and Soames’s servant, Bannister. With these four people, Sherlock Holmes finds clues and evidence with his intelligence to find the criminal. While I was reading the book, I could not really find the flaw points because of his way to find out the suspicious man was both entertaining and a thrill of examining the clues and the criminal. I would recommend __The Three Students__ to all age of people because it is neither cruel nor violent. Also the story is very engaging with some entertainments while reading, where you can guess who is the criminal.
 * Score 10/10**

__The Alchemist__ by Paulo Coelho is a story about a shepherd, Santiago, living in Spain, had sacrificed everything to "find" his dream, which is to find the treasure near the Pyramid in Egypt, told by the omen. He has lost his family, his formal job, shepherd, his sheep, crystal merchant (his second job through the journey), and the merchant's daughter (his lover throughout the journey). The main theme of this book is to reflect our ego while finding our “treasure”, even though we face a lot of obstacles that blocks his dream. The same thing happened to Santiago too. Although he was a normal shepherd with numerous sheep at first, after he met a king, dream, and omens about the treasure, everything had changed and it seems that he had started a new “life”. The protagonist, Santiago, develops as the story moves to the climax where he learns the Language of the World and meets numerous people. However, I think the book has too many delays in order for Santiago to find his “dream”. Yet, I still recommend this book to every teenager, which gives an important message about our life.
 * __The Alchemist__** by **__Paulo Coelho__**
 * Seung Won Chung**
 * Score: 9/10**

__**The Alchemist**__ **by Michael Scott** The Alchemist is about a pair of twins who accidently discover the truth about the world, the truth of mythical creatures. This truth embargoes them to full on adventure to bring back the stolen book, which would decide fate of human beings. Along with their ‘friend’, Nicholas Flamel, Sophie and D venture out to awaken their magical abilities and to reverse the prophecies. I thought that this book was quite interesting, however, it was predictable. The main idea is quite nice though, since it ties in with some mythology of Nicholas Flamel, the immortal, and other creatures. It also incorporates many different ideas than other books with similar topics, such as the Elders, who humans randomly portrayed as gods, and humans with magical powers. There isn’t much suspense within this book, and it didn’t work to retrieve sympathy for the main characters, which made some of the book pretty boring. I would rate this book a 9 out of 10.
 * Stephanie Tang**

__**Slot Machine**__ by **__Chris Lynch__** Slot Machine is a book about the life of three friends that changes dramatically as they entre an unsuspicious school camp. The camp is based on sports and the main character, Elvin, isn’t exactly a sporty guy. Even worse still he is camped in a room without his friends and full of strangers that pay no attention to anyone. Elvin is forced into some of the most brutal sports and thrown out of each as the camp realizes he has very little sport potential. Through his 3 week adventure in camp Elvin comes to realize the value of true friendship, and that everyone has to suffer for their wrongs – even the guys at the top. With its humourous, sarcastic, sensitive, realistic, and sometimes even sad outlook on a sports camp this is a thought-provoking book that is quite unforgettable
 * Harry Gray**
 * Score: 9/10**

**__ Fahrenheit 451 __** by **__Ray Bradbury__** ** Susan Lim ** This book is about a fireman Guy Montag who lives in a futuristic setting where the firemen’s job is to burn books instead of putting out fires. Books are banned in Montag’s society, and anyone found to possess books have their houses burned with the books in them. This is also the only way a house can burn, because houses are fireproof unless the firemen burn them down on purpose. Montag encounters a girl in the neighborhood called Clarisse McClellan who is different from everyone else. Clarisse observes, and thinks about everything she that she finds interesting. Everyone else never even thinks about thinking, observing or going against anything banned by the law, thinking everything has to be fast and overly simplified. Not long after Montag meets Clarisse, she is killed in an accident leaving Montag already a changed man who cannot go back to his old self. Montag realizes that the world he lives in is awfully wrong, where people think death is not so bad, violence and speed is all they’ve got. Guy comes across a woman who burns herself along with her books in the burning house and thinks that there has to be something about books that is worth it. From then on, he starts to read books and decides to save them, causing him to give up everything he had. I think overall it was a good book though it was a bit gloomy, it makes us realize how surprisingly similar our world is to theirs. It makes us turn back and reflect on our selves, how we have been ignorant and biased about many things surrounding us yet never noticed them. ** Score: 9/10 **

The Chocolate War is a novel about bullying amongst teenage boys in a Catholic school. Every year, there is a school wide project which involves students selling chocolates. According to Brother Leon, the school’s assistant head master, this project is “voluntary,” however he acts as if this project is a must for every student to take part in. This particular year, the school was surprised as Jerry Renault, one of the freshmen, refuses to sell the chocolates. Jerry had the courage to stand against the school’s cruelty and brutality. As a result, he suffers from being bullied by the entire school. This novel speaks about the secrets of the struggles in high school caused by intimidation. Robert Cormier is able to effectively inform the readers about this harsh reality through the well-developed characters and their experiences in this novel. This novel is very meaningful. Although I think the development in the story took so long that some parts of it became not very interesting, I would still recommend it to people who are anxious to know about the silent wars in a high school all boys Catholic school.
 * __The Chocolate War__** by **__Robert Cormier__**
 * Karisse Cuenco**
 * Score: 8/10**

__**Linger by Maggie Stiefvater**__
This book is the second book after Shiver. Sam, the werewolf, manages to get an injection of meningitis, and cures himself, making him human again. However, Grace, the girl bitten 6 years ago who never changed begins to become sick, and something no one dares to mention is happening. Through this, Sam and some of the new wolves discover that shifting to a wolf may be the only thing that keeps them alive, unless there is a real cure. I think that this book was too long for its plot because the reader could predict the ending already. While I was reading it, I really couldn't help but to feel that the characters were too dumb to know what was obviously going on, and the plot as a result had moved very slowly. The book also didn't have much action, so I felt like I was reading about almost nothing for the entire book since a lot of the action was already said in the blurb. I would give this book a 6 out of 10.
 * Stephanie Tang**

=
This book is a story of a child with osteogenesis imperfecta Type III, a disease that causes brittle bones to the point that one could have hundreds of breaks in a lifetime. Through different narrators, the reader can see different points of view on how this disease has affected each person around them from a rebellious teenager with eating disorders to a mother who decides to claim she doesn't lover her daughter. It really shows how much one thing in a life can constantly impact anyone who is affected, and eventually seem like it is ruining everyone's lives, but in reality, you end up thanking that such a thing had happened. You eventually would realize that your mistakes, your problems, as well as your challenges will change into the most precious things you own. I personally really liked this book because it was extremely inspiring. It was very long though, so the story seemed to drag on a little bit, however, this slow pace allowed all of the emotional drama to sink in. This book is just really sad, so if you don't want to be brought down or start feeling sad about life, I wouldn't recommend it, but if you like emotionally powerful, and meaningful ideals, then I would really recommend reading this. I would give this book a score of 9 out of 10.=====

**To Kill a Mockingbird** by **Harper Lee**
//To Kill a Mockingbird// by Harper Lee is a famous novel that revolves around the themes of innocence, knowledge, prejudice and courage. The story takes place in Alabama during the Great Depression, narrated by the main character who is a little girl named Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. Her father, Atticus, is a lawyer. Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend, Dill, who is spending his summer in Maycomb, are intrigued by a rumor about a man named Boo Radley, who lives in their neighborhood but never goes anywhere outside the house. Rumor has that he once stabbed his father and is looked down upon by others as a monster. Scout’s father was being courageous of a black man being falsely accused of raping a white girl. Her dad, Atticus, is a criminal defense attorney only doing his job and not discriminating against this man. The line in the book "Shoot, all the bluejays you want, but remember its a sin to kill mockingbird" is referring to the black man in the story, Tom. He symbolizes a mockingbird because they sing for our enjoyment, so it is a sin to kill mockingbirds. It's a classic novel and I would really recommend it, especially to the people who likes to read about history.
 * Eván Fu**
 * Score : 9/10**

