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 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.

Tall Cool One

 
 Reviewed by Alinka


Tall Cool One by Zoey Dean is part of the captivating A-List Novels that are all written by this author. The story is written in the different perspectives of Anna Percy and her friends. These girls live Beverly-Hills a very superficial environment. These girls are rich and very popular so they are used to be around a lot of people and grown accustomed to living life like a party.

Even though she lives like this, Anna Percy is not a self-centered, spoiled, rich girl. She might have everything she wants but there is more to her character and she actually cares for things that are important to her and she is a very responsible girl. Anna is a very profound character, through out the book you will find her wondering if love really does exists and if she will someday find the one. She was really affected when her relationship with a guy (Ben) that she really liked was over, but that left her wondering if it was really love what she felt or just lust. She believes that love is for everyone and that maybe she will find the one that will sweep her off her feet; this is why she isn’t into hookups like everyone else. The book starts with her and ends with her even though it has chapters in the perspectives of her friends; but I think that the book is mainly about her because she is the one that carries most of the story and the friends come in now and then.

This book has many surprises inside other than what you can expect, Anna’s and her friends lives take unexpected turns in this book. The girl, who didn’t believe in love, finds a guy she will fall head over heals with. The one who thought she was never liked for who she really was finds the support of a friend and a guy who loves her for everything that she is. The troubled family still has problems but Anna learns how much she loves the ones that have cared for her. Everyone seems to be getting involved in relationships that will last for a long time except for Anna wonder that if what she had for Ben was real and she doubts that letting him go was the right decision after all; even though she has strong feelings for him long after he is gone. This will haunt her for a long time to come. Some dangerous stunts are performed by these girls at a place where everything is at the palm of their manicured hands.

Friendships are put to test, parents are going to prove that they are worth it and they would do anything for the safety of their daughters, even if it means risking their reputation with the media. Some people will be taken down memory lane and healed wounds will open suddenly. Relationships are made stronger while other start to fade away but in the end what matters the most is the ones that stayed with you the whole time. Readers will be eager to learn what will happen, page after page and will never put the book down.

The Secret Life of Bees

Reviewed by Eleanor A.


Sue Monk Kidd has created a wonderful world in just one book, The Secret Life of Bees. It is the story of Lily Owens, living with her harsh father-- T.Ray--on his peach farm in South Carolina, 1964. Her life is circled around the fuzzy image of the day her mother died. Lily has a big, black kind-hearted “stand in mother” for since she can remember-Rosaleen.

When Rosaleen insults three of the most bigotry people in town they muster up the gust to escape from the police, T.Ray and his peaches, to Tiburon, South Carolina where they’re introduced to a trio of black sisters—Agust, June and May—make Black Madonna honey for a living. They happily take them both in for a while, with a condition—Lily has to help make the honey and Rosaleen has to help with the house work. I think Lily is a lovely girl that decided on her own that she wanted to know as much as she could about the traces and memories of her mother.

This book is a great Realistic fiction novel; it is a New York Times Bestseller. I enjoyed The Secret Life of Bees because it is written so sweetly. I think that this book will touch your heart with various emotions, as it did mine. A great book to read, The Secret Life of Bees.

Before I Fall

Reviewed by Mari

In Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver creates a story about romance, friends and the thought that you can’t always turn back the clock and re-do things. It is a story about a girl called Samantha (also known as Sam) who dies in a car accident on her way to a party with her friends. She gets a second chance after she dies, seven chances to be exact, she relives her last day again and again and discovers the true value in life and the mystery that surrounds her death and finds out that there is more to life than having the best choice in everything to the cafeteria table, to best parking spots, she has her friends and a perfect boyfriend, but there is more than that to her life.

While the day is re-winding itself again and again she discovers a new crush that she never notices before, Kent. She tries to save a girl, Juliet Sykes, a girl who has trouble fitting in. As the day repeats, Sam tries over and over to protect Juliet from her unnecessary fate. Sam realizes that she is living a perfect life and but has a strained relationship with her family. She decides to spend more time with her family with the realization that any day can be her last.

