Category: Fiction

The Strangers (Greystone Secrets #1)

By Margaret Peterson Haddix

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!!! It takes twist you don’t expect and leaves you constantly wanting to learn more. This is a great mystery book and I loved how it switched points of view each chapter between the three siblings, yet continued the story forward! There was never a slow moment. The ending leaves you hooked and needing more answers, so you’ll definitely want to roll right into book two: The Deceivers.

What makes you you?

The Greystone kids thought they knew. Chess has always been the protector over his younger siblings, Emma loves math, and Finn does what Finn does best—acting silly and being adored. They’ve been a happy family, just the three of them and their mom.

But everything changes when reports of three kidnapped children reach the Greystone kids, and they’re shocked by the startling similarities between themselves and these complete strangers. The other kids share their same first and middle names. They’re the same ages. They even have identical birthdays. Who, exactly, are these strangers?

Before Chess, Emma, and Finn can question their mom about it, she takes off on a sudden work trip and leaves them in the care of Ms. Morales and her daughter, Natalie. But puzzling clues left behind lead to complex codes, hidden rooms, and a dangerous secret that will turn their world upside down.

Variant

by Robinson Wells

I don’t think I have ever read a book that jumps in like Variant! It is fast paced and doesn’t spend a lot of time back tracking. I was hooked within the first few pages! Benson gets accepted to a private school, but turns out their are no adults. Students have job contracts along with their classes to cook meals, do maintenance, run security, and even teach lessons. Despite no adults, the rules are strict, and if a rule is broken, the consequences are severe…. such detention. Detention doesn’t seem that bad, right? Yet no one has ever come back from detention. Lose a game of paintball…. you don’t eat for 2 days. Despite all this, some students have been their for years. Some even seem as if they should have graduated. But can anyone escape?

Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.

He was wrong.

Now he’s trapped in a school that’s surrounded by a razor-wire fence, where video cameras monitor his every move—and where breaking the rules equals death.

All Benson wants is to find a way out. But when he stumbles upon the real secret the school has been hiding, he realizes that escape may be impossible.

Insignia (Insignia #1)

by S. J. Kincaid

If you like Ender’s Game mixed with Harry Potter (but no magic, just technology) along with a splash of Ready Player One & Hunger Games, then this is the book for you! The author does the diligence in providing enough explanation and detail to really make the futuristic ideas and technology totally possible. There are many parts to this book as well. You have the main character, who is in training for the military to remotely pilot spaceships, living the dorm life and attending classes and simulation practices. These cadets have computers imbedded directly into their brains though! This brings in a whole new level of virtual reality and brains can now be hacked. Imagine a computer virus that made you think you were a sheep and you truly thought you were. The cadets also have to fight to prove themselves in order to receive sponsorships from the leading companies in the world so that the war is continued to be funded. This book is all in and I enjoyed being immersed in this futuristic technological version of Earth’s future!

The earth is in the middle of WWIII in Insignia, the first entry in S. J. Kincaid’s fast-paced sci-fi adventure trilogy perfect for fans of Ender’s Game.

The planet’s natural resources are almost gone, and war is being fought to control the assets of the solar system. The enemy is winning. The salvation may be Tom Raines. Tom doesn’t seem like a hero. He’s a short fourteen-year-old with bad skin. But he has the virtual-reality gaming skills that make him a phenom behind the controls of the battle drones.

As a new member of the Intrasolar Forces, Tom’s life completely changes. Suddenly, he’s someone important. He has new opportunities, friends, and a shot at having a girlfriend. But there’s a price to pay. . . .

The Crossover

By Kwame Alexander

I read this book in one evening! I couldn’t put it down and it flows so well, you don’t want to. It is written in verse, so the pages go by quickly. You jump right into twins Josh and Jordan’s life as middle schoolers. The struggle between family, school, basketball, and friends/girlfriends puts their relationship to the test. It made me reflect about my own relationship with my sister and even my parents. Although I know next to nothing about basketball, this book was so easy to connect with!

“With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I’m delivering,” announces dread-locked, 12-year old Josh Bell. He and his twin brother Jordan are awesome on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood, he’s got mad beats, too, that tell his family’s story in verse, in this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and brotherhood from Kwame Alexander.

Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story’s heart-stopping climax proves a game-changer for the entire family.

Esperanza Rising

by Pam Munoz Ryan

Be prepared to laugh and cry with Esperanza. As I read this book, it truly humbled me to remind me how hard people work just to survive. Esperanza loses everything after the murder of her father. Her mother and her escape with the help of neighbors and basically have to hide who they are. She goes from a life of learning and fun to a life of survival. Everyday is hard, hard work. Esperanza’s story is a powerful reminder that family and love know no bounds and if you want something, do not let anything stand in your way!

