The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give
By Angie Thomas
Reviewed by Claire



I read the book, “The Hate You Give,” by Angie Thomas. It was one of the best books I have ever read. It was very well written. The book had lots of emotions and feelings. It is a long book, but it is so worth reading. I would recommend this book to anyone who is over the age of 12.

The book is about a black girl, Star who goes through lots of emotional states. She saw one of her best friends get shot, by a white police officer. She was the only one who saw it happen. The police officer claims many things about that night and they were not true. She doesn’t go to school in her neighborhood so that she would get a better education. She also is one of the two black kids in her grade, which of course makes everything hard. Her boyfriend is white, Chris, which makes her dad very mad. It also makes Star question if she should be with him. Star goes through many ups and downs and hard times in her life. Read the book to find out everything that happens to her.

The book is excellent and I would even read it again. Sadly the book is inappropriate and shouldn’t be read by anyone under twelve, but it is an amazing book and everyone should read it. It hits you in the heart and makes you really think about what these characters are going through. It is a sad, heartfelt, emotional book, full of twists and turns.

I would give this book a 5 out of 5 stars. It is very recommended from me. I think even non-readers could read this book and love it. It is sad, happy, and plain out amazing! If you haven’t read it go now and get it fast.

Speak

Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Reviewed by Jayla



Melinda Sordino is a very quiet 9th-grade freshman at Merryweather High School in Central New York. She was once a popular girl with lots of friends, but now she is an outcast. At an end of the summer party, she calls the cops and they bust the place after she is attacked by IT, now no one talks to her, or even is willing to listen to her side of the story. This year IT is back and continues to taunt her, which makes her afraid and her will to speak lessens. Her only friend was the talkative new girl from Ohio, you would think that with her having a chatty friend it would encourage her to speak up more often, but as time goes by Melinda becomes more and more quiet, practically to the point of silence.

One reason I like this book is because of how effortlessly funny it is. Even though it doesn't directly tell a joke, it’s still humous because of the situations that occur. For instance, in one part of the book, it says that she was invited by Heather (the new girl from Ohio), to go to her house. Melinda, who doesn't have many friends and doesn't want to lose this one agrees to come over. While she is their Heather is going on and on about the new club she had joined (the Martha’s) and Melinda was sitting there picking lint balls off her shirt. Melinda says that when she is talking to heather all she has to do is say “that's not fair”, “I totally can relate” even when she can't and occasionally nod her head. It’s funny to me that the friend, in this case, is totally oblivious to the fact that Melinda is not listening to her and could care less about her situation.

Another thing I like about the book is that it teaches people to always speak up for yourself, especially when something as traumatizing as what happened to Melinda is going on. In the book and even the movie, I think it's a great example of how things are when she didn't talk about her problem. In the book and movie, they show Melinda as a very quiet girl who basically is excluded from the joy that should be experienced in someone's freshman year. I also would like to say that I think the movie is a good representation of the book, and that Kristen Stewart did a great job portraying Melinda’s part.

This book is written in a way that is suspenseful in a sense. In the book, you don't know what Melinda called the cops for until the end and then you understand why she was so scared of IT. In my opinion, it's like a mystery. The way that it has layers and explains why Melinda is so distant, and not your ordinary teen. The way it's layered is backward, what I mean by this is that it firsts talks about how things are after the summer, instead of talking about what caused her to change so abruptly. Then, towards the end, it tells more about the party and what occurred that led up to her calling the cop.

In conclusion, I think that Speak is an amazing book. I think that it gives you a good look into someone else’s life, and their experience. Though the book's topic is a very sensitive one, Speak explains it in a way that helps the victim to overcome. In the end, everything turns out alright, she learned to accept what happened. “IT happened. There is no avoiding it, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding” 

The Selection

The Selection
By Kiera Cass
Reviewed by Amiya



16-year-old America lived in Illea where life was great. She and her family lived as artist and musicians ranked as 5. America secretly dated Aspen who was ranked a 6 even though her mother stressed her to marry a man of higher rank like her sister. At the end of every week, Aspen would meet America in her tree house in her backyard and talk about their week, when one day America surprised Aspen with a dinner she made using money she had saved up. Aspen got upset once he realized that he wouldn’t be able to care for and treat America the way she deserved so he broke up with her and encouraged her to enter The Selection which is a group of women 16-20 years old competing for Prince Maxon of Illea and the role of the princess.

