Tia's ( Auntie in Portuguese) Adventure!! 2010 Pt. 1

Pics of my niece and nephews. These special moments are awesome! I love being an auntie! My niece 4 yr old Mary Elizabeth, nephews, 12 yr old Steven, 3 yr old John Paul (blond hair) and 1 yr old Daniel Jude.

Chantal's Texas Adventure!!!

Hey everyone!
I am writing from Houston Texas. I am visiting my sister and niece nephews. Its been 6 six days now that I have been here and I am not used to the hotness!!! Well I will be posting pics if I can, the next time Im on the computer!

Right now I have to tend to my niece and nephews so they can take a nap!

See ya!

The Last Lecture

Happy summer!

I would like to encourage you to watch an amazing speech given by Randy Pausch, a professor from Carnegie Mellon:

Click here to watch Randy's speech on you tube.

I'd HIGHLY recommend the book, which goes more in depth to some of the life lessons he shares in his speech (especially the "head fakes").

This story is back in the news, as Randy's 9 year old son is continuing his crusade. Mitch sent me this link and I wanted to pass it along to all of you:

Click here to watch the abc news video.


Let me know what you think!
:) Mrs. Diamond

P.S. Also check out the website at www.thelastlecture.com!

Thank you! :)

Cheers to a wonderful quarter 4 literary cafe! I am so proud and impressed to see work that reflects depth of thought and personal risk taking. It has been heartwarming to see such inspired artwork and writing that shows connections to literature. If you were fortunate enough to read a work that helped you see yourself, an issue, or the world in a new or different way, I'm thrilled. If you happened to read a book that left you less than inspired, well...there's always another book on the horizon. Always! Your peers have shared some great titles in this blog.

I will be here, checking in on what you're reading and thinking, this summer and as long as people are using this forum to share ideas. I am honored to be your teacher, and I'm grateful to know each and every one of you.

Warmly,
:) Mrs. Diamond

Melanie Harding - The Last Song

The Last Song
Nicholas Sparks
463 pages (Read- all of 'em)
Rating: TEN!

Seventeen year old Ronnie is livin' the life in New York. School by day (if she feels like it), clubs by night. However a little slap of reality hits her when her mom sends her and her ten year old brother, Jonah, to live with their dad for the summer in Wrightsville Beach, NC.
Jonah can't wait to see his dad, Ronnie wants nothing to do with him. Ever since he walked out on them three years ago, she's hated him. The last thing she wants to do is spend the summer with him.
However after only a few days at the dreaded summer destination, Ronnie meets someone who she never would have expected herself to fall for. Even more unexpected; HE fell for HER! She soon realizes that maybe this summer won't be so bad after all. The rebellious Ronnie and dreamy Will represent the saying 'opposites attract.' From two polar opposite worlds, these two young lovers create their own.
But reality soon strikes a cord as the summers end comes closer. Will Ronnie ever mend things with her dad? Was there a deeper reason Ronnie and Jonah were sent to live with him for the summer?
I absolutely loved this book. Like most Nicholas Sparks books, it starts off fairly slow, then plunges into an emotionally gripping storyline. I'll be honest, I cried. But to me, that's a sign of a well written book, and Nicholas Sparks nailed it. I loved following Ronnie's feisty and rebellious thoughts. Anyone even slightly interested; read this book! And don't let the first couple chapters slow you down. I promise, it's amazing! So enjoy :)

Chris Brown-Hole In My Life

Hole in My Life

Jack Gantos

200 out of 200

Mrs. Diamond

Chris Brown

Hole in My Life



My book was about a kid Jack Gantos who moves down to St. Croix after living in Florida. He moves down there with his parents who think they will make more money down there. The story goes wrong when he lives in Florida because he was living with family friends and they let him do what he wanted so he started smoking and drinking and other stuff. So then the family friends got sick of his bad behavior and sent him to live with his parents in St. Croix with his actual parents while he was down there he worked at making box for shipping stuff in. one day a guy asked him to make a box with a secret portal for shipping hash in after he built him the box the man asked him if he wanted to sail to the NY and sail hash all the way there and jack said yes because he was going to make 10 thousand dollars. So Jack sailed with a man named Hamilton when they got to NY they started to distribute this drug called hash. When they sold it all the cops arrested all three men (Hamilton, Jack, and the guy who's hash it was). Jack spent a few years in prison and applied to college to get out of prison this idea worked and then Jack proceeded to become a good citizen.

I liked this book because the print was big and the paragraphs were short. I really liked this book because of the style of Jack Gantos's writing, it made the book speed along and it made me feel like I wanted to know what would happen next. This book kept me on my toes and showed me what could happen to my life depending on the decisions that I make along the way.

by Chris Brown

David Donovan-Willie Pep Remembers Friday's Heroes

I read the book Willie Pep remembers Friday's Heroes by Robert Sacchi. This book is my grandfather's favorite book hands down. He has insured it.a book.for $100 and has read it six times. This s explains why he was very reluctant to mail it some 10 states 1500 miles away, but I he finally decided too. I read the book quickly, finally understanding what he meant by "he couldn't put it down". I realize that was a literal speech. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!

This book was about someone named Willie Pep. Sadly I can say probably none of you know who he is. He was the greatest boxer who ever lived. Not Iron Mike Tyson, not
"the greatest of all time" Muhammad Ali. I am talking about the real greatest boxer who ever lived; Willie Pep. Guglielmo Papaleo, his real name, was born in 1922 and recently passed away in 2006. He was a featherweight boxer, only weighing 127 pounds! But although being a little guy, He showed true spirit and heart through his vigorous training and his momentous attitude. The motto of Pep was - "Always Do Your Best". Short and sweet, like boxing. But coincidentally, it worked out for him. Because if you always do your best, you will be the best you can be, which is the ultimate goal as a professional fighter. Pep had 241 fights, and out of all of them, 65 were knockouts, and only 11 were losses, most being if he were sick and persisted to fight. Pep was the hardest working fighter, and that caused him to be the greatest.

