Stargirl

Title: Stargirl

Author: Jerry Spinelli

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (Random House) in 2000

Pages: 186

On the back: She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew.

Age recommendation: 10 & up

Plot: In Mica High, everyone is talking about the new girl. And what does she call herself? Stargirl. She's not real. She's not real. This is what echoes through the minds of the students as they watch her wacky activities, like strumming her ukulele in lunch, and dancing in the rain. Maybe everyone else thinks she's not real, but Leo Borlock knows otherwise. But somehow, everything turns out wrong, with the students not willing to accept Stargirl's differences, and Leo is left trying to piece everything back together.

Review: Stargirl really spoke to me. It is all about individuality, and never changing yourself just so others will be content. It tells you that you can change things, and leave your mark on the world, even if others are against you.
Stargirl is a girl that comes from home-schooling to Mica High. She wears floor-length skirts, strums her ukulele to wish people happy birthdays at lunch, sets up a vase with a flower in it on her desk each day, and cheers for both basketball teams. To put it simply, Stargirl is a shock to everyone at Mica High.
Leo Borlock becomes interested in the girl, and finds that everything she does has meaning. She purposely drops coins on the sidewalk, hoping that some little kid will come along, pick it up, and will have a smile on his face. She reads the newspaper “fillers”, to try to find out about what the local people will need in order for their day to be fantastic. Never once does she think about herself.
Stargirl may not be connected to the people, but she is connected to the earth, and to thought. She absorbs all of the ideas, all of the wonderments, all of the puzzles the world has to offer. Stargirl enjoys life as an individual, and lives life to the fullest.
Leo, however, is having his doubts when he becomes Stargirl’s boyfriend. He soon realizes that he will not be able to keep both Stargirl’s, and the students at school’s affections. He has to choose, and when he finally does, it is too late.
Stargirl is a beautiful book, and will inspire everyone who reads its words.

Title: Brightly Woven

Author: Alexandra Bracken

Publisher: EgmontUSA (March 23, 2010)

Pages: 368

First sentence “The day the rains finally came was like any other, with blistering air coating the canyon in a heavy stillness. “

Age Recommendation: 13 and up

Star Rating: 5/5

Plot: When the handsome wizard Wayland North diminishes the drought that has been dragging down Sydelle Mirabel’s village for 10 years, the citizens are more than thankful. So thankful, that they offer up anything the young wizard could possibly want. He chooses Sydelle. Off they start on their epic adventure, annoying the bits out of each other along the way, but Wayland isn’t being completely honest with Sydelle or himself. He knows a secret about her that (putting in bluntly) could destroy the world. Talk about pressure.

Review: Books that can make you cry, laugh, swoon, and occasionally chuck them at the wall is amazing in my opinion. When reading, I feel that it very important to be able to directly connect with each character and feel what they feel. Well, I can tell you Sydelle and I were on the same page (no pun intended) throughout the whole book. Not once did I feel out of the loop when characters were conversing or during any scenes. Bracken presents readers with a fantastical world with plenty of attractive wizards to protect it. So when I say 5/5, I really meant 100/5.

Hannah ♥

Across the Universe

Title: Across The Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Publisher: RAZORBILL
Age Recommendation: 12 and Up
Star Rating: 5/5

Plot: When Amy sinks into the ice of her cryo chamber on the Project Ark Ship, she plans to land in her new home 300 years in the future and assist her parents in creating the ideal new Earth. Waken 50 years early, that plan is no longer feasible. Amy was unplugged.
Elder is the next leader of the Godspeed spacecraft, due to begin his reign ate passing of the current dictator, Eldest. His duty is to protect the passengers aboard the ship through tyranny. He was the one who unplugged the girl with the fiery hair in the cryo chamber.
When chaos begins to erupt and shatters the ships perfect order, the pair must determine if peace is really the product of the tainted spacecraft; and if it's not, how to overthrow Eldest.

