Friday, March 16, 2012

Mexican White Boy - Matt de la Pena

Summary:
Danny's tall and skinny.

Even though he's not built, his arms are long enough to give his pitch a power so fierce any college scout would sign him on the spot. A 95 mph fastball, but the boy's not even on a team. Every time he gets up on the mound he loses it.

But at private school, they don't expect much else from him. Danny's brown. Half-Mexican brown. And growing up in San Diego that close to the border means everyone else knows exactly who he is before he even opens his mouth. Before they find out he can't speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blonde hair and blue eyes, they've got him pegged.

Danny's convinced it's his whiteness that sent his father back to Mexico. And that's why he's spending the summer with his dad's family. Only, to find himself, he might just have to face the demons he refuses to see right in front oh his face. And open up to a friendship he never saw coming.




Cheyenne's Opinion :
I checked this book out of the library 4 times before I actually forced myself to get into it. After the first pages I pushed myself to get through it was a really good book. It only took me a day, it was a lot better than I thought it would be. It's about a 16 year old boy who is having a hard time deciding who he is. At his private school he's a shade darker than everyone, and with his family he is a shade lighter than everyone. He becomes best friends with someone who understand exactly how he feels but doesn't know he feels that way.
Super talented at baseball, he and his best friend Uno go around beating people with his skills to get a few bucks so they both can go see/live with their dads.
It is a very cute book and a quick read. It shows how some mixed people really feel, super confused. Read it!! :D

Maze Runner - James Dashner

Summary:
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.



Cheyenne's Opinion:
This book is great. It had me on the edge of my seat through it all. Action packed and suspenseful. The perfect pair. This book is about a boy who enters the Glade, and instantly he knows he wants to be a maze runner. Someone risking their lives so they can find a way out this boring life, this game. The result is a shocking one and if I didn't have a whole list of other books to read I would've read the sequel by now. (I'm getting to it).
Everyone read this book. It will have you jumping up and down yelling at the book like a scary movie.

Love is the Higher Law - David Levithan

Summary :
The lives of three teens—Claire, Jasper, and Peter—are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him.

Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by.






Cheyenne's Opinion:
This is a great book that really helps you see through the eyes of people who were actually there, people who were effected by this more than anyone. This book also made me cry. (Writing these reviews make me feel like a big cry baby.) It was a quick read and I think everybody should read this just to get closer to what really happened on 9/11.
I was only 5 or so when the twin towers were attacked. I don't remember where I was, I don't remember how I felt, I just don't remember. This story makes me feel like I was there though. It makes me remember when there's not even a memory there to remember. Great book. Great writing.

Going Bovine - Libba Bray♥

Going Bovine by Libba Bray.

Back preview :Saving the would. That's impossible. Insane. Still. A cure. I could be cured. That's what she said. And some little atoms come awake inside me, swirling into a question I can't shake: "Why the hell not?" I could have a chance. And a chance is better than nothing.


5/5









Cheyenne's Opinion :
This book is crazy. I laughed throughout the whole thing. If this was a movie it would be insanely trippy and confusing. It would be a great movie since so much is going on and you just can't get enough of it. I read this 480 page book in a day and a half. It was great!! There is so much controversy in this book it would be interesting to see a big group of people discussing it. Between gay dwarfs and punk angels the heat would be on.If I could change one thing about this book it would be the ending. How is Gonzo doing? What happens to him? What's the spot on hit lung? What do their parents say? Was it all a dream? ALL of it? Is Cameron still a virgin? I would love more details!
All in all this book was the best I've read so far.

I recommend this to people who can handle bad languages and such. People who can handle very edgy topics such as heaven and gayness and what-not.

This book was hilarious. I read it so quickly I felt like I didn't read much when I was half way done.

The author did a great job of sucking me in and keeping me in.

Monday, March 12, 2012

If I Stay - Gayle Forman ♥

By: Gayle Forman
Summary :
Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, adoring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. Then, in an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the only decision she has left- the most important decision she’ll ever make.

















