Aaseng, Nathan.  You are the General.  in the library at 355

ÙÙÙÙÙ Austin J., 8^th grade

     It was good a book but not my favorite.  My favorite thing about it is that you get to make a choice on what is going to happen during the battles. During the battle scenes, the reader gets to guess from a couple choices of what is going to happen. The book is pretty easy. The descriptions of the battles are very good.  Austin recommends this book for people 11 and up.

Achebe,  Chinua.  Things Fall Apart.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Karlena, 12th grade

     Chinua Achebe really made you feel like you were living in the same village as Okonkwo’s family. The book tells the ups and downs and how he strives on being better than his father. Okonkwo vowed to be everything his father was not. He wanted to be respected and make up for everything his father wasn’t. 

      The book is very interesting. Comparing now to then is totally different, not only how they do things, but their beliefs. They believe in several wives, killing other people, every person had their own god.

Adams, Douglas.  Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.   New York : Random House.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Miranda M., senior 

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy begins as Earth is destroyed to make way for a galactic highway.  The main characters, Arthur Dent, a sappy Earthling, and Ford Prefect, a stranded alien, are the only ones to survive.  After a series of unexplained, but totally random coincidences they are transported to a stolen spaceship, which is being operated by two beings that Arthur and Ford already know.  This quartet of misfits are chased from one side of the universe to the other by everyone from poetry loving, torture-driven aliens, to mice, which by some strange coincidence, were the rulers of Earth.  It’s like nothing I’ve ever read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  However, it does require a certain taste for sarcasm and sporadic spouts of nonsensical humor.  

Adams, Richard.  Watership Down.  New York: Avon Books.

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Alcott, Louisa May.  Little Women. 

Alexander, Lloyd.  The Black Cauldron.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Jason, junior 

The Black Cauldron is an exiting fantasy story.  Taran is the main character in this story, he is a young man that is always looking for adventure.  Taran had been assigned to destroy the dreaded cauldron along with other warriors.  The black cauldron is a big black pot that is producing evil soldiers out of other dead soldier's bodies.  They got to Arrawn's stronghold where they would seize the cauldron.  However, when they got there the cauldron is not there.  There is much fighting and excitement to destroy the cauldron.  Recommended by Jason for people 12 and up~

Alexander, Robert.  The Kitchen Boy.  

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 Alexander, Larry.  Biggest Brother.  Nal Caliber.

  Biggest Brother is a book about Richard Winters, the commander of Easy Company during WWII. The book pretty much tells his whole life story, but is mainly focused on the war. What sets Winters apart from other leaders is that he cares about his men and knows their life is in his hands. He takes great pride in being a good leader and showing his men he’s there for them. The book also talks about his jobs and tough situations after the war. It also talks about how Winters all of a sudden got famous in 2001 when HBO released the famous mini-series Band of Brothers. He received fan mail everyday and toured the states speaking to schools and other people about leadership. He also got to meet the president multiple times and become close friends with Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and the actors who portrayed him and his buddies in Band of Brothers. I would recommend this book to anyone who has seen Band of Brothers or is interested in WWII.

Amery, Heather. Greek Myths for Young People.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Danielle

     Obviously, this book tells numerous Greek myths. Being very interested in Greek mythology, I enjoyed this book a lot. 

     When the reader is reading this book, they may seem to think that it is a book for children. It may be, but it just tells the stories in a more fun, easy way. 

     It’s a great read for anyone who is looking for something short, fun, and easy. 

 Ambrose, Stephen E. Band of Brothers. Simon & Schuster   

Band of Brothers is the true story about the men of Easy Company during WWII. The book follows them from the beginning of basic training at  Camp Toccoa in  Georgia, to  Europe, and finally to their present resting places. It gets five stars because the action is in depth and it explains why they used the tactics they did. The book also makes each soldier’s personality life like, which makes it easy to remember who is who in the book. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading about WWII or anyone who liked the Band of Brothers mini-series, as it was based on this book.

Anderson, Kevin and Doug Beason.  Assemblers of Infinity.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Mr. Greenlee.

In the near future, a strange and deadly device is discovered on the far side of the Moon.  It is growing, building itself with nano-techonolgy. Do we wait and find out what it is, or destroy it while we still can?  

Anderson, Laurie Halse.  Catalyst.

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ÙÙÙÙÙ Hailey B., 9th grade 

I thought this book was fairly decent; the things that happened were so real that I felt like I was part of the book. I don’t think I would have liked to be in the main character’s shoes though, because I don’t think I would be able to handle all of the stress.

 Anderson, Laurie Halse.  Fever.  

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ÙÙÙÙÙ Miranda M., senior 

Fever was a very interesting book.  It’s based in the 1700’s, and is narrated through a teenage girl whose town goes through a deadly epidemic.  Neighbors and farmers flee the town and all the homes and businesses are ransacked.  The park is now used as a mass burial ground, and this novel is about how this young girl has to deal with it all by herself.

