Why.

Why?

Why is the earth so beautiful?

I know that each and every day is a gift, but somewhere in my heart echoes objections in the pretty sunlight air. Today was not a good day. Missed morning service at Parkside, ate a bag full of M&M's(medium sized bag). Psalm 13 is a beautiful psalm. It sings of praising our Almighty Infinitely Wise God who reigns the heaven. We should not look to do anything else but that which we find passion in, like pastor Mike said in his opening,..I hope that in this coming week I will humbly submit myslef to His will.

sbergoine

Jodie Picoult’s Songs of the Humpback Whale, is a story of adventure and love. Jane Jones is a woman who fell in love to a man named Oliver Jones at the age of 15. She married a man that was much older than her straight out of college. She then got pregnant with her daughter Rebecca Jones. Oliver is a famous scientist who studies whales. While he is always consumed in his work, Jane takes care of Rebecca. Jane and Rebecca find themselves traveling across the United States after a tragic fight between Jane and Oliver that could potentially end their marriage. They are traveling to Jane’s brother’s apple orchard in Massachusetts, far from their usual L.A lifestyle. Jane and Rebecca follow letters that are sent from Jane’s brother to get to the orchard. All during the trip different secrets are unfolded by all of the characters. Both Jane and Rebecca find their true selves on the orchard. They meet men that they start to fall in love with. They are forced to make the most important choice of their lives. These women grow and mature and are definitely different after they leave the orchard. This story is great and I recommend it to people enjoy adventure and love.

90 minutes in heaven

Have you ever been afraid to die or wonder what it’s like when you do?
I always have wondered about the after life because many don’t care or are not afraid of the after life. This book has shown me that heaven is just like earth just much happier with no worries and all your fears ending. Car accident can take your life and also give you a glimpse of heaven, as it did for this pester. Driving with care a semi- truck came out of no where crushing his car and not fallowing any lights just ending up there. The emt’s pronounced him dead at the seen but after a 90 minutes came back to life.

My sisters Keeper

My sisters Keeper
Heart
Aurora Library
Teen Stress
160 Pages

Having your own body is your personal being. Its almost restricted for anyone to take anything or use anything from your body. Only if you give full permission to give something to a sick patient. Poor Anna suffers from undergone countless surgeries ,transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has hit her since childhood. Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate, a life and a role that she has never questioned… until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister. So Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life… even if that means interfering upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less?
I would recommend this book to all ages because it gives a reason for people to think about life and the horrible possibilities that other individuals have. This book also gives a good reason for saving someones life even if thier close to you. But you do have certain rights.
In conclusion overall this book was very good and it gives a good lesson on life.

3rd 9 weeks

The Five People you Meet in Heaven
By: Mitch Albom

The book "the five people you meet in heaven" is a book, published in 2003 based around a character, Eddie, who is a crippled veteran of WW2. Life was hard for him, growing up with an abusive alcoholic as a father who maintains the rides at a local amusement park, Ruby Pier. The only hope to having a bright future is his mother, who loves him more than anything, even though she does not prevent the abuse and neglect that his father contributes. This story begins with the death of Eddie at 83 years of age and then continues on with flashbacks throughout his life. Throughout the story Eddie meets a series of 5 people that show Eddie how to appreciate life and how his actions effected others.

This book is a very interesting, very intense read and i would recommend everyone read it. I read this book from start to finish in about 3 days. Its intriguing from page 1.

lauramedhurst
English12
Chbosky, Stephen

The Perks of being a wallflower         The book opens its first few chapters introducing a boy named Charlie. In highschool he suffers the loss of one of his best friends and in his mind he goes the pain, sadness, but eventually heals. Then moves on through summer and he is just trying to find himself. He explains to us through the letters about his trouble of trying to fit in, or  that he must try at least to live up to his parents’ expectations because his sister gets straight A’s and his brother was the star of the football team. He is beginning his freshman year in high school when he writes this letters, and has trouble making friends but then he meets two seniors one day outside smoking and they give him one and it all happens. Some of the hard times he goes through shows his character and he writes toshow what he is going through. This book is good to read if you’ve ever been in trouble, get misread by some, or have trouble understanding other people. 

Ian Sanford
Crutcher, Chris. Deadline
Harper Collins: 2007.
Heart
Borrowed
Teenage life, sports
316 pg.
One certainty in life is that we all die, but it most cases we aren’t given a time table of how long we have to live. Ben Wolf a high school senior from the small town of Trout has a terminal blood illness and was told that this was his last year to live. Bens life has been somewhat of a failure to him and there are several things he wants to pursue before he is gone forever.
Ben doesn’t want to tell anyone about his terminal illness because he wants people to view him for who he is and not alter his pursuit. In his time left Ben is changed by several people and learns some of life’s most valuable lessons. Cody, Ben’s brother is a quarterback on the varsity team and also his best friend. Cody helps Ben with football and his girl problems. Bens friend and teammate Sooner Cowan teaches Ben a lesson through his actions, witch resemble his (sooners) abusive father. Through the football team and coaches Ben learns about hard work, toughness in the hardest of situations and unity. Atop of high-school and football there is Dallas Suzuki, Bens crush. With nothing to lose Ben approaches Dallas and before long they are serious about each other. Ben realizes that he could have been with her all along if he would have just tried. Outside of school Ben is taught valuable lessons from a drunk named Rudy and a friend named Hey-soos. Rudy teaches Ben lessons about failure and shares secretes to Ben. Hey-soos helps Ben deal with the religious aspect of life.
This book was a good read that I would recommend to people who enjoy sports and need motivation. Steve was right in that the book is captivating and an easy read. The lessons taught by Crutcher are valuable to all ages. After reading this I’ve come to the conclusion that life’s short, so do what you love.

Alcohol. What does it really do?

 

Book Review by R.Chmielewski

Recommended by S. Bergoine

Mrs. Smith, 2nd Period





Zailckas, Koren; Smashed

The Penguin Group USA, 2006

Heart

Personal Collection

Teen Tempation/Angst/Teenage Problems

343 Pages

 

Alcohol can ruin many situations. It can change a person. It can leave a person forever changed and unable to recover from the spells that it puts upon you. Every teenager is faced with temptations of alcohol and drinking. But for Koren Zailckas, in the novel Smashed by Koren Zailckas, the problem has become a lifestyle of parties and drinking. She grew up in a small city, and lots of people knew her. She had her first drink at a party at the age of 14. Living in a small town where everyone knows the ins and outs of everyone else, words and things spread. Soon after, she was unable to let go and escape it. She felt the alcohol could make her into a new person and allow her social life become more positive, it was a way of her letting go and escaping her feelings. Koren's alcohol problems became even more of a problem when she woke up one day in the hospital from alcohol poisoning covered in bruises. She then realized she had a drinking problem, and had to stop. Zailckas wrote the story as an autobiography on herself at the age of 23, just when graduating college to make teens and young adults aware of the temptations and dangers of what the excessive use of alcohol can do to someone.