**The Three Musketeer** by **Alexandre Dumas** The Three Musketeer by Alexandre Dumas an adventurous story set in France during the 17th century when King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu was in power. The book depicts the adventure of d'Artagnan, a young man who leaves from his home of Gascon to join the Musketeers of the Guard. He befriended Athos, Porthos, and Aramis while they were just about to duel. They were three musketeers who lived by the motto 'all for one, all for all' or in French - 'tous pour un, un pour tous'. The four of them were then involved in cases against kidnaps and murder cases. Due to the fact that they are against the cardinal, they were arrested, though they were pardoned. D'Artagnan later became a lieutenant, although his other three friends retired to a new life. In my opinion, The Three Musketeer indeed is a good book - it has great suspense especially in the kidnap sections of the book. It also have great action within the book where you can sort of feel what happens when there was fighting or duel.
 * Eugene Pang**
 * Score: 10/10**

__**Night**__ by __**Elie Wiesel**__ Night is a memoir about a boy during the Holocaust who is sent through varies concentration camps, one of which is Auschwitz. This is a real life memory record of what happened during the Holocaust to a teenager as it destroys his religion, family, and himself. Though this book is definitely quite disturbing at times, I feel people’s reaction to it was a bit over exaggerated. I never found parts of the book where I wanted to just put it down because it was just too hard to think about. On the other hand I definitely found it a good book and a must read for those who want to experience a bit more of the Holocaust
 * Harry Gray**
 * Score: 8.5/10**

__**The Picture of Dorian Gray**__ by __**Oscar Wilde**__ This book tells the story of a beautiful young man who sells his soul in exchange for eternal youth and beauty. Young Dorian Gray comes to London to inherit his dead grandfather’s fortune and makes his début in London’s high-class society. He captures the eyes of a painter, Basil Hallward, who paints Dorian’s portrait. While the portrait was still being painted, Dorian meets Basil’s friend Lord Henry Wotton, who makes a terrible influence on Dorian. Lord Henry’s every word becomes true and just to Dorian, making him change every other day since meeting Lord Henry. When the portrait was finished, Dorian wishes to keep the everlasting youth and beauty his portrait will have and make it age instead of him. Day by day, Dorian grows more and more cruel and cold hearted and finally causes his fiancé, Sibyl Vane, to commit suicide. After this incident he notices that his portrait changes every time he’s cruel to someone, and as time goes on he remains young, beautiful and innocent looking as ever, while his portrait, now hidden away in the dark of the attic shows the true face of his soul. Later he murders Basil who comes close to exposing his secret. Dorian Gray lives a life completely devoted to pleasure, until he ages and realizes that one cannot have both happiness and pleasure. After he loses everything other than his everlasting young and beautiful appearance, he wishes for happiness. Eighteen years after Sibyl’s death her brother, James Vane haunts Dorian for taking his older sister’s life. Dorian lives a living nightmare as James Vane comes after him. Eventually James gets shot to death, and Dorian tries to destroy his portrait and get away from the curse he put him self under by trapping his soul in his picture. Once he stabbed the portrait with a knife, it killed Dorian leaving the portrait as Basil Hallward first painted it so many years ago. I really enjoyed reading this book and recommend it because it had interesting word choices and expressions to show what state of mind each character was in. The whole story feels like witnessing a drop of ink being spread across a snow white sheet of paper from a single point as it touches the surface of the paper, as Dorian Gray changes from being as pure as crystal to someone cruel, selfish and heartless.
 * Susan Lim**
 * Score: 10/10**

__ A Tale of the Two Cities __ by __ Charles Dickens __ Eugene Pang A Tales of the Two Cities is a three-book-series set before and during the French Revolution between the cities of Paris and London. The novel shows that hardship of the French peasants being let down by the French nobles and aristocrats. In the first book, it was set in the year 1775. Mr Jarvis Lorry who is an employee of the Tellson's Bank who traveling to bring Dr Alexandre Manette (who add been imprisoned in the Bastille prison before) from France to England. While en route, he met Lucie Manette, daughter of Alexandre Manette in Dover, and Mr Lorry was able to convinced Miss Manette that her father wasn't dead. In Saint Antoine, near Paris, they met Monsieur Defarge who was Alexandre Manette's servant. Due to the long imprisonment, Mr Manette had some sort of psychological issue with his brain and got obsessed with making shoes. Mr Lorry and Miss Manette then brought Mr Manette back to England. In the second book, which was five years later, the beginning depicts Charles Darnay who was on trial for treason at the Old Bailey because of two British, John Barsad and Roger Cly, who claims that Darnay was a spy for France. However, Darnay was then claimed not guilty because witness in the court was unable to tell Darnay from a barrister in court, Sydney Carton, who almost look like him. Then in Paris, the arrogant and disliked Marquis St. Evremonde's carriage hit and kills the baby of Gaspard, who was a peasant. Marquis simply toss a coin at Gaspard to compensate for the loss. Defarge tried to comfort Gaspard for the loss, which wasn't too helpful. As the Marquis's carriage drew off, the coin which he threw at Gaspard was thrown back by and unknown person, which turned the Marquis mad. After arriving his chateau, the Marquis met his nephew, Darnay. Here, we can see the gap between their personality - Darnay was a nice person who was nice to the lower class, while the Marquis was cruel and ruthless. That night, the Marquis was murdered by Gaspard who had been following the Marquis. Nine months later, Gaspard was hang over a fountain, which was like a life giving water spot. The fountain was then poisoned due to the rotten body, and the peasants grew angry. In London, Darnay was permitted by Mr Manette to marry Lucie, but Carton loves Lucie as well. The morning of the marriage, Darnay reveals who his family, the Evremondes. In July 14, 1789, the Defarges lead the storming of the Bastille, which was an uprising on one of the most infamous prison in France. As it happens, Mr Defarge searched for My Manette's former cell. There was a statement which stated why Mr Manette was imprisoned. Back in England, Miss Manette and Darnay formed a family, which they have a son, who died in childhood, and a daughter. Mr Lorry helped find a home for the Darnays. In 1792, a letter from Gabelle, a tax collector of the former Marquis, was sent to the Tellson's Bank. Mr Lorry read the letter and it was addressed to someone with the name Evremonde (Darnay), nobody knows who it is in England, since Darnay barely revealed his name. Darnay knew the news, and set of to Paris to help Gabelle. In the third book, Darnay was imprisoned in the La Force Prison of Paris for emigrating. Mr Manette and his daughter, Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher, and the daughter of Miss Manette and Darnay, went to Paris and tried to free Darnay. Darnay was then tried. Mr Manette was able to get Darnay out of the prison, but the same night, Darnay was arrested again. The next day, Darnay was put to trial with this 'other person'. This 'other person' was the known to be Mr Manette himself. When in the prison, Carton visited Darnay and had him drugged. Carton was to pretend as Darnay and to be executed in his place. Barsad helped to carry Darnay out. Darnay and his family with the others later escaped France. Madame Defarge then attempted to kill the Darnay and the family since they were 'enemies of the Republic' due to the fact the Darnay was a descendent of the former Marquis. But Miss Pross manage to stop Madame Defarge by struggling with her - Madame Defarge was killed in the struggle. The Darnay family was able to leave safely. The book ends with the guillotining of Carton, who replaced Darnay in the prison. I recommend people and friends to read this book because of the struggle and the event of the French Revolution. It had actions, and great suspense. Score 10/10

__Catching Fire__, the thrilling second book of the Hunger Game series by Suzanne Collins. The genre can be survival or romance. In the first book of the series, __The Hunger Games__, the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, was the winner together with her ‘boyfriend’, Peeta Mellark, on the 74th annual Hunger Game, a fight to the death, with one boy and girl from 12 different districts in the fictional country, Panem. However, the original rule of the game was that there should be only one winner. Yet, Katniss and Peeta pretended to be in love, so the Gamemakers had to make these two the winner of the 74th annual Hunger Game. In __Catching Fire__, the ruler of Panem, President Snow, is angry towards Katniss and warns her that he will kill all the people who are related to her. In addition, she and Peeta have to attend the Quarter Quell, a special version of the Hunger Games held every 25 years, and the most exciting point happens during the game. I think Peeta is very selfish and unhelpful character, because he doesn’t support Katniss during the game, and only focuses on acting like they are in love. Unlike Peeta, I am not selfish; I would work together with her. The main theme of this book can be ‘protecting’ because Katniss’s goal is to make Peeta the winner of the Quarter Quell (since President Snow is watching her at anytime). I think the strength of __Catching Fire__ is that Suzanne Collins creates suspense by putting the protagonist in dangerous situations, making the reader think that Katniss will die. However, I think there is too much romance in a survival book. On the other hand, I still recommend this book to all the people who like a book with tension and romance.
 * __Catching Fire__** by **__Suzanne Collins__**
 * Seung Won Chung**
 * Score: 10/10**