Anderson, Laurie.  Speak.

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ÙÙÙÙÙ Maggie, 8th grade

 Melinda Sordino had good friends and was pretty popular all through middle school until she goes to a party at the end of the summer and gets in a bad situation and she ends up calling the cops. Now she is going into high school and everyone is mad at her for ruining the party. She has to go through high school alone and afraid. This book wasn’t hard to read for me, it is a good book for any teenager girl. I would recommend it.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Jane, eighth grade 

     In a world where it seems like no one understands you, keeping quiet doesn’t help.  The main character, Mel, called the cops on the end of the summer party, and spends a year regretting it.  She went from just going into the “cool group” to being the most avoided in the school.  For me, this book put me in an all-too-real situation, I felt like I was right there with Mel.  It’s was an easy read for me, and I would recommend it to an age group of about 7th grade on up to 9th, for content and difficulty.  Will Mel tell her secret, or keep quiet, and stay the school outcast?

ÙÙÙÙÙ Shelbie M. , eighth grade 

       This book would be one I would recommend .A girl is popular in middle school and now her first year of high school, she calls the cops on the end of the summer party.  No one likes her anymore .People are throwing her stuff on the floor, pulling her hair, and making her life miserable just because she called the cops.  However, she didn’t really call the cops on the party.  There is something else…

ÙÙÙÙÙ Kate, ninth grade 

Melanie Sordino lives in fear. She’s afraid to express her feelings to her parents or her teachers. She’s afraid to tell her ex-best friend, Rachel, what really happened the night of the party and why she called the cops. She’s afraid to give any effort to make friends. She’s afraid to speak out.

Throughout the year events in Melanie’s life cause her to become more scared. With the help of only herself, she learns to find her voice.

Recommended by Emma for teenage girls and boys

Melinda Sordino started her freshman year of high school as an outcast. Not one person in her school would talk to her or even look at her without a disgusted look on there face. It turns out Melinda called the cops on end of the summer party and got a lot of people in trouble. Melinda has no desire to speak to anyone after the incident. She doesn't have any friends to talk to and she doesn't communicate well with her family. Melinda is the only person who knows the real reason of why she called the police and she can't tell anybody. She goes through her whole freshman year as and outcast not talking hiding in the janitor's closet using it as her safe haven. All she did was eat, sleep, and observe. When reading this book you are getting the story from Melinda's point of view. When you read you are in her depressed sad mind and you wonder if she will ever speak her mind.  

 ÙÙÙÙÙ Mr. Greenlee  

This is a book that is funny as well as sad, and I enjoyed her biting sarcasm at the teachers, other students, structure of school, and life itself.    

 Anderson, Lynn Jodi. Peaches.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Adrienne, 8th grade 

Friends can help you get through anything: tragedies, heartbreaks, triumphs, and happiness.  When friends like this are found, life is wonderful.  But what happens when these kinds of friends are forced to grow apart? Well, for Leeda, Murphy, and Birdie, they were faced with this situation.  This story takes you on a journey through a wonderful friendship of three very different girls. This is a good book and I recommend it to younger girls.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Danielle, 10th grade

     At first, this book may seem a little slow to most people. It drones on for a while about each of the three girls separately. After a while it brings them together. 

     Murphy, Birdie, and Leeda are all quite different people. Murphy, the punk/trouble maker, Leeda, the prep, and Birdie, the quiet shy one. Once the girls all get doomed to working on the peach farm they learn to over come their differences and become great friends. 

     They help each other through family problems and boy problems, becoming great support for each other. 

     This book greatly shows how well people can come together when they learn to look past someone’s image. It was a great, easy, and fast read. 

 Anderson, Sherwood.  Winesburg, Ohio.  

Strange, somewhat interlocking tales of the strange people of a small town.  

 Angelou, Maya.  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.  New York: Bantam Books.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Mr. Greenlee

This book is considered a classic of modern autobiography, but readers should be warned that this book contains at least one disturbing scene.  

 Anonymous (Beatrice Sparks).  Go Ask Alice.  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Hailey B., 9th grade 

I thought this was a particularly good book because most of the things that occurred were things that could occur in real life. It wasn’t really a good book for the younger age to read since it talked a lot about how these teens get addicted to drugs and such, but for older readers it’s alright. Older people have the ability to read about something and then be able to keep that out of their life, while younger people are curious and they want to know what it’s all about, so they try it out.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Morgan, 10th grade  

Go Ask Alice is a good story of how drugs influence every aspect of a person’s life. In this case it is a real life diary of a young girl who gets hooked on drugs. She ends up running away and has to deal with adult decisions on her own. She realizes that this way of life is not the way to go and faces the challenge of resisting drugs everywhere she turns. She realizes that getting out of the drug scene is harder than she thought. This book is real and takes you almost day by day of the life of a young drug user and how she has to deal with the every day challenges of life and drugs together. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Caleb S, Eleventh grade  

This book is the Diary of a young girl.  It tells the trials and temptations that a young girl, growing up during the hippie era, goes through.  It shows the unimagined things that teens faced back then and even now.  I would recommend this book for anyone at least fifteen.  Also I would recommend this to someone that enjoys reading about people.  This book is a diary and sometimes it can be a little graphic.    

