True Equality

True Equality

Written By: Kyle Mukire

The Hate U Give

Composed By: Angie Thomas

                 What is true equality to you? Do you believe we have achieved it as a society? As a race, will we truly ever be equal? The book "The Hate U Give" written by author Angie Thomas brought such questions to my mind, within the first 30 pages. The novel revolves around the protagonist, Starr Carter who is  a 16-year-old girl whose ethnicity is black. She witnesses a white police officer who shoots her best friend Khalil who was unarmed.  Before the shooting she had to cope with living a double life of living in a household with small income and going to a prep school. That night Starr was the only witness of what happened and she doesn't want to tell everyone because she might be treated differently and put her family in danger. She represents activism in itself throughout the book because she must stand up and fight for what she believes in.Will Khalil's death get the justice it deserves, or will society brush over it as we do today?
               "The Hate U Give" is an astonishing book where the author was able to take a real life issue and incorporate it into a modern teenager's life. I believe it was well thought and put together by the author. The thing that truly caught my eye was, the first letter of every word in the title of the book spelled out thug(The Hate U Give), which reminded me of Tupac's concept about thug life and the Black Lives Matter Movement. Quite frankly I have never read a book which I can relate to so much, it covers a lot of topics which I have read about and even brings emotion to those topics. When I first saw the book and read the small portion explaining it, I knew that this was the book for me. It talked about all of the activists which are my idols, like Malcolm X or Martin Luther King, which really made me feel a connection with the book. A part of the book which was really well written was when the author talked about Starrs quick personality change after Khalil's death. Many people could  go insane after a loss of someone so close to them. The author talked us through her thoughts,dreams, and actions. I will continue to read the book to see how she develops as a character and what types of overall changes occur to her personality. But a recommendation to the readers is that you should hang on to the book, because the book starts off with a ton of action and returns to a normal subtle feeling, but it will rise again. 
               In all honesty, I would rate this book on a scale from 1-10 with ten being the best, and I would give it a 10. It was truly well written and made the reader want to continue reading. I would mostly recommend it to people interested in books about activism, revolutionaries, and civil disobedient figures.

A new beginning for Jack

Edward Lau

The Shining

Stephen King

The book The Shining by Stephen King is what I have been reading. I have read up to chapter 5. The main character, Jack, used to be a drunk and a teacher. He quit drinking with Al Shockley, his friend, due to Wendy, Jack's wife, saying that she'll leave him if he doesn't. He stopped drinking and hanging out with his drinking buddy Al Shockley. Danny, Jack's son, has been seeing imaginary people that are doing supernatural things that begin to worry him. I think that Danny is defiantly going to show more supernatural behaviors in the upcoming chapters. Also I'm sure that the Overlook Hotel is going to contribute to the plot due to Stuart telling us what happened to the man that last lived there.

From chapter 1-3, Jack is talking to Stuart Ullman who is the one offering Jack the job at the Overlook Hotel.  Although I disliked the first 3 chapters due to it being long, I think it gave us details on how much Jack needs this job due to him having little to no money. I think these chapters also showed us how the hotel will affect the plot of the story. When Stuart was telling Jack that the last owner went mad, Jack had second thoughts because the owner's temper reminded him of his own. This shows the reader that Jack might be nervous to take this job but he has to. This will affect the way Jack will act when staying in the hotel.

From chapter 4-5, the reader learns a lot about Jack's life before and after he got fired. Jack was an alcoholic that lost his job and that didn’t think for his family that much until he had some suicidal thought one night drunk. He assaulted a student and that made him lose his job. Now he quit drinking and he wants to support his family. I think these two chapters shows more history than the first 3 because of the information it gives the reader. Now we know more about Jack and how he got where he is now. I think that these 2 chapters will help the reader because it wont keep the reader thinking about why Wendy and Jack's relationship is the way it is, how Jack would even need the job at the hotel, and what happened when he was a drunk.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone that likes horror novels. It gives you great characters

have backgrounds that'll keep the reader interested in reading the novel. Also the setting is a good reason to read this book. It is based off the Stanley Hotel, and the way they set it up in the novel will really help develop the plot. If you like horror books or you are just looking for a new book to read, I strongly recommend The Shining

Animal Instincts

Braedon Longfritz

The Jungle Book

By Rudyard Kipling

Humans and animals are different. We live in our world, they live in theirs. Now imagine a young boy growing up in the animal world, learning the animals’ societies and interactions, and facing the difficulties of being the only human in a world full of animals. That boy’s name is Mowgli. On the night he joined the animals, he was kidnapped by a tiger, Shere-Khan. Shere-Khan knew it was illegal for all animals to hunt men, yet he disobeyed the rules and captured one of men’s “cubs.” Fortunately, a family of wolves heard noise outside, found Shere-Khan attacking Mowgli, and rescued him. Shere-Khan then swore he would kill Mowgli, the only question was when.