This book is meant for young adults and high school students who are faced with many temptations in their life. It shows a teen that even the best of us give into temptations but it shows that anyone can overcome them and pull through them when in time of need to recover and regain strength in your life. It shows you that drinking is bad when done too much in excess, and it even scares you to a point to realize that you need to hold onto your sense of reality. I recommend this book to any teenager who wants to see an account of a teenager whose life spins out of control.

The Secret Life of Bees

I found this book from Lmedhurst
The Secret life of Bees is a very heart touching story. It is about a young girl Lily who live on a peach farm with he Father. She believes that Her Nanny/Housekeeper played a huge role in her Mother's death. The next day the Nanny/Housekeeper is in the hospital after being beaten up by the police. Lily meets August who takes in her and Rosaleen(the nanny) and decided that they can help out aorund the hosue while Lily learns the art of beekeeping. Lily find out later that her Mother had once stayed that the Boatwright house.
I would recomind this book to others. The book is very touching and has enough action and twists to keep you turning the pages.

Smashed

Smashed
Heart
Personal Library
Teen Angst
343 Pages

A teenagers life may seem easy. Wake up, go to school, hang out with friends, play sports, and so on. That’s only half of every teens life, the good half. On the other half, every teen is faced with decisions and problems that could change their lives forever. Teens face problems with parents, friends, drugs, and alcohol. This story is about a girl named Koren Zailckas who has a major problem with alcohol. Koren grew up in a small suburban area where everyone knows each other. She was known as someone who was shy and standoffish. Her first drink came when she was fourteen at a party. Alcohol was just a way for her to let loose and escape her shyness. From her first drink, her problem with alcohol escalated rapidly. She had no incentive to quit drinking. Her friends were doing it, and they pressured her into doing the same. Koren continued to drink throughout high school, but when college came around she was a bit skeptical. However, once she got to college her drinking began again. This time it was worse. Koren realizes she has a problem once it is too late. She is at a party when everything goes terribly wrong. Koren wakes up from a coma that was induced by her drinking covered in bruises. She realizes that she has a problem and finally gets help
This book is geared towards high school students as well as parents of high school students. It shows what a teenager goes through and the pressure they are under with friends and alcohol. High school students should read this because it shows what could happen if you drink to much, or even start to drink. High school parents should read this as well to learn what their son or daughter goes through, and how they can help prevent their child from drinking.
I like this book a lot because it shows what life is truly like for a teenager. People say that your high school years are the easiest years of your life, but this book shows that that statement is completely wrong. Also, almost every teenager is able to relate to this. They may not drink, but almost every one knows a friend that drinks. It is an overall good book that teaches you about the dangers of alcohol. I would definitely recommend this book to any high school student or older.

A Manual

Coelho,Paulo.Warrior of the Light.Harper Collins,2003.

By J. Simmons

WARRIOR OF THE LIGHT

By: Paulo Coelho

133 pages

D. Moore recommended this book 

Heart

Warrior of the Light is about a young warrior who is a religious and courageous. He learns different lessons to being a strong, and strategic fighter. The book teaches its readers how they themselves can be warriors in things they do in life, such as myself with soccer. You must learn when to fight or when to back down to win at the end. All the lessons are very inspirational and will help you in life. Threw out this book I was taught lessons by Coelho about inner strength in various ways.

This story is not like a typical story because it does not have a plot line. It is more about getting the point across about what a warrior needs to do and have to be the greatest warrior. Every different page talks about a different lesson that the warrior needs and what we actually need to do to be the best at what we want to do such as being a warrior in the book. I would recommend this book, after reading this it had inspired me to be great I what I want to do in life. The people I would recommend this to is people who have a strive to do something such as something you want to do now or in the future.  

Great Book

Albom, Mitch The five people you meet in heaven
Heart
Public Library
Non-Fiction

The book I did was called the five people you meet in heaven. In this book the main character named Eddy is a mechanic at a Ruby pier which is kind of like a theme park. And the story is about him dying and going to heaven and getting to talk with five people that he either impacted there life or they had an impact on his life. The thing is each of these people had a specific role in his trip to heaven, and with each person he sees he learns a lesson. But the question is what lessons we need to learn.
This book is a really great book. If I had to rate this book on a ten point scale I would give it a eight and a half. Why I would do this is because It is a very interesting book that incorporates everything. It has drama, it has action, it has everything. But the only thing that is keeping it from a ten is that it does get pretty boring at times, but for recommendations I would totally recommend this to any high school student. It is very entertaining and is good for people like me who hate reading, because it actually can keep your attention.
The purpose of this book is to strictly entertain. It also has many lessons you could apply to your life depending on how you interpret it. But like I said in the previous paragraph it has a lot of good stuff to it and is a lot of fun to read.
In this story it had many different types of characters. The main character in the book was named Eddy, who was a mechanic at Ruby Pier. The first character he meets is called Blue Man who was a side show performer who worked at Ruby pier when eddy was a boy. Another character was called Captain which was the second person he meets in heaven. The third person he meets is Rudy. The fourth person he meets is Marguerite, who was eddy’s long time lover. The final person he meets in heaven and the last real main character was the little girl named Tala who was the little girl he tried to save before he died.
In my opinion this book was one of the better books I have read this year. This book would be great for any readers in high school or older. Once more this book is a book full of everything you could want in a book but the main thing is that Albom does a really good job of keeping you awake. So I would not hesitate to go and pick this book up, because I know you won’t regret it.

Deadline DMyers

Deadline
by Chris Crutcher
This book was recommended by SYung

Ben Wolf was a senior in high school and had only one year to live. He didn’t want any treatment for his disease; he just wanted to be normal like every other kid. Cody, his older brother and best friend was the star on the football team and Ben wanted to follow in his footsteps. He also had a lifelong crush on Dallas Suzuki, but she had never really noticed him until this year. Ben’s family was different from others, his mother had many anxiety attacks and spent most nights in her room accompanied by their father whose absence was shown by never really being there for his sons. Ben’s football coach was like his dad because they would always talk about stuff; off and on the field. But when neither his coach nor family was able to talk, Ben talked to a spiritual voice called Hey-Soos. He offered Ben a lot of advice about life and his rough situations that he was in. There were a lot of things Ben doesn’t know, and finds out throughout the book that changes his life.
I really liked this book a lot because it made you want to keep reading. You never knew what Ben was going to do next so it was an interesting story. I also liked how it was about football because I can refer to a lot of the things that happen. Also Ben was a senior in high school just like I am so I can put myself in his shoes in a lot of situtations. Overall I think this was a really good book and I recommend this to anyone who likes football, and the real life drama a high school senior goes though.

Twisted

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Twisted.

Heart

 

Danny Myers book review made me want to read Twisted.

