The Probability of Miracles - Reviewed by Maggie Devero

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

Extra Credit Blog - Reviewed by Maggie Devero

"Death does not mean being without love..."

After spending seventeen years of her life coming and going from hospitals, undergoing different types of treatment, and throwing her all into fighting back the cancer that has bloomed within her body, Campbell Cooper's spirit has been broken and she's about ready to give up and die already. The doctors told her it'd take a miracle for her to survive, and Campbell doesn't believe in miracles, even after living in Disneyworld her entire life. Unfortunately her family will not give up on her, and are willing to try for a miracle, known better as Promise, Maine. Rumored for its healing powers, her mother, sister and her move there for the summer and write down all the things they think are miracle-worthy, never losing faith that this new start will heal Cam. But will it be enough to prevent her from dying, or will Cam with her lack of interest in living anymore, just surrender to the emptiness of death? Read the book to find out!

This book, at least for me, was really original and unique, so it is well-deserving of the four stars I gave it. Unlike the average cancer patient story, where they feel so alone until they find in a significant other and are miraculously cured for life, this story shows the struggle of finding love in the people closest to someone. And though it does include a relationship, that's not the main focus of the story, which makes the story more enjoyable without having to push through annoying teen romance, haha. The storyline was really quirky, and cute, and it was a happy AND sad ending altogether. There was a lot of contrast seen in the characters, the places (Disneyland and Promise), and attitudes throughout the story, which kept it interesting. It was nicely detailed, so easy to picture in your mind exact what's happening, or what the characters were like. Overall, it was really sweet and unique and had me intrigued about the turnout of the story from front cover to back. Well worthy four stared book! And if you're interested in books like this one, I would go ahead and suggest some books by John Green, such as Looking For Alaska or The Fault in Our Stars! 

The Elite Review by Paige Espinosa

     In this sequel to The Selection, America Singer finds herself competing against five other girls for Prince Maxon while still trying to figure out her feelings for Aspen. Once on solid footing, America finds herself no longer Maxon's only favorite and has to hurry up with her decision-making before Maxon gives up on her and moves on to someone he knows will be there for him. In this book, America also starts to uncover some of her country's secret history and develop a new, more intimidating meaning of what it would mean for her to one day possibly be the queen.
     I gave this book three and a half stars because even though it was still pretty unoriginal I just had to know what was going to happen with the characters, even though it wasn't hard to guess. Neither Maxon nor Aspen are outright awful choices so while reading this book, I couldn't choose who to root for! No matter which one she chooses, America will still be moving up at least one caste and both boys seem to genuinely care for her. I found myself getting frustrated at her for making this whole ordeal so much more difficult and messing things up with her temper. By the end, I even cried a bit and I'm not a sappy romance novel type of person.. The last time I cried like this while reading a book was when Dumbledore died at the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! I can't wait for the next book to come out just so I can know what happens with these characters, it's killing me a little bit on the inside wondering if my hunch is correct or if suddenly there will be a huge plot twist. (It could happen, this author is a talented writer, she could totally pull something crazy like that off like maybe killing one of the boys or America leaving both her boy-toys at the castle to join the rebel forces against her country and meeting a nice rebel boy who likes to read...)

Shine - Reviewed by Maggie Devero

Shine by Lauren Myracle

Reviewed by Maggie Devero

In the backwoods town of Black Creek, North Carolina, a lot of crimes will go unnoticed or unpunished. But sixteen year old Cat is not about to let this one be looked over like so many other unforgivable things before, especially since it concerns her once-upon-a-time best friend. She's known that Patrick was gay since the seventh grade, but she never though twice about it: he was still everything to her. Upon entering high school, Patrick opened up about his sexuality for all, which they knew would be very controversial in this average little town. Cat wasn't there to support him in his time of need though, because her own turmoil she was having to deal with, that wrapped her in a blanket of isolation for months. So when Patrick makes the front page of newspapers, strung up like a marionette with a gas nozzle down his throat and "suck this, faggot" written on his chest in blood, Cat forces herself out of the comfortable place and back into the real world to find out for herself just what happened to her friend, who is unable to fend for himself in a coma. Cat learns many dark and unsettling secrets about this place she's called home, and must face unbelievable truths about what went down that one early morning, and what led to it.