 Even though mostly all the women in Illea enter to compete only 35 women will be drafted. As a surprise to America and her family, she is drafted. After a week of preparation for the palace went by America gathered at the town hall so that her town could wish her luck while there America spots Aspen holding another girl. Infuriated, America stormed off and got into the limo taking her to the palace when Aspen tried to stop her but he was too late. On the way to the palace, America meets friends like Marlee and Alice and automatic enemies like Celeste.

Once they arrived the competition began all the selected were getting makeovers manicures and pedicures and dyeing their hair and getting fitted for their dresses. When America's turn came she refused to let them cut or dye her natural red hair, put on any nail polish on and only agreed to lite mascara. Later that night America had a panic attack and ran to the royal garden when two guards stopped her until Prince Maxon demanded that the guards let her out from that moment on Maxon and America had a friendship. After hearing America's story Maxon agreed to let her stay until the last possible moment before he had to pick a princess so that her family will continue to get paid compensation. Maxon often picked America up from her room and took her on dates to discuss the other girls and their story to see if they are unfit and should be sent home or just to get to know her better.

 Over time Maxon began to gain feelings for America and one night while hanging out in America’s room he kissed her making her feel special until hearing gossip that he had kissed other girls as well, which made their friendship rocky. Once America finally feels like she has everything under control she finds out that Aspen her ex-boyfriend is a guard at the palace. Afraid to tell Maxon because of the threat he made to punish whoever hurt America she keeps his identity a secret. Not knowing the history between the two Maxon assigns Aspen to guard America’s door at night. A day later Aspen woke America up in the middle of the night and kissed her. Torn between Maxon and Aspen America must decide on who to chose and if she should leave the competition and be with her first love or stay and be with her new love to find out who America chooses read the book.

Strengths of this book are you never get tired of reading it because there's new drama luring you in. And it plays with your emotions making you hate certain characters but fall in love with other ones. I didn’t really feel like there was a weakness to this book but one may be the fact that there a lot of pages in the book and it’s the first book in a three book series and all the books have lots of pages.

In conclusion I think The Selection is a really good book and if you like romantic books or not you should read this book.

Ghost

Ghost
By Jason Reynolds
Reviewed by Shadow

Ghost is a new book by Jason Reynolds. I couldn’t stop reading it I was entranced within its pages, that’s how good it was. All kids that have been bullied, or made fun of, or just like to read. Jason Reynolds has wrote so many good books and they keep getting better. I hope you read this book.

This book is awesome it tells a story that is about a boy named Ghost that lives in a low class neighborhood with his mom trying to stay on the track team and no more altercations so no more trouble happens at school. Just going to school is a rough time for Ghost must be hard. Running for a track team competing with other runners and getting good grades at school, and staying out of trouble is work within itself. There is a character at the end that will leave you waiting for more. This is such a great book.

 Here are some the book’s strengths and weaknesses let me show you. The strengths are that the author paints a picture of what’s happening in the book. You can feel the emotions that Ghost is feeling with every page and the plot is so easy to find with a clear climax. The weaknesses of Ghost are that it has a cliffhanger at the end. The other weakness is that the book is not detailed enough.

So do you want to read this book I loved it I hope you do to. Ghost is cool and you will
love it. The author is keen when he writes a book it is awesome read it I promise it won’t let you
down you nose will be stuck in this book flip goes the pages. So are you going to read this book,
start reading now.

One Came Home

One Came Home
By Amy Timberlake
Reviewed by Simone

One Came Home by Amy Timberlake is about a girl named George Burkhardt’s older sister Agatha who goes missing after running off with a pack of “pigeoneres". A few weeks later a sheriff comes to town with an unidentifiable body who had on the exact same clothes as Agatha. So as everyone would they assumed that Agatha was dead or had been murdered, but not Georgie. She believes that her sister is still out there and is lost. She knows that this is a whole coincidence and that whoever is in that outfit isn't her sister. So Georgie goes on a search for her sister and to bring her back home. She may not be ready for the challenges she is going to face during this journey.

