Since You Asked --Reviewed by Desarae Coffey

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Since You Asked by Maurene Goo

I choose to give Since You Asked.. Three out of five stars because I got bored reading it. there was nothing there that kept me wanting more.

Sine You Asked begins with the fifteen-year-old high school newspaper editor who prints a horrifying article that ends up being the worst mistake of her high school life. Kim Holly summits an article that rips every one to shreds destroying any friendship had. To get through the rest of her year she writes another article explaining her emotions. All while still earning the respect of her strict parents considering she is a Korean. She is your typically teenage who just happens to have a big mouth. Kim is now face to deal with all the haters while earning back the respect.

Personally this would have not been my first choice, because I'm more in the paranormal and horror stories. Since You Asked  has no expense, there for me to keep interested. If you into typical teen drama then i highly recommend this book, but if your life me this book is not for you.   

Help For the Haunted - Reviewed by Maggie Devero

Help For the Haunted by John Searles

Reviewed by Maggie Devero

Do you believe in life after death, souls harboring eternal grudges, or just in general, ghosts of people long past and demons who have never set a living foot on the earth?

Being the second youngest child of semi-famous demonologist couple Sylvester and arose Mason, Sylvie doesn't even question it. Though her parents try to keep her and her sister Rose as far away from their practices and jobs as possible, it's a normal thing to the girls. Sylvia just believes. And then tragedy strikes her, on cold snowy night in February. Her parents are called to a church in the middle of the night by Rose, and suddenly their parents are gone from their lives. They were brutally murdered inside the church, and Sylvie was the one to find them. The problem is that she can't remember much from that night, her own terror blocking the memories from resurfacing. Now about a year later, Sylvie tries to move on in her life, but continues to be stuck. Then she begins investigating the mystery behind her parents murders, and slowly uncovers the deep and awful secrets that have haunted her family for many years. 

This was a different type of book than the ones I've been reading recently. And luckily for me, it was a really nice change of pace. It's a paranormal themed story, that isn't super scary, but adds a creepy feeling throughout parts of the story. The characters are very well-developed, and it's interesting reading about the different relationships between them: especially between the family members themselves. And even though the book doesn't pick up with Sylvie delving deeper into the family mysteries until halfway through, the way they lead up to it is captivating. They flip back and forth between present day happenings, and what happened in the past concerning events of the present. It adds a lot of necessary information to the story in a way that doesn't bore the reader. I gave the book four stars, and I hope to find out whether or not the author has any other books written, because I would be very interested in reading them! I would suggest this book to anyone interested in paranormal/supernatural themes.

Ashfall reviewed by Paige Espinosa

 

 

 

     Alex is just one of those typical, unremarkable guys in high school who likes playing World of Warcraft and wishes he could get a date. That is, until the volcano in Yellowstone National Park finally erupts and the world is buried in ash. With no electricity, no indoor plumbing and a scarcity of clean water, Alex faces a trek through multiple feet of choking ash to find his family who were on a trip while he was left home alone during this catastrophe. Along the way, of course he meets a girl who travels with him and since the world is seemingly ending and there is no one of the opposite sex for miles around, you guessed it, there's a bit of a budding romance there.
     I gave this book three and a half stars because it was a believable and original apocalyptic storyline. My biggest issue was with a few characters who were just way too ridiculous for me. For example, the recently-released-from-prison-axe-murderer that just seems to pop up everywhere! Even Alex and his friend that's a girl, Darla, seem a bit ridiculous at parts. Darla is 17-almost-18 and is giving this 15-recently-turned-16 year old boy the time of day? All I can say is gross. As a girl Darla's age, I personally want nothing to do with guys younger than me. As an adult, that age difference is nothing but as a teenager, that's like a 5-10 year age gap! Despite some of the unbelievable parts of this book, I still might read the rest of this trilogy.

The Fifth Wave reviewed by Paige Espinosa

   
     This is Cassie's story of survival and her efforts to rescue her brother- the only remaining member of her family. When the aliens came, they attacked in waves. After the first wave, electricity no longer worked. They second flooded the world. The third sickened most of the surviving human race. After the fourth, there is only silence. Cassie believes that to stay alive she must stay alone. Her trust in other humans has waned until the only person she wants to be around is her little brother who was taken from her. That is, until she finds herself in need of help and she must tolerate the presence of another human being in her otherwise solitary world.
     I gave this book four out of five stars because it was one of the most original books I have read in a long time. There were plot twists that actually shocked me and the characters even had histories that brought tears to my eyes. I read this book in one sitting and was totally enthralled the whole time but it lost a star because it got a bit unrealistic towards the end. I was also disappointed by the unoriginal boy-meets-girl-at-the-end-of-the-world story line. In that respect, it was a bit like Stephanie Meyer's The Host. Girl-with-a-little-brother-meets-attractive-and-protective-guy-while-aliens-take-over-earth really isn't all that original anymore. I definitely preferred Yancey's version over Meyer's and found Yancey's a whole lot more believable. These aliens aren't peaceful invaders, they want to kill us. Aliens seem pretty corny sometimes but this book definitely pulled off the alien invader story extremely well. (This book is also being made into a movie soon! Hopefully they won't ruin it...)

All The Truth That's In Me- Reviewed by Desarae Coffey

 All The Truth That’s In Me- By Julies Berry

I give All The Truth That's In Me five stars. This book is about a girl who had four years of her life taken from her and has to decide which road she chose to find herself. Whether she chooses to speak the truth of what she went through during those four years and risk reliving it again through her memories or does she keep her secrets to herself and stay the ghost she has become in her old town she has returned to.

