by Michael Hassan
Summary:
Crash didn't set out that morning to be a hero. He didn't intend to be the person who saved 1000 people from his classmate David. He wasn't even planning on being at school. But David had other plans, plans that were the direct result of their ten years of knowing each other. Plans that dated even back to their first meeting in elementary school, to their first escapade where David earned his nickname Burn. Told from Crash's perspective and alternating between before and after the event, he retells the events that led up to the moment it was just them, Crash and Burn, surrounded by bombs and guns, each trying to out think the other.
Reviews:
Crash and Burn didn't grab me at first, but by the end I was reading it as quickly as I could to find out what happens. Crash is a brash character who goes through life like a bull in a china shop, but at the same time is someone you really want to be friends with. Reflecting on his relationship with David, each story reveals a little more of how they both ended up in a room together. The book does not focus as much on the attempted massacre itself, but instead on how everything built up to it, and how it changed Crash's life afterwards. The book is well written and engaging, but due to the content (drugs, drinking, sex, suicide, and an attempted school massacre) is probably best for older teens.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade
Monday, March 11, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
Origin
by Jessica Khoury
Summary:
Pia has always known her destiny. A product of five generations of work, she was born immortal, the first of her kind. Hidden deep in the jungle, she has been groomed her entire life for a life of science. She will be the beginning of a new race, working to create more immortal beings who will live forever in physical perfection. And that's all she's ever wanted. Until the night of her 17th birthday, when she discovers a hole in the fence that protects her compound from the jungle outside. A hole that allows her to briefly escape where she meets Eio. A hole that shows her that immortality is one thing, but an eternity alone is a life not worth living.
Review:
This book surprised me. I was not expecting it to be all that fantastic, but Pia is a likable character who has to break away from everything she has ever known. She has always been told she was perfect, not able to be hurt, but it comes down to it she chooses a normal life. Her curiosity about the world is catching, and the love story with Eio is a great add. Overall a great read for any teen who likes more realistic science fiction.
Genre: Science Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade
Summary:
Pia has always known her destiny. A product of five generations of work, she was born immortal, the first of her kind. Hidden deep in the jungle, she has been groomed her entire life for a life of science. She will be the beginning of a new race, working to create more immortal beings who will live forever in physical perfection. And that's all she's ever wanted. Until the night of her 17th birthday, when she discovers a hole in the fence that protects her compound from the jungle outside. A hole that allows her to briefly escape where she meets Eio. A hole that shows her that immortality is one thing, but an eternity alone is a life not worth living.
Review:
This book surprised me. I was not expecting it to be all that fantastic, but Pia is a likable character who has to break away from everything she has ever known. She has always been told she was perfect, not able to be hurt, but it comes down to it she chooses a normal life. Her curiosity about the world is catching, and the love story with Eio is a great add. Overall a great read for any teen who likes more realistic science fiction.
Genre: Science Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
The List
by Siobhan Vivian
Summary:
Every year the list comes out. Every year the prettiest and ugliest girl in each grade is determined by that list. The list can make or break someone at Mount Washington High School. When the 8 girls on this years list find out their rankings, each reacts differently. Perhaps this year one of them will break the cycle, but what will it take for them to do it.
Review:
The List grabbed me right from the start. The list is a horrible tradition, but one that you can easily see happening anywhere around the country. The book alternates from the perspectives of each of the girls selected, both the prettiest and the ugliest. Each girl's reaction is believable, and their evolution about their perception of the list from beginning to end is really interesting. It's a great read for teens about the dangers or owning too much into social perception, as well as the dangers of bullying.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade
Summary:
Every year the list comes out. Every year the prettiest and ugliest girl in each grade is determined by that list. The list can make or break someone at Mount Washington High School. When the 8 girls on this years list find out their rankings, each reacts differently. Perhaps this year one of them will break the cycle, but what will it take for them to do it.
Review:
The List grabbed me right from the start. The list is a horrible tradition, but one that you can easily see happening anywhere around the country. The book alternates from the perspectives of each of the girls selected, both the prettiest and the ugliest. Each girl's reaction is believable, and their evolution about their perception of the list from beginning to end is really interesting. It's a great read for teens about the dangers or owning too much into social perception, as well as the dangers of bullying.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade
Fever, 1793
by Laurie Hale Anderson
Summary:
It's been years since the Revolutionary Wary, and Philadelphia is a busy city and Matilda's family's coffeehouse is one of the places to see and be seen. When yellow fever strikes the city, everyone is completely unprepared. As the disease progresses thousands flee, Matilda included. Unfortunately she doesn't get far and is forced to return to Philadelphia, a city where no one leaves the house for fear of disease. Now she must learn to survive on her own, and then maybe she will make it through this pandemic.
Review:
Fever, 1793 is a great historical novel about a pandemic few knew about. With medicine rudimentary at best, there was little that could be done when these diseases arrived in overcrowded cities. The book stays true to the times and gives an accurate depiction of life in the late-1700's. Matilda goes from being a sullen teenager to self-reliant and impressive. It's a good read for tweens who like historical fiction.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Age Level: 6th Grade
Summary:
It's been years since the Revolutionary Wary, and Philadelphia is a busy city and Matilda's family's coffeehouse is one of the places to see and be seen. When yellow fever strikes the city, everyone is completely unprepared. As the disease progresses thousands flee, Matilda included. Unfortunately she doesn't get far and is forced to return to Philadelphia, a city where no one leaves the house for fear of disease. Now she must learn to survive on her own, and then maybe she will make it through this pandemic.