__The Son of Neptune__ by Rick Riordan is an adventurous and fantastic story. This is a story about Roman demigods born under the Roman gods living in Camp Jupiter. However, Percy Jackson, a boy from the “other/opposite” camp, Camp Half-Blood, has been delivered to Camp Jupiter with his lost memory. He knows only two things, his name and the name, Annabeth. Also, an enormous group of opponents destroy the Roman gods and conquer the world. In order to prevent this, Percy and his friends in Camp Jupiter, Frank and Hazel, have to achieve a task given by one of the gods. Rick creates a lot of suspense and tension at the end of several chapters, which made me read continuously because of sustained interest. Throughout the journey, the protagonist, Percy, is a brave and capable strong leader, who solves problems and helps his group to flow smoothly like a river without any dilemmas happening in their team. If I compare myself with Percy, I am totally his opposite in personality and attitude. For example, I am shy and can’t stand to state my own opinion to a crowd (even to a small group). Rick Rirodan reveals the story line and the theme of friendship clearly, though there are too many events happening that are somewhat “childish” for people who enjoy reading non-fiction books. Yet, __The Son of Neptune__ could be a good book for some people who like adventure and fiction books.
 * __The Son of Neptune__** by __**Rick Riordan**__
 * Seung Won Chung**
 * Score: 10/10**

In 1944, Elie Wiesel and his family were forced to leave their peaceful lives and were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The scarring memories of the separation of his family, the death of his father, the sound of the silent cries of millions of men that were never heard, and the agonizing journey of his survival remained vivid and alive to him. Through the story of Elie Wiesel’s own experiences, he is able to effectively motivate the readers to defend those who are maltreated, save those who are suffering, and to learn to speak up when someone is suffering. In addition to that, Elie Wiesel also mentions in this novel the importance of courage, hope, and family in order to survive in times of trials and difficulties. Throughout the novel, he speaks about how much he values the presence of his father for this is where he gains his strength to continuously fight for life. Although this novel is depressing, I would still recommend this to those who are interested in discovering truths about living a life under the Germans’ captivity from a teenager’s point of view and be moved by an inspiring relationship between a son and his father.
 * __Night__** by **__Elie Wiesel__**
 * Karisse Cuenco**
 * Score: 9/10**

__The Chocolate War__ **by __Robert Cormier__** The Chocolate War is a book involving teenage boys and their violent lives during prep school. Though the topic of bullying in schools isn't a very rare one through books, Robert Cormier is able to put a lot of suspense throughout the length of the book and can really get you into the heads of his well developed characters. The plot is about a school that is trying to get students to sell chocolates and it is said to be completely optional. Since the beginning of this happening students have always said yes to selling but one day a kid is forced to say no by a group of controlling kids and it all swerves out of hand from then on out with violence simply being thrown at this one kid. Though the style of writing is a little odd and starts out as a bit confusing to grasp, once out get it the book becomes infinitely more enjoyable. Though some readers may dislike the inconclusive ending many will and have enjoyed it, I suggest you find out for yourself which you are.
 * Harry Gray**
 * Score: 8/10**

__Have A Little Faith__ **by** __**Mitch Albom**__ At the beginning of 2000, Mitch Albom was asked to write his Rabbi's, Albert Lewis. In the span of 8 years, he connects with 'the Reb' on a much deeper level through frequent visits and intimate interview sessions. At the same time, Albom discovers the story and dark past of another man, a pastor named Henry Covington. Both stories revolve around the mens' faith in their religion and the lives that they have changed. It mainly focuses around one's strong belief in their faith, and how it made them who they are today, and I think that while I cannot relate to how hard their lives have been, I can relate to their strong focus. However, like most of Mitch Albom's books, it has a idealistic undertone, which makes it a bit less __real__, though still just as inspirational and touching.
 * Amanda Li**
 * Score: 8/10**

The Extras begins a few years after the mind rain, which was the main event in the past three books where people, at the age of 16, were forced to have a surgery that would make them look beautiful, but secretly damage their brains. The Extras focuses on a new main character, who lives in a new society that was based on a 'fame economy'. Basically, the more fame and attention one earned, the more 'money' they could receive. The main character, Aya Fuse, a total nobody, yearned to be famous, which soon led her to finding alien figures residing in an empty mountain. With her famous brother, she decides that the aliens were trying to destruct the world, and rid the world of humanity. Like the rest of this series, this book has an overall moral to protect the environment, which is a very nice message to our modern and industrializing world. However, sometimes the details and explanations of what is happening is quite confusing and somewhat hard to understand. I think that I would have to give this book an 8 out of 10.
 * __Extras__ by __Scott Westerfield__**
 * Stephanie Tang**

Shiver is a book about a girl falling in love with a werewolf. The girl, Grace, was bitten by werewolves 6 years ago, and saved by a yellow-eyed wolf. After this, she and the wolf watched each other everyday, except in the summer, and Grace immediately was interested by him. Soon, she finds that the wolves in her backyard, including the yellow-eyed wolf, were werewolves, and met the yellow-eyed wolf in human form when he changed for the summer. Sadly, all werewolves had to change back into wolves in the winter, and for Sam, the yellow eyed wolf as a human, it was his last summer to be human before changing into a normal wolf forever. This book was extremely emotional and suspenseful, and I really couldn't put it down as I read. I would give this book a 10 out of 10. I really don't know what to say, except for the fact that I really enjoyed every second of it.
 * __Shiver__ by __Maggie Stiefvater__**
 * Stephanie Tang**

In this book, Shades of Grey, a person's worth is determined by a color hierarchy and the amount of one color they can see. Each person is only naturally able to see one color, whether its red or green or yellow, and depending on what percent of that color you can see, varying shades of it. Eddie Russet, a Red, moves to East Carmine with his father, a color doctor. Though their world is supposed to be governed by the strict set of Munsell's Rules, the citizens of East Carmine is more than willing to bend them to get what they want. There, Eddie meets a Grey, Jane, and quickly falls in love with her. Together, they unravel the truth and unearth the lies that the government has tried to hide from them. I can relate to them, because right now, in our world, there have been and are still many lies being told to us, but we are all trying to uncover the truth. This book is wonderful and has very diverse and interesting characters. However, there can be confusing areas, especially when it comes to the terms that they use, since we do not use them today. Still, I give this book a score of 10/10.
 * __Shades of Grey__ by __Jason Fforde__**
 * Amanda Li**
 * Score: 10/10**

__**Cut**__ **by __Patricia McCormick__** Cut is a book about a girl called Callie, who is a cutter. She is now in a treatment facility called "Sea Pines"( the girls like calling it "Sick Minds") and is refusing to talk to anyone, even her therapist.The other girls there are all for different reasons, some for drugs, some for eating disorders, and others there for the same reason as Callie. Callie refuses to talk to anyone, until something happens. This event leads to Callie talking about her family, what she feels about cutting, and how she feels about that event. This same event is also the event that Callie decides that she wants to get better. Her therapist's name is never mentioned, it was always referred as 'you'. I really liked this book, I think that it was a very meaningful book, because people who cut often get addicted to it, and for that person to stop it takes a lot of courage and determination.
 * Katherine Li**
 * Score: 8.5/10**

