Book+Reviews+4B+2014

Please post your reviews below, clearly stating the book title, author's name, and your name. Be sure to give a score /10!

Zo Iona Kronberg
 * “Storm Thief” by Chris Wooding**

I really enjoyed this novel. The author creates an entirely unique city, where ‘probability storms’ can turn a person’s life up side down in an instant. The citizens of Orokos never know when it will strike, it can move entire districts, put children in paintings, and, like what happened to Rail, steal your breath and prevent you from breathing. Rail and Moa only have each other, growing up in a Ghetto where the bare necessities of life are a luxury, they must eek out an existence by stealing. When the two unwittingly stumble across a powerful artifact, built by the people known as ‘The Faded’ they are thrown into a colossal adventure. Moa and Rail only want to escape, to find someplace where they can lead a better life. On the way to a rumored sanctuary, Kitalas, they encounter and befriend a terrifying creature, the like of which has never been seen. Many characters with opposing goals and beliefs struggle to create what they believe is the perfect outcome. Some fight for themselves, others for the ‘good’ of society. As the events of the book unfold some ties are broken, others are forged, and the city Orokos is changed forever in the most terrible Probability Storm ever known. RATING 10/10

Wendy Boeker
 * Article 5 by Kristen Simmons**

__Article 5__ by Kristen Simmons is yet another dystopian-romance story for teens, the first book of a trilogy. The Federal Bureau of Reformation has took over the United States and has rewrote the Bill of Rights with the ‘Moral Statutes.’ There are five articles, if which are violated, result in the offenders being arrested by soldiers—the ‘Moral Militia’. The offenders disappear and no one ever hears from them again. Ember Miller has been living with her mother, and although they are poor, they were living quite contently. That is, until the soldiers come and take her mother away for breaking Article 5, which states that women cannot have children born out of wedlock and a child is only recognized as a citizen when conceived by a married man and wife. Chase Jennings, Ember’s ex-boyfriend, has not replied to any of her letters since he became a soldier. Ember has thought about him all this time, but when she finally meets him again, he has changed. He takes part in her mother and Ember’s arrest, so of course she is quite hurt and confused. Ember is sent to a rehabilitation center for girls, which starts her journey to try and escape, find, and rescue her mother, carving her own path in this new, dangerous world. Although this book seemed cliché in the beginning, it actually turned out to be quite good. Ember Miller is not a Katniss—she starts the book as a naïve, sheltered girl who can, at times, make the worst decisions. Although readers might prefer a cooler character with more street-smarts, I think most average females would react like her in these sorts of situations. She does improve as the book goes on, growing and maturing, making a smart plan toward the end of the book. Chase Jennings is your typical male-character who has little flaws, is hot, and totally in love with the protagonist for no apparent reason. Still, you can’t help but like him. There were a few weaknesses in this book, though. The context needed to be explained more: how did the USA become like this and why? What is the purpose of the FBR and moral statutes (possibly something to do with religion, since the statues seem to serve no purpose militarily or economically)? Hopefully this will be discussed in the next two books. Also, I’m tired of reading books where the protagonist’s main goal is to reunite with their mother/father/parent/sister even though the author barely introduced them in the beginning. It’s like the author needed their main character to have a goal so they just slapped the family-member crisis to keep them going, without giving a little more detail so I can actually CARE and EMPATHIZE with the mother/father/parent/sister.  The book ends, typically as a first book in a dystopian trilogy, with the characters planning to join a resistance. Although this book was typical off the dystopian bandwagon, and by no means has any new, innovative ideas, it was still an enjoyable read and I’ll be back for the next two. 8/10

Bobby Chow
 * The little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery **

“The little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is a quick and short novel, the story sets out with the protagonist, the little prince. The short-novel starts off with someone who is an airplane pilot, the narrator, who crashes his plane in the Sahara desert. After awhile, the little prince approaches him and asks him to draw a sheep for him. This is where the story starts to become interesting yet surprising. The two become friends as they share their personal information with each other. The little prince is from a planet called Asteroid 325. What he does on his planet is to protect seeds from growing badly. He was in love with a flower that was on his planet. But one day he decides to travel to other planets or Asteroids, after being lonely and bored and realizing her flowers bad behavior towards him. Through his journey, he encounters a king who had and was intrigued by the kings behavior, but at the same time he learns valuable lessons. He also meets a geographer who recommends the little prince to travel to Earth. During his journey on Earth he learns important aspects of life as he makes new friends and face difficult challenges, when everything was going smoothly the author hits us with an irony at the end of the book. This book was sometimes confusing at some parts, but overall I enjoyed how the author style of writing the book, and I would definitely recommend this book to others who loves adventurous novels.

9/10

Bobby Chow
 * The Time Machine by H.G. Wells **

The short novel “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells starts off with introducing the main protagonist, the Time Traveler. The story sets off with the Time Traveling at a dinner party who argues that time travel is possible. No one believes him. The next week, the Time Traveler was late for their dinner party, as everyone wonders why since it is very informal to be late. The Time Traveler appears and explains his interesting yet unbelievable story. He describes how he has traveled through time to the year, 802,701. Where his time machine gets stolen but meets a group of Eloi’s. Which are children who are very lazy and relies on their robots to do their work. As he befriends one of the Eloi named Weena, and their adventure starts. Throughout the book, he meets and discover new places and makes many new friends, and fights off enemies. I would definitely recommend this book to people who want to read an adventurous yet quick-read book. Although the story was very short, I enjoyed the details and interesting events that happens during the novel.

9/10


 * “Treasure Island”**
 * Robert Louis Stevenson**
 * Russell Harris**

“Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson is a very good novel. It is about a boy, Jim Hawkins, who owns a hotel with his mother and father. When they get a visitor under the name of Billy Bones, that is when the story really picks up. Jim realizes Bones is hiding from someone, and soon enough a pirate named Black Dog walks into the inn looking for Bones who was walking outside at the time. When Bones returns to the inn, Bones chases Black Dog out of the hotel where Bones has a stroke. A few weeks later, a man by the man of Blind Pew enters the hotel looking for Bones as well, and delivers the black spot to Bones. A few minutes later, Billy Bones dies of another stroke from drinking too much rum, and Jim and his mother (Jim’s father died a few weeks before Bones) open Bones’ chest to take the money he owed them. Pirates them swarm the inn, and Jim and his mother run away and take Bones’ journal to Dr. Livesey. There, they discover it is a treasure map, so they buy a ship and sail to the coordinates marked on the map. The night they set sail, Jim hides in an apple barrel and overhears some of the crew talking, saying they’d kill the crew after they find the treasure. Jim warns the captain and Dr. Livesy, and when they reached the island most of the crew immediately rowed towards shore along with Jim. He almost immediately runs away from the pirates after getting to shore, and witnesses the ship cook, Long John Silver kill one of the crewmembers loyal to Dr. Livesey. Jim runs away, and meets up with a marooned pirate named Ben Gunn, who was not hostile toward Jim. He disbands Gunn and comes across an abandoned stockade where Dr. Livesey and his men are. The other half of the crew led by Long John Silver attack the stockade and soon retreat. Later, the what’s left of the pirate crew locates the location of the treasure, but find it empty. That’s where the others surprise attack them and kill two, scattering the others. Dr. Livesey’s men then go to Ben Gunn’s cave where he hid the treasure a few months before. They then leave Treasure Island along with the treasure and Jim, leaving the other part of the crew marooned there. The book ends with Long John Silver escaping with some of the treasure, but Jim hadn’t known where he’d gone off to. As I said before, this book was excellent, filled with suspense and good fight scenes. Since the book was written in the 1800s, the grammar was different from today, but I could still understand it easily. Rating: 10/10


 * The Book of 3 John**
 * Written by John**
 * Russell Harris**

The book of 3 John in the New Testament is a letter from John to two Christian teachers (Gaius and Demetrius) whom he is proud of for being faithful and able to walk in truth in the name of God. Later on in the letter, John then criticizes someone by the name of Diotrephes for being a false teacher, and mentions that in a previous letter that he sent to the Church. John then says in his letter to the two teachers that Diotrephes rejected the letter and told no one in the Church to listen to what was written in it, for it was wrong and not following God’s ways (but it actually was). John then closes the letter shortly afterwards, saying that he would like to meet and talk to the two teachers Darius and Demetrius in person, rather than sending them letters. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good book in the New Testament. It told a little about the four characters that were mentioned in the letter, but the moral was the same as in most of the books in the Bible: Follow God’s teachings or you’ll face anger and stuff, so nothing really new on that aspect. Still, it was a good book to read, overall. Rating: 8/10


 * The Book of Titus**
 * Written by Paul**
 * Russell Harris**

The Book of Titus, written by Paul, is another letter in the Holy Bible. In the beginning of the letter, Paul introduces himself saying he was Christ’s agent and that he was entrusted to “proclaim this message by order of our Savior, God himself”. After his long introduction, he then starts to get to the point, saying the people of Crete were terrible people, lying the day they were born, and that they were all a bunch of dirty un-clean nonbelievers! This is where Paul then gets to the point. He says to Titus that he must change the ways of the people of Crete and tell them the truth instead of the lies everyone at Crete has made up. Paul then reminds Titus that God put our lives together, and that everyone should respect the government, and be law-abiding, ready to lend a helping hand with no insults or fights. Paul wraps the letter up with saying Titus should come to Nicopolis to meet him there, since Paul had decided that’s where he’d spend the winter. He ends the book with saying everyone should learn to be diligent, so that all necessities are fulfilled for everybody. To start off, this was another good read. It tells how Crete was a bad place back then, giving some interesting history about the island, and tells of some new ways to follow Jesus and such. Rating: 10/10


 * The Book of Jude**
 * The Holy Bible**
 * Russell Harris**

The Book of Jude from the Bible, written by Jude is about false teachings and comparing and contrasting right from wrong according to Jesus Christ. Jude starts by introducing himself, saying he’s a slave to Jesus Christ and brother to James. He lists some false teachers of Jesus, such as Cain, Balaam, and Korah. Jude then says to remember the words spoken by the lords and apostles of Jesus Christ, which had warned about other false teachers in the past. Jude then advises to focus on Jesus and to watch out for everybody so no one goes down the wrong path, ending it with saying how Jesus is our lord and savior and there’s no one like him, no one greater, and that he is our majesty. In my opinion, this book was just okay for me. I never got that into it, and it seemed like Jude was repeating himself at the end. He was obviously a #1 fan of Jesus Christ (some people believe he and James are his half-brothers). Rating: 7/10


 * 2 John**
 * The Holy Bible**
 * Russell Harris**

2 John written by John is another book in the bible written by him. At the strat of the book, he introduces himself as a pastor of a church. The book is actually a letter written to the congregation of the church. He starts off by saying he was happy that most of the church was living in the way of the Truth (the way of God). He then says that he is just repeating himself when he says that we love each other, and that love means following God’s commandments. John then goes into how there are people in the world who don’t believe that Jesus was a living person, a flesh-and-blood human being. John says to those people their true title: Antichrists!!! Don’t hang around those types of people, John says, so you don’t lose what you’ve been achieving. Don’t invite these people into you homes or it would just give him a platform to perpetrate his evil ways. John then closes the letter by saying that he wants to say a lot more, but would prefer to do so not on ink and paper. And that’s the end. This was a good book, because it said a few new things, but I don’t think all nonbelievers shouldn’t be treated as devils. That’s where I disagree, because I know many nice people who don’t believe such things, but they are still nice people…still, things were a lot different back then. Rating: 8/10


 * 2 Thessalonians**
 * Paul**
 * Russell Harris**

Second Thessalonians written by Paul is a letter to the church of the Thessalonians where Paul talks about not being lazy and remembering what Paul had taught the Thessalonians beforehand. Paul talks about how one day, and anarchist will rise up in the city and take control, sitting himself in Jesus’ temple. This is a being of Satan, Paul says and if the people were to believe what Paul had taught them, Jesus would blow away the anarchist just like that. He then goes on about the lazy people of the city, and that Paul’s orders are to refuse to have anything to with the lethargic people, so he told the Thessalonians to make sure they don’t slack off and have people do their work for them. Ending the letter, Paul says that if anyone does not follow everything clearly written in the letter, do not let them get away with it, but don’t treat them as an enemy. They are supposed to sit down and talk about it with them. Ending the letter, Paul writes that the incredible grace of our master, Jesus, be with you all. These are just a set of orders Paul writes to the Thessalonians, and it was pretty detailed I suppose. There’s not a lot that’s asked to be done, but Paul goes into great detail of each order. It was pretty good. Rating: 9/10

Girl In Translation by Jean Kwok Alisa Kong

“Girl In Translation” is a novel about Kimberly Chang and her mother. They have just recently moved from Hong Kong to New York. They arrive poor and bewildered. Everything is so different from what they are usually used to, especially when they don’t even know how to speak English properly. They live in a tiny apartment filled with cockroaches and mice, and have to work backbreaking hours in a dirty factory in order to pay their debts to their relatives. However, Kimberly slowly adapts and learns the ways of this peculiar culture. She earns herself a place in school by using her outstanding brain to her advantage. She makes new friends, goes through new experiences, and even develops a love for a fellow worker in the factory called Matt. She learns how to translate not only the language, but also a different world. This book was an amazing story. I caught myself constantly rooting for Kimberly, wanting the people around her to know how determined and great of a person she is. Jean skillfully organized her words in a way that made the story encouraging and interesting, all the while keeping it realistic and relatable. This books wasn’t just about growing up and learning to acclimate to an entirely new culture, is was also about an innocent and passionate girl who was doing everything she could to care for her mother. I grew to love and admire Kimberly’s characteristics, making me even more engrossed in the book.

Mark: 9/10 Sebastian Shi "The Royal Ranger" by John Flanagan is the final installment of the Ranger's Apprentice series. Instead of following Will Treaty, it breaks tradition by following Will's new apprentice, Maggie. Maggie is the daughter of Horace and Cassandra. It shows her journey of being a pampered princess to the first female ranger. I felt like I had to read this book, especially after reading all the other books in the series. However, it feels like the Ranger's Apprentice could've ended with the last book, this book was mostly filler and tried to show how Will coped after his wife's death. I liked this book, but it could definitely use more plot. Rating: 8/10
 * The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan**

Jonathan Chang Lone Wolf is the first book of the Wolves of the Beyond series. This novel is about a young wolf abandoned by his mother due to his paw which was twisted. However, a mother grizzly found the little pup and named him Faolan. The grizzly raised Faolan as if he was her own cub, but as he grows older, she realizes that wolves and bears have different characteristics. Yet she continues to teach Faolan the ways of a bear, and he learns surprisingly fast. Later on with the book, Faolan has to go on a journey by himself to learn not only about his own species, but the environment around him. I found the beginning of the book quite confusing because it was hard to tell which wolf was which especially when the author did not introduce their names yet. On the contrary, I also really enjoyed the book because there were many emotional scenes that captured my attention. I think what I enjoyed the most about this book was that I learned that you can be anyone you want. I would recommend this book to people who love fantasy books or those who have read the Guardians of Ga’hoole as they are both in the same universe. I would give this book an 8.5/10.
 * Lone Wolf by Kathryn Lasky **

Sebastian Shi
 * Looking for Alaska by John Green**

"Looking for Alaska by John Green is a realistic fiction novel following a teenager named Miles Halter who is sent to boarding school, not knowing what to expect. He quickly makes new friends and discovers he has a taste for philosophy. He falls in love with his roommate's friend, Alaska. He also gets caught up in a rivalry between the wealthier kids that are called the Weekend Warriors and the full time boarders like himself. As they prank each other back and forth, Miles discovers deeper secrets about his friends. One night, they have a celebration while drinking. Alaska gets a sudden phone call, and leaves abruptly, hysterically berating herself. The next morning, Miles and his friends discover that she had died in a traffic accident, leaving Miles heartbroken and determined to find out why she died. This book was surprisingly a lot deeper than I expected it to be. Miles explores ideas about love and emotions that really are more mature than what his age lets on. I liked how relatable some of the themes in the book were because of the age similarities. John Green really does a skillful job of creating a story that is mature yet has relatable life lessons. I liked it, I would recommend it to a young adult audience. Rating: 9/10

Cat Li
 * Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements**

Bobby is a 15 year old boy living in Chicago in the book Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements, when one morning, he is no longer visible. He and his parents have no idea what to do. After Bobby’s parents are involved in a car crash, Bobby is often at home by himself, so he goes out, invisible of course, and meets a blind girl named Alicia van Dorn. He decides he can trust her with his secret and tells her that he is in fact invisible. Together, they try to find a way to reverse his invisibility. They suspect that the reason that Bobby is invisible is because of the electric blanket that he has been using. They contact Sears in Chicago and try to find a way to reverse it. They eventually do reverse the invisibility and Bobby turns back to normal. I thought this book was slightly boring and extremely unrealistic, even though the main plot wasn’t something that I would normally pick up and read. It was a rather simple read and I would recommend this to anyone who would like to enjoy something easy and relaxing.

7.5/10

Wendy Boeker
 * And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie**

And Then There Were None is Agatha Christie’s most famous mystery. Ten guests are lured to Indian Island by old friends, promised money or a free vacation. Instead, they are trapped on the island with a killer who believes they should be punished for the so-called “murders” they each committed. One by one, the guests are killed off, following a popular Indian nursery rhyme, “Ten little Indian boys…” ending with “and then there were none.” It took a little time for me to get into the book, with the old-style language, the large cast of characters, and all their different points of view. The story soon grew suspenseful and intriguing, keeping me flipping the pages even though it was late in the night. I recognized similar elements in other mysteries and really felt like a detective trying to solve it. The author also did a good job of making me wonder if the killer was justified in these killings. There was a doctor who made a mistake on an operation for a elderly lady because he was drunk, causing her to die. There was a general in the war who purposely sent his wife’s lover on a patrol that would need a miracle to survive. There was a woman who was a champion swimmer who let a little boy drown. Even though legally, these people were not in trouble, they still were responsible for others’ deaths. It makes readers wonder: morally, should the guests be punished? Or would they have lived good, guilt-free lives after their mistakes? When you read the explanation at the end of how the killer pulled this all off and why, it really makes you go “oh!” and it just all comes together and makes sense. I strongly recommend this book.