 

            Twisted is a story of highs and lows, Tyler Miller, the main character has a roller coaster of a life.  Everything starts off horrible; he doesn’t get much attention at school and is occasionally beat up by Chip Mulberry, who just happens to be the son of his dad’s boss and the brother to his longtime crush.  One day he decides to spray paint the school to get revenge, but ends up getting caught.  He had a lot of community service and had a growth spurt, the once nerd was now pretty big and ripped.   This gets the attention of Bethany and they start talking and even kiss.  But after Tyler is framed for putting up obscene pictures of Bethany on a internet blog, his life is back in the pits.  Tyler’s life has its extreme ups and extreme lows. 

            I believe Anderson style is very suitable for a teenager.  It is an easy read and a book that a lot of kids can relate to.  I really liked how Tyler’s life was being compared to a video game with a lot of challenges.  I would definitely recommend this book to any teenager or young adult.  It lets you see you how life can be at the top of the world, and at the bottom of a hole.  

Tuesdays with Morrie

Tuedays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
192 pgs.
Stole it from Cameron Worth
Heart
Solon Library

Tuesdays with Morrie is one of those books that I have heard about for all of my adult life, but am just now getting around to reading. It is about the author, Mitch, and his relationship with one of his college professors, Morrie Schwartz. He looses contact with him after college, until Mitch hears that Morrie is diagnosed with ALS, and realizes that he needs to talk to him again. So for the next 14 or so weeks, every Tuesday, Mitch would go to Morrie's house and talk about life lessons with him, until the disease finally consumes him. Overall, I would highly recommend this book if you are in anyway intersted in the kind of philosophy of life, and just a pretty inspirational story, this is the book for you.

The Last Lecture

Andrew Wallace

Smith 2nd Period

The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch. The Last Lecture

Hyperion Books: 2008.

Heart

Own collection

Inspirational

206 pg.

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture."  Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them.  And while they speak, audiences can't help but question, "What legacy will I leave when I die?"  For Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, he didn't have to imagine what his last lecture would be like, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.  But his lecture wasn't about death, but about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment.  It was about living.

The story Randy Pausch tells takes place in a Carnegie Mellon lecture hall on September 7, 2007 titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams."  He combines humor, intelligence, and inspiration in explaining his life story and the dreams he achieved and didn't achieve along the way.  One of my favorite quotes that Pausch mentions in his book is that, "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."  This quote applies to everyone because there may be some aspects in life that we just can't prevent, but it's the way we deal with these things that makes us who we are today.  Pausch really expresses a lot of emotion in this book when mentioning his children and his wife, Jai.  Once he found out he had pancreatic cancer, Pausch said he and Jai cried for days knowing that his time on Earth was limited.  However, this book is more about a celebration of life rather than despair.  Most of the book is composed of stories Pausch experienced throughout his life.  These include family trips, how he met his wife, and his success at Carnegie Mellon.  

Overall, I would recommend reading this book because it makes you want to live life to the fullest, and take granted for the things that you have in this life.  At times I often found myself reflecting on my childhood and past experiences I had with my family.  The summation of events told in this story will make it a book that is shared for generations to come.

Letters to A Young Brother

Letters to a Young Brother MANifest your destiny by Hill Harper
Penguin Group Inc.
176 pages.
I heard about this book from my friend and fellow class mate Jamaal.

Letters to a Young Brother is not a normal book it doesn't have a plot or anything like that. It is just letters that Hill Harper and a young boy talking about the hardships that they have both gone through. They talk about problems that you have growing up with one parent and wondering why one didn't love you enough to stay. During this book you will realize how things are actually really good for you and how they could have been a lot worse. I would suggest this book at anyone because it can relate to any situation that you are going through. I am glad that i picked this book and actually read it because it made me change the way that I think about certain things.

Catcher in the Rye? More like Boring in the Boring.

By Brad K.
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.
Little, Brown 1951.
214 pages
I totally stole this book from Andrew Wa.
Dagger
(insulting a classic American novel may not get me very positive comments i am sorry in advance.)
Catcher in the Rye is an American classic. No teenager in America hasn’t heard of this book, but my question is why? This book did not interest me in the least bit. I guess that says a lot about my character. I know the Catcher in the Rye is full of symbolism and deep meanings but I guess I’m the kind of guy who wants everything just spelled out for him. I also like a book with a good amount of abnormality and action. Catcher in the Rye was like something I would have to read for a sophomore symbolism project. Call me crazy if I don’t like to read about a boy in New York in the 50s, but it was pretty boring. One thing that really annoyed me was how the book would have so many dead ends. The main character, Holden Caulfield, would think of things and go on with them for about 10 pages, but it would have no relation to the main plot. I’m pretty sure this book was just a contemplation of a bunch of hidden symbolism. In fact I’m not completely sure what the main plot was. It just seemed like an adolescent boy full of angst just doing things that he wants to do. The author could have followed around any normal 16 year old kid and wrote down everything he did, maybe add some symbolism, metaphors, and angst and there you go, Catcher in the Rye. After reading such a boring book it sort of makes me feel ripped off. This book was supposed to be a classic! What happened? I guess I got one good thing out of this. Classics are BORING. (Citizen Kane for example)

BOOK REVIEW

Rachel Cantelmi
The Bitch Posse
Martha O'Connor

I found this book from the wonderful review Katie M wrote.

The Bitch Posse follows the lives of three girls Cherry, Amy and Rennie. There girls are all unique, their personalities and experiences are all vastly different from one another. Since the girls are so different it makes it easy for every girl reading the novel to relate to one of them. The book skips around a lot, because each chapter is told from a different view point. This keeps the book intriguing and makes you want to keep reading. The novel begins with the three girls in their senior year of high school, and it continues to follow their lives into their thirties. The three girls all have major secrets, and it is a constant struggle to contain them. The novel is dark and some what controversial, but it only show the truths and secrets of girls growing up. I would recommend the novel, because it is an interesting read and very easy for any girl to relate too. As well, it is anything but boring and at times leaves you questioning the characters actions and thoughts.

Exit Here

Exit Here by Jason  Myers

Heart <3

Honestly, it is very difficult to piece together a somewhat coherent description of this novel Exit Here by: Jason Myers. It touches on so many extreme problems that it seems very hard to believe that Travis, the main protagonist, could deal with or experience everything without completely breaking down. He deals with a spiraling drug addiction, alcoholism, confused and forceful parents, a manipulative ex girlfriend, and a sibling who seems to not learn from the mistakes he has made. As if that isn't enough he has recently returned from a very dark trip from Hawaii. The plot of this trip is told primarily through eery flashbacks that help the reader figure out what really happened. This creates some confusing yet satisfying elements of the story. The language in Exit Here is pretty much accurate which means there is a lot of swearing and vulgar terms so keep that in mind if your easily offended as well. It can be somewhat hard to follow along with at times but it does eventually all come together. If you are a fan of teenage novels that deal with the darker side of life this is a book for you.

