Broken

BROKEN , CJ LYONS

This book is about a young girl named Scarlet who’s dealing with a disease that could kill her at any moment in her life. She came to a realization that she wants to live a normal teenage life. So with Scarlet making this choice she decides she wants to go to school. A high school. She’s been homeschooled since she was around 5 because of her condition. With her being homeschooled for so long and hopping into a high school 3 weeks late she’s certain to have the attention of the whole school. The genre of this book is young adult fiction.

Scarlet lives with her mother who is also the school nurse. Once Scarlet started this school she immediately began to be bullied by the jocks. She also joined a peer group for the kids who have gone through trauma. During this process she has caught feelings for her mentor Jordan Summers. Jordan is the group mentor even though he has lots of issues so they basically mentor each other. Later on in the book a rivalry between the peer group and the jocks have started. And while all this is going on keep in mind that Scarlet could die any moment while figuring out the pieces to her life before it’s too late.

I loved this book because it’s suspenseful and it’s an adult fiction. This book deals with issues that happen in real teenagers lives such as suicides and insecurities. This book impacted me because it shows many different perspectives and I felt the characters emotions. This relates to my generation because suicide rates and drug use is very high and this book shows that there are outlets and resolutions to your issues. I would definitely rate this book 10/10, highly recommended.

Book Review by Jatice H.

The Boy in the Black Suit

The title of the book is The Boy in the Black Suit.  The Author is Jason Reynolds.  I think he is an amazing author.  He has written lots of books that everyone seems to love.  Some of the books he has written include, Ghost, When I was the Greatest, All American Boys and more.  He usually writes in the genre of fiction.

The story Is about a highschool boy named Matt.  He just recently lost his mother.  He only has one friend named Chris.  They are the best of friends.  There is semi conflict In this story.  Lots of people judging him because he always wears the same black suit (Even Matt’s best friend wants to know what is up with the black suit.  Matt been wearing it ever since his mom died.)

I like the book alot I think people should read this.  It is very good.  It will not  disappointed you.  I like the book because the main character is close to my age In because he Is In high school and another reason Is that the book does an okay job showing how people feel after they lose someone they love and how they deal with the aftermath of the situation.  The main target for this book was teenagers because we can relate to some of the stuff In the book .unlike adults but If an adult would like to read It they could .but there outlook would be different from ours.

I would say to give this book a chance It is not that long maybe two hundred fifty eight pages.  Words are kinda small but you can still see them.  I think people would like this book a lot.

Book Review by Alisa B.

Border Town: Quince Clash

Border Town; Quince Clash

Malin Alegria

This book has many others following to this one, Border Town; Quince clashes. The book I’m reading was the second book to come out, while I was reading it I had no clue that there was more than one book. The books that follow Quince Clash are Border Town#3: Falling to Fast, BorderTown#4: No Second Chances, and the first book Border Town#1: Crossing the line. All these books relate because they all have the same plot, young girl falls in love with a boy and drama happens with in family and friends in school.

This book is about a girl named Fabiola, whos family isn’t the wealthiest but tries to provide the best they can for each other. Fabi has always been bullied by a girl named Melodee and she made a bet in front of the whole school which is whoever has the best quince wins, but theresa twist to it who ever loses has to shave their head. Fabi’s dream was to go to New York but with their income it wasn’t possible at the time. With their income being so low Fabiolas mom was going to throw the best quince she could, but her grandma and her cousin decided to write to a Tv show where they pay for someone's quince and make their dream quince in to reality. It was a very low chance for Fabi to get chosen, but her family did whatever they had to do to make sure Fabi won the bet.

I liked this book a lot because not only can I relate to things that happen but also the things their family/friends do for each other out of love is so beautiful. Fabi’s grandma and cousin took a big risk knowing if the truth got out it could ruin everything. I feel like this book was written more for the youth but also the older audience would enjoy it as well because situations like these happen all the time and some mean a more to the youth when our parents might think it’s silly. I really suggest you read this book, it gives you childhood memories and also shows about the latino culture.

Book Review by Jackie U.

Kick-Ass

Kick-ass by Mark Millar

Currently I’m reading book 2 of this part of the series.

The only difference between his books is the first one I read is about a female mother wearing the same costume and mask as this kid that reading now. Another difference is that the female uses her hands to fight and the kid use his green sticks as a weapon.

