Name: Eric

Grade: 12

Title: War

Author: Sebastian Junger

Sebastian Junger spent 14 months in a veritable hell to bring us the story of "War", a non-fiction account of a company of U.S. soldiers fighting in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. Junger lives with these ragtag men in what is one of the most removed areas of the world: the Korengal Valley. The troops must survive attacks by Taliban insurgents and jihadists from Pakistan, on top of the severe elements, and perhaps most importantly, each other. Reading about these men gives you a true insight into our modern military, and the mindset that frontline combat troops must have and endure. This book is not page after page of propaganda however; it is very much a cold, hard truth, and one that many may find difficult to swallow. Junger does not feed us heroic stories. Instead, he paints a picture of what war is truly like in the three mini-books, "Love", "Killing", and "Fear" that make up "War". This is an extremely powerful novel, and one that is sure to surprise and grip readers when they least expect it.

I picked this book up because I had to read it for a class.

I finished this book because I had too, but also because it was very engaging.

I'd give this book to someone who is interested in foreign policy or the military.

My rating: ****

The Prom Night Murders

Reader: Michelle Sherwin 12th grade
The Prom Night Murders
Carlton Smith
A small town Pastor his wife and two of his children are murder right in the parsonage one Saturday night. His other three children are away so he and his family are not discovered missing until the next morning when he does not show up to church. When the congregation of this small church goes to investigate just why the pastor is missing the parsonage is locked. With the locks having just been changed only one person outside the family had the keys to the house. Sounds like something that came straight out of a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book right? But this story is a real story that happened in a small Indiana town.
The three kids that were not home all had valid reasons not to be. The girls were each staying at a respective friends house for the night and their son was on a trip out of town after attending prom with his girlfriend the night before. But as the mystery unravels interesting facts begin to unravel from this mystery about Jeff the son of this respectable pastor and about their fragile family ties. Jeff was not happy about his step mother and step sisters who came into his life after his mother died of cancer and he and his new family move. He was also upset because he had been grounded, according to other church members from taking himself and his girlfriend to prom. His dad said that he would take them and pick them back up. He had also told his son absolutely no to the after prom trip his friends and girlfriend were going on. The morning after prom, however, the car that belonged to Jeff was gone and he was no where to be found. When the detectives came they analyzed the crime scene. They could not find any evidence as to who did it. They tracked down the three kids and brought them home as soon as possible. They continued to search for clues, but found nothing and the case went unsolved. For almost 2 decades they could not discover any evidence to prove anyone guilty. This real life bone chilling cold case comes to show that not all mysteries come from fiction books so beware and get ready to submerse yourself into the cold case come alive.

I picked this book up the week before prom because the title really caught my eye and I was interested in reading a true story mystery.
I finished this book because I was interested to find out how everything fit together.
I'd give this book to someone who like books of the mystery and suspense genre because this book feels like it could be a fiction mystery book. The writing however does get a little dull at times, but after getting past that it is a very good book.

I give this book
***

Ripper

Name: Serina

Grade: 12+

Title: Ripper

Author: Stefan Pretrucha

Carver Young is a fourteen-year-old orphan with great ambition and wits, whose home has been Ellis Orphanage since he was an infant. Nothing remains a secret from the inquisitive Carter for long, including the locked file room that he manages to get sneak in. There, in his files, he discovers that even though his mother died in childbirth, his father may be still alive, an interesting prospect for him that he plans to look further into. That is, assuming he can be adopted, and he very much hopes to be adopted by the master sleuth and police commissioner, Teddy Roosevelt. Unfortunately, at the meeting that is set up for the orphans to meet with possible parents, Carver loses his nerve and is unable to speak to the charismatic Roosevelt. However, Carver by chance meets Albert Hawking, a visionary inventor, who agrees to take him in and teach to him to be a professional detective so he can track down his missing father. Meanwhile, a murderer is loose in New York city, one whose brutal and bloody killing patterns much resemble the not long inactive Jack the Ripper. Teddy Roosevelt is quick to take on the case, but Carver and Albert Hawking are also following the bloody trail, coming closer and closer to possibly one of the most famous serial killers in history, as well as to the truth about who Carver's father is...

This book, set in the 1890's, is full of steampunk themed inventions, disturbing murders, historical figures, and a fast-paced mystery for the reader to enjoy!

