Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda

The book I read for the first quarter was Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda. This is a young-adult fiction novel by Becky Albertalli and it is 303 pages long. The story centers around Simon Spier a teen who has a seems to have a pretty great life. He has a good family, friends, and a bright future. One thing that no one knows about him is that he is gay. Simon never felt that he needed to "come out" because it was not a big deal and it wasn't fair. Over the course of the book he starts secretly  talking to someone online who is also gay. They form a close friendship and potential feelings for each other, but they are too scared find out who each other is because then the whole world would know. Well someone finds out about them and blackmails Simon threatening to tell everyone about his secret life.

I really enjoyed this book mainly because of how relatable the main character, Simon, was. Even if you have not gone through the same experiences as him the author really displays his emotions in a way that makes you know exactly how he is feeling. The main character becomes so relatable that I would catch myself rooting for him, and hurting for him during heartbreak. The writing was pretty simplistic but not in a bad way: the words might have been simple but the  author intelligently uses this language to show a perspective that many people would not think they could connect with.

First Quarter SSR Book Post

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre: Fantasy & Fiction
Page Count: 352

Summary:
This novel takes the reader into the life of Jacob, an adolescent who has been struggling to piece his life back together after the mysterious murder of his grandfather. Before his grandpa’s death, he constantly told Jacob of an island that is home to a clan of magical children & their caretaker, Miss Peregrine. In his final moments, Jacob's grandfather told him to seek shelter with Miss Peregrine. In order to avenge his grandfather's death, Jacob goes on a mission to locate these children. After his arrival, he is told the home is preserved by a time loop, which restarts the same day, & prevents everyone in it from aging. He also discovers that he too is peculiar. Jacob has the ability to see "hollowgasts", which are creatures that hunt people with peculiarities, also known as the type of monster that killed Jacob's grandfather. Miss Peregrine fears that Jacob led these beasts to the home, & suggests he live there to secure his own safety. Her theory was confirmed when the demons showed up & attempted to kill all the peculiars. Everyone managed to escape unharmed, & they even killed the creatures, but this event meant Jacob now had to live with the peculiars for all eternity.

Review:
Personally, I found this book very intriguing. Fiction books tend to be my favorite genre, so I expected to enjoy this one. While reading this, I found myself very involved with each character. Despite the busy storyline, I was never confused, which I assume is because of how well-written this novel is. Overall, this story was very unique & unlike any I've read before. I would recommend it to anyone, but especially high schoolers as it seems like a decent coming of age book.

Until the Next Time

This realistic fiction novel is written by Kevin Fox and contains 388 pages. The novels starts out with the main character, Sean Corrigan, on his twenty-first birthday. He lives with his Irish family in New York, trying to forget the bad memories he has, such as his ex-girlfriend. As he’s barely waking up, his father gives him an old journal. The journal comes from his uncle Michael, which he has never met, or knew, in his life. Sean reads the the last journal entry, which is described in Michael’s point of view. Michael describes the fear he has as he’s holding a gun in front of a dead man. He didn’t know how it happened; everything happened in an instant. He notices the police and runs away, but the police follows him. Michael escapes to the point that the police thinks he died. As Sean finishes the last entry of his uncle, his father gives him airplane tickets and some gifts to give to his Irish relatives. His father wants him to go to Ireland to find out what happened to uncle Michael. Sean doesn’t like the idea, but he decides to listen to his dad and go to Ireland. There, he tries to find the people mentioned in the journal to ask any clues they have of his uncle to answer the question: did he really kill a man or not?

The Stranger-Albert Camus

The book will be put under the crime fiction genre and is a story about the man named Mersault. This book opens up with a sort of harsh beginning and is a little slow to start but you can tell from some foreshadowing and observing this characters actions of what type of person he is. The book opens with the death of his mother who he calls Maman and he visits this funeral.  The book can be described as an existentialist point of view which means to question why we are on this earth? What are we born and made to do. The book has an amazing way of explaining emotions and giving you the perfect view of the situation our character gets put into and his surrounding. This book was able to hold my attention for the majority of the book, and this book was genuinely able to change my point of view, on something to which i will not give away, and this surprises me because I am very hard headed. I highly recommend this book it is only 123 pages in the book as well as being super easy to follow. I don't usually read in this type of genre but when reading this i was able to follow through the entire book and when I would stop reading I would want to start again and learn of what was to happen next to Mersault. This book sadly does not lead itself open to a sequel but definitely will leave you thinking for a couple days on the way events lead to it and will have you content yet mortified.

The Stand- Stephen King

Summary

A deadly virus, which was engineered at an army base, is accidentally released across America and it wipes out nearly the entire U.S population. The surviving population is said to be miraculously immune to the virus. These survivors must now band together in order to survive a desolate world and try to rebuild civilization. However, there is a supernatural being amidst the survivors who lures the most intelligent, hardworking, and evil survivors to Nevada. On the other hand, the peaceful and rational survivors are lured to an old lady, who appears in their dreams, living in Nebraska. The supernatural being, known as the Dark Man, plans to obliterate all the survivors who sided with the old lady. He begins creating an army and the peaceful survivors are well aware of this, so they begin their own preparations. The two groups have different views on how they want to rebuild society. The Dark Man wants to rule society alone, with an iron fist. The old lady wants to recreate the previous society and live peacefully. Two different ideologies locking horns and only one can come on top. This means war. 

