Brian's Winter

Ever read The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen? If so, then you'll love this. As you may or may not know, in The Hatchet, Brian is rescued in the fall, many readers asked the question "what if he wasn't saved?" This book answers that question. Brian overcomes many obstacles but you'll have to read the book to find out if Brian survives them! I would recommend this book to mostly guys, and people who loved The Hatchet. It received 9/10 stars from me!

Book Talk: Habibi

The book I read was "Habibi" by: Naomi Shihab Nye. In this book, there is a Arabian American family who recently moves to Palestine. The main character, Liyana is a teenage girl, and this move for her is very hard on her. She barely knows the language, and she doesn't care to learn about her nationality or origin, until one day her Grandma's house was destroyed due to them being Arabian. This kind of suspense and drama opens her eyes, and learns to enjoy her life and her country. Not only does this book have suspense and drama and helpful facts about Palestine, but it also has romance. She meets this new boy, who is Jewish named Omer. What Liyana doesn't know that is she is that it is wrong to be with Jewish people if she is Arabian. Find out what happens to the two and how they deal with their conflicting lifestyles. I rate this book an 8 out of 10 for it has many facts in it, but also suspense, drama and romance, so pick this book up and read it!

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay is the 3rd and final book of the Hunger Games series. The main character, Katniss, has been used in a plan to start the rebellion against the Capital while she was unaware of it. She now represents the rebels while they revolt against the Capital and she gets thrown into the war. During the war, Katniss realizes that the real enemy may not be who she thinks it is. She has to make many tough decisions that could affect the rest of her life and the lives of many others. I thought this was a good book, although it had a slow beginning. This book had many surprises to keep me reading and interested in the book. I would recommend this book to someone who likes a book with a lot of adventure and action in it or to someone who is looking for a good, exciting story to read.

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

I read I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. I would give this a 4 out of 5 because it was one of those books where I couldn't put my book down. Throughout this story, the main character, Ed, receives playing cards and on the cards it has addresses or clues to where he's supposed to go. During his missions, he tries to find out who could possibly be behind all this because Ed was a nobody in his society just a simple, under-aged taxi driver. If you want to know what happens at each address and find out who's behind all this, then you definitely should read this book. I recommend this book to people who love mystery and action stories.

Tales of The Greek Heroes

I read a book called Tales of The Greek Heroes, and this book is pretty much a breakdown of a lot of the gods in Greek Mythology. Each chapter is a different god and some are even just stories/myths. This book is very interesting, and I recommend it to people that like to read about all the different gods. I would give this book a 9 out of 10 because its just fun to read and it's interesting. In this book you'll read about famous gods like Poseidon and Zeus, and some of the other lower not so known gods, like Dionysus and Perseus. So if you like Greek mythology, I'd definitely recommend picking this book up.
-Konrad Markowski-

13 Reasons Why

13 Reasons Why by: Jay Asher is about a girl named Hannah Baker who commits suicide. The book is told by Clay Jensen, a member of Hannah's list, and Hannah herself on tapes before her death. On the tapes Hannah tells stories about the people who connect to her death. I would recommend this book to both boys and girls because not only is it a great book but, it has an important message. The message is, people have an impact on the lives of others. It's not possible to know everything else going on in a person's life and how you might be adding to their pain.

13 Little Blue Envelopes

The book I read for this quarter is called 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson. The book is about a young girl who gets 13 blue envelopes from her recently deceased aunt. Each envelope has a number and a task, and she can't open the next envelope until that task is complete. These 13 little blue envelopes will take her on an exciting adventure across Europe. Read the book to see what exciting things her aunt has instore for her. I would rate this book a 9 out of 10, because there are some boring parts, but it is overall a really good book. I would recommend this book for girls who like reading about travel.

Chasing Lincoln's Killer By: James L. Swanson

Lincoln's deaths, a famous story of a southern extremist who takes action; is it so? This book, historically accurate, explains in depth the conspiracy behind the assassination of our beloved sixteenth president. Entering deep into the intentions of the failure, John Wilkes Booth, and his gang of bandits, this book is a shocking eye opener showing the audacity of the conspirators. I would give this book a five out of five stars, not only for its amazing story but because it is surprisingly true. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is fascinated by real historical facts.