Book Review with Music Pairings: The Left Behinds and The iPhone that Saved George Washington by David Potter

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Maya S.

The Left Behinds are three kids whose parents are too busy to spend time with them. So, they spend their Christmas with their Social Studies teacher at their New Jersey school. But things take a sharp turn when Brandon starts messing with a MacBook. While Mel and Bev are trying to stop him, their iPhones start acting up. A whirl and a pop later, they find themselves next to a weird guy that looks oddly like George Washington. And that’s not all. General Washington has a gunshot wound to the chest. They look at their surroundings and become aware of a barn with hay but no horses and a raging snowstorm outside. What just happened???

The Left Behinds: Brandon, Mel, and Bev go on a wild journey in time travel in 1771. No. Let me rephrase that. Mel goes on a wild journey to save history, while Bev and Brandon are held hostage by the Hessians. Right when this twist began, I thought of the Disney song, “Small World,” because it indicates that we do, in fact, have a small world after all. In this setting, I believe we have a small past, present, and future world. While these worlds cannot combine, the morals and lessons transcend the time periods.

As the story continues, Mel takes advice from Dr. Benjamin Franklin and rides across the river from Pennsylvania to New Jersey with the Continental Army through harsh winter storms. I was reminded of another song. “Carry On My Wayward Son” by Kansas because of the struggle to find peace. The song portrays General Washington’s effort to not rest until the colonies are safe from the Hessians. The army gains victory; however, Mel, Brandon, and Bev find themselves tangled in yet another incident. What will the Left Behinds do next?

I would rate this book a 9/10 for its historically credible story line, but I would have preferred the language to be less sarcastic. This review is from an advance reader copy, so be sure to check it out January 15, 2015!

Maya S., 7th grade

Book Review: The Fire Seekers by Richard Farr

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Evan G.

You’ve heard the stories repeated, every religion and culture has a different way of telling them, it’s the story of the end of the human race… Set in modern times, ancient Gods are rising, mass disappearances of people are occurring and a terrorist organization named the Seraphim is at large. 17 year-old Daniel Calder, who has a famous archeologist for a father and America’s top business woman/mountain climber for a mother, has a journey to take in order to save the human race. He has to connect the dots and discover what humanity has been denying since the very first civilizations. In this witty, fast-paced tale, Daniel must rediscover secrets long lost and find out the mystery behind the Fire Seekers.

I noticed that I kept mixing this book up with other series because the voice used by the author is similar to those of Rick Riordan, James Patterson and John Flanagan. These happen to be some of my favorite authors. This is a suspenseful mystery novel that relates life in other countries to that of life on American soil. This story really helps the reader appreciate the circumstances they live in and realize all the bad things in the world that they don’t have to partake in. The reader will get a deeper look at human society in which there are problems that can and can not be fixed. Though this novel is fictional, it rings with truth. I enjoyed the themes that occur throughout the book including world religion, mythology and childhood independence.

-Evan G., 6th grade

Book Review: Relax, I’m a Ninja, by Natalie Whipple

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Nicole G.

“So, what exactly do we, uh, do?”
“The usual- sabotage, espionage, smuggling, and such.”

First of all, I want to point out this has to be one of the coolest titles ever. I think it pretty much sums up the entire book, but I’ll go on about it anyways.

As you probably already guessed, this book is about ninjas. It’s difficult to believe there could be ninja clans in San Francisco, but sixteen-year-old Tosh has been training in the secrecy of his father’s dojo for years. Why not hide in plain sight? A karate place is the last place you’d expect a real ninja. Everything changes when Tosh’s father recruits long-time-karate-student Amy, who happens to be the crush of Tosh’s best friend. Huge cover risk. Plus, completely off limits. At least that’s what Tosh tells himself, but neither he nor Amy can deny their connection.

Some ninjas are evil. There is a serial killer on the loose, nicknamed “The Ninja” by the media because of his costume, stabbing innocents with one of the most deadly ninja poisons; Dragon’s Bile. Teaming up with Amy to find this elusive killer may prove there are more secrets in San Francisco than even Tosh suspected.

What’s amazing about this story is the levels of secrecy. I should expect this from a secret ninja book, but there were twists I didn’t see coming. Sometime of the people Tosh trusts the most may have a secret he never would have expected. Or some person who should have no knowledge about ninjas, might already be one.

Plenty of action with the ninja fights, but there is a splash of romance thrown in as well. This well written novel kept is well paced and captured my attention the entire time. Definitely give this book a try as long as you don’t absolutely hate ninjas.

-Nicole G., 11th grade

Book Review: Jack Templar, Monster Hunter, by Jeff Gunhus

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Evan G.

Jack Templar is just an ordinary 13 year-old boy. His biggest concerns in life are girls, growing pains, and trying to keep decent grades at school. The day before his 14th birthday, Jack wakes up astounded to find that he has gained superhuman strength, not unlike Peter Parker in the Hollywood Spiderman film. That morning in his garage, he lifts a 48lb dumbbell with one hand. Then, on the way to school he makes an easy slam dunk. He also impresses his crush by beating up a bully in front of the school. He is definitely loving life!