Review

The book is a fictional novel and consists of 1200 pages. The book has a multitude of characters that have their own unique personalities and stories. Throughout the book, you will skip from one survivor story to another and finally, they all entangle together to create a rather complex yet unique storyline. You will feel connected to several characters and you will grow a sense of sympathy for the characters after a few hundred pages. The antagonist is a very well rounded character who remains mysterious and intriguing throughout the book. One thing that I disliked about this book was the ending. It seemed very abrupt and left many loose ends that the author should have addressed. After reading over a thousand pages the ending felt rather underwhelming. 

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart

Written by: Jenn Bennett
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
304 pages

         In The Anatomical Shape of a Heart, the main characters are a quirky art girl—Beatrix Adams—and a drop-dead gorgeous (and rich) graffiti artist, Jack Vincent. Beatrix Adams (Bex) lives with her mother who is an emergency room nurse at Parnassus Medical Center and her older brother, Heath, who is quite a troublesome nineteen year-old. Beatrix is fond of anatomy and aspires to be a medical illustrator. She wants to enter a student drawing competition that offers a scholarship prize, so she's hoping to be allowed to draw the cadavers in the anatomy lab at the hospital her mother works at. When the doctor from the anatomy lab doesn’t show up to their meeting, Bex finds herself taking a transit bus to her home, and while waiting for the bus, she meets an attractive boy, Jack Vincent, all dressed in black thus making it the start of their love story; however, The Anatomical Shape of a Heart isn’t all late-night escapades and cadaver drawings – there are family struggles, heartbreak, and consequences that have to be faced. The book tackles mental issues, divorce, sex and more that I think might interest some of you!

For me, the story was unique in its own way because it had the quirky, interesting characters, great romance, and wonderful writing that Bennett is known for. I liked that Beatrix was comfortable with who she was and didn’t feel like she didn’t belong in this world. I respected how Bennett handled giving sex a positive outlook as it can be very sensitive but often gets handled poorly in books for young adults. If I were to change something about this book, I would add more plot twists within the story because I love the excitement, and the book didn’t really have that much page turners, in my opinion!

The List- SSR 1st Quarter Book Review

Title: The List
Author: Melanie Jacobson
Genre: Romance
Page Count: 264

Summary:
The main character, Ashley Barrett, feels pressured into getting married, but she has sworn to not follow in her older sister's footsteps and complete a list of 25 items that she wants to learn to do or to accomplish before she feels like settling down and going to grad school. She spends the summer in California with her family where she learns how to surf, make sushi, and cross almost everything off of her list. Number 17 on her list is to have a summer romance, so she creates a plan to fall in love with the most wanted guy and then leave him right before she leaves for grad school, except when things don't go her way, she has to face the decision of either sticking to the list or stay in a relationship that might tie her down.

Review:
I really enjoyed this book. It was hard to put it down and I just wanted to keep reading and see what happens next. I felt like some of the major events in the book were predictable, but then there were some that I totally did not see coming (I won't say what they are because I don't want to spoil it). The writing was simple and easy to read, but it kept me intrigued the whole time. It was easy to follow along with the story and I liked how you could connect with the characters, their story and emotions. If you're looking for a fun, easy romance novel then I think this book would be a good choice.

A Clash of Kings(Book #2) -1st Quarter SSR

Mycah Reece

Series: A Song Of Ice And Fire (ASOIAF)
Author: George R.R. Martin - Fantasy
728 pages


Summary:
     This book does not have one narrator, instead the book rotates around the points of views of some of the people in the story. It picks up after the death of a major character in the first novel who helped start a war against House Baratheon of  Kings Landing, who are the ruling family on the continent of Westeros. There are five different sides to this civil war who are all claiming to have their own king. Everyone is so focused on fighting for their claim to the Iron Throne that do not realize that there is a greater threat rising in the north.
Review:
     Even though this is a fantasy book, a majority of the magic in this book is difficult to access. Some parts of the world do not believe that magic had ever existed, but is instead a fabrication of their ancestor's misunderstanding of the natural world. Others believe that magic does exist and try to continue the practice even though that power disappeared  generations ago. One thing that really caught my attention with the magic in this world is that there is a high price for trying to gain that power. In fact, I believe that it is not worth it since it asks for the users to give up parts of their own souls and earthly possessions.
     My favorite part about this book is the constant shift from the character to character which prevents the story from having a dull moment. Each character has their own morals and can give contradicting information because they themselves are not always correct with their own assumptions. Those assumptions can induce major flaws that could result in their death. This makes the book unpredictable since any action-good or bad can create issues not only for themselves, but for everyone if not careful. Also this book has multiple settings around the known world of ASOIAF so you get to see the different cultures which are not always ideal.