I learned of this book through Mpassek. I'm glad i did even though at first i was a little bit skeptical. It turned out to be an exciting and intense read although at times unrealistic. But thats what books are for sometimes, unrealistic events. Like Mpassek said, this is a book you will not want to put down and i definitely recommend this.

The Summer that Changed a Year

K. Brasher
Smith
Twisted

Anderson, Laurie Halse, Twisted
Penguin Group, 2007
Heart
Borders Book, $9.99
Teen Drama
250 pages

Tyler Miller never fit in. He was always the skinny, average kid of his class. This all changed when he decided to do something radical. Tyler was arrested for doing graffiti on his school. His punishment was community service. This meant that he had to do manual labor. Over the summer all his work gave him muscle and an attitude to make him stand out in the next school year. The girl of his dreams even begins to take notice to his changes. The only question is, is it good or too good to last?

This story is written from the point of view of Tyler. In this style the reader is able to understand why Tyler makes the choices he does. It takes place in our present society which helps to make it very relatable to our generation.

The readability of Twisted is fairly easy. Laurie Halse Anderson keeps the reader’s attention very well. She keeps the suspense and drama going throughout the entire book.

I gave this book a heart because of its interesting plot and ability to make me want to keep reading. I found this book from D. Myers review.

The Secret Life of Bees. Book Review

Laura Medhurst
Smith, 2nd
The Secret Life of Bees


The most important thing for one little girl is love and female divinity.
This book is about four beekeeping sisters and their care of Miss Lily Owens, who ran away from her peach farm in South Carolina during the confusing times of racism during the . Her Father, known as T. Ray, is someone who she can’t call “daddy” and someone in which she realizes that his poor treatment of her has made her come to the realization that she has played a horrible part in her mother’s death. After Rosaleen Davis, her black careteaker is affronted by a group of racists because of her tendency to speak her mind and defend herself gets her into trouble, Lily rescues her from the hospital, intending to flee to Tiburon, a place written on the back of one of her mother’s belongings, a picture of a black Mary carved on a piece of wood. Lily and Rosaleen go to town to find a source of food when they find a couple jars have that picture of the same black Mary, and investigate the store and ask the store-owner who makes these jars of honey. They find out it is a beekeeper named August Boatwright, a unique black woman. Lily comes to love them and accept herself for who she really is after her experience there and the death of May, one of the four sisters and through the support of a new found friend and love-interest, Zach Taylor. At the end, she even confronts her father, becomes who she always wanted to be, a writer, and learns that true love and the search for one’s place among others is the most important thing in life.

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Have you ever had everything? Your life seeming perfect? Perfect boyfriend, perfect grades, perfect everything. Until one day, you lose one of those and everything else falls with it! Now you are stuck with nothing. You now feel the need to change everything. Starting completely over.

This is what happens to Macy one summer while her boyfriend Jason, goes to brain camp. After deciding he isn't sure he wants to be with Macy anymore, she decides it's time for a change.

Finding an extremely crazy new job with wish catering after an accident at one of her mom's engagements. This is just what she needs, something new and very unorganized.

Not to mention the hot guy she now works with. The complete and total opposite of her latest ex. Macy's stomach flips everytime they are in the same room. But will she ever get a chance with this mysterious guy or will she return to her normal perfect existance at the end of one hot summer? Find out in Sarah Dessen's book, "The Truth About Forever."

Lessons of life

Albom, Mitch
Tuesdays with Morrie
Broadway Books
New York, 1997
Heart
Friend’s personal library
Autobiographical documentary

This book Tuesdays with Morrie is a great book about the author Mitch Albom and his old professor Morrie Schwartz. Morrie is dying, he has a terminal disease. And after Mitch graduated he hadn’t talked to Morrie in many years and finds out that he is dieing when he sees the special about Morrie on TV.There’s 14 Tuesdays that they meet, each time talking about a different topic of life. Basically the whole book is about Morrie re-teaching Mitch about life and all the great things that he should appreciate about it.
I would recommend this book to anyone. I think this book was intended for people of all ages because there are a lot of great lessons to be learned from this book. This book is an easy read so if your looking for a book that you and pick up and finish in a short amount of time than this is a good book for you. The language he uses in this book is pretty easy for the most part but every once in a while you’ll come across a big word. The chances of you losing interest in this book are slim and none, because like I said it’s a good book.
There are really only two main characters in the book. One is Morrie who is the professor that grew up in Brooklyn and has a terminal disease, and is the one that teaches all the lessons to Mitch. The other main character in the story is Mitch who is a business man that tries to fill his life with work and material possessions to compensate for his unhappiness.
In my opinion I think that this is a great book for anyone to read. It is especially good for people who do not enjoy reading, because it is one of those books that keep you awake. It’s a good book to read if you just need a book to read and this book would be good for both genders.
So in conclusion I think that this book would be good for everyone and the characters are great the theme and genre are great and this whole book is great. So go get this book and learn some lessons on life.

JLANGAN

Street farm
I read the book street farm, it is a book that is in this era and takes place some where in a bad city in the U.S. it is all about a young man that is probably 17 or 16 still in high school. He is very rich because he took over his dads business. His dad has been in jail most of his life and the reason is because his dad was a big drug dealer he was a king pin drug dealer for the drug dealers he thought his son everything he knows before he went to jail he gave his sons all of his clients and connections. There is a lot of action in this book shooting fights cops arrest it is type in slang just how every teen would talk. I personally do not like reading but I couldn’t put this book down soon as I started to read it. The thing that interested me in this book is how he didn’t get caught for so long is the main character never spends his money he saves it to by a real business as a cover he never let people know he was a dealer he just look like a average high school student but deep down inside he had hundreds of thousands of dollars in his room. I recommend this book to mostly guys or people that don’t like reading this book will get you hooked to soon as you start to read it.

Book Review on Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Victor Corsi
Mrs. Smith
Resident Evil: Apocalypse



DeCandido, Keith.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Pocket Books, 2004
277 Pages


Summary:

After the aftermath of the deadly T-virus being unleashed from within the under ground complex, called the Hive (The prequel Resident Evil: Genesis). The deadly virus was not contained within the Hive and is now spreading in streets of Raccoon City. The T-virus causes dead to be reanimated and have a thirst for living flesh also if the virus also if injected with this virus will cause the victim to die and later to be reanimated. Due to the outbreak of this infection Umbrella plans to test out there new prototype monster called Nemesis that is programmed to kill anything.

Jill Valentine and several others now must fight for their lives if they are determined to escape the nightmarish city of Raccoon alive. Though they must overcome the city’s legions of undead, the brutal onslaughts of Nemesis, and the Umbrella’s well armed forces. Their only chance of escape rests with a young woman named Alice, who has a greater connection then anyone, including herself, knows about. Along with a treacherous rescue mission from Umbrella’s higher, that must be accomplished before sunrise.























Characters:

•Major Timothy “Able” Cain: One of many corporate leaders in the maniacal Umbrella Corporation. He is the supervisor of the Nemesis Project. He also opened the Hive causing the dead to roam Raccoon City’s streets.

•Alice Abernathy: An ex-head of the Hive’s security used to work for Umbrella and now is doing all she can to take down this evil Corporation. The Umbrella Corporation experimented on her making her into a bio-weapon.

•Matt Addison: Pretended to be an RCPD (Raccoon City Police Dispatch) to infiltrate the Hive, an underground complex controlled by Umbrella. A creature called a licker infected him, and was placed into the Nemesis Project.

•Terri Morales: An ex-news reporter who has been demoted to weather girl for showing false information about a city council man taking bribes. She is also a pacifist who takes drugs to keep herself rational and sane.

•Jill Valentine: She was suspended from S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Squad) for spreading “false” rumors about monsters killing people in the Arklay Mountains lining to the Umbrella corporation.

•Dr. Charles Ashford: A member of the Umbrella’s Science Division and a part of the NEMESIS project, and creator of the T-virus which causes the dead to come alive and go on a feeding frenzy. He is crippled. He is willing to help Alice and the other survivors escape if they can save his daughter.

•Angela Ashford: The nine-year-old daughter of Dr. Charles Ashford. She used to be crippled like her father, but her father did something to prevent her from becoming crippled. She is the only way Alice and the other survivors can escape.

•Carlos Olivera: A member of the Umbrella security division, who was left for dead in Raccoon City by the Umbrella Corporation. Now he is against the Umbrella Corporation for being left for dead, and the death of his comrades.

•Nemesis: An eight-foot tall biological super soldier created by the Umbrella Corporation, to serve Umbrella. He is able to see heat signatures, and is also able to carry a rail gun in one hand and a seven-foot rocket launcher in the other.













Setting:

In the novel Resident Evil: Apocalypse the setting takes place in a place called Raccoon City. Within this city there are many places where major events occur. These seven settings are the most important, as well as having great symbolism contained in that particular setting.

•Raven’s Gate: At Raven’s Gate The Umbrella Corporation performs a sadistic action against the Raccoon civilians. Umbrella authorizes the use of live ammunition to drive back the citizens of Raccoon City. This is significant because it show that the Umbrella Corporation has the authority to do what it wants.

•Church: When Jill Valentine and two other survivors notice that there are creatures that are capable of severing a human in two, are in the church, a stain glass window begins to glow. This is no ordinary stain glass window it is the image of Lucifer-goes-to-hell. This image grows even brighter once one of these eerie creatures smash into Jill. However the stain glass window shatters as Alice breaks though the window and takes down all the creatures. The symbolism that is display when thing are getting worse for Jill the stain glass window begins to glow brighter, and when help arrives the stain glass window is shattered.

•Raccoon City’s streets: This is where the most of the action takes place since the character do not have that much use for automobiles because the undead legions of zombies are traveling through the streets.

•Hospital: Within the hospital there is a part that is owned by the Umbrella Corporation. In that part of the building are unsightly plants as well as large weapon cases. This is ironic since a hospital is supposed to be a happy, peaceful place, but the Umbrella Corporation is anything but a happy, and peaceful place.

•City Hall: This is where the climax occurs, also at the same time the final battle. Similar to the way the Journey Motif is setup.

•Arklay Mountains: This is the be considered the Birth and Home positions on the Journey Motif for Jill Valentine because it is the place where problems of the zombies occurred for her, and it is where she ends up in the end of the story with the elixir to fight Umbrella.














Comments on the author:

The novel Resident Evil: Apocalypse by Keith R.A. DeCandido was a great novel that I have read. The author uses the style of Surrealism throughout the story. The surrealistic events are easy to notice. In the first chapter a surreal event occurs. “The four hundred ninety-two employees who lived and worked in the Hive were all dead. And, based on the fact that this was not stopping them from wandering around the Hive, they had been killed by the T-virus.”(DeCandido, page 12-13) This opening of the surrealistic event defines the style in the rest of novel.
When reading the novel it was not difficult to read. The novel did not use any difficult word, so that the meaning was not hard to get out of the sentence. The font of the novel was large enough to clearly make out the words. If you are looking for a good book to read that has a lot of fast action, and also enjoy horrific science fiction events Resident Evil: Apocalypse is the novel that you would want to read.

Michael Pristera, Tuesdays With Morrie

Per. 2
1-5-09
Book Review

Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays With Morrie
Heart
Personal Library
Non-Fiction

Live Life to the Last Breath

Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays With Morrie is both a depressing and uplifting novel about a man named Morrie and how he lives with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). The reader experiences Morrie’s life stories and lessons through the eyes of Mitch Albom. Albom was Morries former student at Brandies University. After college, Mitch wanted and dreamed about being a famous musician. However, not achieving his dream and becoming obsessed with material wealth, Albom decides to visit his old professor Morrie Shwartz. Tuesdays With Morrie occurs in Massachusetts which is where Morrie lives during the 1980's. It is here that Albom realizes the true meaning of life.

Tuesdays With Morrie is and good and simple read for all ages. The language is easy to follow and the plot line is predictable as well as spontaneous. I would not recommend this book to anyone that is not in high school or older. This book is slow and detailed, which requires a long attention span. Anyone in middle school or below won’t have the attention span to read the novel and take away its important messages. Even as a high school student, I found myself wondering off at some parts. The word usage is very important in a novel like this where there are flashbacks and stories because Albom wants to show what is happening rather than tell. Descriptive words and clear thoughts must be presented in a way that the reader can take away what Albom wants. This novel is presented in a way that everyone can understand what is happening.

The genre of this novel is a memoir. There are several key elements that create a non fiction novel. The main element is the truth. The author must have factual evidence that an event, or events occurred. Fortunately for Albom he recorded all of his conversations with Morrie. By doing this, the reader knows that what is being said is the complete truth.

Mitch Albom wrote Tuesdays With Morrie as a way to show that life is a sacred thing, and that you should live until your last breath. It is also a tribute to his unfortunate friend Morrie Shwartz that did because of ALS.

I enjoyed reading this book because it proves that life is enjoyable and worth living to the fullest. Also that it is never too late to do what you love. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a simple yet meaningful novel.

The Secret Life of Bees REVIEW

Poor Lily Owens, living a life shaped around the scarred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. Since, the death of her mother, lily lives with her abusive father T. Ray and her stand-in mother Rosaleen, just outside Sylvan, South Carolina.
At the age of fourteen, lily makes a life changing decision, and finally stands up for herself; her and Rosallen escape to Tiburon, South Carolina. She knows nothing about this town, yet I knows all about her; here she discovers her mother’s past as well as herself. In Tiburon, they take in three unconventional black beekeeping sisters, who introduce Lilly to a world that will inspire her- the world or bees, honey and the Black Madonna.
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is an absolute joy to read. As each pages turn, the reader’s mind stays more and more involved in the novel. Kidd’s beautiful language, and profound story, keeps the reader’s attention at all times. This remarkable novel about real-to-life female power and the power of love, ensure this is not just a novel but an inspiration message for women of all ages. I would recommend this book to any women, and I bet you will fall in love with it!

