Friday, May 27, 2016

Independent Study

Author: Joelle Charbonneau
Pages: 336
Lexile: 840
Rating: 3/5 stars

This book is the second book in the Testing Series. The book is another spin on a dystopian and corrupt society after a large scale civil war. The book is about Cia who survived the testing in the first book. She was able to keep many of her memories alive, by recording them and keeping the recorder hidden, where she slowly regained her memory after having it wiped. The main conflict takes place around Tosu City, which was Witchita, Kansas, and the outlying land around it. The outlying regions around it are very important because they are a constant reminder of the “7 Stages of War”. These revitalized areas are were many challenges for the students take place, because of the many chemical mutant animals.
The protagonist of the story is Malenica Vale, or Cia. She has survived the testing experience, watching friends kill friends and seeing people betray to get ahead. Though she does not remember who betrayed who, so she is always told to never trust anyone. Though she has trouble facing the reality of the university, that failure, is punishable by death. Making it so intense that students will kill to get ahead. The conflict Cia faces is the fact that her school is killing people almost for sport, and not just to test, and even that she believes is wrong. Cia believes she must stop the University of the United Commonwealth by stopping Dr. Barnes. (E). Dr. Barnes is the head of the university and is responsible for the countless deaths, and has followers all through the Government, slowly corrupting it so he can take control. Dr. Barnes controls Cia’s whole life and schooling by being able to track her, watch her, make her take classes, test her whenever, and even if he feels like it kill her for failing. He controls all matters of life and he can destroy any political boundary that comes into play with his mass following.
The main plot of the story consists of Cia, learning about the rebellion from Michael. Michael was her guide and a university official who was working with Symon, a rebellion leader. Cia decides to join and does what Michael says of learning faces and who can be an asset. Cia slowly starts to realize what “redirection” means after she watches her friend Obadiah get carried out on a stretcher and body bag after he fails a test. She is soon faced with another test of the sorts, this time with teams where she is almost betrayed by Damone, who tries to trap her in a steel box and suffocate her. Only do her friends save her, when she realizes that the abandoned air force base wasn't so abandoned. Soon into her studies she finds out that she will be interning for the president. The president soon discloses to Cia that a vote will be taking place to get Dr. Barnes out of power. Though she also learns that the president is part of the rebellion, but the president is ready for a war, not a peaceful attack. Soon after this discovery, Dr. Barnes sends Damone to go kill Cia, and stop her. Where the reverse happens, having Damone be thrown into a pit. After which she returns to the base to find her brother sitting there and waiting for her, though she thought he was trapped in 5 Lakes Colony. When she returns with evidence for Symon and Michael, to give to the president to help free everyone from what has become of Dr. Barnes. She finds that Symon has shot Michael and destroyed the evidence. She learns that Symon was working with Dr. Barnes all along and that they only reason the rebellion existed was to rat out people who didn’t believe in the system.
The theme of Independent Study is freedom of choice. The author constantly states over and over how the characters want to make their own decision and do whatever they want to do and choose where they live. Though they can't make those choices because Dr. Barnes dictates it all and decides everything, even who lives and who dies. They constantly are forced into jobs, and internships, into the University without choice at all, and that is why the theme is freedom of choice. (H) I really enjoyed all the twists and turns in the book, and I really thought it was a great plot point making Cia so sophisticated and being able to figure out small clues. I enjoyed that when Cia noticed something like fresh branches, it wasn’t just branches, the author gave you clues as to what that could mean and let you and Cia, really piece together the reality of the story. What I did not like about the book, was how the author constantly said something doesn't exist, like there can't be unsanctioned colonies, and then next thing you know there is an five unsanctioned colonies on the border of Tosu City. There were five illegal colony right under the capitals city’s nose, that makes no sense. I also disliked that the author never actually stated what the “7 Stages of War” was, and what caused it. I would give this book a 3 out of 5 stars, while it does have good twists, there are some things the author just doesn't have an explanation for other than poor planning. I think anyone who enjoys books such as The Hunger Games, Legend, or Divergent would enjoy this book.

Contributed by Miles B, 8th grader

Monday, May 23, 2016

Summer Reading Programs

Image result for summer reading


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!