1st Quarter SSR post

Book: Let me tell you everything
Author: Barbara Bottner
Genre: Romance
Published:1989

Summary:
            Let me tell you everything” is about a girl named Brogan going through normal teenage things. For some reason she has always felt she wasn’t good enough, she makes a comment saying she isn’t ugly but she isn’t beautiful. Due to those feeling she sees no reason for her to have a boyfriend or even have any interest in guys at all. That was until Brogan showed up the first day of school to see a new English teacher, named Mr. Price. Instantly she is so intrigued with that fact that he is mature and that he has some kind of authority over her. Anytime he gives any girl any attention she somewhat freaks out, she is crazy about him. Brogan then has high tensions with the “most popular girl in school” because Mr. Price had been having after school meetings with her. If you want to find out what kind of things end up happening between the two go ahead and read it I don’t wanna give any spoilers.


Review:
             Honestly this is a pretty good book, but it is old school. It was published in 1989 so it is based off that time. I do think the story line is kind of over done, but if you are into the romance you will like it. I would rate this book a 7/10. I honestly wish I would have picked another book that I would be more interested in such as a horror book.

The Selection by Kierra Cass

The book I chose to write about for our 1st quarter ssr is called The Selection by Kierra Cass. The book is around the 320 page range and is the first in a five book series. It’s a young adult novel that follows a love triangle storyline. The story mainly focuses on the life of a 17 year old girl named America who is being pressured by her family and boyfriend to join the selection in hopes of her living a better life than they were given.The selection is a process girls from the ages 16-20 go through if they wish to be chosen by Max Schreave who happens to be a prince coming of age. This is a once in a life time opportunity for them to change the life they were destined to from the day they were born because in their country they have castes. Castes determine what your jobs are and the lower your caste is the less money you receive. America is caste 5 whilst her boyfriend Aspen is a caste below her. For most girls they can’t wait to see if they get selected, but for America it’s something she dreads even applying for. America knows applying and making it to the royal palace is great for family because they’re guaranteed a better life. However, she’s not fond of the idea of competing for a crown she doesn’t want.
I recommend this book because it’s keeps you involved and wondering what will happen next. There’s never a dull moment. The only thing that I found in this book slightly negative was the lack of content having to do with troublesome characters that show up later on in the book.

first quarter SSR

Title:  Diary of an Oxygen Thief
Author:  Anonymous
Genre:  Memoir
Page Count:  147

Summary:

This book is about a alcoholic that lived off of hurting the people that he would date or have a one night stand with.  He would pretend to be in love with them, later becoming terribly mean and dumping them.  The author then decided that the life he was living was not what he wanted anymore, so after many years of this, he sobered up and began to provide himself a better life and tried to be nicer to females.  Shortly, a female has walked into his life and his life turned upside down yet again.

Review: 

This book wasn't really that good and wasn't my favorite because it went off topic to many situations and it was hard to keep up with.  However, it was nice hearing about how he wanted to change up his life and stop drinking all the time and change up on how he was treating women.  I liked how he was honest with what he was telling the reader and took us through each time he treated someone wrong.

1st Quarter SSR

Title: My Book of Life by Angel
Author: Martine Leavitt
Page Count: 256

Summary

The main character of my book is a 16 year old girl named Angel. She was a normal girl until she met an older guy one day named Call. Call made Angel feel special, and she instantly had feelings for him. She didn’t know that this would be the beginning of the end of life as she knew it. Call started offering Angel pieces of his “candy” that would make her feel invincible. As she continued hanging out with Call, she feel for more of his tricks. Blinded by love and drugs, she allows Call and his friends to use her to fulfill their pleasures. Eventually Angel gets pulled into prostitution by Call. She moved into his apartment and is forced to work the streets in order to keep her place there and her daily dose of “candy”. When her friend who work the street with her suddenly goes missing, Angel wants to find her.  During this time Call brings home a 12 year old girl and asks Angel to teach her the ways of the street. Angel finally sees this as a reason to change. She wants to help the young girl and herself reconnect with their families.

Review

Overall, I enjoyed this book. This book was similar to books by my favorite author Ellen Hopkins. The book was written with poetry. The book uses improper sentences to show Angel’s low education level. It has lots of imagery that shows how grim Angel’s life has become. The book focuses on a distressing topic, but also a teenage girl trying to turn her life around. This book was intriguing, and I was able to finish it quickly. However, I would only recommend this books to mature readers. There are lots of scenes described in this book that could be triggering. If you plan on reading this book be prepared for these parts of the books. To conclude, I liked this book and would read other books by this author. 

First Quarter SSR Blog Post

             

Book: The Awakening
Author: Kate Chopin
Pages:247


In the story the Awakening it is about a woman named Edna escaping her boring marriage and escaping what society expects her to do. Edna is a middle-aged woman with a husband and two kids, but that didn't hold Edna from going out into the real world and escaping from societies expectation. Not long after years of her marriage, she starts to drift off from her family and do what she wants by going out late and not doing anything in the house. Later in the book, she starts to follow her own heart by having affairs with people she meets around her city and almost gets caught with her secret lovers.


