The Lightning Thief (Series: Percy Jackson & the Olympians)

By Rick Riordan

Reviewed by Ms. S. Goyak, BCCHS history teacher

What would you do if you discovered that everything you knew about yourself was wrong? That all of the flaws you thought you had were actually strengths? That's what happens to Percy Jackson one day when he goes on a field trip for school.  His entire world is turned upside down when he discovers that he is the son of a Greek god.  From there, he is plunged into a brand new world - one of gods and monsters, heroes and quests.

The first in a series of novels about Percy's s adventures as a Demi-god at Camp Half Blood, The Lightning Thief is an exciting read that puts a new twist on the old myths of Medusa, Poseidon, and Zeus, while introducing a new batch of gods for a new generation.  From the most causal reader to the most avid book enthusiast, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is an excellent choice for any student.

Hunger Games

By Susanne Collin

Reviewed by Andy O.

The Hunger Games written by Susanne Collins is one of the best books I’ve read since Harry Potter. It is a book that is written so well and does it great job of showing and not telling. It is a book filled with suspense, romance, and action. It is a blend of all books and there will be something in there for everybody.

The book is about a girl named Katniss Everdeen who struggles in the district where she lives, along the way she encounters hardships that force her to make some difficult decisions, but through these decisions she learns that not all of them were made correctly.

I truly recommend this book for everyone and it is a great read for a English project or just for your personal taste. 

Perfect Chemistry

By Simone Elkeles

Reviewed by Elizabeth F., BCCHS student

Perfect Chemistry is an interesting, entertaining love story. There are two main characters, Brittany and Alex. Brittany is a girl that has a reputation to keep at school. She lives a perfect life in the eyes of everyone, when in reality her life is pretty tough. Brittany has a sister named Shelley who is disabled, so her parents expect Brittany to be the “perfect one.” On the other hand, Alex is a gang member that has the worst reputation at school. He is in the gang called Latino Bloods, and the kids at school don’t really mess with him.

Brittany and Alex have a little misunderstanding on the morning of the first day of school. Alex drives a motorcycle and parks it in the school lot, but Brittany has a car, and she doesn’t see Alex’s bike parked so when she tries to park, she almost runs over his bike. That causes a misunderstanding, which makes Alex and Brittany hate each other. Things get interesting when Alex makes a bet with his friends and then tries to talk to Brittany more. 

One quote that really touched me was when Alex says, “I don’t belong here. It doesn’t matter, because even if I don’t belong in this place, she’s here and I want to be where she is.” That shows how much he really loves Brittany. It was so cute and romantic for him to think like that. I wish a guy would say something so caring like that to me.

The character I feel a connection with is Brittany. She has to keep an image, so that she isn’t judged, and sometimes I feel like I have to keep an image too. It’s not only with my friends, but with my family as well. I have three older brothers, and I am the only girl, so in my family I have to be the “perfect one” kind of like Brittany.

I think it is a really good book, and I enjoyed reading it. I would definitely rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. It kept me in the mood of wanting to know what would happen next, and I couldn’t put it down. I think all high school students would enjoy this book. Those who like love stories will really enjoy this book because it is a funny entertaining love story. 

Boot Camp

By Todd Strasser

Reviewed by Christian H., BCCHS student

Boot Camp deals with a fifteen-year-old boy named Garrett. One day Garrett is kidnapped in the middle of the night and taken to Lake Harmony, a teenage boot camp. What he doesn’t know is that his parents have paid for him to be taken to Lake Harmony to learn respect and self-discipline.

As this story progresses, we get to see the corruption and violence within the boot camp. Garrett has to deal with abuse and many failed attempts at brainwashing by staff member and students of Lake Harmony. “The concrete floor of TI feels colder than last time. Fall has arrived. I’ve lost count of how many times Ron and Jon have come in to twist my legs and arms and leave no visible marks or bruises. Every part of my body hurts.” (Strasser, 113) This quote made me think even though this book isn’t based on a real person, it shows us the physical and emotional abuse Garrett has gone through. The book not only deals with violence, but also with love, as Garrett has memories of his girlfriend Sabrina, who is the main reason he is in Lake Harmony.

