Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Aftershock -- Review by Ian Zig.



Aftershock

by Kelly Easton

****

Aftershock is a story of an adventure. You could call it a sort of "walk-about." Seventeen-year-old Adam, begins his journey with a fatal car wreck that kills both of his parents. His trip with his parents leaves him an orphan, stranded in the middle of nowhere, on the opposite side of the country from where he lives, and quite literally speechless. Adam, still in shock from the wreck, begins a trek of a lifetime. As he hitch-hikes across the country, he must weed out all the travelers who don't mind giving a ride to a mute, ragged, dirty teenager. Will he make it home?.. Will he starve?... Read and find out.

This book did a pretty good job at keeping my attention, but at times I felt that it was dragging a little bit. I gave it four stars because I thought it wasn't a really realistic story. The author did a good job showing the desperation that such bad luck would bring, and I liked the transitions for the flashbacks. All in all, it was a fairly good book that I would suggest for some but not for others.

Solitary -- Review by Ian Zig.



Solitary

by Alexander Gordon Smith

*****

Solitary, the second book of the series Escape From Furnace, was one heck of a ride! Alex Sawyer is back picking the story of his stay in furnace right where he left it in book one... Falling down into the raging, unforgiveable river beneath Furnace! But Alex's little field trip to the caverns and caves of Furnace was short lived. His friends and him were flushed out by the vicous rats, another messed up nightmare of Furnace, landing him and his best pal Zee in the dreaded Solitary confinement for a whole month!... Will Alex lose his mind while alone with his thoughts?... Or will he come up with yet another daring and extraordinary plan to get out of his new coffin?... You'll have to read it to find out!

Solitary was an awesome book that gave me chills thinking of the nightmares of Furnace! I gave this book five stars and it deserved every single one of them. I highly recommend that any guy at least, should read this series.

Trapped - a review by George Morejon

Trapped
by Michael Northrop

*** stars

Trapped is told from Scotty's point of view, one of the kids trapped. That day, it started snowing. A LOT. As the afternoon goes on, it gets worse and worse. People leave, even the teacher that's suppose to stay with them. After a hours and hours of waiting, it's just Scotty, some friends of his, 2 girls, and 2 other guys. And they realise that no one is going to come get them.

At first it doesn't seem so bad. A sleep over at school. Getting to see what's different about it. Not to mention the fact that the girls there a pretty hot. Great time, yeah?

Wrong. Things quickly go from kinda bad to much worse. People getting upset over little things, arguing, and people's plans not working correctly all push everyone's buttons in the wrong way. The way they start annoying each other so fast is just a baaad sign. And then a giant accident happens...

I thought this was a good book, and it was funny that I got it right after we had a big snow storm since that made it real easy saying "What if this was people I knew?" I took ~4 hours to get through, and while it had some slow parts, I kept wanting to read more to find out what was happening. The ending was kinda abrupt though, like the publisher cut out the last few chapters. And unrelated thing, but one thing I like is how the chapter title pages have snow falling, and it slowly build each chapter, until it's just completely overwhelmed. Cool, random detail.

Perfect Chemistry- Review by Sarah Gnefkow


Perfect Chemistry
by Simone Elkeles

***** Stars

Brittany Ellis is the most popular girl in the school. But underneath her life isn't so great, she has to keep up the image that her school life, home life, and family life is all perfect. In chemistry class she is partnered with the schools bad boy, Alex Fuentes. He is in a gang and has the image of doing drugs, getting arrested, and selling but just like Brittany he really isn't what he seems. Alex decides to make a bet with his friends that he can get with Brittany, he does this with no hesitation. But what Alex didn't realize was that Brittany was much more than money and being perfect, he discovered that her life was anything but that. Soon the bet he had made with his friends has turned into much more than he'd expected. They will have to face the reality of getting past the stereotypes and judgments of their families and fellow peers to be together. But will love be enough?

