Theodore Boone: The Abduction by John Grisham

Theo's friend, April Finnemore, disappears from her house in the middle of the night. The evidence in her disappearance suggests that she was taken rather than running away. There was no forced entry and so it is believed that she left with someone she knew. It didn't appear she had time to pack. And most disturbing, a distant relative, who April had been exchanging letters with, has recently broken out of a California prison and was spotted on a security camera in town.

Theo is questioned by the police, as he was the last person to communicate with her. Theo knows another piece of the puzzle, one he isn't sharing with the police. April had been home alone for the past few nights and was scared. So scared that she had locked doors and windows as well as shoved chairs under door handles. Her father is out on tour with his middle-aged rock band and her mother was on drugs and not home.

When the escaped convict is captured, he refuses to talk. And it isn't long before something is found. Something that suggests April might not be alright. But are the police looking in the right places or are they hitting a dead end. Will Theo Boone be able to help find his friend before it's too late?

Why I picked up the book: I usually don't make time to read sequels, especially because my to-read pile is a mountain, but I just finished the first book for the 2nd time and had to find out what would happen next. He gave enough background that if you haven't read the first book, you wouldn't have felt like you missed anything.

Why I finished it: Just like with the first book, or any John Grisham title, you get sucked in.

I'd give it to: fans of James Patterson. Teen guys looking for a fast-paced novel without a whole lot of mushy feeling stuff.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Name: Serina

Grade: College

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Author: Ransom Riggs

Jacob was always envious of his adventurous Grandfather, and loved hearing his intriguing stories about how he had grown up with some children with very special abilities and how they had to stay hidden away on a mysterious island to stay out of the hands of monsters. However, as Jacob grew older, he began to doubt his Grandfather's fantastical tales, even overlooking the bizarre photos that his Grandfather had of the children he supposedly lived with. But at his Grandfather's deathbed, Jacob receives some ominous last words and a strange letter from a mysterious woman named Miss Peregrine that sends him packing and traveling to an island off the coast of Wales, where his Grandfather had spent his childhood. What Jacob finds there is not what he remembered from his Grandfather's stories, and it appalls him as well as sets him off on an adventure he will wish he never had...

As a bonus, this book has vintage pictures of the peculiar children through the chapters.

I picked this book up because it looked interesting.

I finished this book because it was so strange!

I'd give this book to anyone looking for something out of the ordinary.

Rating: ****

Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer by John Grisham

Theo Boone dreams of being either a famous trial lawyer or a judge. His parents are both lawyers, as is his Uncle Ike, so he was literally born into it. At thirteen, Theo knows more about the law than most adults and he is on a first name basis with almost every lawyer, judge, court clerk, and policeman in town. Theo even has his own "office" in the library at Boone & Boone, and is often asked for legal advice by fellow students.

Theo's connections enable his government class to attend the opening day of a murder trial, one of the most talked about trials in Strattenburg. With little evidence, it appears that a cold-blooded killer may get off scot-free. That is until Theo is handed a piece of evidence that could change the course of the trial. Is it possible that a thirteen year old could possess the information necessary for a conviction? Witness the start of Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer.

Why I picked up this book: John Grisham is one of my favorite authors. When I discovered he had written a legal thriller for a younger audience, I had to check it out.

Why I finished it: Theodore Boone is classic John Grisham for a younger audience. Grisham did a great job of explaining legal concepts at the tween/teen level. Rather than the "cliff-hanger" ending, I wish he would have ended it with Theo going after a new case.

I'd give it to: tweens/teens looking for a new series. Fans of other cross-over authors like James Patterson.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsburg

Have you ever uttered the phrase “I prefer not to”? Like I prefer not to take out the garbage or I prefer not to eat tomatoes. I prefer not to make my bed or go out in freezing cold weather. How about I prefer not to do that math assignment or my homework? I’m sure at one point or another we’ve all preferred not to do something. Margaret Rose Kane would have preferred to spend her summer with her parents in Peru or with her eccentric uncles at 19 Schuyler Place. But neither her parents nor the Uncles had any intentions of her spending the summer with them. The Uncles suggested that since she is an only child the experience of camp would be beneficial to her. So although she preferred not to, Margaret Rose began the process of choosing and applying for summer camp. And that is how Margaret Rose ended up at Camp Talequa. But because she prefers not to join in camp activities, it isn’t long before Uncle Alexander comes to her rescue, springs her from the tortures of summer camp and whisks Margaret Rose back to the tranquility of 19 Schuyler Place. Margaret Rose loves her Uncles and their house. She especially loves the towers they have built in their backyard. For over 45 years, the Uncles have created these masterpieces out of steel, glass, crystals, and a multitude of paint shades. But as Margaret Rose soon learns, not everyone sees these towers as art. The Homeowners Association views them as a safety hazard and a deterioration to property values. And while Margaret Rose preferred not to participate in camp activities, she is determined to find a way to save the outcast towers at 19 Schuyler Place.