Review: I like this book because the plot was interesting, reading this book you'll be surprised by the main character's choices. Plus the story is pretty simple and I like simple books. Another reason why I like this book is because it has an adventure, the characters travel to many places and I like a  book with adventure because when I read, it makes me feel like I'm there

A Prayer for Owen Meany- 1st Qtr SSR

Title: A Prayer for Owen Meany
Author: John Irving
Genre: Bildungsroman
Pages: 617

Summary:
     In this book John Wheelwright is looking back and reminiscing on his pre-teen years during the 50's and 60's when he lived in Gravesend, New Hampshire. Particularly memories with his best friend Owen Meany, a scrawny pale boy of minimal height with an extremely high pitched voice with a wise and extraordinary mind. Owen Meany is also the murderer of John's mother Tabitha. Owen was batting during a little league game and the only ball he was ever able to hit was the murder weapon of his best friends mom. The ball hit Johns Mother on her temple and she was dead before she hit the ground. Even after the incident, they remained best friends. Owen Meany was a huge part of Johns life. Throughout school and life, Owen had inspired Johns belief in God. Even after Owens meaningful death, which Owen had predicted, Owens spirit had continued to change Johns life.

Review:
   Alrighty! So this book is amazing. It is a true story, but because there is the theme of supernatural powers with John and Owens belief in God, I especially liked it. It truly is an extraordinary novel. However, if you are not a big reader then this book might be a little hard to read. It does start off a little slow and the transitions between major events weren’t extremely intriguing, you could find yourself fading off as you are reading the words, like me. Although it was slightly difficult to read, it was still interesting and mind-opening. Also the writing was very mature yet simplistic so it was easy to understand. It was also sort of poetic, a lot of the things he experienced had deep meanings behind them.  I would definitely recommend this book if you are in need of inspiration or growth. This book does start off slow, but the journey to the end is worth it.

To All The Boys I've Loved Before SSR Blog Quarter 1

Title: To All The Boys I've Loved Before
Author: Jenny Han
Pages: 388

To All The Boys I've Loved Before is about a girl who writes secret letters to those who she loved before. These letters are meant for goodbye and not to be read ever again. She stores her letters in a blue teal hat box that her mother who passed away gave to her. One day all of the letters disappear and are sent to all the boys she's written those letters to. With this problem, all of the boys that have received the letters now know that Lara Jean (main character) likes them.
The main character of this book is Lara Jean. Overall her character is pretty relatable because this setting takes place in high school. I feel that Lara Jean is a very broad character that most teenage girls can easily relate to. Lara Jean goes through a problem that a crush might deny her which most girls believe would happen if they do confess, but instead everything takes a different course. The characters in the novel itself are very dynamic. For example Peter Kavinsky goes through experiences and learns to make better decisions for himself instead of putting himself down for someone else. This helped with the story itself to show that it is necessary to drop certain people to allow you to grow as a person. I honestly wouldn't change anything to this story. I believe that the way the author presented her fictional story was a work of art. The story itself held great meaning and suspense.

1st Quarter SSR Review

November 9 - Teen Romance

Colleen Hoover

320 pages

Summary:

This book is about a girl named Fallon who once was a rising star until the day that left a burn scar stretching down the entire left side of her body. She meets a young man the day before her move across the country. Ben is a young literature student with the dreams of one day writing a novel. The day the pair meet becomes the day that they continue to meet for the next five years but here the catch they don’t speak to each other through text or social media on the other days of the year Only November 9th. This becomes Ben’s inspiration for his novel which he titles “November 9” only the 9th that he remembers was the that changed their life forever.

Review:

I connected with Fallon from the first start of the book. She’s dark and angry but wants to be able to expose the emotions that are trapped deep inside. I would categorize her as a dynamic character due to the fact that she does go through a series of emotional and physical changes, but because she is so sporadic the book had a better way to express her story. This would be amongst the books to recommend to people because it has so many genres tied into it so it would be extremely hard for anyone to put down. Personally I like how the author made it as if Ben ( The guy Fallon Meets on 11/09) is writing it and how she incorporates just how much the two love each other without really knowing each other for that long. It also gives the gruesome and sad story behind the scar that stole her job and confidence and it a MAJOR plot twist. Y'all should read it! 

First Quarter SSR Blog Post

Title: Call Me By Your Name

Author: André Aciman

Genre: Romance, Drama, Coming-of-age

Page Count: 256

Summary:

In the summer of 1983, the main character, a seventeen year old boy named Elio, meets his father’s research assistant/intern named Oliver. In the beginning, Elio feels frustrated and believes Oliver doesn’t like him. But as the short six weeks of summer pass by, the men grow closer and closer, and they develop a bond that they will remember forever. Elio learns more about himself and what it feels like to be vulnerable.

Discussion:

Elio is a very honest character, which makes him a very lovable character. He’s open about his emotions, and he is very relatable. He comes of as shy, but beneath the exterior, you learn that he has many secrets and talents. Elio struggles throughout the book of trying to figure out who he is, and as we transition from high school to college, the idea of not knowing what to do is very relatable. His counterpart, Oliver, is the opposite. Throughout the book, the author focuses on how Oliver sort of prides himself on knowing who he is, and knowing what he should or shouldn’t do. This contrast between the characters shows the age and maturity difference between the two, which makes the reader want to see if Elio ever catches up to Oliver.

The relationship between Elio and Oliver is one that everyone should experience, even if it’s as short as a summer. The book focuses on how even a short relationship can cause a huge change in a person’s life. To me, the story is unpredictable, but I found myself imagining what would happen next. This book is difficult to put down because all you want to do is find out what’s going to happen next.

I wouldn’t change anything about the book, because not all stories deserve the ending that’s predictable. 10/10 would read again (the movie is also stunning, great cinematic shots, and the actors were casted beautifully).

