Sam and CY students & staff are reading…

     I really liked the book; it was very fun, exiting, and mysterious. I think this book goes under two different categories: mystery and romance. If you liked the first book in the series, I think you would like New Moon. It’s very shocking, what happened in this book. I would have never guessed that would happen just by the first half of the book. So overall, I liked the book a lot.

This book was very entertaining and held my attention the whole time I was reading it. When I stopped reading, I was always wondering what was going to happen next. I predicted a lot, but like I said, the book is very unpredictable, so I was never right.

The details: 574 p. 2006    Submitted by Gabby

Who would like this book? Girls and people who like Twilight.

Why?  8th grader Olivia Abbott, pink loving cheerleader, moves to Franklin Grove. At her new middle school she finds a new friend,Ivy Vega. Soon she finds out that she and Ivy are twin sisters. But, Olivia feels that Ivy is hiding something from her.

The details: 199 p. 2007  Submitted by Jada

• Submitted by Mr. Cantwell; read all of Mr. Cantwell’s reviews at http://web4j1.lane.edu/%7Ecantwell/bookblog.htm

• Genre: YA Science Fiction

• Summary: One hundred years from now, most of the land on earth is disappearing beneath the oceans, the planet overcome by global warming. Mara knows her primitive island community doesn’t have much time, and after finding a sign of hope on the ancient cyberspace “Weave” she convinces her people to leave in search of one of the fabled new sky cities rising from the waves. The voyage is dangerous, but the destination turns out to be even more of a challenge.

• Opinion: This book is awesome. There are three parts, each focused on a different setting, and Bertagna does a brilliant job making these futuristic glimpses of a very different earth seem very realistic. Just when I thought the story might be starting to lag (which Bertagna may have been doing for realistic effect) the final third of the book explodes with fantastic descriptions and riveting action. With the setting and plot being so strong, the characterization has a lot to live up to, and occasionally it seems a little forced. Mara is very admirable but not always authentic. Though the book stands well on its own, Bertagna wrote a sequel called Zenith, which I’m sure I will read.

• Grade: A

• The details: 345 p. 2008

Who would like this book?
Anyone who loves books about friendship, adventure, and what might happen in the future.

Why?
In this story, the population law is 2 children max due to a food shortage. Luke Garner is an illegal third child, always hiding, always running. He knows no other beings other than his loving family, until he meets Jen, his neighbor, who is also a third child. She too is bored of living in the shadows, and she believes that together, with all third children, they can crush the population law. Can they do it? Read the book to find out!

The details: 153 p. 1998  Submitted by Carley

Who would like this book?
The people that would like this book are people who like camping and like books you can’t put down because they’re so interesting. I read the book in about 3 days.

Why?
This story is about a 15-year-old girl who is about to turn 16 and get this operation to turn her pretty. All the people are “ugly” before they get this operation.

The details:  425 p. 2005  Submitted by Diamond

Who would like this book?

Why?
DJ is a normal girl with a not so normal family. They live on a farm, and she has to do all the farm work. She likes to play sports and one of her favorite kinds of sports is football. Since her dad has a bad hip, one of the family’s friends told her dad that he could send a boy named Brian that could help around with the farm. So the next morning he came. About a week passed and since Brian played football, the guy who sent him there asked DJ if she would like to train Brian. She really didn’t like the idea, but she said yes. They trained for one month and DJ decided to play football.  Since Brian played for another team, if she played they would be on opposite teams. She didn’t tell Brian she was going to try out for the team. She did make the team, and it was the day of the scrimmage and Brian was mad. She wasn’t going to play for the whole game, but she played for the second half and scored. I can’t tell you if they win or lose, and I can’t tell you if they end up going out, but I can tell you that it’s a good book.

The details: 274 p. 2006    Submitted by Elsie

Who would like this book? I highly recommend Anthem by Ayn Rand to anyone who likes good literature.

Why? Anthem was only 105 pages, and the book was short and skinny, but Ayn Rand successfully hooked me by the first chapter, and kept me there the whole book! There was only two occasions in which I read Anthem, and I finished it on the second. The chapters are short, but the detail is plentiful, and it truly is riveting. I left off where Equality 7-2521 is recounting his past. Equality 7-2521 finds a sewer pipe from the Unmentionable Times with his only friend(it is illegal to favor one brother over others), and his friend wants to tell the city counsel, but Equality 7-2521 convinces him not to (it is illegal to not inform the city counsel of anything found from the unmentionable times). There Equality 7-2521 finds “glass globes” and eventually makes something from the Unmentionable Times that set off a string of happenings in which Tragedies and glories occur.

The details: 105 p. (253 p. with notes) 1995 edition; First published in 1938      Submitted by Chance

Who would like this book? Graphic novel fans, artists, history students and teachers would like this book, especially those studying emigration/immigration.

Why? This is a graphic novel about immigration from individuals’ different cultural perspectives, with illustrated hints of various ethnic/cultural symbols . There is a common fear of oppression, government, war, loss, survival, and yearning for family and belonging. It exemplifies interdependence by way of relation to new environs, shared confusion and learning experiences. The end notes provide a rare description of the variety of resources the author/illustrator used for the wonderfully drawn images.  The Eugene Public Library has a copy of this in the young adult section.
Note from Sam: Our Cal Young Library has a copy also!

The details:   Wordless; 2007         Submitted by Nora

Who would like this book? Umm, this book is the prequel to Walk Two Moons, but I think it’s mostly for girls. Technically, I would say it’s for anyone who wants to read the summer journal(s) of Mary Lou Finney from Walk Two Moons.

Why? It’s pretty much Mary Lou’s summer journal, featuring especially her family, her odd cousin Carl Ray, her new neighbors, the Furtzes, and her boyfriend Alex Cheevey. It’ll give you a LOT of background on what was going on with Mary Lou in the original book.

The details: 230 p. 1995     Submitted by Zoe H.

Who would like this book? Lots of people would like this book,  because it has something in it for everyone. Romance…lunatics…death…adventure…

Why? This story is about 13-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, usually called Sal. She unwillingly leaves her family’s farm when her mother dies, and goes with her father to an entirely new state to live, where she meets all sorts of new people, including Phoebe Winterbottom, a slightly crazy girl overly obsessed with cholesterol and lunatics, and Ben Finney, her first boyfriend. But the actual story is technically Sal going on a trip to visit her mother’s grave with her “interesting” grandparents, and she tells them the story of Phoebe and Ben and Phoebe’s lunatic (really her half-brother…) on the way there. Okay, that’s all I’m going to tell you.
P.S. this is probably my most favoritest book that’s not Warriors!!!

The details: 280 p. 1994    Submitted by Zoe H.