Copper Sun by Sharon Draper

Reviewed By: Emily Gale Grade 9

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Fiction

What's Interesting About This Book: One very interesting thing about this book is the story of a runaway slave, Amari. She was only 15 when she ran away from Africa.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: Copper Sun was such a great book I doubt that I will ever forget it. It was a very detailed story. It brought me to much amazement of the excellent vocabulary and description that Sharon Draper wrote. There wasn't a single chapter where I couldn't picture the image of the scene to my mind. The author has talent and ability to clearly explain the horrendous moments that happened to the slave girl, Amari. During Amari's adventure to escape she ran north instead of south hoping to find Fort Mose, Florida. It was a risky chance Amari took considering there may not have even have been a runaway slave community in Fort Mose. I do recommend Copper Sun for anyone looking for a heart-racing, saddening cries or feelings of joy all put together in one book.

Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Reviewed By: Bianca Zenere (Grade 12)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Other

What's Interesting About This Book: This book is composed of letters written by the main character to an anonymous person. He does this because he needs someone to vent to that does not know him or his situation. This is very interesting because it is all from first person and you can really grasp his thoughts.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: This is one of my favorite books I have ever read. It deals with so many real-life subjects such as drugs, abuse, and peer pressure. You really feel compassion for the characters and you sympathize with their situation. This book is very relatable for any teenager. It is easy to read and will always keep your attention. One thing I didn't like was that the book was too short. Iwanted it to be longer because it was so interesting. It is the perfect combination of humor and seriousness. I loved it.

The Cay by Theodore Taylor

Reviewed By: Carolina Salaza (Grade 12)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Mystery and Adventure

What’s Interesting About This Book: The story gets you interested from the beginning when Phillip, the eleven-year-old boy loses his parents and he is now with Timothy an African American that he needs to learn to trust.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: The book has a wonderful way of showing us how judging a book by its cover is wrong. The book’s theme is racism, so it helps you see how people think and characterize someone by their skin color.

Speak by Laurie Halsen Anderson

Reviewed By: Laura Calderon (12th Grade)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Realistic

What's Interesting About This Book: Melinda who has a trauma because she has been raped and is the outcast of her school. But she finds a closet in her school and decorates it to be her little get away.

Explain Why You Liked the Book: I enjoyed reading this book very much because we see the struggle of Melinda Sordino, a girl who was raped the summer before her freshman year in high school. While at a party she was raped by the most popular guy in school. After this she runs back to the party and calls 911 which ends the party. After this she becomes the outcast of the school. Melinda stops talking because she is traumatized. It's really interesting reading how Melinda overcomes her trauma and faces her rapist. I definitely loved this book.

Macbeth by Shakespeare

Reviewed By: Carolina Salazar (Grade 12)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Fiction

What’s Interesting About This Book: I like how they used the witches and Macbeth to see how ambition can be good but sometimes can take you to extremes to get what you want.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: The book was good because it tells you a story that can come true. And it’s scary because you know people out there are crazy like that, and it can really happen.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Reviewed By: Paola Calderon (Grade 12)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Fiction

What’s Interesting About This Book: One thing that was really interesting about the book is that it's a book about a girl who's around my age so it helps me understand what other teenage girls go through in life.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: I liked the book because it was really powerful. the way the Author’s wrote the book because the words she uses show a lot of emotion towards what the narrator is trying to say. I also liked it because it's a good book that shows you another whole different side of life.

College Prowler by Students

Reviewed By: Mackenzie Murray (Grade 10)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Nonfiction

What’s Interesting About This Book: This series of books is really written by students for students. It's incredibly honest and realistic and helps a lot when narrowing down college choices.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: I love this series of books because I find myself constantly surrounded by blatant, honest truth. It offers advice, ratings, and facts about several colleges. They have full books on several colleges nationwide.