9.5/10

Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie Alisa Kong

“Cards on the Table” is mystery novel that centers on the murder of the odd and peculiar Mr. Shaitana. He was suddenly killed in one of the many grand parties he loved to host. Hercule Poirot and seven other people were invited. They decided to play the card game ‘bridge’, and the guests were split up into two separate rooms, with four in each, excluding Mr. Shaitana himself. He instead sits in one of the rooms and watches them play. Later, in a midst of a heated card game, it was then discovered that Mr. Shaitana was dead. Four people were raised in suspicions, the four that were in the same room as the now dead Mr. Shaitana: Miss Meredith, Mrs. Lorrimer, Major Despard, and Dr. Roberts. The four guests that were in the other room, Hercule Poirot, Superintendent Battle, Colonel Race, and Mrs. Oliver decide to investigate and solve this mysterious matter once and for all. When reading this book, I was constantly tugged to the left, then the right, by the crafty words of Agatha Christie. First I think this person is suspicious, but then the next minute I change my mind and I think it’s this person. She has a way of writing where she can make something seem totally normal, then pop in some words and suddenly you are gasping in surprise. I was thinking over the top, wanting to predict the true culprit, but Agatha is too clever. She will made me think so much, I missed the main target, and was caught in surprise nevertheless. Even though at some parts the interrogations and investigations can be long and tedious, it all adds up to the ending of the book. I really enjoyed reading this book and taking part like a detective in this mystery novel.

Mark: 9.5/10

Wendy Boeker
 * The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie**

__ The Body in the Library __ is the first Agatha Christie mystery novel I’ve ever read. It was a good, solid mystery that started out slow but drew me in. Though I would not rave about this book or call it amazing, it’s an enjoyable book to read, especially if you like mystery stories or puzzles. I started reading it on a bus during China Alive because I was bored (I borrowed it from someone sitting near me). One morning, Mrs. Bantry is informed by her housemaid that a dead girl has been found in her library. The body is identified as Ruby Keene, a young dancer working at a hotel. The police suspect that she had a secret boyfriend, who one day had his temper get the best of him and strangled her—but is that really the case? Did it have something to do with the large amount of money that an old man, Mr. Jefferson, was planning to bestow to her after his death? It’s up to the police, a retired investigator, and good ol’ shrewd Miss Marple to solve the mystery. The author keeps you guessing who the killer it--I kept changing my mind throughout the entire book. She has the way of just inserting the right amount of information for us to know. Miss Marple was a likeable character—she was unlike the usual clever detective in a mystery (which every mystery needs). Instead of being overly intelligent or observant, she relies on her instinct and intuition developed from her experiences with people to find out what feels “wrong” to her—and then investigate her suspicions, possibly even trying to set up the would-be killer to trip up or use tactics outside of the police to squeeze information out of people. A weakness, however, is that other than Miss Marple, I did not particularly care about any of the characters. This is why the beginning of the book was a bit boring to me—I formed no attachments with the characters, I did not care about the girl who was murdered (Miss Marple came later on). Also, after the mystery is solved, I would like a scene with the murderer's reaction while they are going to jail or something instead of just ending it with an explanation of the murder. The premise with a body found in the library does not seem especially interesting either, but Agatha Christie’s masterful execution of it is what makes books like this good. It’s not the idea, but how it is written and executed, that matters. 9/10

//A Million Little Pieces// by James Frey Jady Tian

//A Million Little Pieces// by James Frey is about a guy who has drug addiction and his story in a treatment facility. Initially, I chose this book because it was a memoir, however, later I heard that someone doubted the book and announced that the author was actually lying about some parts of his story. Now this books become semi-fictional, but I still like it. The story starts with James Frey sitting on a plane, which will be landing in Chicago in twenty minutes. James finds his teeth are knocked out and his nose is broken, yet he cannot remember anything. Later, James is sent by his parents to a treatment facility in order to get sober. At first, James is not used to the life at the facility. He vomits in the bathroom for several times every day. He has nowhere to express his rage. He feels like leaving and escaping though he knows death and jail are waiting for him if he does so. Just when he starts escaping, he gets stopped by one of his friends, Leonard, and promises to stay for 24 more hours. After that, he becomes more used to the facility life. He listens to many people talking about their pasts and realizes that he still has a lot of time to change. He meets a girl named Lily and they become closer and closer every day. Will James and Lily be together? Will James’ addiction get cured? How’s the life like in a facility for drug addicted patients? If you want to know the answer to these questions, please read this book. The whole book sounds realistic and touching because it’s the author’s real experience, but since some parts of it are faked, I will just give it a 9/10.

9/10

//The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe// by C.S.Lewis Jady Tian

The Chronicles of Narnia written by C.S.Lewis is considered as classics of children’s literature and //The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe// is the first book of that series. Although I’ve watched the movie for it a long time ago, I still found the book interesting when I was reading it (probably because I almost forgot what the movie was about). This book is about four children’s journey in a world named Narnia. Lucy, her sister Susan and her brothers Peter and Edmund were sent to a professor’s house because of a war. The house was big enough for these four children to explore. By accident, Lucy found a new world named Narnia behind a wardrobe. These four children start their journey in Narnia. Under the help of Aslan, they try to defeat the White Queen’s force and save Narnia. They eventually become the queens and kings of Narnia, but their adventures have just started. The book is originally written for children, so when I was reading it, it felt like someone was actually reading the story to me. Overall, the book is easy to read, but it doesn’t make the story boring. I don’t really recommend students at our age to read it. However, when you want to read a book just for relaxation, you should read this one.

10/10

The Host by Stephenie Meyer Jonathan Chang The Host is a science fiction novel filled with thrills and romance. A group of aliens have invaded earth implanting themselves into human beings. Once they take over the body, they are called hosts. Most of the world have been wiped out by this species. However, there is a group of resistance that they still want to track down, as a result, they caught a girl named Melanie Stryder. The host, also known as the Wanderer, or Wanda was put into Melanie. Although she was the key to finding the resistance, Wanda decided to help Melanie instead and rebelled against her own species. This novel explores this alien’s journey to becoming human. Even though most people said that they found this book boring, I actually enjoyed it quite a lot. The author has explored themes such as how grateful you should be to be human. Although some of us may not realize it, but being able to live a life is an amazing experience that Wanda has never experienced until taking over Melanie’s body. Overall I found this book quite interesting however there were a lot of romantic scenes that were a bit cliche, leading to some boredom in certain parts of the book. I would give this book a 7.5/10.

//Kevin Chuang//
 * The Bear and the Dragon**
 * Tom Clancy**
 * Rating:** //9/10//

__The Bear and the Dragon__is a political thriller by Tom Clancy, and a part of the Jack Ryan universe. This time, the novel follows Ryan’s presidency and his response to the sudden conflict between Russia and the PR China over the latter’s interest in the newfound mineral wealth in Siberia. Tom Clancy portrayed China as a nation facing slow economy, diminished wealth (after the events of __Executive Orders__) and desperate for natural resources to reestablish control over East Asia and retake Taiwan. This is slightly uncommon, as we know that during the 80s, China was on a rise, both militarily and economically speaking. However, Russia was shown to be the remains of the break up of the Soviet Union and ready to join NATO to defend their interest in Siberia. The suspense/climax of the novel resides at the moment where the entire world is on the verge of a nuclear war between the United States and China. With his detailed descriptions of the characters and events, Tom Clancy was once able to paint a turbulent world that is both suspenseful and believable. __The Bear and the Dragon__ departs from the normal Tom Clancy route of basing it off the present world (of the time the novel was written), as this novel is more of a fictional conflict between states that are unlikely to go to war. Personally, the novel was slightly on the longer side, and slightly duller than the others that I’ve read. While I would not dispute its greatness as a novel, but I found several aspects of “political propaganda” that takes up a lot of pages in the novel to be uneasy to read through. At the same time, Clancy’s usage of racial slurs to make his characters more realistic (in the time of war with China) was disturbing, as Clancy did not previously use these, and they do make a strong impact on the readers. Another aspect that I found that affected the reading of this book was the inclusion of Clancy’s personal political views. While I respect those views, I found the inclusion of such into the novel was unnecessary as it isolated several readers. However, all in all, I found this to be a strong novel with a fast-paced plotline and great characters. Also, they do include the recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state, which served to encourage the reader to complete the novel.

Wendy Boeker
 * Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok**

__ Girl in Translation __ by Jean Kwok tells the story of Kimberly Chang, a girl who emigrated from Hong Kong to America with her mother. They start off dirt poor and not knowing how to speak English, forced to work in a clothing factory for Kimberly’s aunt to pay off their debts. They live in a crumbling apartment, so bad that the address is illegal to write on Kimberly’s school information, with roaches and mice and no heating or cooling to protect them from New York’s extreme weather. Slowly, Kimberly works her way up with her brains and “talent for school”, helping her family escape from their situation. Through new friends, experiences, and a little romance, Kimberly grows up. She starts in America as a poor factory girl, ending up as a successful doctor. The book started off slow, but the more I read it, the more interesting it became. The author really makes you root for Kimberly to overcome all the challenges she has in her life. The book was inspirational, although Kimberly being //that// good in school was a bit unrealistic. I really do not like the ending—though it did not ruin the good book, it was a bittersweet ending much like in Chinese stories, and I wanted it to be happy. Good bittersweet endings in books can be really memorable, but in this case, Kimberly could have easily avoided it. She could have been happy if she made the right decision! And if a certain someone wasn't so stupid. That’s what really infuriated me. Don’t let that stop you from reading a good book, though. 9/10

Zo Iona Kronberg
 * “The Emotional Life of Your Brain” by Richard J. Davidson**

This book describes what Davidson has dubbed your ‘Emotional Style’. That is, the fundamental dimensions that shape who we are, how we live, and how we perceive the world. In his book, Davidson describes what lead him to discover Emotional Style and some of the difficulties he encountered with the narrow-minded world of mainstream science. He also cites several studies to support each point he makes in reference to the brain activity associated with Emotional Style. Your Emotional Style is not just decided by your behavior, but rather the patterns of activity in your brain. When explaining each category of Emotional Style (there are six) Davidson explains the regions of the brain that are active in that category. For example, the Social Intuition dimension of Emotional Style. Socially Intuitive people are categorized by high amounts of activity in the fusiform gyrus (the region of the brain that processes information we are familiar with, e.g. the fusiform gyrus of an antiques collector is active when he sees an antique. Humans are also experts at faces, so this region lights up when we process facial expressions) and low activity in the amygdala (the region associated with pain and relating negativity with experiences). Understandably, those who fall towards the puzzled end of the Social Intuition spectrum have low amounts of activity in the fusiform gyrus and high amounts of activity in the amygdala. I really enjoyed this book because it explains human behavior on a plane that I have never seen it explained and also talks about the power of meditation to change our brain circuitry. It also gave me a peek into the world of neuroscience and how relevant it is to real-life. This book also has many entertaining anecdotes from the author’s life and an account of several of the experiments he conducted about Emotional Style and how each of the six dimensions were developed. RATING 10/10

Diary of Wimpy Kid Jeff Kinney Simon Lee

Diary of Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is the latest book from the notable Diary of the Wimpy Kid series. The book is set in Greg's third year in middle school (8th grade) from the month of January to the month February. The book talks about Greg's life during the two months in Greg's personal biased perspective. Most of the time he is sad and ashamed of himself of how misleading his resolutions to new problems are. He also feels like he deserves more respect, and that he is distinct from the not-so-cool group while he never gets the attention he wants. In the end he is still arrogant and bossy towards his best friend Rowley. Greg thinks all along that Rowley is below his level in the social class but Rowley rather tends to get more attention and love than Greg. Even so, Greg does not equalize himself with Rowley or show a bit of gratitude which shows Greg's immature and arrogant mindset. However, the process of Greg trying to get his partner for the Valentine Dance can be extremely hilarious and empathic to look at. Also, Greg's obsession over various kinds of hygiene also plays a great role later in the book. In the end, the book was a joyful read and I recommend this to anyone who wants to read for fun.

9/10

Book of Revelations John Simon Lee

Book of Revelations by John of Patmos is the final book in the New Testament of the Christian holy book, Bible. The book is originally a letter dedicated to the seven churches in Asia. The book mainly talks about the apocalyptic future for the non-believers. The book also talks about Satans, depicting him as a dragon with seven heads and ten tails who would try to destroy the world. It also talks about how the non-believers will be sent to the Lake of Fire if they do not repent and believe the words of God and Jesus. Although the book talks about the God's wrath towards the non-believers on Judgement Day (this is when Jesus comes back to Earth for the second time), the book can sound a bit mystical and supernatural when talking about punishments. Punishments such as the Lake of Fire can be demonstrated as an example of a punishment, and maybe because it was in John's dreams, his fear of fire might've been affecting the kinds of punishments God was actually explaining about. From this book, we can tell that though God is graceful and loving, he can also be frightening and intimidating. However, in the bible, his intimidating character does not contradict with him also being merciful due to the fact that he does show care loving attitudes towards human beings even after their immense criticism towards God. This book was ok to read even though it was a little boring and made me feel skeptical about some of the terms used to describe punishments.

8.5/10

Alisa Kong
 * The Naming by Alison Groggon**

“The Naming” is a fantasy novel that is about a girl called Maerad. She was a slave for her entire life, until a man named Cadvan, who claimed to be a Bard (someone who knew and followed the ways of the Light), rescued her. Hence on forth, Maerad is swept off in both perilous yet exciting adventures. Along the way, she learns many things about the world she never knew existed, including things about her and her past. Together with Cadvan, they roam the wilds of the world, all the while desperately fending and fighting against the Dark, the corrupted. But it is not an easy path, and even with the unusual and powerful ‘Gift’ of Maerad’s, they embark on a long and tedious journey. This book was a very interesting and thrilling read. The entirely original fantasy world craftily created by the author is completely compelling and intriguing. The Speech, the Light, the Dark, the Schools, all of it creates a wonderful and epic story. Even though at first it was a bit difficult to get used to the author’s writing style and her ‘old-fashioned’ way of saying things, in the long-run, it made the story and setting seem more realistic, making the book even more captivating. I really enjoyed reading this, and will definitely read the following books in the series.

Mark: 9.5/10

Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz Jonathan Chang

Skeleton Key, by Anthony Horowitz, is the third book of the Alex Rider series. In the beginning of this book, Alex talks about how he doesn’t want to be a spy anymore. Even though he sounded very confident, he was yet again persuaded by the MI6 to help them investigate on a Russian General, Sarov on an island near Cuba called Skeleton Key. This time however, Alex has to work together with two agents from the CIA. With conflict between the three spies, and the extreme security throughout the island, the adventure is filled with a lot of suspense. Out of the three books of the Alex Rider series, I found this one the most enjoyable because the two other investigations were rather straightforward. On the contrary, this story had a lot of misleading adventures, creating plot twists for the audience. What i found the most enjoyable was the end of the novel, where not only was there a plot twist, but also a great theme was learned. However, I found the events after the plot twist was really bad. Overall I found this book quite enjoyable. I would give this book a 9/10.

House of Hades by Rick Riordan Jonathan Chang

House of Hades is the fourth book of the series, Heroes of Olympus. In this book, Percy and Annabeth spend most of the time in Tartarus, journeying through many obstacles. The rest of the crew, on the Argo II, travel to go to the Doors of Death in order to save Percy and Annabeth. On both these journeys, they meet past enemies and friends. The crew not only learns more about their abilities, they also learn more about themselves as people. Overall I found this book very interesting as there was one really major plot twist that completely changed how I see one of the main characters. Not only did I enjoy this book, I learnt a lot about Roman and Greek history. I would give this book a 9/10.

Mark: 9.5/10

__Who Moved My Cheese?__ by Spencer Johnson

- Seung-Min Yang

__Who Moved My Cheese?__ by Spencer Johnson was a self-help book. It made me think a lot and gave a lot of lessons. This book was fun to read because it gave lessons in a story and the conflict was represented as a cheese. So basically the cheese can represent most of the conflicts you are suffering. This book started off with people discussing about change and Michael ended up sharing a story about two mice and two human beings. After a hard time finding cheese they find a station that contains a lot of cheese. After a while all the cheese from that station disappeared. Sniff (a mouse) expected that because he noticed that the cheese was slowly disappearing. Scurry (another mouse) and Sniff moves on to find a different cheese station. However Hem and Haw (two people) does not accept the change and gets afraid to change. After a while Haw learns that he must change and move on like the mice. On the other hand Hem stays in the cheeseless station because he is afraid and does not bother to change. Eventually Haw moves on and Hem stays behind. The author leaves an unanswered question rather or not Hem decides to move or stay. After when Michael finishes the story people discuss about change and what character they are. I think this book was really good because you can interpret the cheese into variety of different situations. For example the cheese could be consistently failing tests. In order to receive a better grade the person should let go of his habit of studying and move to the another habit. If he does not change then he is like Hem and will continue to fail tests. The only problem this book had was repeating too much information or lessons. You may not believe it but I wrote some lessons from the book in my Skype mood message because I learned a lot from it and wanted other people to learn from it as well. :)

7/10

The Summer That I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han Alisa Kong

“The Summer That I Turned Pretty” is a novel about a teenage girl called Isabelle, or Belly, who visits a beach house every summer. There, Belly, her brother, their mother, Susannah (their mother’s best friend), and her two sons gather and spend their summer together. Belly is left in a house of three mischievous boys every summer, being teased, left out, and treated like a little child. However, this summer is a bit different. Now that she is almost sixteen, the way the guys look at her is different. Although I am not exactly a fan of romance, this book was a light and easy read. It flowed in an organized fashion, and had a lighthearted mood throughout the book. It was a bit cliché and unoriginal at parts, making me squirm with discomfort, but overall I think the book was enjoyable.