TheLastLecture

Ian Sanford

Smith

The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch. The Last Lecture

Hyperion Books: 2008.

Heart

Own collection

Motivational, All Ages

206 pg.


There is a tradition at Carnegie Mellon University, where a selected professor gives a speech with a “Last Lecture” format (if they were to die what would they tell people, that they believe is most important to succeed in life). This truly was Randy Pausch’s last lecture. Randy was a Professor at Carnegie Mellon who had previously been diagnosed with a terminal cancer and was told he only had a few months to live. His lecture titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” had nothing to do with his condition. His lecture was about achieving your childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others and how to achieve your dreams.


Randy Pausch, the main character is a “husband, father, teacher, brother, friend and mentor to his students”. Randy was a professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. From 1988 to 1997 he taught at the University of Virginia. His teaching and research has earned him several awards and accolades. He has worked with Google, Adobe, Google, Electronic Arts Walt Disney Imagineering, and Alice (he pioneered (Alice)). Throughout the book his humorous, intelligent and very intellectual ways help the reader understand him and can easily relate to him and his journey through life. His wife Jai and children, Logan, Chloe and Dylan are his inspiration in his “Last Lecture”.


For the most part the setting of the book takes place in a packed Carnegie Mellon classroom where Randy gives his speech. The setting holds little importance and is greatly overshadowed by the message being told by Randy Pausch.


Pausch’s writing style is extremely easy to comprehend and relate to. The way he explains things really sucks you into the book and you won’t want to put it down. Some of the wordage is scholarly but not difficult to say the most.


This book is a must read to all, it is truly inspirational and not to sound to cliché but it changed the way I look at life.

Andrew Wallace
Smith 2nd period
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye
Little, Brown And Company, 1979
Heart
Teenage Fiction
277 pg.

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is a relatively old novel that takes place in the 1950’s. It is narrated by a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield, who is portrayed as a troubling adolescent living in New York. Unlike most novels in which the story’s timeline takes years to unfold, this narrative’s events all happen within one weekend. Salinger’s writing displays a smooth transition from thoughts actions, which hides the difficulty of this piece. Furthermore, he captures the essence of teen spirit back when New York City was notorious for its night life. His symbolic use of motifs and themes creates a story that requires much thought in order to explore its depth.
Holden's story begins on the Saturday following the end of classes at the Pencey prep school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. This is his fourth school; he failed out of his previous three. Due to his poor academic performance at Pencey, he has received a notice that he is being expelled, but he doesn’t wait to be kicked out. Instead of going back to school, he decides to take a train to Manhattan and stay in a hotel for the weekend before going to his parent’s house. As he gets in a cab on the way to his hotel, he asks the cab driver where the ducks in Central Park go when the lagoon freezes, but his question annoys the driver. Once in Manhattan, Holden attempts to explore his sexual life as he tries to mature into an adult by visiting many different women, all who reject him. Throughout the novel, Holden has flashbacks of his old girlfriend Jane Gallagher, one who he truly claimed to "love." Every time he thinks about her he becomes depressed, mainly because she is now dating his old roommate back at Pencey. One day he decides to sneak into his old apartment building where his sister Phoebe lives. Again, he asks the cab driver where the ducks in Central Park go in the winter, and this cabbie is even more irritable than the first one. Once he tells his sister that he flunked out of school, she gets upset with him and claims she never wants to see him again. Quite drunk, Holden heads back to his hotel in shame. Then he goes to the lagoon in Central Park, where he used to watch the ducks as a child. It takes him a long time to find it, and by the time he does, he is freezing cold. Holden’s life eventually takes a turning point when he and his sister finally get together, and he takes her to a carousel in Central Park. It starts to rain heavily, but Holden is so happy watching his sister ride the carousel that he is close to tears.
I thought this book was very symbolic, and although the plot may seem degrading, it is one of the best books I have ever read. As the novel progresses, we begin to perceive that Holden's alienation is his way of protecting himself. He uses his isolation as proof that he is better than everyone else and therefore above interacting with them. He desperately needs human contact and love, but his protective wall of bitterness prevents him from looking for such interaction. Overall, Holden’s alienation is his source of his strength and the source of his problems. For example, his loneliness propels him into one of his dates with Sally Hayes, but his need for isolation causes him to insult her and drive her away. Holden's curiosity about where the ducks go during the winter reveals a genuine, more youthful side to his character. Throughout the story he acts like a grumpy old man, but his search for the ducks displays his curiosity and youthfulness. Holden is also terrified of disappearance, partly due to his brother’s death. The ducks vanish every winter, but they return every spring, thus symbolizing change that isn't permanent, but cyclical. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to read between the lines, and wanting to discover hidden messages within its pages.

Marley and Me - AHoover

Alaina Hoover

Smith

Marley and Me

Gorgan, John. Marley and Me. 2005.
Heart
Home library
Romance/ comedy
304 pages

Just recently over break the movie of Marley and Me came out. The movie is good but the book is way better. Marley and Me is about a new family with a crazy dag named Marley. John and Jenny are newly weds in Palm Beach. They are both writers for different newspapers. John decides to buy Jenny a puppy for her birthday. The dog that they picked out had a lot more energy than they intended. Marley crashed through screen doors, chewed drywall, destroyed carpet, and much more. The couple decides they should take they’re wild dog to obedience school where it then was kicked out from behavioral issues. As time passes the couple begins a family and stress gets too Jenny with 3 young children and a really bad dog. The book goes through almost every emotion, from the comedy of the dog, to the heart break over a miscarriage. This book will have to laughing out loud one moment then crying the next. Marley and Me was an easy read, it was written in journal form. You don’t necessarily have to be a dog lover to enjoy this book, if you enjoy a romantic comedy that is easy to read you will enjoy Marley and Me.