Review: Across the Universe is a rare perfection of a novel. Composed of irreplaceable poetic elements, a fragile, budding, romance, and a riot that could put existence in jeopardy; Revis has created a sci-fi work to battle that of  it's predecessors.  This modern take on the genre offers something fresh and real: delivering such an image that leaves a battle between fact and imagination.
5 Stars hardly summarizes how easy this novel was to fall for.

-Rachel

The Eleventh Plague (Advanced Reading Copy)

Title: The Eleventh Plague
Author: Jeff Hirsch
Ages: 12 and up
Publication Date: September 2011


Plot:

The Eleventh Plague:  a deadly strain of flu released by the Chinese government on the United States in response to nuclear war.  It all happened nearly twenty years ago—the Collapse.  Now the people of America are no longer united: no government, no police force, no form of currency.  No electricity, or running water, no grocery stores, or medical facilities.  Survivors and doing just that-- surviving.  Some have formed small towns, scattered throughout the now vast landscape; others salvage, trading whatever small valuables they come across for food, clothing, or weapons. Militant groups and Slavers also exist, threatening the freedom and well being of anyone they come across. 

Fifteen year old Stephen Quinn, his father, and his grandfather are salvagers, constantly on the move, north to south, searching for items worth trading.  Stephen has learned to trust no one, because his grandfather trusted no one.  It was his grandfather’s coldhearted survival instincts, after all, that had gotten them through so much over the past years since the Collapse.

But that’s all about to change.  Stephen’s grandfather has died, and now it’s just father and son who are left to continue on their own. But only twenty-four hour later, as Stephen and his dad attempt to rescue a woman and child who have been captured by slavers, Mr. Quinn falls down a gorge and into a raging river. Knocked unconscious from a serious head wound, Mr. Quinn slips into a coma, and Stephen has no choice but to trust a group of men who promise shelter and medical attention at Settler’s Landing—a small, protected town where they live. 

Settler’s Landing.  The closest thing to a “normal” community since before the Collapse.  Houses—real houses that survived the war, a school house where students read novels and textbooks salvaged by community members, a park with swings and a baseball diamond.  It’s a place where people work together to survive; a place that welcomes few strangers.  Yet they take in Stephen and his dad, who remains in a coma. Stephen has never known any other life other than salvaging, and he struggles to let his guard down, even as Marcus and Violet Green open their home to them, even as Violet- a nurse before the Collapse- tends to his father, even as the other teenagers in the community try to make him feel welcome.

Stephen soon has two problems: Will Henry, a vengeful teen who wants nothing more than to get Stephen and his dad thrown out of town, and Jenny, a smart-mouthed girl who gets Stephen into as much trouble as she does getting him out of trouble-- and he can't help but be attracted to her.  So when Will goes too far with his taunts and accusations, Stephen and Jenny plan a prank that goes horribly wrong, bringing far more danger to the tiny community than it can handle.  Now Stephen must make a choice between leaving, and living the kind of life that he’s only known, or staying to fight for a life that might be possible.

Review:

Suzanne Collins describes this book as one that “hits disturbingly close to home.”  She’s right.  This book made me wonder if our world really could fall apart so devastatingly easy, and it made me appreciate all the things that many of us take for granted, like opening the refrigerator to pull out a cold soda, or turning on the faucet to take a warm bath, or flicking a switch to turn on the lights at night. Hirsch’s writing is so precise and well crafted that it pulled me into the story by paragraph one.  Imagine having to bury your grandfather while, at the same time, wondering if you should remove his gold ring to later trade for food or bullets.  Imagine growing up and seeing dilapidated shopping malls, amusement parks, and McDonald’s restaurants without ever knowing what it must have been like before.  Imagine always having to be on the move, on the lookout, to never have slept in a real bed, or go to the movie theatre, or play baseball with your friends.

The world that Jeff Hirsch has created in this novel is captivating, and the relationships that he creates between Stephen Quinn and the other teens at Settler’s Landing are realistic, poignant, and entertaining.  I can’t wait to share this novel with my students this fall.  Oh, and the cover rocks!

