The Mental Game

Oran Gelinas

Thinking Inside the Crease

By Christian K. Buck

The Mental Game

“Performance = Talent - Interference ± Luck.” (Buck 2). As a goalie in a lacrosse game or any position in any sport, this is the equation for your performance. Talent minus interference, plus or minus luck. “Talent is defined as the sum of a goalie’s physical, strategic, and technical skills”(Buck 2). Interferences are the mental challenges a goalie will face. They can be anything from field conditions, fans, and fatigue. To perform at your highest potential, you need the least amount of interference's possible. This book covers all topics of the mental game and how to handle them from fear and anxiety to tryouts and showcases. “You’re man-down. The ball moves from your right side across the crease to an attackman who is alone on the left. He catches it and reaches back for a ten-yard blast. As he is setting his feet to rip upper corner” (Buck 9) Fear can be a big interference with lacrosse goalies and handling it can be a big challenge. To handle it you need to watch your tendencies while in the cage and try to fix them. You can also focus on the release point of the ball and watch it as closely as possible.

There are many challenges a lacrosse goalie faces. The mental challenges can be a huge deciding factor in the game yet one of the most overlooked. As a Lacrosse goalie myself, I think this book is very helpful. As goalies, we aren’t taught how to deal with the mental challenges like anxiety or having a lot of confidence in the cage which is really important things. Confidence can change the outcome of a game because players will shoot less on a goalie that projects a lot of confidence rather than one that is quiet and seems to have a lot of self-doubts. This book is a must-have tool for learning how to limit the interferences. It goes into great detail about every single interference or mental challenge you will face and how to deal with it. Another great point of this book is that the end of every chapter has a recap. It covers the main topics of the chapter and what is important. If you struggle with a certain interference, you can read the chapter and study the recap of what is most important. One of the points of recap in the chapter “One Shot at a Time” was “The next shot is the only shot that will ever matter.” (Buck 24) There are about five points in the recap which shortened down a few pages which are a feature of the book that I think is exceptional. I recommend this book a lot to any other lacrosse goalie or goalie for that matter because it is not just a book, but an excellent practice and training tool. I take a new skill from this book each week and try to work on it daily. These skills have greatly increased my performance in net because I am getting rid of the interferences. The game isn’t just physical but is also a great deal mental so you need to practice the mind games too.

(Revised) The Cotton Field of Pain

The Color Purple

By: Alice Walker


Young women trapped by her family and the only she can escape is by her father dying. The Color Purple is a novel that is heartbreaking and heartwarming. Each day writing a letter to God, asking for help, or blessing him with thank yous. 

Now let’s start from the beginning… “Dear God, - Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me.” (Walker 1) The life of Celie, a poor girl who has two kids (well one kid during the story is on the way), hasn’t been the greatest. The family lives with no mother and an abusive father who raped his daughters and impregnated Celie twice. “My mama dead. She dies screaming and cussing. She screams at me. She cusses at me.” (Walker 2) The amount of pain that is with this family couldn’t be imagined… As the story goes Celie, who is the protagonist and the narrator, has a younger sister named Nettie who runs away to her Mr. ___. (Which eventually turns into Mr. Albert.) Once she runs away, the abuse level increases… as the story goes, she gets married but they’re a father does not approve of him, or anyone. It is heartbreaking knowing that her father is the one who impregnated her, imagine how disgusting that is. "I'll take the children with me. I say." (Walker 37) Shes only in her teenage, oh so young.

In my opinion, I think the book is phenomenal with the amount of pain and in fear the narrator gets yet always has hope. It is truly an inspiration. I highly recommend this book to young adults, over the age of freshman, because it has some fowl language that some kids would not appreciate or act appropriately around it... 

Thank you! 

The Monster Inside Us All

Aleah Kearsley

Jackaby

By, William Ritter

Does your lack of sleep ever turn you into a monster? Do you ever feel as though you aren’t your human self and you just can’t function? Well for Detective Cane lack of sleep means more than you think. His bedhead extends all over his body and his yawn is a howl. For Detective Cane lack of sleep actually turns him into a monster.

In a small town one day, a lady by the name of Abigail Rook came in search for a new job. It just so happened that on that same day Jackaby was in search of an assistant. The two became coworkers working at Jackaby’s supernatural detective agency. Their first assignment as co-workers is to figure out their beloved town’s murderer. Knowing that everything is not what it seems, Jackaby would look rather eccentric with his many tools to find the other-worldly creature known as their serial killer. Although in some places they ” doubted very much if any significant clues would present themselves”(63), some clues led them to find more than just the murderer. People were killed, sparks flew, and new friendships were made all over the span of just a couple of days.

At the beginning of the book, I was a little bored. It started with Rook getting settled into her new job and the clues led nowhere. I was asking myself, “What are we looking for, exactly?”(53). I couldn’t find the reason for the slow beginning and why the author just didn’t move the book along already. During the middle of the book, things started to pick up. It wasn’t the same predictable thing after another. Actions started to have consequences, more characters started to get involved, and things really started to pick up and got “interesting”(203). In the second half of the book, there was a lot of suspense and plot twists happening that kept me on the edge of my seat. The events in the second half of the book made me forget about the first half while reading because the events that happen were so impactful. I also liked a lot how all the characters had strong relationships with each other that were very apparent to the reader. Each character had a different relationship with each other and no two relationships were alike. I also liked how the book plays on the theme everything is not what it seems and stick to your beliefs. No matter how much Jackaby was ridiculed for the stuff he did, he saw the truth and in the end, it paid off and he was right. This is very relatable to real life because not everyone sees the truth and the people that do are sometimes made fun of for it. I like how this was represented in the book from beginning to end.

I would give this book a 4/5 for its slow start but its great second half. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes sci-fi and mystery. The book includes many supernatural creatures such as banshees, goblins, werewolves, and more. It even includes some background on them. Also if you like murder mysteries this is also a book for you. If you are impatient or a slow reader this book might get boring quick. I hope you enjoy it as much or more than I did.

Ghost? Murder?

