Spy School

Author: Stuart Gibbs

Pages: 304

Lexile: 740

Genre: Mystery, adventure

Rating: 5/5 stars

This book is called Spy-School, by Stuart Gibbs. It is a mystery and action book. It takes place in Washington D.C. The main characters travel to the Washington Monument, the National Mall and to the White House. The protagonist is Ben Ripley, and he is faced with the task of defeating SPYDER. Erica Hale is Ben’s best friend, and helps him defeat SPYDER.

It begins in a normal middle school, then Ben gets carted off to the academy of espionage and must take SACSA exams. also he gets attacked by a professional assassin. Then, he finds out that he is mole bait. his search to find the mole becomes more difficult when he finds a bomb under the school. Erica and ben get locked in a closet with the bomb. They successfully defuse it and save the school. In the end , Erica’s dad ends up stealing all the credit and claims it for himself.

It’s a story about danger and daring. I know this because they are constantly in danger. Furthermore, they are always running towards danger, like the fact that instead of hiding in the top of the Washington Monument. I really like this book because it is relatable. Also, there are lots of cool things and places that they go and do. Also, it puts a new perspective on life. I would recommend this book to anybody in middle school and up who likes realistic fiction. This is a great read, highly recommended. this book is one of my personal favorites.

Contributed by Liam D.

Me and Earl and The Dying Girl

Author: Jesse Andrews

Pages: 298

Lexile: 820

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Young Adult

Rating: 2/5 stars

Disclaimer: This book is realistic fiction and young adult, because it involves many adult topics and profanity. Although the book does not consist of actual events, readers can relate to the issues the characters experienced.

The main character of this story is a senior in high school, and his name is Greg Gaines. He has to confront his insecurities ,and he is searching for  an identity. You will learn a lot about how Greg has somehow managed to avoid being one of those “lame” kids with no friends. Greg doesn’t really have any friends, but there is this one kid that he hangs out with. His name is Earl. Greg and Earl are pretty much complete opposites. Earl is his own person and does whatever he wants. No one is stopping him. Greg on the other hand, has a mom that is too involved in his social life. But I wouldn’t really consider Greg and Earl friends. They’re more like associates or business partners. They work together on creating these really pointless films.  Earl really isn’t a good influence on Greg, but he somehow manages to keep Greg in check. A majority of the story takes place at a hospital and in a teenage girl’s bedroom. The hospital setting definitely gives the reader a dull and sad feeling. The teenage girl’s bedroom helps the reader relate to the teenagers in the story. This book takes place in our current time because the characters are using modern day technology. They also use a lot of present time slang in this book.

Greg is that kid that has really bad social skills. He struggles with communicating with kids around him. It’s as if Greg doesn’t exist. No one notices him. Greg has somehow managed to just blend in and stay low key his whole life. Greg has one friend, and his name is Earl. They have made films together since they were in elementary school.

Greg and Earl make mediocre films that would likely never be produced. Although they are not very good movies, one of their classmates, Rachel enjoys watching the films. When Greg finds out Rachel, has been diagnosed with leukemia, he and Rachel’s mother decide that Greg would be the best person to make Rachel feel better about her illness. Greg is worried about her watching these films, because he does not think they are good. Earl doesn’t care if they are good and would do anything to make Rachel feel better, so he lends her the films. One of Rachel’s friends realize how much she likes the films and asks Greg to make Rachel a film to make her want to keep fighting. He takes on this challenge with his coworker Earl. Once they complete the film they aren’t happy with how it turns out, and Greg can tell Rachel doesn’t like it. She has still gave up fighting, and she has accepted that she is going to die. The theme of this book would be to care about others, and don’t be selfish. Greg hasn’t really ever had anyone to care about but himself. Now he’s in a situation where he has to care for someone else that is in serious need. At the beginning, Greg really struggles to comfort Rachel, because he is trying so hard to be someone he is not. Greg is too selfish to give Rachel his films to watch so Earl does it. When Earl does this, Greg gets highly upset. 