I don't really think that there are any pros and cons about this book except that I think Amy Timberlake should have made the story longer it would have been more exciting. And that there should have been more plot twists to make it even more amazing. One Came Home is an amazing book with a murder mystery type vibe. I advise everyone to read this book. I had a lot of fun reading it and finding out what happens at the end! I promise when you finish reading this book you'll overthink everything that you thought in the first place, but You'll have to read the book to find out!

 I really like this book and I would love to read more by Amy Timberlake she seems like an amazing author seeing how awesome this book was. In conclusion Like I said this book was great and everyone should read it. I don't know if there is a movie about this book, but if there isn't they should make one it would be great! Anyways that's all I have to say about this book and I can't wait to read more by Amy Timberlake!

Oh Yeah, Audrey!

Oh Yeah, Audrey!
By Tucker Shaw
Reviewed by Salaya

The book “Oh Yeah Audrey” is about a girl, Gemma Beasley, who is attempting to portray the part of Audrey Hepburn at the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's. It’s 5:00 am and she is standing in front of Tiffany and Co. in New York. Gemma is wearing a long, silky, black gown, white gloves, three strands of pearls around her neck, and has a pastry and coffee in her hands. She traveled to New York with fellow bloggers from their blog “Oh Yeah, Audrey” to have a full day of being Audrey Hepburn. She soon meets a boy that wants to show her New York like how she’s seen it in the movies - all action packed and fun. Will Gemma go with the boy and experience New York or will she continue to be Audrey Hepburn?

The characters in this book are Gemma Beasley, Mrs.Beasley, Mr.Beasley, Trina, Bryan, Telly, and Dusty. Gemma Beasley is a 16-year-old girl whose desire is to become Audrey Hepburn. Mrs. Beasley is Gemma’s mom. She passed away because of cancer when Gemma was just 13 years old. Mr. Beasley is Gemma’s dad. Ever since his wife died, he has become the loneliest man alive. He reads a lot and stays in his house a lot. Trina is one of Gemma’s friends from their blog. She is a very outgoing person and loves clothes. Bryan is another one of Gemma’s friends Oh Yeah, Audrey By Tucker Shaw from the blog. Telly is another one of Gemma’s friends from the blog. She is also very outgoing as well as a party animal. Dusty is the mysterious boy that wants Gemma to explore New York with him.

I would rate this book an 8/10. I would rate this book an 8/10 because it’s a really fun book, but it has some parts in it that were kinda sad.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
by Alvin Schwartz
Reviewed by Rashad

The book I read is called “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” by Alvin Schwartz. This book is about all different types of scary stories that you can share with your family and friends all in one.

 One of my favorite scary stories this book tells is called the “The Walk.” “The Walk” is about a kids uncle walking with a creepy old man, the uncle looked at the man and the man looked at the uncle. The man was scared of the uncle and the uncle was scared of the man. They both continued to walk and stare at each in fright, the uncle and the man both walked into the woods and the uncle was terrified of... If you really want to know what happened in the rest of this story read it to find out.

Another scary story I enjoyed reading is called “The Girl who stood on a Grave.” “The Girl who stood on a grave” is about a group of girls and boys at a party, and there was a graveyard down the street and one of the boys from the group said you should never stand on a grave after dark. The girl from the group didn’t believe the boy so she challenged the boy to a bet for a dollar if she stands on top of the grave. The boy handed the girl a knife and told her to stick it in the grave, the girl stood on the grave and stuck the knife into the grave and she tried to leave but something was holding her back she tried to stick the grave again, again, and again and she still couldn’t move. She was filled with terror until she… Read the rest of the story to find out what happened next.

In conclusion, I feel like this story had no weaknesses only strengths. What really got me interested in this book was that there were so many hooked scary stories that I couldn’t keep my eyes off of I had to know what happened next. On a scale of 1-10, I would give this book a ten because I got so caught up in reading it like I was in the story. I would recommend this book to people who like to read about scary stories.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
By Ransom Riggs
Reviewed by Shyla

This book I read is about a teenager named Jake, When his beloved grandfather leaves Jake clues to a mystery that spans different worlds and times, he finds a magical place known as Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children. But the mystery and danger deepen as he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers - and their terrifying enemies. Ultimately, Jake discovers that only his own special peculiarity can save his new friends.