        A mysterious murder, a crazy convict, a ghost, visions, slowly going color blind. These are all things that Olivia Tithe experiences in the book Notes from Ghost Town by Kate Ellison. This heartbreaking story is about how the main character whose love was murdered, and her very own mom was convicted for it.
        Olivia or “Liv’s” mom was mentally ill ever since she was a kid. Her mom always talked about how she can see the gray space, the space between life and death.   Liv finally understood what her mom was talking about all these years after she went color blind. " It's happening I'm going crazy like mom."When she kissed stern for the first time, her vision went completely gray, then a few days after that, he dies. Liv has a really hard time coping with the death,  the arrest of her mom, and her vision. On top of all those things, she starts to see the ghost of Stern who is trying to contact her. With everything that’s  going on, she doesn’t think that her mom is so crazy nor guilty anymore.  With her mom’s trial in nine days, she is determined to find out what really happened. Everytime Stern appears he remembers more about what happened and leads her to clues. They go on what seems like a wild goose chase to find proof that her mom isn’t guilty. All of these things they find seem help to prove Olivia's mom innocence, but no one knows for sure if that is true. And her mom is getting increasingly worse, going completely crazy. Is that what Liv was going to end up like? Liv's mental health also started suffering as well. All of these conflicts don’t stop them from trying to prove her mom’s innocence.
        This book has a lot of suspense and mystery to it. However, it can be very confusing at times.  For example, When Liv went color blind in the beginning of the book she started talking about the gray- space without explaining what it was. "I blink several times, but it's still the same- dim gray... I cannot move. The gray space. The place mom told me about."  What is the gray space? Why did her eyesight go dark? As you read the book it leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions. I believe that leaving the reader with some questions while reading is good to keep them interested, but to many un-explained parts can lead to confusion. Also, the transitions were not smooth. When going from day to day, or place to place, most of the time there was no clear indication that you were in a new scene. I had to just assume that Liv was somewhere else based on the context. Overall I thought that the book had a nice plot idea, however, it lacked basic, and important details. I don’t think I would recommend this to any of my friends based on my experience with the book. 

DUUN DUUN DUUUUN!

Edward Lau

The Shining
Stephen King

The genre horror can be shown in many ways. The novel The Shining, by Stephen King is what I’ve been reading for the past 2-3 months. The novel focuses heavily on history and how that implies to the modern day. Jack Torrance and his family are watching over a hotel that has a dark history to it. Jack Torrance needs this job due to his failure as a teacher. He would show up late to school, be drunk or hungover when he arrived, and he would eventually physically assault a child which would lead to him being fired. He has a wife named Wendy that is skeptical about staying at the hotel due to the effects that it is having on Jack, and she is the one that made Jack quit alcohol. She said she’ll leave him if he doesn’t stop. Finally, one of the most interesting people in the novel, Danny Torrance. Danny has a ability called The Shining which lets him see the future and the horrific past of the Hotel. Throughout the novel you will discover the terrible past of the Hotel and how that will play into the madness that makes this novel a horror.

My last post, I only got up to chapter 5, now I have finished reading the book. In Chapter 5, Jack has just started to see the hotel and has started to move in. From then, Jack has been taking care of the Overlook Hotel. He takes care of it and in doing so, realizes the dark past that the Hotel has experienced. “State trooper Benjamin Moorer discovered two dead men outside the door of the Presidential Suite” (King 241). Jack found out about this and was immediately mad at Ullman, the hotel manager. “I’m calling about some things that you didn't tell me during your history of the Overlook deep and interesting past” (King 263). Danny starts to have visions of the massacre that will soon happen due to his physic abilities. The whole news article that Jack reads about the murders and the story about how a man went mad when staying at the hotel in the winter foreshadows how the rest of novel will play out. Danny starts to have more and more visions of his imaginary friend Tony telling him REDRUM, a reference that is used whenever Danny saw a vision of something terrible, zombies crawling towards him in Room 217, a room he was told by the informant to never go into, and future glimpse of what will happen to Jack if he continues staying in the inn. From the history of the murders, the reader can infer that the dead zombie that marched towards Danny was a victim of the murder. Things start getting worst in the Hotel throughout the Winter. Jack’s drinking habits pop back up again as he is trying to write a play and his anger is rising more and more. Wendy is scared for Danny, wondering if he is schizophrenic or mentally ill, and Danny is troubled with hallucinations of dead twins, zombie corpses, and the haunting letterings of REDRUM. Jack’s anger get to him, he starts snapping at Wendy, making threats, and acting insane. He is drinking gin when Wendy is worried and goes to check up on him, he attacks her, bruising her neck and having her frightened. She soon realizes that Jack is turning into the other caretaker who went insane, she locks Jack up and tells Danny to stay away from him and that his dad is crazy. Danny, with the power of the The Shining, knows this already and tries to escape while Jack is talking to the previous caretaker, Grady. “You will have to kill her I fear. I’ll do what I have to, just let me out!!” (King 565). Jack gets loose while Wendy and Danny are in a room that Wendy considers safe, Jack attacks Wendy and Danny and they both fear for their lives. Danny escapes and Ullman helps set a fire in the hotel and trap Jack in there. Wendy, Ullman, and Danny all live through the event and the chaos ends. Ullman meets a lady and she tells Danny that the nightmares of the event will soon go away. The story ends with the three of them at the dock being in the afternoon sun.

Even if it was a long one, I totally recommend The Shining to readers. The plot may be long but it makes sense once you put all the facts together. Also, the Horror aspect of it was amazing. Due to the fact that no one made a horror based novel on a hotel shows that it is unique and the story shows that also. The way the dark history of the hotel blended with the characteristics of the protagonist made the result really scary and enjoyable. Also the way the characteristics of the protagonist tie into the plot is a interesting way of making a story. Jack not being a alcoholic would just make the story really boring and would make the backstory of Jack really bland. In conclusion, I strongly recommend this book to readers that enjoy Horror or a good plot.

