Keep Reading

While no more book reviews will be coming in until the start of the new year, please make sure to take advantage of the reviews that are already present and do some reading this summer!

Over Sea, under Stone

Title: Over Sea, Under Stone
Author: Susan Cooper
Genre: Mystery/Adventure
Reviewer: Patrick


This is a story that is centered upon a mythical treasure and a map that the three Drew children find in an attic while on vacation. Simon, Jane and Barney are staying in the Gray House which is the home of their Uncle Merry Lyon. They find an old map that leads to a grail that can fight the forces of evil. There is the struggle of good versus evil throughout the book! The Dark is even an entity in itself! The house has the required secret passages and the feeling of being haunted. Their uncle has a mysterious vibe about him and the best is that even King Arthur comes into the picture during the last struggle and battle in this book!

This book is part of a series of five books and has the Newberry Honor award. I am amazed that they were written starting in 1965. That is 43 years ago!! They are great and I love the adventure and mystery. They are much like the Harry Potter or Dark Knight type of book that can keep your attention and you can’t wait for the next book. I would recommend this book and the complete series! I love battles, action and the mystery. I also like when kids are part of the solution! The next in this series is The Dark is Rising and I can’t wait to start this one.

The House of the Scorpion

Title: The House of the Scorpion
Author: Nancy Farmer
Genre: Science Fiction
Reviewer: Dan

In the science fiction thriller, The House of the Scorpion, young Matteo realizes that he is not like everyone else. Matteo Alacran is a clone. He doesn’t quite know exactly what that is, but he does know that he is treated in a very different way than anyone else. Everyone around him looks at him as if he were a savage beast, but no one would dare to hurt him physically, for he is the clone, or identical copy, of El Patron. El Patron is the leader of the small country, Opium, which consists only of opium fields. He is the drug lord of all drug lords and is feared by all. Matt secures El Patron’s future health, or does he? In this story of adventure, excitement, and courage, Matt endures several instances that would kill anyone else, literally. Can Matt find anyone to protect him in this world of danger and uncertainty about his future?

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good ending and an even better story. In addition to a good story, the book looks at the issues of slavery, the morality of cloning for the purpose of body parts, whether a clone is nothing more than an animal and many more. Anyone who loves adventure stories that teach good morals and ethics at the same time should definitely read this science fiction novel.

Mattimeo

Title: Mattimeo
Author: Brian Jacques
Genre: Fantasy
Reviewer: Dan

Slagar the Fox sat pondering the very best way to exact revenge on an old enemy. The sinister fox held Matthias of Redwall accountable for several injuries the fox received when he was younger. With a band of evil stoats, weasels, and worst of all, rats, Slagar was ready for his time of vengeance. His action would take Redwall by the heart. Redwallers would be robbed of what they held most dear. Slagar knew that the Sword of Matthias of Redwall had destroyed greater foes than the fox before, so there would be no epic battle to cause Redwall overwhelming pain, just a clever scheme. Would Redwall be able to defend itself against the challenges brought upon it by the sly fox? Or would the fox succeed in bringing Redwall to its final ruin?

I would recommend this book to others because it is an interesting and fun book that will keep you reading. New twists happen in every chapter. I especially enjoy the personification of the animals. The author is expert at bringing out the character we would apply to the different animals. If you do read this book, I suggest that you first read the book, Redwall.

Angels in Pink: Holly’s story

Title: Angels in Pink: Holly’s story
Author: Lurlene McDaniel
Genre: realistic fiction
Reviewer: Prabhneet

Angels in Pink is a series that tells the story of three best friends that have been there for each other through thick and thin. From Kathleen’s mother relapsing to Raina’s finding out that she has an older sister, Holly has been there for every one of them. She’s got everything she wants except one thing: a boyfriend. Both Kathleen and Raina have had one and it just so happens that Hunter, Holly’s brother is Raina’s boyfriend. That is the only thing lacking in Holly, leaving her feeling empty. Holly then unexpectedly gets emails from “Shy Boy” who really likes her. She starts talking to him and prints his emails out. She eventually created a book and hid it under her bed. One day, her mother walks in her room when she isn’t home and finds the secret stash.