So this book I gave a three out of five stars. It really was a good read, just nothing exceptional. It's the kind of book that you might read if you had some free time in your hands, and didn't have anything else to do. The back stories were especially interesting, talking about how all the different characters came to be the people they were presently in the book, but during the sleuthing scenes where Cat is trying to identify the culprit, it just got boring at times. And the twists in the plot seemed to be almost trying to hard to be surprising, when they weren't. But the description of the town, the Suicide Rock, and the general setting of the story really had me in tune and able to place myself directly in the story. So in my opinion, the book had it's redeeming qualities, but also could've used a bit more. Good book, and I would suggest it to anyone who's interested in reading a mystery/hate-crime book.

The Starters reviewed by Portia Rockers

 

 

The Starters is about a future USA where a war called the Spore Wars took place and killed everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. In this world The young people which are called Starters and the older people that survived are called Enders. The ones that survived were vaccinated so the Enders can live up to 200 years of age. Callie and her brother Tyler live as squatters which means there was no grandparents to take care of them so they live in poverty with other kids like them. In this futuristic world the Enders can rent the bodies of younger people using a microchip inserted in the body for three weeks at a time. When Callie's Younger brother starts to get sick Callie realizes that renting her body is the only way to get the money they need. But something Goes wrong with the chip she wakes up living her renters life and dating a rich governor's grandson. Its almost a dream come true until she realizes what the Renter had planned for her body.

 

Over all I enjoyed the book. The plot line was interesting but is lacked depth. Also there wasn't a lot of character development they just had set values, which some people like but I wasn't to fond of. I liked Callie's personality interesting, she's willing to do anything for her little brother. She even makes sacrifices to make sure he is okay and taken care of. I would recommend this book to people who like science fiction books. If you read and like this book you might want the read the second book called The Enders. Also a book called The Dead Boys. 



Moloka'i - reviewed by Maggie Devero

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

Reviewed by Maggie Devero

Even when she's outcasted by a disease that she didn't choose to have, she can still find familiarity and comfort among those just like her. Her life is only just beginning...

Rachel Aouli Kalama lived a perfectly normal life in 1890s Hawaii; she had a loving mother who cared for her as best as possible, a father who treasured her more than anything else, and three siblings with whom she could play. A seven year old could ask for very little more...and certainly not ask for something like leprosy to invade her body and change everything she knew. Her family tried to keep it a secret, but failed, as all did in the end. And so Rachel was taken away, forced into a separate island called Moloka'i, to reside until the age of eighteen, in a place called Bishop Home run by the St. Elizabeth covenant. Though not completely alone, her uncle Pono who was also a victim of leprosy is there to be here family away from home along with his companion Haleola. But soon enough Rachel learns that things can never be the same, being the outcast leper of a family, except her father, who no longer wanted her. She must build a new life there in Kalaupapa on Moloka'i, accepting her disease for what it is, and making the best of the life she is forced to live out. Surprisingly, life as a leper has a lot in store for this young woman, and she learns and grows experiencing just as much, if not more, than she once would have.

This book was well deserving of the four stars I gave it. I honestly picked up the book expecting something more haunting and creepy, images of zombie-like people struggling in a barren and desolate wasteland of sorts, but that wasn't how it was at all (And I have no idea why I was expecting that!) The book painted a very descriptive and vivid picture of different parts of Hawaii at the time; not just some tourist spot or a place of vacation. It was a cultural, thriving society all over, even in the  separate places like Moloka'i. It also showed how people can misunderstand and blow out of proportion differences and disabilities in others. Though the lepers were disfigured and sick, they were still normal people, just forced to struggle more through life than others. The novel depicted the pretty normal life of a not-so-normal girl, but made it interesting, and as a reader you can feel for her and what she goes through. The detailed imagery is what won me over though. And the book took a bit longer than I had assumed it would to finish, but don't let that turn you off; it's really a brilliantly written story. So four out of five stars! And I would suggest this book to other readers who just want to get lost in another world, because if given a bit of time and a quiet spot, you will find yourself in Moloka'i, befriending a very courageous and strong girl.

