Contest by Matthew Reilly

Chris Yanda

8^th period

Mrs. Brown

Reilly, Matthew. Contest. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006.

The Book Contest by Matthew Reilly is about a man trapped in a library with six other people all fighting for the same thing…their lives! This book is a page turner that is impossible to put down. Throughout the book there are many things that keep you thinking about how the events will play out and what you would do in the same situation. I continually found myself think well if I was him I would… Many times while reading this story the illustrations from the story The Most Dangerous Game Popped into my head, so if you have read that short story you will most defiantly enjoy reading this suspenseful thriller! The great use of imagery in every part of the book helps the book fly by and it seems to play out like a movie because every aspect is so well described without overdoing it and making the book drag on.

I would recommend this book to those seeking a suspenseful read that will keep them turning the pages. People that don’t mind staying up late to “just finish this one part” will find this to be a good choice. If you don’t like action and thrill seeking then this book is not for you but if that sounds like you go get Contest by Matthew Reilly.

Joshua Wood, Mrs. Brown, Glass

Margaret k. McElderly Books
Simon & Shuster Children’s Publishing Division
Ellen Hopkins

The book Glass is a sequel to a previous Ellen Hopkins novel called Crank so in order to really understand Glass you would have to read Crank which I also recommend you read but to give you an idea Crank is about a girl named Kristina who starts off as a normal high school girl but a visit to her dead beat father sends her down a path she’d wish she never came close to. When she gets back to her home where her mother and step father live she has tried of meth, become a tobacco goon, and fell in love with a boy named Adam, and an altered personality she calls Bree. Crank ends with Kristi na or Bree being pregnant and a meth addict Glass begins by showing you what Kristina’s life is like with a new baby and how she will deal with her deadly addiction while juggling a child, problems with her family, and trying to find love. Ellen Hopkins is an enticing author she writes compelling storys and beautiful poems about the twisted lives of teenagers, stories about how they over come or fall under deadly addictions whether it be to drugs, self inflicted pain, and the other problems that come along with becoming a teenager. Some of the books written by Ellen Hopkins include Crank, Impulse, Burned she lives in Carson City, Nevada with her husband and son.

S Melfi - Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code

Colfer. Eoin. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code. New York. Hyperion Books for Children, 2003.

After being held prisoner for years, Artemis Fowl's father has finally come home. He is a new man. He makes Artemis promise to give up his life of crime, and Artemis is forced to go along with it, but not after one final scheme of his. He has created a supercomputer made from stolen fairy technology called the "C Cube". It is designed to render all existing human technology obsolete. He then arranges a meeting with a powerful businessman from Chicago, Jon Spiro, to broker a deal for the C Cube. Instead Spiro springs a trap, steals the cube, and seriously injures Artemis's butler, Butler. He knows his only hope is to employ fairy magic. So once again he must contact one of his old rivals, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon fairy police. Has Artemis's luck finally run out?… The Eternity Code is the third book of Eoin Colfers Artemis Fowl series and is a really good, easy read for anyone who's into adventure stories with some fiction and fantasy in it as well.

City of Ashes

The book city of ashes was awesome it was one of those books that left you craving to finish and let your mind wonder more. The book was a sequel to the book City of bones and it was just as good if not better because it let you follow the plot from the first one into a deeper entanglement of lies and secrets. Clary after finding out the truth about her father, and that the love of her life was really her brother is forced to try and move on in her screwed up teenage life. With her mother still in a deep sleep she tries everything she can to hold on. But when recent deaths start showing up it’s her mission as a shadow hunter to investigate the incidents. But could they be related to her father and if so what’s going to happen next? Read this book to find out more about Clary and her secret life. It’s a given that you would enjoy this book because I know I did and I really recommend it to anyone who is looking for a book filled with nothing but suspense.

M. Musarra, Evernight

Melissa Musarra
8th Period
Mrs. Brown

Evernight
Publisher: HarperTeen
Author: Claudia Gray
Heart
Personal Collection
Young Adult
336 Pages

Evernight is about a girl named Bianca who’s new to a school called Evernight Academy. The moment she enters the school she knows she’s not going to fit in. The Evernight types go partying and are all rich and beautiful, while Bianca isn't the most pretty thing around. But she’s not the only one who feels like a social outcast. There’s another boy named Lucas, and he seems more out of place at the academy than she does. After a fateful run in with Lucas when Bianca is trying to run away from the school, she realizes there’s something more to him than she ever imagined. From that moment on she felt a connection to him like non-other. There’s a secret hidden in the Evernight Academy that Bianca’s parents never even told her about. There are a lot of secrets that the Academy holds, and most of them are willing to bring Lucas and Bianca apart. Vampire stories and folk lore are only half the story.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy and vampire stories with a little mix of mystery and suspense. Claudia Gray did a great job putting this book together and keeping your attention. This is one book you won’t be able to put down. I can guarantee you nothing will seem real again after reading Evernight.