Everybody Sees The Ants by A.K King review by Natasha Friedman

                    Live And Learn

    Dangerous questions, unreliable family, summer flings, teenage disputes, dating, bullying, and lessons learned. This all sounds like a typical experience of an average highschooler, but this madness is a lot for fifteen year old Lucky Linderman.
 Lucky Linderman has a horrible bully named Nadar, and he feels as if his parents are heartless and don’t understand him. Throughout the book the reader gets a view into Lucky’s crazy daily life, but also his only escape from reality, which is his dreams. In the beginning of the story Lucky is a weak wimpy kid who is lonely and in desperate need of help.With the help of all the bumps Lucky faced along the way Lucky’s character develops into a whole new person. In the end of the book Lucky wakes up from another dream, but this time he’s ready to turn his dreams into reality.
    This book has a really good idea behind it but I don't love the way the author executed the idea. The language and structure of the story seemed childish and became annoying. Some parts of the book have strong language and crude humor that may be offensive or hurtful to some people. For example, in one part the characters are conversating and one says, “Listen to me. They may control what you do, but no one can pee on your soul without your permission.” The beginning of the book was kind of slow and each scene was repetitive but throughout the story it got a little better and became more enjoyable. This book was aimed towards teenagers, but the author is not a teenager in this generation and it seemed like the way the characters interacted was cheesy and stupid. Although I did not like this book in general, some parts of the story were good and very vivid.

Time Is Messy, Especially When You Add In Magic

Time Is Messy, Especially When You Add In Magic 

By Andrew Arena

Harry Potter And The Cursed Child by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

           When Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy venture through time to fix past mistakes in Harry Potter And The Cursed Child by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne, they create new problems that threaten to ruin the world. For a lot of their journey, Albus and Scorpius are counting on each other. Albus is living the shadows of his father, the great Harry Potter, and Scorpius is fighting the rumors of him being the son of Voldemort, the dark the lord. Scorpius is there to help Albus through his struggles with his dad, and when Scorpius’ mom dies, Albus feels for him. During their biggest fight, Albus lets Scorpius know that he’s, “sorry...about your mum. I know we don’t talk about her enough...but I hope you know...I’m sorry...it’s rubbish...what happened to her...to you.” The journey that the two boys go on, you're probably wondering, is also a mission. They go back in time to save Cedric Diggory, using the supposedly last time turner in existence. For the most part the boys are on their own, except for a little help from Cedric’s cousin, Delphi. However, they don’t truly understand the danger of time travel before they set off. They change a lot of things, finding out that lives of people they love are being affected by what they do in the past. For example, because of their actions in the past, Albus’ cousin Rose “doesn’t exist.” Along the way the boys meet old friends from the past, get into some suspenseful fights, and learn the surprising truth of the whole situation when a relative of Voldemort is finally revealed. Also, not only are the two boys going through a lot, but Harry and Ginny (Albus’ parents), Draco (Scorpius’ dad and Harry’s old enemy but current friend), and Ron and Hermione (Harry’s best friends, Albus’ aunt and uncle, and Rose’s parents) are all trying to save the world and protect the boys while being in the regular time zone. They even get the opportunity to join the boys when, “Draco reveals the time turner.” Throughout the book it is clear that the boys have a slim chance of succeeding, but they most definitely won’t give up, and together they fight until the end.

           I loved this book, and always looked forward to reading it. It is suspenseful, action-packed, and a great adventure story. All of these traits are what I love in a book. The authors did a great job with the character growth, and added a lot of twists and turns throughout the book that kept the reader engaged. The book represented the importance of having good friends, and it had just the right balance of sad, happy, and funny moments. I truly recommend this book to everyone, especially Harry Potter fans. Being someone who loved the Harry Potter books, the boys going back in time and meeting old characters brought back a lot of good memories, and was another reason why I loved this book. There were so many connections to be made when reading Harry Potter And The Cursed Child. It is about a kid who doesn’t fit in, but realizes that he doesn’t have to be what everyone expects him to be. He can choose his life. The book shows the struggle a kid can have with his family, and it shows how much parents care for their children, even if the child may not think that they do. A big theme in this book is that things happen for a reason. Even if bad things come from an event, that’s the way that life was supposed to go. This book is creative, fun, imaginative, and a great story about family and friends. It is intense, action-packed, and will leave you wanting to read more. If you like fantasy, time travel, and adventure, then this book is for you.

Stand up for family

Shelby Campana
Stand up for family
Split by Swati Avasthi

          Imagine being afraid of your family, and having to face them every day of your life. In the fictional novel, Split, Jace has scars from multiple times he had to face his dad and stand up for his family. This story is a about a young boy trying to save himself and his family from harm, while trying to fit into a new city.
          At sixteen years old, Jace has finally overcome his biggest fear, hitting his father back. But after finally making it out the door of his abusive home, Jace now has to drive for hours to safety. The only person he could stay with right now is his brother, Christian, who left the family five years ago and now lives in Albuquerque. With only $3.84 he hopes christian will see him and understand just by the look on just face. Avasthi includes great imagery in the book, one example, is Jace describing what his father did to his face. “The split lip isn’t the only re landscaping my father has done.A purple mountain is rising on my jaw, and a red canyon cuts across my forehead”(3). On the positive side, He now has a fresh start in a new city and school. But, Jace has to leave behind his old life. His perfect girlfriend, being the best on the soccer team, best friends, and good grades. Now, his first priority is saving his Mother from her abusive life. While Jace and his mother are secretly emailing to find her a way out, his brothers life just changed dramatically.
          This book is definitely a page turner with constant plot twists. Throughout the book the characters relationships grow stronger and friendships are grown. This book catches your attention just by the getting attached to the main characters and the way they grew up. Just reading the first page of the book grabbed my attention right away. “Now I have to start lying. While I stare through the windshield at the building my brother lives in, I try to think up a good lie, but nothing comes to mind”(1). Avasthi adds great imagery for readers to see Jace’s surroundings and reactions to problems that occurs. “I am quite and watch the sun creeping up the mountains face, pushing the morning blue before it”(135). I continued to read this book because I needed to see how it ended and if their family is brought back together.
          I recommend this book to readers who like intense books with lots of drama and suspense. With this books constant drama and page turners, any age group could read this book. All messages in the novel are smoothly conveyed and this is truly a well written book. I think this book connects to almost everybody who reads it and the endings of each chapter leave readers eager for more. I would definitely read this book again.