Mowgli was adopted into the wolf’s pack to much controversy, however Shere-Khan never forgot about his promise. Eventually, Mowgli was forced to either kill Shere-Khan or be killed by him. However, after this chapter, the author of The Jungle Book decided to write the rest of the book as a series of short stories. I liked the first few chapters, the ones about Mowgli, as they had intriguing storylines that kept the reader turning the pages, and I liked some of the short stories afterwards, but there was one story especially that I found both boring and confusing. This one was called “Toomai of the Elephants.” In this chapter, the author begins by describing the customs of a group in India that tames and uses elephants for many different tasks. One family owns an old elephant that has served India for years, and is decently famous. The son of this family is named “Little Toomai.” Little Toomai is caught doing something he shouldn’t be, and the leader of their group yells at him and says he will never get what he wants until he sees the elephants dance. This is a common joke among their people, as the elephants dancing is not something any of the adults believe happens. Later that night, Little Toomai sees his elephant leaving his village and heading into the forest. Little Toomai calls out to the elephant, who then carries Little Toomai for miles into the forest. Eventually they arrive to a clearing in the forest, where hundreds of elephants are slowly moving around in the moonlight, and Little Toomai realizes it is the Elephants’ Dance. Little Toomai returns to his group, and he tells the rest of the group about his night. Some of the adults leave to see the tracks, and return telling everyone Little Toomai was telling the truth. All of their group then celebrate Little Toomai because he saw the Elephants' Dance. There were many interactions between the humans and their ranks and the jobs each rank had, but they seemed to be mostly irrelevant and didn’t stick in my brain. If we had had more time to get to know the various characters in this chapter, specifically Little Toomai, then I think readers would be more excited for him when he discovered the elephants dancing.      

The Jungle Book has many good stores in it, but also a few bad ones. Those bad ones suffer from not having enough time to get attached to its characters, where the good ones tell stories and have themes more strongly embedded inside them. For the most part, The Jungle Book will be a good read to anyone who enjoys imagining what it would be like to live with animals, however there are some chapters that are too lackluster to be worth reading.

Long time no see

Shelby Campana

Where She Went
by Gayle Forman

After a tragic accident, love that was meant to be split apart. Mia and Adam, highschool sweethearts, went through a traumatizing experience that made their life fall apart. After the terrible car accident that left Mia with no family, Mia and Adam struggle to stay together. When  they realize they both should chase their dreams in the music industry, they think they will never see eachother again. But one day as Adam depressingly walks around New York city, hoping to not be seen by fans, he looks up to see Mia’s face on a poster. He realizes she has a performance that night and contemplates on buying tickets or not. In this sequel, by Gayle Forman, you will wonder if they will fall in love all over again, or if they will realize that their separation was for the better.

This book leaves you wondering what comes next after every interaction Mia and Adam have. You realize that they both have changed as people but the author does a great job leaving you questioning if they have changed because they were apart. You may think that the beginning of the book is slow, but once the characters start changing, the book does too. The emotions the characters are feeling and the reactions that the characters show have lots of imagery. I really enjoyed reading this book because while reading it, you connect with the characters. I recommend this book to people who like romance and books that are light and enjoyable.

High Flying

Alessio Baggio

The Bomber Boys 
by Travis L. Ayres

Have you ever imagined flying thousands of feet in the air for endless hours every day? Have you ever seen your own friends crash and burn? This was the nightmare for the thousands of young boys who sacrificed and risked their lives as bombers during WWII. The Bomber Boys covers the story of 5 boys that risked their lives during WWII as bombers, but I will be covering the story of one of them. Anthony Teta, who is a flight navigator for his B-17 Flying Fortress. The story follows him as a young boy with hopes and dreams to a hardened man scarred by the brutality of war. As a young boy, Tony was amazed by aircraft and animals. When Tony was able to get enough money he would spend his time by buying model plane kits and homing pigeons.  One day he even brought his pet snake on his bus as a harmless prank but ended up having to evacuate the bus. This didn't make his bus driver happy. By the time Tony was 17 he had already joined the US air corps.


