The Fault In Our Stars

I've gotten on the bandwagon...and can see how this got so famous! I've read...

                          

The Fault In Our Stars,by John Green
 Rating:Five Stars

  Most know the basic plot of the book,but for those who are living in plastic bubbles,I'll give you it anways.  Hazel is a girl with a lung cancer that will be her final chapter. She spends her days reading and watching TV shows with her Mom while hooked up to a constant supply of oxygen. She goes to a cancer club,where she meets a boy called Augustus. They fall in love and the rest of the book would be a spoiler!

This book was well written and heart wrenching,with a touch of what it means to live. I loved this book and finished it in 2 days. The only thing I have to pick a bone at is that they fall in love too quickly to be in real life. It's like they meet,hang out once,and fall in love. That may be enough to develop a crush,but I really doubt true love could blossom this fast.Other than that, The Fault In Our Stars deserves the hype and now I really want to see the movie. I recommend TFIOS to people who like romance,video games,or people that are dealing with a cancer of their own. 

Olive's Ocean

I really need to post more often. Now I have tons of books to review. At least this one will be of my checklist...


                                          

Olive's Ocean,by Kevin Henkes

Genre:Realistic Fiction

Awards:Newberry Honor

 Rating: 4 stars

      The book starts when a girl in Maria's class gets killed in a car crash. The girl's name was Olive. One day,Maria gets a page from Olive's diary. Olive thinks that Maria was the nicest girl in the class. Soon after,Maria goes to her Grandmother's house near the ocean. She does this every year,but some things seem different. Maria tries to have fun,but she can't get Olive out of her mind. 

    I paraphrased the paragraph above.Sure, Maria thinks about Olive once or twice during the story,but the real plot seems to be about family troubles and a crush on one of the boys across the street.  I thought that this could be a slightly sad novel about how Maria's best friend,Olive was killed in a car crash and she now has only remnants of her friend though a diary. Not the case. Maria barely knows Olive's name,and she gets one page of the diary.This was a good book,just not what I thought it was about.    

My Award: Biggest Misnomer

Look for the next post: Double Identity 

 

The Underneath

Okay...I'm really bad at writing blogs,mainly because I can't seem to remember to write any posts! But here's another attempt! Introducing...

                                        
                                                   The Underneath,by Kathi Appelt 
       


Rating:Five Stars
Awards:National Book Award Finalist, Newberry Honor
Genre: Fantasy


   The Book starts with a pregnant  tabby cat that has just been dumped into a forest and abandoned by a family she thought loved her. One day,she hears the sound of a lonely Bloodhound. This Bloodhound called Ranger is abused by the cruellest man alive. His name is Gar Face,and he's an ugly man that loves to hunt alligators. When the momma gives birth two the kittens,she names them Puck and Sabine. Ranger And Momma constantly tell the kittens to never go outside-or risk becoming alligator bait for Gar Face! One Day,Puck steps outside-a big mistake. Puck and Momma get captured and thrown into the river. They get separated,and Puck needs to find his way back to Ranger. Now,this sounds like realistic fiction. Then there's the other half of the book. The trees have a secret language, and the alligator Gar Face hunts is 100 feet long and 1000 years old. There is also short chapters about a half woman half serpent that has been trapped in a jar for WAY to long to be real.
   This book is absolutely amazing! It is very peaceful,and even action parts somehow sounds poetic. Kathi is an artist of literature,and you will read this book is record time! The only way to explain this is from a part of the book:
This piney woods forest in far East Texas is wet and steamy. Take a step and your footprint will fill with water. Look up,and you will barely see the sky,only small blue puzzle pieces,blocked by ancient trees. It is hidden,this place,and so are the traces of civilization.  OR THE SNAKE PART : But despite her affection for the alligator king,she longed for her own kind...Here in the swampy forest,there were millions of snakes...but there was no lamia (half human,half serpent) Ahh..lamia,half serpent half human.Blood that ran both cold and hot. 

My Award: Most Poetic Novel

 

New Features

I have some trademarks of my posts,usually with a small introduction,then a picture of the book. I go on to explain the book,then review it. But now,I am adding two new features!

1.I will name the genre of the books. I will also have the label Teacher's Choice if this was read by a teacher,and mention any awards the book has received.

2.The book will receive it's own award,such as: Most Creative. Let's say there are two books. I name book A the funniest. Then I read Book B,and it's even funnier! Book A will be changed to Funniest Book-2nd Place.

What do you think of these ideas? Let me know in the comments!