Starting from the 1st book Dave is a somewhat normal kid he’s kinda weird but whatever. He wanted to become a superhero because he wants to be able to stand up for himself and hates crime. His 1st attempt at stopping a couple street vandals caused him to get his guts sliced. He makes a full recovery and for a while he didn’t wanna be kick ass no more because he didn’t believe in himself. Until one day he decided to put it on and a man is getting jumped and Dave has option to leave but he got into the fight. He was getting hurt and then started smacking em with green stick and next thing you know they one the ground and saved the dude getting brutally beaten. Since then he hasn’t stopped. Kick Ass wasn’t the only superhero in town many of them are fake and one went by the name red mist his dad is a mob boss so the kid is pretty rich and he partners up with kick ass just to only set him up. On the side there was a another type of hero I guess you could say big daddy and hit girl father and daughter. They are killing machines but they only kill bad people or just anyone that thinks they can mess with em. Anyways they needed kickass to join them to help take down the mob boss at first refuses but big daddy doesn’t give him much of a choice. When they got to the warehouse it all went fast first big daddy got shot up, and kick ass is strapped to an electric chair after when red mist held him at gunpoint. Eventually hit girl got loose and killed everyone insight got kickass and they fought everybody and won that fight.

I like this book because I love graphic novels, it’s almost like a watching a tv show when I read fast. But I’m totally loving the story line on this series, every chapter there’s a different plot twist and makes me wanna read more. I think this book was targeted for teens or kids who like action and adventure comic strips.

You should read this book if love action and fighting.

 Book Review by Matt M.

A Trick of the Light

A Trick of the Light, by Lois Metzger, is a stunningly unique masterpiece. Unlike most of her other published works, which were mainly Holocaust novels and anthologies, A Trick of the Light is a realistic fiction novel that depicts the story of Mike Welles - a young boy who, over time and with some help from the voice in his head, develops anorexia. This book mainly focuses on the theme of power - both in the loss of power and in the change of power.

Mike Welles was a normal 15 year old boy. He went to school, had friends, played baseball. He had everything under control. Until one day, he began hearing a voice in his head. “Don’t talk about it.” (pg. 6) This voice not only told him not confide in his friends, thus isolating him, the voice also made Mike think about the negative points in his life. How his parents never pay attention to him, or to each other. How big his belly has gotten, and how disgusting this should make Mike feel. Over time, with the help of a strange girl named Amber, Mike learns how to lose weight: by not eating and exercising. Throughout the entire book, Mike struggles with the voice in his head. With no real friends and absent parents, Mike spirals out of control.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought it was unique and a very good recreation of eating disorders. As someone who has experienced anorexia, I was very moved by this book because it was so relatable. The target audience would be teens and young adults, or anyone with an eating disorder. I feel like some people may get offended by this book, because of the rawness of it. Especially people that do not believe in eating disorders. Whether or not you believe in eating disorders, chances are, you know someone who does. You may even know someone who is struggling with an eating disorder. This book is extremely good at depicting the harsh realities of it. If you know someone with mental illness or an E.D, this book will help you understand their battle; if you yourself have mental illness or an E.D, this book will make you feel less alone. Even if you have no experience with either of those things - this book is still a must read, simply because of the brutal truths and amazing writing structure the author used.

Book Review by Adrianna R.

Bang!

The title of this book is Bang.  The Author’s name is Sharon G. Flake.  I don't really know any more books by her. I'm not a big reader. I did like this book though and want to share some information about it. But the theme of the book is i believe it is tough love.

The main character in my book is very unique.  He is 14 years old.   He has had a very hard life with his family.  He used to be real close with his family but that kind of fell apart.  It fell apart when his little brother was shot.   The shooting took a big toll on the family, especially his dad.

The death of his brother put a lot of pressure on him.  His dad turned abusive after his son died.  He decided he wanted him to grow up fast so he would not die as a kid.  