I loved this book, and a lot of my other friends did too! I did not want to put this book down at all and when I wasn't reading it I was always wondering what was going to happen next with Brittany and Alex. The book was written with alternate speakers, it would switch paragraphs back and forth between Brittany and Alex's point of views. I never wanted this book to end. The only thing that I was disappointed with about this book was the way it ended because I wanted to know more about what happened with them! All in all I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes excitement and romance.

Delirium --- a review by Amy Lyon

Delirium
by Lauren Oliver

****


Magdelena(Lena) is counting down the days until she is cured. Lena is anxious, hoping that the cure works for her, that she won't end up like her mother. On the day of her Evaluations, someone gained access to the labs and let loose a stampede of cows, disrupting her failings Evaluation. And whats even more puzzling is the young man laughing, laughing. But what happens when Lena and her friend, Hana, meet the very same young man after their run? And when he invites her to meet him, should she go?

The society in Delirium is similar to that of Matched, everything is decided for them and showing individuality is grounds for being put away. But this society believes that love is a disease, deliria nervosa amor, and everyone is cured after their eighteenth birthday. Apparently, a society without love operates more efficiently, like a well oiled machine. The characters were relatable, Hana loved unsanctioned music and dancing; but like every teenager, it was just a phase of rebellion. I enjoyed this book, but found the ending disappointing. This is the first in the trilogy, and I'm hoping the series gets even better. I would recommend this book to those who have read The Giver or Matched.

Across the Universe -- review by Hope Austin

Across the Universe
by Beth Revis
**** stars

When Amy is cryogenically frozen she leaves behind her boyfriend, her friends, and the rest of Earth for an unknown planet 300 years away. The only thing that comforts her is the fact that her parents will be there when she wakes up. So, when she is woken up 5o years before she was supposed to, she is understandably angry. She finds herself aboard Godspeed, which now has its own government and society, and is in direct opposition with the leader, something people didn't know was possible. Her whole is once again shaken when she learns her un-freezing wasn't an accident; someone tried to kill her.

At the same time, Elder, a boy about Amy's age, is learning how to become the leader of the ship after his superior, Eldest, passes. While he's always been rebellious and somewhat of a free-thinker, Amy's arrival prompts some serious questions from Elder to Eldest. The answers are more haunting than he could ever imagine.

This book was great read. It had good pacing and multiple layers. On the surface it seems like the setup for a romance, with a murder mystery thrown in. Once you dig a little deeper, the book is all about asking questions, thinking outside the box, being your own person. Nearly all of it is impossible under the rule of a tyrannical dictator. People who like sci-fi, mysteries, or dyspotian societies will love this one.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The Giver - Review by Halea Coulter


The Giver
by Lois Lowry

* * * * Stars


The Giver follows the story of a young boy named Jonah who is about to turn 12. Everyone in his class is also about to turn twelve, in fact everyone in the community Jonah lives in is about to have their birthdays. That is how society work, everyone is born at different times through out the year, but to make things easier, their official birthdays are all the the same time. As children get older, they get new privileges; at 8 they are allowed to wear sweaters that button in the front, at 9 they get their own bicycles to ride, and at 12 they get what will be their jobs for the rest of their lives. When December finally arrives, Jonah is given the job of Reciever. Jonah has no clue what that is, and neither does anyone else for that matter. The story goes on, and Jonah learns that he is to recieve memories from the Giver, hence his job title and the books name. The Reciever is the only one who has memories from before everything fell apart and was put back together again in a very strict fashion. The Reciever has memories of snow, rain, lakes, colors, sailboats but also war, destruction, pain, and death. These are things that people no longer have, in this society, they don't even have parents, they are birthed by a woman and named in December and give to parents to raise until they are 18. In this society, you do not die a natural death, it is a called a release; no one knows what they do, but Jonah finds out, all it is, is an injection, like is currently used for the death penalty. In the story Jonah's parents are caring for a baby, Gabriel, who doesn't seem to be maturing fast enough and when he is due for release, Jonah takes Gabriel and leaves, and the end of the book is a mystery.