    Months had past and Tony had scored high in mathematics. This placed him as a flight navigator. In training, he learned how to cope with the stress on board and how to stay sane, as well as emergency preparedness. The time then finally came when he was shipped off to Europe and was assigned to his flight crew where he was positioned on a B-17 Flying Fortress. During his time as a navigator, he and his crew would do multiple bombing missions over Europe many of them being over Germany in towns like Cologne and Berlin.

Overall looking over the book I really enjoyed it. Ordinary routines and daily observations are described in detail throughout the book. In my opinion, this may be a coping mechanism for dealing with the very stressful and dangerous job of a bomber, this means putting other's lives in danger. To focus you must look at what's next and not what is happening in retrospect. When Tony went out on raids he never really mentioned how he felt when he bombed the towns and cities and who he was hurting. To survive he never really thought who he was affecting he just thought about what's next and what he has to do to make it back.

This book really spoke to me because it showed a perspective of a life that is completely different than mine is. It really gives you a perspective of how thankful you are for all the blessing you have to not have to be burdened with the consequences of a war. The book also showed me how the boy was just a few years older than I am and how if a war like that was to happen today I might be in his position. It really makes you think of how a conflict on just our little planet can cause so much damage to so many people.

This book stuck out to me the most because first of all I love reading and learning about WWII but it also relates back to my family. My grandfather was born in 1928 in Italy, as a young boy his hometown was invaded by the Nazi’s and Fascists forcing him and his family to live under a dictatorship. He has told me many stories when he was a kid and this really struck my interest into the war.

Given the choice, I would recommend this book to my friends because it's not just a story, it’s someone's story. Everyday veterans of the war are passing away and if books like this weren’t published, who would tell their story. For all the sacrifice they have given us, the best we can do to pay it back is spread their story of heroism and inspire the next generation of heroes. When recommending this book, I would say that if you are into WWII novels or just out like planes, this is the book for you. It can also interest people who enjoy historical nonfiction.

A Short Man With Tall Resilience

Brady Mullin

Heart Over Height
By: Nate Robinson with Jon Finkel

Imagine you were 5 foot 9 and had to shoot the game winner over a 7 foot tall opponent. This is hard, no not hard it is impenetrable, and is what Nate Robinson had to go through every day of his NBA career, and he succeeded.

For this review I read Heart Over Height. This book is an autobiography about Nate Robinson. It shows the hardship that he went through to make it to the NBA and all the choices he had to make along the way. Then it talks about his struggles in the NBA. It starts off when he first starts playing basketball with a team. This is where he learned his ambition and to go after things. Next it talks about how he was a superstar athlete in high school. Following it then talks about how he has to help his family and how he learned the lesson that there is more to life than sports.Soon after it talks about college and how he works hard. Finally he gets drafted and talks about his transitions from team to team and his life in the NBA, both the ups and the downs.

This book is one of my favorite sports reads. I like how the book flowed. For example he doesn't stick with the littlest details he goes to the next big thing. In other words he knew when to I also like how the book inspires you. I guarantee you that if you read this book you will be inspiring to you. It taught me that height is just a number and doesn’t matter on the road to success. It is all about the size of your heart and dedication to success. I also like how the book shows Nate’s personality. Other biographies how almost a fake person, but Nate is real life. He doesn’t hold back on his opinions. For example he admitted that he thinks that he should of started when a lot of other players would dodge this and just say they were happy that they could play. This brings the relatable aspect to the story. In most stories it is hard to relate to famous people because you have never sang in front of millions, played in front of millions, or failed in front of millions. But this story makes fame seem like everyday life it is nice.

Overall I would rate this book a 9.99/10 and recommend it to anyone who likes reading about sports and athletes with ambition. It is an amazing story and makes you believe  that anything is possible. Just a warning once you pick it up your life will change forever.

The Unnatural in the Natural

Aleah Kearsley

Jackaby

By William Ritter

What if you could never escape the gaze of preying eyes? Every corner you take, every street you go down, every place you will ever go a pair of eyes are burning into the back of your head. Jackaby can never escape this gaze. This gaze is from something other than a human though. These eyes are coming from the unnatural.

