We Were Liars

We Were Liars 

by: E. Lockhart

Synopsis: We Were Liars is a book about a girl, named Cadence and her three best friends, two of which are her cousins. Together they are known as "the Liars". It's about their relationship throughout their summers on the family's private island. Most importantly the story follows Cadence tries to figure out and expose the biggest lie in her life. 

Review: This book is very suspenseful and basically the craziest book I have ever read. It's not crazy because it's full of adventure or because it's action-filled, it's crazy because the ending is the most unexpected thing ever. It's a mystery, sort-of, and it gets frustrating, but the end is insane. This book is separated into parts and in the last part, which was like 50/60 pages, I cried the entire time. I was crying so hard, I could barely read it. Personally I hated it. It was literally the most boring story I've ever read, until the end. Still, I hated the end. The writing was annoying to read, it was sometimes written in chopped up sentences and the memories were never really clear because the sentences weren't completed. I was so glad that I finished that book, but also I was devastated by the ending. If you enjoy happy books with happy endings, then do not read this. If you don't want to cry, don't read this. If you like depressing, sad, messed up books, and if you enjoy hating the main character, then read this book. 

 

The Giver

The Giver 

by: Lois Lowry

Synopsis: The Giver is about a 12 year old boy in an utopian society, who gets placed to work as The Receiver, which is considered to be a great honor. However, Jonas has his doubts about his new job and his teacher, The Giver. Jonas lives in a society which shields its people from heavy emotions like love and pain. The people of this society are taught to never lie and to have precision with words. After Jonas gets his job he is told he's allowed to lie and he is to never talk about what happens at his job. At this job, Jonas learns and experiences the past through The Giver. This makes him actually feel emotions, which eventually leads him to do something no one has done before to protect himself and the people he loves. 

Review: The Giver is a great book, a classic really. I think everyone should read it at least once in their life. It's the first of a quartet which loosely follows the story. This book is a fast and interesting read, and the rest of the series is great too! 

Everland

Everland 

by: Wendy Spinale

Synopsis: Everland is a fictional book about Germany destroying London with a series of bombs, one of which releases a deadly disease. The only survivors are the children, who are forced to live in hiding from German military leader Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer, or HOOK, and his soldiers. Hook believes the only way to find the cure is to experiment on the children, who seem to be immune. His soldiers snatch children off the street and they're never seen again. Then one day Gwen's little sister Johanna is taken and Gwen is set on getting her back. Along the way she meets the leader of the Lost City, Pete, and his faithful companion, Bella. Pete, Bella, and some of the other Lost Boys decide to help Gwen get Johanna back and try to stop Hook. It's told in alternating views between Hook and Gwen.

Review: Everland is an adventure filled book. I loved it so much! If you can't tell by all of the names, it's a spin off of Peter Pan. Personally Peter Pan is my favorite Disney movie and dystopian books, like this one, are one of my favorite type of books to read. So this book is really the perfect book for me. It was so amazing and action filled. It was a little violent and one part really freaked me out, but that's only because I'm horrified of aquatic animals. I loved the story and I loved the characters. Some parts were a little predictable, but nothing can ever be perfect. This book was amazing and it just came out so I'm not sure their will be a second book or not but if there is I will be the first buyer. If you enjoy Peter Pan and like dystopian books, this is the perfect book for you. 

    

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby 

by: F. Scott Fitzgerald 

Synopsis: The Great Gatsby is a story bout Nick Carraway, a Mid-Western man, who moves to Rhode Island and becomes a apart of the glamorous lives of the rich, in the Roaring Twenties. He meets and befriends his neighbor, a millionaire, Jay Gatsby. Nick experiences the positive and the negative parts of the intense Eastern lifestyle. 

