A new student review of Dead River

heavenlyangel posted a new student review of Dead River . See the full review.

I found the book was hard to read because it talked about seeing and talking to dead people, which is something you can't do in real life. I have read other books from this author and loved them, but I found myself having to force myself to finish reading this book.

A new student review of The S-Word

dancechicka posted a new student review of The S-Word . See the full review.

If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be….riveting.  Heartbreaking.  Astonishing.  This book was so gritty, so daring, so direct that I felt the emotions in the story--really felt them—like a knife twisting in my heart.  I felt the pain and the guilt and the wariness that Angie experienced as she searched for Lizzie’s “killer.” I felt the dreams and the goal shatter as Lizzie took her own life.  I felt everything.  This novel portrays the powers that rumors and bullying has to destroy entire lives.  It has such darkness, such in-your-face reality that makes you realize that a version of this story happened.  People do go through this.  Lives are taken.  Dreams are ripped to shreds.   Even though you could definitely tell this was Pitcher’s first novel, I was really impressed with the way she dealt with this real world problem.  There were some parts of the story that I wished Pitcher would dive into with more detail (like Lizzie’s father) and also felt like she didn’t follow up on some parts of the novel at the end.  This is a dark and chilling whodunit novel that I believe all readers will enjoy. 

                “So I stood there, mouth open, lips trying to form the word: Why?  Why hadn’t she called?  Why wasn’t she sorry?”

                I would recommend his book to mature readers or for ages fourteen and up for obviously mature content, sexual references, and profanity.

                As Angie sinks into the dark side of Verity High, as she slowly uncovers the secrets that hide the true reason behind Lizzie’s death, will she be able to reveal Lizzie’s tormentor—even if she can’t see it herself?  You’ll have to read Chelsea Pitcher’s The S-Word to find out!

A new student review of Sliding Beneath the Surface by Doug Dillon

blu6 posted a new student review of Sliding Beneath the Surface by Doug Dillon. See the full review.

    I really liked this book. The suspense, mystery, adventure, and even some history all add up to make an awesome book. It kept me reading until the end. A few times I got a little confused though because what they were talking about wasn't in the book. Overall this was a good book.

 

A new student review of All About Daisy by O'Dell Hutchison

admin posted a new student review of All About Daisy by O'Dell Hutchison. See the full review.

Giveaway

A new student review of Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl

Raphael posted a new student review of Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl . See the full review.

Giveaway

A new student review of Off Side by M. G. Higgins

Phoebe posted a new student review of Off Side by M. G. Higgins. See the full review.

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A new student review of Small as an Elephant

Christian Reader posted a new student review of Small as an Elephant . See the full review.

This is an excellent novel.  The plot is fast-paced and the story is gripping - I had a hard time putting down this book!

The characters are life-like and believable.  Jack, while being a child, seems more mature than his mother.  He understands what is acceptable in society, and also comprehends that when his mother goes off the deep end, he has a chance of being separated from her by the authorities.  He understands the implications of bad actions; he strives to always be good, and to help his mother with her mental problems.  He can’t completely control his mother, however, and she does get a little loopy at times.  This is the first time that she has left Jack anywhere, but he understands that it’s up to him to get back home and find his mother, before she says or does something stupid and gets them separated for good.  Jack has been separated from his mother before; the government found out about his mother taking him out of school for no reason at all, and other not-quite-normal things she’d done with him regarding school and care-taking.  When that happened, Jack was taken away from his mother and sent him to the only other family he had - his loving grandmother.  While Jack is eventually returned to his mother, it's clear that there's a huge rift between his mother and grandmother. 

It is because of all this that Jack is my favorite character - he understands that one must deal with what one is given. He is mature for his age, and he figures out very interesting ways of staying alive while he’s on his own.  His mother and grandmother, likewise, are very believable and life-like; their actions, while not always justified and good, were understandable and something I’d expect a real person to do.

The setting is excellent.  The author makes the state of Maine (along with some other various states in the USA) come to life; having never visited there myself, after reading this novel, I feel like I’ve been on vacation there for a week.  While descriptive, the author is not very wordy - he states what needs to be stated in an clear, clean, and concise way.

Overall, this is a fun and heartfelt story and an emotional journey with a young boy who only wants to find his mother, but is afraid of letting anyone know he’s alone.  This is a book I will cherish and keep in my collection for a long, long time.

A new student review of The Assault by Brian Falkner

JesusFreak posted a new student review of The Assault by Brian Falkner. See the full review.

This book was okay. It wasn't awesome and it wasn't horrible. There was action, but there was so much description that I got bored easily. I found it cool, though, how there was an index in the back so that if you didn't know what a word meant you could just look at the back of the book. The characters were well formed, but the book just didn't interest me that much. I like apocalyptic stories, and this had a good idea, it just wasn't executed well.

A new student review of The Geneva Project - Truth

engineerphilip18 posted a new student review of The Geneva Project - Truth . See the full review.

This book is very well-written. It’s very gripping and a fast book. The short chapters should encourage reluctant readers to keep going. Also, the intriguing beginning made me want to find out more. The characters were well-developed, especially Geneva and Jemma. When you read the book, you really empathize with Geneva and want to help her. I didn’t like the romance side of it, however. It seemed like an adventurous book and the romance took away from the feel of the book. I loved the cliffhangers! They wanted me to keep reading and not put the book away. I recommend this book to anybody who wants a fast-paced, adventurous book that will keep them thinking!

A new student review of Butterfly

seaotter77 posted a new student review of Butterfly . See the full review.

I found the writing style in Butterfly to be incomprehensible and annoying at times. I could barely understand what Sonya Hartnett was writing half the time. The words and sentence structure made no sense whatsoever, and there was no interesting plot at all! I found it extremely challenging to get through the book, as it was not only confusing, but also boring, and if I could, I would give this book no stars at all. The novel was even depressing at times; all Plum ever did was worry about herself, and constant worry does not make for a good read. I would never recommend this book to anyone, but if someone would want to read it, I would suggest ages 14 and up: the writing style is advanced and there is some mature content.