Beautiful Boy By: David Sheff

Brendan Gallagher
8*
Mrs. Brown
4 January 2009
Beautiful boy is about the journey author David Sheff goes through with his son Nic, who is addicted to crystal meth. The story starts off with a happy setting, a good marriage, wealth, and Nic as a young boy who strives at everything he does. He was always doing well in school, hanging out with the right crowd, and well mannered. Everyone who talked to his parents brought up what an intelligent and polite young man Nic was. A turning point of this story is when Nic’s parents got a divorce. It was very hard for Nic as he spent the school year with his dad in San Francisco and Summers with his mom in Los Angeles. This is when Nic started to develop bad habits. He was first caught smoking cigarettes in the sixth grade, and smoking marijuana in the seventh grade. His father thought that this was just a one time thing and he had learned a lesson, but Nic continued this behavior to fit in. He began to listen to grunge music falling in love with Nirvana. His father, also a fan, got Nic very involved in music when he bought Nic a guitar. He believed this would keep Nic occupied and away from drugs. And it did for a while, although when Nic got accepted into a private school he was soon expelled for selling drugs on school grounds.
As Nic grows older he goes through 3 different colleges, not because of his grades, but because of his addiction to methamphetamines. His addiction grows throughout the story and his father many times wants to give up. He struggles just as much as Nic does almost as the drug is killing him. Find out the ending of this story by reading Beautiful Boy.
I would recommend this book to anyone at the high school level or above. It is an incredible story and an easy read, YOU CANT PUT THE BOOK DOWN!

C. Iannaggi, Mrs. Brown, The Cabinet of Curiosities

C. Iannaggi, Mrs. Brown, The Cabinet of Curiosities
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The Cabinet of Curiosities. Warner Books: New York, 2002.

The Cabinet of Curiosities is the third novel in the series about Special Agent Pendergast. A mysterious, yet charming FBI detective interested in finding a serial killer copying a murderer from the 1800's. What's interesting about these murders is that it looks like the killer was performing some sort of operation on all the victims. To completely understand how the new copycat killer works, Pendergast teams up with Nora Kelly, an archaeologists at New York's Natural History Museum to try and find out more about the old murders, and how the killer operated. Also helping with the case Nora's boyfriend William Smithback Jr. Although he can be slightly obnoxious at times, everything he does is for Nora even if it only seems like a good idea in his head. Preston and Child's page turner while entertaining also enlightens the reader about what Cabinet's of Curiosities actually are, and how these murder's are also connected with the Natural History Museum itself and the people working there.
Preston and Child's writing style keeps the reader entranced in the book the whole time. At certain points in the novel it can be tricky to follow because of the forensic terms, but both author's make sure that reader's can still follow what's going on. Also, I thought the author's did a great job with character development. Pendergast can come of at first as a creepy mysterious person to be around, but once you start to get into the story it all becomes apart of his charm. Nora Kelly is a very strong female character. She always stands up for herself, and although she is described as a very beautiful woman she uses her wit and intelligence to get what she wants.. I highly recommend The Cabinet of Curiosities to anyone interested in a good crime/suspense novel.

D Brizzolara, Mrs Brown, Beach Road

Patterson, James, and Peter De Jonge. Beach Road. London: Headline Book Publishing, 2002.

Beach Road is about the murder of four people in East Hampton, New York. The upper class, white dominated area has one exception- movie star T. Smitty Wilson. Wilson has built a regulation size basketball court for his friends to use. The friends vary from ex-NBA stars to current prospects for the pros or college; guys that are too good to play a regular street game of basketball. When a game gets out of hand and tempers flare, 4 people that were in the game were found dead the next day. The fingerprints of a promising pro prospect Dante Halleyville are found all over the murder weapon. Dante knows he is innocent, and this book focuses on the mystery of who committed the murders. A local lawyer and former NBA player, Tom Dunleavy, agrees to defend the star and makes an attempt to win back his ex-girlfriend in the process. Dunleavy orchestrates a series of revelations that lead to a stunning outcome, only to find afterward that the truth is wilder than anything he ever imagined. Beach Road has all the elements of an entertaining thriller- conspiracy, courtroom drama, and mystery. It is a very easy read with little thinking required.

