A new student review of Lies in the Dust by Jakob Crane

Gwendolyn posted a new student review of Lies in the Dust by Jakob Crane. See the full review.

Ann's morbid narration is accompanied by stark and hair-raising drawings that depict gruesome yet simple silhouettes, reminiscent of Edward Gorey's art in The Insect God in the sense that they are both minimally expressive and vaguely unsettling styles. The cover of this graphic novel uses a beautiful color scheme of black, white, and red. Although it's the novel's only use of color, I feel that it seems to express the story's tone in one illustration and gives its darker sense without seeming heavy or overbearing.

 

Through flashbacks and ghostly visions, this graphic novel unearths the greedy influence of Ann's parents during the trials, as they took advantage of their daughter in hopes of gaining land belonging to the accused.

 

As someone who has a deep fascination for the Salem Witch Trials and the history of the Puritan society in general, I was pleasantly surprised to see this graphic novel available to review. I find the Salem Witch Trials to be a horrific yet intriguing time in our history to study. Although Lies in the Dust is hardly a substitute for a historical narrative, it does its job of conveying one particular girl's guilt for her actions in an extremely artistic and fairly enjoyable way, through stunning artwork and lyrical writing.

 

This read went extremely fast. It has a written afterword to give additional clear cut information and a conclusion to the graphic novel. As I said before, the presentation of Lies in the Dust definitely fits the mood of its subject matter. At times I found myself somewhat bored by the black and white format of the graphics, yet I found them fitting for the overall tone of the book. 

 

Lies in the Dust provides an informative and thought-provoking view into the mind of Ann Putnam Jr. Although she and the other girls responsible for false accusations in the trials weren't ever subject to lawful punishment, this tale of remorse displays the mental torture Ann felt as an adult regarding her actions as a child. It also describes how the town shunned her and treated her as an outcast. I find it ironic that in a sense she later became the type of person who was most commonly accused of witchcraft in the actual trials. This book is thought-provoking because it helped me to feel an empathy for Ann Putnam Jr., painting a perspective that I hadn't thought of when regarding the Salem Witch Trials before. The sad aspect about this story is how her parents seemed to use her to cause the death of others for their personal gain. In conclusion I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, as well as information or theories regarding the Salem Witch Trials.

 

A new student review of Intangible by C A Gray

McTower posted a new student review of Intangible by C A Gray. See the full review.

I'm going to start off by saying, I didn't really like Intangible in the beginning. Unfortunately, it was one of those books that starts off slow for the first few chapters. However, after about the first 4-5 chapters, I felt Intangible was absolutely flawless. When I closed my eyes, the setting and events where illustrated perfectly. The way Gray put the book together was just beautiful. The vocabulary was wonderful for young adult readers. In my opinion, the only flaw was the first chapters were slow. In conclusion, I would recommend this book to all readers.

A new student review of 77 Things You Absolutely Have to Do Before You Finish College by Halley Bondy

cow_shower28 posted a new student review of 77 Things You Absolutely Have to Do Before You Finish College by Halley Bondy. See the full review.

Some of the pros are that there defined in sections, topics are detailed and specific, very creative illistrations, and great tips. Personally I felt the book was a little above my age level and meant for people graduating high school. There were a few mature topics with which I was not comfortable. I personally thought the book at times dragged on and on with the choppy chapters and how there were so many chapters.

A new student review of The Castle Park Kids by Laura Smith

sschu5 posted a new student review of The Castle Park Kids by Laura Smith. See the full review.

My favorite part of this book is the friendship. They have true friendship because they overcome obstacles to have fun and be friends. I also like how the plot how foreshadows the climax. The dragging out of the story in the beginning shows something big is going to happen. I really, really like this book and I think it would be great for anybody.

 

A new student review of Spaceheadz (Be SPHDZ Save The World) by Jon Scieszka

Pikachu posted a new student review of Spaceheadz (Be SPHDZ Save The World) by Jon Scieszka. See the full review.

This book is part of a series and I have not read the other books. I was a little confused in the beginning, but then everything fell into place. I suggest you read the first book in the series before reading this one, but this is still a great book on it's own.

