Good Morning Class. Earlier this year I read the book Throwing like a girl, by Weezie Kerr Mackey. I thought it was a great book. Probably one of my favorites! I encourage you all to read this 271 page book. It is recommended for the young adult age group. It hasn’t won any awards.
I think this book would appeal more for the girls. She has an enemy, and she has a crush. But, when she fines out that they are brother and sister will she stop going after her crush? Will he stop going after her? She also joins the softball team, which helps her get over that she just moved from Chicago, to Texas. She ends up loving the sport and makes friends that love it too.
The School Library Journal says, “ Mackey's love of the game clearly comes through and the themes of friendship and sportsmanship are strong.” This book has won no awards. Some people say that this book is similar to the Dairy Queen series, though I have never read them. Weezie Kerr Mackey hasn’t wrote any other books. I wish she did though because I’m sure they would be just as great as this one!
Recommended by Lyvia Clasen
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
I’m going to talk to you today about a book called The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch. It’s a page turning book about 2 normal kids, Cass, and Max Ernest, that one day discover something that you never want to find out about. It’s up to them to save hundreds of people from evil scientists. What will they do? What will happen?
I think this book is most like A Tale Dark and Grimm, even though I doubt there’s a book out there that is anything like this.
My favorite quote from this book is, “Mrs. Johnson who was a real stickler (a principle with principals she called herself), gave Cass a stern look. “What’s the magic word, Cassandra, whether you’re asking for an evacuation or a glass of water.”
“Please evacuate the school.” Said Cass impatiently.”
This book recommended for 9-12 year olds didn’t win any awards, but they were nominated for lots.
The Booklist called this book, “Equal parts snarky and delightful.”
Pseudonymous Bosch hasn’t written any books other than this series of 5.
Recommended by Laura Snyder
I think this book is most like A Tale Dark and Grimm, even though I doubt there’s a book out there that is anything like this.
My favorite quote from this book is, “Mrs. Johnson who was a real stickler (a principle with principals she called herself), gave Cass a stern look. “What’s the magic word, Cassandra, whether you’re asking for an evacuation or a glass of water.”
“Please evacuate the school.” Said Cass impatiently.”
This book recommended for 9-12 year olds didn’t win any awards, but they were nominated for lots.
The Booklist called this book, “Equal parts snarky and delightful.”
Pseudonymous Bosch hasn’t written any books other than this series of 5.
Recommended by Laura Snyder
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Lies by Michael Grant
My friends, I have come here to tell you about a thrilling book called Lies by Michael Grant. It is about a small southern California surfer town named Perdido Beach. In Perdido Beach, kids are stuck inside the FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone), where all the people above the age of 15 just disappeared. Some kids and animals have gotten odd mutations. The kids have been in the FAYZ for seven months and food, gasoline, and morals are running low. Everything, except weirdness. People are coming back from the grave, the Prophetess is telling people that you can leave the FAYZ by death, and people are turning into cannibals. The Human Crew are a bunch of kids who are the like the KKK to mutants. This 464 page book if full of many different characters, plot twists, and parts that will make you read till the wee hours of the morning. Will the Human Crew kill all the mutants? Will more people come back from the grave? Will people die just to get out of the FAYZ? What other mysteries does the FAYZ hold?
Young adults will fall in love with this fantasy/science fiction/suspense book. Stephen King said, “This is great fiction. I love these books.”
I love this book because there is a lot of action, a bundle of mutations, and it sparks so many questions it makes you want to keep reading. I think Michael Grant is like Stephen King because there is also a whole bunch of horror which Stephen King writes.
One of my favorite parts of this book is when there is a town council meeting and Howard, a drug and alcohol dealer, says “He wanted to go running home to Mommy, what can I say? Of course, it's hard for me to believe that anyone would choose to step out of the FAYZ. I mean, where else do you get to eat rats, use your backyard for a toilet, and live in fear for nineteen different kinds of scary?" This book was copyrighted in April 2010. The ALA Booklist said “Grant continues to hurtle through an endlessly fascinating (and increasingly grim) story line...” Michael Grant is a wonderful author. He has wrote more than 150 books. His most popular books are Gone, Hunger, and Plague, which are part of the Gone series. He has also wrote started to write the Magnificent 12 series, which consists of The Call and The Trap. None of these have one any awards.