One cold day in January a young lady by the name of Abigail Rook stepped off a ship into New England. Ms. Rook needed a money and jumped at any job lead she could get. Taking after her father, she wants adventure and excitement and that’s what led her to Jackaby. Jackaby is a detective that investigates the paranormal who is in need of an assistant. Ms. Rook is determined to become his assistant. He sees things other people can’t and isn’t afraid to speak out against it. Together Jackaby and Rook investigate a complicated murder that isn’t limited to just our realm.

I would recommend this book but not whole heartedly. The reason being for that is because the first part of this book is pretty slow. You get some history on the characters and get to see what they are like but other then that there isn’t much action. For the most part it is Rook following Jackaby from place to place in hopes to get some leads. After awhile though it starts to get more interesting. I would recommend this book mostly because of the characters. Each character has their own personality that is different from the rest. Rarely does two characters act alike. These characters connect with me because their personalities are so diverse that they remind me of people around me and myself. One character represents me by standing up for herself and friends and not caring about what other people think of me. I also relate because my friends and I are all a little crazy inside. The characters ideas and personalities are so diverse yet they can still represent one identity that is very apparent in the book and in my life. It’s also interesting the characters relationships with each other. Every person has a relationship with each other whether the characters have just met or they have known them forever. Once again no two pairs of people have the same relationship. This connects with me because I really like the idea of the all these different relationships co-existing in harmony.

I would rate this book a 4.25/5 stars. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in mysteries and the paranormal. This book will appeal to your sense of curiosity and transport you to another world.

How'd it happen?

Cloe Amaral

We Were Liars
by E. Lockhart

A rich preppy family. Every summer at the lake house. Sounds good right? Not quite.

Their dad leaves, granddad is losing his mind, and the narrator, Cady, is in a serious accident. You will learn a lot about the Liars. Are they liars? There’s love, drama, mystery and more, every summer. Family, Love, and Competition are just a few themes in the book. What happened to Cady? How did she get in her accident? You’ll have to read it and find out.
This book is very strong in plot and characters. It is always interesting and keeps you wanting to turn the pages. The chapters aren’t more than 5 pages, usually going day to day each summer, so lots of things happen. I enjoy Lockhart's writing style and she writes using imagery. You have to infer some things and she doesn’t always mean what she writes, but that makes it an interesting read. As for the characters, I like Cady who is the protagonist. She doesn’t have a perfect life, there are problems and struggles she goes through. She is sensitive and uses lots of metaphors in her thoughts. I like the element of love in the plot between Cady and Gat, a family friend who goes to the lake house each year. I like that Lockhart doesn’t over explain things or over describe. Some authors in other books explain too much and I get lost in all the details. This book has the perfect balance of details and explanations in addition to the interesting plot.
Although I haven’t completed the book yet, I would recommend it. If you like books with lots of characters and a balance of mystery and romance with other things in the plot, you’ll like this book. Also, if you have been to Martha’s Vineyard you may enjoy this because it is set in a fictitious island there and you will be able to relate to the setting because it is off the coast of Massachusetts. Any gender would like this book and there is a sense of mystery because you will not find out how Cady got injured right away because she is still trying to figure out herself. She spends all of summer 17, in which she is 17, collecting data and her memories every day above her bed and is determined to find out what happened to her by the end of summer. If you don’t enjoy reading, like me, you may still enjoy it. I don't normally read on my free time but I like reading this every week in class and would consider reading something like it again. I would rate the book a 4.5/5 because I haven’t finished it but I liked it so far.

Is It Wrong To Love Who You Love

Taylor Pierre

Honestley Ben
 By: Bill Konigsberg

Do you think you’re being honest with yourself? Honesty tells people who you are as a person. This is the story of Ben Carver. Ben has trouble being honest, especially with himself. Life for Ben has been going pretty good, he is receiving the Peter Pappas Award, he just became captain of the baseball team, life’s good, or so he thought.

    Ben starts off the book with him and his brother, Luke, having a swimming lesson. Ben is sinking to the bottom of a pool and before he is saved, he is thinking about how he wants to stay at the bottom. Skip to a couple of days, it’s Christmas time. His family is very strict on education, and Ben has a C in one of his class. Ben and his father don’t have a very encouraging relationship, meaning that his father doesn’t really encourage him. His father is very critical. He gives Ben a talking to and leaves Ben’s room. 