Friday, May 20, 2016

It’s Kind of a Funny Story

Author: Ned Vizzini
Pages: 646
Lexile: 700
Genre: Young-adult fiction
Rating: 4/5 stars




This book is a great mix of young-adult fiction and comedy, with hints of romance. It takes place in present-day Manhattan. The part of Manhattan that Craig lives in has amazing schools and hospitals around. The protagonist, Craig Gilner, is a depressed teenager. Craig and his best friend, Aaron, both make it into one of Manhattan’s best schools, Executive Pre-Professional High School. Craig starts falling behind as he believes he is not as smart as them. He starts getting lower grades than the other students, which stress him out because he thinks he can’t get a good job unless he’s perfect. Eventually one night Craig almost kills himself, but instead he takes a different route which you will learn about in this book. The theme of the story is no matter how bad things are, they will get better.

The author Ned Vizzini spent 5 days in a mental ward. This book will help people get out of depression or sadness. I loved the hilarious moments in the book. Craig and Bobby were very funny. The one thing I disliked was the long introduction to everything. It took too long to introduce all the characters and explain their stories. Teens who love a good laugh will enjoy reading this book. Also if you are stressed out or depressed, this book can help you get out of it. Finally, I would rate this book 4 stars; it’s a great read for all kinds of different people.

Contributed by Niko Barstow, 8th grader

Friday, April 1, 2016

The Eye Of Minds

Author: James Dashner
Pages: 308
Lexile: 790
Genre: Sci-Fiction
Book 1 of 3 in the Mortality Doctrine Series
Rating: 4/5 stars
Awards: 2014 YALSA Teens’ Top Ten Nominee; 2014 IRA Young Adults’ Choices



This book takes place in the future because a lot of  the stuff that happens in the book can’t rely happen, and again, the technology is way more advanced than it is in real life. The setting is New York. The setting affects the story because New York is a very crowded place and a lot of important events happen there. The protagonist is Michael. He is a normal teenager who lives with his nanny since his parents went on a very long vacation.  He and his friends Sarah and Bryson go on this cool adventure to stop Kain. Kain, the antagonist,  first gets revealed when a girl named Tanya, hacks her way to commit suicide in the game to get away from Kain. Her lasts words were about escaping Kain, which lets Michael know that there is something wrong in the virtnet and it has something to do with this guy named Kain. Then later, after the Tanya incident, Michel and his friends get an assignment from the VNS, Virtnet-security, to stop Kain. If they complete this assignment, all three of them get an award. Later in the book, inside of Kain’s underworld, Michael and his friends meet a legacy that got knocked down by Kain. Skale, the legacy, helps them find out things about Kain, but they soon figure out that Skale wasn’t all they thought he’d be. But Michael eventually finds Kain, and he also finds out a lot about himself he didn’t quite know. The moral of this story is, friends are everything. To prove this,  Michael did everything he could to protect his friends from danger, but he didn’t do such a great job. Also, he found a connection with his friends during their adventure. I liked how much action there was in the book, like when Michael and sarah go into this Volcano in the end of the book, but I didn’t like how there was a twist at the end. This book is great for people who like science fiction and adventure books because there is a lot of technology and adventure in it. I rate this book ⅘ stars.

Contributed by: Amira  Robinson

Friday, March 25, 2016

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Author- Michelle Hodkin
Lexile- 600L
Page count- 480 pages paperback
Genre- Horror

Book 1 of 3 in the Mara Dyer Trilogy Series
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Awards-

  •  ALA Best Books for Young Adults Nominee
  •  ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults - Top Ten
  •  ALA/YALSA Readers/ Choice
  •  Blue Spruce YA Book Award Nominee (CO)
  •  The Flume: New Hampshire Teen Reader's Choice Award Nominee