Missing Persons and Murderers

Wolf by Mo Hayder

Written by Ryan Politis

A dog with the words ‘help us’ on her collar, a family trapped in their own home, and a detective to figure it all out.  The novel follows the Anchor-Ferrers family and detective Jack Caffery.  The novel starts in the perspective of a young girl to set up the plot of the novel.  The young girl finds a dog with a piece of paper secured to the collar.  Although the rest of the message is smudged and unreadable, two words can be made out.  Help us.  A strange man takes the dog from the young girl and the story then shifts to the perspective of the Anchor-Ferrers.  The family lives in an isolated hilltop mansion called the “Turrets.”  Oliver, the father, recently had his heart replaced with a pig’s to keep him alive.  It seems that all is going well when intestines are found strung up in the trees.  The family is reminded of a traumatic event when the serial killer Minnet Kable murdered Lucia’s, the daughter, former boyfriend and his new girlfriend.  Their intestines were strung up in a similar way.  Two detectives arrive at the Turrets and are seemingly there to help.  While this is happening, Jack Caffery is unwillingly attending the remembrance of a woman’s daughter.  Having to play chauffeur for the woman, Caffery is disgruntled.  After leaving her at the side of the road, Caffery resumes his search for the fate of his missing brother.

The first chapter really hooks you into the rising action of the story.  The young girl revealing the message that was on the tag shows you where the novel is headed, “It was all torn and the letters were all smudged...except for those letters.  Help us” (Hayder 15).  Someone is trapped and used a dog with a message which is unfortunately too smudged.  After that first chapter, the book slows down a fair bit.  The novel picks up the pace in the next few chapters when the family is trapped in their own home.  I’m interested in finding out the fate of the Anchor-Ferrers and how Caffery figures out what happened to his brother.  

The novel covers themes of murder, pedophilia, and other messed up things.  Some readers might be sensitive to these topics and might not want to read the book because of that.  The murder of Hugo, the ex-boyfriend, is pretty gruesome,” Kable’s final signature was to remove the intestines of both teenagers.  He twisted them together and used them to decorate the trees above the corpses in the shape of a heart” (Hayder 46).  The murder of Hugo and his new girlfriend are vividly described to distill a feeling of disgust.  The book also covers themes of children being kidnapped by convicted pedophiles, The walking man’s daughter is kidnapped, ”The same as your van, the one that Evans used to abduct your daughter” (Hayder 137).  If you aren’t comfortable reading about these topics then I wouldn’t recommend this book.  If you can get past the roller coaster ride that is the pacing of this novel then I would truly recommend this book.

A Different Point of View

Jessie Young
The Girl on the Train
Paula Hawkins

Ever wonder how someone else sees you? Or maybe, if the way you see someone is the way they actually are? This is what the book The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins is all about. There is a girl who takes a train to London to work every day. She sees the same surroundings all the time. So much that she decided to make a perfect life, combing her imagination with real life. On page 10, it says “they’re a match. They’re a set. They’re happy, I️ can tell.” She sees this in ways other people wouldn't. On page 12, she says "I see them as others do not;" This is what she uses to get out of her own life, which was perfect just two years ago. So much happened to her in those two years, and it's very depressing. But then you see the real life of someone from her perfect life that she sees every day out the train window. You see just how not-perfect it is. Her life is actually falling apart similar to the way the girl on the train’s did. On page 18, it says “ my days feel empty now I️ don’t have a gallery to go to any longer. I️ really miss it.” She doesn’t have the life she wishes she still had, like the girl on the train feels.

I do very much recommend this book. It is definitely a 10/10. I find it very interesting that it shows two different opinions and views on each other's life. The girl on the train thinks that the girl out the window has everything a girl could ever want. I perfect family, perfect house, perfect wardrobe. But really, it’s quite the opposite. She doesn’t have a healthy relationship. She has nothing to do with her time. Her house is old and boring. This book shows me that there is always more behind the scenes. It very clearly shows the theme “don’t judge a book by its cover” because the girl on the train thinks very highly of a person how isn’t nearly that perfect. This would be a very good book for people who like realistic fiction and are 14 and up. There are some swears and adult content, but I think it is necessary to show the life these people are living behind the scenes of the people they come across every day. It shows the life they try to hide from others so they don’t feel so ashamed of their lives because both of them are just falling apart. I have not yet finished the book so I cannot say how their problems become resolved. But I certainly plan on finishing it because the author is very good at keeping the reader intrigued, as I️ am.

I think that the way the author wrote the story definitely adds an effect to the story and the way it is told. They tell it more as memories than their life as it happens. A lot of the time, the main characters look back in their life at the better times or at the time they wish they were still in. They compare it to the lives they have now and how much they wish they were their old selves. Thye author made a smart decision on how to write this story and it made me like the book more because I haven't come across a book written this way and I like it. So I believe that this is a book many people will enjoy and learn from and I very much recommend it.

Another Case Of The Sequel Being Worse Than The First

Brady Mullin
The Power Of Six, 

Written By: Cynthia Lore

     In life, you can’t judge people by their outside, you have to get to know them, and find out if they are hiding something, like being an alien. This is exactly what The Power Of Six, by Cynthia Lore is like. It has suspense and leaves you thinking. In this book (The second book in the Lorien Legacies series) the main characters are Lorians or aliens with special abilities, from a planet that has blown up.
     The characters all have to keep the secret that they are not human while the government tracks them down. This must be hard to go through. Imagine living your whole life in fear that you will be discovered and put in jail or killed. Some of our characters like Marina are normal, while other characters like John Smith use their powers for bad things like burning down a school. During the book each character has their own experience, for example one chapter will be from John Smith’s point, and the other chapter could be from Marina’s point of view. This style of writing is very unique, it is not like other books where it is clear after the first sentence who is talking.
     This book grabs your attention right from the opening pages, by starting out with an event happening. “Those of us who aren’t lost. Those of us still alive” (Lord 1). This makes you ask a lot of questions. For example…
     Why are people lost? Why are some of them dead? What made them die? These questions make you want to read more and find out more explanations. But, these ideas are a novelty that wears off after a while. Lord uses a lot of adjectives; I’m not saying this is bad, but it does make the story and the plot drag on. Also the story is very hard to follow. There are tons of characters, and as I stated earlier each chapter is from someone else's point of view. It gets to a point where you have to map out who is where and what they are doing. Even though there is a lot of action happening it is predictable. For example when John Smith and Six are running from the police, you know that they will make it out, and the story just gives you the mood that this will happen. But Lore does do some good things in this book, for example she leaves all of her chapters on a cliff hanger, making you want to come back to the book to read what happens next. For example at the end of one of the chapters Marina says “And by the worst, I mean them." (Lord 58), this made me read the next chapter trying to find out who they were. But Lore just skipped to other characters, it really frustrated me, but it did its job in making me want to read more. Eventually it got so bad I quit, and stopped reading at roughly 150 pages in,
     All in all I would recommend this book to people who like mystery, and science fiction novels. It has a lot to do with the powers of the characters and having to keep secrets. You also have to figure out who the people they are hiding from are and what they want. I would not at all recommend this book to people like me, who hate having to remember tons of details and like the action coming right to them. Personally I would rate this book a 5 out of 10, but my friend who recommended it to me rated it a 9 out of 10. It just depends on if you like mystery books or not. You know a book is bad when it even says it is not good. "This is no fairy tale" (Lord 79). 