Escape From Warsaw

The following book is one that my teacher read to us.We finished it 3 days ago. Introducing....
                               Escape From Warsaw,by Ian Serrillier

Rating:3 and a half Stars

  The book begins with the story of a man named Joseph Baliki and how he escaped from a death camp in World War II. His wife was sent to a labouring camp. They left behind 3 children and a friend. Ruth,the oldest of the four must take on responsibility as mother. Edek,a boy scout with a strong will. Bronia,a sweet and caring toddler. Jan, who Joseph met,and loves thievery and animals.When Jan brings a message that their father was heading the Switzerland,the children go on a journey. Leaving their home town in Warsaw,they endure seperation,soldiers,and sickness.
  Escape From Warsaw goes by slowly,using lots of detail,sometimes too much. But you do get attached to the characters,and want to encourage them. This is also just a book out of thousands,the one that your teacher chooses to read. There was nothing much to make it stand out from other book on World War II,but I do believe that it is a small book worth reading. Also,this book is also called The Silver Sword,so you have two titles to look out for! On my next post,I will be reviewing another teacher's choice,so look out! 

Extras

Here is the final book in the Uglies series...

  Extras,by Scott Westerfeld

Rating:Five Stars 

    It's been 5 years after Tally Youngblood brought down new Pretty Town and it's secret. A whole new world has formed. Everyone is ranked and has a place in society. This rank is based of your feed,the new type of social media. People have TVs,and each channel is a person. You have a hovercam that follows you around,and you can record everything you do,to feeding your cat to going to parties on the cam. The #1 most popular person is Tally,and she doesn't even live in the cities,but in the woods,fighting off people who want to start cutting down trees. There are 4 types of people in this world. Surge Monkeys, who go through radical altering surgeries to get views. Kickers,who record other people and talk about them.Tech Heads,people who invent great new things. Extras,who are in the background. They are unpopular,and have low face ranks. Aya is an Extra,with a sad face rank of 451,369. She's trying to hit fame as a kicker,but nobody really watches. One night,Aya meets a group of girls that have found a way to ride 200 mph trains. They keep their face ranks low on purpose. If Aya kicks this story,she'll be a legend. But there are some complications. She must find a way to capture a video secretly. And right when things,can't get better,they go so bad Tally herself makes her way to find Aya. 

       Scott sure has a lot of worlds in his head! This was so interesting,and the face rank system isn't bad or hiding something,but rather a creative lifestyle. There were plot twists that were super unimaginable,and kept me glued to the book. The face rank confused me at first,because I thought the higher the number,the more popular. That's not the case. But this was a great book,and I am sad this is the last of the series. Read this book if you like:social media,hate pollution,animé,and radical honesty(read the book to find out)!

Specials

I'm here with the third piece in the Uglies series! Take a look at...

    

Specials, by Scott Westerfeld

Rating:4 stars

 

   Tally's friend Shay has turned her into a Special. Specials are pretty much superhuman. Their senses are 1,000 times stronger than a normal human,and super fast. They are pretty,but in a terrifying way that sends shivers down everyone's back that see them. Tally remembers being a rebel Ugly and the reason why. But now Tally knows that this secret is here to protect humanity. Now it's her that fights the rebels and almost always wins single handedly. There's only one problem with this life. Her boyfriend,Zane,was not turned into a Special,and Tally cannot look into his pretty face without being disgusted. She and Shay create a plan that will make Zane impossible to deny as Special material. But the plan goes wrong with a security breach and Tally's world think a neighbouring area is starting war. Realizing her mistake,Tally travels to San Diego,where people can go through any surgery they want. With some more Special arrivals (get it?) San Diego thinks the Specials are too dangerous and must go through a surgery to remove their powers. They even remove the creator of the Specials,one herself. Tally is the last to be transformed back,but she escapes. The book ends here with a large cliffhanger!

   This book was a bit slower than her sister's. The plot goes slowly at some parts,but at other's,there are huge plot twists! The book itself is interesting,with high speed chases and brutal defeats. Each chapter leaves you wanting more. I think that this world is very interesting,and if I had multiple lives,I would spend one here. this left me wondering what I would be,so I took an online test:Ugly,Pretty,Smokie,or Special? The results say I'm a Pretty,so my life here wouldn’t be as interesting as,say,Tally's,but the test says I'll enjoy it! 

Here is the link to your own quiz. What did you get?Share for Ugly,Comment for Pretty,+1 for Smokie,and Subscribe for Special.

Uglies Quiz