Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets Review and Literary Analysis

Title: Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 341
Genre: Fantasy 
Rating: 5/5 stars
Contributed by Amy Pumm

J. K. Rowling's magnificent Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets teaches much more than how to transfigure animals into teacups and the adventures of the fishy new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Lockheart. In fact, the popular book teaches many important life lessons and controversial topics. Harry, forced to spend his summer holidays with his miserable aunt and uncle, gets a real shock when he gets a surprise visitor: Dobby the house-elf, who warns Harry Potter that if he returned to Hogwarts, terrible things were going to happen. Harry decides to ignore Dobby's warning and goes anyway, but at Hogwarts, there are strange and terrible things happening. Harry is suddenly hearing mysterious voices from inside the walls, Muggle-Born students are being attacked, and a message scrawled on the wall in blood puts everyone on their guard. While readers may find many themes within the various plot twists and heart wrenching secrets, one theme is prominent throughout the book: Fear of differences creates discrimination. There were two main types of the theme: Fear of differences that people don’t understand, and fear of being different.

In Rowling’s book Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, the theme that discrimination is created by fear of differences is evident, particularly in the fear of being different. Early in the book, when Harry is at the Dursley's having dinner he mentions the simple world ‘magic’, and the house erupts in panic. The Dursley’s scream and cower from the world, and Vernon goes so far as to punish Harry for his mistake of saying the forbidden word. “Mr. Dursley jumped to his feet, veins throbbing in his temples. ‘I meant ‘please’!’ said Harry quickly.  ‘I didn’t mean -’ ‘WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU,’ thundered his uncle, spraying spit over the table, ‘ABOUT SAYING THE ‘M’ WORD IN OUR HOUSE?’”(2). Uncle Dursley’s response to Harry even mentioning the word “magic” shows how frightened Mr. Dursley was of Harry and the wizarding world. Because of his fear, Mr. Dursley bullies in an attempt to control a power that he doesn’t have and can’t understand. The root of his prejudice was clearly from fear of Harry’s differences - in other words his magical ability that the Dursley’s didn’t understand. Though,the Dursleys abuse of Harry is inexcusable, their fear of the wizarding world is justifiable. Many dark wizards such as Voldemort and the Death Eaters abuse their power and use it to not only harm wizards, but also non-wizards who had nothing to do with the wizarding world. Later in the book, when Harry dueled Malfoy in the dueling club Lockheart set up, Harry said something in Parseltongue. Many people  panicked and assumed that Harry was a bad wizard because he could speak in Parseltongue, even though he was really only trying to stop the snake from attacking Justin. “I heard you speaking Parseltongue,” said Ron.  “Snake language. You could have been saying anything - it was creepy, you know -”(196). Parseltongue exemplifies the old saying that fear comes from lack of knowledge. At Hogwarts, everyone hears Harry saying things they don't understand, so they automatically assume the worst: that he's encouraging  the snake to attack Justin Finch-Fletchley. But why do people consider Parseltongue an evil gift? Most likely because many of well known evil wizards speak Parseltongue, but that doesn’t mean that everyone who is a Parseltongue is evil. Soon after, Harry tries to find Justin to apologize that he scared him, and explain that all he was really doing was telling the snake not to attack.  When he goes to the library trying to find Justin, he overhears a group of Hufflepuffs spreading rumors that he is a dark wizard. “He’s a parselmouth.  Everyone knows that’s the mark of a dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself a serpent-tongue”(199). Hogwarts fears Harry because he can do things that are different that they can’t understand, which makes him different so they react with prejudice and anger towards him by spreading rumors. Taken as a whole, these examples illustrate that fear of differences that people don’t understand can lead to discrimination, which supports to my overall theme that fear of differences lead to prejudice.

