December Book Club

We will meet on Tuesday, December 6, during SSR in the OHS Library to talk about

Molly Varney will be leading the discussion!  Please bring your copy of the book with you to the meeting and a snack or drink if you like.

Review (posted after book club)

 2.0 out of 5 stars - Unrealistic and somewhat annoying.

This was written in the form of a letter from the victim of a kidnapping to her captor. I quickly tired of the endless "thoughts" in Gemma's head and her ridiculous and misguided attempts to escape (to where, exactly???? as she was in the middle of nowhere). I also found the details of the Australian landscape, flora and fauna, etc., to be tedious and irrelevant to the plot. Gemma develops a sort of love-hate relationship with Ty, exhibits signs of classic Stockholm Syndrome, and then the book ends without a real conclusion. I would have preferred to h ave less description of the physical world and more interaction between Gemma and Ty. (Possible spoiler: No censoring is necessary as Ty does not mistreat Gemma in any way, which I found somewhat implausible, considering what we learn about Ty. It is not a story such as one that is really in the headlines.)

The book had themes that provided good discussion during book club and Molly did a great job with questions! 

Next month: Bring a book you read over the holidays to booktalk!

Ms C. 

I Heart You,You Haunt Me -- Review by: Liz Hill

I Heart You, You Haunt Me

By Lisa Schroeder

****Stars

Ava can't touch him or see him. She can only dream of him. She thought she was crazy but can't stop thinking about him. She hears his whipsers.

Jackson died in a horrbile accient. Ava thought she would spend the rest of her life with him. He's back from the dead to prove his love for Ava.

As Ava tries to deal with the death of her boyfriend, she is suprised to see that even though he's dead, his sprit still remains. What would you think if you were seeing your dead boyfriend? or Hearing voices? Read more to find out how Ava deals with it.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth reviewed by Molly Varney

By: Carrie Ryan *****

Mary's world is simple; she follows the Sisterhood's rules and knows that if she stays away from the fences the Guardians would protect her from the Unconsecrated. When Mary's mother is bitten she is forced to join the Sisterhood after being thrown out by her brother, Jed. While she's learning under one of the Sisters, she finds out that Travis, who she secretly loved, was in the Chapel. Soon she starts going into his room to pray for him and they fall in love, even though Travis was betrothed to Cass, Mary's best friend. As she learns more about the Sisterhood, Mary finds out all of the secrets they are hiding from the village. She finds herself wanting to leave and search the world for the ocean her mother always told her about. Soon enough, the fences were breached and Mary had to choose between her love or her life.

I gave this five stars because the book was a great read. It was full of action and excitement throughout the whole book. I'm really starting to like books about zombies and the end of the world and this one was probably my favorite. At first it was hard to know what time it was in because they sometimes talked different and they didn't have things like electricity and their clothes seemed old fashioned. I really liked the ending even though it was kind of sad.

Glow--reviewed by Nallely S.

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

***Stars
"If a sudden attack destroyed the only world you'd ever known, Would you be brave enough to save who was left? Would love be strong enough to survive the fight? Either way, there's no turning back." -Glow

What if the life you knew changed within seconds. Seconds that could determine your future....and decisions that impact everyone you know. Waverly's life changes in mere seconds when her home, The Empyrean, a ship on it's way to New Earth, is attacked by its sister ship, The New Horizon. Waverly knows it's her destiny to marry young and have children. Kieran, her boyfriend, proposes to her on the day their world collapses. But she can't help the strong feelings she has for Seth, a past-friend. Then one day while with Kieran everything changes. Every girl on The Empyrean is kidnapped and taken to the New Horizon. Forced to leave or let her loved ones die, Waverly boards the shuttle taking every girl to The New Horizon. Secrets will be unleashed. Friendships will be torn apart. New relationships will be formed...but will Waverly make the right choices?

This new series will have you asking for more! In a world where everything you know becomes everything you've ever wanted. Love and Survival..which one will conquer?

I gave Glow ***stars because I though it would've been better b/c this is usually the type of books or novels I read. I didn't like how it left things hanging..maybe they will be stated in the next installment but for now I kind-of dislike this book. I think the one thing I actually liked in Glow was how Waverly and some of the characters never gave up on their humanity. Most characters are cowards but in Glow it felt different. I dislike love-triangles like the one in this book. I don't know I felt like Glow could've been way better, hopefully the next one is.

-Nallely S.

The Hunger Games -- MOVIE

This is the official trailer for the movie, The Hunger Games, which comes out in March, 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=p-5ANq4sAL0

What do you think of the casting??

Ms C.

The Eleventh Plague reviewed by Molly Varney

By: Jeff Hirsch ****

The eleventh plague destroyed the world before Stephen was born. He grew up with his father and his grandfather, after his mother and unborn baby sister died. All he knew to life was to salvage anything worth trading and staying on the Path. After his grandfather died, however, his father decided to leave the Path for one day. Before they even could however, they were forced to run from slavers after saving the lives of two strangers. This caused Stephen's father to be seriously injured after falling. Stephen had to decide to trust the help of some other men who offered their help to him. As he waited for his father to recover, he found himself in a small town. As he got more familiar with the town he met Jenny, a troublesome Chinese girl who he couldn't stop thinking about. As he gets more comfortable with the small town, he has to decide between leaving or staying with Jenny and the family who took him in.

I gave this book four stars because I really liked the storyline but it got a little dry at some parts. I liked all of the characters and thought that they were easy to relate to. I'm not really into books about the world ending but this one was more about people trying to cope with what they had left. If you like books about the world being over then you'll definitely love this one!

The Line--reviewed by Nallely S.

The Line by Teri Hal
* * * * * Stars

"What lies on the other side of the line?"- The Line

Can you imagine living in a world where love is a dangerous thing? Where you lived in a city surrounded by an invisible shield and keeping you from the outside world? That's exactly how Rachel lives, day to day. Life on the Property is pretty much all Rachel has seen, except the day she tried to cross The Line. The Line is the barrier that stands between The Property and Away. Rachel always seems fascinated by it but her love for her mother keeps her from trying to leave again. That is until she finds a "letter" asking for help....a "letter" that comes from...Away. Rachel doesn't know what to do until her mom tells her the truth and why she tried to hide Rachel during an Identification.

"There's only one way to find out."- The Line
Rachel goes into Away to help the ones who sent the "letter".

I gave The Line, ***** Stars because it's a new type of book, at least that I've read. I liked the way it was written and how Hall did the pacing of the plot. Although Rachel's mom, Vivian, makes me mad; her and Rachel's dads' story is very romantic. ") I enjoyed reading this book because it shows that love and parties,etc aren't everything in the world. The end was really good because it gives us a hint that Rachel's dad isn't dead...that all this time he has been alive and in Away. So I can't wait to read the sequel......Away~! ")

-Enjoy
Nallely Saavedra