Esperanza thought she’d always live a privileged life on her family’s ranch in Mexico. She’d always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home filled with servants, and Mama, Papa, and Abuelita to care for her. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. Esperanza isn’t ready for the hard work, financial struggles brought on by the Great Depression, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When Mama gets sick and a strike for better working conditions threatens to uproot their new life, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances-because Mama’s life, and her own, depend on it.

The Fault in Our Stars

by John Green

This book will make you ugly cry. It brings to light the harsh realities of those living with cancer while also painting the story of a first love like no other. It was just hands down a good book and while not an action or adventure story, every chapter keeps the story moving making it a hard book to put down. If I could have read it all at one time, I definitely would have.

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Rules

by Cynthia Lord

Rules is an amazing book! It was a window for me to learn more about how people with autism process the world around them as well as the reality of what life is like not only for them, but their family. The main character is in middle school and has an autistic brother. He sees the world very “black and white”. If you say you are suppose to be home at 5 o’clock, then he expects you to be home by 5 o’clock. Catherine really loves her brother and wants to help him in life, but she also wants her own life and tries her hardest to keep her brother’s world and her “normal” world separated. Eventually though, those worlds will collide…it is inevitable. The book made me laugh and tear up all while being a thoroughly enjoyable story!

Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She’s spent years trying to teach David the rules from “a peach is not a funny-looking apple” to “keep your pants on in public” — in order to head off David’s embarrassing behaviors.But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a surprising, new sort-of friend, and Kristi, the next-door friend she’s always wished for, it’s her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?

Dresscoded

by Carrie Firestone

The book shines a spotlight on schools and the dress code discussion while highlighting that no matter who you are, middle school/family/life…is tough. I really enjoyed reading this book, despite finding some of the teachers and principals in the book a little too over the top. The argument about dress code is valid for sure, and as a reader, it is very easy to connect with Molly and her experiences. It’s a book that jumps in quickly and provides readers with all the ups and downs of middle school!

Molly Frost is FED UP…

Because Olivia was yelled at for wearing a tank top.

Because Liza got dress coded and Molly didn’t, even though they were wearing the exact same outfit.

Because when Jessica was pulled over by the principal and missed a math quiz, her teacher gave her an F.

Because it’s impossible to find shorts that are longer than her fingertips.

Because girls’ bodies are not a distraction.

Because middle school is hard enough.

And so Molly starts a podcast where girls can tell their stories, and before long, her small rebellion swells into a revolution. Because now the girls are standing up for what’s right, and they’re not backing down.

Matched Trilogy

by Ally Condie

Matched (Book #1)

Matched fits the classic dystopian set up: a war that ruined civilization, society has re-built with better technology, better machines, but all out of fear leading to extreme governmental control. Of any dystopian series I have read, this book truly takes the control to an extreme. The government has centers that send food directly to a person three times a day. It is food meant exactly for that person and that person only to fit their specific nutritional needs. There is no choice in what job a person can take or who they will marry. Cassia is about to find out who she will marry, but the program goes wrong for just a moment. It’s enough of a glimpse that she sees another face and now begins to doubt whether the government truly is as perfect as it seems.

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted the Society’s choices. And when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, she is certain he’s the one—until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now she is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s ever known and a path no has dared to follow . . . between perfection and the truth.

Crossed (Book #2)

The second book picks up pretty much where the first one left off and just keeps the story moving. Cassia continues to learn how much what she thought was true, isn’t. This book takes a sharp turn from the beautiful city and well polished life that we see in the first book. This book becomes about survival and introduces us to the war that’s been ravaging the world. The paths of Cassia, Ky, and Xander continues as well & how will it turn out between them? Can anyone, even Ky or Xander, be trusted?

Chasing down an uncertain future, Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky–taken by Society to his certain death–only to find that he has escaped into the majestic, but treacherous, canyons.  On this wild frontier are glimmers of a different life . . . and the enthralling promise of rebellion. But even as Cassia sacrifices everything to reunite with Ky, ingenious surprises from Xander may change the game.  On the edge of Society, nothing is as expected, and crosses and double crosses make Cassia’s path more twisted than ever.

Reached (Book #3)

Find out what happens in the final book!!!

Cassia’s journey began with an error, a momentary glitch in the otherwise perfect façade of the Society. After crossing canyons to break free, she waits, silk and paper smuggled against her skin, ready for the final chapter.

The wait is over.

One young woman has raged against those who threaten to keep away what matters most—family, love, choice. Her revolution is about to explode into full-scale rebellion. As an incurable plague sweeps through the Society, Cassia races to save both the lives and freedom of those she loves. With exquisite prose, the emotionally gripping conclusion to the international–bestselling Matched trilogy returns Cassia, Ky, and Xander to the Society to save the one thing they have been denied for so long, the power to choose.