The 100-Mile Walk by: Sander and Jonathon Flaum

Zach Flowers
8th Period
Mrs. Brown
4-January-2009(what!)

The book The 100-Mile Walk is a collection of true stories compiled together by Sander and his son Jonathon Flaum. These stories where chosen by the father and son team who are on a quest to find the essence of leadership. The book is 10 chapters, with each chapter being a different aspect of leadership, "the Ten P’s" as they call them are People, Purpose, Passion, Performance, Persistence, Perspective, Paranoia, Principles, Practice and Providence. Each "P" has several stories that go with it that project the importance of the term. At the end of each chapter the Flaums provide a "checklist" that summarize all the key ideas of the chapter. Also scattered throughout the book are quotes said by various people from CEO’s to Senators. One that really spoke to me was by Jeff Rich, the CEO of Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. He said "I think the day that your people stop bringing their problems to you is the day you stop leading. They’ve either concluded that you don’t care about their problems or that you cannot help them. And leaders always have to be in a position to help." If you are looking for an adventurous tale then this book is not for you. But if you are someone who is looking for something to help guide you in the right direction through life, or wants to gain a deeper and more profound understanding to guiding one’s self then look no further because The 100-Mile Walk is the book for you. I give it five out of five stars.

Jake Ticer
Mrs. Brown
5 January 2009
Brisingr

Paulini, Christopher. Brisingr. New York: Knopf, 2008.

Christopher Paulini once again takes us to the world of Alagaesia with the third installation of The Inheritance Cycle. Brisingr pìcks up right where Eldest left off, after the battle of the Varden. The book starts off with Eragon and Roran seeking out Roran's girlfriend, after a quick recount of the Varden's battle with the army of King Galbatorix. Once Eragon returns from this mission to save his brother's girlfriend he is immediately sent off to help the dwarves select a new king to lead them after Hrothgar's death from the second book. Read the book to find out what will happen to Eragon.

Christopher Paulini uses a variety of methods throughout the vook to portray his meaning. He uses an upbeat style to portray the mood of the characters. In addition Paulini utilizes juxtaposition of different scenes to capture the idea that whatever one person does has ramifications on those that are on the other side of the world. He also uses this juxtaposition to capture the varying viewpoints of different characters.

Overall Brisingr is a fantastic, fast paced book. It is an ecellent installation to the Inheritance Cycle. The ending of the book presents an interesting development into the series. However do not read the book if you have not read the first two in the series because this installation builds off of elements from both the first and second books.

S. McElroy, Mrs Brown, The Secret Life of Bees

Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. New York: Penguin Books, 2005.



Lily Owens is a 14 year old girl who lives on a peach farm with her father in South Carolina. Lily and her father, T. Ray, do not have a good relationship because of the tragedy that hurt them when she was young. Many years ago, Lily's mother was accidentally shot and killed in their home, and Lily feels that she should blame herself. The only memoir of her mother is a box that Lily has, and keeps a secret, of things that used to be her mothers, one being a picture of a black Virgin Mary. Lily becomes very curious of the photo. One day, Rosaleen, a black woman chosen to take over the role over Lily's mother, disrespects some of the racist men in the town, so Lily decides to take Rosaleen and run away with her. Lily's destination is the city of Tiburon. The name of the city was written on the back of the picture of the black Virgin Mary, and Lily decides that this town must hold the truth and past about her mother. As they search for this town, they find the original source of the picture, the home of the Boatwright sisters who are beekeepers and sell honey. Lily finds their home, makes up a story as to why they’re there, and decides to stay in this house until she learns about her mother. However while she is there, she must be careful not to uncover her real identity as a runaway in order to stay safe from T. Ray and the police.

Sue Monk Kidd's fun and interesting novel is easy to read, which is good for those who aren't the best at it. This book is well written because Kidd keeps you turning the pages, however something unique are the quotes that come before each chapter that something foreshadow the upcoming events. All of the stories and events in this novel tie together to create a remarkable story that you will be recommending to everyone after you read it.

E. Dankelson, Mrs. Brown, The Secret Life of Bees

Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. New York: Penguin Books, 2005.