All the characters come together to make a riveting story that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat. Will the Human Crew kill all the mutants? Will more people come back from the grave? Will people die just to get out of the FAYZ? What other mysteries does the FAYZ hold? Read this suspenseful novel to find out.
Recommended by Carl Schneider
Young adults will fall in love with this fantasy/science fiction/suspense book. Stephen King said, “This is great fiction. I love these books.”
I love this book because there is a lot of action, a bundle of mutations, and it sparks so many questions it makes you want to keep reading. I think Michael Grant is like Stephen King because there is also a whole bunch of horror which Stephen King writes.
One of my favorite parts of this book is when there is a town council meeting and Howard, a drug and alcohol dealer, says “He wanted to go running home to Mommy, what can I say? Of course, it's hard for me to believe that anyone would choose to step out of the FAYZ. I mean, where else do you get to eat rats, use your backyard for a toilet, and live in fear for nineteen different kinds of scary?" This book was copyrighted in April 2010. The ALA Booklist said “Grant continues to hurtle through an endlessly fascinating (and increasingly grim) story line...” Michael Grant is a wonderful author. He has wrote more than 150 books. His most popular books are Gone, Hunger, and Plague, which are part of the Gone series. He has also wrote started to write the Magnificent 12 series, which consists of The Call and The Trap. None of these have one any awards.
All the characters come together to make a riveting story that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat. Will the Human Crew kill all the mutants? Will more people come back from the grave? Will people die just to get out of the FAYZ? What other mysteries does the FAYZ hold? Read this suspenseful novel to find out.
Recommended by Carl Schneider
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
I would like you all to read City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. This story takes place in New York City. Clary Fray has never known her father. Her mother Jocelyn tells her that he died right after she was born. Weird, right? Clary and her mother live in an apartment building upstairs from a fortune teller. Also, weird, right? Not as weird as what happens to Clary one Sunday afternoon at the Pandemonium Club. Clary is with her best friend Simon when two shadows follow a couple around the club. Clary isn’t worried... until one of the shadows pulls out a knife. She sends Simon off to get security, while she goes off to investigate. When Clary gets to where the couple went, she witnesses a murder. A murder with no blood and no body left behind, committed by three teenagers.
Swift as a flick of Isabelle's whip, Jace rolled over. There was a blade gleaming in his hand. He sank the knife into the boy's chest. Blackish liquid exploded around the hilt.
The boy arched off the floor, gurgling and twisting. With a grimace Jace stood up. His black shirt was blacker now in some places, wet with blood. He looked down at the twitching thing at his feet, reached down, and yanked out the knife. The hilt was slick with black fluid.
The blue-haired boy's eyes flickered open. His eyes, fixed on Jace, seemed to burn. Between his teeth, he hissed, "So be it. The Forsaken will take you all."
Jace seemed to snarl. The boy's eyes rolled back. His body began to jerk and twitch as he crumpled, folding in on himself, growing smaller and smaller until he vanished entirely.
Why did the body disappear? Where did it go? And why, when Simon comes back with a beefy security guard, can’t anyone else see the teenagers that are right in front of their eyes?
My favorite character is Clary. She won’t stop at anything to find out the truth of what is really going on. But what is really going on? Clary is determined to discover the truth, even when something happens to Simon that even Clary can’t reverse. What happened to Simon, and will anything ever be the same again?
City of Bones is the first book in the Mortal Instruments Series. The other books in this series are called City of Ashes, City of Glass, and City of Fallen Angels. I recommend these books to everyone in this room because they will keep you on the edge of your seats. These books are published for young adults. Though these books have not won any awards, I believe they should have. Stephanie Meyer, author of Twilight, agrees with me. She says, “The Mortal Instruments is a story world that I love to live in. Beautiful!” I think anyone here would enjoy this book as much as I have because it’s enthralling, adventurous, and sometimes, just plain silly read that will keep you on the tips of your toes while reading it, just as it did me. Kirkus Reviews says, “Readers of urban fantasy will devour this deliciously overwrought adventure.”
I love Cassandra Clare’s writing style. It reminds me of Melissa De La Cruz’s own writing style. In both the Mortal Instruments series and the Blue Bloods Series, the books come from the perspective of different people, without being confusing.
I think you should all read City of Bones because it is very suspenseful, and you won’t want to ever put it down.
