The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty

To: Reader
Special Covert Operation Report
Agents: Emily, Lydia, Cassie –Ashbury
Charlie, Seb, & “Matthew Dunlop” –Brookfield
Operation
Operation Pen Pal Project
Assigned by Mr. Botherit, Ashbury English Teacher

Assignment Description
Your mission, if you chose to accept it, will be to converse with students at the rival high school as part of a mandatory English assignment. What you write is up to you but keep in mind that this assignment is ongoing and will continue through the entire school year. The goal of this assignment is to create self awareness, friendships, and the Joy of the Envelope. No text messages or emails, please.
Warning: Although your letters will be completely confidential, participation will count toward your final grade.

Field Note #1
Although this assignment seems harmless, you never know who your pen pal will turn out to be.

Field Note #2
Pen pals may want to meet. While a face to face meeting is not mandatory, it will change the course of this assignment. Keep in mind that not everyone is who they claim to be.

Field Note #3
While pen pals are not required to do anything for each other, pen pals may choose to participate in certain secret assignments which could lead to such illegal activities as calling in false reports, fire alarms, breaking into and stealing cars, skipping school and other activities which could lead to classes and exams being postponed.

Field Note #4
Pen pals who issue ominous warnings and threats should be watched carefully. Pen pals who receive such letters should take caution when deciding on how to respond to such pen pals. Refer to field note #1 as to whether or not said pen pal is really should be trusted. When in doubt, consult friends as they may be able to plan additional secret assignments to uncover the identity of ominous pen pal and foil their plans.

Field Note #5
Enjoy Operation Pen Pal Project and The Year of Secret Assignments.

Look for The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie the followup novel by Jaclyn Moriarty.

Dane's Review: Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo

Now I know a great deal of you like the graphic novels and such, but a book/graphic novel that you absolutely must read whether you like them or not is Akira. The drawing skill its done with is definitely a retro style with some "corny" realism, but none-the-less good. The story itself takes place in some new-age future -yet not too future- Tokyo. A rockin' cycle gang (I'm not a motorcycle kinda guy, but boy, they kicked) is kind of composed of the "outcast" hardknocks of the school. While out riding to the "point of impact" or some such explosion destination crater, quarantined as off limits, one of the cyclists, (bear with me as I'm bad with Japanese names) Tustendo, gets in a wreck because some little child that looks like he's a bazillion years old was standing in the road. As he dissipates into thin air, an "ambulance" arrives to haul Tustendo. Queue crazy plot, awesome action scenes and bizarre children with mind powers on drugs. Tustendo is locked up and going crazy in some science lab of a hospital while his pals are trying to find him. I know, a-freaking-mazing. Seriously read this, once you're done, there's even a movie. It's stellar, too.
I know you're ALL about the great graphic novels, so I recommend this, or Watchmen, also good BTW. Just don't let all awesomeness make your head explode.
Rating: 4Q, 4P

**This book is availble throught InterLibrary Loan.**

Emily's Review: Blankets by Craig Thompson

Blankets is the story of the author's childhood and his first love told in visual format -a 600-page graphic novel, featuring lively black-and-white work with brush and ink (incidentally, I would willingly kill a man to have Thompson's skill with line and form). He grew up in a suffocatingly conservative family, and the book makes skillful use of his Christian teachings. No fear: Thompson is anything but preachy. (I strongly dislike the person who protests at the first mention of religion in a book.) The true power of Blankets, though, lies in the story of Raina: Raina meets Craig at church camp, and the two quickly become friends, before Craig begins -slowly- to love her. It sounds trite at my word, but then I have trouble describing the things that truly wow me. I've read a few books that pick you up, fly you in loops, over peaks and through valleys, and at last drop you, so you end a pile of flesh and bone, it's simply so shattering to turn the last page. This is one of them.

Rating: 5Q, 4P

Jessica's Review: Fiela's Child by Dalene Matthee

Fiela's Child is a story of loss, learning, and searching. There is the loss of a child by two different women and the foundings of hope in one boy. In this same boy is the loss of identity, of who is he and who he is supposed to be. At one point, both meanings are lost to him. He learns to adjust to different environments relying on himself when no one else is around. This is Benjamin Kamoetie, the source of turmoil and rejoicing for Feila Komoetie, and Lukas van Rooyan, son of Barta van Rooyan and for her, he has died and come back to life. There is racial between the two families, one black and one white and a tug of war for superiority between the families themselves. I thought this was a great book filled with deeper meaning about identity as well as common issues existing in the region of South America, where this takes place. I would recommend it to others, but on special interest alone. It's not your everyday Harry Potter.
Rating: 4Q, 2P