She struggles with her boyfriend, being consider the popular girl, and staying friends with the popular clique—Lindsay, Ally, and Elody on top of having to help a friend from a serious situation. This story has a sense of seriousness, romance, humor, and suspense. It is a mix of everything I’ve read and keeps me reading and try find out what’s going to happen and something that’ll keep you up all night trying to finish.

Remember Me

Reviewed by Stephanie Huie

Sophie Kinsella overflows emotion in Remember Me? This is the story of a young woman who has had the worst day of her life. She’s outside of a bar, her boyfriend stood her up while she’s waiting for her ride, and everyone has gotten a bonus at work. (To show the financial year was better than expected.) However she didn’t get the bonus due to lack of qualification…missing one week of work. Everything has gone downhill until it gets even worse. As she hails a taxi and tries to get its attention from other customers; she slips on her cheap boots down stairs. The next thing she knows she’s in a hospital bed…three years into the future! From the old crappy life to the glamorous life of being skinny, rich, and having a wonderful husband…but is it really the dream life?

Remember Me? is a story with drama and comedy that will get you hooked in. Alexis (Lexi, the protagonist) has a bumpy life ahead of her after skipping three years of her 20’s (no one wants to miss those years) and can’t remember a thing in between. She’s now skinny, rich, with a great husband…and a secret affair? Last thing she remembers was being called “Snaggle-Tooth” and having the worst job in history. But when she wakes up, not only is she stuck with the life “Lexi” created, she’s nicknamed “The Cobra” for being snappy and a “bitch-boss-from-hell” from her friends…or should I say old friends. In three short years, her life has completely changed, she owns a gorgeous car, she lives in a huge house and it should be a perfect life. Her husband is perfect but doesn’t consider her feelings; on the other hand Jon (she was having an affair with) cares for her, but refuses to continue until they have something to link them together…a memory. This book is something you will NOT want to put down until you’ve finished, I’m not saying its short (389 pages) but it’s packed with juicy conflicts and emotional scenes that’ll kick the night raw.

Prom

Book Review by: Ana Carolina Olarte


Most teenage girls care a lot about the prom. It is like their dreaming night. They spend months or years thinking about their dress, their date, their magical night, but Ashley Hannigan, the protagonist of the story, is a teenager that doesn't care about the prom at all.


Ashley, instead of caring about the prom, she cares about getting through her senior year at Caceras High School, her boyfriend TJ (who always appears when ever he wants to), her family of three younger brothers and her mom that is always pregnant, working, and her interminable detentions. Ashley decribes herself as a "normal kid", as the one that will never get to college because of her bad behavior.


Even though Ashley, may sound like a careless person, she cares a lot about her friends who are kind of the opposite of her.
 All of Ashley's friends are obsessed about the prom, but her best friend Natalie, is the most obsessed girl in all Caceras High School. Nat, the president of the prom committee, got shocked when she heard the big news that was that someone had stolen the prom's money. That means that prom had to be canceled.


Super anti-prom Ashley, came to the rescue by saving the prom in only 11 days. She sold all the tickets necessary to collected all the money she needed to have all the things Nat had planed to have. By being a good friend and helping Nat have her dreamed night, she found out a lot of thing about herself that she never expected.


Lauren made a very good job by writing this INCREDIBLE kind of coming-of-age story. I recommend this book for teenage girls ONLY because you can really connect to this story.  From a rate of 1-10, I will give this book a 10 because you will be so interested and in the book, that you will never want to stop reading it.

My Sister's Keeper

Reviewed by Mehr E.

Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper is a flawless, stunning, tear jerking book about a family struggling with their daughter's leukemia, which comes in the way of everything the family is going through. Anna sues her parent's for Medical Emancipation and not having the right to choose if she want's or doesn't want to donate her organs to Kate.

Brian is never at home , because he can't handle the stress-he is always working. Sara is blinded by Kate's illness she doesn't see or do anything other than what concerns Kate, and the fight to keep her alive. Jesse is away from his family. "Can a parent love too much?Or is too much never enough?"

