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FatRat recommends the twists and secrets in “Salt To the Sea.”

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Title: Salt to the Sea

Author: Ruta Sepetys

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 4 Stars

Salt To The Sea, by Ruta Sepetys, is compassionate and filled with tragedy. It takes place near the end of World War Two. This book follows the perspective of four main characters, all with secrets to hide: (1) a former worker at Hitler’s personal museum now on the run, (2) a fifteen-year-old immigrant from Poland, trying to hide her nationality, (3) a Lithuanian nurse, trying to get to Germany, and (4) a Nazi, at the bottom of the pecking order, with delusions of grandeur, an inflated ego and a desire to please his betters. The first three of these four all meet in East Prussia through luck, bad luck, and coincidence. They get wind of a ship that would take them out of the war and into safety, The Wilhelm Gustloff. Meanwhile, the Nazi is assigned to help clean and manage the very same ship. These characters are pulled along the plotline by tragedy, love, war, and greed to their destiny.

Salt to the Sea is an engaging book and does a great job of bringing these characters to life. I am amazed at how the author was able to show the point of view of four different characters. It is filled with twists and is an interesting book to read.

Reviewer: FatRat

Age: 13

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Naomi reveals her affection for the priceless and amazing “El Deafo!”

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Title: El Deafo

Author: Cece Bell

Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir

Rating: 5 Stars

El Deafo is the funniest and yet most poignant graphic novel I have ever read. It is a memoir of author Cece Bell’s struggles after she becomes sick and loses her hearing at the age of four.  Until she reaches second grade, Bell lives in her own bubble with few friends because she is shy. All through the book, she thinks of herself as a superhero, known as El Deafo. By the time she reaches second grade, her social life is really only her brother and sister and one mean friend. When a new boy moves into town, she falls in love. The way the author explains how they interact is beyond hilarious.

 El Deafo is so touching and never gets old. I think I’ve read it 10 times and every time I read it, I deeply enjoy it. The cartooning is one of the best parts. The drawings are detailed but not overwhelming, and some of the best cartoons in this book are El Deafo superhero dreams, which are priceless. This is a must-read book full of humor, joy, and friendship between amazing characters.

Reviewer: Naomi

Age: 14

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Martin_Montes finds mysterious threads in “The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-Time.”

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Title: The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time

Author: Mark Haddon

Genre: Mystery

Rating: 4 Stars

The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time, by Mark Haddon, starts with a fabulous mystery because a dog has been killed with a giant pitchfork. The narrator is Christopher and he is an autistic teenager. His mom died two years ago.

In the neighborhood, on the night he finds the stabbed dog, Christopher decides to investigate who killed the dog. Christopher investigates about of the murder of the dog by himself. What will he find?

I like this book because it has so much mystery and I get to focus on the story and it is a good story.  But sometimes, the story is kind of strange. For example, the chapters are in prime numbers. The text includes drawings. The main character misunderstands people because of his autism.

This book succeeds in maintaining a mystery throughout while giving the reader a deep sense of what it would be like to have a mental condition. In this way, the reader learns a lot.

Reviewer: Martin_Montes

Age: 15

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audrey.warren hones in on the importance of memory in “The Giver”

The Giver

Title: The Giver

Author: Lois Lowry

Genre: Dystopian

Rating: 4 Stars

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is an intense and profound book to read. This story is set in a society which first appears to be utopian but is revealed to be dystopian as the story continues. The book follows an eleven-year-old boy named Jonas throughout his journey discovering what this society is about.

The citizens of the society Lowry creates can’t see color. When Jonas starts to realizes he can see color, he wonders what this means for him in the future. He’s different from other kids because he can see beyond. Jonas receives the job as a receiver, which means he holds all memory of history. This is isolating. Jonas starts training with this old man known as the Giver. The Giver slowly gives Jonas an idea of what the receiver’s job is. Jonas is scared and confused about why he was chosen as the receiver and as he receives the memories he sees his society is not as “perfect” as it seems.

Lowry came up with the idea of a scary, sterile world where nearly everyone takes drugs so they don’t remember their memories and emotions. In real life, so many have suffered the pain of losing someone. In this book, Lowry considered how much different our existences might be if we didn’t have memories at all. Lowry shows us that when we lose our memories we lose parts of our humanity.

Reviewer: audrey.warren

Age: 14

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HockeyGirlMT finds a stunning message in “The War that Saved My Life!”

The_War_That_Saved_My_Life

Title: The War that Saved my Life

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 5 Stars

The War that Saved my Life is a stunning book that takes the reader through a girl’s daring escape not only to get free from her fears, but to find her strengths. Ada has never left her one-room apartment because her horrible mother is too ashamed about Ada’s twisted up foot. When World War II hits London and kids evacuate to the country, Ada escapes with them. But will she be free or will the grip of her abusive mother pull her back? The War that Saved my Life is an extraordinary book with beautiful detail. You will love this book if you are interested in life around World War II or if you just want to read a tremendous and moving book. This book is very well written: I can imagine each scene because author Kimberly Brubaker Bradley writes with beautiful description. The War that Saved my Life is one of my favorite books and I can’t wait to read it again.