The Secret Life of Bees takes place in South Carolina in 1964. Lily Owens is a young, white girl whose only recollection of her mother is the day she was killed by an accidental gun shot which Lily believes to be her fault. Her mother’s death leaves Lily living with her abusive father T. Ray and her black servant, Rosaleen. Lily desperately wants to know more about her mother and the only clue she has is an old picture of a black Virgin Mary with the town Tiburon written on the back. Lily hopes that there she will find more answers about her mother. Lily decides to run away with Rosaleen to Tiburon. There she meets the Boatwright sisters who also use the picture Lily’s mother had. They allow Lily and Rosaleen to stay but do not know they are runaways. Now Lily needs to take the opportunity to learn about her mother while worrying that T. Ray and the police do not find her and that August and her other sisters do not figure out that Lily is lying and send her away.
Sue Monk Kidd does a wonderful job combining many small subplots into one large story that all comes together. Her vocabulary is very easy to read but the subject matter is very mature. The shirt quotes about bees at the beginning of each chapter foreshadow what is to come and keeps the reader glued to the pages. Kidd’s story The Secret Life of Bees is a suspenseful tale about love, understanding and self realization I would recommend to almost anyone.

Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte

Nick DePompei
Mrs. Brown
Raiders Night
Robert Lipsyte
Fiction
Lipsyte, Robert.Raiders Night. New York: HarperTempest, 2006.
Raiders Night is a novel about big time high school football, and many of the stereotypes that follow it. The novel starts out with Matt, the star player, and many of his teammates receiving steroids from a trainer at the gym. All of the players “juice”, because they think that the steroids will make them a better team, and help them finally win the conference. Many of the players face pressures from overbearing parents, and people in the city. Then, everything that can possibly go wrong does as result of a hazing ritual. The main characters in the story are many of the seniors on the football team. They go through lifting and the hazing ritual together, where they haze younger members of the team and transfers. The story really focuses on one character, Matt. Matt is the star of the team, and everyone thinks he’s perfect. What many people don’t know is that he can never play well enough for his dad, he takes steroids, and he is getting sued for inappropriately hazing a team member. The setting for the text is important, because it is a football crazed town. The players are pressured to win by everyone. Robert Lipsyte does a great job in writing this novel. What I like about his works are that they show the dark side of sports, not just all the glory.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by:Rebecca Wells

Andrea Oliver
Mrs. Brown
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Rebecca Wells
Fiction
A story about the uniqueness of mother daughter relationships.
Wells, Rebecca. The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. New York: HaperCollins, 1996


This is a curious tale of a mother and daughter and their fight to stay connected through the rough times. The novel takes place in Louisiana and in Seattle, Washington though mother and daughter are separated their story stands strong. Throughout, the character’s life, Sidda has always felt loved even through her mother bourbon streaked abuse. Always trying to please her and walking on egg shells Sidda, for once speaks honestly to a news reported about the abuse. Immediately separating them and angering her mother. Vivi her mother, the other main character, has had a past full of good friends and good times although the good times soon became fewer and further in between. Throughout this wonderful novel the reader is able to view both characters’ lives through flashbacks, letters and an amazing scrapbook called The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. The importance of setting is great because the reader really feels like they are in the Deep South with words and phrases used like Confederacy and Gone with the Wind. The author’s use of flash back is tasteful and just right while the book is a touch hard to get into the middle to end is a page turner. Wells’ style is geared and written for women although men may get a laugh out of some of the female antics and stories.

J. Sandsjoe, Mrs. Brown, The Last Coyote

Connelly, Michael  -  The Last Coyote - Grand Central Publishing, 1995

The Last Coyote is the forth in the series about Michael Connelly’s character, the L.A. detective Harry Bosch. Detective Bosch, who usually is very calm and collected, has gotten in trouble. His life is a mess. His house has been condemned because of earthquake damage, his girlfriend has recently left him and he is drinking too much. He has also put his commanding officer through a glass window during a fight, and Harry is now suspended indefinitely pending a psychiatric evaluation. While on suspension, Bosch notices that there is something else that bothers him. In 1961, when Harry was only a kid, his mother was murdered, and no one was even accused of the crime. Harry relentlessly follows up the old evidence of the thirty-year-old unsolved crime. As always, Connelly’s writing is very informative and realistic. In this book you as a reader get more involved in Harry’s personal feelings and thoughts than you usually do in most of the other books in the series. This is also a very intense book. You don’t have to read a bunch of pages and wait for it to get interesting, but already in the beginning of the book it is fun to read. This is one of my favorite novels and anyone who likes the crime genre should most definitely read this.