Holly obviously gets in trouble for talking to strangers and is grounded. She has no one to turn to. She wants “Shy Boy” to keep in touch with her but she has no way to. She turns to the last person that she can count on: Hunter. She persuades him to talk to “Shy Boy”. “Shy Boy” shows up at Holly’s house one day, taking the blame for contacting her and addressing himself as Chad. Chad gets the permission to keep in touch with Holly but not right away.
Meanwhile, a tragedy hit the three friends and their families hard. They found out Hunter was involved in a robbery as the victim and was shot. Hunter had died. As the three families suffer through it all, they know that they are not alone and rely on each other. They are each other’s only hope and light to the darkness that had overcome them. Raina had been the one that was hit the hardest. It cost her days of not being at school which eventually backfired on her. Her grades were going downhill and she was hopeless. She turned to Holly to tutor her. Holly was an excellent student with a bright, glowing future ahead of her besides the loss of one of the most important people in her life. It took days, months for everyone to recover. Yet they didn’t recover, they were to live a life without a loved one which is always hard. At least they weren’t alone.

Holly went to prom with Chad and Kathleen with Carson. Holly learns that Chad was the perfect first boyfriend and realizes that he would be around for a while
I would recommend this book because it is emotional with a touch of suspense and mystery. It really makes you see the wonders in life and the little things that make a big difference. It teaches a lesson of love and to never take one for granted. Life is too short to hold grudges or see the flaws in someone. So live life to the fullest and cherish the moments you have together.

Angels in Pink: Raina’s Story

Title: Angels in Pink: Raina’s Story
Author: Lurlene McDaniel
Genre: Realistic fiction
Reviewer: Prabhneet

Raina’s story is the second page turning book in the series. It tells a story of a group of three diverse girls. They are juniors in high school and struggle a lot. Raina is the main point of it all. She drags her two best friends, Kathleen and Hollie to come volunteer at the community hospital with her the summer of sophomore year. Kathleen and Hollie eventually agree and tag along to find that it is very rewarding. Kathleen found a boyfriend and Hollie found a new level of comfort trying to console the children with cancer.


Raina is going out with Hollie’s older brother, Hunter. They love each other very much apart from the big fact that Raina does not believe in God and Hunter whole heartedly has faith in Him. Raina’s first day of school is a misery. She ends up seeing her worst enemy, Tony Stoddard. Tony was Raina’s boyfriend in eighth grade. One day Hunter was going to his car from his job at the diner and Tony and his “gang” beat up Hunter and tell him some details about Raina. He comes home to Raina with some cuts and bruises and this astonishes Raina because Hunter is not the type to get into fights. Hunter explains the encounter and asks Raina if all of the “details” about her were true. She hesitated, knowing she couldn’t lie to him and told him the truth. With this running over and over again through his mind, Hunter does not talk to Raina for weeks. Raina becomes desperate and turns over for support from the hospital. She volunteers every second she has out of school. She spends all of her volunteered time with premature babies. She becomes attached to them and feels a connection of them both having no one.

Finally, on Raina’s birthday Hunter, Hollie, Kathleen, and her boyfriend Carson through her a surprise party. Hunter reveals that he is going to become a minister and go to a college in Indiana, miles away from their town in Florida. Raina eventually learns to live through it and cherish the moments with him. Through it all, all three girls gave each other support and will conquer the upcoming tragedies they will face.I think this is a good book because it shows you how much your friends can affect your life and how much you should really support them. You should all be there for each other and give each other love and affection. It teaches you a lesson and really changes your prospection of life.

Vanguard: Book One (Star Trek)

Title: Vanguard: Book One (Star Trek)
Author: David Mack
Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction
Reviewer: George

This book book falls somewhere during the Starship Enterprise’s journey to explore strange new worlds, to seek new life and civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before. It follows the stories of several characters: a FNS News Reporter, a Federation diplomat, the crew of Starship Enterprise, the crew of Starship Bombay, a illegal and stolen goods courier, and several others.

It starts out with a geology lieutenant named Xiong traveling on the Starship Bombay. He has just come from a recent discovery on the planet Ravanar and is headed to Star Base 47 (Vanguard). Vanguard is the newest space station of Starfleet. It also the space station that was completed in the shortest amount of time.

