"Sleepers" by Lorenzo Carcaterra (404 pages)

This is a true story of revenge and friendship written in first person reminiscent. Four inseparable boys John, Tommy, Michael and the narrator Shakes, live within the closed neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan. Hell’s Kitchen is a neighborhood with strictly enforced rules of behavior that could be physically enforced upon kids. Life is hard for them but as long as they have each other, and nothing else, they are content with living in Hell’s Kitchen.

The boys play childish pranks on people as they struggle to live in Hell’s Kitchen. Pranks that go from stealing candy at a convenience store to trespassing in the Sacred Heart Church to sit in the booth and listen to people confess their sins. They believed they would never get caught. That all changed when a terrible prank ended up in the death of a local hot dog vendor and the four boys find themselves in the Wilkinson Home for Boys juvenile imprisonment. This is the story of what horrible brutality these boys encounter over the course of one year. They are abused by guards in horrific way such as being molested and raped, beaten nearly to death and suffering from starvation. Find out how these boys get revenge when years later one becomes a lawyer, one becomes a reporter, and two become murderers. 

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Most kids dread riding the school bus. There’s no room to sit, there are annoying kids, and it is just an awkward situation. This is exactly how Eleanor felt, especially because she was new to the school and did not know anyone. Soon enough, however; the school bus becomes the only place Eleanor feels comfortable – because of Park. Park’s home life is pretty good – his parents love him and each other – but he’s one of the only Asian kids at school and he listens to bands no one has heard of.  He feels like a misfit, even inside his own house. Eleanor is a chubby redhead, and gets made fun of everyday because of it. Her stepdad, Richie, is abusive and makes her home life miserable.

Who knew these two high school students with nothing in common would fall in love? It turns out they actually have a lot in common. Their relationship starts off slow, with Park letting Eleanor borrow his comic books, and him giving her a CD of all his favorite songs. After a little while, their love for each other takes off intensely and unexpectedly. This book is set over the course of one school year, and is the story of two sixteen-year-olds who know that first love almost never lasts, but they still are willing to do anything to make it work.

Narrated by Eleanor and Park in alternating sections, this book is a perfect example of how first love really is. Although I have seen some reviewers of this book criticize that there is too much profanity, I do not believe it is too much for a high school student to handle and in fact I recommend that all teenagers read this book at some point!

Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher 261 pages

Zoe, a fifteen year old girl, has a secret that no one knows, not even her best friend. While being introduced to a Death Row website by a nun, Zoe comes across a criminal who is sort of in the same boat as she is. Stuart Harris is locked up in Texas at a prison for killing his wife. Now Zoe isn't in Texas, and certainly not in prison. Overseas in the UK, Zoe writes letters to Stuart explaining her deepest secret to him. This book has a story within a story. As Zoe writes, her family goes through a scary situation with their grandfather, and somehow feelings and explanations from the past are revealed. In her actual letters, Zoe tells a story about two boys that she completely falls for, but only one survives at the end. What is Zoe’s biggest secret? Dive into this book and find out!  

I loved this book! It was a quick read, and I didn't want to put it down. 

"To Be Perfectly Honest" by Sonya Sones (480 pages)

In this fast-paced book written in verse, Sones tells the story of a girl named Colette who is a compulsive liar. She struggles growing up and being a normal, honest teenage girl while her mother is a movie star. Everything that comes out of her mouth is a lie, which makes it hard to keep any good friends at school, never mind a boyfriend. She creates her own world because in her words her life “sucks.” Colette meets a boy named Connor, who makes it hard for her to hide all of her secrets and lies. Colette experiences her first love, and the aches it comes with. She is a well-developed character with a great sense of humor and makes you want to believe her lies. This is a perfect story that explains the dangers of lying. This book has the most twisted ending that I don’t dare give away. I’d definitely recommend this book if you want a quick but interesting book. 

reviewed by s.c

"Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass" by Meg Medina (272 pages)

This is a story of true strength. Piddy Sanchez is threatened by Yaqui Delgado, a girl from her new school who threatens to beat her up. She doesn’t even know Yagui Delgado or what she could have possibly done to make Yaqui want to do such a thing to her. All she knows is that Yaqui hates her. The bullying gets to the point where she can no longer handle going to school anymore and it affects her grades. Piddy begins to lose all the strength she has because she is too scared to get help from someone.

How far will Piddy let the bullying go before she finally gives in and gets help? This book is so good I recommend it to all teenagers going into high school, or a new school. I wish I had access to such a realistic fiction book like this one a while ago. If bullying is something that hits the heart, this is a powerful read that you will absolutely devour.  This is a must read.

reviewed by s.c

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Rosenthal (229 pages)

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Rosenthal (229 pages)

Rosenthal declares, “I have not survived against all odds. I have not lived to tell. I have not witnessed the extraordinary. This is my story.” You may then question, how do we define our lives as ordinary or extraordinary? Amy Rosenthal explores her (extra)ordinary life in the book, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by cataloging things that she feels define her and examining things that we all have in common.