As stated earlier, there are many examples of the theme fear of differences creates discrimination in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, especially fear of being seen as different. In the beginning of the book, Harry accidentally goes to Knockturn alley instead of Diagon alley. He finds himself in a creepy looking shop and hears Mr. Malfoy and Draco entering the shop, so he hides. While Harry is hiding he overhears Draco talking badly about him but Mr. Malfoy stops Draco. Mr. Malfoy, who works at the ministry, doesn't want to be seen as different for not liking the hero Harry Potter. “‘...everyone thinks he's so smart, wonderful Potter with his scar and his broomstick—’ ‘You have told me this at least a dozen times already,’ said Mr. Malfoy, with a quelling look at his son. ‘And I would remind you that it is not – prudent – to appear less than fond of Harry Potter, not when most of our kind regard him as the hero who made the Dark Lord disappear…’”(50). This conversation between Draco and Lucius Malfoy reveals that even powerful people are afraid of being different. Mr. Malfoy is clearly concerned about appearing socially correct. What his actual feelings about Harry might be doesn't really matter, because he doesn't want the ministry to think he’s different. Later, Harry supposedly sets the snake on Justin Finch-Fletchy, he decides to go apologize for scaring him and explain that he was really just warding off the snake. He decides to go to the library to find Justin when he overhears a group of Hufflepuffs spreading rumors about him and calling him evil. “No one knows how he survived that attack by You-Know-Who … He should have been blasted into smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark wizard could have survived a curse like that ...That’s probably why You-Know-Who wanted to kill him in the first place. Didn’t want another Dark Lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers Potter’s been hiding?”(198). Harry’s differences cause others to distance themselves from him because even he is different from the rest of the wizarding world. That’s significant because it’s already different itself. The group of Hufflepuffs Harry overheard talking about him were explaining that Justin was afraid that Harry would do something to him ever since he told Harry that he was Muggle-born. “...Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let it slip to Potter that he was Muggle-born”(198). Justin had feared that people wouldn't like or persecute him because he was different - because he was Muggle-born. And he was right, despite the fact that it wasn't Harry that did it. These examples show that fear of being different lead to prejudice, which connects to my overall theme that fear of differences create discrimination.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is not so different from the real world. In all truth, we are facing some of the same challenges of the book today, such as discrimination. This makes it even more important to truly learn and understand the theme that differences create discrimination. By doing so, we hopefully won’t make the same mistakes that the characters did in the book. Others might claim that some of the characters in the book in fact did not make a mistake at all. As stated earlier, the Dursleys' fear of the wizardry world is justifiable. Many dark wizards such as Voldemort and the Death Eaters abuse their power and use it on innocent wizards and non-wizards who had nothing to do with the wizardry world. Because of this, it can be argued that fear of others isn’t bad at all, in fact it may even protect you from harm, alas it isn’t true. However, fear of others only creates more fear itself which leads to prejudice which will create violence if escalated far enough, which is exactly what we want to avoid. Many people in the book experienced discrimination because of their differences, such as the mudbloods being persecuted for not being pure-blood or Harry, for being blamed for the terror at Hogwarts. Truthfully, the chaos at Hogwarts made things worse, people started placing blame wildly and blindly, particularly on anyone who was different from themselves, and who could do think they couldn’t even understand. This caused widespread panic, hatred and discrimination throughout the school.  All and all, fear of other's differences and fear of being different yourself proved to be a difficult problem at Hogwarts. In Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets and the real world, discrimination is caused because of people’s fear of differences.

I rate this book 5/5 due to it is one of my all-time favorite series and books!

Steelheart Review

Title: "Steelheart"
Author: Brando Sanderson
Pages: 416
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5 stars

"Steelheart" is a fun adventurous series starter. The main character, David Charleston, is relatable and funny. The plot manages to be dark and serious, but keep its light-hearted core, and have a touch of mystery. If you don't relate to David, you'll sync up with one of the others. Tia, Abraham, Cody, Megan, and Prof are fun characters that work off each other wonderfully. The setting is dark and moody, with a sense of urgency. Follow the Reckoners through Newcago as they work to take down the tyrant Steelheart and his lackeys, Nightwielder, Firefight, and Conflux. They're up against the clock, and tensions run high, but the pace never lets up and the thrill runs through the whole book. A plot twist will leave you reeling with shock, and sudden emotional turns will make your tears stain the pages. The following two books, Firefight and Calamity, stick with this style. With a fun dystopian setting and crazy possibilities, "Steelheart" is an amazingly tense and an overall great book for everyone. I would rate it 5.5 stars, and I would read again!