Family, friends, death, and the most important one is sisterhood, the root of the book. From the acknowledgments to the epilogue I couldn't put the book down. every page from the 423 builds up to tears. Picoult's book, is a beautiful heart throbbing novel which I would recommend to everyone from the ages 13 and older. It will leave readers wanting more when they are done.

The Girls

Reviewed by Luciana P.

Amy Goldman Koss has another dramatic, clique, crushing, and friendship story, The Girls, about teenage protagonist: Maya, Renee, Darcy, Brianna and Candace. It’s a story about true friendship, the survival of middle school, and making wise choices.

Maya was just one of the popular girls until she was put out of her group of “friends” and Candace the antagonist, begins to separate them all. As the book is developed, each chapter is told in the point of view of one of the five girls, and shows there feeling about the protagonist exactly through their eyes.

This book appeals to those who interest in gossip, cliques, true friendship, or just simply want to read a book about middle school life from a girl's perspective.

Maya—the newest of the group—realizes that she is no longer part of that clique. She finds out that she was not invited to Darcy’s birthday party while everyone else was. Maya was confused and could not make out what she had done wrong, when actually she was just being kicked out of the group because of Candace, the leader “said so.” Renee—the next one in line to get exclude and whose parents are going through a divorce knows that leaving Maya out is bad but she fears that she will no longer be popular if she speaks her mind. Brianna—is just one of the followers of Candace—who doesn’t want to risk to get kicked out of the group either. Darcy—Candace’s “best friend”—obeys Candace as if she was her slave. The mystery is that no one in the group knows what wrong Maya had done, except Candace who decides who’s in and who’s out.

The author Amy Goldman Koss gives support to the story with coming of age issues that are common in the adolescent life. At the same time, the climax and resolution was blunt and brief. The climax as well the resolution was pointless because she went through so much trouble with the description and development of the characters but she didn’t end up with a strong and solid ending of the book.

The Girls is a short and fast read (121 pages) that displays many teen moments. It portrays a serious peer-pressure issues occurring in every school in the world. All of the characters really give the reader a perspective of their feelings and thoughts.

Rainbow Six

Reviewed by Dyvon F.

Tom Clancy creates a great deal of suspense with his book Rainbows Six, a realistic fiction story about the protagonist John Clark.

Several NATO countries have organized an elite counter-terrorist unit with some of the best soldiers known to man; SAS, Navy Seals, etc. The team is led by John Clark who came up with the idea for it all, while a man named Alistair Stanley, a former SAS operative, is second in command. This counter-terrorist unit was created with more secrecy than most Counter-Intelligence agencies, so only a hand-full of people know of its existence.
The soldiers are split into two teams of six that are ready to respond to any terrorist threat that may occur around the world. They are, Rainbow Six.


Throughout the whole story, Tom Clancy knows how to keep you at the edge of your seat, wanting more. The detail and continuous plot twists are used amazingly well and will glue your eyes to every flipping page. There may be a few times in the book that may leave you wanting to put it down, but knowing there is more to read will impel you to read on.
I thought there were many moments when dialogue wasn’t really needed, so that really kept you from getting to the main conflict in the story.

Clancy focuses on two characters throughout the story and their relationship with other characters. The two characters are, John Clark and his son-in-law and subordinate, Domingo “Ding” Chavez.
John Clark is a retired war veteran who has reached his 40’s and no longer feels that he can do much work on the field. He is a very hardened figure in the story when it comes to work, but has sentimental feelings towards death and becomes a fatherly figure for members of Rainbow Six.
Domingo “Ding” Chavez is part of Rainbow Six’s teams (team 1) and is married to and having a child with John Clark’s daughter. Chavez is a very interesting character in the story; he really connects to the team members as if they were family and is able to adapt and change his approach towards different situations with fluidity.

In the end I found the book to be extremely enjoyable. Tom Clancy did a great job placing suspense and action in the story. Although there were slow, interminable parts in the book, Clancy was able to draw you into every event. Fans of the realistic fiction genre will thoroughly enjoy this story, I know I did; so get up, go to the nearest book store, and get your hands on a copy of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six!