  • This book puts a twist on any other horror books you've read so far;, it puts horror on a whole new level. The main protagonist of the book is a 16 year old girl named Mara Dyer. Mara Dyer finds herself with many questions all throughout the book. The book starts off with her waking up in a hospital room having no idea why she was there, and she finds out that that both of her best friends that she was with, are now dead. Mara is the only person who can figure what happened to them, but the only problem is Mara can’t remember anything from that night. Having them not around was really hard for Mara, so she convinced her parents to move to Florida. Florida is the main setting of the book. Mara quickly realizes that she hates Florida, but then she meets Noah and it changes everything. She starts off hating him, but as the book progresses they end up falling in love. Just as things seem to be going smoothly, Mara's brother gets kidnapped.   Mara and Noah immediately go to save him. But they have to cross over a swamp in order to reach him. Alligators were swimming through the water, Mara being frightened, she wishes that they were all dead. They finally cross the swamp and successfully rescue her brother. They later find out that all the alligators around the swamp were dead. This event really pushes Mara into believing that she can kill people with her mind, and this wasn't the first time something unusual like this has happened. This is the main conflict that Mara faces in the book. Noah confesses that he can sense when someone is in trouble, and that he has the ability heal people. That was how Noah knew that Mara’s brother was in trouble. During all of this Mara’s dad’s client is finally getting his verdict after a long time. Noah and Mara look at the paper and they find out that the girl that was murdered, body was found in the same place that they found Mara’s brother the day he got kidnapped. Noah says that he saw the killer wearing the same black watch Mara father’s client is wearing. Shocked from hearing this, Mara says that if the client pleads not guilty in trial she will kill him.  After The trial the client pleads not guilty, and Mara tries to kill him with her mind, but instead she gets distracted and puts him in a  life long coma. Feeling guilty of this Mara goes to the police station to turn herself in, but when she gets there she sees her dead friend Jude wearing the same watch. Jude himself is known of doing cruel things, so Mara knows that he killed the girl. The book ends with Mara blacking out. The lesson that this book taught me was to never jump to conclusions. Mara assumed that the client killed the girl, and he really didn’t. She also thought that Noah was a jerk in the beginning, but found out that he is very kind-hearted. I loved this book because of the plot twist the author presents to us when Jude was the actual killer because no one saw it coming.  Some parts of the book were predictable, and that would be the one thing I would wish to change in the book. This book is very interesting, it was full of twists and turns, so if you like a horror suspenseful books The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is definitely for you!

    Contributed by: Nicita Anand

    Friday, March 4, 2016

    Stung

    Author- Bethany Wiggins (book series)
    Lexile- 760
    Page count- 304 hardcover
    Genre- Dystopia
    Awards- none yet
    Rating:  5/5 Stars

    This book falls into the Sci-Fi and Dystopian Fiction genre, because of it’s setting and time period. The book is set in a futuristic world, where bees have gone extinct. In this world, scientists make new genetically modified bees, which only causes more problems. Fiona Tarsis wakes up in a world she doesn’t remember, with a tattoo on her hand, ‘the mark of the beast’, except she’s totally ordinary. A fortress divides the beasts from the normal people. Fiona goes through an empowering journey to expose the government and interpret her strange world. She wakes up at her house, feeling younger than she looks. Fiona only remembers up till her 13th birthday. She soon bumps into Bowen, a childhood acquaintance. Bowen and Fiona head towards the wall. All of a sudden, they are restrained by a Rebel group, planning on making Fiona fight her brother, Jonah, a Level Ten beast. Bowen saves Fiona and Jonah and they are taken to the hospital inside the wall. Fiona, all along, was injected with a cure by Dr. Grayson and Lissa, Fiona’s sister. Bowen spreads the good news about the cure. The theme of this book is shown frequently. Protect the ones you love, no matter the cost. Both Bowen and Jonah show this, as they sacrificed and harmed their lives to protect Fiona. Bowen didn’t have to help Fiona and could have lived a safe, happy life. Jonah took care of his sister and covered her with his own body when the glass dome shattered. Both Bowen and Jonah had injuries from protecting Fiona. I liked this book because it contained both an amnesiac storyline and a dystopian one. It was different from most generic Dystopian books because Fiona had no background and was finding herself with the reader. Lovers of Dystopian Fiction and action-packed books are sure to enjoy this book. This book also has a sequel, "Cured!"

