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Hendersonville Library Y Space
Reviews Review Key: Classics, Contemporary Realistic, Horror, Romance, Sci-fi and Fantasy, Adventure, Mystery, Historical and Westerns, Graphic Novel, Non-fiction *= movie
This summer, we asked teens to rate the books they were reading on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best. Here's what they said:
Books with a rating of 5 Twilight by Stephenie Meyer New Moon by Stephenie Meyer Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (and I'm now reading Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer -- it definitely belongs here!) Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson Maximum Ride: School's Out -- Forever by James Patterson Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson Maximum Ride: The Final Warning by James Patterson Vampire High by Douglas Rees The Chocolate Cat Caper by JoAnna Carl Michelle Kwan by Richard Rambeck Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Call Me Ruth by Marilyn Sachs Rascal by Sterling North Smoky the Cowhorse by Will James The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper City of Bones by Cassandra Clare City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare Queste by Angie Sage Tsubasa Vol. 3 by Clamp The Big Field by Mike Lupica Ravens Rise by D. J. MacHale The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling Warriors: The Sight by Erin Hunter Warriors: Power of Three: Dark River by Erin Hunter Marked by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast Chosen by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz The Shack by William Young
Books with a rating of 4 Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf (4.5) Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson The Chocolate Bear Burglary by JoAnna Carl Peter and the Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson The Children of Hurin by J. R. R. Tolkien Seekers: The Quest Begins by Erin Hunter The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory Tuesday's With Morrie by Mitch Albom Naughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman (4.5) Tsubasa Vol. 1 by Clamp Great Expectations by Charles Dickens The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo Betrayed by P. C. Cast and Kristen Cast Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis
Books with a rating of 3 Blink by Ted Dekker Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan Heaven's Wager by Ted Dekker Outcast by Erin Hunter Dark River by Erin Hunter The Naming by Alison Croggon The Riddle by Alison Croggon Sweet 16 by Kate Brian A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks November Blues by Sharon M. Draper Tsubasa Vol. 2 by Clamp Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Books with a rating of 2 Candide by Voltaire
Reviews
The Bumblebee Flies Anyway by Robert Cormier YF Cor Reviewed by Sharon
I saw this as a movie starring Elijah Wood and Rachael Leigh Cook a really long time ago, so when I found out it was actually a book by late great Robert Cormier, I had to give it a try.
It's the story of Barney Snow, an amnesiac living in a research facility for terminally ill kids. He tries to keep himself, the only "healthy" person in the place, separate from the other boys, thinking that if he doesn't get attached, it won't hurt as much when they inevitably die. But when the beautiful sister of one of the guys asks Barney to try and befriend her self-pitying, belligerent brother, Mazzo, Barney forges friendships and embarks on a mission to build a car for Mazzo's last glorious ride. And these friendships will be all too important as Barney slowly discovers the painful mysteries of his past and of his own mind.
The writing is phenomenal. Sometimes poetic, sometimes gritty and vulgar, the book really gets inside Barney and evokes the fear, depression, and determination that living in such a place would bring. I highly recommend it.
Diary of an Anorexic Girl by Morgan Menzie YPB Men Reviewed by Christina
I think it would be great to see the book Diary of an Anorexic Girl in the library. It was definately a very good read and I was inspired when I read it. It truly was a treasure. In fact. I'm reading it again!
13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher YF Ash Recommended by Kayla
Book Summary: When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering an heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.
The Twilight Saga (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn) by Stephenie Meyer YF Mey Reviewed by Sharon
Good luck finding these on our shelf! I have quite literally placed Twilight out on display and seen someone go home with it ten minutes later. My 13-year-old sister was the first person I heard rave about these books – and I mean rave. For months, all she could talk about was how Bella and Edward belonged together, but, oh, poor Jacob. I almost felt like I already knew the story by the time I gave in and actually started reading what I thought would be a sappy teen romance series.
Well, I was right; it is a sappy teen romance series. But it is a very cool sappy teen romance series, and if you aren’t careful, you might find yourself analyzing some of the most significant human themes in books rife with non-humans. Where is the line between obsession and love? What would it be like to need someone whose very existence is against nature, against everything you hold dear? What would you be willing to sacrifice for true love, and will such love really make you happy? These are the questions 17-year-old Bella faces when she falls irrevocably in love with Edward, a member of a “family” of vampires who have sworn off human blood, but whose presence in the tiny Washington town of Forks nevertheless threatens the destruction of Bella’s own family, her best friend, and her very soul.
Be prepared to be seduced by these books, to feel deeply the emotions of all the characters, to put yourself in the places of a vampire, a werewolf, and a magnificently human teenaged girl.
I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan YPB Dun Reviewed by Sharon
I must say, I had the hardest time getting through this book, and I should admit that I just skimmed through the last half of it. The writing is dated (the book came out before I was born), but that isn't so much what bothered me. The dialogue seemed so stilted -- no one talks like these kids do -- and the characterization was just . . . blah. I couldn't care about any of these people; some I loathed for their self-absorption and disregard for others' feelings, and others I pitied in a "squash the dying bug and put it out of its misery" sort of way because of their total obliviousness. I really wanted to like two characters. I honestly tried to be interested in them. But they were just so unreal that I couldn't muster much more than a "well, it'll be slightly sad if they die, so here's hoping they get a generic pulled-from-the-clutches-of-death ending."