Grace Goodwin

All the Bright Places- SSR

The novel All the Bright Places, by Jennifer Niven briefly focuses on two characters. A girl named Violet and a boy named Theodore Finch are friends that started with both about to throw themselves out of a window at the same time. However, Finch uses charm to have Violet get down and they both get off. Violet lost her dearest sister in an accident and has had to live with it asking herself “Why her” she completely loses is and hasn’t been happy ever since. She is a girl that learns how to live from a boy that has always been all about death. Finch has an undiagnosed bipolar disorder that he suffers with from constantly being bullied all his life and having to live with a father that beats him. Violet and Finch attempt in trying to be happy by working on a project in which they will wander to new places. Violet improves herself and starts being more happy however Finch does not get better a lot of bad things start to happen but seems okay since he still had Violet, but once her parents say she can no longer see him he loses it. He feels as if he lost her. Spoiler Alert: Finch ends up committing suicide and leaves Violet with the rest of the places to wander leaving clues for her in each remaining spot.

1st Quarter SSR Book Review

Title: Sin
Author: Josephine Hart
Genre: fiction
Total Pages: 163

Summary:

         My book was based on two cousins, Ruth and Elizabeth that were raised as sisters. Its told by Ruth's point of view and her growing envy of Elizabeth. Before Ruth was born Elizabeth's parents died and she was taken by Ruth's parents. Elizabeth was seen as the golden child and Ruth believed she was robbed of her birthright. As Ruth grows her jealousy intensifies and she begins to hatch plans to destroy Elizabeth. She begins to take small things from her and when thats not enough she plots to seduce Elizabeth’s husband. Ruth is obsessed with Elizabeth and she won’t stop until she takes everything away from her.

Review:

     
         I enjoyed reading this book even though the ending was somewhat disappointing. The writing was simple and it was easy to follow the plot of the book. The protagonist of the novel was interesting. Ruth is an intellegent chareacter which is why I don’t get why she would hold back and try to be like her cousin. At first I didn’t like Elizabeth because I thought she was ignorant to what Ruth was trying to do but at the end she surprises the reader. What I didn’t like about the book was that the chapters were very short and that at times after a chapter finished a new chapter would start years later in the characters life, overall I enjoyed this book and it’s itresting characters, 

         

Magic Fire by Christopher Pike

Magic Fire
Christopher Pike
Mystery, Horror Fiction - 226 pages


Summary:

Magic Fire takes place in Southern California in the eyes of the protagonist Mark Charm. Mark is a senior in high school and has to live the majority of his daily life alone as his mother is in the hospital sick with cancer. In addition, Mark is a pyromaniac, meaning that he is obsessed with fire and lighting objects on fire. He is responsible for a good amount of wildfires in Los Angeles, yet he has been able to keep his infatuation with flames a secret from the public.

Mark has a crush on a girl named Jessa, yet he knows little to nothing about her. Her character doesn't have much to fall back on as her background is a mystery. What is known about her is that she is quite popular with men and is considered very beautiful. The only way Jessa and Mark were able to interact was when Mark walked in on her changing during a play rehearsal, which was filled with flirtatious comments and actions.

Through a complex plot containing drugs, near death experiences, and other outrageous elements, Mark discovers he has pyrokinesis the power to control fire with his mind.


Review:

I was personally disappointed with how downhill this novel went. I initially was excited to read a novel based upon the idea of the main character having pyrokinesis, but was heartbroken to discover how terrible the plot became the closer I went to the end. The beginning of it had so much potential, but as soon as the actual conflict arose, I hated the novel the more I read. As much as I want to spoil what happens to prevent anyone else from reading this trash book, Ms. Colln stated that we can't give out major spoilers, so if you get stuck reading this novel, I apologize. Just know that the Science Fiction element that could have made this novel enjoyable implemented an unnecessary and complicated plot twist that makes everything in the rest of the story unbearable and confusing to read. It could have been fine if the author left it at Mark learning he has pyrokinesis, but noooooo, they just had to add that certain something else. Also, the book cover is misleading, don't get hooked in because of the cover.

The writing was fine in the beginning, not too poetic but also not simplistic enough to bore you. It's only when the plot gets complex that everything becomes hard to understand. There's too many plot twists and unnecessary dilemmas that eventually you just end up turning in the book before you finish it. At least, I did that. I didn't have any interest in finishing the novel, so I simply skimmed through the rest of it so I can at least say I finished it.

Mark was a fine protagonist, he didn't act over-dramatically (for someone who loved setting houses on fire) and he was one of the only sensible characters in the novel. Jessa was one of the worst characters in my opinion. She eventually became too much to handle and hard to trust. This harmed the novel immensely considering Mark was head over heals for her and it was hard to see him have to go through so much because of her.

If I were to change anything in the book, and boy do I want to, I would cut off the plot from around the second half of the book and replace it with something else. Anything else would do fine. Leaving the main plot at "Mark can control fire with his mind and has no idea what to do with it" would have made a much better novel.

In conclusion, this book sucked. -2/10.