Contributed by Artur Breternitz

Ask No Questions

Title: Ask No Questions
Author: Marina Budhos
Pages: 159
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Rating: 4.5/5 stars


The book is realistic fiction because it was based on something that could’ve happened in the time of 9/11. The story takes place in New York a little bit after the events of 9/11. The main character and her family are Muslims and as most Muslims in America at the time, they were discriminated and incriminated for nothing just because they were Muslims. The protagonist is Nadira, a 14 year old Muslim from Bangladesh with her family. She’s constantly compared to her prodigy of an older sister and is made fun of because of her weight. The biggest conflict she faces is when her father is detained at the Canadian border for having an expired visa card and being an illegal immigrant. Abba is Nadira’s and Aisha’s father, he’s funny and makes sure Nadira knows he’s proud of her every chance he gets. Then there’s Aisha, Nadira’s older sister who is the top of her class, classical straight A student who likes to bully her younger sister.

The theme in my book is; one person doesn’t represent a whole entire group of people. In the time of 9/11, all Muslims were viewed as terrorists, some people still think all Muslims are terrorists today. They were treated badly, and some were arrested for no reason. I like how brave Nadira was, she spoke in a courtroom in her father’s defense at 14 years old. I didn’t like how it didn’t show them being excluded by other groups, Nadira wasn’t bullied at schools, Aisha had college interviews. It seems like they were just an average completely American family except they weren’t.

I think the people who still think that Muslims are terrorists should read this book to understand the struggles they went through, or ask an adult Muslim what it was like to go to school as a known Muslim. I don’t feel it was fast enough, it was too slow for a book that was only 159 pages long, which is why I gave it 4.5 stars.

The Beyonders Book Review

Title: The Beyonders

Author: Brandon Mull

Pages: 450 pages

Genre: Action/Adventure

Ratings: 4/5 stars

#1 New York Times Bestseller

The setting of my book is a medieval world and it fits the storyline perfectly. Manly because it sets up the characters having to do quests for the people of the world. The main character’s name is Jason and his main objective is to get home. But along the way he meets another outsider just like him from earth named Rachel. Together they form a romantic relationship. The entire story starts out with Jason working at a zoo and he falls in the hippo cage while cleaning it. Instead of him dying though he gets transported to a new world. Once he was in the new world the first thing he found was a library with the keeper of all knowledge. The keeper told him that his way back was to kill the evil emperor by finding a word within the world and if said in his presence would kill him. He and Rachel soon find each other and set out on their quest to find the word. Then entire middle of the book is when they find the book and then they find the emperor. Jason took his opportunity and said the word in front of him but it didn't work. This was huge because once he said the word and was taken to a dungeon. At the dungeon one of his enemies from the past comes back to save him and then eventually tries to drown Jason while Jason trusts him. Instead of dying another portal opens up and Jason gets saved. During this time Jason changes his objective to getting home to getting back so he can kill his enemy. The theme of my book is to never give up. A really good example of this is at the start of the book Jason wanted to kill himself but didn't and found the library. One super good thing about this book is the way the author could keep your attention to the book. He did his by always adding a twist in the story as soon as it started to get boring. Another good example is the romance in the book he added to keep it different. One thing I didn't like however was sometimes he wouldn't explain a place or an animal in the weird world. Any time they would move to a different place he would give minimum explanation to what is looked like of what the people were like. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books with action, adventure, fantasy, and a little bit of romance.