Reviewer: HockeyGirlMT

Age: 12

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Win19 finds thrills in Rowling’s “Chamber of Secrets!”

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Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Author: J. K. Rowling

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4 Stars

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J. K. Rowling, is a thrilling book that keeps you engaged throughout. After a strange visit from a house elf named Dobby, Harry Potter leaves his terrible human/muggle family to go to his second year at Hogwarts, the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dobby warns Harry that if he goes to the school, disaster will strike. And strike it does.

For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageous professor, Gillderoy Lockheart, a moaning girl haunting the bathrooms and the unwanted attention of lots of other students and teachers. But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone or something starts petrifying children. Who could it be?  

This is a great book if you are looking for something to read just for fun. It is an action packed book and if you like reading fantasy, this is an awesome book for you.

Reviewer: win19

Age: 14

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_quantum_03 celebrates the perseverance in “Black Holes and Baby Universes!”

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Title: Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays

Author: Stephen Hawking

Genre: Non-fiction

Rating: 4.5stars

Written by one of the most admirable theoretical physicists, Stephen Hawking, Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays is a compilation of personal and scientific essays. Taken together, these essays showcase his great achievements, but also his battle with ALS. Unlike Hawking’s earlier bestseller, A Brief History in Time, which is primarily focused on current theories in science, Black Holes and baby Universes and other Essays is a mix of speeches, essays and paradoxes.

 At the age of twenty-one during his first year of graduate school at Cambridge, Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis disease (or ALS). This led him to experience a rapid deterioration of function until the point where he could no longer walk. While dealing with his permanent illness, Hawking finished school, married, and began to develop innovative theories of his own, such as black hole emission (otherwise known as Hawking Radiation). Though these essays vary in substance, a prominent theme of perseverance unites the book. It is incredible that a man who is faced with such life threatening difficulties can persevere and be smarter than all of us. Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays isn’t the most science loaded of Hawking’s books, but it is very inspiring.

Reviewer: _quantum_03

Age: 14

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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

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Blairito is transported by “The War that Saved my Life!”

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Title: The War that Saved my Life

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 4 Stars

The War that Saved my Life is a book that transports you through an adventure of historical fiction. It is about a ten-year-old crippled girl named Ada living in London during World War II. Ada lives with her little brother and her unstable mother, who is ashamed to let her leave their small London flat. Ada is faced with child abuse and the task of protecting her six-year-old brother from her mother. But when all of London is warned about bombs, her brother’s school organizes for all children to leave and go to live with new families out of harm’s way. Ada has to face the challenge of walking on her crippled foot to get to safety, but that is by no means the end of her adventure. Upon arriving in the countryside, Ada and her brother are sent to live with a stern lonely woman named Susan who lives alone in a big house. Can Ada’s hope and kindness help save not only her brother but also Susan?

I loved the way Kimberly Brubaker Bradley writes from Ada’s point of view. It gives the whole story a very real and inspiring feel. I hope that the next readers of this book enjoy as much as I did, looking at the world through Ada’s eyes.

Reviewer: Blairito

Age: 13

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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

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Lucii is engrossed by “Warriors Don’t Cry.”

Warriors Don't Cry

Title: Warriors Don’t Cry

Author: Melba Pattillo Beals

Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir

Rating: 4.5stars

Warriors Don’t Cry, by Melba Pattillo Beals, is a heartbreaking, non-fiction book that gave me a deeper understanding of the struggles of African Americans. Warriors Don’t Cry is a memoir about Beals’ experience integrating into Little Rock’s Central High, Little Rock Arkansas, 1957. This book makes me feel as if I am walking the halls of the high school alongside the nine students (known as The Little Rock Nine ). Melba endured situations such as having a stick of dynamite flung at her, being burned in the girl’s restroom, and having acid sprayed into her eyes. She describes all these situations so well that it feels like you are right with her. The book engages your mind by putting you in someone else’s shoes.

The story has many distressing, but real scenes for which you have to be prepared for. There are some slower parts where Melba takes you through all her experiences of integrating Central, so I would not recommend it to anyone who needs a fast-paced story. I would also not recommend this book to anyone who can’t handle the agonizingly real violence portrayed in this book.  If you are looking for an engrossing, non-fiction book about the journeys, struggles, and sacrifices black people faced in our history, this is the book for you.

Reviewer: Lucii

Age: 14

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OzzyReed is over the moon about “Space Case!”

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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

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Why stop with “Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone?” Mirilli urges readers to take on the series!

Harry Potter Book 1

Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Author: J. K. Rowling

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5 Stars

Personally, I think that Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone is a great start to an even better series. The characters have spunk and courage, and they are very diverse. For example, there are several strong female role models such as Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley, who are as different as can be but equally magnificent. The main character, Harry Potter, has an interesting backstory that’s not cliché .

The plot is full of action and adventure. A boy named Harry discovers that he’s a wizard and gets to leave his abusive aunt and uncle to go to the magical shcool of Hogwarts. The background world that the author created is wonderful, filled with whimsy and wonder. I would recommend this story to everyone, but in particular fans of Percy Jackson and Land of Stories. If you haven’t read this series already, you need to.

Reviewer: Mirilli

Age: 13

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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

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Mastermind1999 finds “Phoenix” to be an extraordinary book!

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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