If you've seen the movie, you've seen the absolute basics of the plot, though the film did take liberties. Four teens accidentally kill a little boy in their car and make a pact to keep it secret. They go a year with everything fine -- except their consciences -- until mysterious notes start to appear insinuating that someone out there knows what happened. And that someone wants them dead. Now, granted, I'm not the biggest mystery fan in the world. I like my "who-dunnits" to be more on the supernatural side, if you know what I mean (Mulder and Scully shippers unite! Wow, that really dated me). But I'm willing to give anything a chance as long as I can care about the characters. And here, I just don't. Just kill them already, creepy note-writing guy.
Big Fish by Daniel Wallace F Wal Reviewed by Sharon
If the title sounds familiar, it may be because of the Tim Burton film adaptation, starring the oh, so handsome Ewan McGregor as Edward Bloom. That movie is the primary reason I asked that the library get this book: it was that phenomenal. Quirky, yes. A bit over-the-top, yes. But that is the nature of myths (and of Tim Burton films). They challenge us to reach outside the blah of our everyday lives and see something larger and more profound. And the idea that this profundity (yes, it's a word -- look it up) can be found in an ordinary man's life is terribly appealing, since it affirms that all our lives, however simple they may be, can be the stuff of dreams.
The book, like the movie, is about a son's search for who his father really was and is. Edward Bloom is a teller of tall tales, of jokes, of everything but the hard facts of his life. There is a wall between him and his son, a wall made of words, of lost time, and of myth. For that is what Will has done his whole life -- what all sons (and daughters) do at some point -- mythologize his father. Now he wants to know the "truth" behind the fish tales before his father dies; he wants to know the real Edward Bloom before it is too late, only to realize that the stories of his father, that the stories of any father, are as close as he can come. And perhaps, just perhaps, that is close enough.
Don't expect the book and the movie to be exactly the same in every aspect; the stories are a bit different. But the heart and the voice of Will as he tells his father's stories and the stories of his father's death make them as humorous and heart-wrenching as anything the movie produced. But go ahead and let Ewan McGregor run around in your mind's eye -- that never hurt a thing.
The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding YF Woo Reviewed by Sharon
This book was one of those that acts on its title: it haunted me every time I passed it on the shelf, staying in my mind as one of those I meant to read, but never found the time. "Alaizabel Cray," that tiny little voice repeated inside my brain. "What a cool sounding name." Finally, I picked it up, read the blurb on the inside cover, and decided to give it a try.
The book is set in an alternative London, circa the 1890s, although it’s never quite clear how "circa" it is. There are gas lights and horse-drawn carriages, but there are also dreadful and awesome airships and electricity. In the perpetual fog that blankets the cityscape dwell the wych-kin, gruesome and frightening creatures of the night that prey on the lowly, the forlorn, and the forgotten of London’s people. The wych-kin are growing in strength and number, and only the new breed of wych hunters, those like Thaniel Fox and Cathaline Bennett, with their Wards, talismans, guns, and daggers, stand between the foul, undead things and the citizens in their homes. Thaniel is, if not happy, then at least content in his life as a wych hunter until the night he meets Alaizabel Cray. This beautiful, bedraggled girl, whether mad or possessed, is the key to either London’s salvation or its destruction. For there are dark forces at work in high places, and it’s up to Thaniel to stop them. If you’re looking for a creepy adventure story, with psychology and science thrown into the lot, look no further. This book satisfies from beginning to end.
*3:10 to Yuma directed by James Mangold Starring Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Logan Lerman, and Ben Foster Rated R for language and graphic violence Reviewed by Sharon
I've been trying to think of a way to review this movie in a way that will sufficiently tell you how great it is. I don't think my words will do it justice, but here goes.
The time is the late 1860s. The place is a drought-ravaged Arizona town with hopes that the railroad will at last bring prosperity. The men to watch are Dan Evans and Ben Wade. Dan is a Civil War veteran, a one-legged rancher who is struggling to keep his herd alive and his family fed on land that his landlord wants to sell to the railroad. As he says, he's been "standing on one leg for three years waiting for God to do [him] a favor. And He ain't listening." Ben Wade is a feared outlaw, the leader of an outfit he himself likens to animals. They are as dissimilar as they can be: one, a man losing the respect of his wife and son William, the other, a charmer, a killer, and a man who forces respect. But when Wade makes a mistake and is captured in Dan's town, these two men will go head to head, both literally and metaphorically, as Wade is an expert at getting under people's skin. Their journey to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma prison is an epic of courage, redemption, and a lesson on how to be a man.
The cast is absolutely amazing. Pay particular attention to Christian Bale as Dan (he's as tragic a hero as they come), Russell Crowe as Ben Wade (consumate bad man with something that might pass for good buried deep inside), Logan Lerman as William (a son caught between the admiration of Wade's legend and the growing respect for the simple dignity of his father), and Ben Foster (the very definition of psychotic as Charlie Prince, Wade's right hand man). Bale, Crowe, and Foster should have been up for acting Oscars, in my opinion. I'm not one for hyperbole, but 3:10 to Yuma is absolutely on my "you must see it" list -- that is, of course, if you're of age, or if your parents say it's okay.
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