    Contributed by: Hannah Abraham

    Friday, February 26, 2016

    The Old Man and The Sea

    Author: Ernest Hemingway
    Lexile: 1370
    Pages: 127
    Genre: Fiction
    Awards: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1952)
    Rating: 5/ 5 Stars

    This book is a powerful realistic fiction book with a great meaning. This book takes place in Cuba, 1940. The story is strongly affected by the setting because the old man fishes on the Gulf Stream. The old man is a kind character along with the boy,the old man’s best friend. They always fish together and spend whole days out at sea, even though they don’t come back with lots of fish they still have lots of fun. But the boys parents do not agree with this because they want him to catch fish and make a living off of it. The boy is forced to go fish with a crew while the old man is left fishing alone. Even though the old man is sad about the boy having to leave he still continues to do what he loves. After  working hard day and night to catch a fish he finally hooks a big one. He fights with the fish day and night and is determined to bring this one in. After suffering hand cramps, cuts, and exhaustion he got it! “yes i finally brought him in after working day and night”. On his way back to shore he see’s black fins popping out of the water, trailing the blood of the fish on the side of the boat. this worries the old man and he grabs a wooden paddle and is ready for a fight. The sharks keep taking pieces off of the big marlin as the old man hits them in the head repeatedly. after having fought the sharks for a long time he gets back to shore where he is greeted by many people and the boy. everyone feels bad but knows how hard he has worked. the old man goes back to his home and falls asleep dreaming about loins. the theme of the book is the honor in struggle. the reason for this is because the old man has worked so hard to catch a good fish and achieves his goal while overcoming many challenges. something i like about this book is all of the fishing terms. but something i don't like about the book is some things were not the best explained and put into great detail. i think people who like fishing or people who like a book with a deep meaning would like this book. i would give this book five stars because it was a well written entertaining book.

    Contributed by Henry Murphy

    Friday, February 19, 2016

    Paper Towns

    Author- John Green
    Lexile- 850
    Page count- 345
    Genre- Mystery
    Awards- 2009 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery
    My rating- ⅘ stars!

    “Paper Towns” is a mixture of mystery and a bit of romance because when the girl that Q loves (Margo) goes missing, he tries to find clues that leads him to find out where Margo is. Paper Towns takes place in modern time in Orlando, Florida, but Margo runs away from Florida to a “Paper town”. A paper town is a town marked on a map that doesn’t actually exist. Q is trying to find Margo, his friend and the girl he loves who has run away.  
    One day, two kids, Q, and Margo, find a dead body in the park. 9 years later Margo shows up unexpectedly at Q’s window asking him for a favor, she wants him to drive her around so she can get revenge on people. The next day Margo does not show up at school, she has gone missing. Q believes Margo has left clues for Q to find her. Q is determined to find her. Does Q find Margo? Does she come home? Is she still alive? Read Paper Towns to find out. The theme of this book is “chasing after what you want in life”. Margo shows this by leaving Orlando. She doesn’t care about leaving everything at once because it’s what she wants at the time and she might not be able to do it later. Q also shows this by skipping graduation to go find Margo because that’s what he wanted out of life at the moment.
    I liked how Q was finding clues as to where Margo was, and how he went through a lot to find the girl he loves. I didn’t like how the book was kind of slow, and I also wasn’t very fond of the ending. I think girls/women would appreciate this book more, but boys would enjoy it too. Read if you like mystery books with a bit of romance.

    Allegiant

    Author: Veronica Roth
    Lexile: 830
    Pages: 526
    Rating: /5 stars
    Genre: Dystopic, or Science-Fiction
    Awards: none
    The novel “ Allegiant” is Sci Fi, because the it takes place in the future or has futuristic characteristics. For example there is third a war, the Purity War. The government believes the Purity war was caused by damaged genes. To prevent another war the government decides to make factions. Also this novel has a bit of romance. The main character, Tris, has a deep connection or love with another character Tobias. They both are madly in love with each other. They do face a lot of hard times, they let people influence their relationship or their behavior.
    When Tobias and Tris leave the city where the factions are, they meet people beyond the fence or beyond the city. There Tobias and Tris learn the factions are an experiment, created by the the people beyond the fence. Factions were created to study genes, to find out who is genetically pure and who is genetically damaged. When Tobias finds out he is genetically damaged he is troubled or bothered, because for along time he thought he was Divergent like Tris. It turns out that Tobias only shows some Divergent characteristics. He believes he doesn’t know who he is anymore. Tris tries to explain to him that it doesn’t matter if he is genetically pure or genetically damaged. This shows Tobias is an example of letting titles define you, it’s your actions that define who you are. Tobias makes such a big deal out of being genetically damaged, but honestly what does that even mean? Being genetically damaged doesn't change who you are. Just like factions, our society puts us in groups or categorizes us. For example political party, I don’t think we need political parties I think you should vote for whatever candidate you think is best, without putting the title Republican and Democratic candidates. Towards the end of the book Tobias learns it doesn’t matter if he is genetically damaged. This problem still exist with the scientist who created the factions. So Tobias, Tris, and a few others come up with a plan to get rid of the factions and the scientists who created them.The plan requires Tobias to face some fears like confronting his parents and it requires Tris to forgive her brother and make an extremely tough decision. She has to decide if she wants to sacrifice herself or her brother. She chooses to sacrifice herself, which gets her killed. After Tobias finds out Tris is dead he doesn’t know how to function anymore or handle himself.
    I would give this book, because I thought it was great, the author did a very well job with describing the characters feelings. After Tris’s death the author showed Tobias’s vulnerable side, showed him grieving. I did not give it five stars because I didn’t like that Tobias didn’t get revenge on his father. I think Tobias should have at least got to say something to his father. If you enjoyed the Hunger games series I think this would be a good pick for you, but do understand they are very different. It has a mixture of both romance and action. It is great especially for young adults looking for a book to read for fun or for school.