Review:
Fever, 1793 is a great historical novel about a pandemic few knew about. With medicine rudimentary at best, there was little that could be done when these diseases arrived in overcrowded cities. The book stays true to the times and gives an accurate depiction of life in the late-1700's. Matilda goes from being a sullen teenager to self-reliant and impressive. It's a good read for tweens who like historical fiction.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Age Level: 6th Grade
172 Hours on the Moon
by Johan Harstad
Summary:
In an effort to get people excited about space again, NASA holds a contest to send 3 teenagers to the moon for a week (along with an experienced crew of course). When Mia, Antoine, and Midori are selected from millions of teenagers across the world they are thrilled to go. But the moon hides some dark secrets, and what they find up there is something none of them expected.
Review:
I don't know what I was expecting when I picked up 172 Hours on the Moon, but I was pleasantly surprised by what I got. Harstad's book is full of suspense, but he writes it in a way that makes it fairly plausible. The government conspiracy will intrigue any who like that sort of thing, and the book even has a little romance thrown in. I'll admit I was completely thrown by the ending, the book was nothing that I expected but is definitely going to be sticking in my memory for quite some time.
Genre: Science Fiction
Age Level: 8th Grade
Summary:
In an effort to get people excited about space again, NASA holds a contest to send 3 teenagers to the moon for a week (along with an experienced crew of course). When Mia, Antoine, and Midori are selected from millions of teenagers across the world they are thrilled to go. But the moon hides some dark secrets, and what they find up there is something none of them expected.
Review:
I don't know what I was expecting when I picked up 172 Hours on the Moon, but I was pleasantly surprised by what I got. Harstad's book is full of suspense, but he writes it in a way that makes it fairly plausible. The government conspiracy will intrigue any who like that sort of thing, and the book even has a little romance thrown in. I'll admit I was completely thrown by the ending, the book was nothing that I expected but is definitely going to be sticking in my memory for quite some time.
Genre: Science Fiction
Age Level: 8th Grade
One Moment
by Kristina McBride
Summary:
If only Maggie could remember what happened at the top of the cliff. Maybe if she could remember those moments before her boyfriend Joey fell to his death it would make more sense. But as Maggie starts to remember snippets of what happened, and what led up to that moment, she realizes that maybe she never really knew Joey at all. As the secrets that he kept start coming out, she realizes that maybe the boy she loved was never really who she thought.
Review:
A well written novel, One Moment is the story of how secrets never stay hidden. What struck me the most is how everyone, Joey's family, Maggie, and their friends, all had to learn to accept everything Joey had done while alive that they never knew about. His secret life made them reexamine the "perfect Joey" they thought they knew, but all had to realize that they were still allowed to love and miss him. Maggie is a great character, and the book does keep you interested throughout.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade
Summary:
If only Maggie could remember what happened at the top of the cliff. Maybe if she could remember those moments before her boyfriend Joey fell to his death it would make more sense. But as Maggie starts to remember snippets of what happened, and what led up to that moment, she realizes that maybe she never really knew Joey at all. As the secrets that he kept start coming out, she realizes that maybe the boy she loved was never really who she thought.
Review:
A well written novel, One Moment is the story of how secrets never stay hidden. What struck me the most is how everyone, Joey's family, Maggie, and their friends, all had to learn to accept everything Joey had done while alive that they never knew about. His secret life made them reexamine the "perfect Joey" they thought they knew, but all had to realize that they were still allowed to love and miss him. Maggie is a great character, and the book does keep you interested throughout.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade
Monday, February 11, 2013
Butter
by Erin Jade Lange
Summary:
No one knows Butter's real name. No one really cares to know either. He sits alone at lunch, is ignored in classes by virtually everyone but his music teacher. You see, Butter is obese. Extremely obese. And he's had it. He is done with being who he is. He's decided there's only one way out, and that's to eat himself to death. One last, huge meal. And he's going to broadcast it on the internet. When he shares his webpage, "Butter's Last Meal", with classmates, he suddenly finds that he's the most popular kid at school. The thing is, he's only popular because he's supposed to kill himself. So what does he do now that he's finally found a place?
Review:
Butter is a dark novel, as one can infer from it's premise. Butter himself is a very depressed kid who has hidden that depression from his parents and anyone else who kind of knows him. The book is a cautionary tale about the dangers of peer pressure. I won't spoil the ending, but it really harks on how little you can know a person, and how important it is to try. A good read for those who like more serious titles, but it's definitely for an older crowd.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade
Summary:
No one knows Butter's real name. No one really cares to know either. He sits alone at lunch, is ignored in classes by virtually everyone but his music teacher. You see, Butter is obese. Extremely obese. And he's had it. He is done with being who he is. He's decided there's only one way out, and that's to eat himself to death. One last, huge meal. And he's going to broadcast it on the internet. When he shares his webpage, "Butter's Last Meal", with classmates, he suddenly finds that he's the most popular kid at school. The thing is, he's only popular because he's supposed to kill himself. So what does he do now that he's finally found a place?
Review:
Butter is a dark novel, as one can infer from it's premise. Butter himself is a very depressed kid who has hidden that depression from his parents and anyone else who kind of knows him. The book is a cautionary tale about the dangers of peer pressure. I won't spoil the ending, but it really harks on how little you can know a person, and how important it is to try. A good read for those who like more serious titles, but it's definitely for an older crowd.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade
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