Search

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Sniper by Theodore Taylor


Sniper is a different novel about 15-year-old Ben Jepson who is left alone to tend to his parents' wild cat preserve in South California. It's not the responsibility of the big cats that burdens Ben, but the responsibility of keeping them safe from somebody who stalks the night armed with a sniper waiting to kill the next of his cats.

Sniper is set in South California, around the 80's. For a novel set in South California, you would expect a happier feel to the plot, although the reader feels what emotions the characters experience : grief and anguish.

The story begins when Ben and the hired hands on the preserve are awakened by the sound of panicking peacocks, and they go outside to find Helen and Daisy, The Sisters, shot dead and bleeding on the ground, and most of the other cats released from their compounds. This isn't the last assault on the preserve, though. Despite Ben's and the hired hands' efforts to protect the cats, Rachael, one of the cheetahs, is shot dead one morning, followed by Rocky, a lion Ben raised right from the earliest stages. Now, along with the challenge of keeping most of the cats alive, Ben must work with Deputy Metcalf to discover who the culprit is, and why they have any reason to shoot the most gentle cats on the property.

The main characters in Sniper are Ben, his girlfriend Sandy, Luis Vargas, and Deputy Metcalf. The story, told from Ben's perspective, lets the readers express their grief and concern for the events in the book.

Theodore Taylor's style of writing is slow and gradual, yet exciting and intriguing. Theodore Taylor not only provides readers with an excellent story, but  expresses his characters' emotions so well that readers sort of turn into his characters, and live their parts in the story.

Theodore Taylor was born in North Carolina on June 23, 1921, and passed away more recently on October 26, 2006. He is the author of over fifty novels, including The Cay and The Bomb. He is the winner of eleven literary awards.


To Read   Not to Read

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Copyright: 2002

In a world where families can only have two children, Luke Garner struggle to live like an ordinary child, despite his being illegal. Luke is an illegal third child, living silently and secretly. The only people who know about him are his parents and older brothers. He’s never been off of his property. Never been to school, never had a friend. But what Luke does not know: there are others like him.

When the woods behind Luke’s farmhouse are deconstructed, Luke is forced to stay indoors at all times. Eventually, he can’t look out a window, eat breakfast with his family, or even leave his room in the attic, due to the worry of people working outside seeing him.
One day, though, Luke discovers vents in the roof of his attic room, where he can see out. During his time inside, Luke can see the houses that replaced his woods, and in a few months, he can watch the new neighbors going about their daily business. Peculiarly, when all of the neighbors are at work or school, Luke spots a light left on in one of the rooms of the houses, and shortly after that, the blinds fluttering. Assuming that there is another third child in the house, Luke plots for weeks in his room how and when to escape his house for the first time in months to meet them.

The day Luke manages to escape, he meets Jen, the other third child, who teaches him about Shadow children, and why they are illegal. Jen and Luke become fast friends, and Jen shares her plans with Luke about the Rally, a scheme to stand up to the Government and free all third children.

When the rally fails, Luke narrowly escapes the Population Police with his life, and with the help of Jen’s father, without his name.

When I first picked up this novel, I never expected it to be so good! Usually, I find that the first novel in a sequence is always the slowest, and the author takes their time to introduce all of the main characters and the major conflict or plot. Fortunately, this rule did not apply to Among the Hidden! Every chapter kept me hooked. There was really no part in the novel that dragged on, and each sentence, I wanted to read more. It was always a bother to put the book down, or even to finish a chapter. I think the author chose a very interesting and possibly realistic view of the future, and gave the readers a good picture of this conflict’s consequences, if it were one day to happen. When the novel narrated from Luke’s point of view, it really made me put myself in Luke’s ‘shoes’, because I could actually imagine what it felt like to be cooped up inside for months, and finally breathe fresh air; that is how well the author described things. I would recommend this novel to almost anybody, or whoever is interested in reading a gripping novel that they can’t put down. I look forward to reading the rest of the series, and hopefully the novels following Among the Hidden are as good as itself.

To Read   Not to Read

Friday, June 25, 2010

The Summoning by Kelly Armstrong

Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2008

When Chloe gets stalked by a gory-looking ghost janitor and tries to run away from school, she is diagnosed with schizophrenia and is put in Lyle House, a home for unstable teens. Chloe finds out from her new friends that she is not a schizophrenic, but is a necromancer and can actually hear the dead speaking to her.
Chloe and her new friends discover that Lyle House is not what it seems, and they must escape with the biggest mystery of their lives.