    Contributed by: Lena Solomon

    Friday, February 12, 2016

    The Death Cure

    Author: James Dashner
    Lexile:
    Pages:
    Genre: Dystopic, Sciende-Fiction, Action-Adventure
    Awards:
    Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

    The book The Death Cure fits into the Science Fiction/Adventure category because The Gladers go on a trip to defeat WICKED, a “good” organization trying to get rid of a virus that they created. The action of the story takes place throughout the whole book. There are different scenes of chasing and violence that make it a great, suspenseful book to read. It takes place in WICKED’s headquarters, Colorado, forests, and many other places.The setting effects the book because of how the characters can act and what they can do with their surroundings. The protagonist in The Death Cure, is a boy named Thomas. He grew up working for WICKED and throughout The Maze Runner series has realized that they're doing more bad than good, and now he is trying to stop them. Another character in the book is Teresa. She has grown up with Thomas, even though for part of the series she fought him because she went with WICKED, thinking they were good. 

    In the beginning of the book, Thomas is locked in a room, only receiving meals. Once he gets out he has to go to a meeting with everyone else in The Trials, where he finds out that he can get his memory back. In the rising action, Thomas escapes WICKED because he doesn't want his memory back and meets up with Gally, an old enemy from the maze in Denver, Colorado. They proceed to find out that WICKED is really after a doctor who can remove the devices that they are giving them. Once Thomas and the rest of his friends get them out, WICKED kills the doctor. Then when they go to a coffee shop Thomas gets kidnapped, then goes to headquarters and put explosives around WICKED’s facility. The climax of The Death Cure is when Thomas has to wait for the explosives to go off, his friends help him escape, but in the meantimes two of them die. The falling action is when Chancellor Paige, the creator of WICKED says that she is sorry for creating The Flare and WICKED was actually supposed to be good. The resolution is when Thomas and the rest of the survivors go to safe haven, to be safe from The Flare forever. The theme of the book is even when you try really hard to get something right, it still might not go as planned. I think that because of when Teresa died, she was with Thomas till the end but then she died saving him. Also because even though they got to safe haven, there was no cure to The Flare, and lots of people still died. What I didn't like about the book was the beginning, it was slow and I think James Dashner could have came up with something better. What did like about the book was the ending. I think it came to a nice unsuspected ending, that tied the book up well. I think other people that would like this book would be, anyone who read The Hunger Games, Divergent, or anyone who has read other books by James. Overall I would give this book a ⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating because I liked the book but I thought the first two were more suspenseful and better written.

    Contributed by: Nina Sachs

    Friday, February 5, 2016

    Clash of Kings

    Author- R.R. Martin
    Lexile- not available
    Page count-  784 pages
    Genre- Fantasy
    Awards: Locus Award for the Best Fantasy Novel
    Rate: ☆☆☆☆/5
    Warning: Book may possess offensive topics for younger readers.