    Ben is back in school. We don’t know too much about his school life besides the fact that he is an A+ student and he takes school very seriously. All of a sudden we find out about someone from Ben’s past. Rafe is a mysterious character at the beginning, but as time goes on, we find out that he and Ben had a “thing” for each other last semester. Ben has his mindset that he is “straight” not “gay”. While is working things out Rafe, he meets a girl named Hannah. Over the next couple of weeks, he has worked things out with Rafe and his and Hannah’s relationship has become stronger. How long will that last? I guess you’ll have to read the book to find out. 

    I would recommend this book an audience that likes realistic fiction. This book may be more appropriate for a more mature audience because it does contain a lot of curse words. This book shows that you shouldn’t judge people before getting to know them. It shows how some people have a lot going on. For example, going back to Ben’s father. Ben is scared that he will become like his father. He has a lot of the same traits as his father, one of them is not being able to share his feelings and emotions. This just goes to show that you don’t really know what someone is going through until you learn about the type of person they are. I like the book because I’m in high school and I can relate to trying to find your “group” and I can relate to feeling like I have to be how people see me. Being how people see you instead of how you see yourself can have a big impact on someone. It’s good that this book can address it in a way that stated in a simple but effective way. 

A Twisted Society

Jessie Young

  Divergent by Veronica Roth


Society isn’t always right. But everybody in this society thinks it is.

Tris, or Beatrice, as she starts out, is living in a dystopian society that is oh so corrupt. There are five factions, each having different values. Candor values honesty, Amity values peace and kindness, Erudite intelligence, Abnegation selflessness, and Dauntless bravery. There is a choosing ceremony where sixteen-year-old boys and girls must make a decision that their entire life depends on. They must choose which faction that they will live the rest of their lives in, that is if they even make it. If you don't qualify for your faction at the end of many tests, then you will be factionless.

Tris grows up in Abnegation. But when she gets to the choosing ceremony, she chooses to move to Dauntless. Immedately, the dauntless faction shows what life will be like. They run down the stairs, out to the tracks, and jump on the moving train. If you didn't make it on the train, you are already factionless. When they get there, they have to go through a series of tests and are given a tour. Every day, they have to qualify for different trials in order to be one of the people that make it into the Dauntless faction for the rest of their lives. Tris seems to have trouble fitting in with everyone else. Her old faction was never like what she is doing now. She has to try her hardest in order to even make it on the leaderboard, just barley at the bottom.

This book, I would recommend to anyone that likes any kind of sci-fi and dystopian books. It definitely falls into those categories. It focuses mainly on a messed up society, so it is very appealing to people who think of our society that way or maybe just wants a look into the possible future. It is so interesting to those people because they have found other books like this, such as the hunger games, interesting to them so they would like this book. The book's impression on me was very high. To me, it was very interesting and detailed. It had lots of imagery. This book was very good and was quite a page-turner.

Run faster, before they catch you.

Amber, Medbery

Girl in the Blue Coat
By Monica Hesse

Everyday is a struggle, life is unfair, sometimes you just have to run away run away.

Hanneke, a young woman who works for the black market, spends most of her days delivering illegal goods for people in Holland. One of her customers is Mrs. Janssen, a widow who has no one left with her beside memories. Bas, a boy who Hanneke loved throughout her high-school life. Mrs. Jannsen is Bas’s mother. Sadly, Bas died during his time of fighting in the war. After that, the life of Hanneke goes downhill. In the year 1943, Hanneke visits Mrs. Jannsen for a drop off due to work. As she did that Mrs. Jannsen told Hanneke a secret that she can not tell anyone...

A Jewish girl named Mirijam has run away from her, and Mrs. Jannsen asked Hanneke if she can find her. Hanneke agrees, and she goes on throughout the day.

Hanneke's adventure to search for the Jewish girl goes on and on... and Bas and Hanneke's love story unravels

In my opinion... I think the book, Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse, is absolutely amazing! Every single detail in her book is truly inspirational or meaningful. As her first sentence in her book it states, "A long time before Bas died, we had a pretend argument about whose fault it was that he'd fallen in love with me." (Hesse 1) The way that touched me in my heart was warming. Knowing that at least the author created some sort of character saying that he loves her. There is no reason why he does because of its true love. I had multiple connections while reading this book. It takes me back to when I was in fifth grade learning some parts about the Holocaust, and read & watching Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. Memories, oh memories. As the story finding the girl, Mirijam, a search of Hanneke finding her true self and what she can be in society starts to emerge in her system. Life might seem hard but it makes you, you. There is always a reason something happens to you...