The book has very strange pictures on the cover and in the book. I liked how they describe the pictures before I even look at the images. The certain parts of the book made me very upset for many reasons, plus it was relatable to me in each chapter. There are so many things I love about this book. My favorite character from the first book is Jake, mostly because he is smart, serious, caring, and brave.

The weaknesses in the book were mostly when I knew something bad would happen in some parts, but it slowly describes every single detail making me impatient for what would happen next.

The strengths of the book were how well described the chapters were, and the creepy features they showed while reading. The characters were well made and perfect for the plot. The last thing is that the book is way better than the movie in my opinion.

I mostly recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy/drama. There are two more books after the first, so you can buy the whole collection just to see the whole story! If you like these books, I recommend you read Ransom Riggs other books. That’s all I really have to say about this wonderful book, I hope you enjoyed it!

Love and Gelato

Love and Gelato
by Jenna Evans Welch
Review by Elena

Jenna Evans Welch draws young teens into a reading fantasy in “Love and Gelato”. The author spent high school in Florence, Italy, so the details really come to life.

Sixteen year-old athlete, Lina, is spending a summer in Italy with her father, whom she’s never met. Her mother just died recently, so the last thing Lina wants to do is spend three months in a sunny, tourist-crowded place. While she is staying at her father’s residence in a cemetery, Sonia, the assistant superintendent of the cemetery, gives Lina her mother’s journal.

Lina reads it over the course of the time, while she meets Ren, short for Lorenzo, and becomes good friends with him. He shows her around Florence and she meets all of his friends. She also meets Thomas, a tall boy with a British accent who she has a huge crush on at first. When Lina and Ren discover a secret in her mother’s notebook, they rush to find out who Lina’s real father is. Turns out he was not what she thought he was, so they go home confused. Lina and Ren feel awkward because they both can’t figure each other on romance and relationship feelings.

Lina’s life is full of romance, relationship, and choice struggles. Lina thought Italy was just full of love and gelato, but she got much more than she bargained for. “Love and Gelato” is a great pick for ages 12 and up, and has a great plot. Read the book to discover the secret of the mysterious life of Lina’s mother and how it affected Lina’s life!

What to Say Next

What To Say Next 
by Julie Buxbaum
Review by Ruby

David Drucker. The socially awkward kid who wears big black headphones every day at school. David has no friends but one day, he finds himself sitting across the table from Kit Lowell. David had heard about Kit. Kit was the most popular girl in school. Her dad had died in a car crash recently. He looked at her, her staring at her indian food, and he thought that he should say something to her. Naturally, he just blurted out, “So your dad died.” David had this notebook where he wrote about every single person in her school. He wrote their names, looks, and every encounter he had with them. Under Kit’s name, only a few encounters stood. Kit and David were on complete opposite ends of the social pyramid. Kit and David started talking and eventually, they developed feelings for each other.

David and Kit came up with this project called the “accident project,” where they investigated Kit’s father’s death so that Kit could gain closure. As they sat at a restaurant, Kit and David were talking. Eventually, David found out something about Kit and the accident that she hoped no one would ever find out. David was so proud of himself for finding out that he sounded excited about this awful thing. Kit was mortified because everyone in the restaurant heard what David found out. He messed up. What to Say Next is a coming of age story and learning that not everyone is perfect. Everyone messes up. What to Say Next will leave you in tears and on edge after every chapter. This story is a great book for young adults who are looking for a good read.

A Perfect Book Review of the Book Perfect

Perfect 
By Sara Shepard
Review by Gloria

Emily is a focused swimmer who is hiding her true sexuality from the world, but mainly from her parents. Aria is trying not to involve her mother in Byron, Arias father's, affair. Hanna wants to be skinny again, and she’s ruining friendships because of it. Oh, and spencer, she stole her sister's essay, boyfriend, and fame. And her sister wants payback. All of these girls have nothing in common, but the remains of the friendship they used to have. 3 years ago, Alison Dilaurentis had a tight nit group of friends, except everyone in this tight nit group was lying, and keeping secrets. One night at the beginning of 7th grade Alison starts acting sketchy, and disappears the next day. Leaving Aria, Emily, Spencer, and Hanna in fear for there friends life, and scared for what might happen to theirs.

