Fahrenheit 451 Review

Title: Fahrenheit 451
Author: Ray Bradbury
Pages: 159
Genre: futuristic fiction
Awards: Prometheus Hall of Fame Award and Retro Hugo Award for Best Novel
Rating:

The main character/protagonist of the book is Guy Montag. He’s a pretty average guy. Nothing weird about him happens until one day…one very important character is Faber, you meet Faber after Guy steals books and gets into trouble with the captain of the fire station. The reason he becomes a very important character is, because he’s an old english professor who helps Guy with his certain mission.  The action in the book takes place when the mechanical dog chases after Guy. I otherwise do not find any other part exciting. The book starts out very simple. New Guy named Guy Montag, a fireman. Oh and one other thing firemen in this futuristic time are people that burn all books. Books are now illegal.

During the rising action the fire station has killed an old woman. He decides to go against the rules and he steals a book.  The night after, he does not go to work. Then he finally realizes he doesn’t like the people he works with or his job at all. Captain Beatty came and gave him a speech about how some firemen take books, and after 48 hours, if he does not give the book back they burn the book for him.  The climax happens when he disregards Captain Beatty and goes ahead and keeps the book. Then he meets up with an old english professor, and they talk about books. Then Faber said he wouldn’t help him. Then he started to rip apart the bible.  Faber finally agreed to help him due to him not wanting to see the bible not being torn into pieces. Then, he goes back to his house. He all of a sudden snaps and starts reading sections of a book. Woman started crying. After that, the firemen all started chasing after him. The theme of this book was just because society says it's right doesn’t mean it has to be right. I believe that because Guy Montag went against all of his beliefs to do the right thing all in all.  I did not like the book simply because it was bland and boring. It had a very slow build-up and very slow starting. It also did make much sense to me. I might’ve been reading it wrong. I just do not think a lot of people my age should read it because, it’s hard to understand. The people who would like the book I read are people who enjoy classics. I believe that because of the books age. People who enjoy slow build-up and final outcomes would also enjoy the book.

Contributed by: Eli Dribben   

The Unwanteds Island of Fire

Title: The Unwanteds Island of Fire

Author: Lisa McMann

Pages: 480

Genre: Fantasy

Awards: None at the time of this review

Rating: : 4/5 stars

Although the author tries not to show that the events are in favor of the protagonist she still makes certain events go in favor of the protagonist. The setting is Artimè, outside the walls of quill it is the magical home of the Unwanteds. This affects the story by continuing the book series from where it left off. The beloved mage Mr.Today is dead leaving Artimèans without magic, food, nor water because without Mr.Today nothing of Artimè exists. The action of the book takes place on both Warbler and in Artimè. The main character is Alex Stowe. Alex has three main conflicts. He must bring back Artimè, rescue his friends, and remove the metal thornament from meghan’s neck. Meanwhile, the new High Priest Aaron, Alex’s twin brother, is building his army in the dreary desolate land of quill, preparing for the battle against his brother and the rest of the Unwanteds. The Theme of The Unwanteds Island of Fire is “People change when circumstances change."

Examples:

Meghan raised an eyebrow at his heartfelt admission. It wasn't like him to speak so openly. He seemed so different now. But people change when circumstances change, she knew that well enough from the aftereffects of the purge.

But there came a time when enough was enough, and after what must have been many days, even weeks, she was so tired of holding Samheed’s hand that she sometimes squeezed it very hard to try and get some of her frustrations out.

The crazy thing was that Sam, who was such a hothead when she first met him, didn't seem to mind. He let it happen, knowing there was no other way to express emotions in their mute world. He’d squeeze back, but not like one might expect Samheed to squeeze when angry, so it never hurt Lani. Something had changed in him since his early days in Artimé. He’d grown mellower.”

Alex felt the hopelessness of it all pulling him down, and at the same time a wave of reckless anger rushed up from his collarbone and he threw his hands up in the air. “Well maybe you should be in charge, then. I never wanted this job, you know.” His mouth twisted against his will. “What do you want me to do, anyway? What exactly does everybody expect me to do?”

Cole’s eyes widened in alarm. “Alex…,” he began. “It’s not my fault this happened,” Alex said. “It’s Mr.Today’s fault. How”-his voice quavered with pent up anger-”how could he have done this to us? To all of us? How could he have left Artimé so … so unstable that it would disappear if he died?”

“Calm down, Alex-”

But Alex wouldn’t stop, even though he couldn’t believe his horrible thoughts, his sharp words against their beloved mage. “Don’t tell me to calm down. This is not a calm situation! Answer me-I’m serious. What kind of leader would do that? Did he think he was invincible?” Alex was horrified at himself for asking the questions that has been plaguing him, but he felt helpless to stop them.

