The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down


By: Anne Fadiman
Reviewed by: awesomeVia, 16
Rating: Really liked it


Because I read this book, I learned a lot about Hmong culture and traditions. In the book, there are truly a number of things that can be argued including how ignorant some Americans can be, and how unwilling the Hmong are to changes. Both sides have things that can be agreed or argued with.

Basically, it is about a Hmong girl named Lia Lee who not long after she was born, she then went to an epileptic seizure. After her diagnosis, she then got prescribed to numbers of medications and her parents were not very about that. And then it is a cultural clash with various medical methods and many misunderstandings.
The ending is confusing but seems to end happily.

Go ahead and read the book if you want to learn more about the Hmong culture or if you are interested in medicine or if you want something interesting to argue about.


Recommended to: People interested in Hmong culture, medicine, etc.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


By: J.K. Rowling
Reviewed by: Nani1993, 16
Rating: It was amazing!


After 10 years of reading Harry Potter, of theorizing about the characters and their fates, after watching their favorite books become their favorite movies, the Harry Potter fandom expected a lot from the final book.

J.K. Rowling did not fail to deliver.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows takes on a scope far broader and deeper than any of the preceding books. Taken out of the safe haven of Hogwarts, the trio have to come to terms with their own faults and deal with each other to complete a quest that has spanned seven novels: destroying the Dark Lord.

In portraying the wizarding world at war, J.K. Rowling shows how uniformly human we all are--muggles, wizards and squibs alike. There are certain themes like prejudice and spite that are bound to pop up whether people duel with wands or weapons of mass destruction (if indeed they aren't the same thing).

Though Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the last book in the epic series, the magic of Harry Potter is still very much alive.


Recommended to: ages 11 and up

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince


By: J.K. Rowling
Reviewed by: Nani1993, 16
Rating: Really liked it


This sixth installment of the Harry Potter series serves as a perfect bridge between the fifth and the final seventh. Over the course of the book, we see Harry mature and move progress from his overall angst in Order of the Phoenix. While he moves forward in his own life, he must also journey back with Dumbledore to uncover the Dark Lord's secrets to have any chance of defeating him once and for all. Throughout this all, Harry is helped by his mysterious presence of the Half-Blood Prince. But, is this prince friend or foe? This is just one of the many questions Harry must answer before the end of his sixth year at Hogwarts and his ultimate confrontation with Voldemort.

While there are many serious issues addressed Half-Blood Prince (power, corruption, the implications of murder to name a few), J.K. Rowling also provides comedy and romance to lighten the book so that it does not bear too heavily on younger readers. In allowing her characters to feel so intensely the harrows and joys of teenage love, Rowling makes book six the calm before the storm and lets Harry, Ron, and Hermione just be teens for a few chapters more.


Recommended to: ages 11 and up

The Pentagon Spy

The Pentagon Spy


By: Franklin W. Dixon
Reviewed by: Karthik, 13
Rating: Really liked it


In this classic Hardy Boys story Frank and Joe are about to start helping their dad out on a pentagon spy case when a man that needs help finding his weather vanes comes to them. With their dad's permission they embark on the Weather vane case. As they attempt to find the stolen antique vanes they begin to see a connection between the cases......

Mr.Dixion once again pulls off an amazing story that really grabs the reader and makes them be the charecters off the story. I higly recommend to fans of the series and anyone in general.


Recommended to: anyone

The Curtain Went Up, My Pants Went Down

The Curtain Went Up, My Pants Went Down


By: Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
Reviewed by: Karthik, 13
Rating: It was alright...


This book in the Hank Zipzer series involves hank , a school play, and some long division trouble. Hank has promised his dad he will get a B+ on his next math test or he won’t go out for the play, but he gets a B... will he still participate? Fans of the series will enjoy this book as it is just like the rest, full of laughs which are sprinkled with a touch of suspense. It is an enjoyable and fun read that will make all laugh.


Recommended to:

Dear John

Dear John


By: Nicholas Sparks
Reviewed by: Tina R., 15
Rating: Really liked it


Nicholas Sparks continues his streak of great romances with this novel. John Tyree and Savannah Lynn Curtis form a relationship that is strangely love at first sight. With John always gone because of the service he has to pay for his country, will there relationship last? (At first, this may seem like a cheesy love story about a summer fling, but once you are reading Part II, readers will realize what great depth and thought has to be put into this.) This is a great read in which I highly reccomend!!! You can also give the movie a try!


