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.

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 City of Bones

            

Reviewed by Saad

  The City of Bones by Cassandra Clare is an amazing story full of adventure, mysteries, humor, and is backed up by a suspenseful plot. It follows the protagonist, a girl named Clary and her adventures when she learns that what she believed for so long isn’t what it seems. Clary is a hot-tempered redhead girl who is 15, after a watching a murder in a all ages club which no one but her sees, she begins to question what she knows. The book is filled with magic seeing you can tell by the title of the story; its plot gets more intense and seemingly more brutal as it goes on. In the story, you will find warlocks, demons, fairies, unicorns, and other magical and mythical creatures not known by man. Humans are called mundanes by everything else for being “normal” and are thought to be very weak.

            The main characters in the book are separated into two groups, humans and Shadowhunters. Shadowhunters are warriors which protect humans from creatures such as demons, warlocks, etc. They use weapons which contain powers in them to slay the monsters. The main Shadowhunters are Jace, Alec, and Isabella. They live with another Shadowhunter named Hodge. The main humans are Clary and her friend Simon, Simon is described as being a sarcastic to the point of even being scolded for it. Isabella and Alec are siblings with Alec being the oldest and Jace is an only child with a mysterious past.

            The book relies on many scenes and is the first in a series. It’s a pretty big book since it reaches up to 512 pages, but the plot and action makes you want to continue reading the story again and again to get that suspenseful, scary feeling back in your chest. The author throws in a few twists in the story to make you want to read the other books in the series. There are several problems in the story that interfere with the plot and cause it to feel more realistic, those being Clary’s relationships with her friends and the Shadowhunters. The Shadowhunters make her feel less normal then what she thinks now and she is having problems dealing with boys. Her maturity in the story plays well with the plot since it seems to add on to it.

            The main antagonist of the story from the beginning is more of a group then a person or thing, the main antagonist of the story up till around end are downworlders, such as werewolves, vampires, etc. Near the end, a new, more powerful antagonist named Valentine shows up and reveals a deep secret to Clary which changes her and makes her rougher.

            Personally on a scale of 1-10, I would give this story a 10 being because it has been a long time since I read a book this good; the plot, the sequences, the drama, it all works together to form an excellent book and a great story to start a series of with. As stated before, the book makes the reader want to read the other books in the series so they can solve the problems left from the previous one. The book is great for anyone looking for a great time and a wonderful book they will never forget. 

There is never a time in the story in which you would feel bored or just want to close the book and forget it. It makes the readers connect to their younger selves when they believed in dragons, fairies, ghosts, and other things we believe is false now. It defies science and goes with more of a religious like structure as it goes through a catastrophic event happening, a person going corrupt and defying the rules, two different groups working together to stop it, and world we would perceive as non-existing due to the otherworldly beings. So, if anyone has the time, I suggest you get a copy of this book and read it.

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.