Screaming at the Ump by Audrey Vernick

           Casey Snowden is a student who goes to Clay Coves Middle School in Clay Coves, New Jersey. Clay Coves is a made up town from the imagination of Audrey Vernick. Casey's father runs an baseball umpire school in Clay Coves, and Casey knows everything about being an umpire. His real dream though is to be a sports journalist. After joining the middle school paper crew, he comes across an interesting story that involves a major league baseball player brought down from the majors by a steroid scandal.

           I would recommend this book to somebody with a good knowledge of the game of baseball both in the majors and in little league. I love this book because I can really relate to the main character, Casey's, passion for baseball. I think the book would be really confusing and boring to somebody that does not know much about baseball, but if it sounds interesting to you, feel free to read it.

Ciara-- The Geography of You and Me

The Geography of You and Me- written by Jennifer E. Smith

 This book (as you might have guessed) is a love story. If you do not like love stories I strongly advise you to not even read this review. 

Lucy Patterson is a girl who lives on the 24th floor of an apartment building.  Owen lives in the basement of the same building. One day they get into a elevator together. Unfortunately the day they get stuck in an elevator is also the day of a blackout.  So, these two complete  strangers are stuck in an elevator together. When they get rescued they decide to walk around the darkened city together. Soon after the back out both Owen and Lucy have to move abroad. They both move around a lot but they always find a way to stay in contact. And... That is all I am telling you right now.

This is a lovely book and it is really sweet. I would recommend this book to people who like love dories that aren't very sappy. 

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

The book, The Son of Neptune was Percy Jackson's next adventure after the Percy Jackson series of books and the first in the Heroes of Olympus series.

The story starts off with Percy Jackson in the middle of nowhere. He hears the voices of  his friends Grover and Annabeth calling for help and sees little shadows of them running away.Percy follows the shadows. They led him to an old lady who was lost just like Percy and she was trying to go to
camp.The old lady didn't say her name but she was nice enough so Percy decided to help her. They made it to the camp, but the camp wasn't like Camp Half Blood. The camp was called Camp Jupiter. It was named after the Roman Gods instead of the Greek Gods that Percy was used to. When they got to the camp the old lady transformed into a huge giant, that's when she told Percy her name was June.

At the camp Percy meets two people who become friends, Hazel and Frank. Hazel is a fighter just like Percy's friend Annabeth. Frank is very clumsy, his father was Ares the God of War.

The part of the story that I thought was interesting was the huge ambush at the camp. All of the campers had to defend the camp and themselves. Percy volunteered to fight with the campers. Then something very tragic happened. Hazel was fighting and a spear went right through her body and she died. While everyone was sad and mourning she came back to life and ripped the spear out of her body. Ares showed up in a soldiers outfit and a buzz cut hairdo. Ares/Jupiter told Percy about why people are coming back from the dead or resurrecting is because the Giants captured and locked up Death. They say he is not doing his job of keeping people who are suppose to be dead. After talking with Percy about their next moves, Ares gave his son Frank a golden spear and told him to use it wisely.

Percy, Hazel and Frank started their journey to free Death from the Giants. During their journey they had to stay at Frank's grandmother's house. In the morning after spending the night at Frank's grandmother's house the Giants were coming to stop Percy, Hazel and Frank. Frank's grandmother sacrificed her life, to save them and Death.

This book is amazing because you get to see everything through the eyes of Percy, Hazel and Frank throughout the story. You also learn about the Roman Gods and how they are the same as the Greek Gods.

If you like the Percy Jackson adventures this will be a good book for you.

Gameworld by CJ farley

When I read the story GameWorld it was different than any fantasy story I'd read. The story is about a lazy gamer named Dylan, who thinks he is a game changer .He gets bullied and lots of people say that he isn't a game changer. Dylan met a guy named  Eli and he could hack into so many things that others couldn't hack into. Dylan also has a little sister that is taller and smarter than him.  Dylan lives with a crazy, mad scientist who can't make lemonade. Dylan signs up for a video game tournament which has mystical creatures. The nobody can know the person that wins the tournament. Dylan partnered up with  Eli and they had to go up against the bullies that beat him up at school. The fighting begins; Dylan and Eli were destroying creature after creature until the bullies were the last people left in the tournament. The battle took forever. The bullies almost won, then Eli hacked the game and made Dylan stronger. He started to dodge hits left and right and the bullies started killing their own creatures. Dylan and Eli won the tournament, and had to go to Ines' home to get their reward. Ines is a billionaire and has her own reality show while her father makes money exploring.
The reward was to go the actual world of the game, Jamaica X which is like the Caribbean island of Jamaica. they make it to the game world and Dylan is so excited and thinks he is going to faint.