Mark: 7/10

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson Alisa Kong

“The Adoration of Jenna Fox” is a fictional novel that takes place in the future, showing the life of a teenage girl called Jenna Fox. She has only just woken up from a coma, which was caused by a car accident. Jenna slowly regains bits and pieces of her lost memories through videos of her childhood and sudden flashbacks of her past. However, Jenna slowly starts to doubt herself, comparing her to the girl in the videos, and the girl she is now. She starts to wonder, what happened after the accident? Who exactly am I? This book was an absolutely exhilarating read. Secret after secret is revealed, leaving me constantly astonished and excited. I could not stop reading, I wanted to find out more, see how Jenna would react, how things would turn out. The author kept you wondering and thinking, the suspense is over-the-top. It also debated the many delicate topics of what makes you human, making my mind churn as I try to imagine what Jenna is going through. Plus, the author’s writing style is organized and logical, while using a wide expanse of vocabulary, making the book both interesting and easy to understand. I really enjoyed reading this novel.

Mark: 9/10

//The Five People You Meet in Heaven// by Mitch Albom Jady Tian

//The Five People You Meet in Heaven// by Mitch Albom talks about Eddie, a wounded war veteran, and what happens to him in heaven after he dies. Eddie’s normal job is fixing rides in an amusement park. On his eighty-third birthday, he dies in an accident when he tries to save a girl falling from a cart. After he dies, he goes to the heaven. In the heaven, he meets five people. Some of them are people he is familiar with, but the others are strangers. They all tell Eddie something they never have chance to say when they are still alive and their words teach Eddie about life. This book has a really interesting structure. However, what attracts me the most is the lessons I have learned from reading the book. It lets me know that all the endings are also beginnings. I also get to learn about the relationship between every two people. On the surface, it seems like everyone is independent from each other. Yet people are all connected to each other. The five people Eddie meets in heaven all have connections with Eddie. Although they may not know each other, their lives have already overlapped at one moment. I learn and get inspired from Albom’s book, but since it doesn’t have a really catchy plot, I give it a 9/10.

9/10

//The Adoration of Jenna Fox// by Mary E. Pearson Jady Tian

//The Adoration of Jenna Fox// by Mary E. Pearson is a science fiction novel about a sixteen-year-old girl Jenna. Jenna has just waken up from a coma. According to her parents, she encounters a terrible accident a year ago and is still recovering from it. Because of that accident, she loses almost all of her memories. Jenna Fox is told to be her name. In order to gain back memories quickly, she is forced to watch videos of her life. Looking at the girl in the videos, Jenna starts doubting everything around her. Is she the same girl she sees in the videos? What has happened to her exactly during the accident? This novel is thrilling, compelling and interesting. As a science fiction, it is not boring at all. Pearson uses proper word choice and logical thinkings to structure and write the novel, which makes it interesting to read. This novel gives the readers a glimpse on how the world may be like in the future and I think all the girls who believe they don’t like science fiction should read it.

10/10

Allyson Sprague
 * The Lying Game by Sara Sheapard**

//The Lying Game// by Sara Sheapard is about two twin girls named Emma and Sutton who were separated at birth and had no idea either one existed till one day Emma finds Sutton on Facebook and believes they are twins. After sending a message Sutton agrees to meet up with Emma but what Emma doesn’t know is that Sutton is actually dead. When Emma goes to meet Sutton she meets Sutton’s friends who think that Emma is actually Sutton. Emma has no idea what is happening so she pretends to be her twin sister until she figures out where Sutton is. She stays at Sutton’s house for the night with her parents thinking Emma is their daughter. The next morning Sutton’s sister finds a note addressed to Sutton and gives it to Emma, the note says that Sutton is dead and if Emma tells anyone she will be next. In order to figure out what happened to her sister Emma is forced to play ‘the lying game’ and pretend to be Sutton until she can piece everything together. I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a bit of Sara Sheapard’s other novel series //Pretty Little Liars//. I found this book very interesting to read and it definitely kept me wanting to read more. This first book makes me eager to read the next book of the series.

Rating: 10/10

Allyson Sprague
 * Hatchet by Gary Paulsen**

//Hatchet// by Gary Paulsen is about a teenage boy named Brian from New York City. Brian gets stuck on a flight to see his father in Canada when suddenly the pilot o the plane has a heart attack putting Brian's entire life at risk. After the plane crashes he has hope that rescuers are on the way to find him in a Canadian forest but after a few days of nothing Brian decides to take matters into his own hands. He teaches himself how to live alone in the woods with basic skills needed for survival such as hunting, building, and to protect himself for multiple disasters/harm. I found this book really interesting and entertaining. It was an adventure that will keep the reader wanting more. I would recommend someone that enjoys those kind of books over people like me who enjoy more romantic books.

Rating: 8/10

Wendy Boeker I needed a lighter read after __The Handmaid’s Tale__, so I read __The Summer I Turned Pretty__. This book was about a teenage girl named Belly who goes to a beach house every summer. She spends summer every year with her mom, her mom’s friend Susannah, and Susannah’s two sons, Jeremiah and Conrad. Every summer, Belly has to handle being the only girl in a house full of boys, being treated like a kid and being left out of things. This summer, now that Belly is sixteen, things have changed, in ways more than one. This is the type of book although being cliché and simple is still enjoyable regardless, and it’s just in time for summer. It’s not overly dramatic with big plot twists, but it is sweet, funny, and romantic. I just wish Belly didn’t keep gushing over Conrad, since he acted like a jerk for a lot of the book (she had a crush on him for six whole years and she still can’t get over him). This book is about growing up and changing, but also about the friendships and family ties that last forever. It's a book that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. I might read the next two books (though not for this project).
 * The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han**

8/10

//Kevin Chuang// __Executive Orders__ by Tom Clancy is yet another thriller that encompasses both political and military fields. It is once again a part of the Jack Ryan universe, albeit this time, the stakes are higher as Ryan assumes the presidency after the events of __Debt of Honor__ in which the US-Japan conflict results in the obliteration of the US government under Durling Administration. Thus, in __Executive Orders__, Jack Ryan is faced with the task of running a war-torn and weary nation. Yet, Ryan addresses them with reluctance and hates the role of president. However, he excels at the job and is met with strong approval by the voters and allies alike. Overall, this novel has various subplots all interwoven in the main plotline, which makes it more appealing to the reader. Tom Clancy is once again able to create believable characters and such strong scenes that appear to be like pictures in your mind, playing out frame by frame. His ability to reflect such a great deal of realism into the novel allows the readers to make connections with the world around them, and actively be a part of the novel. I’ve known some readers who simply waved off Tom Clancy’s novels as too difficult or too boring, however, the truth is that, his novels are highly detailed and realistic, which makes the novel slightly longer than all the others that you may have attempted. However, __Executive Orders__ is still one of the better books I’ve read this quarter, and I would strongly recommend it to everyone.
 * Executive Orders**
 * Tom Clancy**
 * Rating:** //9/10//

Sebastian Shi "Never More" by James Patterson is the final book of the Maximum Ride series that follows a mutant girl named Max and her group of friends she calls "the Flock". The Flock's DNA is composed of 2% avian and 98% human DNA, giving them large wings that allow them the ability to fly. In the final book, it follows Max as she struggles to choose between two guys (corny, I know) and the eventual end of the world. Eventually, she choses Fang, her longtime friend. It seems a little unrealistic in the sense that Max is so worried about two guys instead of the end of the world. In the end, she fails to save the world and only the Flock and a few select people are saved. This book was a solid ending to a confusing and jumbled up series. It answers **most** of the questions and ties it up quite neatly. However, I got the sense that Patterson just wanted to stop the series more than to provide an ending to it. The ending was rushed, and still leaves quite a few questions unanswered. As always in this series, there is no clear villain, nor is there any depth to any protagonist that a good book should have. While the ending was solid, it still leaves much to be desired. I would recommend this book to people who want an interesting read and an ending for the whole series. Rating: 7/10
 * Never More by James Patterson**

Sebastian Shi "Fang" by James Patterson is the 7th book of the Maximum Ride series, following a mutant girl named Max and her group of friends she calls "the Flock". The Flock's DNA is composed of 2% avian and 98% human DNA, giving them large wings that allow them the ability to fly. In this book, almost for the first time, Max struggles with the idea of romance inside her own flock. A new member appears, also a human-avian mutant, named Dylan. Max is told that he is designed to be her perfect mate. Fang, her other love interest, learns of this and leaves, saying Max is too distracted by both Fang and Dylan, leaving the fate of the world hanging precariously on her crushes. I thought this book was a little mushy for my tastes. However, it was a solid addition to the Maximum Ride series. This book suffers from the same problems that the other books in this series suffers: barely any depth for the antagonists, confusing plot and characters, and unanswered questions. It was interesting, but way too mushy. I'd recommend not skipping this book if you're reading the whole series, it's actually quite important for the plot. I wish the author left all the mushier stuff out and had more action. Rating: 6.5/10
 * Fang by James Patterson**

Sebastian Shi "The Final Warning by James Patterson is the 4th book of the Maximum Ride series. It follows a mutant girl named Max and her group of friends she calls "the Flock". The Flock's DNA is composed of 2% avian and 98% human DNA, giving them large wings that allow them the ability to fly. In this book, This book was interesting, but like most of the books in the series, it was confusing and hard to understand the full plot. Patterson leaves too many questions unanswered, leaving the reader really asking for more details. I liked the general concept of the book, but I think James Patterson could've used some work writing wise. The story always has several people who they shouldn't trust and eventually betray the Flock. Then in another book, they come back to the Flock's side. It's like Patterson can't decide what to do with all the characters. Again, as always, Patterson barely shows any depth to any antagonists in the book, merely using them as tools to further the plot. In all, I thought "The Final Warning" was a engaging book that could use improving upon. I would recommend it to someone who likes superheroes and mutants. Rating: 7.5/10
 * The Final Warning by James Patterson**

Sebastian Shi "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt is a realistic fiction novel that follows a boy named Holling Hoodhood during the Vietnam war, taking place in Long Island. Holling goes through the struggles of being a student, romance, and the pressure of his parents. He goes into a new grade and worries about his new teacher, Mrs. Baker. Initially, he believes she hates him because his religion. However, it quickly becomes apparent that he judged her too quickly, and she teaches him Shakespeare privately. We follow Holling as he discovers his talent for track and his desire to make his own choices for his future. Compared to "Okay For Now", "The Wednesday Wars" doesn't have the same magic that makes "Okay For Now" so good. However, it was still a very good read that I enjoyed very much. I'd still recommend it to anyone who wants a similar read after "Okay For Now". Rating: 8.5/10
 * The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt **

Murder is Easy by, Agatha Christie Nikita Ganesh

Lavinia Pinkerton is on her way to the Scotland Yard police station to report a series of “accidental” deaths she believes could be murders. On her way to Scotland Yard she meets Luke Fitzwilliam, an ex-policeman. At first, it’s hard for Luke to imagine murders occurring in a Wychwood-under-Ashe. However, when he sees an obituary in the paper that day showing Pinkerton’s death he decides to check out this possible case. As he starts investigating posing as a novelist, the signs seem to point at Lord Whitfield the man who is hosting him for his time at Wychwood. Everyone seems to believe Luke’s cover except for Bridget Conway, Lord Whitfield’s fiancé. Bridget begins to help Luke undercover the killer. As the book continues, Luke and Bridget develop feelings together and are put in a compromising situation when all the signs point to Lord Whitfield. Is he the real killer? This book is extremely interesting because of the numerous plot twists. The ending was such a surprise that I had no idea the whole way through. I always enjoy murder mysteries and I thought that this one was one of the best I’ve read. I would recommend it to anyone who like reading about murder and adventure.

Rate: 9/10

Zo Iona Kronberg
 * “The Path to Peace Within” by Helen Jandamit**

“The Path to Peace Within” is a comprehensive guide to Vipassana meditation. Unlike traditional insight meditation, Vipassana is centered on several walking, sitting, and lying down exercises designed to give clarity and focus the mind. This slim volume gives instructions on several of these exercises as well as explaining their significance and how they help create an environment in which insight can be obtained. Jandamit also relates Vipassana meditation to the principles of Buddhism, although one must not necessarily have to be Buddhist to practice this form of meditation. I tried a couple of the walking and siting exercises in the book and found them to be a calming and rewarding experience. The book sparked my curiosity about meditation and Buddhism in general. I recommend it for anyone wishing to read something outside of the usual fiction selection or learn more about meditation. I will definitely be re-reading this book and trying more of the exercises. RATING 9/10

The Rosie Project by, Graeme Simsion Nikita Ganesh

“The Rosie Project” by, Graeme Simsion is an unexpected novel about the journey of finding love. Don Tillman and Rosie are the main characters in this book who end up finding love in each other. Don is turning 40 soon and he has never been on a second date. He’s employed, good looking, and smart so he doesn’t understand why no one likes him. In reality, Don happens to have an undiagnosed Aspergers type and is trying to find a relationship living with autism. To solve this problem he uses logic, and comes up with The Wife Project. This project is a questionnaire designed to help Don find the ‘perfect’ wife. He uses the help of his only two friends; Gene, his colleague, and Claudia, Gene’s wife. Don is on his determined quest to find the ideal wife when along comes Rosie. She’s a spunky, unpredictable girl who meets none of the criteria. She decides to enlist Don for his genetic expertise to find her biological father. Thus, the Father Project is born. As the book progresses Don finds himself feeling something alien and weirdly abnormal. He starts to fall for Rosie but doesn’t think that it means anything. As his regular schedules collapse and he finds his life in a disarray Don will do anything for Rosie. This book is unexpectedly funny and unusual in the way the love forms. At first I didn’t think I would like this book but it was amazing! It teaches you to embrace your peculiarities and there is someone out there for you. I would definitely recommend this book to all teenagers.

Rate: 9.5/10

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Wendy Boeker __The Handmaid’s Tale__ was a book about Offred, a handmaid serving the rich commander and his wife. In the republic of Gilead, reproduction rates have become dangerously low, so women who have previously given birth are assigned to bear children for the elite couples that cannot. Offred has not only lost her name but her daughter and husband. Although she is protected by the government as a valuable fertile woman, she has lost her freedom: she is covered from head to toe, is not allowed to read, and can rarely leave the house. Offred misses her old life and wants to escape the fate set out for her. She learns about a resistance and slowly becomes involved in illegal things. This book had both its strengths and weaknesses. One weakness, I felt, was that the historical context was not explained much. It also be called a strength—the author always showed, never told, the history and what the normal behaviors were. But it made me really confused at times, especially in the first half of the book. I did not completely understand the historical context until reading the epilogue of the book. I think the author should have included more of those parts in the back in the actual story while reading it, so readers can better understand what’s happening. (Of course, this could just be my own stupidity). The whole handmaid notion did not seem realistic to me because today we have the opposite problem: there are too many people. As for its strengths, there were parts that were suspenseful and startling and shocking. It showed me that a society based on Christianity could go horribly wrong. The reasons why dystopian novels are so captivating are because they show that even good intentions and values can go too far (like equality in __The Giver__), and reasonable sounding ideas can fail. There is a lot of mature content, so beware. I feel after writing this review I’m really critical of all the books I read…I think it’s just easier to criticize the book than to compliment it. This book is better than what my review makes it sound like. 8/10

__Allegiant__ Veronica Roth

_Seung-Min Yang-

Allegiant by Veronica Roth was SO disappointing. Allegiant is the last book of the Divergent series. Unlike Divergent and Insurgent, Allegiant was so boring that I wanted to quit reading it. This book was different from the other two books because the author alternated the narrator with Tris and Tobias. So in some of the chapters Tobias spoke and in another chapters Tris spoke. The author did a good job of alternating the speaker because their voice was different so it was clear who was speaking (Even though the author wrote who was speaking in the beginning of every chapter.) Also there was a reason why the author alternated the speakers but I will not spoil it. After Tris finds out the truth about how their city was an experiment she wants to get out of the city. Like her this group Allegiant wants to get out of the city too. However Evelyne stays in the city and governs the citizens. Even though, everyone knows that it is an experiment it is still their city. Tris and the group Allegiant mange to get out of the city and they learn more about the experiment and genetics. Also Tris learns more about her parents.

4/10

__The Witches__ Roald Dahl

-Seung-Min Yang-

The Witches by Roald Dahl is obviously about the witches. The main character lost his parents so he lives with his grandma. One day, his grandma tells him everything about the witches. The main character encounters with the witches two times. The first time he was very lucky and managed to escape. Second time he did escape but he was not lucky. The main character and his grandma goes to a hotel to spend their vacation there. One day, the main character was training his mouse behind a large folding screen in a colossal room, hiding from the manager. The manager did not allow the main character to have the mouse out of their cage. While the main character was in the colossal room eighty five witches held a meeting. The main character discovers a secret. I also watched the movie. However the movie changed the ending, which I didn’t like. I think maybe the movie was trying to have a happy ending. I think the book was a happy ending too even though the main character was not lucky.