I took a lot away from this book. I realized nothing is enough but your best. I also saw that the key thing to focus on in any situation in life is yourself and how you
can improve. My this book, along with Willie showed me that boxing is not what its seen as, there hasn't been a fighter yet who hasn't been a little bit scared before the match, as Pep explained every has the same emotions because were all the same when you get down to it. My favorite quote was asked after Mayweather won the title "Mr. Mayweather, what do you like least about boxing?" Mayweather responds "uhh.getting hit". This book was inspirational and mind changing in many unprecedented aspects, I believe anyone can take something away from this book, even if you don't box. I recommend everyone who can pry it out of my grandfather's or any other 86 year old boxing fanatic's hands read it.

Thank you

David Donovan

Penelope - Joyce Ingari

Title: Penelope
Author: Marilyn Kaye
Pages: 239
Rating: 4 out of 10

The book I read for quarter 4 was Penelope. Penelope is about an aristocratic girl who gets cursed with the nose of a pig. According to her mother, the only way Penelope can get rid of her pig nose is through the acceptance of “one of her own kind”. In Penelope’s case, this would be someone high status with some green to spare. The book starts when Penelope is 25 and living in seclusion at home with her ex-socialite parents, their housekeeper Jake, and her professional matchmaker Wanda. Her mother is appalled at Penelope’s nose and is very eager to break the curse, so she has Wanda pick out single, rich men who are eligible to break it. When Penelope meets with these men, she sits behind a two way mirror as to not scare them with her nose. But every time she thinks a man is ready to see her face, she comes out and they scream and run from her in horror. Enter Max. When Penelope was born, her parents decided to avoid any troubles with the media and the press so they staged their daughter’s death. They had a real funeral and everyone believed it….except for one particularly persistent reporter. This is where Max comes in. The reporter found him gambling at the bar, knowing that Max Champion is eligible to break the curse, and told him that he would pay 5 big ones to have Max snap a picture of Penelope. So they dust off the old coat-jacket-with-camera-concealed-inside and Max heads off to visit Penelope. Max arrives in a room filled with 20 or so rich single men, waiting to meet Penelope. Penelope asks all of the men into her mirror room and then in a burst of frustration runs in and reveals her nose. All of the men run towards the door screaming like 12 year old girls running for Justin Bieber and Penelope is left alone…with Max. They talk and start clicking so he leaves and then returns twice more, never once taking the picture. Then, when Penelope is certain something is going on between them, she asks him to marry her so that he can break the spell. Unfortunately, Max says no and Penelope is angry and a little bit heartbroken. So, with these emotions fresh in her mind, she packs some things and goes off into the world….for the first time.

I think this book tried too hard to be good. I saw the movie and thought it was decent…not that it had anything to do with the attractive boy who played Max…and I guess I was expecting more from the book. I thought the author tried to make this book a love story while also making it a story about self discovery and…it failed. The storyline was choppy, things developed way too quickly to be realistic and it was cornier than ethanol. By trying so hard to include both, they didn’t put as much quality time into each aspect of the story and therefore it crumbled. Maybe this is just my cynical side being…well, cynical…but it was honestly way too predictable when the only one who needed to accept her was…herself. *Cue sighs*. I also really didn’t like how the author portrayed one the friends Penelope makes, Annie. In the movie, Annie is funny, laid back, very adventurous and never says anything amazingly profound, which I enjoy. But in the book the author made Annie out to be a Mini-Gandhi. Almost everything she said was something philosophical about life and respecting yourself and inner acceptance. Gross. The theme was no challenge to find and the seemingly good messages of self respect and confidence are cheapened by their blatantly obvious portrayal. If you are someone who likes really easy reads with less than original themes, then I think you’ve found your next book. If you do not like cheesy fairytales with predictable endings and choppy storylines, then I recommend skipping this book. However, the movie is perfectly decent and I’m probably going to get in trouble for saying that the movie was better than the book on my last English book project…but fact is fact.

Eleven Seconds- John Nelson

Travis Roy

226 pages

10 out of 10

This book was about a boy named Travis Roy and how he grew up in a small town in Maine. Also it talks about his love for hockey growing up then he got drafted to a division 1 college hockey team at Boston University. Threw out the book Travis talked about how that was one of his goals in life to be on a division 1 hockey team. Along with many other goals in life but that one night at Boston’s first home game he got thrown in to the boards during the first eleven seconds of that game and became a paralyzed. After that the rest of the book is about his recovery in the hospital and that even tho you are paralyzed you could still do the things you like but I enjoyed this book a lot and recommend it to anybody who likes books to do about sports.

This book taught me an important lesson in life that not to take things for granted. Even tho Travis could not do a lot of things while in a wheel chair he still keep his head up and did the things he loved. And spent all of time with his family and I thought that meant a lot to me. But the main message I got out of this book was follow your goals in life and they will happen.

Chinese Cinderella ~ Leah Glenday

Chinese Cinderella
Adeline Yen Mah
197 Pages
8 out of 10

Chinese Cinderella was a true story about Adeline Yen Mah’s childhood. Ever since her mother died during her childbirth, Adeline has been unwanted by her family and blamed for the death of her mother. Her Aunt Baba was her only family member who actually loved her after her grandparents died. Adeline’s father chose his new family with her young cruel stepmother over Adeline and her siblings. He left them one night, not telling them where he was going and took only his new wife and children. Over two years later Adeline, her siblings and her Aunt Baba were shipped away to live in a new place in their father’s huge home. Adeline was treated very differently from her step siblings. She was not given any money, she had to walk over 10 miles home from school every day and had to live in a traditional Chinese lifestyle while her stepsiblings were allowed to live a more modern western lifestyle. Her stepmother beat her when she was only in kindergarten. Her father had separated Adeline so drastically from his life that he even forgot her real name and her birthday.