Everyone is dead.

Cloe Amaral
Blog #2


We Were Liars
E. Lockhart

          Picture this: You have been in a mysterious accident. You have memory loss and have no idea what has happened. Your family won't help you remember. When you finally remember, everyone you've ever loved is gone.
          The main character of We Were Liars by E Lockhart, Cady, is going through this exact thing. This is the story of a girl who has been broken and is trying to put the pieces back together. Don't want the story to be spoiled? Refer to my first blog post, How’d it happen? from 10/31/17, for the first half of the story.
          An accident, a secret, true love, four friends, and lies upon lies. In case you forgot, Cady is the eldest granddaughter of a very rich family. Every year, the family, including four best friends, the Liars, spend their summer on a private island, where the grandparents have built four houses for themselves and their three daughters. They are best friends and two, Gat and Cady, are in love. After Cady’s accident, she doesn’t know what happened and the Liars or anyone can’t help her remember, "I suppose that I was raped or attacked or some godforsaken something. That's the kind of thing that makes people have amnesia, isn't it?” As it turns out, it was not what she thought happened. The Liars all set fire to one of the houses and it burned down. Who survived? Has Cady been talking to ghosts all summer? Why did she think she hit her head in the ocean? You’ll have to go to the library and find out for yourself.
          The book is compelling, clever, and suspenseful in plot and writing style. The characters are not picture perfect how they seem on the outside. The main character Cady may not be sure of herself or who she is, but she is sure of her feelings, as she says lovingly, “it true. We already love each other. We already do” (24). I like how the descriptions are not sugar-coated, but tell it how it is. Lockhart uses vivid detail and interesting word choice to let each character have a voice. She makes it so you can really imagine what is happening, saying “I tore all the roses off a single sad bush and threw them, one after the other into the angry sea” (16). I was very interested in the storyline and the element of mystery and suspense the book has while also containing drama and love. My favorite part is when the secret is finally revealed. It is really the heart of the book, it turns out to be more shocking than anything I had imagined and it was really unexpected. I like how Lockhart doesn’t give too many clues as to what happened so it is still full of surprises until the very last word.
          This book really has it all. If you are interested in love, drama, pain, suspense, surprises, family conflict, mystery, and/or sadness, you will find it with We Were Liars. I would recommend this book to any age who wants a little bit more of a surprising read that will keep you turning the pages. If you get annoyed at books that don’t have a happy ending, you might want to steer clear of this but still give it a try. As someone who does not read in their free time and doesn’t usually enjoy books, I liked this book a lot. In other books there is too much imagery to the point where I can’t understand what’s happening, but in this book there is just enough so you get a vivid picture in your head without being confused. It goes into the lives of the family and other secondary characters while revolving around the mystery of the summer. I rate this book ⅘ stars and i would read it again.

Mountain Man

Ryland Thomas

Peak

By Roland Smith      

Have you ever climbed a famous mountain? Or had to save somebody’s life from almost falling off the cliff of a mountain? Well, Peak has. Peak is a very brave and courageous teenager who is always seeking adventure, “I should’ve waited until June to make the ascent, but no moron has to go up in March” (Smith 3). After Peak’s dad surprised him about going on a trip to climb Mt. Everest, Peak was very excited. If Peak was to successfully climb the mountain he would be the youngest person to do it, “ I don’t know if you’ll make the summit, but if we get up there before your 15th birthday you’ll be the youngest person in the world ever to stand above 29 thousand feet”. (Smith 44).

    

Peak trained months for this before he could take on the mountain. The conditions on Everest were terrible so Peak had to be very prepared for this. After a lot of training and hard work, Peak’s training/climbing partner said that he was good to go. However, lots of other people were furious that the resources were going to be wasted on a young inexperienced boy. Peak’s dad agreed and told peak that he can’t climb the mountain anymore.

    

As they were going back home Peak’s trainer and Dad both said that they will still let Peak climb the mountain but he had to keep quiet so they wouldn't get in any trouble. Peak successfully climbed Mt. Everest and even saved his trainer from falling off the cliff. “ Got him, I shouted down to Zopa, then looked at Sun-jo. You Ok?” (Smith 202). Peak was the youngest person to ever climb Mt. Everest.

   

Peak seemed like an ordinary kid but as the story keeps going you begin to see that he is very different than most kids. He loves to do daring things which makes him who he is. I would recommend this book to teenagers who love action and adventure. This book provided lots of suspense and surprises throughout the whole novel. I would give this book a final rating of 8/10 stars.  

How Could Things Have Possibly Got Even Worse?