Dylan's sister is captured and this begins part two of the story.This is a call to action for Dylan the hero of the story.On their journey to find Dylan's sister they meet a pipe smoking eight legged Jamaica spider who is very friendly and  helps them along their journey.During the journey they see zombies, sharks and mystical creatures, until they hit the BOSS. I don't want to give details because  I'd be spoiling what i think is the best part of the story.

This story shows teamwork tr toying find Dylan's sister and shows that you can be who you are and to not let anyone change you. This is a good book, I think you should really check it out.

      

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Faye Arranz

Faye Arranz                                                                                                               July 21, 2015

                           Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

                After reading Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews in my cozy pajamas laying in my comfy blue bed the whole morning,  I have discovered the adventures that I took while reading this wondrous specimen. Once I began to read the first page, I realized that this isn't a sappy book about a boy who is forced to befriend a girl with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia who then falls in love and just when they do, there's a tragic ending. I mean, in a way it's exactly like that but without the part of falling in love. But to try to understand what I'm blabbering on about I must give some sort of detail that might help fill in any sort of gaps. The book begins of a jewish guy going by the name Greg Gaines going on about how High School sucks and his failed attempts on trying to go out with girls in which he actually likes. How he has no friends except for a short, angry guy named Earl in which they join forces and make substandard movies then burned onto two disks and show no one but themselves. But one day, after coming home from the perfect first day of school, Greg is told the unpleasant news of a girl named Rachel Kushner who herself discovered the shocking news of having cancer, which will change the lives of everyone around her later in the book. Greg is forced to hang out with Rachael, and since Earl is Greg's friend, he decides to join the little pity party. But once the weeks go by, the connection between all of them grows stronger, and so does the cancer. Greg begins to hang out with Rachael during school, show her his not up to par movies and try to make her laugh as the cancer gets worse. But one day, one of Rachael's friends had commissioned a movie that might lift her spirits. The movie was filmed, edited and burned onto a disk with the help of Earl, but they didn't realize what was going to happen next. The movie was mediocre  and it sure didn't put a smile on her face. With the downs of having not succeeding on making her smile, they failed to realize that Rachael's mom had found the disk and given it to Greg's mother, then giving it to the principle in which he showed to the entire school, making Greg and Earl a laughing stock. And so Greg and Earl had decided that they made the worst film ever and ended their hobby of making crappy films and saying goodbye to their close friendship.

                I feel like this book connects to the relationships of friends and what they go through. It may not necessarily mean someone dies of cancer but it does mean that through every friendship there is a struggle and it may not end the way you expect it to be. Well, anyway, I feel that it also connects to The Fault in Our Stars which displays a similar book where two people enjoy hanging out with each other but then someone dies and everyone's sad and then people keep on living their life's. So basically, cancer and the relationship between two people (as well as the guy's best friend) are tying the two stories together with a nice big red bow. Something I wouldn't read if I wasn't recommended it to me, but the only reason I took it was because the owner of the book had lured me into what people are claiming to say that the book is similar to The Fault in Our Stars, which, like I stated above, is some what true. So I would totally recommend this book to fans of The Fault in Our Stars,  as well as to people who like books that are written without all the fancy words and the fancy grammar. A book where the author writes like they're having a one-and-one conversation with the reader 

Ana Lalic                                                                                                                        July/21/2015

Every You Every Me Essay

I’m writing about the book “Every You Every Me,” a fictional novel by John Levithan. Every You Every Me is about a boy named Evan. One day, when Evan is walking home, he finds a photograph of the place he is standing in that was taken before he got there. The next day on the way to school he puts it back where he found it. While going back home, he sees that the photograph is gone, and a new one has been put up. When he looks at the new photo, he finds a picture of himself. Strange photos keep turning up all over the place, and Evan starts to see them as clues. He thinks they are somehow connected to his friend Ariel, who is gone. The book keeps from you what happened to her, and you have to figure it out yourself throughout the book, until it reveals what happened in the end.

This book connects to another book I’ve read before called Looking for Alaska, by John Green (David Levithan and John Green actually wrote a book together, called Will Grayson, Will Grayson.)They both have the same sort of mystery plot and suspense. It also reminds me of the book Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson. Actually, the two books have extremely different plots and characters, but one thing about both of them is very unique. They both have crossed out writing. So a sentence in the book will be halfway finished, but then the rest is crossed out, so that you can still read it, but know that that’s what the character is thinking, but choosing not to say out loud, or say to the reader. I thought that was very interesting, and made the book really fun to read. Both the writers used that form of writing to show things about the character's pasts, especially when the character wasn’t admitting the things that had happened to the reader or the other people in the book. I would recommend this book to someone who likes mystery books. The book has two mysteries inside it. The main character is trying to figure out who is leaving him these strange photographs, and the reader is trying to figure out what happened to his friend, Ariel.