Running away is not the answer to your problems.

Dare Devil

Ryland Thomas

Peak
Roland Smith

Some people in the world are very daring. They take risks that are dangerous but once it's over they feel proud of themselves. In the novel Peak, by Roland Smith, Peak is very daring. He climbs mountains, hills, buildings, and skyscrapers. One day peak was caught climbing a skyscraper and had a choice. He could go to juvy for a few months or maybe even years, or leave the city and live with his dad in Thailand. As Peak and his dad are getting ready to leave for the airport his dad surprised him. He told peak that they aren't going to Thailand just yet, but instead they are going to Scale Mt.Everest. If Peak successfully climbs Everest then he would be the youngest person to do it.

So far almost every page has been full of action, adventure, and excitement. Peak's character makes the book very interesting because he is not an ordinary kid. He's done things that normally not a lot of people would think of doing. Also this book has had lots of surprises, for example, his dad said that they are going to climb Everest instead of moving to Thailand . Even though I have read only about half of the book I give a rating of 8/10. I would recommend this book to teenagers who like adventure books and teenagers who are always wondering what the next page is about.

A Disappointment to the Wizarding World

Andrew Arena

The Cursed Child
By John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

The son of Harry Potter is not what everyone was expecting. Albus Potter is living in the shadow of his famous father and his siblings who are “normal” Potters. It all starts Albus’s first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. On the Hogwarts express, Albus meets who will be his best friend, Scorpius. Scorpius is the son of Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter’s rival when he was younger. However there is a suspicion around Scorpius which a lot of the book is based on. Scorpius may be the son of Lord Voldemort, the most evil wizard of all time and the antagonist of all the Harry Potter books. So the boys make it to Hogwarts, and to everyone’s surprise, Albus Potter is put in the house of Slytherin along with Scorpius. Albus's father was a great Gryffindor. As Albus starts to become more and more unlike his father, he starts to hate him more and more as well. So he decides to fix one of his father’s biggest mistakes. Albus decides to go back in time, using a time turner he stole from the Ministry of Magic, to save Cedric Diggory. After saving Cedric, who was killed by Voldemort, Albus is going to bring him back to Cedric's father Amos. But Albus does not embark on this journey alone. He goes with Scorpius and Amos’s niece Delphi, who Albus starts to develop feelings for. What will happen when Voldemort encounters Harry’s son? Is Scorpius really Voldemort’s son? Will Harry end up having to step in to save the Wizarding World once again, or will Albus be able to handle this one all own his own? Read The Cursed Child, a fantasy and adventure fiction book by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne to find out.

If you like suspense, fantasy, and especially if you liked the original Harry Potter series, then The Cursed Child is the book for you. For me it was so cool to see how Harry, Ron, and Hermione are as adults. If you read the Harry Potter series you just have to read this sequel! It brings you in, it's intense, and the relationship between Harry and Albus is very intriguing. Scorpius's character is a really complicated one, which makes the book very interesting. The unique character descriptions make you wonder throughout the book if he really is the son of Voldemort. Another thing that makes this such a great book, which is the same for the original series, is the friendship it displays. Albus is going through a lot, and so is Scorpius. They help each other out and get up to great mischief and fun. It also expresses an idea of a cool world with magic, dragons, and an amazing school for witches and wizards. At first I thought this book was going to be a huge downgrade from the original series by J.K. Rowling, but it proved me wrong. If you like fantasy, adventure, excitement, and suspense, this book is definitely for you. It will grow your imagination, make you nervous in a good way, and it even shows some troubles that a kid in our world can go through, whether it be being bullied, having trouble making friends, or struggling to be the person you truly want to be. When I pick up this book I am disappointed when I have to put it down, which is why I recommend it to you.

Virtual Reality is the new Reality

Nick Stevens

Ready Player One
By: Ernest Cline

Life is hard in this new digital world. In 2044, the distant future where humankind used up all their natural resources and people now rely on VR headsets to live their everyday lives. Right from the start of the book the author introduces a super smart guy named Halliday and he is the one who made the world’s most famous game called “Oasis”. The game is a massively, multiplayer, online game or in gamer talk an mmo with endless things to do. When Holliday died he released a video telling the people all over the world that hidden in his game there is a secret easter egg and to the player that finds it they will get his entire fortune.  Seeing how the world is in a horrible state and seeing that about everybody has this game the Oasis was filled with people on the search for a clue of the easter  egg. Also for the player that finds a clue or gets closer to finding the easter egg their player name will show up on the high score list. After 4 years of nobody finding anything and most people now giving up one kid, Wade’s, name is displayed on the high score list.