--Ms. Plisko

Wonderstruck (advanced reading copy)

Title: Wonderstruck

Author: Brian Selznick

Ages: 9 and up

Advanced Reading Copy
Release Date: September 2011

Plot:
This novel contains two stories, each told from the viewpoint of two people, Ben and Rose.  Set fifty years apart, in two different locations, Ben's story is told in words, and Rose's story is told in illustrations.  Both stories intertwine, giving the reader insight into the past and present of both characters.  Ben, a young teen who has just lost his mother, longs to learn about a father he has never known.  Rose, born deaf, longs for her mother's attention and to have a life outside the protective confines of her home.  With twists and turns of discovery, both characters make their way to New York City, which is the beginning of how Rose's life in 1927 will eventually affect Ben's life in 1977.

Review:
Wow.  I love when this is the first thought I have when I close a book at the end of its story. I don't know what impressed me more, the illustrations, the combination of one story told in words offset by another told in illustrations, or the intertwining story line.  Okay, it was all three.  And because of all three, I couldn't put the novel down...I sat and finished it from cover to cover in one sitting...what a great way to spend an afternoon! The illustrations are absolutely beautiful; there's something about the black and white effects of pencil sketches that draws the eye to study them. There is one illustration toward the end of the novel that depicts a "Cabinet of Wonders," an early form of a museum. I think I stared at the double page picture of this beginning museum for nearly fifteen minutes-- there was so much to look at.

When this novel first arrived in my class room I showed it off to my students and it was immediately snatched up by two girls who wanted to see if they could figure out Rose's story by simply studying the pictures.  Their conclusion about her story was pretty accurate, I must say.

A definite must read, and a must see!

--Ms. Plisko

Ms. Plisko's Summer Reading

I dream of summer for one thing: reading a wonderful book under a shady tree.  Okay, maybe that's two things. I have a pile of advanced reading copies just waiting for me to open, and I can't wait to get started.  Here they are, in no particular order:


Circle of Secrets by Kimberley Griffiths Little
Wonder Struck by Brian Selznick
Floors by Patrick Carman
Sound Bender by Lin Oliver and Theo Baker
The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch
Cleopatra's Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter
Flyaway by Lucy Christopher
A Web of Air by Philip Reeve
Consumed by Kate Cann
Six Days by Philip Webb
Icefall by Matthew Kirby


Phew!  First up will be, I think, Circle of Secrets....I love a book set in the south....


--Ms. Plisko

Dead Is The New Black

Author: Marlene Perez
Age Recommendation: 11 and Up
Star Rating: 5/5 

Plot: Daisy Giordano has always felt like the odd one out. In a town 'chock-full of the unknown, the unusual, the unexpected' and in a family of gifted psychics, Daisy is normal. No telepathy, no telekinesis, no special powers or secret identities -- just unruly hair and a talent for cookery. When her mother asks her older sister Rose for help with a case it's the final straw for Daisy. She's going to prove that she can help solve crimes too, powers or no.

Only with cheerleaders dropping like flies and the "Divine" Devereaux, head cheerleader and Daisy's arch-enemy, reinventing herself as a gothic fashion-plate over the summer, that might not be as easy as Daisy hoped. Luckily she has some skills that even she doesn't know she possesses and she can always depend on Ryan, son of the local police chief and maybe more than a friend to Daisy, to help her investigate.


Review: Ever since I was younger I never enjoyed reading. I could never understand how someone could be so hooked on one book that they couldn't put it down; until I had done it myself. In the beginning of the year I started reading this novel. A few of my friends were telling me about this book and saying all this fantastic stuff about it. I decided to start reading it because, truthfully, it looked kinda small and I thought I might as well try it. By the first page I was already hooked. I just couldn't put that book down! It had so many exciting things happening in it that you never were bored. "Dead Is The New Black" by Marlene Perez is a must read! There is a ton of "cliff" hangers that'll make you feel the urge to never stop! This is the first book of the series. There is four more; "Dead Is A State Of Mind" "Dead Is So Last Year" "Dead Is Just A Rumor"  and the fourth one is still being written, "Dead Is Not An Option." These books really catch your eye, but be careful once you start this book you won't be able to put it down!

--Brittany