This is a story about two girls who become close friends, but eventually the lines get blurry between their friendship and love.Nicola Lancaster goes to a summer program for the gifted, intending to find out if she really wants to become an archaeologist or not. On the first day she meets Isaac, Katrina, Kevin, and Battle. These people all become close friends of Nic's and Battle becomes somewhat of a best friend of Nic's. The book is almost like a journal, where Nic writes down her thoughts. We never really get to see what's going on in the other's people mind, because well, Nic is the narrator. Throughout the book, Nic and Battle go through many different events that cause them to grow closer, but also at times they grew apart. The two never labeled themselves as girlfriends or anything, and I really liked that because people are always labeling people rather than just letting them be them. I definitely enjoyed this book, it was different from any other book I've ever read, and it was really enjoyable.
 * __Empress of the World__ by __Sara Ryan__**
 * Katherine Li**
 * Score: 10/10**

__**Atonement**__ **by __Ian McEwan__** This is a book about guilt and forgiveness. 13 year old Briony Tallis was a girl who had a talent for writing and a great imagination. Robbie Turner, and a childhood friend of Cecilia, Briony's older sister, also had a crush on her. He writes a couple drafts of love letters to give to Cecilia via Briony, but accidentally gives her the one that says 'cunt' on it. Later, Briony see's the two having sex and mistakes Robbie of raping Cecilia. Later that night, when her brother and Paul Marshall come over, Briony's cousin is raped and she accuses Robbie. Robbie is then sent to jail, Cecilia leaves her home to become a nurse for the war, and Briony realizes how much pain she has inflicted on the two. Robbie later goes to war, he and Cecilia meet once during her lunch break and make out. Robbie is later injured and then goes to the safe heaven, and falls asleep one day before the evacuation. Briony finally realizes what she has done, that it was really Paul Marshall who raped her cousin and not Robbie, so she declines he rspot at Cambridge and goes to become a nurse. The last section in the book was from Briony's perspective. Although in her book Cecilia and Robbie are reunited, in real life they are not. Robbie died of some kind of sickness and Cecilia was killed by a bomb. Briony explains that she wrote the story like that because she thinks that they deserve happiness. This book was amazing. I really liked it, the themes that it explored and the way that it was written was amazing. It makes you wonder how one simple mistake can affect so many lives, and how sad and unfortunate it can become. I would definitely recommend this book to others.
 * Katherine Li**
 * Score: 10/10**

The Numerati is a book by Stephen L. Baker about the future of marketing and data mining. It is a nonfiction book, and is based on a series interviews with people who have used technology to analyze our actions in a numerical form. He begins by stating the obvious, a truth that ought to be better known, that our market is a consumer driven market, and merely producing what the majority of the populous wants will not result in economic success. From the many chapters, labeled as Worker, Shopper, Voter, Blogger, Terrorist, Patient, and Lover, we can read Baker’s interviews and learn his, and many other opinions on how our information can be used. The Numerati explores the applications of math; trend and data based prediction, in the many areas labeled by each chapter. Will shopping karts of the future predict what you are going to buy, rate you on brand loyalty, and map out patterns in your route around the local supermarket? How can politicians predict which people are 50/50 regarding whom to vote for, and what things can they do to win over voters? And what would happen in a society in which monitors can predict and prevent illness. Would insurance companies label and demand a pretty penny from those who refused to use these monitors? Would people unwilling to share that information be labeled as high risk? And would the government demand for that information as well? The Numerati explores how mathematical categorization of your personal information could be used to predict you, how random credit card transactions involving ice cream at odd hours could result in a coupon, 9 months later, on your personal shopping kart of 2030 for diapers, and other infant related shenanigans, as well as how privacy can become an expensive, luxurious option in the near, foreseeable future. The Numerati is a promising read for those who are interested in the future of the consumer. For the interesting take on data mining, and the delightful lack of actual mathematics; only methods of implementation, I would give this book a 10/10
 * __Numerati__ by __Stephen L. Baker__**
 * Owen Lu**
 * Score: 10/10**

Set in a totalitarian city ruled by the Mayor, ‘Truancy’ follows the story of 15-year-old high school student Tack. The Mayor controls the city through the government, made up of two branches, the Educators who make laws and policies, and the Enforcers, who enforce these laws and policies. One day after running away from bullies, Tack meets with a mysterious boy named Umasi, who becomes Tack’s mentor. Umasi trains Tack in combat, while also informing him about the city and a rebellious group of students named the Truancy who fight the Mayor and his Educators. A couple days after finishing Umasi’s training, Tack’s sister is caught in between the crossfire of a Truancy assassination. Tack decides to join the Truancy in order to avenge the death of his sister by killing the assassin, who turns out to be the leader of the Truancy, a boy named Zyid. The main character, Tack, is a very persistent and quick thinking person. Tack also becomes very fit and combat by the end Umasi’s training. One major theme of this book is education system. I can’t relate to this theme since the current education system isn’t as strict as the one in this book. ‘Truancy’ is full of action as well as dramatic irony, since it looks at both the Truancy’s actions and the Mayor’s actions. The dramatic irony takes out the suspense of some parts of the story.
 * __Truancy__** **by Isamu Fukui**
 * Ocean Huang**
 * Score: 10/10**

‘I Am the Cheese’ begins in the fictional town of Monument, Massachusetts, and ends at a hospital in Rutterburg, Vermont. The main character, Adam Farmer narrates the story as he travels on a bike to Rutterburg, Vermont to visit his father. On the way to Rutterburg, Adam encounters many people who help or delay him. ‘I Am the Cheese’ uses a structure very similar to ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’, as it has the story of Adam biking to Vermont one chapter and Adam being questioned by someone in the next. During the questioning chapters, Adam remembers what happened to his family and slowly regains his actual memories. The main character, Adam has forgotten his memories and is in a hospital. A person who wants to figure out what Adam’s father told him is questioning him. Adam figures out what the person is doing, but continues to cooperate because he wants to get his memories back. The major theme of this story is finding the lost truth. I liked the ending of the story because it connects all the characters and the bike ride all together. Something I didn’t like about the story was the chapter system, since it confused me for the first couple of chapters until I figured it out.
 * __I Am the Cheese__** **by Robert Cormier**
 * Ocean Huang**
 * Score: 9/10**

__**Fahrenheit 451**__ **by Ray Bradbury** "Fahrenheit 451" is about a dystopian society where firemen burn books instead of prevent fires because all the houses are completely fireproof. Books are a symbol of sadness because it provoked emotion, so they were banned and if a book was found in a house the house would burn too. The main character, Guy, meets a girl called Clarisse who he thinks is peculiar and different because she thinks about things and observes, while others in this fast paced society believe that fun is all that is there, and that fastness and death and violence aren't as bad as they say it is. This novel is set in a time of futurism, a movement that was associated with youth, violence and speed, except it is in the future. Guy thinks that this is a bad system and decides to save books. The theme of this book is that you can't have happiness without sadness and I think that the beginning is confusing but everything else is very good
 * Roland Chen**
 * Score: 9/10**

__**Truancy by Isamu Fukai**__ In the City, schools are more like a prison for its students rather than a place to enjoy learning and making friends. A student group called Truancy aims to overthrow this system by assassinating the Educators, Disciplinary Officers, and all those who work for the Mayor. The leader of this rebel group is a boy cloaked in mystery named Zyid, who has a close right hand named Noni. Tack is a normal boy who goes to school in District 20, until one day, while escaping another group of boys, he runs into the abandoned District 19. There, he meets a curious boy called Usami who has strange connection with Zyid that will become revealed later. One day, while assassinating a Disciplinary Officer, Zyid kills Tack's younger sister and cold-heartedly names her 'collateral damage'. From there, Tack joins the Truancy with a vow to kill Zyid. However, as he joins the battle for student's freedom, he begins to realize how essential Zyid's presence is Truancy, and questions his ability to carry out his promise to his sister. The book talks about how important freedom is, not only to students, but to everybody. While the book is very interesting, there were fight scenes that I personally thought took too long to describe and got a bit boring.
 * Amanda Li**
 * Score: 7.5/10**