Early in the book I had trouble following the plot.  It feels like it is all over the place.  At first it was mainly at his house.cc Mann and him and his friend keelee was at his house but after Mann got into a fight at school.  The fight was over some kid dissing on his dead little brother.  The fight got him kicked out of school.  When he got kicked out of school his dad wanted him to grow up and be a man.  He wanted him to read this book that talked about survival.  The book was a story were a child was left in the woods and making them find their way home.  The character in the book walked through the woods but eventually they did find their way home. Then when he got kicked out again he went to Keewee Grandam place and then to started to hustle people and that's were the plots have been.

This book was a little dry at first.  The story moved very slow until they went camping in the woods. While they were camping a bad storm was passing through.  The main character’s dad said he was going to go get the truch and he just left the camp ground and left the main Character, Jason, and his friend Keelee to walk home by themselves.  As the two try to get home they experience racism from some truckers. 

When they did find their way home his dad kicked him out again.    The two boys went from there to Jason’s Grandma’s house.  There was a bunch of crazy people there.   She made Jason and Keelee go hustle.  The two had to try and fool people for there money.  They didn’t do that for long, before they decided to go out on their own and started painting business and was making money of them.   At one of their jobs the person did not pay them, so they were arguing and then the old man.  He pulls a gun out on Keele and so does Keelee and they both shot and then jason walks and see them both dead on the ground.

I real like this book and i usually don't read a book ever but if your someone that like to read and if you don't read you you can always listen to it  but I suggest this book big time this is a great book and I really enjoyed it with all action in the book. The target audience of this book would probably people that like sad story.

 Book Review by Caleb J.

The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir

The book that I am reading is call  “The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir”, it’s by Kao Kalia Yang. Kao Kalia Yang was immigrated to St. Paul, Minnesota when she was only 6 years old. This book is a non-fiction, it’s a very interesting. She had publish 2-3 books, all the book are almost the same but it has a little bit of difference. The first book is call “The Latehomecomer: A Family Memoir”, the second book is call “The Song Poet: A Memoir Of My Father” and the last book is call “A Map Into the World”. All of them were from different years such as in 2008, 2016, and 2019. And as I saying up there, the book is a non-fiction b/c it talks about her life and talks about the important things that had happen to her and many more.

This story is about a Hmong girl name Kao Kalia Yang. Yes, the author is the main character. In the book she talks about her family and other thousands of Hmong families who made a  journey from the war in Laos to the refugee in Thailand. And she also included how many Hmong families were immigrated to the United State and to many other places around the world. In this book you will know how the Hmong people went through and how they have to move places to places to be safe. There wasn’t any place to call home after all the journey she went through as a child. The journey was a really personal experience.There were many important main characters in this book, it would be her parent, older sister, grandma, uncles and cousins. Each of them were have a really special bond with Kao. As you read more you’ll find out more about coming into the United State was like.

In my opinion I really like this book. This book is a very interesting book, it shows about someone point of view of the war and how it was like to be over there at that time. She wrote to the people are actually interested in others people life and how it was. This book is more like journalistic, if you are into those types of book I recommend you to read this book.  And if you aren’t into non-fiction and journalistic types of book then it’s okay to read another book or just give it a try, you might like it.

Book Review by Jamie Y.

The Woman in Cabin 10

Ruth ware is the author of The Women in Cabin 10 , this is the only book i have read by this author but some of her other books are The Lying Game, and The Turn of the Key which is coming out this year. This book is a suspenseful murder mystery, the book itself is really unpredictable and mysterious, the plot goes in all sorts of directions.

Lo blacklock is a middle aged women who is a journalist, she has a drinking problem. The book starts with her being hungover and sensing something is wrong, her flat was being robbed at the exact moment and as the story progresses it shows that she has been at a disadvantage since then. For her job she gets to go on a luxurious cruise ship and be amongst influential people who are in jurnalism wanting to get a better perspective and to better their  career, but being on this boat was nothing but horrific for her with 2 murders, kidnapping, identity theft, and missing people. The crew members and other passengers believed Lo was unreliable, an alcoholic and just imagining things, most of this assumption came from her flat being robbed and broken into and the rumors that followed.

Personally I liked the book it was a good easy read, but i was not a fan of the abrupt ending and there were some details in the plot that had me wondering where it would lead to next but didn’t go anywhere almost like unfinished thoughts. The book had a really good storyline and it almost reminded me of The Girl on The Train which is also a really good book and i highly recommend that book to read once you finish this book.

Book Review by Bailey M.