10/10

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness Cat Li

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness is the third and final book of the Chaos Walking trilogy. In this book, Todd, Viola, and Mayor Prentiss along with the other citizens of New Prentisstown are thrown headfirst into a war with the Spackle. The people are outnumbered by the thousands, possibly millions of Spackle, so they must find a way to make peace between the two inhabitants of the planet. Meanwhile, Viola is trying to find a way to communicate with the convoy ship that will soon land, bringing more people to live on the planet. The tragedies of war are brought out from this book and there is a them of war bringing out monsters of men, hence the title of the book. I found this book boring because nothing really happened other than the war. It was very plain and there were no moments where I felt that I had to keep reading due to excitement. I still prefer the first book of this trilogy, and after finishing the trilogy, I felt that it has only gone downhill from the first book.

7/10

Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz Jonathan Chang

Point Blanc, by Anthony Horowitz, is the second book of the Alex Rider series. In this book, the protagonist, Alex, is called again by the MI6 to investigate on a private school for the sons of rich billionaires called Point Blanc Academy. They have realized that once the children were brought back to their parents, two of the fathers have died in “accidents”. Alex goes undercover as Alex Friend, son of Sir David Friend to investigate on the academy. Through his adventure, he earns respect from others and meets old friends. However the academy's security was a lot tighter than his previous investigation. Alex learns more about being a spy and more about his own thoughts on whether or not he should continue his life being one or if he should go back to being a normal school boy. I found this book a lot better than the first because it was more engaging with a few more plot twists that took me off guard. I would give this book an 8/10.

Corinthians II Paul Simon Lee

Corinthians II is the second part of the letter that Saint Paul had given to the Corinthians in the Corinthian Church. Paul continues on with his letter with his explanation of God comforting every single human being and his ability to understand our pain. The most important and captivating part of this book is Paul's perspective on false apostles. Paul specifically describes the characteristics of fake apostles. Paul suggests that when a person preaches Jesus other than Paul preached, she or he is a fake apostle. He also continues on and says that if a person talks differently of a spirit than the one you received, that person is close to a false preacher. While this may sound arrogant and narcissistic, one can also understand this kind of belief and action as a system to maintain everyone inside their society, true. Also, Paul explains his hardships and God's denial to fully help him through his challenges. He suggests that God gives hardships for a reason, it is for you to believe in God that whatever that challenge is for a good cause. Paul also suggests that during his hard times he relied more on God and he knew that his life depended on God's power. In the end the book concludes with messages such as to fully believe in God and his words. Althought the book yet again talks about the obvious concept of Christianity such as to fully believe in God, it emphasizes the fundamental basics of what a Christian should do which is to fully rely on God (hard, but no one said its easy). I liked this book because it emphasizes one of the notable belief in Christianity which is to fully rely on God and his plans.

8/10

Corinthians I Paul Simon Lee

Corinthians I by Saint Paul is also one of the letters Paul sends to the Corinthian Church during his time in prision. The book starts with compliments and the action of being thankful towards God's support and accomplishments. However, the book switches it's subject to the problem that the Corinthian Church had been facing, and it's solutions (at least in Paul's perspectives). While the book did talk about matters that were already resoluted and explained in Matthews and Romans, the book does specify some new solutions to different problems. In short, the solutions are based on the common Christian knowledge of "loving others and respecting them." For example, Paul states in chapter 6 line 9 that certain 'wicked' people may not be able to inherit the kingdom of God when their practices prolong to the point when they die. For instance, Paul exemplifies "homosexual offenders" as wicked, which can indicate his point of view of the need to respect those who have unusual sexual characteristics, which yet again supports the Christian knowledge of respecting and trying to understand others. Throughout the book, Paul does sound a bit stiff and 'manipulative' in order to set the people in the Church straight. Other than that, Paul continues with the rights of an apostle, how marriage should go on and the ideal life a husband or wife should have. In the end Paul ends with how love is great and powerful and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I liked this book even though it had some overwritten subjects, it did give me a new idea and concept of Christianity.

8/10

//Kevin Chuang//
 * Debt of Honor**
 * Tom Clancy**
 * Rating:** //9.5/10//

__Debt of Honor__ by Tom Clancy is a fast-paced thriller that contains both political and militaristic natures. A part of the Jack Ryan series by Tom Clancy, it depicts Ryan’s return to politics after a presumed retirement, and his attempts at controlling/managing the country after a devastating attack by Japan. Clancy elaborately uses several different subplots within the overall structure, which serves as a tool to add further detail into the novel. Although some readers found it to be tedious to read, I feel that the length of the novel was in fact, a positive aspect of __Debt of Honor__. Clancy takes his time to build up specific characters, paying such focus to small details that minor incident would involve characters that are so believable. His slow build up to the climax of the plot involves logic on one part, and entices the reader to complete the novel. One of the greatest successes this novel has, to me, was Clancy’s complete grasp of the political nature and the detail to every character’s actions. This creates a very believable environment that I believe strongly helped it to be a great read. The combination of logic flow, believable characters, red herrings, and finally, the unbelievable climax allows __Debt of Honor__ to be one of the better books that I’ve read this entire year. I would strongly recommend this book to everyone.

__This means war__ Ellen Wittlinger

Seung- Min Yang

I loved this book so much that I finished it in a day. This book really reminded me of my childhood when we thought one gender was better than the other, that it was disgusting to even hold hands with the other gender. Juliet was Lowell’s best friend for years until he decided that they were too old to be hanging around. So, Lowell starts to hang out with the boys and do the “boy stuff”. When, Juliet comes over to his house, they tell her to go away. Despite the fact that even girls could actually do the “boy stuff”, the boys still did not want to hang out with Juliet or any other girls. Eventually, Juliet finds a new friend called Patsy, who is very competitive, and together they start to eat lunch with two other girls who are totally crazy over boys. One of these two girls find one of Lowell's friend cute. So the girls persuade Juliet to introduce them to the boys. The boys do not welcome them, declaring that the girls are not capable of making the go carts. They make Patsy so mad that drives her to start a competition, daring each other to see which gender is better then the other. The two boy-mad girls initially enjoyed the competition because they thought it was their opportunity to hang out with the boys. The competition, however, soon went out of control. There are always those overly competitive kids who make things too serious and dangerous. I liked how the author set up the background to the President Kennedy's times (1961-1963) when Russia and America were about to go to war. This, I think, symbolized a war that was happening in the children's world just like a real war about to happen in the adults’ world.

10/10

Cat Li
 * The Ask and the Answer **
 * Patrick Ness **

After reading the first book of the Chaos Walking series, I had high expectations for this book. However, it wasn’t quite as good as The Knife of Letting Go.The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness continues the story of Todd and Viola, and how they were separated by President Prentiss. Both perspectives of Todd and Viola are followed, and it is much less action packed than it’s predecessor. Now that Todd and Viola have finally reached Haven, or as it is now called New Prentisstown, Todd is forced to work alongside President Prentiss’s son Davy and Viola must work in a house of healing with other female nurses. The female nurses, along with some male soldiers drag Viola to be part of a terrorist group called the Answer. The men, including Todd, fight back and call themselves the Ask. All this time, Todd and Viola still try to find a way to find each other again and escape.

7.5/10

Zo Iona Kronberg
 * “The Sword” by Bryan Litfin**

“The Sword” is the first book of the Chiveis trilogy. The author has a skill that is hard to come by, creating suspense through delay without making the reader frustrated. Litfin often skips details that would have been boring or difficult to entertain the reader with, but somehow the story still feels whole. “The Sword” is a tale of religious discovery, lies, and chivalry. Set in an age where a virus and nuclear war have destroyed modern society, and humans have returned to the age of swords and castles, the author paints a vivid image of a kingdom lost in time. When an army captain and a beautiful farmer’s daughter discover a copy of the Bible in the Beyond, the struggle begins that will determine the fate of many, including God, in Chiveis. I loved this book because every time I think that this is the best it can be, Litfin takes the story to new heights. The twists and turns in the tale make an incredible page-turner and the religious philosophy makes “The Sword” more than just a fantasy novel. I love how the author does not create a happy ending, but always has mixed results to the characters’ actions. The book ends with a cliffhanger that has me desperate for the sequel. RATING 10/10

Allyson Sprague "Just Getting Started" by Justin Bieber is his second book he wrote. It's mainly about his life, his rise to stardom and what it's like behind the scenes. It's also written as a big thank you to all the fans who have supported him through the years. It talks about the struggles he faces with being famous along with the fun that happens backstage of his concerts. I really liked this book because it shows people who he really is. So many rumors go around about big artists, most of which aren't true, and this shows his feelings toward them and what he has to say. I also liked this because it shows that someone from a small town can live their life dream if they try hard enough. It's really inspiring and I really like how he puts his feelings towards the fans in his book as well it shows that he really cares about them.
 * Just Getting Started**
 * by Justin Bieber**

Rate: 10/10

Allyson Sprague
 * Nowhere But Up**
 * by Pattie Mallette**

"Nowhere But Up" by Pattie Mallette is a biography about her life. Most people know her as Justin Bieber's mom and don't think there's anymore to that, but there is and this book is about her life. It goes through her struggles from being a child who felt unloved, to a bad teenager that made nothing but terrible choices, to a young woman who attempted suicide. When she thought life could get no better, she got pregnant and looked at it as a second chance. From there she did everything she could to make sure her child (Justin) would have the life she never got. This book was written to show people that even when it looks like you can get no lower, you can still get a second chance which could turn into a miracle. I really enjoyed reading this not only because I'm a big fan of her son but because it's really encouraging to read about someone who had such a bad life to a point where they wanted to kill themselves, then get a second change which turns into this big miracle which completely changed their life.

Rate: 10/10

Allyson Sprague
 * The Summer I Turned Pretty**
 * by Jenny Han**

"The Summer I Turned Pretty" by Jenny Han is a story about a teenage girl named Belly who spends every summer with her parents and their friends whose only children are 2 boys around her age named Jeremiah and Conrad. For starters spending summers where the only people to hang out with are boys can be quite annoying at times with all the teasing but Jeremiah and Conrad have been quite a large part of her life. She's known them since she was a baby, through that time they've been like brothers to her and at some times, her crushes, they were her best friends. Before the boys have thought of her as nothing but a friend but, one summer it all changes. Its //the summer she turned pretty// in the boys eyes. That made the summer one Belly would "never forget." I thought this story was really simple and sweet. At times it got a bit cliche with the "summer romance" theme but never too bad.

Rate: 7/10

Sebastian Shi
 * Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt**

“Okay for now” by Gary D. Schmidt is a realistic fiction novel that follows a boy named Doug in America during the Vietnam war. He moves to Marysville with his mother, brother, and abusive father. His oldest brother is said to be stationed in Vietnam. He initially detests even the thought of Marysville until he meets and befriends a girl at the local library. He finds a book of stunning drawn birds in the library and slowly realizes his talents as an artist. His life goes through a series of ups and downs as he learns to read and struggles with his abusive father. His brother returns from the war after losing both his legs and being burned severely across his body. Doug and his brother have to help him recover both physically and mentally. This story was a touching story with fantastic writing style. I think I am officially a fan of Gary D. Schmidt now. His writing style mimics the speech patterns you would expect from a less educated boy. For example, he uses run-on sentences on purpose and repeats main ideas over and over again. While some may think this is annoying, I thought it added to the effect of a boy. Later on in the story, I almost ended up crying. That’s how good it was. I think this book is one of the best books I’ve read yet. I would recommend the book to anyone wanting a good read. Rating: 10/10

Sebastian Shi
 * The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne Duprau**

As a prequel to the books “The City of Ember” and “The People of Sparks”, “The Prophet of Yonwood” by Jeanne Duprau follows Nickie, a child trying to make a difference in a fighting world. She visits a small town called Yonwood, where she meets a boy her age called Grover. They quickly bond over small problems. They struggle understanding a “Prophet” when everyone else in Yonwood worships her. She apparently gets visions from God and shares them with everyone else, as if she were a messenger. Coming from the previous books, “The City of Ember” and “The People of Sparks”, this book was a massive disappointment. Jeanne Duprau tries to milk the series out for more money. There was no problem. No plot. It was literally just trying to connect to the previous books the best it could. There was no personal connection or relatable things about any characters. While it’s clear that the book was written for a younger audience, Jeanne Duprau’s writing style is enough to drive people insane. She doesn’t let the reader assume anything, instead explaining everything. This makes the book seem very shallow. Also, Jeanne Duprau pathetically tries to shove her religious views into the throats of a younger audience that probably doesn’t understand the small references. It seems with every page, she tries to poke fun at Christianity. It’s clear that she didn’t spend any time researching what she was actually poking fun at. The characters are so stereotypicallys displayed. For example, when Nickie asks what sinners are, another character replies “Sometimes they aren’t actually breaking a law, and still you have a sense of wrongness about them. You can just //feel// it.” This book is filled with cheesy stuff like this and I found it quite pathetic. I wouldn’t even recommend this to my worst enemy. Rating: 3/10

Bobby Chow
 * Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher**

The novel Whale talk by Chris Crutcher, starred the main protagonist called T.J Jones. Jones attended Cutter High school, where the high school involved many people who didn't fit in to others. They started a swim team and tries to find a place to swim since the school does not include a pool. Through the beginning of the novel, T.J Jones protected a handicapped kid named Chris Coughlin. Which led to his teacher, Mr. Simet, who was ordered to start a sports team. T.J Jones slowly became friends with the ones who didn't fit in, and together they started training and attended swim meets. Throughout the novel, T.J Jones faces difficult situations with his swim team and tries to change his team into something that no one has seen before. I would recommend this book, because I really enjoy reading about such person like T.J Jones and the adventures he takes on by helping a person being bullied and he also helps many other people who didn't fit in into something better.

8/10

Bobby Chow
 * Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck**

The short novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, starts out by introducing the two protagonists of the story, George and Lennie. Both of the characters have their own specials aspects to their personality. George is very intelligent but short, Lennie is strong but very dim-witted. Both of their dreams are to build a farm together and work on it. Moving on, when they get to a ranch, they encounter a fearful person called Curley. He and his wife create a lot of problems for George and Lennie since Curley dislike large-sized men, and his wife also likes to flirt with other guys. Even though they encounter problems, they manage to still make friends in the ranch, such as Slim and Candy. Their problems progress throughout the book until Lennie does something terrible that messes up their plan and their dream of building a farm. I would recommend this book because of the suspense and action that occur frequently throughout the story. However, I was disappointed in the the length of this novel, as I thought that it was too short.

8/10

Storm Breaker by Anthony Horowitz Jonathan Chang

Storm Breaker is a fiction novel about a young boy named Alex Rider who becomes a spy for the MI6. His uncle, Ian Rider, was sent on a mission to investigate on laptops called Storm Breakers that were going to be sent to every school in England for free. However, after the death of his uncle, Alex was trained to continue his job and to find out why his uncle was murdered. This was a perfect plan for the MI6 because nobody would expect a 14 year old to be a spy. Overall I found this book quite engaging however I wish that I could have read this when I was a little younger because it was a lot easier to predict the events that were going to happen. I would give this book an 8.5/10.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George Jonathan Chang

My Side of the Mountain is a novel about a boy who decides to go live on the mountains and he develops his survival skills and makes friends with the animals. There wasn’t much plot, but when there is, they were quite interesting. There were pictures in the book explaining exactly what the main character, Sam was doing. I thought that these diagrams helped a lot especially since some of the terms the author was using was a bit confusing. Overall, I thought that the book was although unrealistic, it was still a pretty good book to read considering it’s short length. I would give this book a 7.5/10

Insurgent - Veronica Roth

-Seung-Min Yang Insurgent is a sequel to Divergent. The theme of this book is Rebellion. Firstly, most of the factions separate into two groups. The Dauntless traitors team up with the Erudite, trying to get rid of the Divergent and to prevent all people from knowing the truth. The loyal Dauntless and the other Erudite that didn’t team up with Dauntless traitors get together and tries to get away because the erudite was attacking them. The main character Tris is part of loyal Dauntless. After a while loyal Dauntless and the factionless join together and fight against the Dauntless traitor and the Erudite. However, Beatrice tries to find out the truth that Erudite was trying to hide. I really loved this book. Similar to Divergent it was one of those book you can never put down. There were a lot of fighting but the author still kept the romantic relationship between Tobias and Beatrice, I really liked that. Their relationship was really intense. I’m really looking forward to read the next book.