This book even though I haven’t finished the book yet I can tell that it is going to be amazing. If you are a gamer you will enjoy this book even more but, even if you aren’t a gamer this book gives interesting ideas of a dystopian world. Also knowing that right now in the year 2017 we have VR headsets it is cool to think that soon we could depend on these VR to go to digital school or a library or any other place of learning. I would recommend this book to every kind of student or adult because it can cross harder level ideas that make you think. Also I would definitely recommend this book if you are a big fan of dystopian style books. I would rate this book a solid 9 out of 10.

These Students May Have Taken It a Little Too Far...

Parker Stanley

Killing Mr. Griffin

By: Lois Duncan

Did Mr. Griffin truly deserve to end up like this?  A group of Mr. Griffin’s past and present students have decided to come together to give Mr. Griffin a taste of his own medicine.  Mr. Griffin has tortured his students for years.  Allowing some to pass, and some not.  

Mark, has developed a crew to kidnap the evil Mr. Griffin.  Mark has Susan, who is a good student, plan to meet with Mr. Griffin after school to talk about an assignment with Mr. G.  Once Mr. G exits the school, the rest of the crew forcefully puts a bag over his head and forces him into their custody.  The crew speedily brings him to a secret remote place and tortures him while he can not move due to his arms being tied back.  The students decide to leave Mr. G alone in the woods because he refused to beg.  This was their requirement because Mr. G forced Mark to beg him to allow him to retake his class.  The students will check up on him overnight.  We will have to find out if Mr. G makes it through the night alright.

The beginning of the story seemed boring because it was a walk through of Susan’s school day, which was very uneventful because Susan is very shy and quiet, so there was not very much action.  For me, I enjoy a lot of action, so due to the lack of this, I was not entertained at first.  After Susan’s day was described, David’s life after school was explained which was also boring due to him taking care of his grandmother the whole time.  David had to do simple tasks for his grandmother (don’t get me wrong, I love my grandmother), but for a novel it was not intriguing.  As the novel went on, the student’s plan began to take place which included more action, so it was very entertaining.  I can somewhat relate to this story because I have had teachers who I have liked and disliked.  On the other hand, these students have taken it to a whole new level which I can not relate to, but it is enjoyable to see how people deal with their emotions in a different way.  This is fun to read because these students are taking things to an extreme which has not been done before.  Since this is so unrealistic, it is a good read because in reality nothing like this would ever happen.  I would rate this book a  four out of five stars so far because it gives the reader a view of how frustrated students feel towards their teachers.  I would recommend this book to people who are very imaginative because this story allows you to think about how Mr. G is treated and if he will be alright while stuck in the woods for the night.

Walking into the World of Magic

Steven Lam

Adventurers Wanted: Horn of Moran
Mark Forman

In the world of fantasy, anything is possible. Magic, mythical creatures, and supernatural abilities, they all exist. Think of living in a life where all of this is present, a life that all the things that are fake, become real. Only last year, Alex was living a normal life until he walked into Mr. Clutter’s shop, the place where adventurers start. Magic and going on adventures new to him, but Alex manages to accept what’s happening, managing to accept this new world and adapt. Alex agrees to help his friend return a lost item that could determine the fate of Alusia.

Adventurers Wanted: Horn of Moran is a sequel to the first book Adventurers Wanted: Slathbog’s Gold. In Adventurers Wanted: Slathbog’s Gold, you are taken into the world of magic and follow Alex, an adventurer, who accepts a quest to defeat Slathbog, an evil dragon, and restore peace to the land. This time, Alex is invited on a quest from his friend Silvan Bregnest, the leader of the quest and an old friend. The quest was given from King Trion, Bregnest's friend, to retrieve and return the Horn of Moran to prevent a war from breaking out in the lands of Alusia between himself and Prince Varson, a man who has made a claim for the throne. Alex is pressed for time, knowing that Prince Varson will also send out a group to recover the Horn and give it to him. As the book progresses, Alex's powers grow as a wizard, helping the group greatly with their quest. Alex and his companions head toward the Tower of Moran, the last place where the Horn was seen. When arriving at the Tower, Alex finds a great evil , and is bound by his wizard oath to try to defeat it. Upon his return to Alusia, Alex holds a ceremony and crowns Trion, and the people celebrate. I find that this book has more imagery and detail than many other fantasy books, and the way it combines imagery and diction makes the plot come together nicely. The book is very well written, describing the scenery and atmosphere of the land and of what is occurring. Before reading this book, it is wise to read Adventurers Wanted: Slathbog’s Gold as it has more information on the world that Alex will adventure through. Adventurers Wanted: Horn of Moran continues directly after the first book, and is written as if it was one whole book. If you are interested in dragons and magic, this is a great book to read, however, reading the first book will provide information and setting to make the second book more enjoyable.