Cheyenne's Opinion :
This is the best book I have ever read (that's sad). Tears streamed down my face the whole time. This is about a girl who gets into a car accident with her family and she is the only one who survives. In the hospital while in coma she must decide whether her life is worth hanging onto. Whether her perfect boyfriend and her loyal friends are worth staying for or if she'd rather rest in peace with the rest of her family. As she travels out of her body she can see all her boyfriend does just to see her. It's been awhile since I read it, but I still remember wishing I had a boyfriend like that. Mia had a very amazing talent along with her boyfriend. Music. Two very different genres but beautiful.
EVERYONE READ. I don't think anything is really disturbing for any audiences.

(:

Columbine - Dave Cullen

By : Dave Cullen
Summary :
On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold left an indelible stamp on the American psyche. Their plan was staggering: to blow up their school, surpass Oklahoma City in horror, and leave "a lasting impression on the world." The bombs failed. But the unprecedented attack unleashed a new era of violence in schools—branding every future shooting "another Columbine."When we think of Columbine, we think of the Trench Coat Mafia; Cassie Bernall, mistaken Columbine martyr; and Patrick Ireland, "the boy in the window"—the whole world watching his gutsy escape. Now, in a gripping work of journalism a full decade in the making, comes the story we never knew. In this revelatory book, Dave Cullen debunks the myths and produces a profile of teen killers that burrows to the core of psychopathology. He reveals two radically different killers: Eric Harris, the callously brutal mastermind, and Dylan Klebold, the quivering depressive who journaled obsessively about love and attended the Columbine prom three days before opening fire.




Question: Do you think the book you read would make a good movie? Why or why not?

Cheyenne's opinion :
I think Columbine would make a great movie because of how much action and detail there really is. A movie about Columbine would answer a lot of questions and reveal the truth. Considering this is a real story, a lot of controversy would brew up at the making of this and when is that a bad thing? There is so much happening in the book, a movie would be easy to make, easy money I think. The problem would be that you wouldn't want to hurt any of the 13 by bringing it up again 13 years later. The whole story about Cassie is inspirational itself even though it is proven to be incorrect. The Evangelical Christians still believe because it is something nice to believe in, and was a sense of hope for the parents.
This book was very well written and put together well. This book will be shocking and if you weren't old enough to understand what was going on when the incident happened, then this book will explain every detail to you perfectly. Each families story made me feel like I knew them, my heart went out to each and every one of them.Definitely a 5/5 stars.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

How to build a house - Dana Reinhardt♥

Harper’s dad is getting a divorce from her beloved stepmother, Jane. Even worse, Harper has lost her stepsister, Tess; the divorce divides them. Harper decides to escape by joining a volunteer program to build a house for a family in Tennessee who lost their home in a tornado. Not that she knows a thing about construction.

Soon she’s living in a funky motel and working long days in blazing heat with a group of kids from all over the country. At the site, she works alongside Teddy, the son of the family for whom they are building the house. Their partnership turns into a summer romance, complete with power tools. Learning to trust and love Teddy isn’t easy for Harper, but it’s the first step toward finding her way back home.








Cheyenne's Opinion:
5/5 stars.
I loved this book. It is a great book to show the meaning of life and how you shouldn't take anything for granted. Teddy and Harper's romance is friggin adorable. I love love love it. Teddy teaches her plenty things throughout the book and personally I believe learning how to live is one of them. This is a great book and by the end you will have a huge smile on your face. It's not the best written book on the list but definitely a book I wouldn't mind reading again. I recommend this book to everyone!!

Ghosts of War - Ryan Smithson♥


A tough but powerful look at one man’s experience. As a student in suburban Albany, Ryan Smithson joins the army after 9/11. While in Iraq, he’s shot at and faces mortar attack, but he spends more time on responsibilities like methodical cleanups of roadside bomb craters—work that’s as vital, if not as sexy, as actual combat. Smithson’s interactions with Iraqi children and families, as much as with his fellow soldiers, drive the story. Military biography clichés—from the indoctrination of boot camp (“they break us down, build us up, break us down again, and then build us back up”) to resentment of officers among the enlisted—abound because they’re no doubt true. But the real meat of the book is in Smithson’s dealings with American noncombatants, from the little boy who sends care packages to the pilot who insists on upgrading him to first class and his wife and parents. Smithson avoids writing either prowar propaganda or an anti military polemic, providing instead a fascinating, often humorous—and occasionally devastating—account of the motivations and life of a contemporary soldier.