10/10


 * The Book of Jonah, The Holy Bible**
 * By (no one is certain) Jonah**
 * Russell Harris**

The book of Jonah is about a prophet who is told by God to go to a city of Nineveh and tell them to follow him, or their city will be destroyed. Jonah however, did not obey God and instead bought a ship and began sailing south to Tarshish since he believed the people of Nineveh deserved to die. On the boat, a violent storm swept over the ship, and it was clear the boat was going to be destroyed unless something was done about it. Jonah told the crew of the ship one of them is the reason why God was so angry, and in order to stop the storm, they had to throw that person into the water (Jonah knew he was the reason God was angry). Jonah had the shortest straw, and then confessed he was going the opposite was God wanted him to. Jonah threw himself into the water and the storm immediately stopped, and a giant fish swallowed up Jonah for three days. During this time, Jonah prayed to god and asked for a second chance at Nineveh. God answered his prayer, and spit Jonah onto dry land. This time, Jonah didn’t hesitate as he walked in a direct path to Nineveh. When he got there, he walked towards the center of the city and told the people of Nineveh that God was going to destroy all of them if they didn’t change their ways. The people believed Jonah, and immediately started following God. After leaving, Jonah sat on a peak that overlooked Nineveh to watch the city burn, as he still thought it was going to be destroyed. God then spoke to him, saying he wasn’t going to destroy Nineveh, now that they changed their ways. Personally, I like this book in the Bible very much, and I’ve known this story for as long as I can remember, although I’ve never actually read the entire book. I believe the moral of this story is to believe in second chances, and to be grateful for them. Rating: 10/10


 * The Book of Ruth, The Holy Bible**
 * Author Unknown**
 * Russell Harris**

The book of Ruth from the Holy Bible is about a widow from Moab (Ruth) who goes on a journey with her widowed mother-in-law (Naomi) to her hometown Bethlehem. Before arriving in Bethlehem, both of the women were impoverished and heartbroken, however Ruth starts working in a man’s field, whose name was Boaz who just so happened to be a close relative of Ruth’s dead husband (as well as Naomi’s). Boaz was very kind to Ruth, allowing her to work with his servants in his barley fields, and giving her most of what she harvests. When the barley-harvesting season was almost over, Naomi told Ruth to offer herself to be Boaz’s bride and inherit her husband’s land. Ruth agreed to this plan, and put it in action that night at a party. Boaz agreed, but he had a closer relative, so it was up to the closer relative to decline in order for Boaz to become Ruth’s bride. The closer relative declined the offer, and so Boaz married Ruth. A while later, Ruth gave birth to a son named Obed, the grandfather of David. It was fun reading this book, in my opinion. Not many books in the Bible are told about women, and this one just so happened to be the great-grandmother of David, the boy who killed Goliath with only a sling, and also the known as the ancestor of Jesus. Rating: 10/10 (I feel weird not giving the Bible a ten for some reason)


 * The Book of Philemon, The Bible**
 * By Paul**
 * Russell Harris**

The book of Philemon in the Bible is a letter from a prophet, Paul, who is in prison with his brother Timothy, to a member of the Colossian church who’s a slave owner. Usually, when the man of a house converts religions, many of his family, servants, and slaves convert as well. The reason Paul wrote to Philemon was because one of his slaves named Onesimus ran away from his household after converting religions and traveled hundreds of miles to where Paul was imprisoned. Paul and Onesimus became great friends, and Paul was very sad when Onesimus left, as he wrote in the letter. Paul then writes in the letter that Philemon should welcome his slave back with open arms, and he should not be punished, for now Onesimus was a true Christian. Paul says to do this favor in the name of Christ, and since Philemon owed Paul his very life. The story ends with Paul saying that he expects to get out of prison soon, and to have a room ready for him in Philemon’s household when he does. This story is very important because it shows the impact Paul can have on people, and his ability to befriend people, even if they are slaves. This book had a lot of information in it, and showed the kindness Paul had for everybody. Rating: 10/10


 * The Book of Haggai**
 * By Haggai, ~520B.C.E**
 * Russell Harris**

The book of Haggai from the Holy Bible is about a prophet named—you guessed it—Haggai. He speaks four times to the city of Judah, telling them to rebuild God’s temple, as it was in ruins at the time. Haggai said they keep spending their money, yet haven’t much to show for it, and that they keep drinking and drinking, yet they are still thirsty. The people of Judah knew better than to disobey God’s word, and so Haggai left for a while. When he returned, Haggai spoke with the word of God, saying that the temple should be far better than it once was, a place where God could hand out wholeness and holiness. Two months later, Haggai then returned to Judah with God’s word. He told the priests to think back before the rebuilding of the temple, and how their half-hearted building attempts were reflected on their crops. Haggai speaking in God’s word then told them that now that the rebuilding process has started for real, their crops haven’t failed to flourish, and that from now on, they can count on a blessing. Another message from God came to Haggai on that same day, saying that when destruction comes to the Earth he will make the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, God’s servant since he had done what the Lord had said. Truthfully, I couldn’t follow along 100% since it was a bit trickier than the other books of the Bible, but I could understand most of it, and I also like this book as well. It was good to know the people of Judah followed God’s command the first time, or I’m pretty sure that city’s population would have dwindled by quite a bit. Rating: 9/10

//Kevin Chuang// __Whale Talk__ by Chris Crutcher depicts the different aspects of high school life through the perspective of a black-Japanese-white student in Idaho. Being an adoptee, T.J.Jones is determined to make his own path in a high school that is dominated by jocks and bullies. Confronted by his high school’s perspective that a varsity letter is everything holy, Jones begins a one-man swimming team with his English teacher and other socially rejected students. Although seemingly simple and straight forward, Crutcher depicts highschool life with such an accuracy that makes the actions and characters he decides to create highly believable. Throughout the course of the novel, the reader slowly would be able to achieve a level of respect for the characters for their determination, values, and courage; all to win a varsity letter and achieve their dreams. __Whale Talk__ is an immensely powerful novel in such a subtle way that further increases the impact of the novel. A very strongly recommended novel for everyone to read.
 * Whale Talk**
 * Chris Crutcher**
 * Rating:** //10/10//

Allyson Sprague
 * Summer Boys**
 * by Hailey Abbott**

Summer Boys by Hailey Abbott is a book told by the point of view of 3 cousins, Ella, Beth, and Jamie. Jamie is the only one who starts the summer with a boyfriend, their long distance relationship through the year which started the previous summer ends after reuniting. Ella begins to fall for an older guy who also happens to be her sister's new boyfriend. Beth ends up falling for her best friend. I found this book a bit slow, it wasn't really a book that keeps you entertained the whole time. I also found it a bit cliche with the "summer romance" theme. It was also sometimes difficult to keep up with because each chapter's a different person's point of view. This book is more for people that are more into cliche romance books that are quite predictable, in that sense it is a very good book but those who are more into suspenseful books most likely wouldn't enjoy this.

Rate: 5/10


 * Divergent - Veronica Roth**

Divergent by Veronica Roth is an AMAZING book! It is one of those book you can’t put down because it is so fun and suspenseful. Because it was so suspenseful, I didn’t like the way the author wrote the book. There were so many explanations and descriptions that made me want to skip some of the pages. I was so curious what was going to happen next, maybe that is one of the author’s strength. Divergent is a book set in a dystopian society. They have five faction in a society. Candor, a truthful faction, Erudite, a smart faction, Abnegation, a selfless faction, Amity, a peace faction and Dauntless, a brave faction. People have one of the characteristic and may choose to transfer (in choosing day, when they are sixteen) or stay in the same faction as there parents. Beatrice was originally in Abnegation but she changes to Dauntless. While in the dauntless initiation she meets Four, an instructor. Now that a girl and a boy met, it may seem like a love story but it is more than that. That is why this book is interesting, containing both love and action.

10/10

-Seung-Min Yang

//The Perks of Being a Wallflower// by Stephen Chbosky Jady Tian

This book talks about a boy going through adolescence. The book starts off with Charlie talking about his fears and anxiety of starting high school. Later, he describes his first year in high school through a series of letters he writes to a stranger. The book talks about Charlie’s new life in high school filling with drugs, new senior friends, parties, dancing and //the rocky horror// picture show. He tries to dope with his friend Michael’s suicide at the beginning. Later, he makes friends with Patrick and his stepsister, Sam. They take Charlie to parties and introduce more friends to him. There, Charlie meets Mary Elizabeth and Brad and more interesting and strange events happen. (I think I should not give away too much about the book, so I didn’t write a lot about the plot.) Overall, it is a book that is worth reading. To be honest with you, at first, I didn’t like this book because it didn’t have a really obvious plot and the language the author is using was too plain for me to read. However, later on, I started to feel the pain of Charlie and realized that because of the plain language Chbosky is using, I could notice the loneliness inside Charlie’s deep heart. It actually hurts when I’m reading it.

Mark: 10/10

//Kevin Chuang// A brilliant exposé, __Private Empire__ paves way for deep and far-reaching arguments into the success and extent of the influences of Exxon Mobile, the world’s largest oil corporation. It begins with a recount of the progress in which Exxon Mobile rose to become one of the world’s greatest corporations, and nearly replacing Rockefeller’s Standard Oil and its former monopoly on the petroleum market. Coll argues that while empires require land to formerly “exist” Exxon Mobile has attained such a high level of influence that it could be named as an empire, one of the most influential and powerful the world has ever known. Coll also attempts to address the widespread influence of Exxon Mobile through the continuous comparisons of which he describes the corporation to hold a higher credit rating and further reaching power than the government of the United States. Personally, I gave this book a solid nine out of ten rating due to its intriguing nature, while the “difficult” parts of the book were made easy with short stories and anecdotes. However, I did find that despite Coll’s discipline in writing this book, there were aspects of immense propriety and rigor that contributed to the higher levels of reader fatigue, accumulated through long hours reading this book at a time. __Private Empire__ is for sure, a definitely recommended book for those wishing to see connections and explore a totally different aspect to the world, as we know it.
 * Private Empire**
 * Steve Coll**
 * Rating:** 9///10//

Nikita Ganesh
 * The Help by, Kathryn Stockett**

This novel is placed in Mississippi in 1962. It’s a time when racial discrimination is big. Skeeter is unlike traditional “Mississipi Ladies”. She isn’t married yet and plans to become a write someday. She hope to write about something important when suddenly an opportunity comes through. Skeeter decides to write a book which could change the lives of colored people forever. She uses the help of her friends’ help, Abilene and Minnie. An very unexpected friendship between these three ladies grow as the book progresses. While this book could be very important to making everyone equal Hilly Holbrook isn’t going to let them get away with it that easy. Hilly is an innocent housewife who hides her racist and cruel intentions by claiming that she’s only trying to help the people. However, the help knows better then to tryst her. As the book gets more complicated Skeeter struggles with what’s right and what she should do. This book is extremely good and I would defenitely reccommend it. It shows the struggles of racial hate from a different perspective and I thought that it was brilliant.

Rate: 9/10

Zo Iona Kronberg
 * “The Horse and His Boy” by C. S. Lewis**

“The Horse and His Boy” is the third book in the Narnia series, after “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”. However, it does not follow the Pevensie siblings, like many other Narnia books, but tells the story of a boy named Shasta. This book was a very relaxing read, with lots of suspense and the quaint coincidences that I’ve come to associate with Lewis’s writing. Despite being seemingly unrelated to the other Narnia books in the beginning, the author ties it in to the series while at the same time taking a break from the usual main characters. Shasta, a poor fisherman’s son in the kingdom of Calormen, escapes from his home with a Talking Horse from Narnia. They journey towards freedom, meeting up with Aravis, the daughter of a nobleman, who is running from a forced marriage along with her mare, who is also from Narnia. While passing through the great city of Tashbaan, the last obstacle they must cross before fleeing into the desert, Shasta and Avaris become separated. Aravis accidently overhears a secret plot by the Prince of Calormen to catch both Archenland and Narnia off their guard and destroy them. Shasta, Aravis, and the two horses must cross the desert to reach Archenland before it is too late. RATING 10/10

//Kevin Chuang// Deeply intriguing, __Freakonomics__ crafts a mind-provoking argument into the correlation between economics and every day life. It argues the prevalence of economics in all aspects of life including education, entertainment, and day care. Although his arguments are loosely connected, Levitt must be credited with his grasp of economic principles and the interesting arguments that he employs. Mainly, Levitt attempts to state that while economics is not driven by moral principles but purely a numbers game. Although his argument sound highly convincing, several of the economic principles that he chooses to employ often contradict or goes through loopholes that confuses the readers. The reason that I personally gave it a lower rating was because of the fatal flaw I found with this book. Its far-fetched connections with economics that Levitt attempts to make with issues such as sumo wrestlers (entertainment) and crime rates (social issues), and misleading the readers into comprehending this book as an economic book, rather than a social issues book as it stands. I would conclude that __Freakonomics__ is not a book simply about economics, as its name suggests, however, a book that would inspire connections in everyday life. Despite the lower rating, it’s a recommended book for casual reading on an interesting subject, or to be inspired to make connections around you.
 * Freakonomics**
 * Steve Levitt & Stephen Dubner**
 * Rating:** //7.7/10//

Alisa Kong
 * Dewey by Vicki Myron**

“Dewey” is a true story that takes place in Spencer, Iowa, which was currently in a farming crisis. Vicki Myron is the new head librarian. One cold winter day, Vicki found a kitten almost freezing to death in the drop box of the library. Vicki decided to raise her and keep her as the library’s own personal pet. This cat was named Dewey. Dewey was a proud and passionate cat who loved to sit in the laps of visitors of the library and always managed to make one laugh, be it a crying child or a serious patron. His name was slowly spread through the whole town, and even past those boundaries. As his fame grew greater and greater, people from hundreds of miles away came to visit him and pet his furry coat. Dewey became the townspeople’s hope and constant source of joy, giving them the faith and courage to slowly but steadily push through the financial crisis of Spencer. When I read this book, Dewey seemed to always make me smile or laugh with his foolish antics and heartwarming behavior. Sometimes I wish that I could go play with him myself. I find it really touching how just one cat could change the lives of so many people. Dewey’s presence manages to turn grumpy into cheerful, melancholy to jolly. He helped the people of Spencer to get through the greatest obstacle they had ever faced, just by purring, sleeping on people’s laps, and simply going about chewing rubber bands or knocking down books. I really enjoying reading this book and getting to know Dewey the cat.

Mark: 8/10

Nikita Ganesh
 * Hatchet By, Gary Paulsen **

Hatchet is a novel about a teenager, Brian, who gets lost in the woods after a plane crash and is forced into surviving it alone. Brian Robeson is a thirteen year old from New York City. In the beginning he is going to visit his father in the Canadian Oil fields when the pilot suddenly has a heart attack and Brian finds himself in the toughest situation. When Brian “crash-lands” the plane near a lake in the middle of a Canadian forest he is counting on the rescuers to find him. However, after a couple of days it becomes clear to him that they won’t be coming to get him anytime soon so he begins to make a life for himself in the forest. As the book progresses, Brian learns to hunt, make a home and weapons, and even fight off ‘intruders’. He gets attacked by a porcupine, skunk, and moose but in the end all these events make him into a changed person. Through his time in the forest Brain learns to adapt to his surroundings and finds himself noticing things he would have never seen otherwise. After an tornado hits unsuspecting Brian, he finds that the plane which sunk in the lake has somehow risen to the top. Brian decides to go out into the lake and try to get the survival pack from the plane. After a series of problems Brian manages to get the pack and finds multiple “treasures” in it. However, the question is, will Brian ever be rescued? This book is extremely detailed and I found myself loving every part of it. The author writes in such a way where the reader feels as if they are on this dangerous journey with Brian. Overall, this book was amazing and I would recommend it to people of all ages.

Rate: 9/10 Cat Li
 * Lord of the Flies by William Golding **

__ Lord of the Flies __ by William Golding is about a group of young teenage boys who are on a plan and crash land on a remote island. While waiting for rescue, they try to form some sort of a government, with a chief who has power over everyone. However, since they are only teenage boys, this does not work out well. Ralph is the first chief and seemingly the most authoritative, but Jack is always opposing him. Piggy however, is the smartest and the most thoughtful. Ralph’s group eventually separates from Jack’s and there is an ongoing feud between the both of them. Throughout the book, the boys spend most of their time hunting for pigs and believing that the island has some sort of beast. The feud going on between Ralph and Jack combined with the disorder of the rest of the boys eventually kills two of the boys and brings out the true beast in all of them. After some time, a naval ship finally sees a fire on the island and rescues the boys. I did not enjoy this book very much. I did not understand it very well and I found it a little bit boring.

6/10

Zo Iona Kronberg
 * “The Traitor’s Tale” by Margaret Frazer**

“The Traitor’s Tale” is written from the perspective of two characters: the sharp-witted nun Dame Frevisse and the elusive hireling spy Joliffe. A riveting tale of treachery and murder in 14th century England, Frazer weaves “The Traitor’s Tale” into a masterpiece of mystery and suspense. What amazes me is that the author manages to give readers an idea of who each character is without giving away more than the other characters know about each other. Although the novel is written from the perspective of two main characters, readers know little about those characters other than their thoughts and actions during the course of the book. Background information and the characters’ story of how they came to be in their individual situations is somehow carefully left out, making the novel even more mysterious and leaving readers curious despite the eventual unraveling of the mystery. As circumstance once again forces Joliffe and Dame Frevisse to trust each other and stretch their wits to the breaking point. The race to uncover more about two mysterious murders and one disappearance connected with the household of Lady Suffolk (Dame Frevisse’s cousin and wife to the late Lord Suffolk, who was also killed under mysterious circumstances). Their queries reveal the existence of a letter detailing the treachery that lead to the deliberate loss of Normandy, a secret that could both ruin Lady Suffolk and save the life of the Duke of York, whom Joliffe serves. RATING 9.5/10

Nikita Ganesh
 * The Handmaid’s Tale By, Margaret Atwood**

The handmaid’s tale is a gripping dystopian novel from the point of view of Offred, a handmaid which serves the Commander and his wife. Gilead, a totalitarian government has taken over the United States of America. Over the past few years, reproduction rates have become dangerously low. Due to this, Handmaids are assigned to bear children for elite couples who are unable to reproduce. Offred is not the narrator’s original name, and as the story progressed the reader learns that Handmaid names have the prefix “of” and the commander’s name to which they belong to. Offred has to live in a house where she can only leave the house on shopping trips, she must be fully covered at all times, and even the door to her room cannot be completely shut. As the story progresses Offred gives us flashbacks as to her life with Luke (her past husband) and her daughter. We learn about Offred’s escape and how authorities caught up to her and forced her to become a handmaid. Offred begins to learn more about an underground rebellion group known as May Day but she gets involved in more than that. The Commander begins to invite Offred to his office and shows her the illegal world which has still managed to survive under this harsh control. As secrets get entwined the reader learns more about how this government came into place but at the same time, leaves the reader wanting more. I definitely recommend this book but, only to 14 years and above because it has some mature content. This book is captivating, and interesting, but most of all chilling because of how real the situation is.