Why I picked up the book: The first time I read it, I was drawn in by the cover which has the pattern of rose petals with the tower and by the fact that I love the name Schuyler (pronounced Skyler).

Why I finished the book: I'd prefer not to say. Kidding.

I'd recommend it to: readers looking for a nice, clean story and something that makes you think about what you believe in. If they have read "Silent to the Bone", I think they will appreciate getting Margaret's back story. I haven't read it but will pick it up next.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Found

Name: Michelle Sherwin
Grade: 12th
Title: Found
Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix
This book begins lady by the name of Angela is having many problems on her first day at work at a company by the name of Sky Trails. She loses codes and is constantly having to ask her supervisor to give them to her. To make things worse an unidentified plane lands at a gate no one is attending to and she therefor has to go and help them. To her surprise all of the passengers on this plane are infants and there is not even a pilot or stewardess. The book then flashes 13 years into the future in the lives of two thirteen year old boys Chip and Jonah who are both adopted. They begin receiving strange letters at the same time. Upon Jonah becoming more upset his parents, his sister and him go to meet with an FBI agent who is said to be connected to Jonah's adoption. When they arrive the agent refuses to give them any more information, saying only that he can not tell them any more and that they should not have even gotten his information, but the children receive information from a folder placed on the table by a man no one saw put it there. From this folder comes information that has something to do with Chip, Jonah and their adoption, but when few people will talk how much information can they really find out? Will this venture tear their new friendship apart or solidify it for life?
This book is very interesting because it provokes the reader to ask how much they know about themselves and how much of what they know can fall apart in an instant. It is also interesting how with each of the new discoveries they make about their adoption the boys begin to wonder more and more who they are.
I picked this book up because my brother got me the rest of the books in the series and I wanted to read this one again before I read the others. I also enjoy the author's writing style and the suspense that is intertwined in every one of her books.
I finished this book because I wanted to remember how it ended.
I would give this book to anyone who enjoys suspense and action stories. I would also give this book to people who were interested in self conflict and a journey of self.
My Rating of this Book:
***** It was amazing

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The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer

How do you imagine the "City of the Future"? For me, it is a place where we've figured out how to stop harming ourselves, our environment, and each other. But knowing how far technology has come in such a short time and how it has dominated all our lives, it isn't hard to imagine a world like Satellite City, a super city of 25 million. The Satellite controls everything from news, traffic, to rotating the location of buildings. But the Satellite is going haywire and creating chaos.

In this future world, orphans, known as no-sponsors, are taken in by places like the Clarissa Frayne Institute for the Parentally Challenged. In order to keep its doors open, the Institute must make money by any means necessary including risking the lives of the no-sponsors, who don't normally live past age 15, due to all the food and drug testing they undergo. Cosmo Hill is a no-sponsor who doesn't want to die at Clarissa Frayne, so he is always on the lookout for an escape.

When a Satellite malfunction provides Cosmo with an opportunity, he takes it. But his escape is less than perfect and as Cosmo lays dying, he sees a mysterious blue creature land on his chest and begin to suck the life from him.

Before he blacks out, three teenagers appear with weapons pointed straight at him. Cosmo later awakens in their warehouse and learns that this group, who call themselves the Supernaturalists, can see these blue creatures and are trying to destroy the Parasites.

Can the Supernaturalists be able to defeat the Parasites and continue to evade capture from the government? Is anything really what it seems to be?

Why I picked up the book: I'm rereading it for my middle school book club. I read it once about five years ago.

Why I finished it: I kept wondering if this really what the city of the future will be like and hoping it won't. I also really wanted to know what these Parasites really were all about.

I'd give the book to: anyone, especially fans of adventure or futuristic/dystopian sci-fi.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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19 minutes

Name: Eric

Grade: 12

Book: 19 Minutes

Author: Jodi Picoult

America was rocked by the Columbine shootings, and later, those of Virginia Tech. These are events that are perpetually evil in our eyes, and seen as the simplistic good vs. evil. Jodi Picoult, however, explores the idea that the monsters we see on TV and in the news are not always what they seem, in her novel, 19 minutes. A story on one level about a school shooting, but more accurately, about the social ties and nuances that drive human behavior every day. 19 minutes captures the story of a boy and a girl(as every good story does), and how their paths intertwine into one climactic moment, when as a reader, you begin to question your world around you.

Jodi Picoult is known for her romances, and in a way, this novel is also a romance. Yet is not a romance in the traditional Lover style, it is more the love felt between Friends, Family, and That Person You Once Knew. I am not a fan of mushy books; I find them to be lacking in body and cheap. But this story is deep, meaningful, and impacting. I enjoyed it immensely, and would recommend it to any and all students especially.

I picked this book up because I won it in a contest, and decided to give it a shot.

I finished this book because of its power. It pulls you in, as you begin to feel for the most unlikely of subjects.

I'd give this book to any and every student. Shootings are a part of life now, and are a very serious matter in today's school systems. But this book brings a whole new light to that area, and acts as a method of prevention for such tragedies.

Rating: *****