Michael Pristera

Smashed: story of a drunken girlhood

Zailckas, Koren. Smashed: story a drunken girlhood. The Penguin Group: USA
2006
Heart
Aurora Public Library
Teen Angst
343 Pages


Every teenager has problems. They can have family issues, boyfriend or girlfriend problems, and of course peer pressure. This book is about a girl named Koren Zailckas and her cathartic problem with alcoholism. She has her first drink at a party when she was only 14 years old. It only grows from there. She has a friend that isn’t a very good influence on her. When she gets to college things only get worse. The only problem is, she doesn’t realize that she has a problem. She faces of the issues of girl from friends, to college, to boys, to drugs, and especially alcohol. This is an amazing story of a girl growing up as one of the thousands of girls who routinely use alcohol as a shortcut.
The story is told from Koren’s point of view. She grows up in a small town in the northeast where everybody knows everybody. She has friends but is a shy girl. She uses alcohol to loosen up. When a good party goes terribly wrong for her, she finds herself waking up from a small coma with many bumps and bruises, This is only the beginning though, Zailckas is telling her life story and she is very good a painting the picture. She can describe everything that was in her sight the first time she drank. Throughout the story, there are some facts that are footnoted and you can see where theses studies come from. Some of them are how many girls have sex before college and how many high school students abuse alcohol. For Koren, her drinking became ambiguous.
This is a story that would be geared towards any person who has or is struggling with binge drinking, or drinking in general. College kids would especially like this story, It takes place while Koren is mostly in college and describes lots of problems college students deal with, Koren goes to Syracuse University, She thinks about having a disease in the story, but repeatedly gives reasons why she cannot have one.
I really liked this story. It was very interesting because almost everyone in high school has had an experience with alcohol. She has many stories in the interim of a teenager to graduating college that can make someone not want to experience being drunk. She has written about almost dying, maybe being raped, loosing valuables, getting lost, and many nights hugging the toilet bowl. She describes herself as an alcohol abuser rather than an alcoholic. She might be just that, just an alcohol abuser. I guess it’s your opinion. Does she drink so much that she needs alcohol, or is she just another alcohol abuser?

Charlie Haney, Twisted

Book review
By: Charlie Haney
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson High school can be hard on everyone more on some than others. This book is about an everyday kid who goes through the gauntlet of life of being picked on everyday at school. Being picked on can do many things to you and make you want to harm yourself or others around you. This kid by the name of Tyler went about being picked on a totally different way than most his trajectory was to try and become popular and loved by his class mates. Becoming angry he gets in trouble and gets arrested getting off with community service. Doing the community service he gets ripped and tough when people start to notice that he’s growing up. Class mates begin to hate him even more because his appearance changed along with his attitude. Having a great connection with his sister, who is a good kid that has a good head on her shoulders keeping her out of trouble? She is also a great person for Tyler to have around to keep him out of trouble. The parents notice that he is growing up much quicker than they could ever imagine. Being not only stressed about kids at school he is also dealing with problems at home. His father who works for one of the most known companies in the city and is also a meticulous person is taking out his frustration on them at home by yelling for his respect. His boss’s daughter starts to show some interest in him landing him in even more trouble.

Invisible Monsters

Chuck Palahniuk
Invisible Monsters
W.W. Norton & company, 1999.
Heart.
Borders $13.95.
Fiction.
297 Pages.
Mrs.Smith

Birds Ate My Face
by Bradley Kaiser
You’re driving down a highway on your way to work, window half way down, then you get shot in the face, weird huh? That is just the beginning. After getting to the hospital, parts of your face start to fall off, people missing limbs are letting you go ahead of them, genuflecting because they think that your needs are worse than theirs. A nurse vomits because she can see you’re missing the lower part of your jaw, all just corpus lying on the floor. And after all of this all the doctors can do after years and years of plastic surgery and physical therapy all you can do is babble like baby. This is just the beginning of the life of Shannon McFarland. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk is another great book, but not for the gentle and squeamish.
Although Invisible Monsters is a fantastic book, the style is a little confusing. The whole story is told from first person of a mute nobody detached freak. In the beginning of the story the narrator tells you that “This story is like a Vogue magazine” how everything is continued on page X. This is most certainly shown in this book. The book is bound to cause some confusion, once you realize what’s happening, the story flattens out and only has the occasional flashback or foreshadow. This is a terrific book if you can understand what’s happening. If you don’t, then just read a little farther, the author is really good to try to explain things out.
Chuck Palahniuk is an erudite author with wide variety of works from his well known Fight Club to his lesser known books like Snuff. I myself am a big fan of these books. Most of his books are fictional and just describe the strange lives of (mostly) normal people. Most of the characters in his books are mentally ill, suicidal people, or in this case, deformed and mute. His books are usually targeted to people in college level people, I would say.

There are some things you should know before you read this book. For one, be prepared for some things that won’t be explained until later on in the book, be patient. This whole book is about the life of a supermodel whose face gets deformed from a freak gunshot, and how she goes through the rest of her life with two friends. Although through this whole review I’ve been talking about this book and how it must seem depressing, it’s actually pretty funny.
In conclusion I would recommend this book to no ends. It’s funny, enlightening, and overall a terrific read, I could not put this book down when I was reading it. Give it a try and if you don’t like it, then you don’t have to read it! But at least give it a chance. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk is another great book, but not for the gentle and squeamish.

Dragon Battles Anyone? Book Review of Brisingr By Christopher Paolini

Brisingr, the third installment of Christopher Paolini's inheritance cycle, admittedly may not be for everyone. The reader must have a certain, how can i say this, nerd quality that allows them to immerse themselves into a different world filled with intelligent dragons, realistic magic, and fierce rebellion. I, personally, deeply enjoy this series especially its most recent installment. The story picks up with Eragon, the dragon rider and shade slayer, during a daring attempt to save his cousin's wife-to-be from a huge dark fortress in a city with the foreboding name of Helgrind. It starts off with a ton of action and really doesn't let up throughout the entire novel. It is filled with guerilla warfare, political struggles, and of course love interests. The story truly catches its stride when an assassination attempt is made on Eragon, thus causing a great deal of political turmoil and harsh vengeance. It is not however a generic and simplistic fantasy novel. Eragon struggles with the usual right versus wrong but also with a deeper struggle between how he fits in with his newfound power and responsibility. The story is told between two perspectives, Eragon’s and his cousin’s Roran. This adds a twist to the plot and changes between pure fantasy in Eragon’s case to nearly realism through Roran’s eyes. I strongly suggest that if you are willing to read a pretty heavily fantasy laden novel than this is for sure a book that you would enjoy. However if you’re not a big fan of the fantasy genre I would suggest a different book.

david moore Warrior of the Light

David Moore
Smith
Warrior of the Light

Coelho , Paulo
Warrior of the Light, HarperCollins in 2002
Boarders book $11.95

The Warrior of the Light is not like anything that has been written before; it's not like the Alchemist which is another one of Paulo Coelho books. through Coelho's writing he shows readers how to embark upon the way of the Warrior: the one who aprreciates the miracle of being alive, the one who accepts failure, and the one whose quest leads him to become the person he wants to be. If your looking for something new and different from a normal book than this would be your other choice., Coelho constructs this in short notes in a manual form to show you waht and how you become who you are. Every short passage invites you to live out your dreams, to embrace the uncertainty of life, and to rise to your own unqiue destiny. Reading this will show you how things will sstop you from becoming what you should do and what it takes to get past it. "The Warrior knows that he is free to choose his disires, and he makes these decisions with courage, detachment, and-sometimes-with just a touch of madness"

Danny Myers, Twisted

Danny Myers
Smith
Twisted

Anderson, Laurie Halse.
Twisted.Penguin Group, 2007
Heart
Borders Book, $9.99
Teenage Drama

Tyler Miller is a high school sell-out. The highlight of his life so far was in the third grade when he won the homerun contest on field day. Since then his life hasn't really been too exciting. Finally he decides he wants to be remembered, so he decided to spray paint the school with obscene words. He got so flustered he left his wallet and was busted. After being taken away by cops, kids began noticing him. After a long summer of community service and a growth spurt, the girls started to notice him too. Even Bethany Milbury, school goddess starts to be attracted to him. Bethany is his long time crush, but as well as the sister of the kid who has made his life a living hell. Also with his dad's struggle to impress his boss who is also Bethany's father, he seems to put Tyler behind him. After tragic events at a party, Tyler quickly becomes the most hated kid in school, once again.

