April Book Reviews

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Book Review by Victoria Sherry

Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen

Publisher: Penguin Group

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Where I got it: It was a recommendation from a friend of mine who is a fan of Sara Dessen.

One Sentence Summary: Scarlett’s boyfriend died in a motorcycle accident, only to find out that she was pregnant; Scarlett, having no idea what to do, turns to her best friend, Halley, for support.

First Sentence of the book: Scarlett Thomas has been my best friend for as long as I can remember.

First Chapter Review: Scarlett calls Halley at her camp to tell her about Michael Sherwood’s (Scarlett’s boyfriend) death. Halley decides to leave the camp early, knowing that she has to be there to support her best friend. Halley is not used to being the one that Scarlett needs, usually it’s the other way around. Now, she must learn to do whatever it takes to be there for Scarlett. You can clearly see a strong bond between the two best friends and that they would do anything for each other.

Verdict: This book is definitely one of my favorites and would read it again and again.

Cover Comments: Shows two people (a boy and a girl; I am assuming its Michael and Scarlett) on the beach. You can tell that it’s around summer time, could be a summer romance that ended in tragedy of Michael’s death.

Memoir

We are in the midst of our memoir study and have read many memoir excerpts in class and during independent reading.  Now you can share your thoughts and recommendations with us all about your memoir selections.


Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller  


"to the dogs," has meant to destruction and ruin. Something can "go to the dogs," meaning that it becomes less and less desirable.  If someone says of someone else that he's "going to the dogs," it may mean that he has let himself go, that he no longer looks after himself properly, doesn't eat well,  or doesn't groom himself well.

This is the memoir of Alexandra Fuller, a white girl growing up in Africa amidst the country's struggle for independence and her family's struggle for survival. It is a delicate weaving of the civil unrest, not just in Rodesia, Malawi,and Zambia, but in her home. 

The lush words and vivid descriptions illuminate her  unbreakable bond with a continent and the people who inhabit it.

The book is told chronologically through a child's perspective using photos at the start of each chapter that seem to serve as an anchor for her memory.

She comes to realize that  much of the family’s interior lives is an expression of their exterior situation, and that her mother’s psychological condition is an internalization of some

instability or madness in the family’s social  and personal circumstances.

I count this as not only one of my favorite memoirs, but one of my all time favorite books. I fell in love with the  big spinning out of control stories and the smaller heartbreaking ones. I relished  her description of  the sights, smells and sounds of a country and continent going through turmoil.

Lines We Love:


 ""What I know about Africa as a child (because I have no memory of any other place) is her smell: hot, sweet, smoky, salty, sharp-soft. It is like black tea, cut tobacco, fresh fire, old sweat, young grass.....The other thing I can't know about Africa until after I have left (and heard the sound of other, colder, quieter, more insulated places) is her noise." pg. 130

Hold Still

Hold Still

by Camila Gomez

          “Finally, she said, I’ll go wherever you go.” What if you and your best friend planned your futures, and by daybreak the next day, hers was gone? In this novel, Caitlin, the protagonist, is lost and confused in a world where the person who knew her best, no longer exists. Ingrid was Caitlin’s best friend; a person she could talk to, and just hang out with. Caitlin, though, never knew about Ingrid’s depression and suicidal thoughts. When Ingrid takes her own life, she leaves Caitlin behind, confused, angry, and miserable, with nowhere to go and no one who understands her. Now Caitlin must face the most daunting task she has ever met; learning to live without the beauty, laughter, art, and happiness she and Ingrid shared.

          When fall rolls around again, Caitlin is terrified to go back to school. She receives little sympathy, and is mostly avoided, leaving her with no choice but to roam the halls alone. Making new friends seems like an impossible feat for Caitlin, though she desperately needs new friendships to help her get through this difficult time. When a new friend, Dylan, a new girl at school, comes into her life, the friendship seems promising, but can she handle the responsibilities of maintaining a friendship when she can barely control her grief?

          Things take a crazy turn when Caitlin discovers Ingrid’s private journal under her bed. The journal Ingrid took with her everywhere; the journal that contained all the secrets Ingrid could never tell anyone. Not even Caitlin. In these entries she learns about another side of the friend she thought she knew everything about. With the insight of these entries, Caitlin finds a way to laugh, smile and hope again.

