This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham offers an interesting premise but falls entirely flat in its execution. The novel takes place after a sort of zombie apocalypse called “The Hollowing” that turned a small part of the population into “ghouls”, feral creatures who crave human flesh.
Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby follows Quinn, a high school senior who is coping with the death of her boyfriend Trent. After Trent dies, his organs are donated to many people in need, one being Colton Thomas. Quinn’s sorrow encourages her to find the last remnants of Trent, so she tracks down Colton’s shop near the beach. Without revealing her true intentions for meeting Colton, Quinn and Colton become good friends. As they become closer to each other, Quinn finds it harder to keep her secret.
Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter is a rom com about Liz Buxbaum who is certain the guy she’s going to end up with is Michael, who was the person she’s had a crush on since she was a little girl. Michael never noticed Liz before he moved away. Now that he’s back Liz will do anything to get his attention. Even becoming friends with Wes, her annoying next-door neighbor who bugs her every time he sees her since they were kids.
The Little Prince is a juvenile fiction novel following the story of a young boy dealing with loneliness and struggles with understanding how to grow up, as well as what it truly means to be a child. The unnamed little boy leaves his tiny planet whose only other inhabitant is a singular rose whom he had befriended. He leaves in search of finding out what it means to love.
The Scarlet Letter is a novel that takes place in the 1600s in Boston, Massachusetts. It follows the story of a young woman named Hester Prynne who is being shunned and condemned by the community for committing adultery and has gotten pregnant. An onlooker who had just arrived named Roger Chillingworth asks who Hester is and why she's being publicly shamed, we later learn that it was her husband disguised. The book has much suspense as it follows Hester and how she deals with these hardships with her daughter Pearl.
The story itself is a great representation of a person ostracized by society and his attempts to accept his fate. The narrator tries to understand human societies while ultimately being afraid of human’s altogether, not seeing himself as one of them. He sees them as distant from himself, and he can't seem to understand them "I can't even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being", hence the title, No Longer Human.
I give American Psycho 5 stars. It deals with many adult themes not suitable for children under 14. The book tells the story of a rich investment banker on Wall Street (in New York) named Patrick Bateman. What makes this book so interesting is the way the narrator describes things. Judging from the way he acts the reader can infer that he isn't a reliable narrator. Patrick is a serial killer at night and hides his crimes from everyone.
Slacker by Gordon Korman is a novel that centers on Cameron Boxer. Cameron is your average teenager who hates homework and plays video games. Except, he might be hating homework a bit too much as he does not even bother to do it and instead plays video games for most of his free time because he wants to become a championship gamer. This lifestyle comes to a screeching halt when he is grounded. He almost let his house burn down trying to focus on a game and beat his nemesis.
Because of Mr. Terupt is a novel written by Rob Buyea. The start of fifth grade is here for kids at Snow Hill School. You have your typical set of characters including Jessica, who is new; Peter, class clown; Luke, the smart kid; Alexa, the bully; etc. A normal teacher would have a hard time keeping up with all of them, but not Mr. Terupt. Mr. Terupt is a new teacher who takes a unique approach to his classroom.
When their Grandmother invites them to work on her private island, after mysteriously cutting ties with their parents many years ago, three cousins reluctantly accept. But when they arrive on the island not everything is what it seems. Instead of learning the truth about why their grandma disinherited her children, they are faced with more questions and secrets about the island, their families, and each other.