Personally, I quite enjoyed the book, apparently other people did too, it's an older book, but it was given a Newberry Medal so you know it has to be pretty good. The book has been banned in many schools, apparently for the way it handles death, suicide, sex, and you can infer that it promotes communism. Honestly, I don't see why any of those things are issues, nothing in the book is really that bad. Also, i recently read the book Matched by Ally Condie and it dealt with the same futuristic, dystopian society and i liked it better. Neither of the societies seemed much different from one another, but I did prefer Matched, just because it had a more intriguing story. Also, if I had to pick between living in Matched's society or The Givers I would pick Matched because even though neither sounds fun, Matched sounds a bit better. In matched the adults are at least allowed to do what married couples are supposed to, in The Giver, they have to take pills to suppress sexual urges of all kinds. Overall though it was a very good book, it was a short and quick read, and I would definitely recommend it.







Review by Aspen Gates


Please Ignore Vera Dietz


A.S. King


**** stars



Vera Deitz has had it rough since she was twelve. From her mother running off with some other man when Vera was twelve, to her best or ex-best friend winding up dead when she was seventeen. Now eighteen years old, Vera continues on with her life with her dad, or she tries to, but what nobody knows is the secret she's keeping that could clear her dead ex-best friends name from being the one who burned down Zimmerman's Pet Store. However, Vera stays quiet and continues to work delivering pizzas across town ignoring her dead friend Charlie's signals about clearing his name. But what is really stopping Vera from telling the police what really happened to the Pet store? And who was actually responsible for it?

I gave Please Ignore Vera Dietz four stars because even though it turned out good in the end, I had to really push myself to want to read this book at the beginning. However, I really felt that this book showed a lot of what teens go through with peer pressure, and it shows that not every body can overcome it. I definitely recommend this book to those who like books on people trying to overcome there fears. So check this book out in the O'Hara library.




Monday, February 7, 2011

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares - Review by Sarah Gnefkow


Dash and Lily's Book of Dares
by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

*** and a half stars

Dash and Lily are both teenagers who meet within the bindings of a moleskin notebook. Dash finds this notebook on the shelves in his favorite library during his first Christmas break he is at home alone. Inside there are dares left for him from a girl named Lily. Lily is set up by her brother to do this so she can find a boy who she can spend her Christmas break with while her parents are in Fiji and her grandfather is in Florida. In return, Dash must write dares back to Lily to keep the relationship going. They end up running all over town in New York City following the path each one of them have left for the other. Both Dash and Lily yearn to meet each other but are afraid that their exchanged words have built up more than the other really is, and they are afraid of disappointment. But with each dare comes the need to meet and when they finally due it is definitely not the first impression either of them have expected. They are both pushed to get past what their expectations have built up for the real deal.

I found this book was pretty good. It has some really great parts where I didn't want to put it down, but other parts I felt it was going to go on for hours. This book was written from both Dash's point of view and Lily's alternating chapters. The thing that bothered me the most was definitely at the beginning when it was confusing to understand what was going on. Towards the middle it kind of smoothed everything out though. It wasn't one of those books where I just had to keep reading but it was one that I wanted to find out what was going to happen next. During the last couple of chapters it really showed how the whole book came together with all the random pieces of information it gave me throughout. All in all I think that this would be a good book to check out if you want to read something that's fun and interesting on the side of more important things.



Traitor -- a review by George Morejon




Traitor
by Andy McNab and Robert Rigby

**** stars

Traitor is about a 17 year old boy who wants to join the British SAS, but gets denied after having a perfect application because his missing grandfather, Fergus Watts, went rogue in a secret mission in Colombia. Because of this, Danny hates him and makes it his mission to find his grandfather to turn him in. With some help from Elena, he eventually is able to track down Fergus, but everything changes when Danny hears what he has to say. All of a sudden, people are wanting to kill him and they have are running around England trying to get to people who know the truth.

This book was interesting in the way Danny learned so much in so little time, while still being a stupid teenager in way over his head. It was about 4,5 hours to read, and had some useful things I won't forget soon (like 1 200 paces is about a kilometre). The ending wasn't too much of a cliff hanger, and it got me curious about reading the next books.

