Posted on by Wendy

Nightowl’s breath is taken away by “The Hunger Games!”

Hunger_Games

Title: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Genre: Dystopian, Science Fiction

Rating: 5 Stars

The Hunger Games is an adventurous fiction book about a girl named Katniss who has to survive a life or death game. It is so breathtaking and wonderful that you don’t want to put the book down until you are done with it. It is about Katniss, a 16-year-old girl who is very responsible and takes care of her mom, sister, and friends, and her friend Peeta, a 16-year-old boy, as they try to survive.

The “hunger games“ is a once-a-year gathering. Two tributes are picked: one girl and one boy between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district. It is televised the whole time. They are put into a futuristic forest arena to compete against each other to the death. In a game for their lives, they will face challenges such as murder, sickness, natural disasters, and homesickness. Will they survive? Will they win?

What I liked about the book was that Katniss and Peeta are around my age (a little older), and I could relate to them. Katniss is a girl so that made a difference for me, because not many books have main female characters. I would recommend this book to anyone who has read The Maze Runner by James Dashner or Divergent by Victoria Ross. You would also enjoy this book if you like fast-paced adventure books with cliffhangers. Read The Hunger Games!!!

Reviewer: nightowl

Age: 12

Posted on by Wendy

jay Z finds his oasis in “Ready Player One!”

Ready Player OneTitle: Ready Player One

Author: Ernest Cline

Genre: Dystopian, Science Fiction

Rating: 5 Stars

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline, is a dystopian science fiction novel, set in the year 2044 and chalk full of 80’s video games, adventure, and mystery.

Protagonist Wade Watts is a teen who has found the first clue in the puzzle to a $200 billion fortune left behind by James Halliday.  Halliday is the recently deceased, 80’s-obsessed creator of the virtual reality video game called The Oasis.  

This fortune is hidden deep inside the game as an Easter egg. The catch: the competition is open to the billions of people who own Oasis consoles and haptic equipment. Furthermore, Wade has to contend with IOI, a giant corporation bent on taking control of the Oasis and cheating their way to the egg.

This book is a fantastic, compelling read.  By the second chapter in, I vowed to add this to my permanent library. The characters Cline brings to life are so crystal clear and lifelike, I wished it would never stop. This story was my oasis from the dull reality of life; for this, I am forever indebted to Cline for his enchanting wizardry with words.

Reviewer: jay Z

Age: 13

Posted on by Wendy

Yeetgawd is riveted by “Red Rising!”

Red_Rising_(2014)

Title: Red Rising

Author: Pierce Brown

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian

Rating: 5 Stars

Red Rising is a riveting and page-turning sci-fi that takes place in a dystopian society on Mars. The society is stratified into a caste system, with the Golds at the top and the Reds at the bottom. Darrow is a Red, the lowest class in society. His whole life Darrow has believed that he has been colonizing Mars for a better future for his people, but this is all a lie. When his wife is killed, he decides to go through a risky process called the carving to become a Gold, the highest class in society. Darrow enters the institute — a vile place where the Golds are tested in a battle of will. Will Darrow survive?

This book is like Hunger Games mixed with Ender’s Game. Pierce Brown’s writing style is fast-paced, engaging, and delicately woven to create a book that you won’t be able to put down. This was one of my favorite series I’ve ever read. This is the first installment in a series of three.

Reviewer: yeetgawd

Age: 14

Posted on by Wendy

That One Rainbow Sprinkles is Intrigued by “Illuminae!”

Illuminae

Title: Illuminae

Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 5 Stars

Illuminae, written by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, is a vibrant book that will inspire you to read it to the end. Kady Grant lives in the year 2575 on a planet with an illegal mining colony. One day when Kady goes to school, her planet gets invaded by the rival corporation to the company that oversees the mining corporation on her planet. Everyone has to evacuate on their three spaceships: the Alexander, the Hypatia, and the Copernicus. They are chased by the spaceship that attacked their planet, and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) unit that helps run their ships gets a virus and starts malfunctioning and killing the people that it’s supposed to be protecting. Then Kady decides to bring to light what really happened.

Illuminae  is a great book with an interesting format style that might confuse you at first, but it is definitely worth sticking with it. Each page is different from comics to texts to emails to surveillance footage. I really liked Illuminae because it’s an incredibly intriguing book that will make you not want to stop reading it. And it broadened my knowledge about different styles of writing. Illuminae is a science fiction novel with creative art and pictures made out of words. I definitely recommend you read Illuminae. It is one of my favorite books.

Reviewer: That One Rainbow Sprinkles

Age: 14

Posted on by Wendy · 1 Comment

OzzyReed is over the moon about “Space Case!”

