Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Jing on Spanish Prezi

Deadly Little Secrets by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Ok...how is it I never heard about this book? I love it! Let me try to label it It's a mystery, but also a romance...it's realistic with a touch of paranormal, and it could very easily be a box office horror film!

Camellia is your average teenage girl. She is pretty and nice. She is not overly popular, but gets attention from cute boys. Her friends are adorably quirky and funny. Her parents are eccentric and lovable.

Her life is pretty normal...humph...boring until the super hot, mysterious new boy Ben saves her life. Ben, unfortunately, arrives with a bad reputation. Camilla wants to trust him. She is drawn to him, but he acts so strange. He insists he wants to help her. He claims that she is in danger. When he touches her, something weird happens. Camellia's life starts to get scary. She begins to get strange gifts, pictures of herself, prank phone calls, frightening messages, and someone has been in her room. Camellia believes this is a practical joke and doesn't tell her parents or call the police. This is what reminded me of a horror film - like the girl who decides to go outside to check on a noise...WHAT?

Listed below are some of the reasons I found this book to be so good:


Great story
Lovable main character
Strong secondary characters
Complicated romance
Fun, witty banter
Constant anticipation

I read this book because a student recommended it to me. I had no idea I would like it so much!!!

Extremely Loud and Incredible Close by Jonathon Safran Foer

If I think about the whole story, it is incredibly sad. The characters are broken, ashamed, lonely, and devastated by the many tragic losses in their lives. I say this as I look back and think about the "whole story," but the young narrator's perspective made reading the novel not unbearably heavy. Oscar Schell has lost his father in the 9/11 tragedy. He and his father had an extraordinary relationship. Both are geniuses in their own right, and their relationship is fascinating and unique. Oscar takes his death incredibly hard and is having a difficult time moving forward.

When Oscar finds a mysterious key in an envelope with "Black" written on it, he goes on a quest to find the purpose of the key with hopes of finding out more about his dad. His plan is to visit each person in NYC whose last name is Black.

Each of his visits brought me closer to the amazing character of Oscar. His ability to flatter, listen, interpret, and relate to the various "Blacks" he encounters on his journey is amazing! He is truly a character - read the book and you'll see what I mean!

There is also an underlying story of Oscar's grandparents. Their story is sad and tragic in a way that IS heavy, painful, and ultimately frustrating. The grandfather's inability to move past his loss causes other people pain, and I can't forgive him for his selfishness. I think it is a good comment on Foer's writing that I'm actually so mad at one of his characters.

And Oscar!...I wish he was my neighbor! I love that he is a real person in my mind! I love that this book made me laugh and cry. I love that I now have the term "heavy boots" in my vocabulary!

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Amazing! Coming of age collides with science fiction and Jenna Fox is born...or reborn... I loved reading this book. It was thought-provoking, touching, and at times laugh-out-loud funny. If you haven't read this yet...you should!

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I'm not going to summarize this book because, by Ford, it's been done a million times. The first third of the book is so technical that I had a hard time getting into the story. I couldn't get a feel for the characters or the landscape. Once The Savage is introduced, the story and the characters develop....a little. The reader basically relies on the conversations that take place between characters to ascertain their nature. Through various conversations the reader can see Huxley's warnings to the world - beware of mindless consumption and diversions, knowledge is power, science can be used to control, and happiness can be taken to an extreme. The price for Utopian society is high...it will cost your freedom, faith, love, virtue, endurance, and individuality. The happiness achieved is not true happiness, which can never be known without experiencing sadness or despair. How could anyone ever know true sadness when they are conditioned to take a soma when they start to feel the slightest discomfort? Hmmm....It appears that the new world is not so brave after all?!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The village surrounded by The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a dark and dirty place saturated with fear that stems mostly from the Unconsecrated that claw at the fences, but also from the Sisters who control the villagers. They maintain their status as the leaders by perpetuating the fear and guarding the secrets of what lies beyond the forest.

Mary has dreamt of the ocean since childhood. Her mother told her stories passed down from her mother about the world before The Return. When Mary's mother is turned and pushed out into the forest and her brother turns his back on her, she is forced to take a life of solitude with the sisters. Mary deals with many heartaches. Her father disappears, her mother is lost, and she carries the blame from her brother. The one she truly loves,Travis, is betrothed to her best friend, and she is forced into the rigid confines of the sisterhood. When the fences are breached and the unconsecrated engulf the village, Mary and a small group manage to escape down a path that leads through the forest.

Their journey is full of danger and death. There is so much sadness and despair. I kept thinking this story could not possibly get more bleak, and yet it did. It was hard to read. I can't imagine how writing this affected the author, who was certainly more invested in the story than I.

I know the ocean represents a better life, but I was never uplifted by this hope. It was just one bad event after another. Even when she finally makes it to the ocean, she is alone. Maybe the sequel, The Dead-Tossed Waves will be more hopeful. Perhaps, Mary will finally find happiness.

Overall, this book really bummed me out.

The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher

This book was so disappointing. The idea of the story is brilliant. The execution...Abysmal (I like that word).

The cover art is beautiful and the idea behind the book is intriguing but everything else was flat and disjointed. Proving the Age-old adage: you can't judge a book by it's cover ;). (insert cymbal)