If I were to rate this book, I would give it a two out of five. This book would appeal to tenth graders because of the way it shows love, action, and depression. Boot Camp can be boring due to the author’s tendency to repeat the same scenes over and over again. Besides that I feel that this book will make you wonder about the many boot camps that possibly are like this. If you want to find a good book to read, this is probably one of them due to the shocking ending the author leave us with.

Street Pharm

By Allison van Diepen

Reviewed by Ser Michael V., BCCHS student

“Know your enemies. Understand them. Figure out their next move,” “Never show weakness.” This is some of Tyrone Johnson’s personal code. It means he doesn’t trust people easily because it might bring him trouble.

The book Street Pharm takes place in the city of Brooklyn, New York where some illegal activities are happening, a noisy place where you can see gang fights on the streets. A place that is not the easiest place to live in. A boy named Tyrone Johnson takes over his dad’s drug dealing business because his dad got caught and went to jail. When Ty was 14 yrs. old, he took over his dad’s business and worked hard to fully control the business. Ty is a really good and smart person; everywhere he goes they know him because his father is one of the best hustlers in town when it comes to drug dealing. He has a lot of rules and one of the most important is don’t let a girl into your life if you’re dealing because it might ruin your reputation and put your family and love ones in danger. However, Ty meets Alyse, a very nice girl who catches his attention, and at first they don’t know if they are really in love with each other. But when they get to know each other and become closer, they fall madly in love with each other.

When the business is doing well, a guy named Darkman wants to take over Ty’s territory. Darkman plans to kill Ty, but Ty knows how to survive. How will he take the challenge of Darkman? Will he survive or die? If you want to know more, read this book—It’s really a good book. The book has a lot of intense parts; it has funny and sad parts that make the book more interesting. I would recommend this book to everyone, even if you don’t like reading books. I will definitely say that when you start reading this book, you won’t be able to stop because it will be interesting at the start and will be more interesting as you read on.

I like this book because it relates to problems that most teens today might be going through and therefore they might be able to connect with the book at some point. Having a broken family might lead you to be a rebellious child to your family and even get involved in some illegal activities. I like how Allison van Diepen wrote the story because it’s easy to picture the scenes as you read and not hard to understand what’s happening, and also, it gets you to predict what will happen next.



The Morgue & Me

By John C. Ford
Reviewed by Fatma S.

This is a great book--I'd rate it 8 out of 10.

Chris, a boy who gets a job at the morgue, gets suspicious when the owner of the morgue has a briefcase with $15,000 in it.  He suspects a murder and thinks his best friend, Mike, has something to do with it.

Chris meets a girl named Tina, and Chris and Tina try to solve the case of who killed the dead guy at the morgue.  Things are getting weird and Chris's best friend, his best friend's girlfriend, the mayor, and Tina's ex all become suspects.  Who is it; who is the murderer?  Chris and Tina plan to find out.

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.

The Winds Of Change: A Richard Jury Mystery

Written by Martha Grimes

Reviewed by Rebecca R., BCCHS student

(*This book can be found at your local library or bookstore.)

Are you into mystery fiction books with curiosity increasing with every turn of a page? If you are, then I would recommend Winds of Change to you. Winds of Change is a 407-page novel by Martha Grimes. If you love this book, then you will surely enjoy knowing there are another eighteen books in the series. This book costs $22.95 dollars in stores but if you don't plan on buying it you can always get it at your local library.

This book is about the disappearance of a young girl named Flora whose case is somehow connected to the murder of an elderly woman. Richard Jury is the main character, the Superintendent of Scottland Yard, a detective who is trying desperately to put the pieces together in this strange puzzle that will lead him to a startling revelation.

There are some downfalls to this book such as its frequent change of view, its slow beginning, and the British accents of the characters. For example, "Split the lark and you'll find the music". Although this book has some downsides, it has many positive factors:  It has a great main character, it's a page-turner, it is very mysterious and sure to arouse your curiosity, and it has an amazing ending. "You said her eyes were the same shade as her dress she was wearing...I'm wondering how you knew that...you couldn't have seen the dress because it was...the same day she disappeared." This book is like a nonstop current in a river, you don't know where it will lead or how fast it will go. It keeps you thinking.

I chose to read this book because it had all the qualities I look for in a book such as mystery, crime, detective stories and adventure. If you do too then you'll love this book. The whole concept is a detective doing his job by solving mystery cases, but this case is like no other. In the writing of this book, everyone has a British accent, which indicates that it takes place in England.  I, myself would have preferred it without that given accent, but it is still a great book.

