Without Tess

Without Tess By Marcella Pixley

 ***** 5/5 stars Fiction

Some girls like to play pretend when they are little. Tess and Lizzie Cohen did as well. As time went on Lizzie let go of the fantasies and moved on while Tess still pretended at age twelve. Tess became more and more involved with her fantasies and eventually went insane. Lizzie began to realize that Tess’s belief in her pretend games was a serious matter when Tess starved herself, but fed chocolates to statues. Tess’s fantasies led to madness and madness led to her death. Fifteen years later, Lizzie is still not getting over her sister’s death. With the help of her sister’s Pegasus Journal and the school counselor, Lizzie learns to move on and accept Tess’s death.

Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algernon  By Daniel Keyes

***** 5/5 stars  Fiction

Charlie Gordon was born with an extremely low IQ. Even though he is thirty-two, he is unable to learn how to read and write. For a long time he has wanted to be smart. Now he has the chance. Some doctors have asked him if he wants to be part of an experiment to help people like him raise their IQ with surgery. The surgery has been done on the mouse Algernon, but Charlie will be the first human. Eventually Charlie's IQ goes higher than the doctors expected. Charlie begins to meet people outside the hospital and his everyday job. Charlie is just getting used to living in a world of science and mathematics when he realizes that the surgery that was done on him has a flaw.  After Charlie has just gotten used to having knowledge, will he lose it?

Between Shades of Gray

Between Shades of Gray  By Ruta Septys

***** 5/5 stars   Historical Fiction

In  the summer of 1941, being arrested by the Soviet secret police is the furthest from Lina's mind. When it does happen, Lina and her family are dragged from their home and put to work in Siberia.  Her father is separated from the family.  Lina desperately tries to contact him in different ingeniuous ways. She also works to preserve a record so that people will know what happened and so it won't happen again. This is a book you will not easily forget.


            

Matched

Matched  By Ally Condie

***3/5 stars  Science Fiction

I gave this book three stars because so many books are like this one. There is always the dystopian world and the love story. Is it so hard to be creative? This book was so similar to The Giver by Lois Lowry, and that was much better. Of course everyone likes this type of story, including me, but after you read this type of story over and over again, you get really bored.

            For those who are not bored with this type of story, it is about a girl named Cassia. She lives in the future where the Society dictates everything in the perfect world that they created. The officials--the police in this story--decide who you will marry, what your job is, and when you die. Cassia has just been given her Match, her childhood friend Xander. She is also given a microcard. The card tells her everything that she needs to know about Xander. While Cassia is looking at a picture of Xander on the screen, another face flashes on it. The face is Ky Markham, another boy that Cassia knows. Cassia is faced with the hard decision of choosing to marry Ky and Xander.

Life as We Knew It

Life as We Knew It  By Susan Beth Pfeffer

***** 5/5 stars   Science Fiction

When a meteor hits the moon bringing it closer to Earth, life as Miranda knew it is gone forever. Tsunamis, volcanoes, and floods are unleashed as every day becomes a fight to stay alive.
            The first book in this trilogy was very good, 5/5 stars. The second was okay, 4/5, but by the third I was wondering why I was reading it. You should definitely read the first, but I don't think you should read the second and third. I was reading it just to find out what happened to the characters, but the ending was a disappointment.

If I Stay

If I Stay  By Gayle Froman

*****5/5 stars  Fiction

A simple car ride can change everything. In less than a second, Mia's life is changed forever. When a truck hits her family's car, Mia's mom and dad are killed. Her brother and Mia survive, but barely. As they are rushed to the hospital, Mia is faced with a decision. Should she choose to live or die?

Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos

Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos  By R.L. La Fevers

***** 5/5 stars  Fantasy

Being the only one to sense the curses on some objects can cause you to be very busy. That is the situation Theodosia is in. Surrounded by cursed antiquities from her dad's museum, Theo has the privilege of de-cursing all the objects. When Theodosia's mom returns from Egypt with an amulet, the Heart of Egypt, Theodosia realizes that the amulet is under a curse so horrible that it will cause chaos to erupt onto the streets of London. To prevent mayhem, Theo will have to return the Heart of Egypt to its tomb in Egypt.