Boneshaker

Priest, Cherie. Boneshaker. NY: Tor Books, 2009. 416 pages. (Steampunk / Alternative History / Sci-Fi)

What would have happened if the Civil War had lasted 16 years, not 4? What if the “Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine” destroyed Seattle? What if the Boneshaker released a blight that slowly killed those who inhaled it, turning them into rotting zombies? Cherie Priest combines all this into a must read book and a wonderful new series.
Mad inventor Leviticus Blue built the boneshaker to mine gold in the Klondike but when he tested it for the first time, it ran amok destroying Seattle and releasing the Blight which turned the population of the city into zombies. Years later Blue's son, Zeke, goes into the ruins of the now walled city to clear his father's name. His mother Briar Wilkes follows him on an airship to bring him back and save him from the Blight that is still eking its way to the surface. When she discovers that people still live in the remains of the city among the walking dead lead by the mysterious Dr. Minnericht, an inventor rumor says is her dead husband, her plans of rescue become a race against the living and the dead.

WOW! This nonstop book gives Stephen King a run for his money as the leading horror writer. You'll turn the last page way too soon and want to return to the wonderfully detailed, horrific world of Boneshaker. Thankfully the Clockwork Century Series continues in Clementine, Dreadnought, and the upcoming Ganymede. 

Reviewed by: DisreputableDog

The Sweet Far Thing

Bray, Libba. The Sweet Far Thing. N.Y.: Random House, 2007. 832 pages. (Fantasy/Romance)

The Sweet Far Thing was a dramatic ending to the esteemed trilogy of the Gemma Swan series. In this book the Winterlands are threatening to take over the peace of the realms and are trying to take the magic that Gemma now holds. The alliances are being threatened with mysterious deaths and the clear blue sky is now a blood red sea of clouds. Gemma’s friendships are on the rocks and her love life is not how it used to be. Her father is addicted again, and always there is the still sad reminder of her mother s tragic death. Then, when it seemed that it could get no worse, something tragic happens. A forsaken birth of May has come, and the wrong people are coming out of the wrong door.  Spence and its girls are in grave danger and Gemma doesn’t know if she can save them.

     

This book was a traumatic ending to the wondrous series. It was full of love, adventure, war, and loss. It had a little something for everybody in it. Even though it was full of happy times, I feel that it had twice as many sad times in the book. I will tell only this, I cried for hours after reading the last hundred or so pages. I give this book the label of traumatic. But, it would also be non-stop action because even though it was horrifically sad, it also was jam packed with action. I would only recommend this book to the people who have read the other two books in the trilogy because it would give too much away. But, if you have read the other two, then I recommend that you do read it because it caps off the series in a great way. 

Reviewed by: HiJen

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Verne, Jules. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. New York: Baronet Books, 1992. 237 pages. (Steampunk/SciFi)

The book I read was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne. I really enjoyed this book, because I too enjoy sea life. The story starts off with a “sea monster” that seems to be around 60 feet long and indestructible. It even went through another ship! A sea life expert, Professor Aronnax, and his friends Conseil, and Ned go out on a boat to find this sea monster, which takes them around three months to find. When they see it Ned fires at it, and when it doesn’t die, they knew it wasn’t an animal. It ended up being some of the most advanced technology ever seen in their time. Being able to take people under water for about 4 days was very impressive, (It had to go back up to collect more air, but could eventually go back down for another 4 days). I don’t think I’d be so thrilled being sentenced in the ship for life, so that no one knew about it, but being able to see all the things of the deep that no people on land have gotten to see would be one of my greatest adventures. I think most people that read this book would enjoy it, because of the thrilling ride the book takes you through. It’s safe to say this was one of my favorite books yet, and I hope other readers enjoy it as much as I did. 

By: Mator1313

Boomer’s Journal.

Kelley, R.E. Boomer’s Journal. Florida: Worthington Press, 1995. 160 pages.(Realistic Fiction)

The book Boomer’s Journal is about a boy named Charles Nichols but his nickname is Boomer. He lives with his dad and his step mom in Freel Canyon. His real mom died in a car accident when he was just three. His dad drinks allot and is very harsh when he is drunk. He is an only child and has only one real friend. His only other friend is his dog, Dutch. But when his dad told him to feed his dog less food so he would get the jack rabbit that was in their front yard, he ran away. When they found him way up in the mountains he was torn to pieces. Boomer’s next door neighbor shot him and they buried him in their yard. His friend gave him a golden retriever puppy to cheer him up and to replace Dutch. Boomer hid the puppy for a few days in his bedroom and his step mom new that he had it and was keeping it a secret. When his dad found out he was furious. He said, “There aint no dog that can replace Dutch.” 