Rate: 9/10

Simon Lee
 * Book of Acts**
 * by Luke**

The Book of Acts, also known as the Acts of Apostles, is an account of Saul (Hebrew name: Paul) and his journey to Rome to spread the Christian beliefs. The story divides into three parts due to the fact that Paul embarked total of 3 journeys during his lifetime. The first one was with Barnabas, they are informed by the Holy Spirit to go West even though their original plan was to East. So, from Antioch to Derbe Paul and Barnbas preach and spread the words of Jesus. Surprisingly, this is the time when Saul changes his name to Paul to identify himself as a Christian not a Jew. After coming back from the first journey, Paul quickly embarks on a second journey from Antioch (again) but this time aiming towards Europe. During this journey Paul establishes many churches into places he preaches such as Church of Philipi with the help from Lydia a woman who sold cloths. Also during this journey many miracles happen such as the earthquake in the Philipi cell where Paul and Silas (Silas was another companion added when Barnabas left due to disagreements) was in prison. Paul also fails to establish churches in some places for example, Athens. In Athens, it is inscribed that the Athenians sneered when Paul talked about the resurrection. After the long and enhanced second journey, Paul embarks on a third journey (personally I think it was to check the statuses of the places he embarked on). Here, Paul again suffers riot when he preaches again in Ephesus by saying that man-made gods are no gods at all. Since, man-made gods were made by silversmiths and their trade was immense, a large riot was made to get rid of Paul. Paul also miraculously resurrects a young man who falls off from the 3rd floor of his house. Paul's journey ends when he comes back to Jersualem and is put in custody when the Jews brutally accuse him. The book ends mentioning that Paul for his last two years in prison still preached the words of God and Jesus Christ. From the beginning till' the end, the book narrowly inscribes the journey Paul embarks on, and his heroic and courageous acts in order to spread his religion, Christianity. This also shows that due to Paul's courageous act it helped Christianity spark the light of their global spreading of their religion. Although it was a long read and kind of confusing (because of the large amount of events) it was a joyful read in general.

8.5/10

Simon Lee
 * Book of Matthew**
 * by Matthew**

The book of Matthew is an account of Jesus's life and his teachings. The story begins from Jesus's birth with the visit from the Magis, being baptized by John the Baptist, practice of preaching his sermons in the mountains, miracles of healing the weak and the dead, feeding the 4000, 5000 people with just two fishes and 5 pieces of bread, walking on water, the last supper, betrayal from Judas, to being arrested and being crucified by the Romans. The interesting parts of Book of Matthew is none other than the sermons Jesus preached. While Jesus talks about divorce, fulfillment of Law (Jesus came to complete the Law), murder, oaths, the most popular and important ones are his sermons on enemies, prayers and adultery. Jesus states that an eye for an eye only brings chaos and that went being hit on the left cheek, you should open up your right cheek also. This simply means to love your enemies and pray for them as they are still your brothers and sisters. Jesus also mentions adultery and that committing adultery is a sin. Also, as a man thinking about a woman lustfully is also considered a sin due to it's fact that you are secretly seducing the woman in your heart. Jesus also shows his hatred towards Jews and Gentiles during those times who would pray in public just to boast and show pride. Through these words from Jesus, readers can realize the fundamental belief of Christianity which signifies WHY you do things more than WHAT you do. While the book of Matthew broadly shows the life of Jesus, it also clearly indicates the sermons by Jesus and his words. It also signifies the Christian belief that Jesus is our Lord and savior by depicting Jesus's resurrection and explaining why he does such things.

9.5/10

Allyson Sprague
 * The Fault in Our Stars**
 * by John Green**

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green is a story about a teenage girl named Hazel the end, the book was thrilling and captivating to read and I recommend this book to anyone who has cancer. To try to fight the depression she was going through that was a "side-effect" of cancer, her mother thought it would be a good idea to go to a cancer support group full of teenagers just like her. One day while at support group, Hazel meets a boy who is a cancer surviver named Augustus. After the meeting Augustus catches Hazel outside before she leaves and uses his smooth words to convince her to go over to his house to watch a movie. After that one day they begin spending more and more time together and eventually fall in love. They both enjoy reading very much. Hazel recommends a book called An Imperial Affliction to Augustus which doesn't just bring them closer but makes them want to know what happens to the characters that aren't explained very well leading them to find the author and plan a trip to Amsterdam. I thought this book overall was very good. It had very good metaphors and imagery. I found some parts a bit cliché like how they fell in love. The ending was very sad which I like because most books have happy endings.

Rating: 10/10


 * Book of Romans**
 * by Paul**

Simon Lee

The book of Romans is the 6th book in the New Testament, and a letter from Paul to the saints in the Roman Church. The letter significantly states the 'developed' law and idea of right and wrong. While short, personally I think this is the most important letter or book in the Christian bible. This is because the letter talks about what's righteous in God's eyes and what is in fact, truly following God and his Son, Jesus. It is also very interesting because it contradicts with the idea of the Jews and the Gentiles of what is right and wrong. For example, Paul starts his letter by stating the sinfulness of humanity and how for so long, humanity has been differentiating themselves with God and had the will to separate God from themselves. However, he states that even with such hate, God brought his Son, Jesus to sacrifice for their sinful souls. Then Paul says something very compelling. He accuses the Jews who live by the law (circumcised, and following the Ten Commandments) and brag about their accomplishments. He states that no one is righteous and in fact, one should not use the law to brag and judge others. He also utters that the law is there for us to be 'conscious of sin' and not to be used to declare oneself as righteous and holy. The fact that no one is perfect and wholeheartedly righteous in God's eyes can be related to what Jesus Christ says later on in the bible which is to love others and not judge. In truth, Paul continues by saying that righteousness from God comes through Jesus his son. He also insists that God is for everyone and not just for the Jews and the Israelites and that faith is brought upon by 'believing' not observing the law. Also, Paul continues by saying that just like how due to Adam's sinful action during his time in Eden the world became full of sinners, God also sent one person, Jesus to give us a change to have an eternal life. He also states if you truly follow Jesus, while your body may be dead due to sin, your soul is alive because of God's righteousness. Paul also brings up the word 'Abba' meaning Father to represent God for his gift of Spirit of sonship. The book ends with Paul's personal greeting's to his fellow mates in the church. Personally, this book was very interesting due to the fact that it talks about what truly is being graceful and righteous in God's eyes. This also can be the main difference between the Jewish religion and Christianity. In the end, the book was thrilling and captivating to read and I recommend this book to anyone who has a lot of questions about Christianity and it's main beliefs.

10/10

Sebastian Shi
 * Eldest by Christopher Paolini **

The fantasy novel “Eldest” by Christopher Paolini follows Eragon, a young dragon rider, in his journey to find himself as one of the last dragon riders. The story begins in the Varden, a rebel group fighting against an evil king called Galbatorix. Very early on in the book, the leader of the Varden, Ajihad is assassinated shortly after the final battle in the first book, “Eragon”, leaving his daughter Nasuada to fill his place as a leader. After a swearing fealty to Nasuada, he leaves to further his training as a dragon rider in the land of the elves. He is introduced to Oromis, a retired dragon rider. He is then trained by Oromis to unlock the finer points of his responsibility. During his training, he has to struggle against his wound from a battle in the first book. The wound, cursed by a shade, constantly causes Eragon to have painful seizures randomly after exerting himself. This makes Eragon doubt himself and second-guess his every move, almost making him useless as a dragon rider. Fortunately, his wounds heal suddenly after an acceptance ceremony for dragon riders. At the same time, the story follows his cousin Roran and his escape from their original home. Through many trials and deaths, Roran successfully escapes. Not soon after, Eragon is summoned to fight in a large scale battle for the Varden again. With his training, he easily defeats many enemies and is much more capable than in his first battle. Nearing the end of the book, he unexpectedly faces Murtagh, his former friend turned enemy. After being clearly out-matched, Murtagh reveals that he is Eragon’s half brother, leaving Eragon devastated. I found the book very descriptive in battle scenes. However, most of the book is focused upon Eragon battling against his own inner demons instead of Galbatorix’s army. This makes the story a little blander than what I had come to expect after reading “Eragon”. I tried starting this book at least three times in the past before getting too bored to continue. However, after I got past the boring parts, I found it becames much more interesting. Paolini creates a lot of suspense by constantly switching perspectives from Eragon and Roran. The switching creates dramatic irony, making the reader know more than the characters themselves. I feel like Paolini could take less time to go through some parts of the story. For example, Eragon’s training takes a good 350 pages to finish, while it could have taken less than 200 at the most. This is what makes it so extraordinarily long, and sometimes boring. However, through these extremely long pages, you can clearly see how much work went into creating such a detailed story. Paolini almost creates a basic ancient language of magic that requires a index at the back of the book. It’s very similar to “Lord of the Rings” by J.J. Abrams. I'd recommend the series to anyone wanting a lighter fantasy read. Rating: 7/10

Cat Li
 * The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness **

__ The Knife of Never Letting Go __ by Patrick Ness takes place in a town called Prentisstown, where everyone can hear each other’s thoughts, called the Noise. There are no women, and Todd Hewitt, 12 going on 13, is the last boy in Prentisstown to become a man. However, a month before he turns 13 years old, he notices a hole in the Noise, and when he returns home, Ben and Cillian, whom he lives with, forces him to escape. As Todd escapes with his dog Manchee, he returns to the swamp where he found the hole in the Noise and finds a girl named Viola. Together, they try to reach Haven, where Viola wants to contact her ship from the planet which she came from and where Todd is safe from Prentisstown. On their way to Haven, the Prentisstown army tries to track them down first and kill them. This book is very exciting page-turner and will keep you hooked throughout the entire story. I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it to anyone seeking adventure.

9.5/10

Jady Tian
 * //Ender’s Game// by Orson Scott Card **

//Ender’s Game// by Orson Scott Card is a military science fiction novel. It is set in future Earth, when people are busily preparing for the third invasion of the buggers, a new species of aliens. In order to have a suitable commander for this upcoming invasion and war, all the countries come together and set up commander schools and train little children. Ender Wiggin is one of these children who get transferred to the space for further training. However, he endures a much harsher life there than other people because the generals discover his potential and want to make him into a commander as soon as possible. As a juvenile, is Ender the right person for this position of commander? Can he complete the mission of destroying the buggers and save the Earth? If you want to know more about what will happen afterwards, please read the book. Like all the books that are later made into movies, //Ender’s Game// is often being compared with its movie. As a reader and an audience who have read the book and watched the movie, I have to say that, I like the book better than the movie because the book focuses more on details, which make everything less confusing. For example, the relationship among Ender, Peter (his brother), and Valentine (his sister) is really complicated. In the book, the author writes more about this relationship and makes the readers understand Ender’s worries in the future and how he’s bond to his family. Peter and Valentine each represent a typical kind of people in that society. By using detailed and vivid words to describe them, Mr. Card gives us a clearer image of the society Ender is living in. Overall I think it is a book that is worth reading. Since I watched the movie first, I think the book tells me more about each character and lets me make more connection to them.

Mark: 9/10

Wendy Boeker Honestly, now that I’m done reading __The Lovely Bones__, I cannot decide if I like it or hate it. Maybe somewhere along the middle. Susie Salmon, a fourteen year old girl living in the 1970s, is walking home from school when she is lured by an old man into a hole in a cornfield, where she is raped and killed. The man is a serial killer, and Susie is not his first victim. Susie goes to her own version of heaven, and spends her time watching her family and friends cope with loss, move on, and grow up. Although Susie’s heaven provides anything she wants, it cannot give her what she truly wants—to go down to earth and live. To comfort her family and friends, to live and breathe and grow up with them. The book is full of sadness and grief and graphic details and it really made me feel for Susie and the people around her. On the other hand, the author’s writing style was quite strange and I had to reread things a lot to understand, and some of the details are boring. Susie constantly switches between in-heaven perspective, on-earth perspective, and in-past (memory) perspective which was confusing at times. It was weird to read from the perspective of a dead person, too. When I started reading it, I was immediately entranced and read for at least an hour, but later got boring and I started skimming pages.  Near the end, Susie randomly comes down from heaven into her friend’s body (which didn’t make much sense to me in the first place, since the author did not bother explaining why or how this happened) and of course the first thing she does is have sex with her crush in her friend’s body. And the boy does not find this strange at all. The rapist who killed Susie eventually dies in the snow while planning to make another girl his victim, but I was kind of hoping he would get caught and rot in jail. Which did not happen.  The book did not really have a clear plot and was mostly about the hardship of daily life. If you’re into books like that, you might like it. 7/10
 * The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold**

Wendy Boeker __Mockingjay__ by Suzanne Collins is a book that disappointed many people, so of course I was a bit wary to read it. I was pleasantly surprised by it, and it was a good, solid end to this series. I liked it.  Katniss is rescued from the arena by the rebels in District 13 at the end of the previous book, and she lives there now along with her family, friends, and a tiny number of survivors from District 12. Katniss reluctantly agrees to become their “Mockingjay”, District 13’s face of the rebellion, under certain conditions. District 13’s goal is to overthrow the Capitol. Peeta, on the other hand, is still in the hands of the enemy, forced to promote a ceasefire under torture by the Capitol. Katniss struggles to keep herself together and her family and friends safe while trying to fulfill her role of being the "Mockingjay." __Mockingjay__ is different than the first book—it’s more a story about war and politics than a teen-dystopian-romance-adventure. I think that’s why people did not like it (it was a depressing book). But for me, it made it so much more real, so much more impactful. Major characters died meaninglessly—but isn’t that true in real war? Soldiers sacrifice their lives for their cause, and they don’t get a fanfare while doing so. Another thing that really hit me was I expected District 13 to be this great, unknown superpower who had a plan to save everybody all along. I thought Katniss would be fighting at the front for justice, believing in District 13 (who would never allow atrocities to happen like the Capitol did) with all her heart! Wrong. Manipulative Coin, the leader of District 13, is not so different from the cold President Snow. Katniss is used as a pawn for propaganda, they don't actually care about her as a person. District 13 killed and tortured many people in ways as gruesome as the Capitol did, even killing children. They wanted power, not justice, and sat around waiting for the people in the Districts and the Capitol to kill each other so they could scoop up the remains. I found this to be so much more realistic than the cheesy rebellion I was sort of expecting. I find it really ironic that in the end of the book, they decide to host a Hunger Games for the Capitol’s children, and Katniss agrees to it. This really shocked me, children should not pay for their parent's crimes, they are just repeating the cycle of bloodshed and loss! I was all like, this is __Animal Farm__ and Napoleon all over again! All in all, I would not call Mockingjay an “enjoyable” book, but one that has you flipping pages and finishing it feeling drained, but thinking. The book rings true amidst all its pain, hardship, messed-up unsolved relationships (talking about Peeta and Gale, do not expect much for this), but the characters still fight and live on, just for the small pieces of happiness that everyday life brings, as rare as it is. I apologize for this review being so long. 9/10
 * Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins**

//Kevin Chuang//
 * Thinking, Fast and Slow**
 * Daniel Kahneman**
 * Rating:** 8/10

Immensely powerful, __Thinking, Fast and Slow__ provides in detail into the workings of the human mind. As a non-fiction book, it does not have a clear outline or a plot, however, it works through phases that summarizes Kahneman’s collection of research over a span of several decades. Since it is a collection of his research, it covers the three main phases of human thinking and research: Cognitive bias, prospect theory, and happiness. Throughout the book, Kahneman uses an interesting compare and contrast of the two systems of thinking, System 1 and System 2. He uses the comparison of System 1 being emotional and fast, and System 2 being slow and logical. These two Systems build up the main argument as Kahneman uses them as the core of this thesis in the relation between logic and emotion. I gave it a rating of 8/10 because of its difficulty. Despite it being a great book to read, it takes a long time to get through and at times, it require a lot of dedication and prior knowledge for the reader to understand. Although a very challenging read, it is definitely a strong recommendation for those who are very interested in psychology and with lots of time on their hands.

Cat Li
 * A Million Little Pieces by James Frey **

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey is a memoir of a battle against alcoholism and addiction. The story is of James Frey, a 23 year old man who goes to rehab to cure his 10 year addiction to drugs and alcohol. Along the way, he makes friends, he falls in love, and he tries to suppress the anger and fury that he has felt all his life. In rehab, Frey tries his best to forget all the things he did when he was intoxicated and drunk. His relationship with his parents slowly starts to repair itself through the rehab clinic’s family program and he makes the first real friends he’s had for as long as he can remember. The book itself more like a poem than a novel. There is dialogue, but no quotation marks, repetition, run on sentences throughout the entire book, and random capitalized letters. I thought that this book was extremely powerful and really shows the reader what it is like to have an addiction. I would recommend this to anyone who would like to read stories about recovery.

9/10

Bobby Chow
 * The Golden Compass by Philip Pollman**

The Golden Compass by Philip Pollman is a fascinating adventure novel written from the third-person omniscient point of view. The story starts off with Lyra, who is the protagonist, and her daemon named Pantalaimon. Daemons are a kind of animal-looking creatures that can change their forms which is from Lyra's soul. As the novel progresses, Lyra became interested in something her uncle, Lord Asriel, was researching: Dust. Their journey begins with Lyra's goal to find out what is so special about her uncle's research. Everything escalates when she has to overcome difficult circumstances such as: the truth behind her family, losing a friend, and the truth behind what Lord Asriel is really up to. Philip Pollman tells the story as if he knows Lyra very well, so much so that it feels like reader is always beside her. He also does this by excluding details that are not related to Lyra. For example, when Lyra left Mrs. Coulter, the author left out any feelings or details that were not about Lyra. Throughout the novel, Pollman included lots of dialogue, which helps the readers to understand what each character felt and what their reactions or feelings are like to specific moments in the book. I definitely recommend this book to youth or adult groups who are interested in fantasy and adventure books.

