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Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

Hi, my name is Zane. I am in sixth grade. I enjoy playing soccer, video games, and exercising.

The book Touching Spirit Bear was definitely one my favorite books. This book is about 15-year-old Cole Matthews who recently broke into a hardware store and boasted about it at school. Although, one kid from his school named Peter Driscal ratted him out. Since Cole knows he will face charges, he beats up Peter Driscal so badly that he has brain damage. But instead of going the traditional way and facing years in prison, Cole decides to join Circle Justice, a place to heal not punish. He gets sent to an island and has to stay there for a year. With that said, Cole is still angry about what happened, so he decides to go against what he is supposed to do.

Like I said, this was one of my favorite books that I have ever read, although there were a few parts that I did not love. Firstly, one part of this book that made it such a good book was when Cole decides to go against the rules of the island. This was such a good part because you don’t know what the consequence is going to be. One part that was not so good was when he was sitting in the detention center. I did not like this part as much because there was a lot of repetition. In the end, Touching Spirit Bear was a great book, although it was very long so it would not be good for everyone.

Find it in print, eaudiobook, and audio CD here.

The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett and Jory John

Hi, my name is Zane. I am in sixth grade. I enjoy playing soccer, video games, and exercising.

The Terrible Two was an amazing book about a prankster named Miles who leaves his friends and school and moves to a new town. On his first day of school the principal’s car is parked on the stairs going up to the school. Miles is determined to find out who did this and prove to the town that he is the best prankster. He invites almost everyone in his school to a fake birthday party, for a person named Cody-Burr Tyler, who doesn’t even exist. His plan is sabotaged when an unidentified person comes to the party pretending to be Cody-Burr Tyler. At this point Miles is very disappointed until he finds a note telling him to go somewhere at a certain time, where a prankster friendship starts.

Overall, The Terrible Two was a great book and had a lot of interesting and exciting parts that made you want to read more. The last section of the book was very good and even explained some earlier parts. This was one of my favorite books that I have ever read, and I would recommend it to a lot of people.

Find it in print, eaudiobook, and audio CD here.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

My name is Camille and I am in 8th grade. I love to snowboard and bake. My favorite genre to read is murder mystery.

I read the book Scythe by Neal Shusterman. This is a sci-fi book that takes place in a world where death is not naturally occurring. Technology has advanced greatly so that humans don’t have to worry about starvation, murder or old age; people could live forever if it weren’t for the Scythes. Scythes are people who have been trained to kill and when it is someone’s time, they will find them and kill them. Citra and Rowan are taken in by Scythe Faraday and they begin their training. Over the course of their time together, Citra and Rowan must train not only physically but mentally. They must prepare themselves for killing. At the end of the training Citra, Rowan and Faraday go to the winter conclave to take their Scythe test but they have no idea what is in store for them.

I really enjoyed reading this book because I liked learning what it would be like in a futuristic world. There were lots of plot twists that kept the story interesting and kept me reading. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Sci-fi and who likes futuristic scenes. This book starts off a good series and sets that tone for others to come.

Find it in print and ebook here.

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

My name is Camille and I am in 8th grade. I love to snowboard and bake. My favorite genre to read is murder mystery.

I read One of Us is Lying by Karen M Mcmanus. I love Karen M Mcmanus’ work and I think that this book showed her true talent. This book was really fun to read because every time you thought you had solved the case, something new was thrown at you.

This story is a murder mystery that stars four high school students who are suspected of murdering their fellow classmate. In this story you will get to know each character on a deeper level and when the truth is revealed you will be shocked. The reason that these students are suspected is because they all have reason for wanting Simon, the kid who was murdered, out of their life. Simon runs a gossip app called “About That” where he spills secrets from everyone at the school. He had written stories about Bronwyn, Nate, Cooper and Addy that would ruin their future. However, he was not able to post it before he died and everyone thought that they did it.

This story kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time and I loved every minute of it. This book also featured some romance so anyone who likes mystery mixed in with some love would really enjoy this book.

Find it in print and eaudiobook.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Hi, I am Advik and I’m in 8th grade. I love to read, watch TV, swim and travel.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, book five in the Harry Potter series, is exceptionally compelling. Rowling shows skill at character work here, whereas the previous books were about the world-building of Harry Potter.

As Harry Potter enters his fifth year at Hogwarts, he learns that most of the wizarding community doesn’t know about Harry’s encounter with The Dark Lord (Lord Voldemort). There is a new Defense against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Dolores Umbridge. Her methods are evil, and her way of teaching is tedious and useless. Because of this, Harry forms a group of students to defend the school against the constant rising of evil.

A turning point in the book is Harry’s vision of his godfather, Sirius Black, being held captive and tortured by Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries. Harry rushes to the Department of Mysteries to find a glass sphere with Harry’s and Voldemort’s names. He then realized it was a trap, and Sirius wasn’t at the Ministry of Magic. After being saved and transported safely back to Hogwarts by Dumbledore, he tells Harry secrets that were kept from him for fifteen long years. As the secrets are unearthed, they shock Harry but determine his future in a scary way.

This book is fantastic and genuinely amazing. In fact, this is my seventh time reading the Harry Potter series, and I’m still hooked. The way Rowling paints the story and creates this magical world is downright phenomenal. I recommend this book for ages ten to adults

Find it in print, eaudiobook, ebook, and DVD here.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Hi, my name is Rya. I am a junior and I enjoy reading, swimming and traveling.

Eleanor is growing up in a household with four siblings and an abusive stepfather. She is the new girl in school, and her stocky stature and eclectic clothing style, paired with a head full of vibrant red hair, get her more attention than she wants.

Park is an introvert living in a world of extroverts. He gets along well with everyone, but while his friends and family expect him to embody masculine stereotypes, Park prefers to spend his time with music and comic books.

As is the case in any romance story, the two meet coincidentally when Eleanor is forced to sit next to Park in the only seat left on the bus. For weeks, they want nothing to do with each other, until one day, Park silently offers Eleanor a comic book. From there, their relationship grows, despite everything pulling them apart.

Eleanor and Park is a popular romance novel about two misfits who fall for each other, which plays on the archetype of star-crossed lovers. I expected my opinion to match all of the positive feedback I had heard, but I found the book to be decent at best. The general idea was clear and the characters were well-thought-out, but the plot and page-turning qualities were lacking. All that to say, my opinion is an outlier amongst many positive opinions- so give this book a try if you are looking for a unique romance story.

Find the book, ebook and eaudiobook here.