Contributed by Harry Trelz

Variant Review

Title: Variant
Author: Robin Wells
Pages: 384 first edition hardback
Genre: Sci-Fiction
Ratings: 4/5 stars

This book takes place in Maxfield Academy. Maxfield is a private school, isolated in the mountains. But it is completely different than how you expect. The students have absolutely no contact with the outside world, including the fact that they have no calendars.  Also the school is surrounded by a 12-foot wall, and beyond that a 12-foot fence. This adds to the creepy feeling of the school, and it sets up for most of the plot.

Benson Fisher is a new student at the school, and he soon finds Maxfield has many secrets. One of the main ones: There is no escape. Benson soon becomes determined to find out all of the school’s secrets, and this annoys many of the students including his roommate and friend, Mason. Now as Benson finds out more and more about the school, he distances himself from his friends more and more. Suddenly his girlfriend, Jane, is killed by another student at the school, which shows him the biggest secret of the entire school. One that nobody else knows. So now Benson must find proof to show all the other gangs the big secret. Once he does, a big group of 35 try to escape. But only 2 survive.

What I really liked about the book was just the overall writing of it . In that I mean that I love how all the subplots tie together, and that the characters are written so that you can never really trust anyone at anytime. This ties into the Theme. A possible theme I thought of for the book is : “Don’t trust unknowingly, because things can be different than they appear. But something I didn’t like about the book was that it is rather cliche. Even though all the plot twists were pretty original, you can pretty well predict when they are coming.

Contributed by Bernice Trapp

Surviving the Applewhites Review

Title: Surviving the Applewhites
Author: Stephanie S.Tolan
Pages: 240 paperback
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Award: New York Bestseller

I had a great journey being with the protagonist, Jake, and seeing him evolve from evil to good in this realistic fiction, but since I’m done with the book I actually feel relieved. It was a good story but I just couldn’t relate to any characters. I guess I’m biased toward my life but that's beside the point.

Starting from the beginning , the main protagonist is Jake. Not much is said about his past other than his parents went to jail he burned down down his school on purpose.Or did he? But back on topic that’s all that’s said about his backstory and it left me craving for more.

The main story was great though. The characters had relationship you cared for, but even though the Applewhites seemed like the same person with different interest they all had unique characteristics which make this book a great realistic fiction. All except for one. Ed Applewhite who is a strict girl who says she isn’t as creative as the Applewhites. But no matter how much he bothers her, she still treats Jake like a brother.And even though I couldn’t relate to the play, I could relate to the preparation and the behind the scenes they use to make their barn into a surprisingly successful theatre.

 So the worst thing about this book was at most times it was just plain boring for me to read.These sections seemed to take up a quarter of the book and were very unnecessary.Maybe these parts were supposed to represent the book’s theme family  “The kid (Destiny) had began explaining to anyone who would listen that Jake was the "bestest brother in the whole wide world." Or the other theme friendship. "He had gone out to the woods, Winston (The Applewhite family's dog) tagging along loyally."

Which I would understand why they added it but they could’ve had the same affect on me without them. But in the end I enjoyed the book with all the excessive details and plot holes. I’d rate this book 3.5/5 stars. Really well written but not relatable to me. I would definitely recommend this to a friend. That is my opinion on "Surviving the Applewhites."

Contributed by Dontrell Thomas

“Racing in the Rain; My Life as a Dog Review

Title: “Racing in the Rain; My Life as a Dog”
Author: Garth Stein
Pages: 304 paperback
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Rating: 4/5 stars