Lani and Samheed are prisoners on Warbler island, Artimè is gone leaving the Unwanteds with no food, water, or magic. On the other side of the wall that divides Artimè from Quill, Aaron continues to plan his attack on the Unwanteds. Later, Alex and the rest of the Unwanteds begin to plan the rescue of Lani and Samheed now that they have magic again thanks to Alex. Soon after, the rescue takes place and the people of Warbler fight back but the rescue mission was successful with few casualties and the Unwanteds headed home. Queen Eagala of Warbler does not want to let them escape so she attacks Artime with a fleet of ships and sends children into the fight in order to take back Meghan, Sam, Lani, Crow, and Sky. The battle ended after a while and Artimè won and the ships fled. Now the Unwanteds prepare for the rescue of Sky and Crow’s mother from Pirate Island.

I liked how the author showed a change in the character's personality after an important event such as Samheed being calmer and nice even though he used to be a hothead until he was imprisoned.

I don’t like how the author made Lani less important to Alex because she used to be very important to him, and he even had feelings for her. Now after two months he can’t stop thinking about Sky while Lani is still a prisoner on Warbler Island. While Lani and Sam are imprisoned together they begin having feelings for each other. How could Lani and Alex simply move on so quickly?

I think anyone who read the last two books of this series should read this book or anyone who enjoys reading fantasy books. Although I recommend reading the first two books first, because if you try to start the series at this book, you probably won't understand the plot.

Contributed by: Jacob Griggs

The Hunger Games

This book is part of a trilogy.

Author: Suzanne Collins
Pages: 384
Genre:Action, Adventure, Dystopia
Rating: 5/5 Stars

Hunger Games is all about action and adventure. There’s a huge battle where people are fighting and killing each other to survive the Hunger Games. In Panem,  which is the future ruins of North America, there is a dangerous arena. The arena is made with traps and poisoned foods to help kill tributes. There are two tributes picked out of all 12 districts of Panem to compete in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a competition of life or death in the arena where tributes fight to kill each other. Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old volunteered, tribute out of district 12, took her sister’s spot in the games. The other tribute out of her district was Peeta Mellark. He’s the baker’s son and has revealed his love for Katniss. When the games begin, 11 tributes are already killed on the first day, but Katniss and Peeta survive. During the games, a rule is changed saying two tributes from the same district can win the games as a pair. This actually creates a twist to the story. When Katniss finds Peeta, they team up and Katniss nurses Peeta since he’s injured. However, the rules change again. They have to kill each other in order to win. They both threaten suicide which made the announcer stop them by making them both winners of the Hunger Games. Sacrifice is the theme of The Hunger Games. One major sacrifice was made when Katniss volunteers Prim’s spot in the games. Katniss and Peeta also sacrifice themselves at the end of the games when they threaten suicide. This taught them that sometimes you’ll have to risk your life for someone you really loved or cared about. I liked how this book had mysterious twists to it to make it more interesting. Sometimes it seemed like Katniss was going to die, but she  actually end up killing. When Katniss climbed to the top of a tree a Career tribute was at the bottom with a bow and arrows trying to shoot them at her. Katniss saw a tracker jacker and cut it off of the tree to kill the tribute. Other times were when she had severe  burns or stings, sponsors would send her medicine for them. She had major times of weakness, but was able to stay strong throughout the book. The Hunger Games is suitable for male or female in 7th grade and up. You’ll probably understand and enjoy it if you’re interested in action and adventurous novels since this book is all about action.

Contributed by Khamil Douglas

Boys of Fire and Ash

Author: Meaghan McIsaac
Pages: 352
Lexile: 740
Genre: Adventure, Dystopia, and Fiction
Rating: 3/5 Stars

The setting of the book is in the Ikkuma Pit which is in the forest. This affects the plot because we don't have these places on earth and we don't have children running around in the forest. The protagonists are Urgle, Fiver, Av, Cubby, and Blaze.

The problem in the story is when Cubby, Urgle's little brother, gets abducted by Krepin’s slaves and they have to go get him back. Av is Urgle's closest friend because their big brothers were close friends. Cubby is abducted and they have to leave their territory and have to go find him in the wild and they don't know their way around. 

The book's theme is to never give up and to keep going forward even when things seem impossible. Urgle faced the challenges of almost drowning, almost had his leg amputated, and was close to starving to death. I did not like much of the book only just the theme. What I did not like about the book was that it was too far-fetched, and the ending was really bad. The characters names were too unusual for me to connect to. I would recommend this book to those who like the Hobbit series or to someone that likes adventure with unusually-named characters.

Contributed by Gavyn Dockery