Reviewed by: Art Freak

The Year of Secret Assignments

Moriarty, Jaclyn. The Year of Secret Assignments. New York: Scholastic, 2004. 339 pages. (Fiction/Suspense / Poem Review)

The Year of Secret Assignments has

Heated arguments, and

Exciting travels.

You never know what will happen when letters become somewhat

Evil.

A plot begins to help a friend, and soon even more

Rivalries form between Ashbury and Brookfield Schools.

On a trail behind school a shocking

False Identity is found.

Secrets will be revealed, and

Everyone will be surprised.

Come into a world of secret missions, false alarms, and some lock picking.

Re enter the world of high school drama.

Enter, you are welcome here.

Treasure your friends and achievements.

And realize…

Some

Secrets shouldn’t be told,

In case someone without

Good intentions could

Never let you forgive yourself.

Maybe you will overcome, but you should

Enable yourself to because

Not all friends are

True

Some are just there, but true friends are better.

This is an AMAZING book! I could not put it down because of all the new twists and turns. I felt I had to know what was happening next. With all of the twists you can never get bored, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes page turners because this is one! If I were a book reviewer I would give it an A+.

By:  crazemonke6

The Big Wander

Hobbs,Will. The Big Wander. New York: Avon Books, 1992. 181 pages. (Romance/Adventure)

The main characters of the book, The Great Wander, are a fourteen-year-old boy named Clay Lancaster, older brother Mike, and their Uncle Clay Jenkins. The problems Clay and Mike face is trying to find their uncle Clay in the western states who they haven’t seen in years.  Mike is getting home sick and misses a girl named Shelia.  The truck they bought for seventy-five dollars is starting to breakdown. Clay has fallen in love with a girl, and they have no idea where they are going and money is running out.  They try to solve their problems by asking Hubcap Willie and the town’s people to help them find their uncle. Clay talks to Mike about how fun the trip is so he forgets about home and making phone calls all the time. Other interesting facts are that there mom is not even aware they tried to go to look for their Uncle Clay who called looking for her as she is away at Guatemala helping people.

            

 The two brothers, Clay and Mike are the characters that remind me of myself. Clay is adventurous and enjoys the outdoors. Mike is conservative and enjoys being close to home with friends and family.  I enjoy being outside like Clay and staying close to home like Mike.

Reviewed By: Bookworm08

Raise Your Voice

Wasserman, Robin. Raise Your Voice. NY: Scholastic, 2004. 187 pages. (Realistic Fiction)

The book I read was Raise Your Voice. The main characters in the story are Terri, Jay, Paul, Simon, Aunt Nina and Frances. The title of the book is Raise Your Voice because Terri has a great voice and loves to sing in the school choir and just about anywhere. Terri also loves to sing and write her own songs. Terri got invited to Bristol-Hillman Music Conservatory. Only the best people in the country were invited to this summer music school. Her dad, Simon, was not allowing her to go to this school because he didn’t want her in LA all by herself. Since her brother just graduated from school, Terri wanted to get him something for graduating so she got him two tickets to see a band. Terri and her brother Paul snuck out of the house and saw the band. When they were driving on the way back to their house a car went through a red light and smashed into their car.  Read Raise Your Voice to find out what happened next. 

I would recommend this book to anyone because if a bad event happened to them like it did in the story, then they might relate to the book and realize that they are not the only one that is feeling bad. In the beginning I despised the father for not letting his daughter go to the school, but then I realized that he didn’t let her go because he loved her and didn’t want her to leave because she was his only daughter left. I would read another book by this author because it was a nice topic to write about and had a lot of feeling written in the book.

Reviewed by: April Girl

Hot Hands

Lupica, Mike. Hot Hands. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2007. 167 pages. (Sports Fiction)

On of the main characters in my story is Billy Raynor. He plays basketball in a rec. league at the YMCA. Billy is a shoot first, pass second point guard. He plays for the magic with one of the other main characters Lenny DeNardo, the best player on their team. Their coach, also Billy’s dad, is another main character. Him and his wife are just getting through a divorce, so it is very hard for him to remain a good “coach” and father to his three kids. The last main character is Ben, Billy’s younger brother a piano prodigy. This story mainly takes place on the basketball court and in his moms and dads house. The problem in this story is Billy is very selfish player and is becoming a bigger ball hog every game. His dream is for his Team* to win the championship. But when your not acting like a Team* player, there is no way your Team* can win. So he needs to step up and stop acting like a selfish ball hog or his Team* will never win the championship. It is not just on the court were Billy needs to improve, he needs to be a better family player too. By spending more time with mainly his brother Ben. Will Billy become a team player over all on the court and in his home, or will he face the fact that he is not a Team* player? Find out by reading the book. I liked this book so much because it was about basketball. I like books where I can relate to what is happening in the story by using similar stuff I have actually done. This book was a sport that requires a team effort. I liked this book, but u in some places it was to understand the content. If I were to give it an overall grade, it would be A 92.