Double Cross - 1st Quarter Review

For the first quarter, I read Double Cross by James Patterson. It is an interesting crime/thriller/mystery novel that is 400 pages long. To be honest, I picked up the book and started reading without realizing it was the 13th book in the series involving these characters. It is not too connected to the other books as far as I know, because it wasn't too confusing. It follows the story of a detective named Alex Cross, and it starts off with a new killer being introduced to the story. There are two stories going on in this story. The first is the story of the DC Audience Killer, who is the new killer introduced in the beginning. The second one follows the story of a killer from a former story, named Kyle Craig. He has sworn vengeance on Alex Cross for catching him, and the DC Audience Killer has announced that he wants Kyle Craig to come after him.
This book interested me a lot when it was being told around the story of the killers. The way that it encompasses their thought processes and justifications for their own actions makes for a compelling story line. Reading about their intricate plans and their safety nets that they have in place just in case a plan fails ropes you into the story even more. Alex Cross is sometimes a relatable character, and is a good protagonist in the story. What I didn't like about this book was that the pacing can be a little off sometimes, and that makes the book feel slow and uninteresting. Some parts of the story are unnecessary, but overall, the book is an enjoyable experience that keeps you wanting more.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
454 pages

          The Da Vinci Code written by Dan Brown is a mysterious story that follows Robert Langdon, the story's protagonist who is a renown professor of religious iconology and symbology who stumbles upon a complex, nefarious dilemma while in Paris, France to talk at the American University of Paris.

         The novel begins with a phone call  unrecognizable to Langdon, but he has no awareness to where he is. The phone call is from the concierge monsieur who states that there is urgency for his presence.  Jerome Collet, a Direction Centrale Police Judiciaire, comes to his hotel door, immediately showing him a photograph of Jacques Sauniere lying in his own pool of blood with a his name stated in Sauniere's notebook along with a decryption code. Little does Langdon know,  Collet suspects him of murdering Sauniere. 

           However,  important view of points of this book tells us that there in an underlying culprit who wishes to obtain and achieve goals of his religious belief, Opus Dei. An albino Catholic monk named Silas is the underlying culprit who works under the "Teacher" and wishes to obtain the keystone in search of the Holy Grail. 

            Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu are always one step ahead of Silas, who is trying to obtain the cryptex key. Langdon and Neveu work together in order to find the hidden treasures of her grandfather, and to prevent Silas from obtaining this key that is a crucial component of the Catholic Church in Paris. 

            Successfully, they manage to obtain the Holy Grail, but are astonished by what they later realize bout Neveu's family. 

Overall, reading the book has made me love the plot even more after watching the movie several times. I liked how Dan Brown incorporated intriguing parts of text that left me pondering about the next step of what they would do. One chapter of the novel is too little to satisfy my needs-- you cannot put this book down without reading the next and next.

Nikk Chhou

The Black-Eyed Blond

Author: Benjamin Black
Genre: Mystery
290 Pages

It's summer in the 1950's in Bay City, California, where all the stars & glamour reside in nearby Hollywood. The story starts off in the office of Philip Marlowe, a private detective with slow business till he meets his next potential, intriguing client, a "seductive young heiress", Clare Cavendish. A lost lover has led her to request Marlowe's help, a hunt for a man that goes by Nico Peterson. With a background in the perfume business, it's best to go to a private eye instead of the locals to avoid a scandal, as well as any marital problems of course. In the first few chapters, it is known that Peterson was a victim of the hit and run, almost 2 months ago. Yet Cavendish recalls seeing him in the streets just about a week ago. The investigation continues on to find out whether or not Nico Peterson is deceased or seen.

The setting and time that this book takes place in is already something that caught me. A classic mystery in the time where Hollywood hits a peak. The author uses imagery to describe the characters, to start off the context with descriptive yet subtle scenes such as "It was one of those Tuesday afternoons when you wonder if the earth has stopped revolving." I would recommend this book to anyone who just loves a crime story, a mystery with stars, fame, glory, and gore.

SSR Quarter 1 Book Review

            My first quarter SSR book is a young adult novel called Mosquitoland. Written by David Arnold, The book has a total of 342 pages. after Mary Iris Malones(mim) parents go through a divorce, she is forced to leave her hometown and go live with her dad. Every day she has to wake up to a step-mom that makes her feel unwelcome. After finding out that her biological mother is sick, she decides to leave her house without notice. As she travels 947 miles from Jackson Mississippi, to Cleveland, Ohio, She meets all sorts of people and has to deal with her own problems, boy relationships, and her own perspective on life. As she gets on the greyhound bus, she realizes that her trip may not be so easy. Apart from the whole story, the reader is able to get a close look in the mind of Mim. Every action has a thought and is soon to be realized that she is not the average girl. She has a lot of ideas in her head that she has to constantly be reminded about. I didn't really feel connected with the character, but I felt very sympathetic about her many times in the book. Some major plot point become more predictable as you read the book, but that didn't make me lose my interest on the book. I think the Author did a great job in creating this book and i would definitely recommend it to someone who wants to cry like 100%.