Recommended by Theresa Brehm
Swift as a flick of Isabelle's whip, Jace rolled over. There was a blade gleaming in his hand. He sank the knife into the boy's chest. Blackish liquid exploded around the hilt.
The boy arched off the floor, gurgling and twisting. With a grimace Jace stood up. His black shirt was blacker now in some places, wet with blood. He looked down at the twitching thing at his feet, reached down, and yanked out the knife. The hilt was slick with black fluid.
The blue-haired boy's eyes flickered open. His eyes, fixed on Jace, seemed to burn. Between his teeth, he hissed, "So be it. The Forsaken will take you all."
Jace seemed to snarl. The boy's eyes rolled back. His body began to jerk and twitch as he crumpled, folding in on himself, growing smaller and smaller until he vanished entirely.
Why did the body disappear? Where did it go? And why, when Simon comes back with a beefy security guard, can’t anyone else see the teenagers that are right in front of their eyes?
My favorite character is Clary. She won’t stop at anything to find out the truth of what is really going on. But what is really going on? Clary is determined to discover the truth, even when something happens to Simon that even Clary can’t reverse. What happened to Simon, and will anything ever be the same again?
City of Bones is the first book in the Mortal Instruments Series. The other books in this series are called City of Ashes, City of Glass, and City of Fallen Angels. I recommend these books to everyone in this room because they will keep you on the edge of your seats. These books are published for young adults. Though these books have not won any awards, I believe they should have. Stephanie Meyer, author of Twilight, agrees with me. She says, “The Mortal Instruments is a story world that I love to live in. Beautiful!” I think anyone here would enjoy this book as much as I have because it’s enthralling, adventurous, and sometimes, just plain silly read that will keep you on the tips of your toes while reading it, just as it did me. Kirkus Reviews says, “Readers of urban fantasy will devour this deliciously overwrought adventure.”
I love Cassandra Clare’s writing style. It reminds me of Melissa De La Cruz’s own writing style. In both the Mortal Instruments series and the Blue Bloods Series, the books come from the perspective of different people, without being confusing.
I think you should all read City of Bones because it is very suspenseful, and you won’t want to ever put it down.
Recommended by Theresa Brehm
The Compound by S.A. Bodeen
Have you ever thought about what it would be like to live underground? Well, in this engrossing thriller, readers will slowly discover that the Compound is not what it seems. Written by S.A Bodeen, The Compound is truly a book that will have readers turning the page until the end!
Eli, his two sisters, and his mom and dad have lived in the Compound for six years. They know the world they left behind is gone, but something isn’t right. No one is happy and no one is telling the truth.
The name of my book is The Compound by S.A Bodeen. This book is about a boy named Eli whose father puts him and his two sisters an there mother in the compound. They’re four stories below ground and they have been in it for 6 years. Eli is fed up and wants to leave and never look back. Will his dad let him out or will he have to crack the code himself, to save himself and his family. You will have to read this breath taking 245 page book to find out what happens. This book was copyrighted in 2008. The reading age for this book is young adult but I think that adults would like it to. A little part from this book is: “I held my breath and shut my eyes the IM conversation was on the screen for dad to see. Then it click and the battery was dead!”
“The audience will feel the pressure closing in on them as they, like the characters, race through hairpin turns in the plot toward a breathtaking climax” says Publishers Weelkly.
Recommended by Owen Murphy
Eli, his two sisters, and his mom and dad have lived in the Compound for six years. They know the world they left behind is gone, but something isn’t right. No one is happy and no one is telling the truth.
When problems arise in this intricately planned compound that terrorize their haven and their sanity, Eli begins to wonder if he would be better off outside. Everyone thought their dad built this to keep them safe, but are they safe - or sorry? Read to find out what will happen to Eli and his family. Will they ever know the whole truth about what happened on the day that began their worst nightmare? Will they even make it out alive? This is truly a captivating story about what some people would do to have all the power and money in the world.