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

Reviewed By: Miguel Gomez (Grade 12)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Fiction

What’s Interesting About This Book: The plot of this book is short and entertaining. It reflects the long and sad epic story, which will develop a sense of empathy. Those unique characters whose abilities come in useful at every turn only to be suppressed by the evil things of Olaf and his troupe.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: This book tells the story of Baudelaire children that are attached to a catastrophe after another. In addition Sunny, Klaus, and Violet are at the beach one day when they are told that their house burned down, killing their parents. As a result they are now dependable to an evil guardian, Count Olaf, they counter his plans to secure their fortune and spend each book thereafter escaping his coward schemes. However The Baudelaires lose two guardians thanks to Count Olaf's murderous plots along the way, including the insect scholar, Uncle Monty, and their useless and fearful Aunt Josephine. Beside the unfortunate luck of the protagonist, there is a time when suddenly they meet Quagmires, a group of children, which also lost their parents in a fire. Finally Klaus falls in love with Fiona, and later break his heart by leaving them to live with her brother. So they must rely on their fate and strength to reveal the mystery and hopefully find a place to call home.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Reviewed By: Neta Bronfman (Grade 12)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Fiction

What’s Interesting About This Book: This is a fiction about an almost impossible relationship between a human being and a vampire.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: Twilight is a great book, when you read it you feel happy, sad, and excited all at the same time. It is about a teenager called Bella, that moves to Forks, Washington, a town no one has ever heard of. Then, she falls in love with Edward. After a while Bella figures out Edward is not normal, he's a vampire. When Edward tries to persuade her that he is not good for her, she still insists to be with him. That decision gets her in trouble, which she agrees to go through to be with him. I suggest that if deciding to read this book, also read the other books in the saga: New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.

The Witch of Black Bird Pond by Elizabeth Speare

Reviewed By: Cory Leschel (Grade 9)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Historical Novel

What’s Interesting About This Book: The book uses great words and really helps to paint a mental picture.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: I like this book because it was interesting and exciting while also being realistic. This book is great for people of all ages that want to read an interesting book. I would definitely recommend it. It's about a woman that was thought to be a witch in the 1700s.

Witch Season by Jeff Mariotte

Reviewed By: Rebecca Salsbury

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Fantasy and Science Fiction

What’s Interesting About This Book: Jeff is a great author because he can intertwine comedy in a book of action and suspense. With each chapter he writes, he changes the points of view to show each persons thoughts, while still continuing the story.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: This book is a quick and easy read. There are many surprising changes and he twists your mind into thinking one thing, then later changing it to the exact opposite. He gives you a strong hateful foundation for one of the characters but then washes it away when revealing the true villain.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Reviewed By: Miguel Gomez (Grade 12)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Mystery and Adventure

What’s Interesting About This Book: This book has become a classic after more the forty years, and still take importance as example in basic concept. Moreover what keeps this book so interesting is not the impact of the book on the field of children's literature, but the impact on the story and the illustrations on young readers.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: The plot of the book is based on the fantasy and real consequences of a little boy's misbehavior. One night Max dresses up in his wolf suit and does all kinds of things he shouldn't, like chasing the dog with a fork. His mother scolds him and calls him a troublemaker, while Max is so mad he shouts back. As a result, his mother sends him to his bedroom without any supper. Consequently his imagination transforms his bedroom into an extraordinary setting, with a forest and an ocean and a little boat that Max sails in until he comes to a land full of strange things. Although they look and sound very fierce, the protagonist is able to tame them with a single glance. They all realize Max is "the most wild thing of all" and make him their king. Max and the inexplicable creatures have a fine time creating a rumpus until Max begins to wish to be "where someone loved him best of all." Max's dream ends when he smells his dinner. Despite his experiences, he protests going back to his own room where he finds his supper waiting for him.

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi PIcoult

Reviewed By: Daniela Quintana (Grade 12)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Other

What’s Interesting About This Book: A family is united in their love for each other, and the unbreakable bond they share together. Everything changes their lives when they have to take a very heartbreaking decision that would change their lives forever because of a deadly cancer.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: I loved this book because it is a very realistic story in facts that happen in every day of life. Many families have to face many problems like this one in their life. What I like the most about this book is how the family supports and understands the girl. But at some point there is some controversy because the fact that they think that the little sister doesn’t want to help her sister.