Parker Stanley

Killing Mr. Griffin

By: Lois Duncan

     Have you ever felt that things could not possibly get worse? Well, you’re lucky you haven’t been in these student’s shoes. In this novel Killing Mr. Griffin, these students had to bounce back from continuous unfortunate events. First, they kidnapped their teacher (as you would know from my most recent blog), additionally, Mr. Griffin died unexpectedly as we know when David, one of the students involved, said: “He’s not asleep, he’s dead” (110). The students brought a larger problem upon themselves. The group of teenagers then had to get rid of the body, which was not an easy task for these kids. They come to a conclusion and chose to bury him where he died. Finally, the teens thought they were off the hook, a couple eventually saw a spot in the ground that looks as if it has been dug up recently, they checked it out and found a dead body. Later, Susan was interviewed because she was the last person that Mr. Griffin saw before his death. Susan tried to lay low, but Mr. Griffin’s wife was suspicious as we know when she said: “I think Susan can be of more help, if she wants to be” (177). Additionally, the police found that Mr. Griffin’s ring is no longer on his finger. David, one of the teenagers who was involved had taken the ring, but mysteriously, his grandmother, who lived with him, stole it from David, assuming it was her son’s who had moved away years ago. Worried, Mark, a mentally unstable teen who was the leader of this crime, was on a mission to get the ring back. He felt as if he was forced to kill David’s grandmother to make sure his crew didn’t get in trouble. Which side was Mark on? He killed David’s grandmother for the sake of the crew. Was it truly worth it? After the death of Mrs. Ruggles, Mark got a hold of Susan when they were alone. Susan was tied up and Mark set a fire, so she can be left to die. Susan thought she was doomed as she thought: “I will be burned alive” (239).

     This novel begins rather slowly, but it quickly picks up the pace. The beginning of the novel may not intrigue you as a reader at first, don’t worry, it didn’t for me, but you will be eager to read more as you get deeper into the book. I enjoyed the book after the exposition because I started to learn what the title of the book truly meant. Once Mr. Griffin is kidnapped, there is nonstop action. If you enjoy action and fiction, then I think this may be the story for you. This is 100% a good read. I am not a huge book reader, but this story was very entertaining. After every event that took place, another quickly took place. I found this very enjoyable because it never had “boring” parts. Along with the action that this novel had to offer, I really enjoyed the character development and character relationships. Every student that was involved in the kidnapping had a personal relationship with one or another, whether it was boyfriend, girlfriend, or crush, and each character has their own personalities and needs. In this novel, no two characters are the same. Mark is insane, Susan is worried, Betsy is hopeful, etc. Finally, I also found it interesting how all of these teenagers involved would look up to Mark so easily. They let Mark, who was mentally unstable, take charge. This showed me how people in society can often make poor decisions without a thought process behind it. Overall, I would give this book a 4.5/5 stars and really enjoyed the read.

The Copper Key

The Copper Key
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
 Nicholas Stevens


In a world where everybody forgets about real life and uses VR headsets, a kid named Wade is on the hunt for Halliday’s Easter egg. Halliday is the creator of the game, “Oasis,” which is life simulator game because real life sucks for everybody. Halliday has put a secret in the game, and whoever finds it gets his entire fortune. Wade has studied every liking of Halliday in hopes of discovering his secret and to his success he finds the first clue to his secret hidden within a copy of an old D&D dungeon called The Tomb of Horrors. Wade, having the knowledge of almost every dungeon detail, manages to bypass all the traps and monsters that lurk and would likely kill his character in the dungeon. Upon reaching the boss at the end Wade for certain knows he would have to fight the boss and he knew the boss was an undead lich king which would one shot him to death, but Wade, not having much to lose, enters. When he enters he looks upon the lich sitting atop his throne lifeless. Taking another step in the room the lich awakes and instead of fighting Wade the lich challenges him to a Joust. Wade, surprised because lich’s were supposed to fight the player, he sees the lich with his skeleton hand conjure an old video cabinet with the title Joust on it and challenges Wade to a best of three. After getting demolished from the first game Wade realises that the lich was programmed to a certain skill set and would do certain moves every time, so using this knowledge Wade destroys the lich in the next two games making him the winner. Upon winning he gets the copper key which would help with the easter egg.

This chapter really hooks the reader in, but I feel that the author could have left out some detail that had nothing to do with the plot. Other than that I like how the author brings old entertainment into Halliday’s likings, “I watched every episode of The Greatest American Hero, Airwolf, The A-Team, Knight Rider, and The Muppet Show,”(Cline 63). Also I remember when I played D&D and doing the Tomb of Horrors campaign and the author definitely studied the manual when writing this chapter because of the detail of the tomb, “I held my breath as I placed the close up image from the Ludus map beside the illustration the D&D module,”(Cline 71). I got a weird but funny image when the author shows this huge undead and scary lich standing next to Wade playing on an old arcade machine,” Acererak took hold of the yellow joystick on the left side on the control panel and closed his bony fingers around it,”(Cline 80). Even though I haven’t finished the book I would recommend it to everyone because Ernest Cline uses his writing to mix old 80’s ideas with new present day ideas.

Forbidden Friends

Alessio Baggio

My Friend the Enemy book review
By Dan Smith

Friends come in all shapes and sizes, but can your friend be the enemy?

The year is 1942 and the location is England. Peter Dixon lives in a small rural village by the Atlantic ocean. WWII is raging in the rest of Europe and the threat of invasion by the enemy is high. Finally, the day comes when the air raid sirens start to blare. Peter looks up at the sky and sees a German bomber crashing down in a ball of flames. As Peter races towards an Anderson shelter, he spots a parachute in the blackened sky. Following the crash, Peter and his new friend Kim decide to explore the crash site in search of a souvenir. What they end up finding instead is the German that fell out of the sky. Instead of shooting the injured airman with a gun they found earlier by the wreckage, they take pity on him and decide to help him go into hiding. Soon Peter and Kim realize that the enemy they are helping is “not really any different from us”.(Smith,255)

A captivating read, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to any young person that enjoys historical fiction. Teens and tweens will enjoy it because they will be able to relate to the two young protagonists. I particularly enjoyed the story because it explores the complexities of human interactions in one of the most difficult situations you could imagine. Peter and Kim have to reconcile the fact that Nazi’s are bombing their village while Erik, the fallen airman, turns out to be a good person. In addition, the young English teens’ patriotism and love for their country is tested against their desire to help another human being even if he is the enemy. “This man was a German. He was the enemy… but, at the same time, he didn’t look very dangerous”.(Smith,75)

“My Friend the Enemy” is an important story because it reminds us of the humanity of our enemies. Young readers, in particular, will be able to identify with Peter and Kim and empathize with the difficult choices they have to make. It wasn’t their generation that decided to go to war but they had to deal with the consequences. Another theme I enjoyed in the book is that of selflessness. Peter and Kim could have turned in the soldier and become instant heroes but instead, they choose to see the humanity in the enemy and bravely help him. There is also this notion that if they help the Nazi airman maybe someone will show their relatives fighting in some far off land the same compassion. “Maybe if we look after him someone will look after Josh. Or your dad. We have to.” (Smith,77)

This book really related back to me on a personal level because my grandfather, just like Peter and Kim, collected “souvenirs” from fallen WWII aircrafts that would crash in the vicinity of his village. In 1944 when my grandfather was just 13 years old, an American B-24 Liberator crashed by his hometown of Genzano, Italy. At that time it so happened that my grandfather, Frank, was building a model boat but ran out of materials. He decided to use a piece of the downed plane to complete it. That model boat is now part of my WWII memorabilia collection and it is a constant reminder of not only the horrors of war but how something good and inspiring can arise from the ashes of wreckage and destruction.