When I picked up The Summoning, I expected a really good read, judging by the dramatic cover and the New York Times Best Selling Author statement at the top. But judging this book by its cover, however, was one of the worst book wise mistakes I have made.

 First of all, the plot was not at all well thought out. Kelly Armstrong wrote as if the events of the novel were just popping into her head, and she didn't bother to really connect the events throughout the book, either. Not only was the plot scatterbrained and out of the blue, but it was bizarre. The Summoning wasn't the happiest book I've read, either. Just reading it made me feel weary and untrusting of the characters.
 Besides the strange plot to The Summoning, Kelly Armstrong mixed in a bit of uncalled for mature content, used in a twisted and strange way, like the story itself.

 Despite all of the good reviews I have read for this book, I believe it is a matter of opinion whether The Summoning is a good read or not, but still, I have learned the hard way from this novel never to judge a book by its cover. My final opinion for The Summoning is that it's overrated and strange.


To Read  Not to Read

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

Publisher: Scholastic
Copyright: 2010

Raina's life is topsy-turvy, beginning with her need for braces. Right before she gets them, though, Raina knocks out both of her front teeth while racing her friends home, and needs much more dental and orthodontic work than before.
Not only does Raina have to endure surgery, pain, and more treatment, but she survives a major earthquake, and finds friends who actually care about her.

This was one of the novels I could not put down, and read it all in one afternoon. Smile is a graphic novel with a happy and fun-to-read edge to it. This is kind of a girl's book, but I was touched to learn that it was actually a true story that the author herself lived through. I'd definitely recommend this one, and look forward to reading it again one day.


To Read  Not to Read

Leap by Jane Breskin Zalben

Publisher: Yearling Books
Copyright: 2007

Krista and David used to be best friends, until they got to the age when it wasn't cool to be friends with a girl or a guy any more. When David is temporarily paralyzed from oxygen deprivation, he and his family begin having problems. David's mom leaves for a while to stay with her sister, and David and his father have trouble cooperating.
Since David is paralyzed, his hopes for joining the swim team this season are crushed, but his father encourages him to work out in the pool daily to regain his strength.

Meanwhile, Krista is confused about her friendships and growing up. She still wonders who gave her the candy box in grade 3, and if her crush likes her back. Slowly, David and Krista become even better friends than they were before, and everybody learns to go their separate ways; even the tadpole Krista and David raised for a class project.

I thought this novel was AWESOME all the way through. Told form David's and Krista's perspectives, Jane Breskin Zalben creates vivid and realistic characters that are easy to relate to. The story is symbolic in parts, amazing in others, and even touching in more. This novel kept me hooked all the way through. The novel is perfect for people who are not a fan of fantasy or action, or for lighter readers. I would definitely recommend it.

Rating: ****

To Read  Not to Read

Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson


Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Copyright: 2006

This novel is about 3 girls: Birdie Darlington, Leeda Cawley-Smith, and Murphy McGowen. They all get sent to Darlington's Orchard to work over the spring break.
As you read further into the book, you find out more about their background and how they deal with problems at the orchard. Each girl has a different yet unique perspective about their ups and downs.

Jodi Lynn Anderson captures the essence of reality, which makes her first book heartwarming and irresistibly hard to put down. This novel really shows you the true binding power of friendship.


To Read  Not to Read

On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer

Publisher: Yearling Books
Copyright: 1986
On My Honor is a quick, snappy, ninety page novel without a happy ending. The novel is about two boys who go bike riding to Starved Rock, and one of them wants to climb it. Tony, the reckless one of the two, insists that they stop to swim in a river on the way there. Tony knows he can't swim, but accepts Joel's dare to swim out to the sandbar.

When Tony drowns, Joel does his best to conceal the awful truth with his own lies and stories, but in the end he is forced to confess how it was partially his own fault of his best friend's death.

This story was predictable, and focuses on the grief of the characters. It resembles the effect of one careless act or one silly mistake. The author really makes you feel the emotion of the characters as they must face the truth about they're son and friend. On My Honor is a timeless story reminding people to think twice.

Despite the emotion in the novel, its predictability is way too high, and the plot is depressing, so that you expect a sad ending. The novel was clearly not the best I have ever read.

To Read         Not to Read