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Cheyenne's Opinion :
I read this book a long time ago, and I'm having a hard time remembering it. I think I had a hard time getting into it and skipped a lot of pages. This was not one of my favorites on the list. Some parts made me giggle, but not enough for me to read it again. I give it a 3/5 stars.
I think it is more aimed for the boys, because all the boys in my group liked it. Not so much a girl's favorite.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Flash Bunout - L.K. Madigan

By L.K. Madigan

15-year-old Blake is a pretty normal guy living a pretty normal existence. He loves hanging out with his girlfriend Shannon, watching Spinal Tap, taking gritty photographs and avoiding the pictures and tools that his medical examiner father brings home. One day, though, he takes a photograph of a homeless woman passed out on the street and shows it in class. He doesn’t realize that it is his friend Marissa’s mom. Suddenly, Blake’s world becomes a lot more complicated; he must try to balance his feelings for Shannon and his growing need to take care of Marissa, a girl broken by her past. Blake learns that nothing in life is simple when it comes to love and loss.







Cheyenne's Opinion :
This book is about a boy named Blake. He is dating Shannon but has feelings for his best friend Marissa. This book is very suspenseful at times but will make you smile. He makes mistakes throughout the book, but you can't help but to side with him. This book is very good at showing how teenagers feel, and I didn't feel so alone♥ this book had a lot of mixture in it that made it perfect! Like a cake ^_^
I recommend this book to anyone and everyone. ♥
5/5
i think i cried in this one too!!

Before I Die - Jenny Downham♥

By : Jenny Downham

Summary :
Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, and drugs with excruciating side effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints
of “normal” life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up.

Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, are all painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.



Cheyenne's Opinion :
This book was hilarious.. at first.. Then it broke my heart
This book is about a girl who has leukemia and wants to live life before it's taken away from her. Some people in my book club found it disturbing, but how else would a teenage girl act when her life is dwindling down into nothing? Of coarse she wants to lose her virginity, so she does! It makes me sad the way she does though :(
Her neighbor Adam (whom i would love to marry) is amazing. While he is taking care of his sick mother he has to decide if he wants to let this girl that's on the verge of death into his life. He does♥ And what a beautiful choice it was:) This book will make you cry unless you have no heart at all. That is my warning. Read this book. 10/5 :D

Beastly - Alex Flinn♥

Book Jacket:
I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog, but a horrible new creature who walks upright – a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.

You think I’m talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It’s no deformity, no disease. And I’ll stay this way forever – ruined – unless I can break the spell.

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and a perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly…beastly.





Cheyenne's Opinion :

This book was very much like Beauty and the Beast, but aimed for teenagers. Annd who doesn't like Beauty and the Beast?!!
I absolutely loved this book!! 5/5!
I think I recall a tear or two throughout this book, and plenty of giggles. I recommend this book to everyone. It is very well written and easy to understand.
Watching people fall inlove is a beautiful heart warming type of book. I think I'll read it again! :D

After - Amy Efaw


By: Amy Efaw
Publisher: Viking Juvenile; 1 edition
Reading level: Ages 12 and up

Summary:An infant left in the trash to die. A teenage mother who never knew she was pregnant . . .Before That Morning, these were the words most often used to describe straight-A student and star soccer player Devon Davenport: responsible, hardworking, mature. But all that changes when the police find Devon home sick from school as they investigate the case of an abandoned baby. Soon the connection is made. Devon has just given birth; the baby in the trash is hers. After That Morning, there's only one way to define Devon: attempted murderer.









Cheyenne's Opinion :
This was a very well written book that could possibly happen. Devon refused to accept the fact that she was pregnant the whole time, wearing baggy clothes and working out harder. I felt that at times it was very sad and sometimes you just wanted to punch the character in the face, but in the end you could understand where it came from. Not that you think it's right, but why she thought it was right. She was only trying to do what's best for herself. Some parts are probably hard for some to handle, so if you have a soft spot for babies' lives, I warn you to enter this book with caution. Parts made me feel very uncomfortable, but I give the book a 4/5****. It is a very good quick read. I am glad I read it!

-Cheyenne Starr♥


Abe Award 2012 Master List♥

My goal : read all of these.