Never Yield

Steven Lam

The Axe of Sundering

By M. L. Forman

Failure does not always mean we should stop trying and give up. Instead of seeing it as a lost, we can learn from these mistakes, and make sure we avoid them next time, helping us towards the path of success. M. L. Forman helps show this through Alex’s numerous adventures.

The Axe of Sundering is the fifth book in the series Adventurers Wanted. I suggest reading the first book, Slathbog's Gold, and work through the series as it provides information that is relevant to the plot and Alex's character development. He learns more about who he is, and learns more about being a wizard during his adventures. The series had a substantial amount of imagery and description, drawing me in and immersing me in the book. Also, the books end with the end of his adventure but foreshadows what may occur in the next book. Throughout the book, there is a great deal of creativity, making each thing and place unique, having some sort of backstory to it.

The Sands of Nezza, the fourth book, takes Alex to Nezza, the place where his friends are imprisoned. While helping his friends escape, he learns of Magnus, the evil wizard, who currently ruled over the city of Karmus, making sure no one could leave. To prevent other kingdoms from knowing this, he imprisoned adventurers of travelers who tried to go through these lands. After defeating Magnus, there are clues that lead to the Brotherhood, an evil organization that is planning on causing unrest in the lands and ruling the lands. In The Axe of Sundering, Alex spent his time in his house in Alusia, waiting for Whalen, his teacher, to come back and instruct him on what he should do. When Whalen arrives, he asks Alex his name, questioning if it was really him. Whalen fills him in on what is happening and needs Alex to go with him to the lands of Jarro, where Whalen's previous apprentice and nephew, Jabez, had taken over the lands, spreading fear and evil. Whalen knew that "he had no hope of sneaking up on him... not sure that he is powerful enough to destroy him" (Forman, 11), and needed Alex's help. Whalen and Alex head out on their journey, hoping to stop Jabez before he becomes too powerful.

During the first half of the book, Whalen does not inform Alex on the majority of the things that are going on with Jabez, making Alex antsy and worried. “Alex knew something was very wrong, and that Whalen was keeping it from him so he wouldn’t worry” (Forman 125-126). Although I was just reading the book, I could understand Alex’s emotions in this as he was blindly following Whalen during this quest and did not know how he could help as he wasn’t given any information to do so. As the book progresses, Alex learns more about his second self, a true-silver dragon, and how he can use it to benefit him. Throughout the book, Alex is faced with hardships, each one becoming more and more difficult as the books comes to an end. Through Alex’s actions and experiences, Forman is trying to convey to us that failure does not mean we should quit, and instead should learn from your mistake and fix it the next time it. After breaking the wall separating the living and the dead, Alex knew “he had failed. There would be no way to mend the wall” (Forman, 393). Alex had let Zain, the evilest wizard, come back from the dead and was preparing to gather forces to take over the other territories. Alex felt as if he failed, and had let the world perish, but Salinor, Alex’s friend and dragon, had convinced that all was not lost and could fix his mistake. Forman uses this book to relay to us that we should learn from our mistakes.

Although this is similar to a typical adventure story with the protagonist always having success and gaining fame and honor, The Axe of Sundering showed how having success all the time can be detrimental to us as we won't learn from what we do wrong. I personally liked this series a lot, with it being written in a flowing manner and containing little messages that are helpful to some. This book would be great for people who love to read fiction and are interested in magic. The Adventurers Wanted series is filled with fantasy, imagination, and a great deal of action, making it very enjoyable to read whenever.

Poisoned Waters

By Braedon Longfritz

Guile

By Constance Cooper

The water is poisoned. It’s not fatal, but it can change you. It can give you gills, or claws, or flippers. Or give you supernatural powers. The mysterious substance contaminating the Wicked Ford’s waterways terrifies everyone, and people changed by it are often considered hideous. However, some people affected by this substance are able to detect objects that have been changed. These people, known as Pearlies, are sought out for advice on certain items and what mystical powers they might have. This substance is called guile, and everyone in the Wicked Ford knows about it.

Yonie Watereye isn’t a Pearly, but her sentient cat, LaRue, is. LaRue can see into objects and discover their magical traits, if they have any. LaRue has also been Yonie’s only companion since the night her parents died years ago. As a result, Yonie and LaRue have been struggling to live in Wicked Ford with Yonie pretending to be a Pearly, as animals affected by guile are frequently killed on sight.

Guile takes readers through a magical world where a sixteen-year-old girl and her cat delve into a secret hidden in Wicked Ford, explore her family history, and figure out what happened the night her parents died. Yonie is very competent and has an amazing personality; she is honorable and courageous: “I work for my customers, not for you!...You ought to be ashamed o’ yourselves, trying to pass junk off onto people by telling ’em it’s wily” (Cooper, Chapter Six), but has a few negative traits, such as jumping to an early conclusion: “What had she been thinking? There had never been any real evidence against M’sir Turcoat” (Cooper, Chapter Fourteen) and all of this made me interested in reading more. Yonie’s character was one that motivated me, and having this interest drastically increased my liking of the book. Each of the other characters all had a unique personality, which shows time and effort was spent writing the novel, and gives the story a depth to it. The interactions between Yonie and the other characters also give another dimension to the book, as Yonie has her own opinions about each other character. LaRue, for example, although a cat, originally acts like Yonie’s sister or friend. As the story progresses, LaRue takes on more of a motherly role for Yonie, which Yonie gets sick of, and this causes a fight between them. This kind of character development and interaction really draws me in and makes me feel the characters are real people.