Judith and her best friend were taken four years ago from Roswell Station. During this four years, something happen and she return completely mutilated, alone, and unable to speak. The ones who she thought would always be there when she needed them the most have turned their backs on her.  The only one she is able to rely on is Lucas and he doesn’t even realize it. Lucas is a childhood friend who she starts pouring her heart out, the only one her heart belongs to for as long as she can remember. She is force to come to grips and choose a path of hers, when the life she is currently living is put into harm’s way.

If you want to know the whole truth behind Judith words then read her story!

Frozen by Melissa De La Cruz and Michael Johnston Reviewed by Paige Espinosa

             

                                

     Nat- short for Natasha- doesn't remember much about who she is or where she came from but she does know that she's marked and needs to stay hidden. Her bright green-gold eyes would get her arrested if anyone saw them. She makes a living staying hidden as a blackjack dealer in a casino in New Vegas. The United States have long since been frozen and virtually destroyed, now called The Remaining States of America. Nat is taken by a rumor of The Blue, a warm place where there are animals and sunlight and no more poverty. To get there, she pays a runner, Ryan Wesson- Wes- to take her there.
     I gave this book 3 1/2 out of 5 stars because some parts of it were riveting, page-turners, but then the next chapter was a letdown and bland worrying, "Does he like me?" "What if I like him?" "He's so attractive!" These kids are only 16 at the oldest! Their ship's navigator is 13! It was really ridiculous at some parts. Rotting people- aka zombies- were called Thrillers after, you guessed it, Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The premise started off as original but then just turned into a weird, futuristic, trying-too-hard-to-be-original mashup of Tolkein's "Lord of The Rings", Paolini's "Eragon", Cashore's "Graceling", with a dash of Disney's "true-love-is-the-most-powerful-magic" concept and some ugly, gambling pirates. I about lost it when a fatal bullet wound magically healed from true love. Nope, too much for me. Minus one star. "Drakonrydders" or oddly misspelled "dragon riders" also left me unpleasantly speechless. (Definite face-palm moment.) I'm curious how a sequel would turn out since almost every author turns around a writes a sequel, whether one needs to be written or not. I might recommend this book to a few people who I know would like it but it's not something I would go around raving about making everyone read. 

The Eye of Minds - Reviewed by Maggie Devero

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

Reviewed by Maggie Devero

If given the opportunity, would you choose to spend your time in a virtual world as opposed to the real world? A virtual world where anything and everything can happen?  And if you're a talented coder or hacker, you can bend the virtual reality to your every whim? If so, then welcome to the VirtNet, a world beyond your wildest dreams and your worst nightmares.

Michael is one of those talented coders and hackers. He has spent almost more time in VirtNet than he has in real life; trudging through school and home life only to return to his coffin and enter this computerized world once more. It's where he's made his best of friends (though he's never met them in the real world), had all the experiences he's wanted, and where he's generally just the happiest. But when randomly one day, he comes across a girl who manages to kill herself in both the game and reality, all the while screaming about someone named Kaine and how she won't let him get her, Michael's virtual takes a turn. He and his friends are soon assigned to located and take down, easily the great hacker of all time, Kaine himself. Though Michael, Bryson and Sarah are all talented with potentially lethal skills themselves, they aren't sure they will be a match for this crazed genius. A fast paced adventure/thriller, this book will leave you on the edge of your seat!

I liked this book relatively well, so I have it a worthy three stars. I'm normally not big on the whole scifi genre, but I decided to give is new book a try. I was pleasantly surprised. The idea of a virtual world being warped by those with the skill is a really cool and scary idea. And though I didn't really connect with any of the characters, I still thought they were decently written. The book started off right in the middle of action, and it kept that way throughout the entire rest of the story. It looks as though there will be more in this series, so it's another I'm interested in keeping up with if I get the free time! James Dashner also wrote the very popular Maze Runner series, so I would suggest those to anyone who reads and likes this book. They're pretty different in means of storyline (and I've heard Maze Runner is in many ways better), so if you did like this and are interested in more Dashner novels, those are ones to check out!

Skate -Reviewed by Desarae Coffey

Skate by Michael Harmon
I give Skate five stars. Skate has the intensity to keep you reading. It is a fast pace book, which means it gets straight to the point in each chapter. I thought this book was well written and had deep emotions tied into it. The book skate has a theme which some teens can relate to. It gives you the insight on just how strong a bond can be between two siblings. 

Skate is about a 15 year old boy who has been raising his younger brother since he was ten years old, at this age his father walked out of their lives and his mother turned to drugs leaving him and his brother to defend for themselves. Ian has the daily struggle of making sure his brother has something to eat every night. Sammy is special, he is not retarded just a slow leaner. I guess you can say he has a rough home life.

After another tardy slip at school Ian gets called into the vice principle. He gets this distinct feeling the school wants "clean up" and he doesn't fits the schools image with his punk hair and dark clothing. They tell him he would be better off at technical school. Iran becomes enraged and acts out. At this point he has gone to far and knows he will be sent to jail, sending Sammy into foster care. Iran knows he has to run to protect Sammy.

To know what happens next you should read this amazing book and to get the feel of what some teens our age are going through.You might have a different opinion on your own life and finally understand just how luck you truly are.

For those who are going through this I am sorry...