My favorite part was the beginning because when I read it, I felt like I was part of the story. My favorite character is Agent Umber, because he has a pickle phone and I think that's funny.  Electromagnetic sources sound spooky...

A new student review of Phoenix (Phoenix Elite #1) by Melissa Starr

E_Hunter posted a new student review of Phoenix (Phoenix Elite #1) by Melissa Starr. See the full review.

I wanted to love this story, as it had a great synopsis and sounded like something I would be interested in but I couldn’t invest and it took me awhile to read all the way through.

That being said, the pacing of the story was fast. It jumped from days to months and it was confusing to figure out the time frame of everything that happened. The fast pace didn’t need to happen at all, as there was a lot of things that weren’t explained.

Our main character, Elora, finds out she is a Phoenix on her 16^th birthday. Besides a letter from her dead mother and a-rather quick-oath she has to swear by, there is nothing added. No history, why it’s happening. She didn’t even freak out. Who wouldn’t have a mini freak out if wings sprouted from their backs?

I became rather annoyed when I learned what Phoenixes are really called. This book had nothing to do with it and yet the name appears everywhere. As I’m trying not to give away spoilers, I’ll just say it makes no sense.

I found a few grammatical and spelling errors in this book and it really became hard for me to continue reading. The tone of the story felt off too, as in not consistent from the beginning, middle and end.

Overall, the book itself is just odd. I couldn’t find anything I liked about it unfortunately. The writing could use more edits and have the pace slow down a lot more. There isn’t really a climax either, which is disappointing. I can’t honestly recommend this series.  

A new student review of Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir by Liz Prince

darkash375 posted a new student review of Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir by Liz Prince. See the full review.

Overall I really enjoyed this graphic novel, the story just drags to you into it. I love the character Liz, she's a character that everyone can relate to. This book was really entertaining and shows us all "Tomboys" out in the world (myself included) that we aren't all alone. It shows us that gender norms are very overrated and how we shouldn't waste time on them. I recommend this book to every 7th grade and up girl out there. 

A new student review of The Field by Tracy Richardson

jotaf posted a new student review of The Field by Tracy Richardson. See the full review.

I thought The Field was an imaginative book full of action and mystery.  I liked that the author, Tracy Richardson, blended a believable story about a regular high school boy with just enough sci-fi to make it enjoyable.  I also thought the characters were realistic.  I think my favorite part was in the ending, but since it gives away a lot of the book, I can’t say what it is.  You’ll just have to read it yourself to find out.  The book was sometimes slightly confusing to follow.  Also, on the editor’s part, I saw a bunch of grammatical errors and flipped words, like “a in” instead of “in a."  Unfortunately, a lot of the book dealt with soccer, which started to get a little boring for me.  But if you are a soccer fan who also likes a little bit of sci-fi, this book might be for you.

A new student review of The Actual & Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher by Jessica Lawson

moseso posted a new student review of The Actual & Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher by Jessica Lawson. See the full review.

This book is intriguing and attention-gripping. With surprises around every corner, the author does a wonderful job of making it seem you’re right there next to Becky and Amy every step of the way. Becky Thatcher, the main character, is extremely clever, and always on the lookout for an adventure. Her best friend, Amy Lawrence, is more ladylike, but just as adventurous. The author, Jessica Lawson, does an impeccable job of making all the characters in the book seem real. It is a cliffhanger, but that leaves room for imagination. Geared towards girls of ages 10-12, this book will definitely end up on your list of favorites, and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end. 

A new student review of Briony Hatch by x x Penelope and Ginny Skinner

Sweetfable posted a new student review of Briony Hatch by x x Penelope and Ginny Skinner. See the full review.

This book was decent with its story, and the visuals were pretty good for a graphic novel. However, I do have an issue with most of the characters. Briony herself is pretty likable, and I do see some aspects of me in her. However, I have a hard time believing her claims of her being the only girl in her whole class that has not been in a relationship or has not done any drugs. Also, I do not know why she hangs out with Julia anymore, especially because she is a really bad influence. The other thing is her attraction to this goth boy, which is totally strange because it makes no sense why she would like him other than a belief that they may both like the same book series. Overall there are some things that are correct about how teenagers act, but there are others that I know are not true. I did like the ending, which was pretty open and left things off on a happy note.