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Reviewed By: Anshika Chhabra (Grade 9)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Fiction

What’s Interesting About This Book: This book expresses what pretty much every teenager is going through--the confusion of love, family, and friends. How do you recognize Mr. Right when he's right in front of you? How can you be with a guy without trusting he won't hurt you? These are the feelings Remy goes through. Remy is probably the most hard-hearted girl ever, yet her heart still melts for Dexter.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: I loved the book because of the feelings it had in it. This is about a girl who could not stay with a boy for more than about 8 weeks, and she falls in love. It is so realistic yet so amazing. Remy isn't the type of person to care much about relationships or guys at all, just like her mother who is currently working on her fifth marriage. There’s something about Dexter though, something that she just cannot get over. This explains what love is truly like, it is blind and it can happen anywhere at any time.

The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman

Reviewed By: Ashley Esdaille (Grade 12)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Nonfiction

What’s Interesting About This Book: One interesting thing about this book is that it is all first account. All the things happening are told by the man who actually had to live through it. It was hell on earth for him and all Jewish people back in those days, those days during the Holocaust.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: I absolutely loved this book because it fascinated me how a person could go through such hell and how a person can be your brother one day and the next a person that would take your life for a piece of bread. The things that people had to go through during the holocaust are things way beyond myself and everyone else who did not live it. It’s an amazing story that teaches us about life and death and how we look at ourselves as brothers, sisters and most of all as human beings.

KISS and Makeup by Gene Simmons

Reviewed By: Zach Landman (Grade 9)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Nonfiction

What’s Interesting About This Book: Gene Simmons tells his side of the story of the days and years he was with the rock group "KISS."

Explain Why You Liked This Book: It tells the funny, musical, romantic side of Gene Simmons experiences with "KISS."

Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer

Reviewed By: Vera Rostonics (Grade 12)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Fiction

What’s Interesting About This Book: An interesting about the book is how Chris decides to take a journey into Alaska during the winter. He does not let anyone get in his way. People tell him he's committing a big mistake that he does not have enough supplies or food and he will freeze to death.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: I liked the book because Chris is really stubborn. He can relate to me a lot. Sometimes I read the dialogue in the book and it sounded like something I would say.

For One More Day by Mitch Albom

Reviewed By: Lauren Iovino (Grade 12)

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Fiction

What’s Interesting About This Book: For One More Day is a heart-warming story about a man named Chick who gets to spend one more day with his mother, who died many years earlier. It is very ironic that he is able to spend one more day with his mother because Chick took his mother for granted his entire life. However, after her death he kept carrying the burden of guilt over the way he always treated her.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: I enjoyed this book because it was both short and easy to read. Throughout the entire story I was entertained and found it very hard to even put the book down at times. It is filled with many relatable life lessons and inspirational quotes to live by. I liked how the book kept going back and forth between the present and the past memories of Chick's childhood with his mother. It had a huge impact on me as it not only told an intriguing story but also spoke about how to make peace and move on from our pasts. This story contains many different type of themes such as love, family, mistakes, and mostly forgiveness. I found myself rereading this book three times after and discovering something new each time. After you are done reading it you feel a desire to be more careful and cautious about how you treat those you love and care about. And also to not take one single day for granted. It made me appreciate my mother more as well. I mostly enjoyed how the examples used in the book were many of the same exact things that I have gone through and experienced.

Contact by Carl Sagan

Reviewed By: Carlos Rodriguez

Review Rating:

Type of Book: Fiction

What’s Interesting About This Book: The SETI program really does exist, and just like in the book, is in danger of being eliminated because of funding.

Explain Why You Liked This Book: While it may seem trite, I liked the movie so much that I wondered how good the book was. In particular because I have read a couple of other excellent books also penned by Carl Sagan. While the book is fiction, it does confront many of the issues our government would have to deal with regarding extra-terrestrial contact: How much information do we share with other countries? Do we assume their intentions are good? Are their any international treaties regarding this scenario? The book was rich in details that a two-hour movie could not begin to convey. If you like sci-fi, this is a "Must Read"!