Demon King is the first book of the Seven Realms series. Hanson Alister and his friend Fire Dancer are one of many in main characters in this book. Han is a poor street lord in the Ragmarket of the fells. His friend Dancer is of clan and is having trouble finding what he wants to do as an apprentice. Han and Dancer were hunting when they came across a group of wizards. Han threatens to shoot them all. Han steals an amulet that could kill him with the amount of power it holds. Wizards are bad luck in this series. This is the first of many troubles they face. On the better side Princess Raisa ana’Marinna, just came back from the Demonai tribes and is faced with the corruption with the court her mother holds. The themes in the book are to find themselves, whether it’s becoming queen or changing the way they live to survive. I liked this book very much but it was slow at first then once I got into the characters I couldn’t stop.
 * __Demon King__ by __Cinda Williams Chima__**
 * Hannah Boyer**
 * Score 8/10**

As in the last book Han Alister and Dancer and Princess Raisa are going back and forth between battles in their lives. The princess ran away from court because on her name day (birthday) her mother was going to force her into marring a wizard. She refused and fled for her life. She took refuge with her caption Amon Byrne. Went down with him and his triple to Oden’s Fort to. Just as Raisa fled, Han was accused for murders that he didn’t commit and for stealing the amulet. The High Wizards son Micah Bryar found the stable where Han, his mother and seven year old sister live. Micah set fire to the place and Han’s mother and sister died. Han and Dancer found that their lives will never be the same. They are wizards. So Han and Dancer travel to Oden’s Fort to start their training for wizardry. And they meet. Han saw the girl that he knows as Rebecca Morley, who is really the princess in disguise. Han asks her to tutor him in proper behavior and etiquette. Their relationship flourishes from there. But suddenly Raisa meets the person she is running from. Micah Bryar. He gave her a choice, marriage or death. This second book in the series is fast pace and won’t let you put it down.
 * __The Exiled Queen__ by __Cinda Williams Chima__**
 * Hannah Boyer**
 * Score 10/10**

In the beginning, Princess Raisa has run away from Micah Bryar. In the last book, Micah treated marriage to him or death. She went with him, but they got intercepted and she ran away. Han Alister, Amon Byrne and his triple were following her trying to find the runaway princess. Han chooses to go back up the mountains into the Fells. Raisa was in a tavern waiting for the right time to leave. One night Amon Byrne’s father, Captain Edon Byrne, finds her. They leave secretly and travel together up the mountains. In a flurry they are attacked and only Raisa escapes. She is close to her first destination and she is attacked and injured. Han Alister is behind her and he doesn’t know it until he finds her half dead. He cant let her die. He takes the poision out of her through magic. He gets to the Demonai they make a slow recovery. Raisa later finds that if she doesn’t come back then the Bryars will put her sister on the throne. She makes a daring act to recover her throne. I could not put this book down. It held my attention till the very end.
 * The Gray Wolf Throne By Cinda Williams Chima **
 * Hannah Boyer **
 * Score 10/10 **

Jacob Jankowski is an old man, 93 yearsold, forgotten in a nursing home by his children, as he has almost forgotten the world around him. But he still remembers his past. At age 23, he ran away from home and a veterinary education at Cornell only to join the Benzini Borthers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a traveling circus to look after the animals. At first glance, he falls in love with Marlena, the star performer of the show, even though she is married to August, a man who has bursts of violence. The longer he stays with the circus, the deeper he sinks into the horrors and sacrifices that come with the big tent and admiring crowds. It’s a touching love story that transcends time, as well as a shock to the reader, leaving them to question whether what they see as a production is nearly as good as what happens behind the scenes. I think that it is an excellent book, and that people should definitely read it. However, some people may not like the more sexual or violent.
 * __Water for Elephants__ by** __**Sara Gruen**__
 * Amanda Li**
 * Score: 10/10**

__**The Hunger Games**__ **by __Suzanne Collins__** This is a book all about suspense and anticipation. The 74th Hunger Games is in, and 2 tributes from each of the 12 districts must participate. The goal of the Hunger Games is for the 24 tributes to kill each other off, and the last surviving becomes the winner. The Hunger Games were made to remind those of a rebellion that happened many years ago that the Capitol still had complete control over everybody and that they could destroy anyone in a blink of an eye. District 12's Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are chosen. Peeta has always had a crush on Katniss from a young age even though barely knowing each other, for Peeta was always the baker's son who had saved her and her family's life by giving her a loaf of bread. While preparing for the Hunger Games, we meet Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta's mentor who later on become the key element of their survival in the games. When the games begin, many are killed off, and the ones that survive use everything to kill the others off. During the first part of the Games, alliances are made that will later be destroyed, friends are found, people are killed, and love happens. This book was truly amazing. Once I started reading it, I couldn't even put it down. If you haven't read this before, please go and read it, it is truly amazing! Even though it is a tiny bit violent, it's definitely worth your time.
 * Katherine Li**
 * Score: 10/10**

__**Smack (Junk)**__ **by __Melvin Burgess__** This book starts out with Gemma and Tar, Tar who is getting ready to run away from home because of being abused by his father. Gemma on the other hand has loving parents, but being the rebellious teenager she is she decides to run aways and meet up with Tar in Bristol. Later Tar is introduced to Richard, a addict who took pity on Tar. He later meets Gemma, but is not very thrilled, thinking that she is too young and will only cause them trouble. Later on in the story though, they are both introduced to heroin, and even though once saying that they would only take in once and not get addicted to it, they sadly become addicts. When their friend Lily, who is also an addict gets pregnant, which inspires Tar, Gemma, and Rob to quit, but they don't even last a day. While Lily is pregnant, she still does heroin. Lily, Gemma, and Sally also have to work as sex workers in order to pay for the drugs. When Tar is caught, he is sent to rehab and when he comes out he says that he is clean, but after going back to the flat where Gemma, Lily, and Rob are he starts again. When Gemma and Tar found with heroin again, Tar takes the blame and is taken away to prison. Gemma now pregnant with Tar's child, goes back home clean, and raises this child by herself because she doesn't trust Tar anymore. After coming out of prison, Tar slowly stops taking all the drugs, gets a girlfriend, and goes to visit Gemma and his daughter every few months. I liked this book, but at times it was confusing because of the change of perspectives. I think that it sends a pretty strong message, being to not take drugs because it can get you into a lot of trouble.
 * Katherine Li**
 * Score: 9/10**

Set in a distant future in the United States, ‘Feed’ follows the story of Titus. While spending spring break on the moon, Titus and his friends meet a girl named Violet. The group goes to a club, where their feeds, which are an implanted computer chip that connects people to a computer network, are hacked by a man. They later wake up in a hospital, where Titus and Violet begin a relationship. Later, back on Earth, Violet shows Titus her plan to resist the feed, which involves showing interest in random items so her feed can’t keep up with her interests. Soon after, while Violet and Titus are with Titus’s friends talking, Titus’s friends begin making fun of Violet for using big words. Violet gets angry with this and tells Titus to take her home. On the car ride they argue, and Violet reveals that her feed has problems, causing parts of her body to stop working at random. At a party later, Violet’s feed malfunctions and she’s taken to a hospital, where it is shown that her feed efficiency is lowering, which causes more problems later. The main character Titus is not too intelligent and ignores many things going on around him. Some themes of ‘Feed’ are consumerism and corporate power. The things the characters do and say all feel very realistic, which allows the reader to relate to some of the characters actions. I think this is a very good book, however some of the words that the people say may confuse the reader.
 * __Feed__** **by M.T. Anderson**
 * Ocean Huang**
 * Score: 9/10**

Set in California during the Great Depression, ‘Of Mice and Men’ tells the story of two field workers, George Milton and Lennie Small. George is the intelligent one of the pair, while Lennie is the muscle. They both share the dream of one day owning a plot of land and settling down. While working at a ranch, their dream seems to be in reach when they meet Candy, a ranch hand with money who wants to join them. Things turn sour when Curley, the boss’s son, attacks Lennie, resulting in Lennie breaking Curley’s hand. Later, when Lennie is talking to Curley’s wife, things begin to go wrong. The main characters of the story are George and Lennie. George is an intelligent person and is also Lennie’s protector. Lennis isn’t too intelligent and is very strong. He listens to whatever George says and never doubts him. A theme of this book is friendship. I think that this is a great book, however, some people may find this book explicit.
 * __Of Mice and Men__** **by John Steinbeck**
 * Ocean Huang**
 * Score: 10/10**