Books for young adults that have on-the-edge topics like suicide are hard to find. Nina LaCour showed no fear while writing this hard-hitting novel about grief after suicide and delivered a delicate, yet impacting book. I recommend this book for mostly teenage girls, but I think it can be equally enjoyable for boys too. This book, will take your breath away as Caitlin find the path to a life without Ingrid

Shattering Glass

Reviewed by Miguel R.

Gail Giles’s Shattering Glass is a suspenseful and all around captivating realistic fiction novel that is told from the point of view of Young Steward – a member of a family of doctors, which causes his father to obligate him to take science courses over the much preferred writing ones.
This book is about a group of friends one of them being Rob – the most popular kid in the entire High School. He controls the school as he pleases, if he wants someone to do something for him, he will get them to do it. As he cruises around the school, he notices a kid – Simon Glass, the biggest nerd in the school – and decides to make him popular. This affects Young though, as he sometimes doesn’t agree with Rob, and sometimes he is asked to give up something very valuable to him.
Shattering Glass is a very entertaining novel that will keep you intrigued about what is going to happen. But although the novel does a great job at portraying equality, how High Schools are divided into hierarchies, I didn’t clarify a profound lesson or message. The characters where relatable and realistic; however, some of their actions where out of character.
This is a medium sized book (215 pages) but it is all filled with action and entertaining reads. It has none of those “boring parts,” but it doesn’t take a lot of effort to understand what is going on in the story; therefore, this is a great choice for those who look for a fun, easy-to-understand novel; it takes away all the boring parts out of the book and only consists of the action and excitement. On the other hand, I wouldn’t recommend it for readers looking for a deep message and complex puzzle for one to figure out.

Tyrell

Reviewed by Eduardo


Coe booth has a really intense story with Tyrell, the story of a teenager’s rough life. His dad, a former dj who has been arrested for illegal narcotics and his mom a jobless crack addict who broke down after her husband’s arrest. This story is about how Tyrell has to take care of his mother and his little brother. They have to move from shelter to shelter because the state took their house away and all their possessions. Tyrell drops out of school because of his hard conditions and his negative thinking. His mother won’t take care of his little brother because she is only concerned about herself. His little brother troy, (who is only seven) attends to special classes at school. The shelters that they are put in are not in good conditions and there are roaches everywhere.

Tyrell has a girlfriend Novisha, she attends to school and is a great student. Novishas father left her and her mom about 2 years ago. Her mother still loves him and she thinks that she can’t progress without her husband (like Tyrell’s mother). Novishas father visits them more often now and Tyrell is happy for this in a way. In a other way he doesn’t like it because he left them and now he wants to come back just because they will take care of him. Novishas family understands Tyrell’s situation so when he fights with his mom he spends the night over there. Tyrell sometimes gets into stuff with the wrong people.

His dads friends still contact Tyrell’s mother but not to help. Tyrell knows why and he isn’t happy with it. They give her money and buy troy new shoes and coats etc. he knows that the money is not legal or earned so he doesn’t like it. In Tyrell’s shelter he meets a girl called jasmine. Her father died when she was young and her sister has to take care of her. Tyrell becomes really close friends with Jasmine and they spend a lot of time together. She is helping Tyrell plan the huge party they are going to have. This party is to collect money for Tyrell’s family because his mom doesn’t work or even care about them.

If you want to know more about this story you will have to read it. In conclusion I really liked this story. It explains the life of this teenager who has a rough life and has to carry his family on his shoulders. The author describes everything very well and explains the situations clearly. When you get deep into it you feel like if you were in the story.

The Old man and the Sea

Reviewed by: Juan Diego


Ernest Hemingway’s wonderfully written novel is about an old Cuban man, the protagonist, who goes by the name of Santiago. He has lost the days where he would do arm wrestling competitions, play a lot of sports, but he never lost his freedom. Now he dedicates the rest of his life on fishing, since he is an old man. He is a poor man and because of this he feels despondent and lonely. But really he doesn't show it. Like if he had nothing left to do. He has no family left but there is this boy he taught how to fish. They both depend on each other and have created a very friendly relationship. They even buy drinks for each other and he’s the only person Santiago has left. (52) “But you haven’t got the boy, you have only yourself and you had better work back to the last line now.” So once Santiago went fishing for weeks without catching a fish and that shows he is a very patient man. But when he went fishing with the boy they caught a lot of fish. Then he went fishing for 84 days and hadn’t caught a single fish and he was alone. This shows that the boy gives luck to fishermen. But he still wouldn’t give up.