Space Case.jpg

Title: Space Case

Author: Stuart Gibbs

Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction

Rating: 4.5stars

Out of all the books I’ve read, Space Case is one of my favorites because it’s very thrilling.  Ever wonder what it’s like to live on the moon? Well, the setting of Space Case is on the first human settlement on the moon in the year 2041. The settlers there are mostly scientists and their families. Also, rich tourists pay tons of money to spend a couple months on the moon.

The main character, Dashiell, age 12, hates the moon base, which was advertised as nice and comfortable, but is actually the opposite. Early on, a man named Dr. Holtz is found dead on the surface of the moon with his space suit on wrong. Everyone on the base believes the death was an accident; but Dash thinks different. Because no one believes him, Dash has to quietly investigate by himself. Dash thinks it’s a murder because the night of the murder he heard Dr. Holtz in the bathroom talking excitedly about a new discovery he had just made. Also, Dr. Holtz was very cautious and would not have walked out on the moon surface without someone to check that his suit was on right. Dash is surprised to learn that Dr. Holtz actually had enemies; Dash thought everyone loved him. The final twist will BLOW YOUR MIND!

One thing I like about Space Case is that everyone on the moon base is a suspect. It’s scary that Dash has to solve the murder mystery before the rocket that brought supplies leaves back to Earth in two days; otherwise the killer is still on the loose at the base, which has no way to lock criminals up. I definitely recommend this book for everyone who likes rockets and robots, suspense and excitement, and a good hard-to-put-down mystery.

Reviewer: OzzyReed

Age: 10

Posted on by Wendy

Hfkiely writes a stunning review of “Red Rising.”

Red_Rising_(2014)

Title: Red Rising

Author: Pierce Brown

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 5 Stars

In a word, Red Rising is stunning. The story revolves around our futuristic solar system and the evolution of man. In four thousand years from now, man has been genetically engineered to divide into different races of humans, each used for a specific purpose. For simplicity, each job is represented by a color. However, some of the colors are engineered with higher physical superiority than the others. The Golds are the rulers of mankind. Their sole purpose is domination and order. The book follows a young man by the name of Darrow, who was born into the lowest color of all: the Reds, meant only for the mining of mars. Since a young age, all Reds are told that humans are just now trying to colonize mars, and that the Helium-3 they are mining is helping them to make the planet liveable. But this is a lie. The whole system has been colonized for centuries. After his family is killed, Darrow stumbles upon the lies the Golds have been keeping for years, and will do anything in his power to make it right. Even if it means becoming one of them.

Pierce Brown writes with descriptive vigor to create fantastically vivid images of the world and people in the universe, to the point where it almost puts you in the world itself. The bonds and emotional attachments to characters and places he creates have you flipping through the pages as he puts you through the unimaginable. This incredible writing style is what makes the book mind-blowing throughout. The twists are on every page, the excitement is book wide. Red Rising is a must read for anyone who cares about what it’s like to be a human.

Reviewer: hfkiely

Age: 15

Posted on by Wendy · 2 Comments

Mastermind1999 finds “Phoenix” to be an extraordinary book!

Phoenix paperback front.jpg

Title: Phoenix

Author: S F Said

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 5 Stars

The book “Phoenix,” written by S F Said and illustrated by Dave McKean, is amazing. It is about a kid named Lucky who awakes one day with his bed sheets smoldering and a giant hole in them. Lucky and his mom have to join forces with aliens that the human race is fighting. Lucky then has to find the truth about his powers by finding his dad in the war zone. “Phoenix” is a great book with extraordinary illustrations. You will like this book if you are interested in books about the future and if you like the “Guardians of the Galaxy” (the movie) or fast-paced adventure books. This book is very well written: I could imagine each scene like a movie because everything was described so well.  “Phoenix” is one of my favorite books. I read it in three days!!!

Reviewer: Mastermind1999

Age: 12

Posted on by Wendy · 1 Comment

First Review! Untrustworthy Doofus writes about the darkness of “Unwind.”

unwind

Title:  Unwind

Author:  Neal Shusterman

Genre:  Science Fiction, Dystopian

Rating:  5 Stars

The Unwind dystology (a four-book series), by Neil Shusterman, is a book that will make fear for the future. Unwind is the first book in this young adult science-fiction series, and is my all-time favorite. Unwind has a dark topic:  after a war, a scientist discovers a way to use 99.44% of a human body for life-saving implants. Without the scientist’s permission, the government decides to begin the process of “unwinding,” in which parents can decide if they want their misbehaving kid to be unwound between the ages of 13 and 18.

I like how the author chose to write from many different perspectives, switching between characters for each chapter.  The characters act and talk like real people, and the plot is so full of action that once you start reading it, you can’t stop.  I would rate this book five stars out of five!


Reviewer:  Untrustworthy Doofus

Age:  13