Outliers, a nonfiction book by Malcolm Gladwell, is about the factors that determine success. The structure of book is very easy to understand. Malcolm wrote about various, widely known and mostly undisputed, successful people (Such as William Gates of Microsoft) by covering their background, and providing answers through two parts of the book, “Opportunity” and “Legacy” each containing 5 and 4 chapters. The book starts with Malcolm’s theory and analysis on the disproportionate amount of Canadian hockey players born in January, during which he applies the Matthew effect. Following which, are a series of chapters detailing studies on children with high IQs, and their relative success as adults, an interview with Bill Gates which demonstrates why he became successful, as well as The Beatles. This book analyzes multiple accounts of success, from Korean pilots, to Jewish immigrants, and demonstrates that success is not dependent on only effort, but that it’s also dependent on culture and socioeconomic levels, and that, no matter how smart an individual is, unless the circumstances are right, chances are, they won’t reach their full potential. This book, depressing as it is, deserves a 9/10 for being thought provoking, and educational.
 * __Outliers__ by Malcolm Gladwell**
 * Owen Lu**
 * Score: 10/10**

Catching Fire was the second book of the Hunger Games Trilogy. This book is the aftermath of the first book. After tricking the Capitol into letting two winners with the 74th Hunger Games instead of one winner, also making the capitol look like a fool, the president is really mad at Katniss and her actions. He has threatened to kill Gale, her family, and others that she loves if she doesn't meet his expectations. Later on, Gale is caught getting whipped because he was hunting and almost dies. Since this year would be the 75th Hunger Games, it was also a Quarter Quell, meaning that it had a certain twist to it. The twist this year was that the tributes would be the former winners from each district. We then meet all of the other tributes. When the Games start, Katniss and Peeta team up with Finnick and Mags. They go through a lot, and they also become allies with Joahanna, Beetee, and Wiress. After destroying the force field that held the tributes in the arena, Katniss, Finnick, and Beetee are transported to District 13, a district that wasn't even supposed to still exist. They then learn that others have been taken to the capitol and that a full on riot in all 12 districts has happened. This book was really good, you won't be disappointed.
 * __Catching Fire__ by** __**Suzanne Collins**__
 * Katherine Li**
 * Score: 10/10**

__**Mockingjay**__ **by __Suzanne Collins__** Mockingjay is the third and last book of the Hunger Games Trilogy. After Katniss and the others are rescued by District 13, the rebels say that Katniss is the "Mockingjay" and the face of rebellion. When Katniss agrees to help out, she makes a deal with the president of District 13 that the ones that were captured by that Capitol are granted immunity. Katniss then leads the rebels into taking control of all of the districts, and lastly the Capitol. Peeta and the others are rescued from the Capitol, but the Capitol has brainwashed him into thinking that Katniss is a mutt and that she is evil. Later when attacking that Capitol, many of the rebels die, and so does Katniss's sister, Prim. The death of Prim leads to Katniss's mental instability, and after some months Peeta does get better. Right before President Snow's execution, Katniss learns that it was Coin who was responsible for Prim's death, so Katniss shoots Coin instead Snow at his execution. Peeta and Katniss are finally in love, and they have children many years later. This was a really great trilogy, and it's sad that its over. Go read it!
 * Katherine Li**
 * Score: 10/10**

The perks of being a wallflower is a book written through many letters. The protagonist Charlie is writing letters to this anonymous person explaining his life. This book explores sex, drugs, sexuality, loneliness, teenage life, and just growing up in general. The story starts out when Charlie loses his friend Michael because he committed suicide and he is just starting high school as a freshman. Charlie's quiet, and doesn't have a lot of friends but becomes very close with his English teacher Bill, who often gives him extra work and books to read. Charlie then meets Patrick and Sam, two seniors who become his two best friends. They go to parties together, and this is where Charlie gets stoned and drunk, also where he meets Bob, who goes to college and sells drugs. Charlie falls in love with Sam, but Sam tells him to not to think about him that way. Charlie grows up throughout the book, not just sexually, but also emotionally and mentally. This book was really really good, but some people might not like it that much because it does talk about a lot of things. The format of this book was different than most other books, so I think it made it a even better read.
 * __The Perks of Being a Wallflower__ by __Stephen Chbosky__**
 * Katherine Li**
 * Score: 10/10**

Of Mice and Men is one of the best books that I have ever read and has a thrilling ending. The book Of Mice and Men talks about two characters, George and Lenny. George is a nimble and quick thinking person while Lenny is slow but very powerful. He always breaks things and is clumsy, sometimes hurting others in the process. George and Lenny have a dream of building a farm in the country and wish to do so by doing a job, where many tragic things happen which ultimately leads up to the dramatic end of the story. The book focuses on the choices that a friend must make to survive on his own and is a great quick read with deep meaning and emotion.
 * __Of Mice and Men__ by __John Steinbeck__**
 * Roland Chen**
 * Score: 10/10**

__**Water for Elephants**__ **by __Sara Gruen__** Water for Elephants is a great book talking about the journey of a young boy through a travelling circus, the experiences that he gains, the trouble he gets into, the people he meets and the many perks of these explorations. The book's structure is of an old man always falling asleep and dreaming about the life that he had while he was a child, these always are interesting and you see the experiences that he goes through. Sara Gruen really engages us and makes us step in his shoes, showing us what it is like to be in his position and will always keep you from putting the book down. All in all, Water for Elephants was a great book full of emotion including but not limited to Sadness, Happiness, Lust, Being Afraid, Confusion, Frustration and many others. It is a great read and there is even a movie for it!
 * Roland Chen**
 * Score: 10/10**

Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield is a book about a man who looks for 9 insights in Peru, these insights can only be known when the time is right and all have some lesson in them that teaches us about our lives and it helps us become better people. The thrilling adventure is critically acclaimed and has received reviews such as "Life-Changing". The Novel focuses on our lives and how we interact with other people. The Celestine Prophecy is a great book and it helps us realize our purpose on this planet. Although the novel can be confusing at times, the overall structure and the plot are enticing and serve to show us the true meaning of life and evolution.
 * __Celestine Prophecy__ by __James Redfield__**
 * Roland Chen**
 * Score: 10/10**

‘Cirque Du Freak: Vampire Mountain’ is the 4th book of the series. It follows the story of narrator Darren Shan. Darren Shan is a half-vampire, who was turned into one by the vampire Mr. Crepsley. In this book, Mr. Crepsley takes Darren to the vampire council being held at Vampire Mountain. They travel to Vampire Mountain on foot and meet another vampire, Mr Crepsley’s friend, who is also on the way to Vampire Mountain. During the trip the trio encounter many hardships, such as a bear attack. Upon reaching Vampire Mountain, the trio are welcomed and given rooms and food. Later at the vampire council, when the council believes that Mr. Crepsley turned Darren into a half-vampire for no reason, Darren is forced to prove himself as a vampire by passing the Trials of Initiation. Darren agrees, without knowing the consequence of failing is death by execution. The main character Darren is a brave and intelligent person, however, he isn’t well informed on many vampire customs. As a result of this, he accepted the challenge of the Trials of Initiation without knowing the consequence of failing. A theme of this book is courage. I would recommend this book to whoever likes adventure and some action.
 * __Cirque Du Freak: Vampire Mountain__** **by Darren Shan**
 * Ocean Huang**
 * Score: 8/10**