This book taught me an important lesson about family. I never realized how much I took my family for granted until I read about this awful relationship Adeline had with her family. Her father disowned her completely. Her stepmother tried to rid of her existence entirely by sending her to a boarding school that was in a dangerous war zone. Her siblings shunned her because she is considered “bad luck” to her family. I now know how much it means to have at least one loving and caring family member. When Adeline no longer had her Aunt Baba to motivate her to do well she still worked as hard as she could in school, which eventually reconnected her with her father and gave her the future she had always dreamed about. I think that this took incredible strength by Adeline. It would have been so much easier to get lost in her pain rather than translating this frustration into her school work and writing. I could relate to Adeline because I transfer my frustration into playing piano the way she let her problems go by writing stories of a better life. When playing piano I can feel my tension releasing from my fingers as I hit the keys. I wonder if that’s how Adeline Yen Mah feels every time her pen touches paper.

I enjoyed this book greatly but I would not suggest it to someone who likes high action and adventure books. This book was more about the deeper message and how Adeline Yen Mah was able to overcome all the obstacles in her life to follow her dreams. I believe I liked this book so much because it was a true story and knowing that this woman was able to make it through so many struggles, left a deep impact on me. In the end, what I took away from this book the most, was that there’s always a way to make your dreams come true and more than likely you’ll have to work hard to make that happen.

Soldier X

Greg Jencks

Soldier X

Don Wulffson

Historical Fiction

9. 5 out of 10

This book is about a boy named Erick who is 17 years old. He is a Russian immigrant who was forced to leave his homeland to live in Germany. He and his family are fluent in both Russian and German, so they can live comfortably and can not be detected by the Nazi party. After months of living in Germany, Erick, is forced to serve in the German infantry. They only need to serve for two weeks on the front line. So, within three weeks of being with the infantry, he ends up on the western front lines. When two more divisions relieve them, within two weeks, they can leave. But before the tanks got to relieve Erick and his platoon, they are overrun by a Russian offensive. Erick is one of a few seriously injured soldiers. Unlike the other wounded soldiers, Erick decides to wear a dead Russian soldier’s uniform to try and survive. He is found later and wheel barreled to the hospital. He was sent to a recovering hospital where he meets a nurse and later marries.

Night~Annie Wilcox

Title: Night
Author: Elie Wiesel
Genre: Autobiography
# of pages: 120 pages
Rating: 9

“Eliezer, my son, come here… don’t leave me alone…”
“I heard his voice…yet I did not move… I was afraid… afraid of the blows… I remained deaf to his cries.” (Wiesel)

Elie was sixteen when the SS officers invaded his small town of Sighet, Transylvania. He was transported first to Auschwitz, and then to Buchenwald. Elie leaves Night as a record of death, starvation and torture. Night was Elie’s way to make sure that an evil man did not get his last wish: for Hitler’s crimes to be erased from human memory. The ways of the Nazis bring chills up your spine and leave you sitting in your bed in the dark for hours with pictures of starved corpses and disturbing screams filling your mind. It is a story that does not leave you.

Can you call a man that used babies as gun targets human? Under the definition of human does is include a man that separated families, “men to the left, women to the right,” burned infants, and starved and froze men to death. How about a man who had Jews thinking they were getting a shower only to get killed in a gas chamber. Would a man named Hitler who took a body and stripped it of a soul until a corpse was left, a corpse used for his factories be consider human? How can one man think of so many torturous ways to cause pain to a person, many persons, six million persons? How can one small selfish man begin to take over the world? When does a greedy man decide to be a slaughterer? I am sure that I’m not the first to ask these questions. There are many theories direct towards the answer to this question: power hungry, greed, his charismatic demeanor, I couldn’t tell you. But Elie can.

Invisible- Timothy Lee Johnson

Tim Johnson

Title: Invisible

Author: Pete Hautman

Pages: 160 pages

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Rating: First seven eights of the book, ten. Last twenty pages, zero.

Invisible is the touching story of a boy named Dougie who is not your average child. A very closed in kind of kid with a geeky glee clubby kind of reputation. But unlike other Urkel's, Dougie is friends with one of the top athletes in the school. Andy Morrow is his name. They have had the best friendship of anyone in all man kind. With their own secret handshakes and a tendency to get in trouble, they make a great team. As the book goes on, you see their relationship evolve along with their obsession with fire. An event happens that makes Dougie tweak out and gets worse as the chapters go on. Pete Hautman uses great description for these characters until a certain part of the book... He has a "special surprise" waiting for you as your heart pulses to finish this masterpiece! Unfortunately, the surprise is as amazing as what your Great aunt Edna gets you for veterans day. It's as if your reading a book by Steven King, and have the ending be a Dr. Seuss rhyme. "Can I read this in a boat? Can I read this and then vote? Yes I can! Now a tip for you then, do life a favor and end on 110."

Invisible is a remarkable book with great morals and fantastic detail. If Pete Hautman had ended the book 20pages early, It would be on Oprah In a split second. My friends, even after saying all that terrible nonsense, the fact of the matter is I do believe that you will fall in love with this book.

Emily Boucher
Title: Maximum Ride
Author: James Patterson
5th out of 5 books
Rating: 10 out of 10

Maximum Ride is a non stop action novel about six young Kids. Brought up in a lab being poked and prodded all the time, they grew defensive and eventually escaped. Wondering what is so special about them? Their genes were combined with genes of a bird. They are pretty much normal looking kids with extremely light bones like those of a birds to allow for easier flight. Yes, I said flight. They have wings. And that’s not all. Even with tiny bones, they are exceptionally strong and have vision of a raptor. As you read you may also find that that’s not all… Your probably thinking, ‘wow wings?! COOL!!’ But not so much. After escaping ‘The School,’ as they call it, they spend every waking- and sleeping- moment on the run. From who? Pretty much everybody. Bad scientists, walking robots, flying robots, even the media and what they thought were ‘good guys.’ And just when you think their life couldn’t get anymore crazy, they find out there is a mission for them - to save the world.
I personally loved the Maximum Ride series. I never thought I would be able to say this about a book, but they had me bringing them pretty much everywhere with me in case I got a chance to read :P I never got bored, and when I was about 40 pages from the end of one book I would have my mom go get me the next one just to make sure I would never be without. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes a big enough adventure in a book to make you feel part of it. I encourage you to jump in for the Ride!