9/10

Allegiant by Veronica Roth Alisa Kong “Allegiant” is the third book of the series by Veronica Roth, after Insurgent. The society that Tris and Tobias live in is now shattered and in a midst of civil war, between the powers of Evelyn and the factionless, and Johanna and Marucs—the Allegiant. After Tris enters and collaborates with a group called ‘Allegiant’, she and her friends are offered the chance to be sent out of the city. Tris immediately takes the chance. Once outside the fence, however, instead of feeling the freedom she has always yearned for, she ends up learning the truth of her world and her history, diving deeper and deeper into the dark secrets of her life and the lives of those around her. The truth slowly starts to eat away the hearts of others, and once again Tris has to fight against both her and the horrors of society. As I was reading this book, the constant twists and turns in the plot totally engrossed me into the book. I was constantly thinking about what would happen next, what would Tris do next, what will result in what she does? The book is so action-packed and intense, along with lots of romance (too much for my taste), which steers you down a long and twisted path. Veronica is constantly pulling at the strings of your brain, making you think faster, harder, deeper. Her deft writing makes you wonder, what is freedom, is truth truly good, what is right, what is sacrifice, what is worth sacrificing? Even though the many events started coming so fast and disorganized that it gave a sense of messiness, the book was an exhilarating read. The ending was quite traumatic as well.

Mark: 8.5/10

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See Cat Li Shanghai Girls by Lisa See is in 1930’s Shanghai. Pearl and May are two sisters, 21 and 18 years old, were two beautiful girls with a privileged family who struggle to survive after their father sells them away in a gamble. They are forced into arranged marriages and move to the United States. The story follows the rest of their lives up until Pearl’s daughter leaves home, and Pearl sets out to find her. This book is extremely tragic and the lives of Pearl and May are pitiful. They lose many people from when they are forced to leave Shanghai until the very end of the book. I heard good reviews from this book, but I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as everyone else did. There is not really much of a plot, so I was a bit bored. Overall this was a good book and I would recommend this.

7.5/10

Simon lee
 * Joshua by Eleazar son of Aaron**

The book, Joshua, is the 6th book of the Christian bible that mainly describes the events after Mose's death. The book is filled with domination and war due to the fact that this is when Joshua tries to conquer the 'promised land' (Canaan) that God promised. Starting by crossing the Jordan River, the Israelites occur a very similar scene that Moses experienced, the water was 'cut off and stood up in a heap.' After this miracle, the Israelites celebrate and commemorate God by circumcising, meaning to forever worship God. Fortunately for the Israelites, the miracle of God did not stop from here. When God told Joshua that his men should go around the Jericho castle once per day with the front row carrying the Ark and scream in front of the castle at the 7th day, Joshua did so as he was told, resulting the domination of Jericho. However it is inscribed that some of the lands such as Ai they failed several times before they actually conquered the place. This was because of the ignorance and bragging the Israelites made after they conquered Jericho. After the conquering of Ai and Jericho, Joshua brings all of his men together and reads the Commandments given by Moses (technically given by God) as a prayer and a promising to believe in God whatsoever. After this Joshua goes on and attains a huge win against the allies around their lands who were trying to take the Israelites out. Now that the promised land is conquered, Joshua divides the place into twelve pieces for twelve different Israelites tribes (already had tribes since the time of Moses and Jacob). Joshua tells his people to expand the place as different tribes with different roles for the expansion. At this stage, Joshua again brings all of his tribes back together at Shechem where he once again reads the Commandments and reassures the people that the victories made to this day happened by the help from God. During this state, the Eastern tribes (the lands Moses conquered) return home with the approval from Joshua. The book ends with Joshua's death and burial when at the age of 110, where he was buried 'in the land of his inheritance, at TImnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.' I think this was a fascinating book due to the dramatic mystical events that happens throughout the whole story. The book was filled with captivating incidents and scenes and once again very well organized. This book also shows how much of a legalists the Jewish (Israelites) people were doing that time due to the fact that they looked upon the Commandments very often (although this act of looking forward to only the so-called Ten Commandments was considered the truth at the time, this act is later criticized by Jesus himself when he specifically targets the act the Pharisees, legalist people who believe and worship (or at least they think they do) God through laws and commandments, for being ignorant and blind. I think the whole journey of Moses's descendants to achieve their promised land is a very fascinating story therefore I definitely recommend this book to anyone. After all, the bible is not only made for the Christians themselves but also for the sake of everyone.

10/10

Simon Lee
 * Exodus by Moses**

The Exodus by Moses, is second of the book in the Bible that describes the events and incidents the Israelites come upon during the times of Moses. After the death of Joseph, the new Pharaoh tortured the Israelites by limiting their freedom. The Israelites now had to build and organize bricks for the pyramids and had to give up their male children due to the excessive amount of Hebrew males who were located in Egypt. Meanwhile, Moses, luckily saved by the Pharaoh's daughter during his turn in the 'throwing,' encounters a scene of a Hebrew male getting harshly beaten up by a Egyptian male. Shocked by this scene, Moses kills the Egyptian and flees from Egypt where he makes a living (marries). However, God, showed upon a burning bush, persuades Moses to go back to Egypt in order to save the Israelites from slavery. With the plague and the atrocity of the Pharaoh's son getting killed due to the plagues caused by God, Moses and God finally gets his people back. During the journey of the Israelites trying to find a new home, it is inscribed that the miracles of God helped them even with their excessive amount of complaining. Miracles such as the sea being divided in half (in order to walk through it), the raining down of manna (a traditional bread) when complaining about hunger, the water-filled rocks that Moses strikes upon when they complain of thirst and so much more are the examples to the point. In the Exodus, the Ten Commandments, a law inscribed in stone given by God during his meeting with Moses at the Sinnai Mountains (according to the bible), appear and first takes scene. The law simply states all the unnecessary things a human should do to another human as a sin, concluding that we as humans should maintain a healthy relationship with other human beings and God himself. After this the Israelites created a tent to worship God and forever carries and values this tent as the most valuable place during their journey. I think this is a good book due to the enormous amount of events happening. The events are also organized well and depicted chronically helping the reader engage in the book even more. I definitely recommend this book to anyone.

9/10

**Crossed By, Allie Condie** Nikita Ganesh

This novel is the second book in the Matched trilogy. This book starts off with Cassia being sent to a work camp to try to find Ky. After Ky was sent to the work camps in the outer provinces Cassia promised that she would find him soon and they would be reunited. Then one night, Ky decides that he will leave and escapes in the midst of a fight between the society and the rebels. With him, he takes Eli and Vick. At this point, Cassia is in desperate need to find Ky so she escapes to the Outer Provinces using the help of another girl Indie. She tracks Ky using help from survivors of the fight and a very valuable map. In the end she finds herself in the canyons, where the chance of finding Ky is very low. However, after searching for days she finds Ky deep in the Carving (name for the Canyons). After much debate, the group decides that the best way for survival is to find the Resistance, a rebel group agains the “Society”. The group splits up and some head to the mountains and others go to find the resistance. Throughout the book, Ky struggles to fight his own beliefs and Cassia’s because of his love for her. As secrets, and secret crushes appear the plot gets tangled and twisted. In my opinion this book wasn’t that interesting because it progressed too slowly. The plot only started to pick up when Cassia finds Ky, which is near the end of the book. However, I loved the first book, which is why to me the second book was disappointing. I would definitely recommend reading the first book!

Rate: 7/10

Sebastian Shi
 * A Crowd is Not Company by Robert Kee **

The autobiography “A Crowd is Not Company” by Robert Kee follows Kee in his perilous journey as a prisoner of war during World War II. The story starts with Kee getting shot down from his aircraft during an air raid. Being one of two survivors, he is captured. He is then eventually put into a camp full of others just like him. Food is rationed, their freedom taken away from the prisoners. Kee describes how different prisoners adapted to life in the camp. After years spent in the camp, he finally decides to escape with other prisoners. He succeeds in digging a tunnel out and runs away with his friend Sammy. However, he and Sammy are recaptured after being caught with fake credentials on a train check. He is put back in his old camp where he stays for another year, until 1944. Excitement is felt when news of Soviet troops closing in on their camp is heard over a radio. However, his camp is forced to make a journey to a different camp, marching to run away from the Soviet forces. The story abruptly ends when he is separated from his friends in the new camp. I gave this book a 5/10 because it very dull in describing the author’s emotions, even during the action packed sections of the story. It only gives readers one or two characters to grow fond of, leaving readers very detached from the turmoil that the people in the camps had to deal with. Instead of focusing on his escape attempt by digging tunnels (which could very well fill an entire book with interesting details), Robert Kee focuses more on the philosophical side of life that he pondered while at the camp. He doesn’t even write about the digging of tunnels, just choosing to skip it altogether. This makes the story very purely based on his thoughts and his “enlightenment”. One could say even that this makes the story self-centered. Robert Kee’s story seems very inconsiderate when compared to other books about the Holocaust like “Night” by Ellie Wiesel. I would not recommend this book to a friend. Rating: 5.5/10

//Kevin Chuang//
 * Looking for Alaska**
 * John Green**
 * Rating:** //8.8/10//

__Looking for Alaska__ is a young adult novel that paints the life of ordinary teenagers at a boarding school, Culver Creek, confronted by issues such as social inequality, love, loyalty and sexuality. Throughout the novel, John Green uses the “Great Perhaps” as a central theme that the characters reflect through their actions. The main character, Pudge, arrives at the boarding school and is subjected to the “pranks” by the wealthy members of Culver Creek, nicknamed the Weekday Warriors. He then immerges into the daily life of the boarding school, becoming close friends with the Colonel, who with an attractive girl named Alaska forms a group. Pudge is then exposed to the issue of social inequality, as Culver Creek social life presents immense obstacles and benefits based upon the family background of the individual. Throughout, Alaska and Pudge becomes closer, and the issue of sexuality and the “Great Perhaps” is brought out to the readers. As an effort to accurately portray the emotions and lives of teenagers, John Green doesn’t utilize a strong event-by-event plot. Yet, for the reader, major events do mark certain transitions in the plot. John Green also employs another very eloquent central theme, the “Great Perhaps”, which is derived from the last words of a famous poet adored by Pudge. Green’s usage of contemporary language and daily events hooks the readers into the novel, and paints a vivid image of the life of the characters. As a reader, I found this novel to be immensely interesting and unable to put down, since the characters are so well developed and continues to have the suspense to keep things interesting. Yet, a minor flaw with the novel would be the method in which the author ended the novel, leaving the readers bereft of any real answers to the questions proposed in the first section. With the incorporation of the metaphor of the “Great Perhaps”, Green is able to keep the readers thinking about the complete meaning of the Great Perhaps. With this, as a reader, I was able to keep on thinking upon the significance of the Great Perhaps in my life, and this novel really brings it out. It is definitely a strongly recommended read for anyone interested for a novel to relate to, yet have a deep impact and meaning; also suitable for an easy read after a difficult book.

“Tiger’s Destiny” by Colleen Houck

Jonathan Chang

“Tiger’s Destiny” is a fantasy fiction book from the series Tiger’s Curse. In this last final book, the protagonist, Kelsey Haynes, travels with her two princes, Ren and Kishan Rajaram to continue on their journey to free the two brothers from the curse of the tiger. In order to do that, they have to complete 5 quests for the Indian goddess, Durga. A thrilling adventure filled with romance and action takes them to fight the dark wizard, Lokesh. As confusion unfolds in their final quest, they travel through time and ponder on their destinies. Though there were many suspenseful moments throughout the book, I thought that the author dragged out too many of the romantic scenes, reminding me of Twilight. On the other hand, it was a very emotional book and I would recommend it to anyone who has the patience to read an exciting adventure coated with a lot of love. Rating: 8/10

“The Wind Singer” by William Nicholson Zo Iona Kronberg

“The Wind Singer” is a fiction novel about the unhappy city of Aramanth, the terrible Morah, and three children. A page-turning adventure with quirky and multifaceted characters, “The Wind Singer” also explores several underlying moral themes. In Aramanth every person has a ‘rating’ and that rating contributes to the over all family rating. Your family rating decides your job, housing, clothing, and school district. From the age of two until death the citizens of Aramanth are tested yearly in the High Examinations as well as daily; either through school or a work quota. Hanno Hath and his family all despise the Examinations and know in their hearts that it is wrong to rank people. One day Kestrel Hath snaps and begins yelling oaths from the top of the Wind Singer built long ago by the Singer people to protect the people of Aramanth. She set the ball rolling that would eventually lead her, her brother Bowman, and their friend Mumpo on a desperate journey to fix the broken Aramanth. RATING 9.5/10

Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

-Seung-Min Yang

__Superfudge__, the book review I wrote before, is a squeal to this book. So it is better to read Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing first because some of the stuffs continue in the book __Superfudge__. Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume contains different episodes about a fourth grade kid Peter and his immature little brother (two and a half years old) Fudge. Sometimes Fudge drives Peter crazy. Sometimes Fudge sets Peter as his model. Fudge always gets attention because he is so young and Peter gets jealous. Peter wants attention from people too. Not only Fudge but Peter's immature friend Sheila drives Peter crazy too. She still thinks the boys have cooties and thinks girls are smarter than boys. Is his life going to get better with Fudge and Sheila in his life? I really enjoyed this book too. Since this book was about a fourth grade kid I remembered what I did when I was a fourth grade kid. I also compared my fourth grade year with his. Reading both Superfudge and Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing I really wanted to go back in time. :(

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

-Seung-Min Yang

If you just read the first few chapters of this book you will be surprised when this book reveals a mysterious murder case. Evie is an unattractive girl, who has an attractive mom. Nobody gives Evie an interest until the day their family moves to Florida. Evie’s father left Evie’s mom when she was pregnant. So Evie and her mom had a hard time living by themselves. After many years Evie’s mother remarries Joe. Joe served in World War II. After he came back he brought a lot of money and a gold bracelet for Evie. After Evie’s step dad gets a call from someone he suddenly decides that they will go on a vacation to Florida. In Florida they meet Peter an ex-GI who served in Joe’s company. Joe doesn’t seem to like Peter but Evie falls in love with the good looking, young, Peter. Evie’s mom also shows a great affection towards Peter. Evie, Evie’s mom and Peter hangs out together a lot. After Evie talks to Peter alone she learns all the truth about Joe but without realizing she also learns a lot of lies about Peter too. One day, only Peter and her parents ride the boat however only her parents come back alive. Now she learns all the truth and has to decide which side she will take. The man she loves or her parents. The first few chapters were very cheesy but then it turned to a mystery. At first I didn’t know anything like the main character. So I realized all the truth together with the main character and I found it very scary. I liked how the author never wrote about how Peter really died it makes me curious. This book was very interesting and I couldn’t stop reading it.

10/10

The Help Cat Li

The book The Help by Kathryn Stockett takes place during times of segregation in the United States. The help are the African American maids that work for white women. It is revolves around three women named Aibileen, Minnie, and Miss Skeeter. Aibileen and Minnie are the help, and Miss Skeeter, who strives to be a writer, is a white lady. They come together to write a book about what it is like to be a maid for white women, though this could put them in a lot of danger if people were to find out. There is a lot of conflict between the white women and the maids, mainly familial problems. I enjoyed this book a lot because it had a good storyline and made me want to keep reading. The characters were well developed and all had distinct personalities. I would recommend this book to anyone.

9.5/10

“White Fang” by Jack London Zo Iona Kronberg

Another thrilling animal fiction novel by London (the other being “The Call of the Wild”). I enjoyed this book a lot, the vivid descriptions of characters and scenery kept me interested despite being lengthy. The main character, White Fang, is not the kindest of wolves. And yet the author found a way to make me sympathize with him despite his cruelty to other dogs. The author’s view on morals and the animal kingdom are apparent by the way he writes White Fang’s thoughts. While I was reading I realized that this book is the reverse of “The Call of the Wild”. In “White Fang” a wolf is taken from the wild into society and made to know love. In “The Call of the Wild” a dog is taken from society into the wild and made to know hunger and cruelty. A fun, relaxing, and entertaining read. RATING 9/10.

"Insurgent" by Veronica Roth Alisa Kong

“Insurgent” is the second book of the series after Divergent. Tris, the protagonist, has to continue to fight against the evils of her society in order to protect the people she loves. At the same time, she struggles against her own fears, guilt, love, and pain, making it all the harder to stay head-steady and ready for the things thrown her way. The factions are split and in chaos, war is waiting in the shadows for the right moment when the factions finally spew their hatred on one another. Tris and her friends team up with the factionless in order to overthrow the Erudite who are hiding and planning nothing good. However, midway through her final decisions, Tris is caught in internal turmoil in what would be the right thing to do. Factions and the people have to choose a side to fight for. Tris then risks her life and her love in a choice that she believes is the best. I think that Veronica Roth, once again used her skill of writing in a straightforward yet exciting manner to her advantage. The book made me feel like I was in it myself. The plot was well developed and the characters are very realistic. However, near the end, the events in the book became a bit too messy and disorganized since there are so many things that happened, which makes it a bit hard to recall the order that in which the events occurred. Other than that, I think that this book was very both interesting and suspenseful, and it was a great read.