Sent Away to Die

Aman Hiregoudar

Mars One - Jonathan Maberry

       “Mars doesn’t want you,” she said. “I do.”

How would you feel if you were going to be blasted into space to possibly die on Mars? In Mars One by Jonathan Maberry, Tristan Hart, a high schooler, has been chosen to fly to Mars with his family to colonize the planet. He is dealing with all the emotional pain that comes with leaving Earth and everything he knows about it forever. His girlfriend, Izzy, has been dating Tristan for a long time and everyone knows it. When the day finally comes where he has to say goodbye to all of his friends, he doesn’t know what to think except that he has to make his last days on Earth the best. Will Tristan survive the journey to Mars, or will he die with everyone else on this journey to nowhere?

Mars One is absolutely amazing! I love how the book takes a stereotypical boy’s high school life of girls and trying to keep grades up, and completely changes it. The story is unique and different from a lot of other books. At first glance, I thought it would be similar to The Martian, but it is completely different. This book focuses on more of the departure and the emotional aspects, as well as physical problems. Instead of talking about all the mechanical problems, this book focuses on Tristan’s relationship with Izzy. At first, while Tristan is on Earth, they are complete lovers and communicate all the time, but as Tristan is on the spaceship to Mars, they can’t really communicate well, and they become further apart from each other. It is such a unique idea, a teen being removed from life as he knows it and sent away to an unexplored planet, where there is a good chance he will die. Izzy also thinks that Tristan will die, and this adds to his removal from normal life. I also like how the story is a mix of the mystery, science-fiction, and adventure genres. There are a series of problems on the spaceships such as fires and supply issues, that they have to fix and find out what caused it. This is a very mysterious aspect of the story since many conspiracies being considered. In addition to that, there is also the main topic of going to colonize Mars, which is an amazing science-fiction and adventurous topic. This is a nice mix because these genres fit in and work with each other in this story. I also liked how the story was organized into parts and chapters. The parts specify the stages of Tristan’s journey. One of the parts is called Blue Marble, signifying Tristan’s last months on Earth, and all of his final experiences. Another one is called Red Planet, for when they are making the journey to Mars. I really like this because it keeps the different locations clear and separates different aspects of the story from each other. Each section focuses more on different genres which are nice to have since different genres are visible all in one story.

      I would recommend this book to anyone who likes science-fiction, adventure, mystery, and space. If you like the book The Martian, or other space books, then you will like this book. Additionally, if you like books that have a little romance, but not too much, this might be a good read for you. I would easily rate it 5 out of 5.

Running From Secrets

Natasha Friedman

Uncaged by Michele Cook and John Sanford

    A quiet highschooler named Odin is on the run from the mistakes and secrets he has created. Odin and his sister Shay live in the same foster family and have been through everything together. One day Odin gets involved with the wrong group of people who convince him to trespass and destroy a research lab in order to create justice and set free the animals that were being tortured for the research. This raid results in monkeys with half a brain running free, people getting shot, teenage runaways, and mysterious investigators. Odin is on the run to Los Angeles, California, with the group that he got involved with. Shay runs away from her foster family and is on a mission to find Odin and rescue him from the mistakes he is drowning himself in. During her journey Shay meets many people and faces a handful of dangerous adventures.
    Each chapter of the book is action packed and exciting, but a lot of the characters are very similar. Rarely were any parts of the book slow, most times it was a quick read. The language used in the book was easy to comprehend and there were n o complex sentences. I feel like there were some times when the author could have used a better selection of words for the vocabulary they used to describe scenes because it would have drawn the reader in more. There was always a feeling of suspense and excitement. I recommend this book to people who want a quick read that is suspenseful and full of action with lots of mysterious characters.
    I would rate this book a 4/5.