The Kite Runner- Willie True

The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
371 Pages
9 out of 10
The Kite Runner is a story about two boys that grow up like brothers, in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan. Amir and his friend Hassan, (Amir's servant), play every day all year round, once Hassan's chores are finished. They are the best of friends, even though Amir plays tricks on Hassan such as telling a story the way it is not written just to prove that Hassan cannot read, and Amir is more intelligent. Amir also makes Hassan swear his loyalty through cruel games.
There is a yearly kite tournament every year, kids have to cut other kids kites out of the sky, and the last kite flying wins. To win this tournament is a great prestige. Hassan is the best kite runner, ( the person who goes and catches the kites once they have been cut), and Amir is among the best kite fighters in Kabul. So finally one year Amir is in the final two, and he makes the cut on the other fighters kite, and Hassan is off to the races. Somehow he knows where the kite will land before it shows any direction of where it is traveling too, so he always catches the kite. Obviously Hassan catches the kite, because he knew exactly where the kite was going to land. What Hassan did not know is what would happen to him on the way home. Amir watched something awful happen to Hassan, but did not do anything but watch and then run away in fear for his own personal being. What a coward! When Amir sees Hassan after the horrible deed is done to him, Amir sees, but not right away, that Hassan knows Amir saw what had been done to him. Amir cannot bear to see Hassan, because it reminds him how ashamed he is of himself. So Amir finds a way for Hassan, and Hassan's father Ali to want to move away from Amir.
Now starts the wars in Afghanistan, between the local citizens and the Russians. So Amir and his father make a spirit breaking trip to the free lands of America. In America, Amir and his father live somewhat happily, even though they are no longer rich beyond their dreams. Yet Amir finds a loving wife, and receives a great education and career as a fictional writer. Baba (Amir's father) dies, from cancer a while later, and Amir is devastated. He also going through the hard time of attempting to have kids, which he later finds out that he is not able to provide the proper goods in order to create a living being, if you know what I mean.
One day, Amir receives a letter from his old friend from which he knew when he lived in Kabul. This Man was like a second father to Amir, his name was Rahim Khan. He had been there for Amir and now that he was dying, Amir had to be there for him. Rahim also mentions that there is a way he could fix what he had done and make things right again. This was disturbing because Amir had told nobody what he had seen and not done, and yet he knew what happened all those years ago. So Amir flew straight out to see Rahim. When Amir got there, Rahim handed him a letter that Hassan had written to him years ago. It said that Amir would be his friend for life, and that he wished that Amir could see his son, Sahib. When Amir was done rereading the letter, Rahim told him that Hassan and his wife had been brought out into the street and shot in the head by the Taliban, who now ruled Afghanistan pretty much. Rahim also requested one last favor of Amir, to go and retrieve Sahib from Kabul and take him to a good American foster family that lived near Rahim. This was the way to make things right again. So Amir excepted the request, (like he had a choice to begin with), and set off to find Sahib.
Afghanistan was completely different now from the way Amir had remembered the joy filled city. When Amir finds Sahib, he has a run in with an old enemy, who happens to be high in the Taliban. Amir almost dies, but is saved by an unexpected act of righteousness. He ends up in the hospital not able to walk for a while, and his jaw is wired shut. Yet he is still alive. When he is well enough to leave, he goes as soon as he can. He soon finds out that there is no such American family that Rahim had told him about. Now Amir has to make a big decision. And just as I assume Rahim Khan planned it, Amir decides to take Sahib home with him. After finding out that getting Sahib to America was going to be harder than coming up for the cash for the flight to the States, Sahib commits attempted suicide. Luckily he ends up ok, and Amir takes him back to the U.S., though Sahib will not say more than a word. There is a glimmer of hope that everything will end up alright at the very end of the book, but that's for you to read for yourself. This is one of my all time favorite books, and I recommend it to anybody out there that has ever picked up a book. Seriously, everybody needs to read this book.

King of the Screw Ups ~ Teghan Kelly

K.L. Going
310 Pages
Rating: 9!

Liam Geller is Mr. Popularity, that is until he is caught half naked with a girl on his dads desk after a night of partying. He is kicked out and forced to either go live with his Grandparents in Nevada or his Gay uncle in upstate New York. Liam with a little help from his mom is invited to go stay with his Aunt/Uncle Pete, until he can pull his act together. To make everything worse Dad cannot stand Aunt Pete so that is just another secret that Liam must Keep... But as with most stories that secret slips out and Dad goes Ballistic, but thankfully Liam was just on his way out. Liam has always had the "dream life" and everything handed to him so now living in a trailer park with his cross dressed uncle who can barely make a grilled cheese, is a big adjustment.

The combination of a trouble maker like Liam and a new school is a bad mix. Liam is getting in trouble a lot at his new school whether it be with girls or school rules, but he knows that he has to change. Finally after settling in and making some new friends Liam learns that there is more than just being popular, he learns the importance's of life. Liam has managed to get a job at his uncle's friends fasion industry and pull his life together and when Liams parents decide that they want him to live with them again he will have to make the most important decision of his life. Who does he want to spend the rest of his senior year with?

King of the Screw Ups is a great book. You can read a lot of books but you don't enjoy reading them all. This book I think everyone is able to relate to, maybe not to the same degree but in some way. K.L. Going is a great author in general, I have read a few of her books and have in some way been able to relate myself to all of them. It is honestly very hard for me to get into a book but i have had no problem with this one. I suggest it to all, I hope everyone will enjoy it as much as i did!