**This book is available through InterLibrary Loan.**

Josh's Review: Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind

Richard Cypher is a woods guide in Westland. While he is up in the mountains near the Boundary he is bitten by a vine, sees a red spec in the sky which he thinks is a dragon, and meets the most beautiful woman he has ever seen dressed as if she were attending a formal party. Trouble comes in threes. Right? Well if that is the case then Richard is in for a killer of a day as it turns out. Four killers in fact. From then on, Richard is ripped from his world and thrust into making life changing decisions in a world that he has never set foot into, that threatens not only himself and his friends but the entire world. Richard must sift throught the web of lies and seek the truth about himself and of those around him.
Terry Goodkind is a master story teller, weaving words together so well it is a flawless canvas. This book and those that follow it are full of drakness and the will to prevail as well as plenty of blood, gore, and magic.
Rating: 5Q, 4P

Josh's review: Mister Monday by Garth Nix

Garth Nix strikes again. With the Abhorsen trilogy and the Seventh Tower series already under his belt as well as a collection of short stories, The Keys to the Kingdom series is just icing on an already fabulous cake. Arthur is a sickly asthmatic boy who is supposed to die. However, when a strange man appears out of thin air next to the dying Arthur and gives him what looks like the little hand of a giant clock, his entire life is transformed. Suddenly Arthur is seeing things. Things that shouldn't be able to exist. Horrible winged creatures and a house that couldn't possibly be real are showing up and following him around. He finds himself immersed and struggling to survive in a place full of paper and strange people stuck in the early 1900's as well as trying to stop a plague affecting the rest of his world. Garth Nix's Mister Monday captures and draws you into a fascinating world while weaving the story around you.

Rating: 4Q, 3P

Josh's Review: Sabriel by Garth Nix

The Old Kingdom is overrun and across the Wall. The existence of magic is denied. Sabriel must travel to the Old Kingdom a place that she can't remember and assume a name that is spoken in only whispers and is feared by the dead. ABHORSEN. With her father missing and the Old Kingdom sinking further into disarray, she must come to terms with the past and future that awaits her. In a place where the dead stalk the living and the river of Death is never far away she must fight an evil so old that no one can remember when it came to be. Garth Nix takes the world of magic and turns it upside down and backwards, weaving a story that is totally original.

Rating: 4Q, 4P

Mary's Review: Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Ms. Anderson, famous for her acclaimed book Speak, seems to be rather at a loss for words. Twisted has a somewhat meandering plot, and the novel suffers for it. Things happen of course-the narrator is framed for photographing the girl of his dreams naked and unconscious at a party, battles it out with his workaholic father, and contemplates committing suicide. But the question about it all seems to be "So what?" Surely the audience is supposed to care that all of this is happening, but by the time enough sympathy is darned for them to actually do so the novel is practically over. It's doubtful that many readers will make it for enough to begin to care. "This book is not suitable for children" the fly page boldly states. And yet as grown up as this novel tries to be, it never quite stops handling the issues with kid gloves.
Final Verdict: 2Q, 3P

Tangerine by Edward Bloor

Welcome to Tangerine, Florida where you aren’t likely to find its namesake fruit and housing developments rise from the graveyards of citrus trees. Where it pours rain daily and lightning always strikes more than once. Where schools disappear into sinkholes but sports must go on. Tangerine, where there are more questions and secrets than answers.

Do You Know the Monkey Man by Dori Hillestad Butler

“Do you know the monkey man, the monkey man, the monkey man? Do you know the monkey man, who lives on Hartman Lane?”

How far would you go in order to uncover a mystery, something about your past that didn’t feel quite right? What if that mystery was finding your dad, whom you haven’t seen in almost a decade? Would you consult a psychic, pay for a private investigator, or dig through old boxes in the basement? Would you call people all around the country with his name in hopes of hearing his voice? The voice you would know anywhere? Would you sneak away from home to check out an address after calling leads you nowhere? Would you go or would you just decide the search was pointless?
What if I told you there was another piece to this mystery, a piece that seemed at first insignificant, but could be the answer to everything? What if I told you that the psychic says your twin sister, who died tragically at the age of three, is alive and well? What would you do?

Marley & Me by John Grogan

Look at that face! Sure, he’s man’s best friend but he might possibly be the worst dog ever.

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

What was the last CD you listened to or song that played on your iPod? Would the person sitting next to you be able to guess what it was? Would they like it, understand it, or ridicule you for listening to it?
What does the music you listen to say about you? Are you a leader or a follower? Do you take the easy road or look for a challenge? Is it an honest portrayal of you or do you hide behind the shadow of others? Is it really you or are you just a player? Does the music you listen to have a deep meaning for you or is it just noise? Would you have the courage to analyze yourself and let others in? Would you be willing to try something different even if at first you dislike it? What if you Just Listen?

This title is also available on CD audiobook.