I think this book ties in with the book The City of Ember seris. In both stories the plot is underground, the problem is they are starting to lose food and other resources, and both characters want to get out. If you have read this book you sure will enjoy The Compound! This book is recommended for Young Adults. S.A Bodeen has also written The Gardener. It has four out of five stars from the customers on the Barnes and Noble website. It hasn’t won any awards. Publisher’s Weekly declares that it is “ A high-wire act of a first novel, a thriller that exerts an ever-tighter grip on readers.” Booklist acknowledges “Debut novelist Bodeen effectively builds the claustrophobic suspense with each chapter as readers slowly discover the Compound is not the refuge as it seems,” To me the most riveting quote is “ T.S. Elliot was wrong. My world ended with a bang the minute we entered the Compound and that silver door closed behind us.” I believe this quote shows emotion on how he thought his world ended. If my world ended I wouldn’t be thinking of what T.S. Elliot thought but of what’s going to happen to me now! This book masters the brilliance of what people do to protect their own self and their own family. This a thought provoking book that both girls and boys would fall for!
Recommended by Jenna Willer
The name of my book is The Compound by S.A Bodeen. This book is about a boy named Eli whose father puts him and his two sisters an there mother in the compound. They’re four stories below ground and they have been in it for 6 years. Eli is fed up and wants to leave and never look back. Will his dad let him out or will he have to crack the code himself, to save himself and his family. You will have to read this breath taking 245 page book to find out what happens. This book was copyrighted in 2008. The reading age for this book is young adult but I think that adults would like it to. A little part from this book is: “I held my breath and shut my eyes the IM conversation was on the screen for dad to see. Then it click and the battery was dead!”
“The audience will feel the pressure closing in on them as they, like the characters, race through hairpin turns in the plot toward a breathtaking climax” says Publishers Weelkly.
Recommended by Owen Murphy
Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
The book I recommend that all of you should read is Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen who is a New York Times Best-Selling Author. It is about a girl whose name is Colie who is living with her rather quirky aunt for the summer because her mom is traveling the world to sell her weight loss products. Colie is very insecure about herself because of her earlier years of being overweight. So she doesn’t know what will happen when she goes to live in a complete new community and she’s scared of what people will think of her there. While she’s living there she meets two girls who try teaching her to have self respect. One of the things they tell her is, “Colie, you should never be surprised when people treat you with respect, you should expect it. Self Respect, Colie. If you believe in yourself up here it will make you stronger than you could ever imagine.” I really liked reading all of the advice they gave Colie. Another quote from the book that I really enjoyed was something Colie’s mother told her while she was talking on the phone with her. She said, “But then, somewhere along the way, I started to believe in myself. I think that being brave and self confident doesn’t necessarily start inside, honey. It starts with the rest of the world and leads back to you.” Does Colie take the advice from her friends? or does she continue to keep the attitude she already has? You must read this heart-touching novel to find out.
The recommenced reading age for this book is young adult. Other books by Sarah Dessen include The Truth About Forever, What Happened to Goodbye, Along for the Ride, and many, many more. Kirkus Reviews says, ”Dessen continues her run of engagingly cast stories about women helping each other through life-altering experiences. Former fat girl Colie Sparks arrives in her aunt’s small town physically fit but still bowed by memories of years of humiliation. Under the influence of eccentric Aunt Mira’s rock-steady self-assurance, witnessing a marvelously contentious friendship between twenty-something waitresses Morgan and Isabel, and becoming aware of shy, artistically gifted Norman—who goes from being “so not the guy for me,” to one whose smiles she feels “all the way to my toes”—Colie passes in subtly marked stages to the point where she can let her past go, although not before exacting exquisite revenge on one of her past tormenters. Rich in sharply observed relationships, deftly inserted wisdom, romances ending and beginning, and characters who are not afraid to pick themselves up and try again, Dessen’s tale will leave readers thoughtful, amused, reassured—and sorry when it concludes.”
The recommenced reading age for this book is young adult. Other books by Sarah Dessen include The Truth About Forever, What Happened to Goodbye, Along for the Ride, and many, many more. Kirkus Reviews says, ”Dessen continues her run of engagingly cast stories about women helping each other through life-altering experiences. Former fat girl Colie Sparks arrives in her aunt’s small town physically fit but still bowed by memories of years of humiliation. Under the influence of eccentric Aunt Mira’s rock-steady self-assurance, witnessing a marvelously contentious friendship between twenty-something waitresses Morgan and Isabel, and becoming aware of shy, artistically gifted Norman—who goes from being “so not the guy for me,” to one whose smiles she feels “all the way to my toes”—Colie passes in subtly marked stages to the point where she can let her past go, although not before exacting exquisite revenge on one of her past tormenters. Rich in sharply observed relationships, deftly inserted wisdom, romances ending and beginning, and characters who are not afraid to pick themselves up and try again, Dessen’s tale will leave readers thoughtful, amused, reassured—and sorry when it concludes.”