The overall book is amazing, but not the best work I have read so far. I would rate this book a four out of five because it is a great book with some downfalls. I would recommend this book to all readers who love mystery or crime novels. Although, it would be better for you to start off with the first of its series called "The Man with a Load of Mischief". I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

Boot Camp

By Todd Strasser

Reviewed by Anthony Garcia

Summary:

Garrett is a really smart 15-year old that has good grades. He is passing all his classes and gets proficient scores on his tests. But he also has a bad side. Garrett is always disobeying his parents and decides to rebel against them. He decides to smoke pot and date his teacher who is 8-years older. His parents tell him to stop but he doesn’t listen. Garrett’s parents get fed up and send him to Lake Harmony. Lake Harmony is a boot camp. Garrett doesn’t think he deserves to be there once he arrives. But while he’s there, he meets two people that have an escape plan. He considers both the benefits and consequences. The benefits are freedom and the consequences will possibly be life threatening.

Quote:

“You don’t get out by giving them what you think they want. You don’t get out until you are what they want.” –Pauly

Recommendation:

This book is great. Nice story line and everything connects together. It gives the reader a lot to visualize.

Image courtesy of Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Marked (House of Night Series, Book 1)

By P.C Cast & Kristen Cast

Reviewed by Wendy

To tell you precisely what this book is about, all I have to say is one word, vampires. Yes this story is about vampires, but unlike Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, this vampire story is different. It has thrills, twists, and love, all you need for a great read.

This story begins in a world where vampires are no secret, in a world where you are “marked” with a sapphire crescent moon on your forehead to show that you belong to the family of Nyx, the goddess of the night. When you are marked, it is mandatory that you go live at the House of Night, seems like a regular boarding school for rich kids but in fact it’s a place to go and survive the Change.

Zoey Redbird is a unique character, unlike Bella from Twilight who thinks about Edward 24/7 and her whole life revolves around him, Zoey is spunky and modern. When I say “modern,” I’m talking about a real girl who thinks of other things instead of guy, not to mention she isn’t a total klutz. Zoey is a rejected teenager at home and the luckiest girl at school because her boyfriend is the football team’s quarterback. However, as soon as she is marked her life is turned upside down, into a fast-paced adventure to find out who she is and what she is destined for. Seeking answers along with love, she meets her best friends who will help her fight evil.

You know how sometimes you have to reread a line about two or three times before you completely understand it, well that is a sign of boredom. However while reading this book you’ll find that you’ll only need to read it once, and before you know it you’ll be done with it.

Image courtesy of Dr Joseph Valks / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Perfect Chemistry

By Simone Elkeles

Reviewed by Hasmik

What can i possibly say about Perfect Chemistry other than it is the most incredible story of two teenagers from completely different worlds! Their whole lives change when they are put together as chemistry partners. They end up falling in love and....you'll just have to read the book to find out!! It was a very inspiring book and gave me a whole new look at the people at my high school. There's not a part that's not interesting and it makes you want to keep on reading. I highly recommend this book to everyone! Enjoy!!

(Image courtesy of  graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.)

Fake ID (Hunted)

By Walter Sorrells

Reviewed by Ms. Freeman

Every couple years, Chass's mom announces that they're moving.  They get in the car immediately, randomly pick a point on a map, and start driving to a new city where they don't know anyone.  Over and over again, they change their names and start a whole new life.  But why?  Who are they running from?   What kind of danger are they in?  Chass has no idea...She doesn't even know her real name or who her father is.

On Chass's 16th birthday, everything comes to a head.  Her mom disappears, and Chass soon learns that whoever took her mother is coming to get her too.  Both of their lives are in danger, and Chass has to put together the puzzle pieces of her life and revisit a decades-old murder in order to save her mom and herself before it's too late!

On top of that, her best friend has a big crush on her, but she's never thought of him in "that way."  Until now...

Fake ID is a fast-paced mystery that's fun to read.  Chass is a cool heroine with a good sense of humor, so it's easy to sympathize with her when things get ugly.  I didn't think all the puzzle pieces fit together perfectly in the end, but I haven't met a Birmingham student who read Fake ID and didn't like it -- Several students have asked me to get the sequel.  Highly recommended for 9th-12th graders who want a quick YA read with suspense!

(Image courtesy of  Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)