The Tenth Circle - Kirsten Fields

The Tenth Circle

Jodi Picoult

385 pages

Rating: 10

The book The Tenth Circle held my interest from beginning to end. It is a story of a girl named Trixie, she is a 14 year old freshman at a Maine High School. Shes a straight A student who spends an hour each morning trying to master that "I just rolled out of bed look". And did I mention shes spent the last 3 months dating 17 year old Jason Underwood, the star of the hockey team, and the towns golden boy. Shes head over heels in love but things take a turn for the worst when Jason dumps her on their 3 month anniversary. Trixie becomes very depressed and takes to cutting her wrists as a way to get her mind off her heartache. Trixie takes it too far at a party and gets drunk out of her mind. By the end of the night shes near passed out on the living room floor of her friend Zephyrs house, and her ex boyfriend Jason rapes her. When Trixie is conscious again she goes home to tell her parents and goes to the hospital to have a rape kit performed. The police are called and Jason is not allowed anywhere near Trixie. Trixie starts cutting even worse than before and when she finally returns to school her locker is filled with condoms which spill out into the hallway when she opens it. Needless to say the torture from the other kids didn't stop there. They did everything from egg her house to call her cruel names as they passed her in the hallway. Trixie makes an attempt at suicide but fails. By the end of this story Jason is dead. At first the police thought it was suicide. But later evidence proved that someone pushed him off that bridge, he didn't jump willingly. Was it the father of Trixie who had brutally beaten the boy just hours before, was it Trixie who disappeared for 3 hours the night he died, or was it the mother who claimed to be at home the whole time. Read the book to find out!

In this book you will experience every emotion as if it were your own. You feel the anger of the father, the desperation of a mother who couldn't protect her daughter, and the anxiety of a girl who will be broken forever. This book is similar to The Lovely Bones, but I would consider it much better. This book keeps you hooked from beginning to end, just like all of Jodi Picoults books. You will be lead from a small town in Maine to the Alaskan tundra, home of Trixie's fathers dark and dangerous past. This book keeps you on your toes and is entirely unpredictable.

Midnighters: Touching Darkness- Ty Desjarlais

Scott Westerfeld
336 pages
I give this book a 10!




The series Midnighters captivated me all the was through, and I never wanted to put down this book. I’m not saying that everyone will like this because not a lot of people like science fiction, but if you do then I defiantly recommend you plop yourself down on a comfortable chair and read this book.



The book Midnighters: Touching Darkness left off right where the first book stopped when Jessica day realized what her power was in the blue time. Jessica Day isn’t the only darkling fighter. There is also Jonathan, Rex, Melissa, and Dess. While fighting evil Dess the polymath discovers an old lady living in the shadows who is also a midnighter. The old lady tells Dess all the secrets of the past and they finally know what happened to the last generation of midnighers. Dess keeps this a secret until some non-midnighter get involved and they need this old-timers help to solve a mystery about a missing girl from the older generation. It turns out that the darklings transformed the seer into on of them so they could communicate with humans. The girl is growing week and the darklings hatch a plan to kidnap Rex and transform him into one of them so they can still keep in touch with there allies. I cant really tell you anymore about this book without giving it away. SO JUST READ IT!

The House of the Scorpion-Sean Mahoney

The House of The Scorpion

Nancy Farmer

Beginning – End

9


The book The House of the Scorpion is an amazing book set in the sometime around the year 2100 in Aztlán, which is basically the border area between Mexico and the United States. It has turned into a major drug area where drugs are grown and harvested by Eejits which are people who have had a computer chip put into their brain to make not be able to think for themselves. The book is about Matteo Alacrán, also known as Matt, who is the main character of the book. Matt is actually a clone of the real Matteo Alacrán who is 140 years old in this book thanks to the new technology that has come about. The real Matteo is the owner of basically all of Aztlán and controls all the illegal drugs that go in and out. The U.S. and Mexico let him get away with this because he stops immigrants that go in and out with the Farm Patrol. They basically patrol Aztlán and stop people from getting through and hand them over to be turned into Eejits. That is basically what Aztlán is and everything that happens in it.

The book’s actual story starts with explaining the process of how clones are made and the birth of Matt. He lives with Celia who is basically his mother but he longs to see the outside world. One day some kids were walking by and he wants to talk to them so he smashed a window to get out but he didn’t realize the dangers so he ran barefoot onto broken glass. They took him to the manor on the estate but when they realize he’s a clone they throw him into a cell with a cruel woman named Rosa who makes him live in chicken litter. He finally gets out and actually starts to live a life and he makes a very kind and caring friend named Maria. He befriends his bodyguard named Tam Lin who teaches very many useful life skills. Eventually, he runs away from the estate for reasons you’ll have to find out yourself and lives in the real world which is very different because the real Matteo Alacrán tries to keep his estate in the past. The rest is up for you too read if you want to find out. This is a great book about a young man’s journey to basically find out what his true role in life his. The book The House of the Scorpion is an amazing book with heartwarming characters and a great storyline, both of which are probably reasons it has won three awards.

I think that this story is a good book and it really does get to think about some of the things that possibly go on today. An example is the governments letting the drug trade run rampant in the book because they actually help them out. That is a possibility in real life today that you have to think of. Something else this book has you thinking of is what kind of technology will we have in the future, will we have those horrible computer chips to turn people into Eejits. I can’t think of anything worse than to not be able to think for yourself. Will have the technology to be able to let people live pretty healthily for 140 years, granted in the book Matteo Alacrán is on of the richest men in the world. I think this book is more than just a story, I think that the author is trying to get you to think about possibilities like the ones that I have mentioned. There is even more ideas that are presented in the book, but you’ll have to read to find out.

MacKenzie Fletcher- The Last Song

Nicholas Sparks

Fiction

10.5 stars!