Mark: 8.5/10

Alex Neff The Exiled queen written by Cinda Williams Chima is an adventure in which wizards and clan’s neutrality is close to war with each other. The clans send a member of their tribe to school to learn magic and help fight against the wizards. To worsen the situation the princess goes missing when she going to be forced into marriage with a wizards son. With a war to happen both sides try to better themselves for the future war. From a calm peace to a kidnaping to a battle along the border. This book will seem slow with action around the next corner to surprise you. 8/10

Alex NEFF “A world without heroes” by Mull Brandon is a world which is ruled by a the last wizard with races no one would think of and creatures the same which make safe homes tense with the quest to destroy the last wizard and end his tyrannies rule. With the search to find the phrase of lost knowledge hidden in caves to vaults and in places, which would kill you without thinking about how to get away without getting caught. In this action packed mystical adventure where two times clash and people in which regular teens go on a death mission. 7/10

“The Snow Leopard” by Peter Methiessen Zo Iona Kronberg

Mathiessen’s account of his journey through the Himalayas is riveting. Along with detailed descriptions of scenery and wildlife, the author describes the people, hardships, and religions he encounters. His reflections on life, happiness, and purpose inspired me to see everything anew. I recommend this book for anyone ready to have his or her cosmos bent and re-shaped. “The Snow Leopard” is dense with analogies between Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, B’on, Tantrism, Islam, and Christianity. While reading I often had to pause every few pages, and wrap my head around the concepts the author was trying to capture in words. In the beginning it was difficult to comprehend what was being said, but it became easier as I kept on and the knowledge I have gained as a result is worth the initial confusion. The most amazing aspect of this book is that it is all true. The villages described along the way harken to medieval times and the mountain path is treacherous and demanding. This real-life adventure gave the world a new sheen, proving to me that remote places and raged, dangerous wildlife still exists. RATING 9.5/10 (a bit confusing and boring in the beginning)

How Capitalism Saved America Thomas J. DiLorenzo Kevin Chuang ==== How Capitalism Saved America is a political-economic novel that discusses the historic rise of capitalism in America, its ideological influences, and its relations with mercantilism. While it’s an apologetic for capitalism and a deconstruction of anti-capitalism, the book is also an introduction to one particular stream of free market economics known as the Austrian school. DiLorenzo offers quotes and arguments throughout from Austrian school notables such as Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek, Henry Hazlitt, and Murray Rothbard. It begins with a discussion of the pilgrims’ migration to colonial America as the start of capitalism, to its clashes with mercantilism, and finally to how capitalistic views have been lost throughout the centuries to government regulations. ==== ==== Full of well-crafted arguments and historic evidence, I found this book to be an academically challenging read, since it goes in depth with certain eras of history where great economic changes or events occurred. The path DiLorenzo chose to take was hard. From the view of a person who doesn’t take economics, it was difficult to understand certain of the economic theories he constantly refers to (ie: Frederick Hayek and Ludwig von Mises) or the various arguments he proposes. However, DiLorenzo is not without merit; his arguments are often backed up with several data/statistics tables and/or an historic event or story that makes the ideas more approachable. His good use of difficult yet convincing theories mixed with personal or historic stories of great entrepreneurs indeed make the book readable. In the era where most media portray capitalism as evil and greedy, DiLorenzo’s novel provides an alternative view, if not more convincing. However personally, the dense information in this novel made it a very slow read and it takes a great devotion of time to complete. It is recommended for those who have great interest in the field of economics and history. ====

Rating: 7.3/10

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer Wendy Boeker

__Between the Lines__ by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer (a mother-daughter combo) was an interesting, imaginative fairy tale-like story. Delilah is a teenage girl who loves reading a hand drawn fairy tale from the library, even though it’s embarrassing and she knows its weird. One day, after many re-readings, Prince Oliver from the book speaks to her. He wants to escape the story he’s forced to play over and over again, and Delilah’s the first one to have noticed him. The two fall in love as they try various methods to get Oliver out from the book. They can relate to each other because they don’t fit in—Oliver’s the only book character not satisfied with his life; Delilah is an outcast at school. The story is told from both Prince Oliver and Delilah’s points of view, as well as the original fairy tale itself that Delilah loves (which was interesting to read too). The story kept me engrossed while I was reading it, and it was heartwarming in a cheesy-disney movie kind of way. The romance is sweet but a little unrealistic. One weakness is that the “book world” was not explained thoroughly. Are characters alive only in books with illustrations? If there are many copies of the same book, are there lots of different worlds or just one? Also, the ending was disappointing. I expected after all their escape attempts that the one that finally worked would be this eye opening method I would never think of. It wasn’t. It was actually quite stupid and unbelievable. There was not any closure either: I wanted to see how Prince Oliver would fare in the real world. Where would he live? Would he fit in at Delilah’s school? But no, the author just ends it like that. I would recommend this as a light, fluffy read to a younger audience, but do not expect too much.

Rate: 7/10

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson Wendy Boeker

I guarantee when you pick up __The Adoration of Jenna Fox__ you will immediately be sucked into the story. This book will keep you glued to the pages until the very end, whether you like it or not. The premise does sound a little cliché: it is about a seventeen-year-old girl who wakes up from an accident after a year-long coma, and she does not remember anything about herself. Little by little, she learns unsettling things—why did her mother tell her they’ve been living in this rickety Californian house for a year, when the neighbors say they just moved in a couple weeks ago? If that were true, it would mean that her family knew //exactly// when she was going to wake up from her coma. It’s also funny why her parents left their careers, their friends, their lives in Boston to come to the middle of nowhere. They say it was for Jenna, but she’s sure there must be good doctors in Boston too. Why can’t she find information about herself or her accident on the web? Why are her parents so overprotective, and why does her nana hate her? As she starts regaining her memories, why does she remembers her baptism as an infant in crystal-clear detail, but last year’s events are still a total blank? The author keeps you guessing--the suspense is the greatest strength of the novel. The writing flows very well, and although it is easy to read, it is not childish. At the same time, readers can easily relate to Jenna’s teen problems and relationships, making this book a combination of psychological thriller, science fiction, and teen dilemmas. Teenagers always wonder who they are, but with Jenna it’s taken to the next level. Even after she finds out the truth, the book does not stop there. After you are done, you will be questioning what it means to be human, and in the future with scientific advancements, how far technology should go. __The Adoration of Jenna Fox__ is a riveting read that’s not too long and I definitely recommend it.

Rate: 9.5/10

Allegiant, By Veronica Roth Nikita Ganesh

This novel is the third one in the Divergent trilogy. Tris (main character) finds herself being approached by a rebel group who call themselves the "Allegiant." The group's goal is to get out of the city to which their confined to and learn the secrets which have been kept silently away from them. After much planning, and secrecy the selected Allegiant group who are to go out and face the unknown leave. Once they are outside the city boundaries no one could have guessed what would come next. The group is met by Zo and David (The head of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare.) SPOILERS AHEAD -> While there, Tris finds out the truth about her dead mother who sacrificed herself for Tris. She learns that the world is much bigger than just her city (Chicago). David tells her that Chicago was just an social experiment which was used to correct the genetic damage which came after the U.S Government tried to fix unwanted human characteristics (e.x) Violence, Greed.) However, as Tris finds out, this only led to wars and destruction which caused the need for experiments to arise. It was another form of a prison for the "genetically damaged." Once this information is thrust upon Tris, her and a group of people set out to fix the government and change lives forever. This book is extremely interesting and gives another look at the dystopian future. I would definitely recommend the whole series to ages 12 and above.

Rate: 9/10

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Alisa Kong

“Divergent” takes place in a dystopian society, where people are categorized into five groups: the Abnegation (selflessness), the Amity (the peaceful), the Candor (honesty), the Erudite (intelligence), and the Dauntless (the brave). You are born into the faction your parents live in, but once you turn sixteen, you are given an aptitude test. On the day of the choosing ceremony, you are allowed to choose a faction to transfer into, or to stay in your current group. Beatrice, or Tris, the protagonist of the book, was born an Abnegation but transferred into the Dauntless. Here, in the territory of the fearless, Tris faces countless challenges that tests her bravery to the very limit. As the book continues on, more and more secrets are revealed to Tris about her friends, the factions, even the world itself, and she struggles to fight her way through the darkness of the society she lives in. When I read this book, I was totally engrossed in the plot and the events that occurred. Tris’s actions are both astonishing yet thrilling, making me clutch the book and get goose bumps on my arms every other time she does something. “Divergent” is filled with conflicting principles such as what is right, what is true bravery, what is pain. The many thoughts of Tris and her clashing morals make my head churn in both confusion and fascination, and sometimes, realization. Veronica is a wonderful writer, crafting and shaping her words in a logical and easy-to-understand fashion, yet at the same time inflicting numerous emotions and moods on the reader. The plot she developed is very action-packed; just as you start to calm down from one incident, Veronica pops in another and takes you completely off-guard. Other than a few cliché romance moments, I think this book was a very exhilarating read.

Mark: 9/10

Looking for Alaska by John Green Cat Li

The novel __ Looking for Alaska __ by John Green is about a teenage boy named Miles “Pudge” Halter, who goes off to boarding school for the first time. He meets four people who he becomes good friends with: Alaska Young, Chip “The Colonel” Martin, Takumi Hikohito, and Lara Buterskaya. Pudge falls in love with Alaska, even though he’s just met her. He eventually loses Alaska in the middle of the school year and tries to find out why, bringing him closer to his remaining friends. The story also revolves around the theme of a labyrinth, religion, and how to get out of the labyrinth of suffering. Pudge does eventually realize how to get out of the labyrinth, and his need for closure about what happened to Alaska is fulfilled. Though a little bit cliche, this book did affect me as it was extremely sad and powerful.

9/10

Mutant Message Down Under -Zo Iona Kronberg

“Mutant Message Down Under” by Marlo Morgan is the account of one woman’s epic journey across Australia. Morgan, a social worker dedicated to helping the poor and homeless, is offered a job in Australia. Almost as soon as she arrives Morgan notices the sorry state of the country’s native people, the Aborigines, and helps a group of adolescent Aborigines set up a company. Soon after she receives a call from a tribe of Aborigines, they want to give her an award for her efforts. But this awards ceremony is far from what Morgan imagined and leads her on a breathtaking adventure with a tribe that calls itself ‘The Real People’. The “Mutant Message” is a call for action and a precious link to the ancient history of both Australia and the world. Touching on topics as diverse as sustainability and those human habits we take for granted but the Real People call addictions. After reading this book I cannot continue to think about the world we live in as I used to or go about my life in the same way without recalling some nugget of wisdom from the Outback. It should be required reading for every person on this earth. My new favorite book and my bible. RATING 1,000/10

The five people you meet in heaven by Mitch Albom

- Seung-Min Yang

Unlike the other books this story starts with the main character, who is Eddie, dying in a tragic accident. He was 83 years old. The main character was a Maintenance at the Ruby Pier (an amusement park). However Eddie did not fancy his job. He was very sorry for himself that he had to work in Ruby Piers because of his Dad. He wanted to leave his job. He died, while trying to save a kid, that was about to get hit by a cart in Freddy’s Free Fall ride. The whole book is about Eddie’s journey in Heaven. Always, having the question ‘Did I save that kid from the cart?’ in his mind, he meets 5 people, waiting for him, one by one. Each of them have a story to tell him and a lesson to teach. He learns why things happened in his life and why they were significant. There are a lot of themes in this book since Eddie learns five different lessons. However, I think the most important theme in this book is that there might be a lot of different stories but they somehow end up relating to each other. The strength of this book is the way the author had structured this book. The story is like a puzzle. The exposition is introduced through out the story. He always introduces a new episode in the chapters ‘Today is Eddie’s Birthday’, foreshadowing the next person he will meet. In the chapter 'the (number) person Eddie meets in heaven' usually explains what happened and why. Then in the 'chapter the (number) lesson' Eddie learns a new lesson. It is very well structured, creating suspense. It is so frightening how all the stories relate to each other.

Mark 8/10

Superfudge by Judy Blume

- Seung-Min Yang

Two things change in Peter’s life. One is that his parents got a baby and the other is that there are going to move to Princeton from New York just for a year. He thinks about running away twice after hearing the news first about the baby then about the Princeton. He has a little brother that is a trouble maker. Peter does not want anymore trouble maker in his life. However Tootsie gets born and they move to Princeton. Will Peter suffer more with two babies in the house? Will his life get any better? Will he able to make new friends? Is Fudge going to be a mature kid? Is Tootsie going to be like Fudge? I really enjoyed this book. Even though this book is for elementary students, it was very fun and relaxing to read over the weekend. I agreed with the main character a lot of times. Because I’m pretty sure I wanted to run away when my parents told me that we were moving to Shanghai. Also in one of the episodes, Fudge gets called up to the stage because he raised his hand. He does some embarrassing things older siblings can’t stand. Even though my brother and I are one year apart it happened to us when we were young. I wanted to disappear because I was so embarrassed. This book contains different episodes for each chapters. So if you just know who the characters are you can flip to any chapter and don’t have any trouble, understanding what is going on.

Mark 10/10

Girl In Translation by Jean Kwok

Jady Tian

“Girl In Translation” by Jean Kwok is about a Hong Kong girl’s life in America. Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrated from Hong Kong to America when she was at the age of ten. At that time, she could barely understand English and had nothing except for debt. Being a girl from Hong Kong, the only advantage she had was her talent in studying. By making use of her talent, Kimberly embarked on a double life. In the morning, she was an all “A” student in a private school, but in the evening, she became a worker in a sweatshop who worked from the afternoon to midnight. From the author’s note I noticed that Jean Kwok, the author of this book, actually had the same life style as Kimberly’s when she was little. Because of her life experience, the book seemed to be more realistic and authentic. With Jean’s vivid words, I could easily feel and know how Kimberly struggled between two totally different worlds, between love and hate, between two decisions. As a person who also has English as a second language, it is really easy for me to make connections with the characters in the book. When I was reading the book, I could actually feel the pain and suffer Kimberly was enduring when she had to start learning a totally different language. However, I don’t really like the dramatic ending of the book and I think that’s the only imperfect part of the book.

Mark: 9/10

Genesis by Adam, Noah, Abraham Enoch Isaac, and Jacob

Simon Lee

"Genesis" is the first book in the collection of Christian, Jewish knowledge and history, known as the Bible. In general, the book is written by the descendants of Adam, from the day when God created the universe to the time of Joseph. Although the chapters and the information tend to rapidly flow by, the book still specifies each moment using rich vocabulary. Also, in between the chapters, the reader encounters many captivating and dramatic events such as the first sin, the first murder, the first flood, the birth of Issac, an account of circumcision, drama between Esau and Jacob, and the riveting story of Joseph's time in Egypt. While the complex content and vocabulary may interfere with the reader moving along, the book is still fascinating due to a large quantity of compelling and dramatic stories filled with suspense (such as when God testing Abraham). More importantly, the book delivers readers the fundamental basis of the Jewish religion and Christianity such as having the dedication to sorely believe in God and his words. In conclusion, while the convoluted, historical contents and terms may let this book be considered as 'condemning' or 'complicated', it also helps the book become intriguing and enthralling.

Mark: 8/10

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Jady Tian

“Ruby Red” by Kerstin Gier is about Gwen, a sixteen-year-old girl living in London, whose life has been totally changed due to her time-traveling gene. Gwen was having a relatively normal life in the past sixteen years, comparing to her cousin Charlotte. She hanged out with friends during free time and went to school every day. Her family has a peculiar history of time traveling. However, Gwen was not even introduced to these parts of history because no one thought she had the gene of time traveling. Until one day, Gwen suddenly went back to the past without any preparation. After that, her life got completely changed and she even held on responsible to complete a mission with her special identity of “Ruby”. Gwen is a courageous girl, who could sacrifice her life for other people when necessary. It is really easy for me to make connections with the main character because Gwen and I are at about the same age and we are both like the girls who usually chat a lot with our friends. Therefore, when her life suddenly gets changed, I can feel her haze and suspects. Kerstin Gier, the author of this book, has a really simple and logical writing style. Readers can follow her words easily. Her words are descriptive, so when I was reading the parts when Gwen travelled back to old ages, I could actually have the images of what’s around her in front of my eyes. Nonetheless, the beginning part of the book is boring because Gier describes too much about Gwen’s school life and her classmates, which are not really related to what happen next.

Mark: 8.5/10

//Cards on the Table// by Agatha Christie

Jady Tian

//Cards on the Table// is one of the most well-known novels written by Agatha Christie. Like most of her work, this book is also about a murder. Hercule Poirot is invited to a party at Shaitana’s house. Except for Shaitana’s frequent mentions about methods of murdering, the party goes pretty well until the guests are divided into two rooms (four in each room) and start playing the bridge game. Since Mr. Shaitana doesn’t like card games, he just sits beside the fireplace in the room where Mrs. Lorrimer, Miss Meredith, Major Despard and Dr. Roberts are in. After four hours, Mr. Shaitana is found dead on the chair. Who has killed him? Why does he do that? In order to find out who the murderer is, the guests in the other room, Superintendent Battle, Mrs. Oliver, Colonel Race and Hercule Poirot start investigating and try to find out who the murderer is. Agatha Christie has a logical brain, which allows her to structure the whole story without anything suspicious. I like how she controls my thoughts without me knowing anything. Christie organizes and structures her story really well. She doesn’t write much about the murder, thus actually puts more attention on how other people investigating and find out who the murderer is. It may be boring reading all these investigation parts, but when you get to the end, it will be really easy for you to refer back and understand how they figure out the murderer. The ending of the book is surprising, but at the same time, under all people’s expectation. I like how Christie makes a twist at the end of the book to make this novel more interesting and thrilling. When I was reading this book, I feel like I have been absorbed into it. If you like mysteries, I bet you will enjoy this book as well.

Mark: 10/10