The book is organized like a true encyclopedia, beginning with the letter A and ending with Z, but instead of dry analysis and explanation that we connect with encyclopedias, Rosenthal’s entries are brief, witty, and entertaining. The entries describe her life, emotions, observations, and descriptions of things such as Karma, Jason (her husband), French fries, and “Right Foot.” Because her life is organized alphabetically and not chronologically, Rosenthal provides cross-references between subjects that are connected, however, you don’t need to hunt down connecting entries to understand her story.

The joy in reading this book is that it is ordinary, and in that, extraordinary. As humans, we are known for our ability to sympathize, or understand what others are experiencing. However, often we are lacking in our ability to empathize, or share a mutual experience. When you read about someone’s survival story, while thrilling and inspirational, unless we were with this survivor, we can sympathize, but not empathize. Rosenthal breaks the barrier and creates empathy with her readers because she describes things that we all experience. In Amy’s words, “I shopped for groceries. I stubbed my toe. […] I wrote my name with my finger on a cold, fogged-up window. I used a dictionary” (219). While none of these are significant, they are inspiring, as if saying, “look at the similarities between us, we’re all human, we are sharing something.”

The Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life is a quick and enlightening read. Rosenthal develops simple life pleasures into monumental, life altering things. In the beginning, she claims that she doesn’t possess an interesting story; she doesn’t have any inspirational moments to share. However, ultimately this is untrue and is what makes her book unique and meaningful.

“I was here, you see. I was” (219).

P.S. the 100^th person to write to Amy will receive a pie, made by the fore mentioned Amy

Reviewed by K.S.

"If You Find Me" by Emily Murdoch (245 pages)

Carey and Jenessa learned to love what they had deep in the woods. They live in the woods with their mentally-ill mother, who comes and goes. Jenessa depends on Carey for her survival, and Carey is forced to make the broken-down camper suitable for their living. They have nothing but each other until two strangers arrive and inform the girls that their mother has left for good. The girls are taken in by their father, who, according to Carey, is a terrible man. They’re introduced to an entirely new world that takes Carey a while to get used to, but Jenessa seems to fit right in. Carey must face the real reason why her mother abducted them, and she must reveal the secret that is holding her back from loving her new life and the secret that is keeping Jenessa from speaking.  

Dealing with child neglect, Emily Murdoch does a good job making the plot as realistic as can be. I was drawn in from the very beginning and was so anxious to figure out the big secret. After it was revealed, all of the pieces fell into place and my questions were answered.

"172 Hours on the Moon" by Johan Harstad (368 Pages)

The odds of being killed in a plane crash: 354,319 to 1.

The odds of becoming an astronaut: 13,200,000 to 1.
The odds of traveling to the moon as a teenager? 300,000,000 to 1.

NASA decides to go to the moon again-- but this time with teenagers on board. Three lucky teenagers from around the world were chosen to go on this mysterious journey and had to endure months and months of training to prepare for the big project. They safely landed on the surface of the moon but little did they know, the unknown awaited them. In just a matter of hours after their arrival, the power suddenly went out and two members of the team died. Everyone knew that things were starting to go off course. Will they be able to identify the problem? Is someone from the team trying to sabotage them? The twists and turns in this novel will make you keep on wanting to read.

In the beginning of this book, everything started off slow, however, things started to become intense as I turned the pages. I chose this book thinking that it was going to be an easy sci-fi read, but this book was definitely not what I imagined. The mystery and horror of this book gave me the chills in my spine. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy learning about the unknown and definitely to people who do not get easily frightened. 

The Moon and More By Sarah Dessen (435 Pages)

 

Emaline is looking for her Best After Ever. In the small beach town of Colby, Emaline has the perfect boyfriend, dependable summer job, and loving family. But everything changes when Theo, a worldly educated New Yorker rents one of her family’s beach houses. With his bigger than Colby perspective, he believes that Emaline is Ivy League material. However, due to her absent father’s lack of financial support, she was forced to choose a full-ride scholarship to a college two hours away from Colby. Now with a few more weeks left in her vacation before she has to leave for East U, will Emaline be happy that she settled for less than her Best After Ever?

The book was an easy read because Sarah Dessen created real and relatable characters. I recommend this book to any senior who is about to leave for college. I found it really relatable in that showing you that you make your own happy endings. It took Emaline all summer to see this, but lucky for the readers it will only take you one book.

EP

The Reason I Jump By Naoki Higashida (135 pages)

Naoki Higashida was diagnosed with autism when he was 5 years old. At age 13, he used an alphabet grid to put his thoughts into words and in 2007, a book of his thoughts was published in Japan. David Mitchell found the Japanese version and pushed to get an English translation published. Naoki’s words helped Mitchell understand what was going on in his autistic son’s mind.

Written in question and answer form, Naoki shares the reasoning behind common behaviors of autistic people. He makes connections to himself, but manages to provide reasoning about the average autistic kid. “Why do people with autism talk so loudly and weirdly?” “Why don’t you make eye contact when you’re talking?” “What’s the reason you jump?” His explanations are so powerful, you’ll never look at an autistic person the same way again.

I would highly recommend this nonfiction book to anyone who works with autistic people, wants to work with autistic people, or has someone autistic in their life. As noted by a Good Reads reviewer “autism has affected so many families around the world, and many people are trying to understand it better. I think this book will help light the way.”