Racing in the Rain; My Life as a Dog is a realistic fiction novel that is influenced by family, since the story revolves around a man’s broken family. The book takes place in an urban city during the lifetime of a dog named Enzo. This only allows him freedom in his owner’s apartment, and he has to do everyday things just like a normal dog has to do. The main protagonist is Enzo’s owner, a very skilled racer named Denny. Denny must face family hardships, bankruptcy, along with deaths of loved ones. Someone that he loved very much was his wife, Eve, who dies due to cancer. In the exposition Denny falls in love with Eve, and they have a child named Zoë. Since he is a racer, and his only way to get income are tournaments, he is constantly away from his family, even when Eve passes away. Because of this, Eve’s parents sue Denny for being a bad parent. Denny tries to find a lawyer, but uses all his money doing so. On the verge of bankruptcy, he loses all hope. The parents, Max and Trish, see the wrong they are doing to Denny, and realize that keeping a father and daughter apart is terrible. They call the trial off. A theme of this book is “family is the most important, no matter the cost.” This is from Denny’s perseverance and risking his money and job to get a lawyer, just to be with his daughter again. I love the point- of-view the author decides to use. Enzo. Since he is a dog, people talk near him without knowing he can interpret what they are saying. Like a fly on the wall. This is a tale of sadness and breaking through, finding hope and changing a family forever. Any fan of “The Fault in Our Stars” would love this book. Even so, I recommend it to everyone.

Contributed by Kevin Tan

Earth Unaware Review

Title: “Earth Unaware, The First Formic War”
Author: Orson Scott Card
Pages: 352 (hard cover)
Genre: Sci-Fi
Rating: 3/5 stars

This book is science fiction because it takes place in a futuristic world where half the human population is born and spends their life on spaceships. Many of these ships spend long and uneventful months docked onto asteroids mining them for their resources. On board El Cavador, a mining spaceship, lives a teenage boy named Victor. Though he is only a teenager, the crew looks to him as their best engineer and a great leader. Throughout the novel, Victor is continuously put into dangerous situations and forced to make difficult choices that will permanently affect his life.

One day while Edimar, Victor's cousin, is on watch, she spots an unknown spaceships traveling at a speed no human technology could possibly reach. This sends a wave of panic throughout the ship, putting the ship's council in a awkward situation. They decided that the ship would stay put, but little did they know about another rising conflict. On board the Marhku, Lem Jukes and the crew have been looking for a space to test their “glaser.” Lem Jukes and his crew come up with a plan to get El Cavador off of the asteroid belt. During the raid the Marhku accidentally kills Victor’s uncle and disables the ship’s power and communication. It is now Victor’s responsibility to get the ship running, so they can reach the Italian ships. Victor is now realizing that he is going to have to become leader in order to save himself and the rest of the world. When they see the damage the alien ships have done, Victor volunteers himself to go on a seven month journey to Luna. All along, Victor is making choices and risking his life for the good of other people. Even in some of the most dangerous situations he continues to help as many people as he can. Helping people no matter the situation will lead to better things for yourself. This is a theme of this book because Victor continuously helps people out, and he ends up on Earth with a better life. He is locked up on a tiny ship for seven months just to warn the planet about the aliens coming. He could have easily been killed, but he persevered because he knew the world needed to know the aliens were coming.

I both like and disliked this book at times. I thought that it was slow and boring at times. Something I did like was the main character, Victor. In many ways he was similar to Ender Wiggin who I really liked. Another thing I found interesting was how the author made three completely different perspectives and then he brought them all together. In many ways it was like Ender’s’ Game, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes science fiction, and anyone who like Ender's Game would enjoy this book.

Contributed by: Nick Stiebler

Stained

Title: Stained
Author: Cheryl Rainfield
Pages: 304
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 4/5 stars

This book is a jaw dropping mixture of mystery, heroism, friendship, and faith because Sarah Meadows is forced to discover things about herself she never knew. The action in this book mostly takes place in this strange house/room that Sarah cannot see because she is blindfolded. The setting affects the story because it makes it more mysterious and it makes the reader curious about where she is reading. Sarah Meadows was born with a port-wine stain on her face. She is kidnapped on her way home one day. Her main conflict is trying to escape the prison room/house she is being kept at. Nick, is Sarah’s friend from school. They are both outsiders. As the chapters rotate perspective, the author shows us how much Nick really cares for Sarah.