Then, disaster hits! His school Principal turns into a bat creature and threatens him. He then bumps into a 3,000 year old vampire and goes on to save a strange girl from being killed by a troll. As the day goes on, he finds himself fighting for his life against spirits, demons and monsters galore.

This exciting book reveals the author’s point of view about survival of the fittest and how friendship conquers all. Gunhus also shows how some sacrifices are worth making and some aren’t. This epic novel causes the reader to think about other possibilities, about how many things go unnoticed in the world. There is a whole civilization of monsters in his story that has gone unnoticed by the human population. It makes fun of how many little details or big happenings occur without anybody ever knowing.

I would recommend this book because of the main character’s realistic reactions and the overall authentic tone of the story even though it is make believe. It is appropriate for all ages since it is pretty clean considering it is a book about hunting monsters. I absolutely loved it!

Evan G., 6th grade

Book Review: Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Olivia S.

I love dogs. I love everything about them. From their furry bodies to their gross slobbery tongues, I love it all.

However, besides loving dogs themselves, I also love a good dog book. The book Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls is the perfect dog book, and let me just say this book is life changing. Even if you aren’t a dog lover, or you only really love cats, this book is still life changing, regardless of your animal preference.

The novel follows the life of a young boy and his best friends, his two-coonhound hunting dogs. Together the boy, Billy Coleman, and his two dogs embark on countless fun-filled adventures. However, the story goes beyond the adventure and becomes a coming-of-age novel.

The book will make you laugh, cry, scream, giggle, sigh, and surprise you all at the same time, but in the best possible way. I highly recommend this book to everyone and anyone. Fortunately, it really isn’t subject to just one age group, like many other classic novels, because it is relatable to so many people on so many different levels. All in all, it is a great book, and probably one of my all-time favorite books.

-Olivia S.

Book vs. Movie: The Maze Runner

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Nicole G.

From the very beginning, I could tell the movie was changing things.

The Box where Thomas arrives has a random caged animal never explained in the movie with Thomas. Then Thomas runs off for no apparent reason, and tries to escape the very first night.

Chuck has a smaller role, I felt. His storyline is still there, but Alby decided to give Thomas the tour in the movie version. Chuck basically solved the end puzzle in the book, although to his credit, Chuck in the movie saved the device thing from falling. Minho is also introduced early on as a key character. Gally is still a jerk to Thomas, but it feels more forced without the background of the griever sting memories. Which brings me to my next point.

The background of the glade was also a bit off from the book. Gladers had fewer deliveries, less knowledge of grievers (no one alive to tell the tale), and no cliff for the griever hole. The book basically left Gladers with puzzles that required the final push with Thomas and Teresa to put the pieces together. The movie, however, decided to flesh out the puzzles (maze spelling words and special place the grievers go) to encompass more action scenes with the maze.

One of the most action packed scenes in the book, besides the ending, was when Thomas spent the night in the maze. There was still a chase sequence in the movie, but cleverly tricking the grievers off a cliff with the combined teamwork of Minho was replaced with crushing with a wall (there are a lot of close wall squeezes in the movie). It started with this whole griever tracking device to a long hallway that screams the perfect place for an attack.

The part that always stuck with me from the book was Teresa’s ability to communicate telepathically in her coma and give Thomas some info. The movie introduced her later in the plot and took out the telepathy, coma, and info. She’s still a pretty tough girl. A really great scene was when she was on the top of a tree-house building throwing things at the Gladers. Chuck said something along the lines of “Girls are awesome.”

The movie focused mainly on the maze. Griever attacks were more intense, without taking everyone down one by one idea from the book. I guess WCKD didn’t care about their variables anymore. Best part of the movie was definitely the maze scenes, although my favorite moment was when they found this green exit sign above a door. It was just perfect comedic timing.

The action scenes were intense and fast paced. It felt more dramatic than the book, but it worked. Despite all this– not a bad adaptation, and can easily lead to the sequels. Wish there was more Glader slang than colloquial, though. So if you want more action, check out the movie. If you want to understand what’s going on with this strange world, I suggest reading the book first.

-Nicole G., 11th grade

Book Review: Taken, by David Massey

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Sarah J.

Six teenagers on a trip across the ocean. Four are military veterans disabled in combat. The other two are “able” sea hands to help along the way. Things are cut short when they become prisoners of war of a man called Moses Mwemba.

Rio Cruz, is one of the two “able bodied” crew that was hired to help four teenage veterans, Ash, Marcus, Charis, and Izzy, who have been disabled in combat sail around the world for charity. Even before the six start the voyage, tension starts building between Rio and the other “able bodied” crew member, Jen. The tension only grows when Rio’s fondness for Ash emerges and when she finds a hidden letter. But all the tension and strife that was building gets cut short when they are captured to become political pawns.

This was a rather strange story. Unfortunately, I found it a bit too rushed. There were also some things that I would have like have a bit more explained. It is written in a first person point of view which does limit what explained in the story. Even so the plot was interesting. It is one of the types of plot that I have not read very much of. The characters were okay. I do believed they could have been a little more developed or described but the fact that they were disabled veterans, who were determined to show that they were not helpless, made up for some of it. I some times mixed up the characters due to the lack of explanation at the beginning of the book.