“Fahrenheit 451” is set in a future American society where books are illegal and are burned by firemen. One day, fireman Guy Montag is on his way home from the fire station, when he meets 17-year-old Clarisse McClellan. Over the next few days, Guy and Clarisse begin to bond with each other. One day, the firemen go to an old woman’s house to burn her books. Before the burning, Guy takes a book for him to keep. The woman refuses to leave her house and her books, and chooses to burn herself along with the house and books. Montag returns home and learns from his wife that a speeding car killed Clarisse four days prior. The next day the fire chief visits Montag, and tells him the uselessness of books. When the fire chief leaves, Guy shows his wife the book, and also shows her the books he’s been hiding in the ventilator of their house. Guy remembers a man he once met in the park named Faber, an English professor, who might be able to help him learn the importance of literature. Guy pays Faber a visit, where Faber tells Guy the importance. The two make a plan to try to convince other people the importance of literature. This later causes Guy’s house to be destroyed when he’s caught with the possession of books, and forces Guy to go on the run. The main character Guy Montag lacks knowledge and believes whatever he hears for most of the story. A major theme of this story is censorship. I like how the story starts out slow, and then later becomes fast paced.
 * __Fahrenheit 451__** **by Ray Bradbury**
 * Ocean Huang**
 * Score: 9/10**

__**The Lovely Bones**__ **by __Alice Sebold__** The Lovely Bones is a book about a 14 year old girl, Susie Salmon, who was raped then brutally murdered, and the aftermath of her death. One day, when Susie is on her way back home, she sees one of her neighbors, George Harvey, and he shows her this underground room that he dug up. After going in, he rapes her and the kills her with a shaving razor and cuts her up into pieces. Susie's spirit goes to her own personal heaven, and from there, she sees what's going on in her hometown and all the people she knows. The investigation of Susie's death goes on, but no positive results come out of it, and soon the case is dropped. Things at Susie's home aren't going very well either, her parents are growing apart, everyone is still grieving and trying to move on from her death, and her siblings and friends grow up without her. Susie's mother starts having an affair with the Detective, leading to her leaving Jack, her husband. Jack and Lindsey, Susie's sister, start to suspect George Harvey, and try to find something about him that could prove that he's guilty. This book was really good, it made you think about your own feelings, mourning, and how to move on. I would recommend this book to others, but some people might not like it because it's pretty sad.
 * Katherine Li**
 * Score: 9/10**

‘The Chocolate War’ follows the story of several high school students at Trinity High School. The Vigils, a group of students at the high school led by Archie Costello, assign members to perform various tasks, such as unscrewing the screws of furniture in a classroom. Archie teams up with the assistant headmaster, Brother Leon, during the annual chocolate sale because he was promised support for The Vigils from the teachers. The task of one of the protagonist, Jerry Renault, was to refuse to sell chocolates for ten days during the annual chocolate sale. However, after the ten days, Jerry kept on refusing to sell the chocolates, rebelling against the school and The Vigils. Jerry is later told by Archie to start selling chocolates, but he still doesn’t. Later, Archie gets The Vigils to sell all the chocolates and to harass Jerry. The protagonist of this story is freshman Jerry Renault. He is a stubborn and brave person. A theme of this book is disturbing the natural order. I think that this is a great book.
 * __The Chocolate War__** **by Robert Cormier**
 * Ocean Huang**
 * Score: 10/10**

This book is about Gabriella Schramm, and her life when Hitler came into power. It is a very powerful story of how Gaby’s life changes, she has a wonderful life and very prosperous and full. The political wars with Hitler become very vibrant. Her father is a astrologer and his place is faltering. Her sister is going through lots of trouble. She’s not doing well in school and she has a boyfriend, Karl. Gaby’s family is against Hitler and his cause, but Karl is a Nazi. They don’t find that out until later, until then Gaby likes Karl and respects him. This book is a easy quick read but very deep in historical content. I really liked this book. You as a reader really get into Gaby’s life and almost relate to her.
 * Ashes By Kathryn Lasky **
 * Hannah Boyer **
 * Score 9/10 **


 * Sabotaged By Margaret Peterson Haddix**
 * Hannah Boyer**

This is the third book and Jonah and his sister Katherine, helped Chip and Alex survive fifteenth-century London. They are asked again to help another lost child, Andrea. Andrea finds out that she is really Virginia Dare, from the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Jonah and Katherine are confident in their ability to help Andrea fix history. Their journey goes dangerously wrong. They realized that they have lost contact with the only person that could help them and they landed in the wrong time. Andrea is behaving oddly. They find out that someone has sabotaged their mission. The teams of young teenagers have to fix history but to do that they need to get to the right time. This was an interesting story, but it wasn’t my taste. I liked the first two books but this one just fell apart and didn’t keep me engaged in the story.


 * Score 5/10**

‘The Old Man and the Sea’ follows the story of an old Cuban fisherman named Santiago. The story starts out by explaining that Santiago hasn’t caught any fish in 84 days. Santiago believes that on the 85th day he will be lucky and will catch a fish. Thus, on the 85th day, he sets out to the sea to begin his fishing. By noon of the first day, a big fish takes his bait. Unable to pull in the fish, Santiago allows the fish to pull his boat. Two days and two nights pass, until Santiago manages to pull the fish in and stab the fish with his harpoon, killing it. He straps the fish to the side of his boat and begins the journey back to shore. However, on the way back sharks trying to eat the fish attack him, causing problems along the way. The main character of this story is Santiago, a Cuban fisherman. He is a committed fisherman, and is determined to catch the fish, no matter what. Santiago is also very brave, using his oar to beat sharks up when they try to eat his catch. A theme of this book is determination. The beginning of the story is really slow and boring, however after the fish is caught, the pace quickens.
 * __The Old Man and the Sea__** **by Earnest Hemingway**
 * Ocean Huang**
 * Score: 7/10**

‘Beyond the Chocolate War’ is the sequel to ‘The Chocolate War’. It mainly focuses on the story of The Vigils’ secretary Obie, instead of the previous protagonist Jerry Renault, although there is still some stuff about Jerry. The story starts out stating that Obie is drifting further and further away from The Vigils and Archie since he met a girl. A sophomore who isn’t as distracted soon replaces Obie in The Vigils. One day, Obie and his girlfriend are assaulted by a group of mysterious people, who Obie later finds out was Bunting, the person that replaced him in The Vigils, and his friends. One of Bunting’s friends tells Obie that it was Archie’s assignment, causing Obie to think up a way to get back at Archie. Meanwhile, Jerry has returned from Canada, where he was recuperating after the events of ‘The Chocolate War’. When he is ready to go outside, the bully who had beaten him up at the end of the ‘The Chocolate War’, Emile Janza, sees him. Jerry runs into Emile later and is able to defeat him. In this book, the main character has shifted from Jerry to Obie. Obie is an intelligent person and is also good with others. He has a strong hate for Archie, which eventually causes him to try to kill Archie. A theme of this book is revenge. I like how this book was able to focus on more on The Vigils and Archie’s plans for the future.
 * __Beyond the Chocolate War__** **by Robert Cormier**
 * Ocean Huang**
 * Score: 10/10**

Jessica Day moves from Chicago to Bixby, Oklahoma where she attends the local high school. She looks like she belongs with the normal people, but the most isolated outsiders, the midnighters like Rex, Dess, Melissa, and Jonathan are also fascinated by the newcomer as they sense she shares the secret hour that only occurs for those born at midnight. Jessica wakes up at midnight noticing that her family and everyone else seems frozen. She explores this magical twenty-fifth hour the secret hour. She finds that only the Midnighters and monsters from nightmares lurk that secret hour. For some reason she is the target of these monsters. I absoulutley loved this book. It was a quick read and fascinating. It is the first of a series and totally captures the reader.
 * Midnighters- The Secret Hour By Scott Westerfeld **
 * Hannah Boyer **
 * Score 10/10 **

Water for Elephants is a novel told by 93 year old Jacob Jankowski who now lives in a nursing home. He retells his memories of when he was 23 year old, starting off with his parents death leading him to flunk his final exam and runs away. He jumps onto the train that belongs to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a circus. He then starts working there and meets Marlena who he falls in love with. But the problem is is that Marlena is already married to August, a man who not only abuses Marlena, but also the circus animals. Marlena and Jacob fall in love with each other, and sleep together, leading to Marlena leaving August. This makes Uncle Al, the owner of the circus really mad, therefore throwing off Jacob's friends from the train. This book was really a page turner, and I would recommend others to read it. It deals with a lot of emotions, and how often do you come across a book about love in a circus?
 * __ Water for Elephants __ by __Sarah Gruen__ **
 * Katherine Li**
 * Score: 10/10**