Sarah Meadows was walking home from school one day, when Brian, Mr. Meadows’ co-worker, kidnaps Sarah. Sarah is blindfolded and has no idea where she was taken to. Is at a house? Or just a room with no bathroom or bed? She only has 4 senses to find out. Brian keeps Sarah there for a long time. She misses her family and has to find a way to escape. As time passes by, Sarah is getting used to living there even though she is still blindfolded, starving, and dirty. Meanwhile, Nick is trying everything he can to get Sarah back. Will he rescue her? Will Brian kill Sarah? Read the book to find out.

The theme of this book is courage, hope, and love. I know this because Sarah has to find the courage she never knew she had to stand up for herself towards Brian. Even though Sarah think of giving up, she never gives up hope. Neither does Nick. Everyday Nick has hope Sarah will come back or that he will find her. What I liked about this book was that I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I liked the fact that my heart was beating really fast as I was reading because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. What I didn't like was that some things Sarah said was always talking about what it would be like if she escaped towards the middle of the book, and that got a little annoying. I would recommend this book to almost everyone above the age 13. Boy or girl. At first it might seem a little scary and harsh, but after all you will LOVE this book.  

By: Lili Toledano

Surviving the Applewhites Review

Title: Surviving the Applewhites
Author: Stephanie S.Tolan
Pages: 216
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Awards: Newbery Medal

Throughout the book ‘Surviving the Applewhites,I had a great journey being with the protagonist, Jake,  and seeing  him  evolve from evil to good in this realistic fiction,but since I’m done with the book I actually feel relieved.It was a good story but I just couldn’t relate to any characters. I guess I’m biased toward my life but that's beside the point.

Starting from the beginning , the main protagonist is Jake. Not much is said about his past other than his parents went to jail he burned down down his school on purpose.Or did he? But back on topic that’s all that’s said about his backstory and it left me craving for more.

The main story was great though. The characters had relationship you cared for ,but even though the Applewhites seemed like the same person with different interest they all had unique characteristics which make this book a great realistic fiction. All except for one. ED Applewhite, who is a strict girl who says she isn’t as creative as the Applewhites. But no matter how much he bothers her, she still treats Jake like a brother.And even though I couldn’t relate to the play, I could relate to the preparation and the behind the scenes they use to make their barn into a surprisingly successful theatre.

So the worst thing about this book was at most times it was just plain boring for me to read.These sections seemed to take up a quarter of the book and were very unnecessary.Maybe these parts were supposed to represent the book’s theme family  “The kid (Destiny) had began explaining to anyone who would listen that Jake was the ‘bestest brother in the whole wide world”. Or the other theme friendship”He had gone out to the woods ,Winston (The Applewhites’ dog) tagging along loyally”.

Which I would understand why they added it but they could’ve had the same affect on me without them. But in the end I enjoyed the book with all the excessive details and plot holes. I’d rate this book 3.5/5 stars. Really well written but not relatable to me. I would definitely recommend this to a friend.That is my opinion on Surviving the Applewhites.

Contribution by:  Dontrell Thomas

Summer Reading Programs!

Hey readers!  Summer is here (thankfully), and now is a great time to get signed up for the summer reading program in your area.  There are free summer reading programs offered through the City of St. Louis library system, the St. Louis County library system, and the St. Charles City-County Library district.

Happy reading!

 