*****- five players on a basketball team not just ONE!

BY: Sierra

Sleeping Freshman Never Lie

Lubar, David. Sleeping Freshman Never Lie. NY: Penguin Group 2005. 279 pages. (Realistic Fiction)

Scott Hudson is just starting high school. He has heard many rumors about being a freshman and none of them sound too good. Bullies are just one of the many obstacles Scott has to take on, but when one of his friends moves to Texas, he gets in a fight with the other one, and his mom announces that she is having a baby, the world Scott knew comes crashing down around him. He decides to write a guide to high school for his sibling-to-be, just to make life easier on him. Scott also gets dragged into many things involuntarily. Some of these things, just to mention a few, are writing for the school paper, getting involved with student council, and volunteering for the tech crew of the play. All these things not only overwhelm him, but also cause lack of sleep. All of a sudden a weirdly girl shows up at school, with pins and bracelets on every square inch of her body. Her name is Lee. She shares Scott’s love of extraordinary poems and stories, and the two start to get to know. There is also one Wesley Cobble who drifts into the picture. Wesley is a senior who protects Scott from bullies and gives him rides everywhere, using a different vehicle every time. Suspicious? But as Scott gets to know the two better, he decides what real friendship is, and where his friendship lies.

I really liked this book because of the climaxes that happen not only at the end of the story, but other places in the story as well. It is also an interesting book because you can imagine it happening to anyone in real life as well. The author combines real life experiences with fiction making this story believable and great. The story also combines great humor with wise tips and adventure. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read any book.

Reviewed by San Andreas

Danger.com: @6//Bad Intent

Cray, Jordan. Danger.com: @6//Bad Intent/. NY: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1998. 225 pages. (Thriller)

The book that I read was called Danger.com: @6//Bad Intent/. The main characters are Brian Rittenhouse, Dawn Sedaris, Lobo (who was Brian as well), and Mal Bouchard. The story takes place at their high school, Bloomfield High. The problem they face was that some jocks at their school shot their coach and are on trial for it. There was also strange stuff going on. This stuff was like people are changing and people are dying. People are changing by going crazy; in the story it says “Bloomfield was getting more full of psychos every day.” People are committing suicide and people are killing other people. The characters go about solving the problem by figuring out facts on who did what at their school.  Some other interesting facts are that Brian is in love with Dawn, but Dawn is one of the popular girls who only talks to nerds, like Brian, when they need help. 

I loved this book, and the series it’s in. I would recommend this book to people because it is a very good book and its one of those stories where it makes you wants to keep reading. If you like mystery stories then this is a book to read. I would also check out the Danger.com series.

Review by: Grace 

Ana’s Story a Journey of Hope

Bush, Jenna. Ana’s Story a Journey of Hope. NY: Harper Collins, 2007. 290 pages. (Nonfiction)

She is 17. She has been abused. She has a child. She is HIV positive.

Her name was Ana and this is her story. The day she was born she was infected with HIV which was transferred from her 16 year old mother. She barely remembers her mother who died when Ana was only three. From there on her childhood was a blur of secrets and very faint memories. She had to keep secrets about her illness and her abuse. She tried hard to forget. She has been from home to home not finding love and safety. When she meets a boy Berto she found both. She opens up her heart and mind to Berto. She has hope and a new beginning.

I loved this book it seems like it could be true even though it was fictional. It could be happening to anyone around us. It kills me inside that people go through this daily. Some people don’t have the guts to say something and stay in that abuse at least Ana has a happy ending.

Reviewed by: x0oSo0x

The Outsiders

Hinton,S.C. The Outsiders. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc, 2003. 180 pages. (Realistic Fiction)

The Outsiders is about a 14 year old boy named Ponyboy. His parents died when he was young, so he lives with his brothers Darry and his close brother Sodapop. Darry is the oldest, and Sodapop is the middle child. They are all part of a gang called the Greasers, and they are always getting into fights with the Socs. One night Ponyboy and Johnny, a close friend of Ponyboy’s and also in the Greasers gang, were at the park and the Socs jumped them. Usually they were just beat up, but that night, things got way too out of hand.

For me, this book was a little weird, but I guess it was like that because it was very real. My favorite character was probably Dally because he is very dangerous and outgoing, and he made the book much more interesting than if he wasn’t in it. I think that the author did an extremely good job writing it, especially since she was just 16 at the time. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves something very suspenseful.

Reviewed by:(LESH)