ÙÙÙÙÙ Tymon, 9th grade 

Aliceto drugs.  Her life goes downhill from there.  It pretty much is a book that explains how bad drugs are, but it isn’t like any other anti-drug book.  It makes it so kids can relate to what could happen if they started using drugs.  It is really not suitable for anyone under 8^th grade. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Marie, 8th grade 

This diary tells the story about a young girl who is going through many problems. At the age of fifteen she starts doing drugs getting addicted. She tries to stop, but when she goes to parties, she can’t resist. Eventually she takes it too far. She ends up in a mental hospital. Go Ask Alice was a very good book. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read an honest book about a teenager’s life.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Michael, 10th Grade

ÙÙÙÙÙ Robert Chmb, 10th Grade 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Darcy, 10th Grade  

ÙÙÙÙÙ Michi, 10 grade 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Arial, ninth grade 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Danielle, ninth grade 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Melissa, senior 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Scott R., junior

ÙÙÙÙÙ Jason P., senior 

Asgedom, Mawi.  The Code. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Robert Chf

  The Code is about a man name Mawi who found out the five secrets to success.  He was born in Ethiopia and soon moved to America , his family was poor and barely lived on welfare. Mawi Talks about his life and how he used the code to have the best life he could have. This book is a very good book. I could not put it down. I suggest this book to people who want to improve their lifes.

Auel, Jean.  Clan of the Cave Bear.  

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 Austen, Jane.  Emma.

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Characters

 Austen, Jane.  Mansfield Park.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Mr. Greenlee

This is probably my least favorite Jane Austen.  The lack of dramatization and emphasis on narrative makes it more distant than her masterpiece, Pride and Prejudice.  Still, it wasn't a bad novel, and I did find myself captured by it, but it took much longer.  Her other books set a high expectation.  

 Austen, Jane. Persuasion.  

 Austen, Jane.  Pride and Prejudice.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Kate, 11^th Grade

Set in the 18^th century, Pride and Prejudice is a lovely novel that deals with marriage, family matters, pride, romance, and growing up. The story is about Elizabeth, the second born of the five Bennet daughters, and the pressure on her to get married. The arrival of the young and wealthy bachelor Charles Bingley and his friend Fitzwilliam Darcy adds to the plot of Austen’s tale. As Jane, the eldest of the Bennet family, and Mr. Bingley fall in love, stubborn Elizabeth and the egocentric Mr. Darcy are having their own affairs. They seem to not care for one another, yet they can’t stop thinking about each other. They each have to adjust to humility, adapt to compatibility, and learn how to love without pride or prejudice.

Austen’s way of writing was somewhat slow for me, but I truly enjoyed the content of the book. The characters seem real. Even though the setting is in the 1700s, the characters’ actions and emotions are very familiar. I can relate the parts of the plot to present day situations.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Mr. Greenlee 

Jane Austen’s writing is simply the best – if someone had given me the slightest rundown of this plot or these characters I would never have read it.  I fully admit to being a Tolkien, Hemingway, Wells, and London reader.  I fully admit that in real life I would probably be disgusted by the way these people marginalize those beneath them, and that I would think their affairs petty.  So why do I love this book?  Because Austin can make these characters real, and make the reader feel what they feel. 

 Austen, Jane  Sense and Sensibility.  

Avi.  The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.  New York: Orchard Books. 

ÙÙÙÙÙ Mr. Greenlee

A young girl crossing the Atlantic during colonial days at first admires the ship’s captain, who reminds her of her father.  During the voyage, however, she discerns that he is evil, and she helps the crew mutiny against him.  She becomes a sailor, just like the men.  This is the weak part of the novel – these old salts immediately accept her as one of their own.  Well written, this novel immediately draws the reader both into the plot and into identification with the protagonist. 

 Avi.  Nothing but the Truth.

ÙÙÙÙÙ Shelbie M., eighth grade

     Phillip, the main character, in this book right from the beginning seems real. For example the author had him talking like he is a real kid and not everything he says is correctly spoken and when he gets mad because the teacher kicked him out of class. At the beginning of each day, his school plays the “Star Spangled Banner.” In the middle of the year, they switch teachers, and the new one doesn’t like him singing. She says that it is against the school rules, so she sends him to the office. After the second time of getting sent to the office, he gets suspended. This book shows how a school can’t take people’s rights away and this boy is here to prove it.