In The Last Song seventeen-year-old Ronnie’s parents get divorced. Her dad a former concert pianist, and professor at Julliard, moves from their home in New York City, to a quite town on the beach in North Carolina. Ronnie has been furious at her father for the past three years. In her mother’s best interest, she ships Ronnie and her little brother to her father’s for the summer. Ronnie is dreading every moment. Soon does she discover a stud muffin named Will, baby sea turtle eggs, the music within her, and the truths about why her father wanted to see her after all these years.
THIS IS NOT JUST SOME SILLY LOVEY DOVEY ROMANCE NOVEL. I honestly loved this book. I read almost the whole thing on a car ride down to Massachusetts, and I get carsick. I ignored the nausea because I was so captivated in this book nothing else mattered. I could really connect with the main character Ronnie, because I know how it is to have your parents get a divorce, and have your dad almost be out of your life. I have nothing bad to say about this book, and I recommend it to all.

stephen smith Eleven Seconds

Title: Eleven Seconds
Author: Travis Roy with E.M. swift
pages: 216
genre: auto-bio
rating: 10

I read the book Eleven Seconds it was a really good book. It was about Travis Roy’s life and how he grew up and what his goals were. In the book he told a story were he took his dads porches to hockey practice and parked it on a hill and when he got out it went down the hill and then fell into a ditch and messed up its body and got towed out. Also, he had pictures in his book two of them were when he was really small and was playing hockey. Some of his goals were that he wanted to go to a college a play on a really good team like a division 1 or 2. He talked about what his hospital room was like and how the doctor and nurses were. His window in his hospital room he said it was really small and he could see little snowflakes falling and could here the cars driving by. He was happy when he got out of the hospital and when he was driving back home when he was in town he saw all the signs that everyone put and a welcome home sign he was shocked that a lot of people where surrounding his all of his family was there

Nightlight- Liam Grinnell

Author: The Harvard Lampoon

Genre: Parody

Pages: 154

Rating: 7.5

This Parody of the Popular Book “Twilight” tells the story of Belle Goose and her new life after moving to Switchblade, Oregon. Loaded with many scenes reminiscent of Twilight but far too odd to be taken seriously and social standards far different from any I’ve ever known in any other story, the plot goes like this: The delusional, clumsy, arrogant girl moves to a new town, and finds herself attracted to the odd boy whom nobody knows. After much soul searching she concludes he is a vampire, and the fun begins. As they begin to build a relationship she doesn’t waste a second before telling him she knows he is a vampire, he himself not having known this is a little confused as any level headed person would be. “Hey you you’re a vampire!” yeah, ok crazy. Her expectations for him far exceed his capabilities, or lack thereof rather and the plot, or lack thereof, thickens. As a fan of the Twilight books (BOOKS, not movies, BOOKS) I found this parody quite refreshing and well written. It was humorous with just enough emotion to give the reader some empathy for the characters, mostly just funny though. I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone who read the original Twilight and enjoyed it for its content. Not so much someone who saw the movie and went “OMG OMG ROB PATTINSON SO HAWT OMG LOLZ LOLZ”. No offense to those people… but pick up the book and learn what the stories about, ok maybe a little offense. But in conclusion, Nightlight was an excellent parody, Twilight was a good book, both are indeed books, ones a movie, and yeah… have a good day!

90 Minutes in Heaven

Author: Don Piper
Genre: Biography
Pages: 257
Rating: 9 out of 10

Survivor Don Piper tells of his journey to heaven and back after a semi crushed his car and left him, literally, in pieces. Don was pronounced dead on the scene of the accident, but his friend wanted to pray over his body anyway. He placed his hand on Don’s shoulder and sang to the Lord and prayed that Don would return to life with only external injuries, no internal. To his shock, that is exactly what happened when Don started singing with him – 90 minutes after he was pronounced dead. Don tells of his times of strength and weakness through the unbearable recovery he was forced to endure. However during his times of despair, Don realized that he God still had a mission for him on Earth, and that mission was for him to comfort the unsure and assure all who are faithful.

I will admit that before reading this book I was skeptical as to how the story could really be true. I mean, someone going to Heaven and back and then telling about it? It is just so unheard of. But soon my doubt was lost. The author, Don Piper, told his story so truthfully, straight from his heart. He put so much emotion into the writing I felt as if he was sitting next to me talking to me. I have always been what I like to call “religiously confused,” with my parents going from Catholic to absolutely nothing. I was completely left to chose what I felt was right for me. I am certainly not one to attend church every Sunday, or pray before each meal. But I have always, deep down, believed in Heaven and God, and I knew God was always looking out for me. This book opened my eyes even more to the wonders the Lord and what he can help us accomplish. It's definitely one of the most inspiring books I have ever read.

Bufflehead Sisters~Madison Roberge

Title: Bufflehead Sisters
Author: Patricia J. DeLois
Pages: 357
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Rating: 7 out of 10

Two girls, two stories, one friendship, one secret. Janet and Sophie met as children in kindergarten and became best friends. Sophie's life was very harsh, seeing as her mother tried to shoot her in the head as a child. That lead her to move in with Janet and her family. They bonded and became inseparable sisters. Throughout the years the girls turned out to be very different from one another. Janet was quite and respectful while Sophie fooled around with almost every guy in and out of school. Soon enough Sophie went too far with it all and when her secret got out, the friendship was ruined.

Bufflehead Sisters was a great book that helped me see how to be a better friend and sister. I gave this book a seven because it failed to explain why the girls were called the "bufflehead sisters" and the story line got a little weird. This book was funny and uplifting while being sad, heartbreaking, and shocking. From everything the girls went through in the book, I learned not to run away from my problems because it does not make them disappear. My sister and I may fight all the time, but I will always love her and that is a big part of any relationship. Staying by the side of your sister, brother, or friend through tough times shows the other person how much they really mean to you. Summing it all up, always find a way to forgive and love in the toughest times.