Laurie Halse Anderson wrote in a style comfortable for a high school student. The vocabulary is not particularly challenging, and slang is used often. It really lets you see inside the life of an outcast in school. I would recommend this book to anybody in high school or even college. It made me think about how all your actions can effect what people think of you and how you make others feel about themselves. I think it is a must read, I couldn’t put the book down for three straight days. You always want to know what happens next and how Tyler is going to cope with everything in his life.

K Brasher
Mrs. Smith
The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Chbosky, Stephen The Perks of Being a Wallflower
MTV Books: 1999
Heart
Borders $11.20
Fiction
213 pages


Does high school ever seem tough? Well nothing can be compared to a young freshman named Charlie. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is the story of a boy living in the early 1990’s. The story is written in the form of letters to an anonymous person, who he considers a friend and the only one who will listen. Charlie, the main character, begins high school completely friendless after the death of his best friend. He becomes just like the title of the book suggests a wallflower. He observes others and is the witness to what is going on in the school. After roaming the halls alone for weeks he meets his future best friends Sam and her stepbrother Patrick. They introduce him to many new things including drugs, alcohol, girls and even the Rocky Horror Picture Show. When his past catches up to him, he learns an unsettling truth about his Aunt Helen. This truth even ends up putting Charlie in the hospital

The setting of this story is really of no importance. He tells the person he is writing to that everyone must be kept anonymous. The only place of any significance is the Big Boy where they hang out a lot. Given the clues and places they go it appears they live in the city somewhere in the Midwest.

The readability of this story is good. Chbosky does an excellent job of revealing Charlie’s thoughts and emotions in a style that’s not confusing. The plot is kept interesting because the story is written through letters telling the story of Charlie with no other side plots.

I think it is a very good and interesting book. Charlie’s life is very much relatable to our own. Although he makes some decisions most of us wouldn’t, we can all relate to the pressure he gets from home school and friends.

Randy Chmielewski, Fat Kid Rules the World

Randy Chmielewski,
Smith, Period Two
Fat Kid Rules the World

Going, K. L. Fat Kid Rules the World
Penguin Group: 2004
Heart
Personal Collection
Young Adult
192 Pages.

Sure, everyone has times of being depressed and feeling lonely. Troy Billings, was 296 pounds and 6'1". He feels lonely and disclosed from his family, and has no close friends. One day he was walking around town, thinking about suicide and what he could do. Troy meets Curt MacCrae (a young version of Kurt Cobain) Curt was a drug-addict dropout, sometimes homeless, guitar punk. He is a legend at Troy's school, everyone knows who he is. Curt saves Troy's life when he tries to commit suicide, and so he tells Troy that he owes him lunch.

Troy buys Curt lunch and realizes that he is not an ordinary person. He could tell something is seriously wrong with Curt. Throughout the book, Troy becomes close with Curt and develops a strong and solid relationship with him. Troy has no self esteem, and talks about how bad his life is and how much he hates himself. Since Curt plays guitar and sings, he decides to teach Troy to play drums. Troy picks up the drums pretty well, and they end up playing a show. Everyone at the club is amazed at Curt's talent. But then Curt's drug problems take over him, and he ends up getting himself into a lot of trouble, and becomes very ill. Troy's father and Troy's brother also learn to care for Curt, because his parents are not very good role models and do not care for him very much. He becomes a part of their family, and Troy's father feeds Curt and lets him shower there and gives him a place to stay when he needs it.

The story takes place in New York City, near Manhattan. The setting of this story is very important to the story because Manhattan is a place for lots of clubs and music. The setting allowed Curt and Troy to play shows with their band, and explore themselves as individuals. The setting allowed the teenagers to get involved in their music scene, and always gave them places to go and learn about the world.

The Author's style was very precise and very easy to read. The level of readability is young adult. It is a very easy read, but that does not take away from how great the story is. I would recommend this story to any teenager who loves music, drama stories, and any teenager who wants to explore the life of two troubled teenagers.

S.Yung, Deadline

Steven Yung

Smith

Deadline

Crutcher, Chris. Deadline

Harper Collins: 2007.

Heart

Own collection

Teenage life, sports

316 pg.

What would you do if you were told you only had one year to live? That’s how it is for Ben Wolf. It’s his senior year in high school and the only thing he wants is to be normal, no medicine no treatment. The problem is, is that he doesn’t want people to know, but it’ll have a harder impact if his death is sudden. With all of this in mind, Ben tries to fulfill his dreams on the football field and with his long time crush. But does he have enough time? Or will his secret eventually catch up to him?

Ben Wolf is the main character in the book. He has a terminal blood illness, and denies treatment because he wants to be normal. His brother Cody is his best friend, and the teams quarterback. Their mom has many anxiety attacks and isn’t a factor in their life because she’s always in her room. Unfortunately for their father he has to take care of her all the time, and many times lacks the father figure that the boys need. Because of that, the football coach is always there for Ben whenever he needs to talk. His long time crush, Dallas Suzuki finally starts talking to Ben and they become something special, but Dallas has many secrets that Ben doesn’t know. Sooner Cowans is Cody and Ben’s friend that also plays football. He’s tough, and one of the best players on the team. His father is abusive and Sooner’s personality is a rub off of that. Rudy McCoy is an old drunk that no one notices except Ben, and he has a very secret life Ben discovers. Ben loves to argue with Mr. Lambeer his current events and social studies teacher. He tries to be as ignorant and annoying as possible. The last of the main characters is Hey-Soos, Ben’s spiritual guide. Ben talks to Hey-Soos on many nights and just talks about things that he’s confused with.

Ben lives in a very small city called Trout, Idaho. This is important because in such a small city, news travels fast, and everyone knows everyone, and everything.

I loved this book; I definitely recommend it to everyone. Chris Crutcher uses the vocabulary of a high school student and sometimes it’s bad but it makes the book seem real. I liked the way he built up the ending, because I was never bored and something was always happening. It’s actually an easy read and one of the best books I’ve ever read. I wasn’t going to read it because it’s over 300 pages but it get’s you hooked and is easy to read. If you’ve got a big heart, and like football, then you’ll love the book Deadline.