Every one is wondering why it has been built so fast. Is it because of the new discovery on Ravanar? Is it to expand Federation territory into the Taurus Reach past the Klingon Empire? Read the book to find out!!!

The Floating Island:The Lost journal of Ven Polypheme

Title: The Floating Island:The Lost journal of Ven Polypheme
Author: Elizabeth Haydon
Genre: Fiction
Reviewer: George

This book is for any one who likes a good fantasy story. It is interesting because most of it is written like a regular book but it also has some pages that are written like a journal. Surprisingly
for a book written at this reading level, it also has some illustrations.

It starts out with a boy named Ven whose father owns a ship building company. Ven is a boy, but he isn’t human. He is a Nain and althougth he turns fifty years old on the day the story starts, Ven is still a boy. Ven gets sent out on one of the boats do do an inspection. Nain’s aren’t supposed to like being out on the water, but Ven is having a great time. The inspection was going fine until he hears the thunder of a cannon firing, pirates are attacking. He sets a fire and destroys both of the ships to keep the pirates from getting the new ship his father’s shipyard built. Ven is rescued by sailors on another ship. They say they saw an albatross flying over the water and it lead them to Ven. Ven visits a floating island with the captain who rescued
him. The rest of the story is a bout Ven’s adventures with friends he made on the ship and with others.

Ingo

Title: Ingo
Author: Helen Dunmore
Genre: Fiction
Reviewer: Sydney

The book Ingo is about a girl named Sapphire and her brother Connor. Sapphire and Connor have what seems like an almost perfect life. They live by the sea, have their own private cove (everyone in town knows about it, but they are the only ones that go there), their father has a boat that he uses to take them out on the sea. The only part of their life that could be fixed is the fighting. Sapphire’s parents often start yelling and screaming at each other. Sapphire hates it. She wishes they acted the way they did when she was younger. No fights. So Sapphire’s world is pretty much prefect. Right? Wrong. Sapphire and Connor’s lives are turned upside down when their father mysteriously disappears while taking his boat out one night after another fight. Now, it was normal for Sapphire’s father to take out his boat in the middle of the night, but he had always come back until this time. Search crews were sent out and neighbors helped search for their father. But there was no evidence of anything and eventually the search crews stopped looking and then the neighbors stopped looking too. Then about two months later someone found their father’s wrecked boat but still their father was missing. Everybody in the town assumes that their father is dead and they hold a memorial service for him, but Connor and Sapphire refuse to believe he is dead.

A year passes and much changes. Sapphire’s mother has a job downtown, is rarely home and always is moving. With no sign of their father Sapphire and her brother become more sober. That is when it happens. Almost a year after their father disappears and Connor disappears too. Sapphire immediately searches the house, but no sign of Connor. Then she thinks of the cove, but she knows that Connor would never go down there without her because they both promised their parents that they would never go down to the cove by themselves. Never the less she goes. As Sapphire gets closer to the cove she starts to feel a pull from the sea. When Sapphire gets to the cove she calls for Connor but he doesn’t answer. Sapphire wades into the water and that’s when she sees them. Connor and some girl she’s never seen before are sitting on a rock a couple feet away. The girl looks like she’s in a diving suit and their both look like they’ve been swimming and they were talking. Neither of them saw her so and Sapphire didn’t want them too. Sapphire looks out at the sunset for a minute then looks back to Connor and the girl. But the girl is gone and Connor is looking at the water. Sapphire calls to Connor and he looks up and comes to her. Sapphire and Connor never keep things from each other so when Sapphire ask Connor about the girl and when he doesn’t tell her she begins to wonder why he isn’t telling her, but that’s not the only weird thing. When Sapphire tells Connor what time it is he begins to insist that it is not actually that late, but it is. The two siblings go home with Sapphire thinking about how Connor lied to her and how he thought it wasn’t as late as he thought it was.
Will Sapphire find out the secret her brother is keeping from her? Will Sapphire and Connor find their father? Read the book to find out.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure and mystery. Something is always happening in this book; it’s almost impossible to put down. It is defiantly a book that should be added to anyone’s personal library.