__**Beyond the Chocolate War**__ **by __Rober Cormier__** In 'Beyond the Chocolate War', Robert cormier follows the lives of 3 protagonists. They all have one goal in mind, taking down the vigils and Archie Costello. In this sequel to the hit 'the Chocolate War', We find out more secrets, more misshaps and we know more about how the school works than ever before. Obie drifts ever far away from the Vigils, Archie is losing his grip on the Vigils, and Carter is no longer satisfied by the many assignments carried out by Vigil members. There is one threading theme in 'Beyond the Chocolate War'.The Vigils.
 * __Roland Chen__**
 * Score: 10/10**

In Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins keps up with the life of Katniss Everdeen after the first Hunger Games. She is thrown into a life of turmoil, where everything is never back to normal again. Her relationship with Gale is getting worse and worse, and her fake love for Peeta drifts them apart. In the sequel to 'the Hunger Games' Suzanne Collins shows us what it is like to live through a time of need and shows us what an iron grip does to us as citizens. Katniss Everdeen is thrown into a life of turmoil and it will never ever go back to normal. This book was a great sequel to 'the Hunger Games' because it helped clarify and move the story on.
 * __Catching Fire__ by __Suzanne Collins__**
 * __Roland Chen__**
 * Score: 9.5/10**

In the thrilling ending to the Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss Everdeen is head and mockingjay of the rebeliion. She is ready to fight and will do whatever it takes to overthrow the capitol. The rebellion is underway in many different districts and it is her job as Mockingjay to get everyone fighting for the cause of the rebellion. Katniss is torn between friends and fight, and she will make tough decisions throughout the story. The ending to the Hunger Games trilogy ends with a bang and is sure to keep you hooked from start to finish. The use of emotion and personal accounts really brings this book to life and it helps us understand her feelings. Suzanne Collins did a great job of getting us to remember the series and to hit our emotions with this gripping tale
 * __Mockingjay__ by __Suzanne Collins__**
 * __Roland Chen__**
 * Score: 10/10**

The main characters of the __Emerald Atlas__ are three children Kate, Emma, and Michael. Kate is the eldest. She is the only one from her sister and brother that has a memory of their parents. These children are constantly stitching orphanages. Their hard lives made them only rely on each other and quick witted. In this first book they are yet again in another orphanage, but Kate, Emma, and Michael are the only children there. They explore the house and they find a door that Michael said wasn’t there when he looked the moment before. The go in the mysterious room and find a book with blank pages and bound in green leather. The children start off on an adventure that takes them back in time to the dwarf kingdom. In that quest they see their mother. This was a good book, I thought it was kind of slow but in all it was good.
 * The Emerald Atlas **** By John Stephens **
 * Hannah Boyer **
 * Score- 7/10 **

Creel Carlbrun is going to be sacrificed to a dragon. Her foolish aunt hopes this will put her in the path of a wealthy knight and result in marriage and the rising of family fortunes. The dragon however just wants to get rid of her, having no appetite for human girls. They strike a deal that solves both of their problems. Creel will take something from his collection and in return she will convince the knight to go away forever. She goes out on her own for a new life and finds herself a favorite of the younger prince of the realm. She gets in the middle of the politics of the marriage of the elder prince. This was a funny quick read. I really recommend it.
 * Dragon Slippers By Jessica Day George **
 * Hannah Boyer **
 * Score- 8/10 **

Katsa is a graceling, a person with a greatly advanced skill and with eyes with different colors. She has one green eye, and one blue eye, which is thought to be beautiful. Katsa's Grace is killing, and her cruel uncle, King Randa, uses her as a weapon to punish people. The king's cruelty causes her to be feared by many in the seven kingdoms. Everybody believes Katsa is a savage monster. Katsa, disgusted with herself for allowing herself to be controlled by a terrible king. She retaliates by making a secret organization to help all who are being controlled by corrupt kings all over the seven kingdoms. While she is on one of her secret missions, she stumbles upon another Graceling. Despite his being very capable at fighting, she still knocks him out. Katsa and Po leave to go and find who kidnapped Po's grandfather. She is uncomfortable with him because he can sense any thoughts she thinks about him. They begin to gather information about the kidnapping, and Po starts to suspect that the King of Monsea, Leck, is the one to blame from kidnapping Po's grandfather. There are very strange stories, but yet nobody suspects him. He has the reputation of a very benevolent king. Po thinks that he might be Graced, because Leck is missing one eye. Along the journey, Katsa realizes she is in love with Po. This was an amazing story and I really recommend it! Graceling is the kind of book that I could listen to over and over again.
 * Graceling by Kristin Cashore **
 * Hannah Boyer **
 * Score- 10/10 **

Ven, the main character, wakes up to a bad day. He wakes up late finds that Ida his ‘friend’ ate his breakfast. He is invited to the castle. At the castle the King shows him a secret tunnel in the soon to be garden. The King gives him a box with a glowing stone. He tells Ven that he has deciphered the writing on it and found that it comes from the Gated City and the Raven Guild rules it. The King wants Ven to check it out. He gets fired from the kings’ official reporter so he can go to the Gated City. Ven gets back to the inn and invites all that want to go with him and, Char, Ida, Saeli, Clemency, and Nick agree to go. They’re all amazed at the market but they soon realize it’s not really what it seems. The group found a store of weapons. The owner of the store tells them that a fortune-teller called Madame Sharra may know what the shining stone is. Before they leave the store, the owner gives them a special gauntlet. He tells them that it has many uses, and may be helpful in their future. This was an interesting book, personally quite weird. I got through it.
 * Theif Queen’s Daughter by Elizabeth Haydon **
 * Hannah Boyer **
 * Score- 7/10 **

‘Whale Talk’ is set in the fictional town of Cutter, Washington. It follows the story of high school senior The Tao Jones, who calls himself T.J. T.J. attends Cutter High School, which mainly focuses on athletics. The teachers favor the good athletes and let those people get away with bad stuff. One day when a football player is bullying T.J.’s friend Chris for wearing a jacket that needs to be earned through sports, T.J. decides to start a swim team so that people can get jackets. T.J. recruits several other people of all different types: a super smart guy, a three hundred pound guy, a really shy guy who doesn’t talk much, a one-legged delinquent, and a body builder. As they spend more time together, they get to know each other better and become close friends. Outside of school, T.J. needs to deal with someone who graduated four years ago who has a problem with T.J. The main character of this story is T.J. He’s an adopted child and is from mixed background of Japanese, black, and white. T.J. is a good athlete, but doesn’t participate in many school sports because he doesn’t like how the sports are associated to bullies. A theme of this book is overcoming obstacles.
 * __Whale Talk__** **by Chris Crutcher**
 * Ocean Huang**
 * Score: 8/10**

__**Night**__ **by __Elie Wiesel__** Night by Elie Wiesel is about himself when he was 13 being transported to different camps and enduring the Holocaust. In the process of going to the camps, he loses his 2 sisters, his mother and finally his father. He was truly alone after what happened to him after the Concentration Camps. 'Night' is a truly inspiring and heart-wrenching story that makes you think about truly how lucky we are. The book is translated from German, and although the beginning is quite drab the book quickly takes you on a journey that is like no other. We feel like we are Aushwitz and running on frozen grounds with a swollen foot. 'Night' is truly an inspiring novel. "A slim volume of terrifying power" - New York Times puts it perfectly. 120 pages of pure and utter emotion.
 * Roland Chen**
 * Score: 11****/10**

__**All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten**__ **by __Rober Fulghum__** 'All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten' by Robert Fulghum is a novel that makes us think and it gives you a different take on life. It tells us that we shouldn't cheat, put back things where we found them, Don't touch things that aren't yours, Be nice. It is a happy novel that is a easy read with deep meaning and makes you feel young and ready for anything. 'All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten' by Robert Fulghum is a great book consisting of small story that make us feel better for ourselves while making us better people. As the cover on the book says "An unusual take on usual things"
 * Roland Chen**
 * Score: 9/10**