As these girls attempt to bury their secrets, someone by the name of A (yes that's all he/she goes by) threatens to uncover them. Throughout this book the four ex-best friends have to endure endless text messages, emails, and stunningly vindictive letters. All because, well you have to read the book to find out why, and the other 17 other books along with it.

Sara Shepard brought a whole new world to life with her version of a mysterious (and murderous) small town. Giving the reader a taste of what it's like to lose a friend, be cyber bullied, and go through high school all in one. Perfect, is the third book in in the Pretty Little Liars series. Shepard perfectly captures a young woman's emotions, even though being thirty at the time the book was written. Perfect has 37 chapters, with the narration changing between the four girls. The chapters names seem to sum up its contents adequately, with chapters names ranging from The Rose Bushes Have Eyes (narrated by Emily), to It Was Necessary (narrated by Aria). Compare Aria, Emily, Spencer, and Hanna’s need for drama to a 6 year old girls need for Barbie dolls, it's only fit that the girls make more drama, and get more dolls. Speaking of dolls, A has a few of them, and there names are Aria, Emily, Spencer, and Hanna, if you read this thrilling novel you will know just what A can make the girls do. All in all Perfect will be the perfect book for you (I’m just assuming, if you're reading this you probably have shown some interest in it), and for anyone else who likes teen drama.

Everything, Everything

Everything, Everything
By Nicola Yoon
Reviewed by Sydney

In Everything, Everything, Madeline has a rare medical condition called SCID. SCID stands for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease. She can’t leave her house, and if she does she could die. Her condition is as if she is allergic to the world outside her air locked house. Madeline Whittier has never left her house in 17 years.

Madeline’s life changes after she sees her new neighbor move in, Olly. First they started communicating by writing on their windows with a marker. Then they started instant messaging and emailing each other. He asked why she couldn’t come outside, but she didn’t want to tell him that she is sick, because she didn’t want Olly to treat her like she was different. When Madeline told Olly that she was sick, Olly didn’t treat her differently, but he was more careful about her.

Olly and Madeline fell in love, and I fell in love with them. Olly and Madeline opened up to each other. Madeline’s nurse, Carla, allowed Olly to come over to meet her in person. When they started talking to each other in person, they fell more in love. I think they both knew, once they met, that they were meant to be.

Everything, Everything, was really exciting to read, and the book was really inspiring. The book made me feel what the character felt; when someone was mad, sad, happy, or scared I felt the same way. The details painted a clear picture of what was going on in the story. The characters’ personality were so well explained I almost felt like I knew them. Reading the book, with such clear details, I almost felt like I was watching the movie

Honestly, there was nothing I didn’t like about the book. The book made me feel uplifted and happy. This book made me change the way I feel about the world. The way Madeline explains what she feels, sees, hears, and smells when she went outside made me notice the things around me. This book was heartwarming and I didn’t want it to end.

Julie of the Wolves

Julie of the Wolves
by Jean Craighead George
Reviewed by Annika

Julie of The Wolves is a beautiful novel by Jean Craighead George. The main character, Miyax, or Julie (her english name), is an eskimo who found the situation she was in to be unacceptable. The book is funny, yet serious, simple, yet complex. If you enjoy books about survival or animals, this may be the right book for you!

 Miyax is an Eskimo, and her life was pretty good. That is, until her father disappears and her new protector decides she’s ready to marry. Miyax is excited, until she sees her new husband. Eventually, she decides enough is enough, and runs away to live with her pen pal in San Francisco. Great idea, until she finds herself lost on the North slope of Alaska. Alone and running out of food, Miyax must find a way to survive, and that way happens to be living with a pack of wolves. Eventually, the wolves come to love her as she does them, but Miyax has a decision to make. Will she stay as Miyax with the wolves? Or will she choose to continue on her way, (Somehow!) to San Francisco as Julie?

