Eleven

Title:   Eleven

By:      Patricia Rielly Griff

Rating: 5/5

         This book was really good. It was more entertaing than anything. I felt that it was also really discriptive.

          The book Eleven, is about a boy named Sam who lives with his grandfather because his parents died. He lives with his grandfather in his grandfather's work shop. He is a very skilled boy at the age of eleven but he has a small reading problem. He climbed into his attic to see if he could find his birthday presents but instead of presents he found a newspaper clpping saying he was missing. So he goes on a daring journey to find out who he really is.

          I would rate this book 5 out of 5 and I would suggest this book for anyone who like realistic fiction mysteries.

                                                               - Brendon Summerton

                                                       

Matched

 Matched
Author: Ally Condie
 Rating: 5/5 stars
Age Recommendation: 8th grade and up
Genre: Fiction          

Everyone thinks 17 year old Cassia is they luckiest girl to get matched with her best friend(Xander) but when she puts the name card in it flash's another boy she knows (Ky). Will she be matched with her best friend,or will she go a different route that's no one has every tried to go before?

I rated this 5 out of 5 because it was a nice story. Its a good book to read if you don't want to read stuff about vampires or werewolves. Its a very good story about true love and friendship.
-Kayla

Rachel's Must Reads

This is a list I've made of a few very good books... some are rather advanced amd may not be for everyone. Also, you may notice my obsession with the Victorian Era.

In no Specific order:

1. Clockwork Angel By: Cassandra Clare

2. The Luxe By: Anna Godbersen

3. The Summer I Turned Pretty By: Jenny Han

4. A Kiss in Time By: Alex Flinn

5. A Great and Terrible Beauty By: Libba Bray

6. Hex Hall By: Rachel Hawkins

7. Maximum Ride Series By: James Patterson

8. Dragonfly By: Julia Golding

9. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet By: Jamie Ford

10. City of Bones By: Cassandra Clare

11. Fallen By: Lauren Kate

12. Shiver By: Maggie Steifvater

13. Beautiful Creatures By: Kami Garcia and Margeret Stohl

14. Percy Jackson Series By: Rick Riordan

15. The Red Pyramid By: Rick Riordan

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner
Author:James Dashner
Rate: 4/5
Genre:Science Fiction/Action Adventure
Age Recommend: 13 and up

This story was about a guy named Thomas who wakes up inside a box can't remember anything but his name. Then when he arrives at Glade. This place is like a huge nightmare were huge doors close every night,the outsides a maze that changes every night,monsters called Grievers outside,  and now that Thomas is here werid things are happening at Glade. Like the next day the get a new person(a greenie) which is werid because they get one once a month.Weirder this one is a girl with a not saying she's the last one. Shes in a coma? Glade has always been a place of all boys and everyday they try to escape. Will they ever escape,Will they crack the maze or Will they all die? Read this book to find out!

  I rated this book a 4 out of 5 because of its action, its unique story line.It is also a good adventure that the charaters go on. I also think its a different kind of book then most books. Thats why i gave it 4 out of 5 review.
-Kayla

A Great and Terrible Beauty

Title: A Great and Terrible Beauty
Author: Libba Bray
Publisher: RandomHouse
Age Recommendation: 8th Grade and Up
Star Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Plot: Raised in Bombay, India by her stricktly English mother, Gemma Doyle is independent for a young women who will one day enter the London society. When her mother, who forbids Gemma to leave for London instantly, is murdered brutally in the Bombay marketplace, Gemma must leave Bombay in which she calls home and set out to adopt her role as a wealthy English girl at the infamous Spence Academy. When her life finally seems to begin setting off on the proper foot, Gemma finds herself seeing visions of things that could only be described supernaturally. With her newest Spence friends and her unlikely ally, Kartik, a handsome Indian boy who seems to be following her across the world, Gemma must learn what her visions mean and how to control the outcome of things with her newfound ability.

Critique:
I'd always found reviews on posted by Libba Bray (the author) on the covers of my favorite novels. I was drawn to her writing by her simple and witty "one-sentance" reviews and I began to search the internet for her novels. Her most recent debut, Going Bovine, rather scared me away by the strange cow on the cover; but, considering my obsession with the Victorian Era, I decided to give this one a go. And I absolutely don't regret it. Though the magical view of this novel was sort of awkward for me, I found the romance, poetic components, stong charectars, and everything else fantastic and worth-while.

PIE

PIE

Rate:0/5
Author: Sarah Weeks

Genre:realistic fiction

This book starts off when aunt Polly passes away. Aunt Polly was famous for her pies she didn't charge for them,but people donated food so she can make her incredible pies. So after she dies everyone wants her pie recipe and Alice's Mother wants it to make her family rich and famous. Will anyone find Aunt Polly's recipe,Will anyone ever understand Aunt Polly will?