His inspiration was the great DiMaggio, which was a famous baseball player in the New York Yankees. Until one day his patience and the good service to God paid off. He finds a gigantic Marlin who seemingly has no chance against the bait Santiago put in his hook. The Marlin was a tremendous catch for Santiago and there for turned into the antagonist. His confidence is so high he decides to go deeper out into the sea. He already had enough fish but then the problems started to occur. When he feels he has another fish in his hook he suddenly gets a cramp on his hand and then he starts feelings weak. He’s weak, tired, dizzy, and dehydrated and he barely hangs on but he just never gives up. And the rest, go find by yourself what happens at the end.

When I picked up this book I had a feeling I would like it because I have had experience with fishing and its fun so that’s why I chose this book. In my opinion at first I didn’t like the book because no drama or action was going on but at the end is where it gets very interesting. I like the way the author clearly describes the feelings of the main character throughout the story.

Santiago used to be an athletic kid whose father was a tough man who taught him how to fish and other things as well. He doesn’t like to give up and he always likes to keep pushing forward. He’s a very religious person besides that he prays before catching a fish. He thinks he talks to God so there’s other resemblance. He has learned to love his enemies as much as his friends. And he never gives up. But even though he is old and weak he is very happy and lives with what he has.

Honestly I look forward to reading books by this author. I ended up liking it and like they say don’t judge a book by its cover.

The Boy Who Saved Baseball

 Reviewed by Danny

The Boy Who Saved Baseball by John.H Ritter was written for fans of baseball, and to people who hate it, like me. When I had to choose a book, I was trying to find the easiest and the shortest book I could find, and The Boy Who Saved Baseball caught my eye. After I signed out the book, I realized that it was only about baseball. At first I thought the story would be boring, tiring, and that I wouldn’t understand anything about the book. When I started to read, the book wasn’t only about baseball after all. It had lots of action and mystery about what’s going to happen next after each paragraph. The main idea of the story is that the whole towns fate is rested in the hands of a small baseball team called the Wildcats.
The plot of the story is really easy to follow. The story is about Tom Gallagher (the protagonist of the story) and how it’s up to him, and his small team of baseball players. They have to spend several days training with one of the most famous baseball hitter, to hopefully win the small league baseball game and save his town from being torn down by the developers, and also find a mysterious boy along the book. The protagonist of the story, Tom Gallagher is the captain of the Wildcat’s team and the nicest of them all, but he is also the shyest and he doesn’t speak much throughout the story.
The protagonist mostly spends his time writing in his journal, and thinking about the mountains, the people, and how good life is instead of speaking to everyone. The narrator expresses the characters feelings towards what Tom thinks or what Tom writes and sketches, not by expressing him by his verbal tone, as shown in the following example. “You sure are quiet.” Tom nodded. “That’s what everybody says.” “What are you thinking?” “I don’t know.” Tom was the happiest when he could sit silent, be the observer, the notice of small details, the sketcher. (61). in only 3 sentences, the Narrator could describe us perfectly of how the character feels in his daily life. Another important character in the book is Cruz De La Cruz (the mysterious boy I was talking about earlier.) Cruz came horse riding from a far off town until he came to Dilltown to play in the legendary Lucky Strike Field, in where many famous players came to play ball. Cruz’s relationship in the book was to teach the players to believe in themselves. Before Cruz came, they thought they were dead, but then he thought them valuable lessons that can be used in their lives to help them win the game.
The message that the author is trying to give throughout the book is to never give up. He doesn’t really show it in the context, but you can realize it while you’re reading it. For example. Tom starts out all depressed and thinks his team will lose and everyone would blame him for it, but then he starts to realize how much effort his team is putting in their training, and how the players starts to hit the balls more harder and faster, this sight made Tom start to believe that there is a possibility of winning. He says how kids our age should start working hard to get to new heights.
In my opinion I would give this book a seven out of ten, because in some parts of the story the author should give you suspense and make you want to turn the page around and see what’s happens next, but sometimes you would already suspect that would happen, and it would be kind of boring to read. But despite those minimal problems, the book is written with great detail and it’s a book in which everyone can enjoy.