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Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Hello I’m Josy, I love to read and I’m very opinionated when it comes to books. I read all books from Historical to Fiction.

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo is the sequel to Shadow and Bone. In the book, Alina Starkov, the sun summoner, and Mal Oretsev, the tracker, try to outrun their past but The Darkling, king of Ravka, soon emerges with not only his powers strengthened but with magic never seen before. He will fight to capture Alina and use her powers to his advantage by using them to help him control the fold, a strip of darkness that divides the country of Ravka. Alina and Mal, with the help of a privateer, will have to face The Darkling and defeat him once and for all to not only save themselves but the nation of Ravka. With all the twists and turns of the story, I was instantly absorbed into the book but, of course, there were slow parts that made you think, can this go any faster? Luckily this book is filled with shocking moments that make you gobble the book up. 

In summary, I give 5 out of 5 stars to Siege and Storm because of how much the characters and plot progressed to a point in which I could not put the book down. Thank you for reading!

Find it in print here.

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

My name is Elizabeth. I love reading, and my favorite book is My Sister’s Keeper. I am in the 8th grade and enjoy dance.

One Of Us Is Lying is a murder mystery that takes place in a high school setting. Five kids are in detention, all for suspicious reasons. Simon, one of the characters, dies in the middle of detention. This causes the four other kids to become suspects in the death. Simon had a gossip website, and he uncovered lots of dirt in everyone’s school lives. The day after Simon’s death, there was a post supposed to go out about each of the suspects from detention. Also, each character had a reason to be angry with Simon, causing them to be even more suspicious.  This causes a very intense investigation to be launched, and there are many secrets revealed about each character’s personal lives. 

I really enjoyed this book. I found it very interesting and I read it very quickly. I didn’t like the ending plot-wise, but I did enjoy the thoughts that came with finishing the book. The ending pushes the reader psychologically and really makes you think. I did not realize the effect this book had on me till about a week after reading it when I was recommending it to my friends and still pondering the storyline. After some time I was not thinking about the ending as much as before, but I was thinking about all of the characters, and if they would have killed Simon. I would give this book a 10/10 because it was so great. I thought it had quite a few mature topics, so I would not recommend this to younger readers. 

Find it in print and eaudiobook.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

Hi, I’m Sarah. I am in 9th grade and live in Ketchum, ID. I enjoy playing board games, reading, mountain biking, Nordic and alpine skiing, playing with my family, snowmobiling, and being outside.

Race.

Not the running race kind, no—the other kind of race. The societal construct used to gain and reign over others, to assign roles and ascribe stereotypes and ultimately, greatly shape the history of America.

Race: a very complicated subject.

In this remix of Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi, Jason Reynolds masterfully illustrates the history of racism, and by association, race. From the world’s first racist, Gomes Eans de Zurara, in 1415 to the Black Lives Matter movement current-day, this book explores the nooks and crannies of race and how it molds itself into history. It explains what it means to be racist, what it means to be antiracist, what assimilation and segregation is and why. It tells the intricate politics that race creates, why it benefited some and caused relentless suffering for others; how it was used as a power play and a curse word and a battle cry. It brings stories from the slave ships, the rise of the Black Panther movement, Jim Crow Laws and the communist party. It doesn’t bury the past, it reveals it: the flaws of uproars, the evilest parts of history rearing their ugly heads.

It’s a book full of pain and despair, but also one of hope: friendships made and battles one and how far we’ve come from declaring some of our brethren subhuman. It’s a manifesto, full of aspirations for an antiracist world, a world in which everyone is treated equally, where race doesn’t define your identity.

“To know the past is to know the present. To know the present is to know yourself.” – Ibram X. Kendi. This is not a history textbook. This is the story of where we’ve been and how far we’ve come. This is a story that everyone needs to hear. This is the story that we must listen to in order to create a better world for everyone in it, in order to dream of a future better than the past we’ve had.

Find it in print and on CD here.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

My name is Lucy, I am in the ninth grade. I like to play hockey, ski, and rock climb.

This is a chilling story of a young girl’s murder and the aftermath. Susie Salmon, a young girl who loved to take photos, hangout with friends, and look at boys, suddenly finds herself dead in a strange heaven-like world. She is able to watch over her family and the rest of her town as they try to deal with the grief and suffering that comes with death. Susie’s sister and father are especially interested in solving the mystery of her murder, and finding out who took Susie’s life. In the meantime, Susie isn’t ready to die. She has obstacles to pass before she can be at peace and join everyone else in heaven. 

I thought that this book was very good but it is definitely for more mature audiences. It was compelling, suspenseful, and chilling. The plot sent shivers down my spine at many parts and it made me want to keep reading. The author does an incredible job of putting you in Susie’s shoes and telling you how it felt to be there, but not really, to see things unfold and be unable to change their outcomes. Reading this book really opened my eyes. I learned to enjoy life because you never know what could happen, and to never take anything for granted. 

Find it in print here.

Breath by James Nestor

Hi! I am Sarah. I am thirteen years old and an avid reader; it is one of my favorite things to do. Inspired by the multitude of author’s creation of magnificent places and surprising havens built by simple letters, I aspire to be an author and, meanwhile, nurture the love to write.

What do Olympic sprinters, emphysema patients, choir students, freedivers, and Tibetan monks all have in common? This seemingly completely unrelated group of people—healthy or sick, rich or poor, young or old—all find the secret to success through the power of breath.

Throughout history, ancient civilizations have realized the impact of the lungs, one of the most important organs in the body, on overall health and well-being. They knew that breathing was the secret of long lifespans, health, fitness, mental capacity, and, well, life. But in our modern culture, where roughly half of the population suffers from a chronic respiratory condition; where we’re ruled by things to do and places to be, we have forgotten the magical power of breath. We suck in short, pitiful puffs through our mouths, drying our sinuses and subsisting of unfiltered air; chew soft foods and weaken our airways until 90% of us are breathing incorrectly one way or another.

Sounds catastrophic, right?

But the solution is simple and quite obvious: to re-learn how to breathe, and that is exactly what Breath will teach you. Throughout this well-written narrative, James Nestor takes you on an exhilarating journey, digging through history and trekking across continents to uncover the true science of the lost art; a journey that opens the floodgates to a superpower waiting inside of us—waiting for us to take a breath.

Find it in print and eaudiobook here.

Looking for Alaska by John Green

My name is Elizabeth. I love reading, and my favorite book is My Sister’s Keeper. I am in the 8th grade and enjoy dance.

Looking for Alaska is written by John Green. It tells the story of Miles Halter and his experience at Culver Creek boarding school. Miles is a junior in high school. He is nervous about going to Culver Creek because he will be away from his parents. He makes a couple of friends at Culver Creek. Their names are Alaska, The Colonel, and Takumi. Each of these characters has a unique story, and we get to find them out along with Miles. This group of friends likes to do things they shouldn’t. They love playing pranks. Along the way, they go through a lot of hardships, and one very large one involving Alaska. Alaska goes missing. This leaves everyone wondering. Is she dead? What happened? Did she kill herself? 

This book was really interesting. I enjoyed reading it a lot, and I especially liked discovering different things about each character as I got further into the book. I also enjoyed the mystery element of this book, and how the reader was piecing the puzzle together along with the characters. There are definitely some mature subjects in this book, so I would recommend this book is read if you are old enough to deal with these mature subjects. I would give this book a 7.5/10 because I did enjoy it, but I did not relate much to anything in it. Overall this was a good book, but there are other books I enjoy more. 

Find it in print, ebook and CD here.