“Racing in the Rain; My Life as a Dog

Title: “Racing in the Rain; My Life as a Dog
Author: Garth Stein
Pages: 304 paperback
Genre: Realistic-Fiction
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Racing in the Rain; My Life as a Dog” is a realistic fiction novel that is influenced by family, since the story revolves around a man’s broken family. The book takes place in an urban city during the lifetime of a dog named Enzo. This only allows him freedom in his owner’s apartment, and he has to do everyday things just like a normal dog has to do. The main protagonist is Enzo’s owner, a very skilled racer named Denny. Denny must face family hardships, bankruptcy, along with deaths of loved ones. Someone that he loved very much was his wife, Eve, who dies due to cancer. In the exposition Denny falls in love with Eve, and they have a child named Zoë. Since he is a racer, and his only way to get income are tournaments, he is constantly away from his family, even when Eve passes away. Because of this, Eve’s parents sue Denny for being a bad parent. Denny tries to find a lawyer, but uses all his money doing so. On the verge of bankruptcy, he loses all hope. The parents, Max and Trish, see the wrong they are doing to Denny, and realize that keeping a father and daughter apart is terrible. They call the trial off. A theme of this book is “family is the most important, no matter the cost.” This is from Denny’s perseverance and risking his money and job to get a lawyer, just to be with his daughter again. I love the point- of-view the author decides to use. Enzo. Since he is a dog, people talk near him without knowing he can interpret what they are saying. Like a fly on the wall. This is a tale of sadness and breaking through, finding hope and changing a family forever. Any fan of “The Fault in Our Stars” would love this book. Even so, I recommend it to everyone.

Contributed by: Kevin Tan, aka K-Tan

Mosquitoland

Title: Mosquitoland
Author: David Arnold
Pages: 352
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Adventure
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Mosquitoland” by David Arnold is an adventurous and passionate book filled with mystery. It takes place all across America, (she’s on a road trip) in 2016. The protagonist, Mary Malone, found out her mother was very sick. She decided to run away and search for  her mother. She gets into a little trouble on her run away to Cincinnati. Poncho Man, as Mary calls him, is on her bus. They stop for food, and Mary needs to use the restroom, but she gets followed in. Poncho Man follows her in and rapes her., Mary throws up on him and runs out. She decided not to press charges, as for she just wants to find her mom. Mary has a hard time after this, for example finding out her mother is very ill, getting raped, but the cherry to her sundae is getting into a bus crash and losing her friend. After she loses her friend Mary decides she has a new mission, finding Arlean’s brother (Arlean was Mary’s friend who was killed). Instead of getting on her next bus she runs to a nearby town, supposedly Arlean’s brother is working at a gas station there. After a couple nights under a bridge Mary meets a friend, who said he will help her find Arlean’s brother. Will Mary go look for mother or Arlean’s brother? The theme of my book is growing up. It’s about being on your own, making your own choices, and living life for you. My favorite part of this book is the adventure Mary takes to find her mother. She learns so many new life skills that help her. My least favorite part was when she got raped, no one deserves to be treated like that. Poncho man was a disgusting man, he haunted Mary three times later on in the book. I recommend this book for people who like adventure, passion, and mystery all in one. I also recommend it for kids ages 12 and up. It taught me a lot of good things for my future. I give Mosquitoland four stars , because at some points it was hard to follow, other than that it was really good. Mosquitoland by David Arnold inspired me to do better in the world.  

Contributed by: Laura Swanson

Earth Unaware Review

Title: Earth Unaware
Author: Orson Scott Card
Pages: 368
Genre: Sci -Fi
Ratings: 3/5 stars

“Earth Unaware, The first Formic War” is science fiction because it takes place in a futuristic world where half the human population is born and spends their life on spaceships. Many of these ships spend long and uneventful months docked onto asteroids mining them for their resources. On board El Cavador, a mining spaceship, lives a teenage boy named Victor. Though he is only a teenager, the crew looks to him as their best engineer and a great leader. Throughout the novel, Victor is continuously put into dangerous situations and forced to make difficult choices that will permanently affect his life.