I picked this book up because I was interested in the title.

I finished this book because I had to know how it ended.

I'd give this book to any Mystery or young Sherlock Holmes fan.

My rating: ****

One for the Money Janet Evanovich

Michelle Sherwin
12th grade
One for the Money
Janet Evanovich

When an unfortunate Stephanie Plum is out of everything, including money again, she finds she must find work. Aside from that her mother and grandmother continue to nag her to get a job. He mother convinces her to go to her cousin Vinnie and have him give her a job as a bounty hunter. Despite her despise of cousin Vinnie she decides to go merely to appease her mother. When she finds out her old nemesis Morelli is the case they have she is convinced she can bring him in. They have a history of not doing well together and she wants the chance to pay him back for what he did to her. As if hitting him with her car was not enough when they were younger she now wants to get her revenge thought the law, more or less. As a bounty hunter she learns that bounty hunters often find themselves above the law so they feel they can bend the rules in order to catch the villain. Anything from taking their cars to searching their houses without warrants. She also learns she has to be rough and tough and willing to fight her own way out of it every time or she will end up on the loosing end. This seems to happen quite often in this story.

Meanwhile her mother now hates the job she has and wishes she would find something more suitable for her. Her mother had a desk job at Vinnie's in mind not bounty hunting. Stephanie continues to chase Morelli and corners him several times, but he always uses one of his sly tricks to get away before she can or is willing to take him in. After a bad experience at a gym for a lesser criminal and after having been rescued by Morelli she decides to listen to his side. He is running because he thinks that there is going to be a chance for him to prove that he is innocent and says if Stephanie were to help him he would let her take him in after they had found the person who would prove his innocence. As unsure as she was she allowed it. Is this just another one of Morelli's schemes to get closer to Stephanie and farther away from jail or was he truly framed for something he didn't do for once? Find out in One for the Money.

I was interested in this book because after walking by the Janet Evanovich section almost every day I wanted to find out what her stories were all about. On top of that a few people had suggested I read her books so I decided to start at book 1. I finished it because it was a very comical book, but also had an intriguing storyline behind it. This gave me just the push to be able to get through it.

I would suggest this book to mature people who enjoyed a good mystery and a little adventure. I would suggest this to a mature audience because there is some more mature content.

I give this book ***

Name: Eric

Grade: 12

Book: The Dark Tower: Drawing of the Three

Author: Stephen King

In October, I reviewed the first novel in the epic tale of the Dark Tower, The Gunslinger. The Drawing of the Three is the second book, and truly begins the quest of Roland the Gunslinger, as he seeks out companions to accompany him to the Tower.

Capitalizing on the Arthurian nature of Roland, our antithetical hero must "Draw" 3 companions from their respective worlds; Eddie, a junkie working for a crime lord in 1987 New York, Odetta Holmes, a wheelchair bound bi-polar African-American woman from 1967 New York, and of course, Jake Chambers, whom Roland met once before in the previous novel.

The Drawing of the Three captures the true heart and soul of the Dark Tower series, traversing through controversial topics such as race and drug use, while delving into fantasy and history. Stephen King once again manages not to create characters but people that the reader connects too and begins to love, or hate. And of course, no King story would be complete without the touch of dark horror, as the eye of the Crimson King grows ever more powerful...

The Drawing of the Three really begins to get the tale of the Dark Tower rolling, and once you start it, putting it down will be the real challenge.

Why I picked up the book: I loved Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, and I had to continue the series.

Why I finished it: It is immense and inescapably intriguing.

I'd give this book to: Anyone interested in Stephen King or that has previously read the Dark Tower Series.

My Rating for this book: *****

Kaitlin
10th grade
The Lucky One
By: Nicholas Sparks
This book tells a tale about a young U.S. Marine, Logan Thibault, in Iraq that finds a picture of a young woman. From then on, he has good luck, winning poker games and surviving daily combat. After his tour ends, he sents off cross country on foot to find this girl and thank her for keeping him alive. This book was a very heart warming feel good book, with a few twists here and there. I picked up the book because I have read so many other books of Sparks's that were very well written. I finished this book because I wanted to know if he traveled cross country for nothing, or got what he wanted. I would give this book to anyone looking for a good summer read or a love story.
I give this book 5 stars! *****

This book is also coming out in theaters so hurry and read it then go see the movie!