I rated it 0 out of 5 stars because it was so boring. I read this book thinking it would be funny but it was just boring.I didn't like it because it was dull story line. The only thing good about this book was the pie recipes in it.If you want to read this book is coming out October 2011

-Kayla

Soul Surfer

Title: Soul Srufer by Bethany Hamilton
Publisher: MTV (June 6, 2006)
Age: young adult
rating: 4/5

Soul Sufer is really good. And because it is a true story the movie was really good too. After being attacked by a shark and still hetting back in the water and eventually becoming a pro surfer is really insperational. i just loved the book and movie a lot. And I would reccomend it for any age group.

-erica

Delirium

Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Recommendation: 8th Grade and Up
Rating: 4/5 Stars

Plot: One rule had been made clear and simple through Lena's childhood: Do not catch delirium. In other words: Do not fall in love. As an innocent and obedient citizen of our advanced nation, Lina has no intention of breaking such a law. That is until she meets Alex, the autumn of her last, dreadful year being unmarried. He's different that the man who she is engaged, he's a free spirit. But, he's also and Invalid; to her country, he doesn't exist in any legal way. Will Lena fight for her newfound, precisely  forbidden love or will she die trying? After all, how many times can this law be broken, how many times will a citizen catch Delirium before chaos strikes?

Critique: I remember picking up this book in the store, not knowing what it was about, but somehow knowing I'd like it. I don't know if that's intuition or just a really good cover, but  what I do know is I was right. I was attached to this book from page one. I didn't let it slip out of my hands for more than a second. The plot, the ideas, the world in which Lena must live (which is the future of our own country) was perfectly constructed though I feel the writing didn't quite live up. Lena's character was nicely composed, however at times, doubted her love and became hesitant while decided how she could be with Alex. It almost seems as though she wasn't prepared to give enough effort to escape. Over all, it was a fascinating read that opened my eyes to what forbidden love really is, and the intensity that burns when you are denied your freedom.

Clockwork Angel By Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Simon and Shuester
Age Recomendations: 8th Grade and Up
Star Rating: 5/5


Plot: It's 1878. When Tessa Gray came to London from America, she thought she would find her brother, waiting, by the boat dock.  About a year later, it becomes apparant that it was never the case. Stuck in the Dark Sister's manor house and being forced to perform strange transitions into people she never knew, she develops and learns to use her newfound powers. Until, she's rescued by the strikingly handsome and internally tortured Will Herondale. Will has secrets, but most shockingly, there's a world of demons and demon-slayers she never knew about, Shadowhunters. They live among her, Will and his mystrerious best friend Jem Carstairs are part of this race. With plots being cooked behind the scenes, romance boiling inside the Institute in which Tessa stays, and death over taking the accomplished London, chaos will break to the surface. Will the puzzling Tessa Gray be the hero after all, being ignorant to the world in which she must fight?


Critique: Yes! Cassandra Clare has nailed it again. In her bestselling novel, City of Bones, she unfolded the mysterious world of modern-Shadowhunters, those who live today in the chaos of modern betrayal. However, she yet again hit the target with her puzzling Victorian-era prequel. A strong heroine, complicated romance, thrilling battles, and dead on literature that I simply gushed about to everyone after I finished reading, it was all so perfect it left me breathless.


A Note to City of Bones fans: William Herondale is Jace Lightwood's (from City of Bones) ancestor. Both boys are equally sensational, and extremely similar (though not on the physical level).

--Rachel

The Prophecy of The Sisters

Title: The Prophecy of The Sisters
Author: Michelle Zink
Publisher: Little, Brown
Age Recommendation: 7th Grade and Up
Star Rating: 0/5


Plot: When Lia discovers her twin sister, Alice, chanting mystical incantations in her late mother's bedchambers, she doesn't want to get involved. Being a newfound orphan, under careful supervision of her Aunt, Lia is trying to recover from the recent death of her father. But, as she tries to sort her own issues out, complications stand in her way. For one, Alice has become more mysterious and dark; the second being a prophecy come across by Lia's boyfriend James. The prophecy: one shall work with the forces of good, while the other shall fight with evil. One will overcome the other, one will reign. Lia is the innocent, admirable one.She will be the good one. Or will she?


Critique: I don't want to say this, but I had high expectations before I sunk my teeth into this novel. I had judged it by it's cover. It looked fantastic. When I finished it, all I could say is it wasn't. It wasn't even good, or enjoyable for that matter. This novel lacks everything that a well-written (or at least attempted) novel should include. The plot was predictable, flat, like soda after it's sat in a warm car for too long. The romance was underdeveloped, the characters were confusing. I very strongly resent wasting time on this one. I did learn one thing from this novel: When they day "don't judge a book by it's cover" it may not be because you will enjoy it, it may be because you might regret giving it a try.

--Rachel