I would recommend Guile to anyone who loves fantasy and magic or mystery, as Yonie needs to figure out many things using clues given throughout the novel: “Maybe we ought to stop looking and start thinking… All I know about her is she gave books to Mama.” (Cooper, Chapter Twenty Four). People who enjoy History may also enjoy Guile because some of the things Yonie figures out are her history or the history of the land, and although it isn’t real world History the setting’s detail may still be interesting.

Have you been honest with yourself?

Taylor Pierre

Honestly Ben

by Bill Konigsberg

We’ve all experienced pressure in our life. Whether it be from our parents, teachers, friends, loved ones, really anyone, we’ve all at one point have felt pressure.

Pressure explains the life of Ben Carver. Ben is a simple guy. He’s a guy who comes from a farm in New Hampshire. He has a lot going for him. He’s in an expensive all-boys school in Natick, “ When you attend a fancy boarding school, it’s best not to be a know-it-all on your winter break.” (1), He’s won the Peter Pappas Award, “ Congratulations, Ben. You’re this year’s recipient of the award.”(11), he’s the captain of the baseball team, life seems good. Until someone from his past comes back in his life and makes things complicated for Ben. Towards the middle of the book, Ben is trying to figure things out, one of those things being his sexuality. Is he straight, gay or bi? If he is gay, how will people react? Will his family disown him? “How many times do I have to tell you not to embarrass me? And yet you do.I’m embarrassed to be your father.” (284) These are the questions that Ben is asking himself. He wants to be himself but certain people are making it hard for him. Ben’s life is turning upside down because now everyone expects him to be the way they want him to be, he feels like he should be himself, but he feels like he is stuck with being the straight, smart jock. But does he want that? By the end of the book, Ben is starting to be able to answer those questions. Will he answer them the right way?

The beginning of this book was a little boring and kinda confusing. Nothing was suspenseful or exciting. Once, you get towards the middle of the book, things start to pick up and get very interesting. A lot of events in this book may be relatable for the average teenager but there are some topics that people may have a harder time relating to. At the end of the book, you will see a lot of changes in the characters, and I like that because you can see them from a new perspective. This book has a good message about not caring about what people think of you as long as you’re not hurting anyone and it makes you happy.

I would give this book a ⅘. If you like realistic fiction then this book would be great for you. This book also contains topics about sexuality. If you are sensitive to those topics then this book may not be for you.

Taken From Your Life

Aman Hiregoudar

Taken - Erin Bowman

“Sooner or later we’re all gone, so no one bothers getting attached.”

        When you turn 18, you will be taken away from the only life you know to an unknown place. There is nothing you can do to escape it unless you are willing to climb the Wall and hope you won’t be killed right away.
        In Taken by Erin Bowman, Gray Weathersby is faced with having to deal with his brother’s heist. In the town of Claysoot, all boys turning 18 are heisted and disappear and are never seen again. His brother Blain is heisted and Gray is trying to get back to his normal life but he can’t. In addition to that, he finds a mysterious letter from his dead Mother that was addressed to Blain. It is very mysterious and he can’t figure out what it means. In addition to this, he is starting to question the existence of Claysoot and is wondering if there is something bigger to life. He decides to look through his mom’s records, but finds nothing abnormal. Then he thinks to look at the doctor’s notes, to see if they contained anything about his mother. What he finds is shocking. What he finds changes how he thinks of life. He has the option of climbing the Wall, but that is suicide. However, what lies after the heist is also unknown. With this new knowledge gained, he begins to think about the risks he could take, to try and find out what is so special about Claysoot. In a thrilling and plot twisting story, Gray sets out to once and for all, find the meaning of Claysoot.

        This is a great book to read and there are many things that I liked about it that made it better overall. I really like that the protagonist, Gray, has some sort of connection or relation to most of the other characters. Since Claysoot is such a small town, he knows everyone very well and I like those close relationships. His brother being heisted, is also what influences his decisions to find out what is going on. He has such a powerful relationship with his brother and “when I finally let go and walk away, I feel as though an integral piece of me has been ripped from my chest” (Bowman 28). This, during Blain’s heist, really shows how close they are to each other. These relationships between the characters really add an element of conflict in this dystopian world since it provides challenges for the characters to decide how to continue. I also enjoyed how the dystopian and science-fiction elements of the story can clearly be seen. The author really made it clear that this is a dystopian world. There are so many elements that contribute to the level of dystopia in the plot. “The door slams behind me and it takes the click of metal echoing in my ears before I realize I’m in a prison”(Bowman 111). This quote has a negative connotation as well as sensory details. Along with being dystopian, the plot also clearly shows that there are elements of science-fiction woven into the story. I believe that dystopian and science-fiction are two great genres, but woven together into one “super-genre” really makes a powerful story if written correctly. The author definitely did this and you can see how both genres work together to fuel the plot. A final thing that makes this story great is the sudden twists and turns in the plot. One paragraph, the story is progressing as you would expect, but then, a new element comes into play and totally changes the outcome. Comparing what I thought would happen when I read the first chapter and the fifteenth, is completely different. And the changes aren’t just over long periods of time. Within a few paragraphs, the plot has completely changed. This example, from after Blaine was taken away and Gray was trying to recover, really shows the sudden changes in the plot. One moment, “I stoop to collect the fallen frame” (Bowman 35), and the next, “Whatever truth Ma had hoped would be revealed at Blaine’s Heist remains a mystery. Especially to me” (Bowman 37). I really like this characteristic in novels. I think it keeps the reader engaged and always thinking of all the possibilities of what can happen. It also gives the author the chance to add foreshadowing to parts of the story which makes it more interesting. 

        I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dystopian novels or science fiction novels. Specifically, if you are looking for dystopian novels, this book focuses on separation in the human race. If you are looking for a good book that is full of conflict and twists and turns, this is for you. This book is for readers at the high school level since it can get complicated if you don’t pay attention. I also just found out that this is the first book in a series that the author had written, so I am really excited to go back and see what happens in the next book. Overall, I give this book a 5 out of 5.