Recommended by Becca Kennedy
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Looking for Alaska by John Green
After The Hunger Games, I thought that there was no other book out there that could get my class as excited about coming in my room at the end of the day for read aloud time. The book Looking for Alaska by John Green proved me wrong! The unique set up of recounting the lives of the main characters, Pudge, The Colonel and Alaska, as defined by 'Before' and 'After' Alaska disappears leaves readers curious about what will happen on that fateful day from page one.
Looking for Alaska begins with our narrator, Pudge, leaving his typical teenage life with his parents to explore the "great perhaps" at boarding school. When he mets the Colonel and Alaska his first day on campus, his life is forever changed. He finally has close friends that he can count on and often gets into mischief with. They spend their days in class, studying/doing homework, pulling pranks and often getting into the kind of trouble teenagers are known for. Little did they know that the days 'After' would be drastically different than the 'Before' and that Alaska's disappearance would change their lives forever. John Green is a master at making the reader want to keep turning page after page until they finally resolve the storyline. The phrase page-turner has never been so appropriate.
This 256 page book is recommended for young adults. It has won multiple awards including Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, An ALA Quick Pick, A Los Angeles Times 2005 Book Prize Finalist, A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, A 2005 Booklist Editor's Choice and a 2005 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. Other books by John Green include An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Town and the soon to be released The Fault in our Stars.
Kirkus Reviews says "What sings and soars in this gorgeously told tale is Green's mastery of language and the sweet, rough edges of Pudge's voice. Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska's vanilla-and-cigarettes scent." I completely agree with KLIATT's assessment that "The spirit of Holden Caulfield lives on." Anyone who has read The Catcher and the Rye and enjoyed JD Salinger's exquisitely told story of teenage angst amid the boarding school lifestyle will see the similarities within the innermost thoughts of Pudge and Holden. As Pudge first arrives at Culver Creek Boarding school his thoughts reflect these similarities, I'd never been born again with the baptism and weeping and all that, but it couldn't feel much better than being born again as a guy with no known past. Pudge enters boarding school as a nobody from any old public school in Florida and finds himself on the campus of Culver Creek, maturing into the man his previous life never allowed him to be. What did happen on the day Alaska disappeared? Only those adventurous enough to step inside John Green's world will find out.
Recommended by Ms. Steffen
Looking for Alaska begins with our narrator, Pudge, leaving his typical teenage life with his parents to explore the "great perhaps" at boarding school. When he mets the Colonel and Alaska his first day on campus, his life is forever changed. He finally has close friends that he can count on and often gets into mischief with. They spend their days in class, studying/doing homework, pulling pranks and often getting into the kind of trouble teenagers are known for. Little did they know that the days 'After' would be drastically different than the 'Before' and that Alaska's disappearance would change their lives forever. John Green is a master at making the reader want to keep turning page after page until they finally resolve the storyline. The phrase page-turner has never been so appropriate.
This 256 page book is recommended for young adults. It has won multiple awards including Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, An ALA Quick Pick, A Los Angeles Times 2005 Book Prize Finalist, A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, A 2005 Booklist Editor's Choice and a 2005 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. Other books by John Green include An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Town and the soon to be released The Fault in our Stars.
Kirkus Reviews says "What sings and soars in this gorgeously told tale is Green's mastery of language and the sweet, rough edges of Pudge's voice. Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska's vanilla-and-cigarettes scent." I completely agree with KLIATT's assessment that "The spirit of Holden Caulfield lives on." Anyone who has read The Catcher and the Rye and enjoyed JD Salinger's exquisitely told story of teenage angst amid the boarding school lifestyle will see the similarities within the innermost thoughts of Pudge and Holden. As Pudge first arrives at Culver Creek Boarding school his thoughts reflect these similarities, I'd never been born again with the baptism and weeping and all that, but it couldn't feel much better than being born again as a guy with no known past. Pudge enters boarding school as a nobody from any old public school in Florida and finds himself on the campus of Culver Creek, maturing into the man his previous life never allowed him to be. What did happen on the day Alaska disappeared? Only those adventurous enough to step inside John Green's world will find out.
Recommended by Ms. Steffen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)