IMU GUYS😢😘

Ciara--"The Cure For Dreaming"

Ciara Mckay               July 10th

"The Cure For Dreaming" By Cat Winters


This review is about a book that I recently read, and loved, "The Cure For Dreaming." This book is about a girl Olivia Mead. It takes place in the year 1900, a time when women where fighting for the right to vote. Olivia was normal girl, she went to a integrated high school (one with both girls and boys attending). On the night of her birthday, her father (A creepy dentist) allows her to attend a hypnotism show. At the show the hypnotist asks her to come on stage and defies all laws of nature with his amazing feats. Earlier that day, without her father knowing, she attended a rally that was pro- women's voting rights. Her father, not pleased with his daughters 'rebellion' hires the hypnotist to banish all 'rebellious thoughts' out of her head and have her see the world as it really is, a place where men are superior to women. Shockingly, this goes better than Olivia thought it would for the hypnotist makes her see the world, and people as they truly are. If you like it so far, I guess you should read the book.

This book connects to a lot  of issues today, for it is partially about people not realizing that their decisions are trapping themselves/ their loved ones in cages that will be hard escape from. I think that this is a wonderful book and you should read it. It is full of adventure, romance, and drama!

Eleanor— The Candymakers by Wendy Mass

Eleanor Loprest
10th July, 2015

The Candymakers, a relatively long novel by acclaimed author Wendy Mass, is about, as the title implies, people who make candy. In the book, the Life is Sweet candy factory hosts four twelve-year old contestants, Miles, Daisy, Philip, and Logan, the factory owner's son, as they prepare for the candy invention contest of a lifetime. The story unfolds in five parts— first from Logan's perspective, then Miles's, Daisy's, Philip's, and finally Logan's again— the first four of which each repeat the events of the same two days and add a bit more to the suspenseful ending. The final section details the contest the children all set out to win in the first place. One might think that rereading the same events over and over would grow tedious after a time, but this is not the case— for, as Mass reveals through many thought-provoking plot twists, all of the contestants have secrets— and none of them are who they seem to be.

The premise of The Candymakers bears a significant resemblance to that of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in that the children gain access to a factory producing candy with every bizarre quality imaginable. However, the revelations caused by the changes in perspective provide a fresh and quirky story, and a worthy and entertaining read. I would recommend this book to any great lover of candy and reading, or anyone who particularly enjoyed Charlie. In addition, this book would be perfect for anyone looking to read a story where the characters could be everyday people— except they have personality quirks and lives strange beyond belief, making the characters relatable yet interesting. And the thoughts that run through their heads can be both heart-rending and hilarious! Finally, any fan of Mass should definitely read this book— you won't be disappointed. Wendy Mass's The Candymakers was another delightful and delectable read from an incredible author. If you've already read it and liked it, stay tuned for the sequel (coming out in Spring 2016)! I know I'm excited!

9.5/10

Thanks for Reading!
(Not just my report, but in general :) )

—E. Loprest

Ciara-- Beta

Ciara McKay   July 10th

                                           "Beta" Book review.

I am writing this blog about the book "Beta" by Rachel Cohn. This book is about a clone named Elysia who lives on an island called Demesne.It is like a paradise, everything is manufactured to please the residents.  Elysia's job is to serve the rich inhabitants of Demesne. She is a Beta, an experimental teen clone. Clones are created after their "First" (The one who they are cloned from) dies. Clones have no soul, which means they do not have feelings. They do not care, they cannot taste, they cannot feel. But Elysia can.

I feel this connects to real life because everyone expects people to be the same, but no one is. It is a wonderful book and I would recommend it to fans of Sci-Fi/YA Romance. It has a bit of a cliffhanger ending, but you should read it!

Bud, Not Buddy

I am writing about the book Bud,Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. This book is about Bud a young african american boy struggling without a mother living in and out of foster homes. Some of his foster homes while others were bad. He has one clue on who his father is and that is a flyer that his mom left for him. He is desperately trying to find his dad with that one clue.