Huge - Jessica Holden

Sasha Paley
Realistic Fiction
259 pages
9 out of 10


Imagine spending all summer at a fat camp. Well in this novel that is exactly what Wil and April do. April, who had to save forever just to attend the camp and Wil, who’s rich parents sent her there against her will, are forced to be roommates at Wellness-Canyon a camp for obese teenagers. These two girls have very different personalities, but have to work together and be there for each other throughout their weight loss experience. Will however decides that instead of loosing weight she is going to gain weight, to prove to her parents that size doesn’t matter. April however feels that with Wil’s crude personality, her chances of loosing weight might be difficult. Towards the middle of the book both girls fall for Colin the Wellness- Canyon hottie! The story turns for the best when Colin embarrasses them both. This strikes the girls anger, and they decide to work together and get back at him. Towards the end of the book April and Wil finally realize how much they need each other, and accomplish their weight loss goals.
I am surprised that I actually enjoyed this book. Many people have gave this book bad reviews, but I was shocked when I couldn’t put it down. I liked how the author actually wrote in a teenagers point of view. Even though this book did have a few cheesy parts, I also liked how the characters had a main goal, and continued to strive for it. I as well as half of America feel as though we need to loose weight, and do nothing about it. This book although it may seem weird made me want to exercise more. This novel is mainly about self-esteem, confidence, and friendship. Even though it may sound cliché this book really expresses how it doesn’t matter what size or shape you are. I would defiantly recommend this to anyone who is in search of a good read.

Rumble fish~~~~~~~Isaiah Gove

Isaiah Gove
Rumble Fish
S.E Hinton
Rating 0.1
Pages 135




The book is about fighting. People pay people to fight and kill a person, that’s just about it. Rusty-James and Motorcycle Boy are not book smart but they’re street smart like street fighters. They know how to deal with people. One time a guy paid Rusty-James $400.00 to kill a person and $5.00 to beat someone up.
I think the book was one of the most boring books because all they do is fight and fight, it is the same thing over and over and I thought it was just plain stupid. There weren’t different events to keep me interested throughout the book, even though I liked The Outsiders. I don’t like this book and I think the author was out of her mind when she wrote this book. It was awful.

For One More Day~ Marissa Merrill

Author: Mitch Albom
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 9 out of 10
#Pages: 194 (read all)

If you had a once in a life time chance to fix anything you regret in life would you? This book For One More Day is an outstanding novel put in the perspective of a little boy through his rough journey we call “life”. Charles “Chick” Benetto at a young age was forced by his father to be a daddy’s boy or a mama’s boy, but was told he couldn’t be both. Chick chooses his father and sticks with him until the day his dad disappears. Not knowing why or where his father went he blames it on his mother.
Ten years later Charles is worthless and shattered by regrets. He has lost everything from his family to his only daughter shutting him out of her own wedding. But in Charles eyes he hasn’t done enough damage to his life, so he decides that he should take his own life. Upon a late night drive trying to kill himself he fails to do so and he stumbles back to his old house. There he finds a very mind twisting discovery. His mother that was said died eight years ago is still living in the house, and had welcomed Charles like nothing ever happened. Could this really be?
Upon reading this book it made me mad and sad at the same time. For example a child should never have to choose between both parents on which one to like more because I love both my parents equally. In the book Charles was forced to choose and years later is father left him as if he didn’t care about him. I have connections with my mom that it’s hard to have with my dad. My mother is my best friend I can always count on her all the time, she gives me her best advice, and I know she loves me no matter what. My dad is my protector he watches over me and makes sure I am living in a safe environment.
Reading this book though has really made me think about things I regret in my life, and lost loved ones. I always dream of going back and fixing that one mistake or what would I have done if I had one more day with that lost loved one? I personally would just want to be by their side. Not only that but do the things we love the most and make that day the best day of our lives. Like going to the ocean and walking along the beach, eating ice cream, talk about everything possible, just enjoy the time I have and lastly watch the sunset with them. This may not seem exciting to any of you but its what I would like to do with a lost loved one. What would you like to do?
I would highly recommend this book to a lot of people. This is an outstanding novel that makes you really think about how much we cherish things in life and how we don’t realize what we have until it’s gone. This book is very emotional but is worth the read. It gets you into the story right from the beginning and is an unforgettable story about a young boy who realizes how fragile life really is.

Shutter Island- Reese Chappuis

Title: Shutter Island
Author: Dennis Lehane
Genre: Mystery
# of pages: 385
Rating: 10 out of 10

Shutter Island is the ultimate psychological thriller. It begins with two US marshals, Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule, going to Shutter Island, an asylum for the criminally insane. They are investigating the disappearance of Rachel Solando, who had drowned her three children and made them her "dolls". Under further observations, it becomes very unlikely that Rachel escaped without the help of someone on the island. When the marshals discover an encoded message, they interpret it to say that there is another, unidentified, 67th patient. Soon enough, Rachel is found in one of the rooms, but the marshals still stay around, questioning the ethics of the procedures on Shutter Island. And yet, the real truth is yet to be revealed.

This is my second favorite book I've ever read, only after 1984. It is mind-boggling and leads you to predicting dead ends. This story is no typical investigation. There is a syllogism in this book that sums the whole mindset of it up: "Insane men deny they are insane... Bob denies he is insane... Ergo, Bob is insane." I love this quote because it is so counter-intuitive, so incredibly not-what-you'd-think. Dennis Lehane has a nasty talent for confusing the heck out of his readers, and makes them read the book twice, or maybe even a third time. I know I did. In what better setting for a psychological book is there than an insane asylum? It brings out thoughts that makes you question your own sanity, the sanity of mankind. For anyone who enjoys a relatively uneventful, yet thought provoking book, Shutter Island should be on the top of his or her to-read list.

The Dalewind Trilogy- Jake Linville

The Dale wind trilogy
R.S Salvatore
Rating (9-10)
Pages read (1080)
The main story line for this book goes like this: a blue elf named Drizzt Do’ Urden is on an adventure to find a princess the he loves and wants to marry, And she was kidnapped by an evil wizard named Bruenor. During this adventure, he encounters many things including a giant man-eating spider and a giant Cyclops that has an obsession with sheep. After he made it through all of the treacherous beasts he arrived at the wizard’s tower. So he runs in side and…………… I can’t tell you the rest cause that would be giving it away so if you like to read big books with lots of adventure then this is the book.
I thought this was a very good book because it has lots of adventure and mystery. Although I love this book very much it can be a bit stale at some times and it tends to have long-winded scenes. I recommend that you read the first book “the dark elf trilogy” this tells you Drizzt Do” Urden story.