Friday, February 4, 2011

North of Beautiful - Review by Aspen Gates


North of Beautiful


Justina Chen Headley

**** stars

Terra is girl who just wants to go through life normal. However, she feels it's not possible considering her red-wine stain birthmark that covers half her face. Through the years her parents put her through severe pain trying to get rid of her birthmark by laser surgery, but nothing work. Now, her father has come to terms that nothing can fix her face and makes it known that she will be ugly for life, and the only one who supports her now is her mother. So to prevent people from knowing about her birthmark, she layers her face with tons of makeup and stays in denial until she meets Jacob, a chinese goth with a cleft lip, who she can relate with. Terra soon starts to enjoy Jacob's company and learns about geocaching which is where people all over the world bury things for others to find. And she begins to fall for him even though she already has the 'ideal' boyfriend according to her friend Karin. Ignoring what everybody says about Jacob, Terra and her mother take time off from her controlling father and visit China with Jacob and his mother. There, Terra and her mother go geocaching, and discover more than what's in the treasure box, they discover themselves.

I gave North of Beautiful four stars because it was different from what I usually read and I just loved it. At times Terra's father could be such an arrogant man and it literally made me want to through the book at the wall. However, I didn't and I was just happy with the outcome of the book and the path Terra chose. I definitely recommend this book to those who like stories about overcoming defeat. Trust me you will love North of Beautiful so check it out in the O'Hara library.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

New Books!

New Books in the OHS Library -- come by and check them out!  Which one(s) do YOU want to read most? 



Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Bright Young Things -- Review by Hope Austin

Bright Young Things
by Anna Godbersen
***stars

The year is 1929 and best friends Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur are fed up with their repressed Ohio lifestyle. On the day of Cordelia's sort-of shotgun wedding, the girls abandon their hum-drum town and get one-way tickets to New York City. Once there, the two go out and try to follow their dreams: Letty wants to be an actress on Broadway, and Cordelia wants to find the man she believes is her father, who is conveniently a very wealthy bootlegger. Not long after they get there, the girls have a falling out and go their own ways. Letty gets what seems like her big break and Cordelia is taken under the wing of a socialite. The girls learn that not everything is quite what it seems.

There were a lot of times when I found this book a chore to read, especially with regards to the romance. I felt like there was no point to a lot of it. Although, this book is the first in a series, so maybe it'll all come together. Overall, it was pretty unremarkable. That said, I'll probably be reading this series to the bitter end because I just want see how it ends.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Rosebush - Review by Halea Coulter

Rosebush
by Michelle Jaffe

* * * and half stars

Jane Freeland is pretty, popular, rich, and on the verge of death when she is found in a rosebush. When Jane wakes up in the hospital, her head is heavily bandaged and swollen; she is also paralyzed and unable to talk. Jane remembers nothing other than going to a party kissing her boyfriend, and going off to talk to her friends, after that her memory is gone. The doctors tell her she was hit by a car because she was either drugged or trying to commit suicide; but Jane knows that can't be right, she is positive someone is trying to kill her. Over the next four days, Jane get visits from all her friends, which includes a creepy stalker, and all of them have different versions of the story. During that time, Jane is repeatedly threatened by her killer, and each time something comes back to her, such as her voice, and the use of her arms. Everyone thinks Jane is going nuts because of the medication she is on, and after awhile, Jane thinks she is too, and with only a cute orderly named Pete to help her, she knows she is in for some trouble.

I found this book interesting, but in the end, nothing special. The story was told from Jane's point of view and her tone, surprisingly enough, didn't bother me. The only things that really bothered me about this book were her boyfriend, who just wasn't nice, and of course, the mother came off looking like the bad guy which is way too typical in YA fiction. Also the lack of direction bothered me, I felt like the book went off on way too many tangents, it just introduced too many story lines, which all ended up being necessary but it was annoying to push through. Overall it wasn't a book that I just couldn't put down, but it was good enough that I wanted to finish it because it really did wait 'till almost the last page to reveal if she was just crazy or if there was someone trying to kill her. I would recommend the book if you have time for it, but if you feel like you have better things to read, then go with those instead.