One of the themes of this book does make you think a lot about what people are. This is a book I would only recommend to at least high-school or older. There is quite a bit of violence in the story and there is many themes in this book that are hard to explain and hard to understand. To give this book a rating: 5/10

This is only what I think so read it for yourself and decide.

– Sarah J., 10th grade

Book Review: The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Samantha S.

Here is the story of Mr. Bilbo Baggins:

Bilbo, a creature who doesn’t really have a taste for adventure and never travels further than his cupboards, is greeted by a wizard, Gandalf, and fourteen dwarves. Gandalf had chosen Mr. Baggins to join them on their adventure to The Lonely Mountains as the burglar. He becomes very hesitant but agrees. The visitors have a feast and stayed the night inside the hobbit’s cozy hole. Bilbo wakes up and finds that he is alone. At 10:45 Gandalf comes by and tells Bilbo that the dwarves left a note saying to meet them at the Dragon Inn, Bywater at eleven sharp. Mr. Baggins races there and arrives just in time. With everyone on their horses their journey begins.

Along the way they get themselves into quite a few mishaps, such as being caught by trolls and goblins, almost being eaten by spiders, and many more. Many months later, they finally reach the mountains. The group is there for the treasure inside, but it is guarded by a fearsome dragon. Will they be able to retrieve the loot they came all this way for? Or will something else happen?

I really liked this book because it has unique places and page-turning chapters. It has adventure, cliff-hangers, and a bit of fantasy. I hope you enjoy this story.

-Samantha S., 8th grade

Book Review: The Invaders by John Flanagan

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Sarah J.

The Invaders is the second installment of the Brotherband Chronicles written by John Flanagan. Check an introduction to this series by Kyle H.

“Oh, it’s going to be such and interesting voyage,” – An excerpt from The Invaders by John Flanagan.

Eight boys and an older warrior have set out to sea and their journey has just begun in the book The Invaders. After failing to fulfill the mission of protecting the Skandians’ sacred artifact, the boys try to redeem themselves by tracking down the thief and recovering the treasure with the help of and a rather reclusive warrior. With Hal as the skirl (captain) of their wolfship, they set out on their voyage. Each boy faces his problems as they travel farther and farther from the home they knew best. The warrior, Thorn, an old friend of Hal, becomes their trainer and helps they develop new skills and abilities. They encounter a female hunter who leads them to a town taken over by the very pirates they were seeking. This starts the biggest challenge they had yet retaking a town full of hardened sea pirates with band of farmers, themselves, and a few others.

The Invaders has an amazing cast of characters that weave together a tale of adventure, danger, and teenage mischief. This is a perfect fit for those who like sea adventure coupled with teenage characters. This book deals a lot with working together as a team and following a trustworthy leader. It does go over rougher times they face together. The characters learn more about their warrior friend and each other, making their relationship grow deeper and stronger.

This is only what I think– read for yourself and decide.

-Sarah J., 9th grade

Book Review: Terrier by Tamora Pierce

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Sarah J.

“Rebekah Cooper. Your six-times-great-grandmother. Famed in her day for her service as a Provost’s Guard. She was fierce and law-abiding and loyal…”- An excerpt from Terrier by Tamora Pierce

Terrier, which is the first book of the Provost’s Dog series, is the fifteenth book of the many series set in the Kingdom of Tortall. Though this story starts many years before the first book, Alanna: First Adventure.

Rebakah “Beka” Cooper writes in her journal relaying the her tale of her training to become a Dog in the Provost’s Guard also known as the Provost’s Dog. In this era of Tortall, the city is divided into districts with the Provost’s Guards and the lawkeeper. She chose to train in the worst part of the city, the Lower City. She is assigned to be Puppy(Dog in training) to the most renowned pair of Dogs in the city, Clara “Clary” Goodwin and Matthias “Mattes” Tunstall. She encounters many friends and foes in the Lower City as well as many crimes and mysteries. Beka come to discover a series of crime spread over years connected to an old bedtime tale about the Shadow Snake along with the mysterious appearance of the rare opals and the disappearance to the ones connected to it. Along with her help of her friend ghost carrying pigeons, and dust spinners, Beka pursues the answers to the mysteries.

Terrier is another wonderful tale by Tamora Pierce with a strong female protagonist. Compared to her other books this contains more of a mystery side to it. It also has less focused on what are the changes that come when growing up. Another difference is that this book is written in a journal style with different days being each chapter. Also due to the fact that it is a journal and Beka does come from a different time it has a special terminology. These terminology might be hard to understand at first but added to the character of the book. Beka is a well written character. With sharp senses and magic Gift, Beka seems to be a flawless character but she struggles with talking to others and her personality tends to lead her into sticky situations. This makes her more real to the readers.

This is only what I think of course, read it to decide for yourself.

In case you missed it, my other reviews of Tamora Pierce’s books:

First Test

Battle Magic

Alanna: The First Adventure