I liked that this book wasn’t like the Fault in Our Stars at all. It didn’t automatically make everything about Greg and Rachel being in love. I also really like that this book actually taught the reader a lesson about sacrificing for others. I dislike how this book involves so many chapters that don’t have anything to do with the plot. Some parts were funny but most of the book was filled with humor from the narrator, but the jokes really just fell flat. (I) If you have a really good sense of humor you will love this book. I say this because the comedy really isn’t something that just anyone will find funny. You will also enjoy this book if you like books with unique formats. I give this book two stars because I did not find it very funny but I like the plot of the story.

Contributed by: Faith Bland

The Maze Runner

Author: James Dashner
Pages: 384
Lexile: 770
Genre: Dystopia
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This book is the first book in a trilogy.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner is a very interesting and exciting novel. This book takes place in a future dystopian society, and goes under the genre of science fiction. The setting of the book plays a major part in the plot, “the maze”. All of the characters reside in an area in the center of the maze called “the glade”. The maze is inescapable, as far as the “gladers” know. The main character, Thomas, is a teen boy who, like all other gladers, came into the maze with no knowledge of himself other than his name. Because of this, Thomas spends much of the beginning of the book confused and wondering what he’s supposed to do. He wants to help the gladers out of the maze, and is willing to do anything to do so, even though he doesn’t have any idea how. In the start of the book, Thomas is arriving in the glade, confused as ever. The other gladers spend days attempting to explain to him what was going on, or at least as much as they know. Just when Thomas has begun to adjust to the glade, strange things start to happen. Someone new is brought into the glade, claiming they know Thomas in some way. This makes Thomas more confused and curious about this place, if that was even possible. Throughout the book, Thomas goes through many struggles and adventures as he tried to find out who he is and what he’s going to do about his situation. One thing I really enjoyed about this book was the character development. As I mentioned before, Thomas starts out as nearly nothing, and as he makes more decisions and learns more, he slowly becomes a hero to those around him and himself. One thing I didn’t like about the book was the lack of closure at the end, but it did a good job making me want to read the rest of the series. Overall, the book was a rather fast read that I enjoyed. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in sci-fi dramas, or books like The Hunger Games or Divergent.

Contributed by Cassie Beisheim

The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green
Pages: 336
Lexile: 850
Genre: Romantic Drama
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The book takes place in Indianapolis.  This book takes place in current times. Hazel Grace is the main character and is a seventeen year old girl with cancer.  She has had cancer since she was a young girl. Another character is Augustus Waters.  He is a boy Hazel meets at the cancer support group in a church shaped like a cross. The support group meets in the middle of the cross because they feel like they are in the middle of Jesus’s heart.  Hazel’s mom makes her attend the meetings.  Hazel feels like she does not need the support group.  Then one day she met Augustus (Gus) Waters and there is an immediate connection between the two.  They kept staring at each other during the meeting.  Throughout the book Hazel and Gus become really good friends and fall in love. The main conflict of the story is that both of them have cancer and the story is about living.

The book starts with the beginning of Hazel and Gus’s relationship.  They start as friends and then fall in love.  They go on a trip to Amsterdam together and Hazel finds out some unfortunate news.  The rest of the book deals with the aftermath of the unfortunate news.

Gus teaches Hazel that it does not matter that you have cancer, you can still live your life to the fullest.  Before Hazel met Gus, she spent her time re-reading the same fictional novel by her favorite author and watching television with her mom.  No friends ever come over to the house to visit with Hazel.  Once Hazel meets Gus everything changes.  He teaches her how to live life and enjoy life.  Hazel realizes she has to live her life to the fullest.

I liked Gus the most.  He was able to change Hazel, he was romantic, and he was a good friend not just to Hazel but to his friend who goes blind.  One thing I did not like about the book was that overall it was a sad book. People who like romance, drama, and are not afraid to cry will like this book.  I think this book deserves five stars for it’s amazing characters and fun story.

Contributed by: Melissa Batchman

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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