Book Review: Deranged by Harold Schechter

Title: Deranged
Author: Harold Schechter
Genre:True Crime
Total Pages: 303

Summary:

This book follows a serial killer named Albert Fish and the horrendous crimes he committed in the 1920's and 1930's. It starts off by his most infamous crime, the kidnapping of a 10 year old girl, Grace Budd. For years her parents and the police force try to find her kidnapper and try to link him to other "cold cases" committed in the past. Albert Fish would go by many alias' and would show up to people's houses and claim he was a good guy. With ease, he would convince parents and their children that he meant no harm and was simply a good person. There were several unsolved kidnappings where they simply didn't have enough evidence to convict someone of the crime, but sooner or later the head detective William King would find the shocking evidence he needed to put him away for good.

Review:

Even though it had some material that was hard to read, it was extremely interesting. The main thing I liked about the book was that the parents and police force never gave up and made it their mission to find out what truly happened. I would not want to change anything about this book because it is a true story and it should be told without falsifying what happened. This book is a good read and i would recommend it because it constantly has new and shocking information that keeps you wanting to keep reading. However, there are several chapters that go into detail about gruesome and disturbing things which might not be for everyone.

If I Stay

                                                If I stay 

Title- If I stay 

Author- Gayle Forman 

Genre - Young adult fiction 

Total page number of book- 210

                                                                         Summary

My book follows a young girl name Mia and her family during a car accident which took the life of her parents and younger brother. As for Mia she has been battling in the in between struggling with her out of body experience which is allowing her to see everything that is happening around her without them seeing her. During this experience she starts to reflect on herself and her music career as well as her relationship with her boyfriend. Not forgetting that she is still in the hospital fighting for her life being faced with the decision if she wants to keep fighting for her life and become an orphan without having her family or just simply letting go and joining her family. 

                                                                        Review 

The main character was just like any other teenage girl. She loved music and was in love with her boyfriend Adam. Although I do not feel somewhat connected to the main character I still do get emotional knowing what she has been through in this novel.  The major plots were not predictable in my opinion because I have never read a book that shows someone battling in between life and death in this form. It is really a troubled experience  that she faces when she is outside of her body and seeing life going on without her. I highly recommend that you should watch this movie before reading the book so you could get a better understanding of how she is dealing with this situation but be prepared to cry because it is really a great movie and book all together.

The Graveyard Book

Novel: The Graveyard Book
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Horror and Suspense
             307 pages

    In the novel, The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, a man named Jack goes into a family's house to murder the mother, father, and child of a house on a hill. Jack carries a sharp knife, ready to kill. After Jack murders the mother and father, he goes upstairs to the baby's room to kill the baby laying in a crib. But, as Jack walks up to the crib, the baby is nowhere to be found. The baby actually walked out of the house and was on the way to a nearby graveyard further up the hill. Jack decides to use his sense of smell to find the baby. The baby reaches the graveyard to find himself in front of his new ghost parents: Mr. and Mrs. Owens. They call the baby Bod and teach him the ways of life even though they are ghosts.
     By the time Bod is four years old the Owens allow Bod to wonder where he meets a young girl Scarlet. Scarlet goes on adventures with Bod around the cemetery and when Scarlet is about to go home, her mother believes that Bod is actually an imaginary person. After months of Bod and Scarlet discovering more about the cemetery, Scarlet has to say her final goodbye when she makes a move to Scottland with her parents.
    As time went by Bod continued to learn from his parents and the people around him the ways of a human. By the time Bod was fourteen Scarlett came back to visit after her parents split up. But little did Bod know that Jack was back too. And in a matter of days, Jack managed to get his sharp knife around Scarlet's neck. If you do want to know what ends up happening to Scarlet and Bod, please pick up this book; It is a must read.

   I enjoyed this novel even though it wasn't my preferred genre of books. I was able to read a different style of text that was not only spooky but a page-turner. Jack is seen as the character who is supposed to murder the people of a once healthy living family, but the reader initially is unaware of the reason why. The main protagonist, Bod, who gets his name from "Nobody" is a unique character because he was able to live both the life of a ghost and a life of a human and still enjoy the things that he loved. I would rate this book a 10/10.

Discourses by Epictetus

Maximilian Kallas

Discourses and Selected Writings by Epictetus

Genre: Philosophy

276 pages

Discourses is collection of lectures by the Stoic philosopher, Epictetus. However, Epictetus did not write these down himself; his pupil, Arrian is responsible for transcribing his lectures and conversations around 108 A.D., which describe the tenets of the Stoic philosophy. Discourses emphasizes the importance of the right use of impressions, or events, so that one may live in accordance with nature. While living in “accordance with nature” is a vague term, Epictetus defines this as utilizing one’s capacity for reason to make correct judgments about the events that occur in life and responding appropriately.

The main point that Epictetus frequently stresses is the fact that the only thing that you have some degree of control over is your own mind; everything else is external and out of your control. Thus, you should not worry about externals and what may come of them, but because your thoughts and feelings are within your power, you should train yourself to exercise control over them in order to live in accordance with nature as a rational animal.

Epictetus also groups actions and events as either good, bad, or indifferent. Things that are good are virtues and using reason. Things that are bad are vices, or a corruption of reason. In the last category, all externals are labeled as indifferent, or neither good nor bad. Epictetus often addresses death in his lectures to remind his students that death is indifferent and should not be feared because it is not within one’s power.

