The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer is a mystery novel with complex twists and turns. Abby Goodwin has always been the overprotective sister. Saving her sister, Maya, was almost like a part-time job for her. Unfortunately, as they grew up and matured, they started drifting apart. One day, Abby finds Jefferson Andrews, the popular, the smart, and the “perfect” boy at their high school dead. As she slowly unravels and follows the trails of clues, everything points to Maya and everyone suspects Maya.
Olive Torres is and has always been notoriously unlucky. From getting stuck in a claw machine to getting fired from her job to being struck by lightning, it seems like something bad always manages to happen to her. So, it should come as no surprise when Olive is forced to go on her sister’s honeymoon with Ethan Thomas, her longtime archnemesis and sworn enemy, when a nasty bout of food poisoning takes out nearly everyone at the wedding. But posing as a married couple is a small price to pay for ten days of paradise in Hawaii, and all Olive and Ethan have to do is survive each other.
Cecila’s life was going well, until one day. She fell, and when she woke up she could not hear anything. She became deaf out of the blue. She had to go to a deaf school, and learn, which was hard for her. Instead she got a hearing aid, and she gets to go back to a normal school. But it did not feel as normal for Cecila. She looked different with the hearing aid, and it was harder for her to make friends. Do you think she will have a good and fun school year? Read El Deafo to find out!!
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton provides a look into what teenage life looked like in the 60’s in America. A book targeted towards teens, The Outsiders tries to capture a more accurate perspective on these children. Almost sixty years have passed since its release, however, meaning that most of the book is not applicable to today’s society.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiography by Maya Angelou. The story revolves around a young girl named Marguerite, who is also known as Maya Angelou, the author. Marguerite lives in Stamps, Arkansas. She is a black girl, living with her Uncle Willie and her grandmother, who she soon calls Momma. Marguerite has one brother named Bailey.
The fifth book in George R.R. Martin’s famous A Song of Ice and Fire series was just okay. This novel is essentially a repeat of the events from A Feast for Crows but from different characters’ perspectives. I was excited to revisit some of my favorite characters that I didn’t get to hear from in the last book, but they didn’t really add anything to the story. Daenerys had the most exciting scenes, in my opinion, but even she didn’t further the storyline; basically, in over 1,000 pages, nothing was accomplished.
Dragonslayer follows the story of three children and their experiences with dragons in the land of Pyrrhia. Wren was left by her village as a sacrifice for the dragons. She runs away and finds a lost dragon, and the two of them travel the world together. Leaf is distraught by her sister being eaten by dragons, and swears revenge against them. He sets out to become a dragonslayer and protect humans from what happened to his sister. Ivy thinks her father, Dragonslayer, is not trustworthy.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is a story about friendship in the face of adversary, a story about loyalty to others, a story about destiny. Tolkien’s world building and character development is extremely well executed. Bilbo Baggins as a character works extremely well with the obstacles presented to him and the characters that he meets, allowing the reader to get engaged with the story and with Bilbo.
Every year, teams of kids compete against each other to see which team can frighten people. But, the kids are all going to lose, because the haunted house has awakened. The house will eat everyone and will not be happy until it does. Even though it started as a game, it will not end like one.
Animal Farm by George Orwell is a metaphor for human society and a commentary on the communist governments of the pre-Cold War era. A bold novel opposing some of the pro-communism sentiment in the country at the time, Animal Farm tells the story of the USSR and other communist countries from the viewpoint of the citizens within, and the ones that control from above.
