Tag Archives: alan gratz

Ground Zero Novel Report

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Ground Zero is a book with heart pounding action from start to finish, written by none other than the award winning author Alan Gratz, who has written many other bestsellers including Refugee, Code of Honor, and much more.

The story of Ground Zero follows the lives of Brandon, a 9 year old 9/11 survivor living in Manhattan. It also follows the life of Reshmina, an 11 year old living in rural Afghanistan in 2019, whose village is devastated by war and chaos.

One morning, Brandon is suspended from school so he goes with his father to the World Trade Center, where he works. For a while, everything is going just fine. Then a plane strikes the building. Everybody goes into a panic trying to escape. But the plane crash separated Brandon and his father, and Brandon courageously travels up the building to find his dad, but will he succeed?

Meanwhile in Afghanistan, lives Reshmina and her family. Unfortunately for the village, American and Terrorist armies are at war in Afghanistan because of the 9/11 attack. One day, a battle takes place close to the village, and Reshmina stumbles upon a wounded American soldier from the battle. Reshmina learns that the soldier was blinded from the battle, and she reluctantly takes the soldier home… But what will happen next?

Gratz connects the dots between these two stories and intertwines them brilliantly throughout the entire novel, turning two small stories in to one amazingly crafted story with many revelations by the end.

I would recommend Ground Zero to any readers who have a passion for action packed and thrilling novels or to anyone who enjoys historic stories based on real events. If you want to read more about how Brandon and Reshmina’s stories unravel, then I would highly suggest purchasing and reading this amazing piece of literature.

Ground Zero by Alan Gratz is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Code Of Honor by Alan Gratz

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In the beginning of the 8th grade, everybody In my English class needed to choose a book to read. And I thought that I would always hate reading, but luckily the book I chose to read was none other than Code Of Honor.

Code Of Honor is a thrilling, spy action book by Alan Gratz, a Best-selling New York Times author. This book is essentially about a young high school Senior named Kamran Smith. And Kamran had it all. He is the star of the schools football team, is dating the most popular girl, named Julia Gary, and is excited to join the United States Army, like his brother, Darius.

The story begins with Kamran Smith and his family, and They are all doing great. That was, until, Kamran’s brother Darius, is accused of being a terrorist for a character named Haydar Ansari. As soon as the public news channels said that Darius was a terrorist, Kamran’s life turned upside down. Nobody at his school liked him, his friends didn’t like him, and his girlfriend left him. And even worse, their neighbors rallied up near the Smith’s house in protest. Soon enough, government agents come to their house for questioning and house searches, and eventually take Kamran and his family into a secret underground government facility for even more interrogation. Weeks and months later, Kamran is able to sneak out of the facility. Once Kamran escaped, the guards realize and start searching for him. Right when he was about to get caught, 4 strangers who worked with the government took him into a van and saved him. 

If you want to know the details and the rest of the story, I would recommend buying this book at the Mission Viejo library. Code of Honor is a book filled to the brim with lots of suspense and action, and it made me want to never put the book down. I would honestly give it a 10 out of 10 rating.

Code of Honor by Alan Gratz is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Refugee by Alan Gratz

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From the publisher:

“Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world…

Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety and freedom in America…

Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe…”

Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, but it is their similarities and connections that unite their experiences. After all, they were just young kids leading normal lives, until cruelty and torture tore them, their families, their homes, and their lives apart.

As these innocent children and their families are forced to leave behind everything they’ve ever known in search of safety, their harrowing journeys extend beyond the promised land they strive to reach—Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud have unknowingly begun another journey, the one within.These three are abruptly forced to grow up and make unthinkable risks and sacrifices to save themselves and their loved ones.

Read Refugee, because it is a beautiful story that will make you rethink your good fortunes.

Read Refugee, because it is a gorgeous, intricately crafted work of art.

Read Refugee, because it brilliantly ties different stories together in the most shocking ways.

Read Refugee, because it will make your heart stir in sympathy and hope for these three kids, who are so much like normal kids, yet so different—their lives have been destroyed by violence.

But most importantly, read Refugee, because it is important for readers to understand how different one’s life could be if an ancestor got lucky—or unlucky—when seeking a better, happier, and safer life away from home.

-Lam T.

Refugee by Alan Gratz is available for checkout at the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Code of Honor by Alan Gratz

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Image result for code of honor bookIf you are into current events, this is a good book to read. Kamran Smith is half Iranian, the QB of the varsity football team, and is named homecoming king. But that all comes crashing down on him.

Kamran has always looked up to his older brother Darius. He is currently in the military, and Kamran has decided to follow the same route as him. But when Darius says on video that he was in charge of several terrorist attacks, all bets are off.
Everyone at school looks at Kamran like he’s a terrorist himself. He girlfriend ignores him, his best friend doesn’t want to talk to him, and he’s distracted in football practice. At home, the phones are ringing off the hook, and his parents aren’t functioning well. Camera crews show up at his house. And it only gets worse from there.

I feel that the ending was a little bit weak, and it could have been written better. When you find out who one of the terrorists is, it’s funny. The beginning and middle of the story was well written, but then the ending was crammed.

Terrorism has been a major part of current events since 9/11. It’s been 16 years, and it’s not improving by much. This story really hit me hard, because if we were in the shoes of Kamran’s friends, we would probably do the same things. Even if you aren’t that into current events, this still is a good book to read. Sure, a lot of the action is unrealistic, but imagining it is still interesting. It’s also a short book, about 250 pages, if you’re tired of annotating your long, annoying English book.

-Rebecca V . 9th grade