Overall, I thought this was a great book and I agreed with most of the principles that Epictetus discusses. However, in some areas, he does lean to an extreme. For example, in one of the books of Discourses, he says that one should try not to be funny, which does not sound like fun. I think the best part of the book is the fact that Epictetus constantly reminds his students that his lectures are of no use if they do not put them in practice by living according to the Stoic principles in every moment of their lives.

The Hate You Give

Tricia Roserie
The Hate You Give, by Angie Thomas is about a seventeen year old girl who lives in the projects but goes to school with rich white people. Her way of living and their way of living are completely different, and she tries to ignore that when she goes to school. In the beginning of the book she goes to a neighborhood party to try to socialize with more people who live around her because she doesn't attend the same school as them. In other words, most people believe that in her mind she believes shes better than them for going to a rich white school. At the neighborhood party she catches up with a boy, Kahlil, a childhood friend and she spends most of her time at this party talking to him until shoots are fired at the party and both of them hurry to Khalil's car to get out of the area. On their way to Starr's house, the main character, they are pulled over by a police officer. Khalil has had some involvement in drugs but that night he doesn't have anything illegal on him; however, he is asked to step out of his car and is frisked by the police officer. The officer decides to go to his vehicle and asks Kahlil to remain standing with his hands up but he didn't listen and decided to go check on Starr in the car only be shot 4 times by the police officer.
This book revolves around the movement of Black Lives matter, it takes a girl split between two different worlds and forces her to choose which one she needs to be on. It makes Starr question everything that is said and who says it. It being complication between her relationships with her white and African American friends. At this point she needs to understand how the real world works and what she needs to stand for, especially when justice for Khalil may not be served because construed  image that is being given about Khalil by the police.
Honestly the book is writing of the world today, and I believe that this book might be something a class might read years later. (that was a side note)
I would definitely recommend this book to almost anyone the book is so good you won't wanna stop turning the pages. Also the book is written with so much emotion and passion, for me just reading it, made me feel the anger Starr was feeling, and how to she was pulled between her two lives. You could feel the stress of being at school with people who may attack your race because of the color of your skin. The book definitely gives the wake up call it intended to do. I believe anyone who takes the time to read this book will enjoy it. its undeniably a great book.

[KC]: Op-Ed Mentor Text Activity (for absent students)

Hi! If you missed class Tuesday, here's what we did. You'll want to complete this before you come in on Wednesday since we'll be starting to write our own op-eds that day. Take a look at these two slides and complete this activity in your notebook. This is meant to help you understand the structure and style of an op-ed before you write your own.

The link to the NYT Room for Debate "How to Stop the Spread of Fake News"

Also, here's the prompt for what you're writing. This shouldn't be new to you. We've discussed these questions for three weeks now. 

To All the Boys I've Loved Before - 1st quarter SSR

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

Jenny Han - Romance

368 pages

Summary :

My book is about a girl named Lara Jean, and her life in high school. She has a hat box ( that her mother gave her when she was little ) where she keeps all her love letters. The love letters are not from boys, but rather ones Lara Jean wrote herself to boys she loved. She wrote them out, and stored them away as a way to get over the crush she had over the past three years. One day, she finds that all 5 of her love letters had been mailed out, and her life is thrown out of control. She tries to bring her life back to normal through lies, but she faces many challenges along the way.

Review :

I personally felt connected to the main character in this book, because I feel that every teenage girl has related to Lara Jean's feelings of liking a boy at one time in their life. I did feel that the major plot points were pretty predictable, because the story tended to foreshadow a lot of the situations by bringing it up in discrete ways ( like through the characters own thoughts ). I also think it was predictable because it was more of a basic love story - nothing too unexpected. In my opinion, the writing was simplistic, but that honestly made it easier for me to understand and allowed me to form questions/predictions throughout the book. To me, the main character ( Lara Jean ) was dynamic, because she learned a lot from her personal situation, but I feel the other characters were static. The plot of the story was more focused on Lara Jean and her growth compared to the other characters. I feel that this helped the story by allowing the reader to mainly focus upon Lara Jean’s personal growth through her experiences, but also that it hurt the book by not exploring the problems deeply through the other characters. If I had to change anything about the book, I would probably just go into more depth with the people surrounding her, rather than just focusing on the problem the entire time. Other than that, I really enjoyed the book :)

[KC]: SSR Quarter 1 Book Review

Hi kids,

Here's your quarter 1 SSR assignment:

Step 1: Create a new POST in which you review the book that you read for the first quarter. If you read more than one book this quarter, you can choose any of them to review. n your review, be sure to clearly state the title, author, genre, and total page number of the book. Then, summarize a bit of the plot (but don't give away the major spoilers!) to give us some context. Next, discuss what you liked or didn't like about this book.
- Feel free to use these questions to help guide you, but don't feel tied to simply answering them:

• How was the main character? Did you feel connected? Were the major plot points predictable? How was the writing? Poetic? Simplistic? Were the characters dynamic or static? Did that hurt or help the story? If you were to change anything about the book, what would it be?

Step 2: Once other classmates have posted their reviews, COMMENT on two other reviews. (Be sure to read the comments on your review as well and engage in conversations as necessary.)

As always, your post should be around 250 words and your comments should be at least a few sentences.

Post DUE: Thursday 11/15 by 11:22pm

Comments DUE: Friday 11/16 by 11:13pm