The Selection by Kiera Cass Reviewed by Paige Espinosa

     America has her life planned out already. She knows her musical talent will enable her to work and she's even found the perfect boy to settle down and have a family with. That is, she thinks she has. Aspen seems perfect but he is a caste below America, doomed to even worse poverty than she faces as a Five. When The Selection is announced and girls from every caste have the opportunity to marry the prince and become Ones, Aspen makes America enter. She never would have guessed she actually would have been picked. From there, she must decide if the life she had already chosen for herself is still what she wants or if maybe she could want something else.
     I gave this book three and a half stars because even though it wasn't very original, it was a quick, easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed! I found myself laughing out loud and moved close to tears at the same time at various parts of this book. Like a mix of The Hunger Games and The Bachelor with a similar plot to every other YA teen romance novel on book shelves around the country, I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. Even though the plot twists were so obvious I saw them coming from the first chapter (literally), Cass's writing kept me engaged and I even felt a connection to America while reading. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for something to read just to pass time or take a break from school but I doubt this is a book that could be reread and enjoyed every time as much as it was the first.

The Killing Woods reviewed by Portia Rockers

The Killing Woods is about a girl named Emily whose father goes into the woods and comes out with a dead body. The dead body happened to be a girl named Ashlee Parker, the most popular and prettiest girl in the school. Emily's father gets blamed for the murder, and he confesses to it. Emily doesn't believe her father actually committed the crime and is determined to prove his innocence. Damon Hilary, who was Ashlee's boyfriend, puts most the blame on Emily for what her father has done along with the rest of the town. Damon and his friends, along with Ashlee play a game in the woods where they get high and try and find each other. The catch is when you find the person you beat then and take their dog collar. Did this game have anything to do with Ashlee's death?

I really enjoyed the plot of this book, the story had a lot of plot twisters that kept me turning the page and wanting to read more. I also really liked how descripted the author was with this book. When she described the dark woods, the place where Damon and his friends would play their game, I got chills and could picture it perfectly. Another thing about the book that I really loved was that it was written in two different point of views, Damon's and Emily's. One thing I didn't like about the book was the choices the characters choices. Damon despised Emily for what he thought her dad did to Ashlee, but the only reason he cared for Ashlee so much was basically for sex and her looks. Emily even though knowing Damon wasn't a good guy still continues to have a crush on him to the end. I enjoyed the book, because it was plot twisting and chilling with a shocking ending. I would defiantly recommend this to other who enjoy murder mysteries. If you like The Killing Woods you might want to  read Lucy Christopher's other book Stolen or a book called The Impossible Knife of Memory.









Confessions of a Murder Suspect Review by Paige Espinosa

     In this book, Tandoori "Tandy" Angel and her siblings, Harry, Matty, and Hugo, are the prime suspects in their parents' murder. Tandy can't rule anyone out, even herself, when she realizes she needs to uncover her family's secrets. Tandy's parents, Malcolm and Maud Angel, were millionaires who seemingly had everything, so why were they killed? Who could possibly benefit from their deaths?
     I gave this book three out of five stars because the names of the characters in this book were just too ridiculous for me at times and I couldn't stand reading them. "Royal Rampling" and "Capricorn Caputo" made me cringe while reading them. This book should have been an easy, quick read, but the story just wasn't intriguing enough, the characters were way too weird, and I called the ending before I got to page 50. I might recommend it to a pre-teen but it seems just too simple for most high schoolers.