George’s storytelling is on point, somehow making her story Intriguing and amusing, without having any more main characters than one human and a few wolves. Oh, and eventually an adorable baby bird! Out of 10, I would rate this book a 7.5-8. It is heartbreaking, but heartmending, and is very deep. In some ways, it is a bit confusing, but I would recommend it, as maybe a 7-8th grade reading level.

All in all, I like this story, and I believe it is educational, and that all middle school- Jr. high schoolers should read it. Happy reading!

Sisters

Sisters
By Raina Telgemeier
Reviewed by Serenity

Step into Raina’s world of her and her siblings on a wild road trip and see their child hood growing up. “Sisters” is a fascinating comic book about a girl named Raina, who as a only child really wanted a sister to play with. When Raina finally got that special wish she then wished she could take it back. Having a baby sister was boring because Amara (the baby)didn’t play the same things she did. Having a toddler sister was annoying because growing up Amara always threw fits and temper tantrums.Eventually Will, their new baby brother ,came along.By the time Amara was going into pre-teen Raina was already a teen so she didn’t even want to spend time with anyone.

The book focuses on when their family went on their family week long road trip to Colorado. Two months before the road trip Amara’s pet snake ,Mango, got loose in the car on their way to the pet store and crawled into the middle of the seat and the seat cushion. Raina was afraid of snakes so she didn’t want to sit in the front seat. Raina and her siblings really wanted their dad to drive with them but them but he had work and him and their mom weren’t getting along to much. Then after a long and wild car ride they arrived to Colorado and spent two days with their cousins, which Raina and Amara didn’t really like hanging out with their cousins but they made it through those two days and were back on the road.

On their way back home their car battery died and something worse so Raina and Amara stayed in the car while their mom and Will find a ride to town to find a towing company. While Raina and Amara waited for them to come back Mango comes out of the chair ,but they both don't want to pick him up so they put him in a grocery bag. Raina and Amara get worried for Will and their mom and they are hungry because they have been gone for four hours. When Will and their mom get back they get really excited and relieved and tell their mom everything over some Burger King. To find out more details about their trip and how their cousin's house was, check out “ Sisters” By Raina Telgemeier.

That is how Raina survived the week long road trip,stuck in the car with her 2 siblings and her mom. This book is a true story told by Raina herself about growing up with a brother and sister. It shares childhood memories and all of the Telgemeier’s pets. I recommend this to any kid 9-13 it's a really good book that is fun to read.

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book
By Neil Gaiman
Reviewed by Lily

Neil Gaiman is best known as an author of comic books, graphic novels, and fiction. One such novel, The Graveyard Book, published in 2008, was the first book to win both the Newbery and Carnegie awards. I had enjoyed one of his books in the past, so I was quite excited to begin reading a book of his once again. This book is full of twists and turns as it follows our protagonist, Nobody Owens, known as Bod.

The book begins with two year old Bod escaping his home at night, after a mysterious character simply known as The Man Jack murders his mom, dad, and sister. Bod escapes to a nearby graveyard, and it adopted and raised by the local ghosts. A mysterious resident of the graveyard named Silas, who is neither dead nor alive, appoints himself Bod’s guardian. He is given freedom of the graveyard, which assists him with many abilities that ghosts naturally have. Each chapter finds Bod two years older, resulting in you, the reader, watching him mature. This is a wonderful way to tell a story with a satisfying conclusion, closing one chapter of a person’s life, but still leaving room for the next. It doesn’t leave you begging for a sequel, rather leaving room for one.

Among the book's strengths are character development and scene layout. Bod’s character strengthens as well as weakens as he learns valuable lessons among his usual high jinks. The ghost characters are interesting, but not developed within the book as Bod is. On another note, we have the scene layout. The book sets the atmosphere for every scene so well, you imagine it as you read without having to even think about it. For example, the first scene in the book of Bod’s home is set up in a way that you follow Bod through the dark and empty house, as if you are seeing everything he sees.

Neil Gaiman is wonderful at writing in many genres, he has succeeded at comedy and slice of life in the past, but is also skilled at writing in the style of mystery. This book can be both scary and heartwarming at once, building up a great atmosphere. I felt deeply moved by the ending of the story, and I can guarantee you will feel the same when you choose to read The Graveyard Book.