One day while Edimar, Victor's cousin, is on watch, she spots an unknown spaceships traveling at a speed no human technology could possibly reach. This sends a wave of panic throughout the ship, putting the ship's council in a awkward situation. They decided that the ship would stay put, but little did they know about another rising conflict. On board the Marhku, Lem Jukes and the crew have been looking for a space to test their “glaser.” Lem Jukes and his crew come up with a plan to get El Cavador off of the asteroid belt. During the raid the Marhku accidently kills Victor’s uncle and disables the ship’s power and communication. It is now Victor’s responsibility to get the ship running, so they can reach the Italian ships. Victor is now realizing that he is going ot have to become leader in order to save himself and the rest of the world. When they see the damage the alien ships have done, Victor volunteers himself to go on a seven month journey to Luna. All along, Victor is making choices and risking his life for the good of other people. Even in some of the most dangerous situations he continues to help as many people as he can. Helping people no matter the situation will lead to better things for yourself. This is a theme of this book because Victor continuously helps people out, and he ends up on Earth with a better life. He is locked up on a tiny ship for seven months just to warn the planet about the aliens coming. He could have easily been killed, but he persevered because he knew the world needed to know the aliens were coming.

I both like and disliked this book at times. I thought that it was slow and boring at times. Something I did like was the main character, Victor. In many ways he was similar to Ender Wiggin, who I really liked. Another thing I found interesting was how the author made three completely different perspectives and then he brought them all together. In many ways it was like Ender’s’ Game, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes science fiction, and anyone who like Ender's Game would enjoy this book.

Contributed by: Nick Steibler

Dead Connection Review

Title: Dead Connection
Author: Charlie Price
Pages: 225
Genre: Mystery, Realistic-Fiction
Rating: 4/5 stars


This book is a mystery book with a paranormal spin because high school cheerleader Nikki Parker is kidnapped, and no one knows who did it. Although, Murray Kiefer, who is able to communicate with the deceased, might just figure it out. This story takes place present tense in a small town. Robert Barry Compton does not like living in this town making him depressed and angry. This book tell the story through multiple perspectives by changing to a different character each chapter. We first meet Murray Kiefer he is a high schooler  who is very antisocial and he can speak to the dead. Next, you meet Officer Gates who is in charge of finding out who kidnapped Nikki. Lastly, you get to know Robert Barry Compton., Robert witnessed Nikki’s kidnapping, but he is schizophrenic and has a hard time remembering things. Another important character is Officer Billup who is an alcohol addict and he has a strong hate towards Murray. The book starts off in a small town telling the story of each character and how Nikki Parker went missing.While Murray is in the cemetery, he starts to hear a new voice, one he didn’t recognize he starts searching and while doing so, he meets pearl the daughter of the caretaker.  At first, Murray wants nothing to do with pearl he thinks she’s a cemetery brat, but he gets to know her and they turn out being close friends, he even told her he speaks to the dead. Pearl quickly became interested and the started finding out where the new voice was coming from. Once they found it, the voice turned out to be Nikki Parker the missing cheerleader. Murray and Pearl decided they should tell officer gates that they think Nikki is buried in the same grave as a man named Craddock. Surprisingly, Craddock was buried the same day Nikki went missing. Officer gates then tracks down the Craddock family. They live in a town called Chico. Nikki's kidnapper turned out to be her cousin, Gary Craddock. Gary Craddock was put in jail with a  five hundred thousand dollar bail. The bail was paid and Gary was out of jail. Although Murray and pearl knew the voice was Nikki and that Gary was the one who had kidnapped her, no one ever dug up Craddock's grave to see if Nikki was there. I think that the theme of this book was that you shouldn’t make assumptions. For example, when officer gates first met Billup he thought that Billup kidnapped Nikki because he’s addicted to alcohol and he’s mean, but Billup turned out to be innocent.Also, Murray thought pearl was just a cemetery brat, but she was actually interested in how he could talk to the dead and they became best friends. One thing I really liked about this book was how it told the story from multiple perspectives. While reading you get to put the pieces together on who did it because you get clues from each character.  One thing I didn’t like was how you could’ve never guessed it was her cousin. You really only get introduced to the cousin in the last few chapters. Overall, I really liked this book and anyone who likes mysteries and multiple plot twists will like this book. While reading the book my idea on who kidnapped Nikki kept changing because the narrator would make you think someone did it then prove that person innocent like Billup. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Dead Connection.

Contributed by: Savanna Smith