Review: The Great Gatsby was good, but it wasn't the best. I think it was very interesting to read about the 1920s, even if it wasn't 100% real. Most of the book I wanted to keep reading, but other parts were so boring I could barely read it. There was a lot of symbolism throughout the book, and this could be both good and bad. It's good because it makes you think and look harder throughout the book. However it's also bad because sometimes while reading it's nice for the author to straight out tell you what's going on and not force you to interpret everything. I liked the end very much. It had explanations and concluded each person's story very nicely. I'm glad I read it, but I also wish I could've read it outside of school, so I could enjoy and appreciate it even more. 

This is Where it Ends

This is Where it Ends 

by: Marieke Nijkamp

Synopsis: This is Where it Ends is a fictional story about a high school shooting. It's told in four points of view throughout the 54 agonizing minutes, as a student determined to get revenge, takes control and locks down the school. 

Review: Although this book is fictional, this kind of thing actually happens and that is probably why this book is so hard to read. However it's so gripping that it's literally impossible to put down. It reminds the reader how fast everything can change and it makes the reader question what he or she would do in that situation. But then you realize that it's impossible to know what you would do, because you can't even imagine it happing to you or someone you know. Reading this as a high school student, I was speechless and filled with emotion, because I kept comparing it or imagining it happening in my school, and that was very hard. I don't know why, but I didn't expect this book to be as sad as it was. I knew it was a book about a school shooting, but I still expected it to have a happy/decent ending. It didn't. The end was horribly sad and I was forced to read it through my tears because I couldn't wait to see what happened at the way end. Even though it was sad and I cried a lot, the ending was good and somewhat fulfilling. 

  

Orphan Train

Orphan Train

 by: Christina Baker Kline

Synopsis: Orphan Train is about two very different women forming an unexpected friendship, and learning that they are actually more similar than either thought possible. Molly Ayer is a 17 year old, who will soon "age out" of the foster system. She is forced to help Vivian Daly, a 91 year old woman, clean out her home as community service on the coast of Maine. Molly thinks no one will ever understand her, this is until she starts finding Vivian's secrets hidden in her attic. She discovers that Vivian was an orphan sent from New York to the Midwest with hundreds of other children on trains to find homes. These trains that the orphans traveled on became known as "orphan trains", they would make stops at towns and people hoping to adopt would come and pick their new children. After learning this and the rest about Vivian's past, Molly is determined to help solve the mysteries that have haunted Vivian for all of these years. 

Review: This is another historical fiction, and it's exceptional. I devoured this book! It was so good and full of emotions and wonderfully written. I think the coolest, but also the saddest, part was the fact that "orphan trains" were real. Between 1854 to 1929, more than 200,000 orphaned/abandoned were sent to the Midwest on the "orphan trains". It was interesting to learn about apart of our history that we never learn about in history classes. Overall this book is amazing and I have read it multiple times and will continue to reread it occasionally. Everyone should read it at least once in their lives.

   

Sarah's Key

Sarah's Key

By: Tatiana de Rosnay 

Synopsis: Sarah's Key is a story following two people involved with the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, a mass roundup of Paris Jews by the French police in 1942, during the Holocaust. One of the people is a 10 year old Jewish girl named Sarah who was one of the Jews rounded up. Before the police take her family away, she hides her brother in a cupboard and locks him in to keep him safe. Then it follows her story as she does everything in her power to get back to her brother.  While this is happening, in alternating chapters we follow a journalist Julia Jarmond, who is asked to write an article about the roundup on it's 60th anniversary, in 2002. While researching she stumbles onto a long-hidden family secret that connects her to Sarah. She then retraces and learns more about Sarah's story. After learning about Sarah, Julia must decide if she belongs or even wants to stay in France. 

Review: This is a life changing, unforgettable book. It's a historical fiction, which means that the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup and the other events are real, just not the specific people.

I love these types of books because they teach the history but through an engaging story. This book is very sad, so do not read if you don't want to cry. But it's amazing! It's interesting to read about the thing happening and then reading the reactions of the future generations. I think everyone should read it.