    “A Clash of Kings” is the second book in the “Song of Ice and Fire” series by George R.R Martin.  This book is a continuation of the dark fantasy filled war and violence.  The war between the North and and the South is slowly progressing.  The reader will discover how all of the subjects of Westeros are affected by the war–from Kitchen boys to King’s hands.
    It is important to remember that Westeros is a complicated Medieval society, where people are killed just for amusement, Valyrian steel swords are the best weapon, and some dogs are treated with more respect than women.  It is also important to remember that the book is not told from only one point of view; each chapter focuses on a different character’s life and choices to emphasize that not one person is affected by society’s choices.  The interaction between the characters is also important because if a conversation is taking place between two people, one chapter will show one character’s thoughts, and another chapter shows the other character’s thoughts.
    The story takes place right after “A Game of Thrones”, only there is more tension and bloodshed.  In the prologue, Maester Cressen is at Dragonstone watching over Stannis Baratheon’s only child Shireen.  Shireen tells Cressen about her nightmares where the dragons come alive and eat her.  Cressen tells her that dragons have been killed off.  Then Stannis and his wife Selyse come in and talk about the war.  They talk with Cressen about the Rainbow Guard, marrying Shireen to Robert Arryn, and Stannis’ lost birthright.  After their conversation Cressen meets with the “witch” Melissandre, and ends up selling his life to the Lord of the Light.  
    The beginning of “A Clash of Kings” jumps right into characters’ lives.  Arya is with Lommy and Hot Pie and heading to the Wall, but they get caught.  Lommy is killed and Hot Pie and Arya are sent to the Towers.  Meanwhile, Robb and Catelyn are in battle while leaving eight-year-old Bran in charge of Winterfell.  Robb defeats Stafford Baratheon at Oxcross with a crushing victory.  Catelyn takes a trip to an enemy camp and tries to make peace with Stannis and Renly Baratheon, but all they do is bicker about how Renly was given all of the birthrights when in fact Stannis–who is the eldest of the three Baratheon brothers–should have obtained them.  The Baratheons continue to prepare for war against Robb Stark and Catelyn isn’t allowed to leave the camp.  Concurrently, Daenerys Targaryen is bringing her khalasar (similar to a tribe and army) back to the Seven Kingdoms to take the Iron Throne in the name of her late husband Khal Drogo.  She is finally informed that King Robert had been slain, which makes her quest a little easier, but she doesn’t know about the war between the King of the North and the Baratheons.  Even so, she has a weapon no one else in Westeros has: three living, breathing dragons.  As the armies move closer together, the more uneasiness between them.
    Since this book is so complex, there are many themes and overall messages.  One major theme is time steals innocence when no one is looking.  The overall example of this is all of the children in the book.  They all maker such adult choices that you constantly have to remind yourself of their ages.  Robb leads an army, wins a battle, and captures the Kingslayer at 15 years old.  Daenerys leads a khalasar and mothers three dragons at 14 years old.  Bran is made Lord of Winterfell and hosts a feast.  In today’s society most kids don’t have to worry about being in charge of a large group of people.
    It has been mentioned before that each chapter is told from a different character’s point-of-view –I happen to admire that part of the series.  I like how there are many perspectives on the same situations.  For example, Catelyn and Robb are mother and son going into battle.  Obviously, they have different thoughts in their heads: Robb is thinking about his army and what he could gain or lose by fighting, and Catelyn is thinking and peace, and who might want to kill Robb.
    I would recommend this book to anyone who likes multiple narrators and anyone who feels comfortable reading and thinking about about social issues that may not be talked about every day.  On that note, there are a few subjects that might be offensive.  If you are not ready or willing to think about offensive subjects, do not read this book.

    Contributed by: Julia Monsey

    The Thirteenth Tale

    Author- Diane Setterfield
    Lexile- 840L
    Page count- 406 (hardback 2006 version)
    Genre- Gothic Suspense
    Rating: 5/5 stars


    Have you read a book that required you to keep notes to keep the events and characters straight in your head? This book is written from the point of view of Margaret Lee, a woman who is an introvert who works in a book store. There are many twists and turns that a reader does not see coming. Margaret is "bookish" and very articulate in describing her world around her. She enjoys just being around the books, but one day she comes home to her apartment above her father's bookstore and finds a note from an author. Vida Winter, the famous author who left the note, seeks Margaret to interview her. Margaret is not the popular, likely choice. Soon, the reader will discover both of these women have stories to tell, but to uncover them means both women have to endure many ghosts from their pasts. Uncovering one's past can help one in many ways, including changing one's future. This book will keep a reader entertained, enthralled, and enriched with verbose reading.


    "I have not read an incredible book like this one before." Abby B, 8th Grader