Tuesdays with Morrie

By Mitch Albom

Reviewed by Katerin Q., BCCHS student

Tuesdays with Morrie is an incredible book that teaches one great lessons. There is a man named Mitch that used to be a student at the college that Morrie worked at. Mitch mentions how when he was young, he believed he could do anything. He thought his life was going to turn out to be perfect and that money was not going to be his great concern. As he is now an adult, he’s realized that money has become a big part of his life. He is now a man that lives his life concerned about what he has even though it’s not what he wishes to have.

He finds his professor by watching a show on television. At first, it’s weird to him to talk to his old professor due to the fact that they lost contact after college. Mitch feels it’s his fault. Every Tuesday, Mitch visits Morrie and learns something about life. Mitch finds it really amazing how Morrie, being a man who has a deadly disease, mentions how happy he is about his life and how he always enjoys it to the fullest. Morrie is a really special being that teaches one so much. For example, how people learn to live once they accept death.

Elsewhere

Written by Gabrielle Zevin

Reviewed by Ruben V., BCCHS student

Gabriele Zevin has written a novel worth reading. The book, Elsewhere, gives a perfect descriptive view into what lies in the afterlife. The protagonist, Liz, was run over by a taxi cab, after which she is sent into this miraculous afterlife, Elsewhere. Elsewhere is so like Earth, and also completely unlike Earth. All the features of Earth are found in this place, but Elsewhere is also the home of dead people, where they age backwards instead of growing older.

This book has a peaceful quality, given the fact that it mentions a lot about death. The main characters live here with ease, a relaxing environment, with a bit of romance and fights sprinkled into the book. A must read for young adults, since many people can relate to the young girl who died, Liz. A book that has flowing text, where no dictionary is required. An excellent book, with the similarity with The Lovely Bones, where the two young girls in the stories met an unwanted fate. You could find the book here in the Birmingham Library, with plentiful copies of this wondrous book.

** Note from Ms. Freeman:  This book is also available in the BCCHS Library in Spanish.  (En Otro Lugar)

Fake ID (Hunted Series, #1)

Written by Walter Sorrells

Reviewed by Serena L.

When I first read the title, I knew this book had adventure. The main character is a young girl who goes by the name of Chastity Pureheart, for now. She got that name from a book her mom chose in a library in Alabama. Alabama was her and her mom’s new place of residency. Chass and her mom were always on the run. She never knew why, and was never allowed to ask. There were two things that Chastity didn’t know. One, her real name, and two, who her father was.

On Chastity’s sixteenth birthday, things fall apart. First, she and her mom get into an argument. Second, her mom doesn’t come back home from the time she left in her car after the fight. A day passes and her mom’s still not back. So Chass calls the police and files a missing person’s report. After that, Chass goes to stay with her best friend Ben and his family. A couple days later, Ben’s dad gets a call from the sheriff about Chass’s mom. Chastity overheard the conversation.

Chass has all these questions going through her mind like “Where’s my mom? Is she dead? Will she ever come back? Was she kidnapped? Where is she?!!!!!!!”

There is a house on a mountain-like hill. It’s a crime scene. Two stoners skip school to go smoke some crack and when they arrive to the abandoned house, they find a purse. They look inside and what they found were a bunch of I.D. cards. All different names, all the same person. Chastity’s mom.

The police and detectives get called to the house to investigate. That was when Mr. Purvis, Ben’s dad, gets the call. So Mr. Purvis drives up to the crime scene and with him are Chastity and Ben. Chass runs inside the house and bumps into a detective. He stops her and says:

“You know this doesn’t mean anything. Not yet”.

“Mom wouldn’t leave me by choice,”

“Down in the basement there was sort of… Look, your mom’s not here. Let’s not jump to conclusions alright?”

“How much blood? What’s in the basement? What happened in there?”

“You don’t want to be thinking about that.”

The sheriff took some things out of the pocket of his suit coat and set them on Chastity’s leg.

“Take a look at those” he said.

There were six separate plastic baggies with red letters on them that said EVIDENCE. Each one held a plastic I.D. card. One was an ATM card from a bank, one was an I.D. card, one was a company I.D. card, and they were all Chastity’s mom.

Right now Chass is thinking that if her mom’s dead, then Chass can take care of herself and she should just move on and just leave Alabama. Then Chass thinks of what if her mom’s not dead, what if someone was after her, caught up to them, and got her mom. Finally, Chass realizes she needs to get out of town before whoever got her mom got her too.

They were always on the run from something. Or someone. And now Chass figures out that her mom was just trying to protect both of them.

I would recommend this book to a lot of people.

This book involves a mystery and a lot of suspense. You’ll love it because many people did including me. And I am not the kind of person who likes to read. This book went by really fast and was really good.