This book relates to the real world because there are children  that don't have a family and that are in and out of foster homes. Also sometimes foster homes don't even know your name. This book is named "Bud, Not Buddy" because in the book people always use to call him buddy and he would always become upset because his name is not Buddy it is Bud. I recommend this book to people that like adventure and comedy. This book has a lot of adventure since Bud's life is adventurous but it does have some humor. Some of the humor is not easy to catch onto so you must read a specific section over  two or three times before you understand that joke. All in all is a really good book for a lot of people and I really do recommend this book.




     

Middle School: Just my rotten luck book report

           Just my Rotten Luck is the 7th book of a graphic novel series by James Patterson. The main character Rafe returns to Hills Village Middle School, or HVMS, which he was expelled from earlier in the series. The principal of HVMS, who hates Rafe, puts him in a special education class where he meets a new friend. His new friend convinces him to join the football team, alongside a bully in his school, Miller A.K.A Miller the Killer. But Rafe has plans for a better year. First, he decides to start a secret art project called operation S.A.M that leaves kids wondering "who is Sam?"Then, if Rafe manages to make a play to save the football team, he might become popular!

         
           This book is just a really fun book to read because it never gets boring, and all the characters are interesting. It is nothing like my middle school experience, so I don't exactly relate to it, but it exaggerates what some middle schools are like in a funny way. The way it is written reminds me of the Diary of a Wimpy kid series because Rafe and Greg, the main character of the DWK series are both in middle school, have trouble with academics, popularity, and sports. They are also both written from a first person perspective. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a light, comical, entertaining graphic novel for middle schoolers.

Ana Lalic                                                                                                                             June/6/15

Will Grayson, Will Grayson Essay

I’m writing about the book “Will Grayson, Will Grayson,” by John green and David Levithan. Will Grayson, Will Grayson is told from the perspective of two different boys, both with the names Will Grayson. The first Will Grayson, who I’ll call Will #1, is 16, and he doesn’t have many friends, other than a girl named Mara, two kids he sits with at lunch, and someone he met over the internet, named Isaac. Even though he’s never met Isaac before, he becomes really attached to him, and they decide to meet up in real life. Will #2, is 17, and his best friend is a guy named Tiny Cooper. Tiny Cooper is a huge part of the story, and a really great character. He’s really dramatic and funny, and he puts on a musical for the school about himself, which becomes huge part of the plot later on in the book. Will #1 and Will #2 meet in Chicago, where Will Grayson #1 was supposed to meet Isaac, his internet friend, and Will Grayson #2 was going to see a concert. Both Wills become friends, in extremely unlikely circumstances.

I think this book reminded me of another book I’ve read, that I also wrote about, called me and Earl and the Dying Girl. This humor in both books are very similar. However, something about this book was a little different also. I think the jokes in Will Grayson, Will Grayson were a little funnier, and made more sense. Also the plot was a little more engaging, but that’s just my opinion, and I would still recommend both books. It’s super funny (but really inappropriate at some times, just a warning) and I think the writing is really good.  If you like dramatic books, or funny books, I absolutely recommend this book to you.

Oh sorry guys! Forgot to mention, it's written by Holly Black, in case you want to read it

Ana Lalic                                                                                                                              July/3/15

the Coldest Girl in Coldtown Essay

I’m writing about the book, “the Coldest Girl in Coldtown,” which follows the story of a fictional character named Tana. Tana’s world is a lot like ours, except for one thing. Vampires exist. If you're bitten by a vampire, you go cold, which basically means you are infected. The infection can last for 88 days until it wears off. Infected people have a hunger for human blood, and cannot control themselves around humans, and will try to bite them. If they drink human blood while infected, they’ll become a vampire. The main character, Tana is at a party one night, when someone forgets to close the windows, and a group of vampires come in and murder almost everyone, leaving only her and her friend Aidan, who is infected. While trying to escape, Tana finds a vampire in the house who, surprisingly rather than trying to kill her, tries to help her escape. In return, Tana decides to help him escape from the house, where the group of vampires that killed her friends are hunting him. The vampire, Gavriel won’t tell Tana what he did wrong to make the vampires in go after him. While trying to escape, Tana is bitten by one of the vampires and becomes infected. Tana has to find a way to get away from the house with Aidan and Gavriel, and find a safe place to stay while the infections wear off.

I think this book really connects really well to real life, even though it does belong in the fantasy/action genera. I found that really interesting, because even though it's about vampires, and made up infections, and made up places, I found a lot of things in the book that were made up actually reminded me of real life things. For example, the idea of the infection you get when you are bitten by a vampire, “going Cold” reminded me of real illnesses and infections. I would recommend this book to someone who likes fantasy or action books. It’s a really interesting mix of genres, but those two really stand out to me, so if you like those two genres, this is definitely a good book for you!