Recommended to: Sparks' fans

Swindle

Swindle


By: Gordon Korman
Reviewed by: Karthik, 13
Rating: Really liked it


Swindle is a book about the poverty of a lower middle class family and as usual the kids are affected. Here “The man with a plan”( aka Griffin Bang) is determined to get back what was taken from him by a murky collectables dealer who gave him a false price, by about a million dollars and use the money to get his family out of poverty, for good. And all he has to do is pull of a robbery on a house with military security and two vicious dogs, no big deal right? Swindle is a great action story that will keep anybody hooked with plenty of daring operations and surprise. This book is a must read for action fans and will keep you hooked till the last page.


Recommended to: action fans

Princess of Glass

Princess of Glass


By: Jessica Day George
Reviewed by: Annabelle L., 16
Rating: Really liked it


After the whole fiasco with the underground demons who kept Princess Poppy and her eleven other sisters dancing every night till the break of dawn, going to live in Breton seemed easy. She vowed to never put on another pair of dancing slippers, but that social time could be used to win at playing cards and develop a friendship with the visiting, handsome Dane prince Christian.... maybe even more.

In comes Eleanora, once a daughter of the social elite, now turned maid. Allowed to go to the balls provided she find a sponsor for her clothes, she sets her eyes on the prince. So, who's going to win the prince's heart?

Poppy never thought she would delve back into the mystical world of magic, demons, ball gowns, and cinders and special dance slippers [made of glass!], but she takes on this adventure. This time, can she handle it on her own?

This fairytale action/romance story is sort of a continuation of "Princess of the Midnight Ball" the story about the eldest of the sisters. Now it continues with another sister who still remembers the horrors of the curse that was passed down from their mother. Also, elements of Cinderella make the story that much more intriguing with the characters. Poppy, for example, is very forthright and regal that just screams of her nobility and her own elegance that marks her a true princess, witty and sly all the same.

The only thing I wished for was probably more interaction with some of the characters, though many times they provided humor in the scenes that kept you hanging; a truly enjoyable read.


Recommended to: fairytale lovers, teens, princess story lovers, romance/action orientated people

Seven Tears into the Sea

Seven Tears into the Sea


By: Terri Farley
Reviewed by: Yuuki, 14
Rating: It was amazing!


10-year-old Gwen Cooke was beckoned one night to the sea. Along the shores of the beach, she saw a boy dive into a wave. Worried for the sake of the boy, she tried to get to him, calling him to come back. She tripped over a rock underneath the water and nearly drowned.

She woke up, laying onshore. The boy she had been desperately calling out to, the one with dark eyes, helping her get up. Before leaving, he whispers unknown words into her ear and disappears into the sea.

Now 17, Gwen returns back to her home by the sea to help her Nana run their family inn. While she helps her Nana, and with the Midsummer solstice coming around, Gwen must face her destiny, and find out the answer that lays hidden behind the boy she had met 7 years ago, and the words he had whispered into her ear that faithful night.

Also another astonishingly heart-warming book. While reading, there were times when the events in the book seemed to stray from what the story was trying to get to, and it got confusing since there wasn't much information on some of the things that happen, or even some of the characters. Overall, it's a wonderful book.


Recommended to: myth-lovers

Sing Me to Sleep

Sing Me to Sleep


By: Angela Morrison
Reviewed by: Yuuki, 14
Rating: It was amazing!


Beth is known as "the Beast", a tall, ugly, frizzy-haired, zit-faced, glasses-wearing highschool girl whose joy in life centers around her geeky friend Scott and singing. When Bliss, a choir that she sings in, tries to get into the Choral Olympics in Lausanne,Switzerland, she ends up becoming her choir's soprano soloist and gets a makeover that changes her life forever.
While in Switzerland, she meets Derek, a dark, mysterious Amabile choir singer who has fallen in love with her voice. They spend time with each other and it is obvious that Derek's hiding something from her, and Beth wants to find out, but Derek's captivation and persistance keeps her from knowing the truth.
Will she find out about Derek's secret, or will it leave her hurt and in the arms of another?

I was truly drawn to this book! It is such a beautiful book. There are so many twists that I could hardly stand to keep the book down. By the end, I was crying my heart out.


Recommended to: