Hunger Games

April 12, 2012

The Hunger Games

CV

Could you imagine being drawn in a district reaping to participate in a game of survival, and know that when you are drawn that only one out of twenty four boys and girls will go home? The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a tremendously incredible book full of suspense, violence, romance, and survival! The entire book had me hooked with a powerful feeling of intrigue. It was an emotion I had never experienced before. Each page takes you to wherever the character is, whether it is in the tho forest searching for game, or if you are in a battle for your life! One thing that kept me attached to this book was the compatible relationship between the two main characters. It was definitely the greatest book I have ever read, no doubt about it.

In The Hunger Games something that blew me away was how well Suzanne Collins wrote suspensefully. The feeling of suspense especially occurred in the arena of the games. Every single sentence was so exciting and dramatically intriguing, no matter how hard you tried, it was impossible to put the book down.    When I break into the clearing, she’s on the ground, hopelessly entangled in a net. She just has time to reach her hand through the mesh and say my name before the spear enters her body.    This part of the story had me in such a bundle of confusion and distress, especially since this grouping of sentences was in the end of the seventeenth chapter. How could I know if she lived? How could I know if she ever got saved? How could I know anything about what happens next?     It was an uncomfortable feeling of suspense that forced me to read on.

Characterization is such an amazing element that is involved with The Hunger Games! It is as if you know all of the characters personally in life and if not, you can at least relate or have an incredible impact for one of them. The characters are also so vivid in the mind, so vivid that without seeing the movie or getting a brief description of how they look and act, you know their personalities and exactly how they are. But, the description of the characters is remarkable!    ...Effie Trinket, District 12’s escort, fresh from the Capitol with her scary white grin, pinkish hair,  and spring green suit.          This description is so pure and vivid, it is amazing! The characterisation is definitely a complete set off for this book. It really adds a lot of support to the greatness of The Hunger Games.

I remember reading The Hunger Games. The entire book, all I did was cry and feel extreme feelings of excitement and discomfort of violence. I noticed that while I was reading this  book, that it made me a different person. A person who took things more seriously and sincere. Like, I could actually listen watch things that were frightening and suspenseful, I could understand it more then when I was “younger”. On the brighter and more cheerful side, my experience reading the book was like nothing I had experienced before. It was because I had never read anything like that book in my entire life! It was just so mind blowing with all the characters and rippled emotions, I was just so excited ALL the time! Other than being excited all the time, I also found myself in a form of distress and anger often, a good form of distress and anger. I know I felt this way because of how the story was, how the suspense and intrigue would build up it would make me so mad! I was struck how much I could love a sci-fi book!

Throughout The Hunger Games I realized how much I could put myself in the arena of the games without even trying. I was aware of how whenever someone was killed, that I could feel the pain of the deaths that occurred, and immediately I had different emotions for the killer, and the entire book! Also, whenever someone cried or laughed I practically did the same, it just happened! Relating to this book in such a strong and powerful way, definitely created an impact on how much I loved The Hunger Games. It did because when I or anyone relates to something it creates a specific bond, whether it is an enjoyable bond or a hated bond.

The Hunger Games is an incredible story about trust, your strength, the rages of boys and girls minds, and romance. Personally, I would recommend this book to anyone who can handle a little scare and intensity! Also, this book can not be identified for a specific gender, it fits all! On a scale of one to ten, I rate The Hunger Games a solid 12!

Juvie Three

The Juvie Three

LW

Gordon Korman has written a great book called The Juvie Three. This story is about three kids who were in juvenile who get another chance. To live in halfway home. A halfway home is a home that the three kids get to stay in but are still supervised by a man named Douglas Healey. One night when two of the boys are in a fight on the fire escape a great accident happens. Douglas Healy is accidentally thrown off the railing and put into a severe coma.

Throughout this book the author shows that the characters are very rich. Gecko And Arjay are just normal city kids looking for chance to correct their wrongs. Terence, on the other hand is a full out gangster who rolled with the worst gang in Chicago and thinks that the whole halfway home thing is stupid. In this entry from the book it shows that the characters of this book are very different from each other.

Gecko sticks his jaw out.”Look, man, I came from a pretty bad place before here. I’m not doing anything to risk getting sent back”

      The newcomer (Terence) frowns at him. “Whoa, they put me in with the boy Scouts by mistakes! How’d you end up with this system? Get caught stealing merit badges?

    Gecko’s face flushes red. “Is that how this works? I recite my rap sheet, and you recite yours and we see who is the biggest gangster?”

         Terence snorts. “Yeah like that’s up for grabs! Back in Chicago, my crew owned  every block southeast of Evergreen! We ate solid citizens like you for breakfast!”

As you can see Terence has a very different personality than Gecko because he doesn’t care whether he is in Juvie or not. Gecko does.   

   

    During The Juvie Three I noticed that I will stick with a book and look forward to reading if the book has fast action book with a lot of suspense. At first, when I started this book I thought that I would be reading about three kids who just made little mistakes and turned out to be great kids. I thought wrong. Also, while reading this book I found out that when I am reading a good book I look forward to reading time.

    I think the message of this book is that everyone deserves a second chance and  just because people make stupid mistakes doesn’t mean that they should be punished for life. You might like this book if you like realistic fiction with with a lot of adventure. Although this book has a load great adventure there is not too much action. Overall I would give this book a 8 out of 10. I really hope that Gordon Korman makes a sequel to this fantastic, adventure filled book!

The Last Olympian

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan is the last of the Percy Jackson series and the most intense. The war starts, and the clash begins between the Gods and the Titans. This book is the most dramatic and suspenseful out of the series.

I like how Riordan builds on the characters so by the final book you know them so well. For instance, Percy Jackson began as a dyslexic student who didn’t understand why he was being attacked by monster teachers or kicked out of schools. By the time he travels through five novels, he knows all the procedures (like when someone is hurt and how to make the medicine), how to battle against most threats (a three headed dog), and the meaning of friendship. He doesn’t realize how nice his friends are until they are gone. You can definatley tell that al the friends develope a bond through out the series.

    I never thought that I would enjoy the series as much as I did. I realized that through out the series Rick Riordan’s plots have gotten better and better by each book. For me it was really hard to keep track of all the characters and when more came along it was even harder.
    I would recommend this series to Everyone. I loved the book so much and it’s just a very good story plot I enjonyed this book a lot. If I had to rate this book o a scale from 1 to 5, 1 being the worst 5 being the best I would give it a solid 20.

Guys Read

GUYS READ

GUYS READ is a great book and if you like a book with several stories than this is the book for you. You DO NOT have  to read them in order. one of the best parts are the humer .

        One of my favorite parts in this book is a funny scene when the dad thinks his son is really girly and will get picked on when he gets to middle school.

One night in the fall of  fifth grade my dad finally got fed up with me and decided it was time to  make me a man . Translation: my dad thought I was positively girly and was worried that I’d get bullied once I got to middle school the next year.

this made me laugh really hard  Funny scenes happen throughout this book.

I realized how many different types of humor there are.

Rite after I read a funny story there was another one waiting for me.

I rate this book a 10 !!!!!!!  if you like to skip around and switch stories and love humor like me than this is the book for you .   

Wild Girls

                        

Wild Girls

AW.

The book The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy will allow you to see into the life of two girls and their adventurer of the summer. When you move to a completely new place away from your friends you think you will have the worst time of your life.... that is until you meet Sarah, who likes to call herself Fox. Shes a wild girl whose house is in the middle of nowhere, and whose father writes books. When Joan explores her new neighborhood, and meets fox, she learns there's much more to her new life then she expected.

Pat Murphy made characters that I connected with right away, even if I had almost nothing in common with them. Newt (Joan) meets Fox (Sarah) on the first day she moved into her new neighborhood. They meet and then have adventures with stories that they write together throughout the book. Newt is a strong girl and Fox is a wild one, and together they make a book of friendship that you can’t put down until the very last page. Here’s an example of Murphy’s great writing when Newt first met Fox:

I looked up, startled. A girl dressed in ragged jeans and a dirty T-shirt sat on a low branch of the tree to my left. She was about my age. Her face was methodically streaked with red-brown clay- vertical stripes on her forehead, horizontal stripes on her cheeks. Her hair was a tangle of reddish curls, held back with a rubber band and decorated with a blue-jay feather.

This is a great passage that shows that Murphy not only says things in beautiful detail but cares about how you see the characters, and what you think of them in the beginning of the book all the way to the end.

During this book I didn’t want to put it down when I started because of the amazing detail and the great story plot. While I was reading this book I found myself connecting with the characters and liking the details of the scenery. What surprised me about this book is the things that happened with the friendship of Newt and Fox and I learned that a friendship can get really strong throughout a short period of time.

The message of the book to me is about the power of friendship and families between the main characters of the book. If I had to rate this book from a 1 to 10 scale, I would rate it a solid 10 because you could easily get caught up in this book and not put it down until you completely finish it. To recommend this book, I would recommend it to people who like surprises, adventure and friendship in a book. This is a wonderful book so grab the book, sit down and read it right now because you would be missing out if you didn’t.  

The Scorpio Races

                         The Scorpio Races

                                     By: SW.

“It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.” This is the first sentence of a mind blowing adventure called The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Maggie made me feel like I was right there in the book, watching everything. She used great word choice and blended two peoples life to make them connected in a way.

The setting is well introduced and explained that is shows a mental picture that flashes in my mind throughout the whole book.

By the afternoon, the sun is strong but cold on the beach. The wind tears the surface of the blue-black sea into a thousand white caps. Up on the cliffs, there is a silhouette of a crowd, watching the pale road of sand between them and the ocean.

As you can see Maggie explains the setting very well. The lines in the paragraph tell you what the sun is like and what the color of the sea in the weather is like. She makes you feel like you were transported to the book and you’re in the silhouetted crowd watching the pale road of sand.

While I was reading this book I could not stop reading it.I noticed that my eyes were bulging while they opened the gates to the races and the horses took off. I was always upset when I had to stop reading because it drew me in on the first line that I read. When I read this book Maggie threw in a turn when you would least expect it. This book kept me reading.

I rated this book ten out of ten stars because it blew my mind away with all its suspense and turns in the twists throughout the whole book. I wish she would write a sequel. My final thoughts on this book would be read it. This book will make you gasp and smile and wonder. The Scorpio Races is a ten out of ten star book.

The Thief Lord

    The Thief Lord

       BW.

Cornelia Funke has written another great book, The Thief Lord. The Thief Lord is a book about a group of thieves that are just kids. The main characters are Prosper and Bo. Bo is five years old and Prosper is twelve years old. This book is full of action, adventure, and suspense.

Throughout the book, Cornelia Funke has created great characters in this great book. Bo is an attention hog who loves cameras.

Bo made a face. He tried to hop a around an orange he’d seen on the ground, but he stumbled and crashed into a group of Japanese tourists. Startled, he scrambled up again, only to start smiling as soon as he saw that two of the women were pointing their cameras at him. But before they could take their pictures, Prosper was already dragging his brother away by the collar.

Then there is Prosper who hates stealing but he knows that it is what he has to do to stay alive on his own.

    “We showed him, all right!” Hornet said, once they were all safely back in the hideout. She had a deep scratch on her cheek and her cardigan was missing two buttons. But she was grinning ear to ear. “And look what I got in all the commotion.” Proudly, she produced Victor’s wallet from her jacket. She flung it over to Prosper. “Don’t get angry with me. Perhaps now you can find out more about this guy.”

    I realized that when I am really into a book I can’t stop reading it and that was the case with this book. This book hooked me and I hope it will do that to you too. This book has so much suspense and I guess that is why I liked it.

    The Thief Lord is a great story about trust, friendship, and forgiveness. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure, action, and suspense. I would rate this book a 10/10! That is how much I liked it.

                                                         

Football Hero

Football Hero

by JT

Tim Green has written another great book, Football Hero.  Green Combines the amazing world of pro Football and the Mob.

    Throughout the book Green creates great characters. Ty Lewis, who is a sixth grade football player. Thane Lewis, who is a pro football player and Ty’s brother. Uncle Gus, who is a bar owner and Ty’s legal guardian, and Lucy, the mob boss. A good thing about these characters is they’re not predictable. The stereotype for these characters is almost the complete opposite of them.

Mop the floor Gus said growling.  I told you. first thing you do, and you didn’t do it.  What else didn’t you do?

    I liked this book because I like the sports genre.  If you like the sports genre, I strongly recommend this book.  Another thing the author did well is the number of cliffhangers used. I was surprised at the ending too, but I can’t tell you about that!
    The message of this book is to be yourself.  I would rate it 10 out of 10. If Tim Green ever wrote a sequel, I would be the first one to read it. This book is for anyone who likes football and adventure!

Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

KT

The best book I have ever read, full of excitement, danger, suspense, and romance, is The Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins.  The Hunger Games are when one boy and one girl from each district have to fight for life in an arena with twenty other boys and girls. Only one can win. By the end of this book my emotions were torn between sadness and happiness. I could not put this book down.

The imagery of the setting is phenomenal, the way that Suzanne Collins set the stage for The Games,

“We’re on a flat, open stretch of ground. A plain of hard-packed dirt. Behind the tributes across from me, I can see nothing, indicating either a steep downward slope or even a cliff. To my right lies a lake. To my left and back, sparse piney woods. This is where Haymitch would want me to go. Immediately.”

This is what the main character, Katniss Everdeen, sees when she enters the arena. It really shows stage for this part of the book, so you really know where she is throughout the rest of the book. It really sets the stage for the rest of the book.

I realized that this book is really exciting, and I thought that it would be boring. I was totally wrong. I also like how Suzanne Collins kept on bringing up Katniss's little sister Prim.I think that this book really shows how strong Katniss feels about Prim and the games.

I highly recommend it to people who like danger and excitement. Because of the danger and excitement  I would rate this book a 10 on a scale of one to ten. If you also rate it high on a scale of one to ten there are also two more books to read Catching Fire, and Mockingjay.       

 

Ender's Game

                       Ender’s Game       

                                         By ER

Readers of Ender’s Game will be warped into the far future where mankind has the power to travel the stars, to talk across the solar system. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch. In discovering this amazing secret, mankind has disturbed the alien “buggers”. And in the midst of all this a genius is born.

In Ender’s Game the characterisation is truly a beautiful thing. Ender’s two siblings differ greatly in personality. Peter; eldest of the three has the soul of a jackal.   

He lifted his foot, took a step, and then knelt on Ender,

his knee pressing into his belly just below the breastbone.

He put more and more of his weight on Ender. It became hard to breath.

“ I could kill you like this,” Peter whispered. “Just press

and press until you’re dead. And I could say that I didn’t know it would

hurt you, that we were just playing, and they’d believe me,

and everything would be fine. And you’d be dead. everything would be just fine.   

Peter would be just fine killing Ender if it benefited him. However to counteract Peter there is Valentine,  Ender’s older sister. She sometimes is the only thing keeping Peter from killing Ender. In contrast to Peter, Valentine has the soul of an angel.     

I’ll tell,” Valentine said from the doorway.

“No one will believe you.”

“They’d believe me.”

“Then you’re dead,too, sweet little sister.”

“Oh yes,” said Valentine “ they’d believe that. “

I didn’t know it would kill Andrew. (Ender is his nickname.)

And when he was dead I didn’t know it would kill Valentine too.”     

Valentine is Ender’s protector. Orson Scott Card really brings out all the things in us as humans that we hate but still need to acknowledge. Things like the fact that we as humans will always attempt to gain power.

    Reading Ender's Game has helped me realize that nothing is ever as it seems, that no one is ever a ‘ knight in shining armour’ with no dark secrets. Ender learns something important in life. That if anyone pits you against your friend, THEY are your enemy. Not your friend.

If you like star wars or books with interstellar warfare,  READ THIS BOOK!!!  If you like giant spaceships with laser turrets battling against the odds, READ THIS BOOK!!!   If you haven’t read this book yet, READ THIS BOOK!!!  

Maximum Ride

                     James Pattersons

                Maximum Ride The Angel Experiment

                         By LR

Can you imagine being able to fly to soar in the sky seeing  everything from a birds eye view?  Well in Maximum Ride The Angel Experiment by James Patterson, you can. This book is about the  story of Max and her “ flock”, and how they survive running for their lives.     

James Patterson created amazing imagery. In this scene angel was just kidnapped   by evil erasers: half human half wolf!  The flock is trying to get to the “school” where they are holding her hostage.  They are trying to find a safe place to sleep for the night.

“We flew in a big circle around the edge of the mountains.  Small towns that came alive in winter dotted the foothills.  I led us away from them, to where a few homes stood like train-set models among the trees.  One house was apart from the others.  No cars parked outside, no smoke coming from the chimney.  Nobody home?”

 In this paragraph I feel like I’m flying with them seeing all the houses.  I feel like I can see  what they are seeing the houses the wind the snow.  I feel like I can feel the wind on my face and see the snow on the ground.

When  I was reading this book I was obsessed and my friends would agree.  What I found myself doing is trying to be like Max trying to be all tough and strong and not care what people think.   The experience was amazing!  I felt like I could go on the adventure with the flock and experience pain with them.  Sometimes instead of watching t.v. or playing on my ipod, I would pick up this book and read for just hours on end.  This book got me to love reading and, now I read all the time and I get excited !!!!!

I would rate this book a solid, 8 I would rate it a 10 but I feel like it needs more romance. There are 7 more books in the series but the 8th one is coming out August 6 called Never More!!!!!!  I'm so excited and I can't stress it enough!  I hope you read it and enjoy it as much as I did !

   

Life As We Knew It

Life as we Knew It

By CR   

The book Life as we Knew It by Susan Pfeffer is an amazing story about hope, friendship and survival.  When the a commit collides with the moon Miranda’s whole world turns upside down.  I liked how when I put the book down it was the only thing I could think about.  The book was full of suspense that left me wanting to read more.

The suspense in this book kept me on the edge of my chair reading until the very last second of class.  It was like the author was drawing Miranda and her life on the pages of the book.  In every diary entry Miranda writes about her life living in the sunroom.  She tells how hard it is when the moon is moved closer to the earth.

Seeing those cans and boxes and bags of food made mad, like why are we starving ourselves when we still have food?  When the food runs out we’ll probably die, so what difference does it make if we die in November or January or March?  Why not eat while we can?

Miranda shows how hard it is when all of your food for the rest of your life is sitting right there in front of your eyes.

In the very beginning of this book I realized how lucky we are to not live scrounging for food and not knowing if we will make it to the next day.  Throughout this book Miranda and her family have to live off of the food that they bought on the crazy shopping day.  This was the day when everything went bad.  The seas rose and and volcanoes erupted and after this day stores closed forever.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense and tragedy.  Life as We Knew it by Susan Pfeffer is an amazing story about the power of friendship, love and survival.

Last Ride

Last Ride

by RO

Last Ride by Laura Langston is the best book out there for young adults! The thrills, excitement, and danger always keeps you hooked. I love how Laura Langston made you feel like you were on the sidelines watching a street race. The description was more vivid than a dream! I could smell the smoke of the tires burning and I could hear the sounds of the engines revving. I truly felt like I was there.

The thing I like most about Laura Langston is the conflict in her stories. It makes me feel like I’m in the situation even though I’m a 12 year old boy that can’t even drive yet (legally that is). Tom lost his friend Logan in a race. In this book he is fighting the thought of racing and risking the chance of taking another life away. vs losing his ride and money. The tuff tare between right and wrong is slowly wearing away at the main character throughout the story. For example in the beginning of the book,

I killed my best friend. Thirteen months and six days ago. Not on purpose. It was an accident. Even the cops wrote it up that way. But if I had not dared Logan to race, he’d still be alive. Sometimes I swear I see him. Out of the corner of my eye. Just a glimpse.

As you can see this book is full of feeling and danger. The combination of the two will keep you hooked for hours!

I was really surprised how fast I read the book I was so into it I finished it in three days. I realized even though I don’t know much about street racing. I wanted to know if he dared to race again and risk someones life to keep his car and cash or do what he knows is right so badly I just kept reading and reading until I finally found out.

The message of this book is that you should always do the right thing no matter what. I would rate this book and 10 out of 10 it has been the best book I have read this year. I really hope there is a sequel. This book is a really great read for all ages the excitement, emotion, and danger makes it impossible to put down!