The Last Song- Megan Reid

Nicholas Sparks
Realistic Fiction
463 pages
10 billion out of 10- Oh yea it was that good!
Period 4

Before the summer, Ronnie had a purple streak in her hair, she shoplifted, she would stay out past her curfew partying at clubs in NY, she would argue with her Mom, and though she wouldn’t drink or do the drugs, Ronnie certainly was a rebellious girl. Ronnie hadn’t talked to her Dad since he left after the divorce 3 years ago. She was going to be 18 over the summer and she didn’t have any future planed. Playing the piano was certainly not in her future, even though she belonged at Julliard, no doubt about it. Ronnie’s mother decided to send her and her brother Jonah to their Dad’s for the summer, and although Ronnie’s mood had only made the situation seem worse than it was, the summer eventually changed her. I have to wonder what would Ronnie would be like if she had never gone to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina for the summer.

Well, she wouldn’t be a nice sister, and a nest of loggerheads wouldn’t have lived to see the ocean. She wouldn’t know the truth about her parent’s relationship, why they divorced and why her Dad moved away. Marcus wouldn’t be in jail, and Blaze might not be alive. She wouldn’t be in love with Will Blakelee, she wouldn’t have met Will’s sister Megan, and she wouldn’t have loved or even talked her father. The summer was an experience of love, realization, pain, faith and forgiveness. Will, Steve, and even young Jonah were a bit affected by the changes during the summer. Ronnie’s true love experience and her change of heart made for the perfect summer. This summer was Steve’s last chance with the kids to show them his love, a love that was greater than his love for life. Ronnie would have never guessed that one summer could change her life so drastically.

The Last Song is a perfect title for an incredible book. In all honesty, this is the best book that I have ever read. I would recommend this book for absolutely any person, any age (above 13 that is). I believe that male or female, young or old, this book can satisfy you somehow. Maybe not in as many ways as it did for me, but there is no denying how much it has to offer. Love is the theme throughout the whole book, and who doesn’t love a good book about love? This is definitely not one of those cheesy and ridiculous love series (*cough cough* like Twilight). The romance between Will and Ronnie is so genuine and it is NOT overly dramatized. In a feature video about the movie with Nicholas Sparks, he talks about his themes of love, faith, forgiveness, and family. These are all themes that I picked up on, and these are all themes that I feel strongly about in my own life. You can see the themes through the events in the book and through the characters. Tragedy, truth, personality and music are other ideas that branch off of the main themes of the book. The fact that all of these ideas and themes flow so well together just shows you how amazing Nicholas Sparks is as a writer and as a person who cares about these things. If you don’t believe me, check out his other brilliant works like A Walk to Remember and The Notebook.

Ronnie couldn’t be any more like myself. We know regret and heartbreak. She was lied to and she had to accept when she was wrong. She had to forgive, which I probably do too willingly lately. Will is the kind of guy that I would fall in love with, and I would want to spend the rest of my life with him. Jonah is almost like my brother Tyler, and Steve is like my dad in comparison of their faith. Ronnie has better control and understanding when it comes to her brother. I love the beach (my favorite place to be), I love animals, and I can be impatient much like Ronnie. To add another similarity, I know the feeling of not belonging. The truth and realness behind Ronnie and Will’s relationship is what touches me the most. You can see how perfect they are for each other and that is what I want in my life. The special people and the special moments are cherished throughout the book, and it reminds me to cherish the things in my own life. The simplicity of the book is relaxing and it makes the book enjoyable to read. Yet, the complexity of Ronnie’s life and what she is learning is so thrilling and captivating. You will not want to put the book down!

Change of Heart - Chelsea Colby

Title: Change of Heart
Author: Jodi Picoult
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Pages: 447
Rating: 8 out of 10

The year is 1996 in New Hampshire and a twenty year old man shows up at the household of Kurt and June Nealon looking for odd jobs. Shay, that twenty year old mentally challenged man, is in the processing of building the nursery for the couple’s second child on the way, who will be the little sister of Elizabeth. June then comes home to find blue lights flashing and her family dead at the hands of Shay. Twenty year old Michael is part of the jury that finds Shay guilty and decides he will be New Hampshire’s first capital punishment case in over a hundred years. Eleven years later Shay is still on death row and June wants justice in the case. Claire, born shortly after the murders of her sister and father, is now dying and is in dire need of a heart transplant. Shay wishes to be the donor but will be unable to give his heart if he is killed through lethal injection as planned. Shay’s lawyer, Maggie, is working diligently to change the law to allow Shay to be killed through hanging instead of lethal injection allowing the heart to be used upon his death. In order for this motion to be considered legitimate in the court, Father Michael, who acts as Shay’s spiritual advisor, must prove that donating his heart is part of Shay’s religion. The trial brings about many shocking discoveries involving the murder from over a decade earlier. The definition of murder will be questioned, family ties will be challenged, and God will be put to the test. The legality and morality of the situation will determine whether two people will die or if one is to be saved by the murderer of half her family.

I have never been involved in a trial, I have never been to court, and have never dealt with murder or even the loss of a parent or sibling. I can only imagine how crippling and life altering these events must be. I have no life experiences to relate them to but I do connect this with a very powerful movie, “John Q”. The father was willing to do anything, even take his own life, in order for his son to receive a heart. June wants a heart for Claire more than anything but in order for this to occur she needs to let go of the hatred she feels for Shay. Shay is also willing to give his heart to save the life of the little girl. This story is a difficult one to personally relate with but is very well written. I had trouble getting into the plot in the first few chapters but the intensity soon picks up. Jodi Picoult’s alternating narrative perspective keeps you reading into the wee hours of the morning trying to get through one chapter in order to get back to another character. I would recommend this book highly but warn you that there are multiple religious views expressed in this text and there are some heady, philosophical passages that must be reread to ensure comprehension. Hope you enjoy!