The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code, By Dan Brown, is a very interesting and intriguing mystery novel. It starts out as any other mystery book, with a death(the death takes place in Paris, France). But according to police this is not a normal murder, there are all types of religious symbols over the dead man's body. So the police decide to call an expert in Religious symbols, a man named Robert Langdon, a professer from Harvard. Robert Langdon has already helped other countries police forces and is very well known as one of the best reilgious experts in the world. As he goes throughout this muder he meets various number of people and places and he actually traces Jesus Christ's bloodline back to present day and the murder basically is an act by a religious cult but that is all I can say without giving it away. It is an very intriguing and an action pacted book. I feel it would appeal more to guys because of the volience but the girls would like the history. I would recomend this book to all levels of highschool and all adults. It is a very good book and i enjoyed it very much. PS. This is not the first book in the series. The first book is Angels and Demons. I believe both are in the library.

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

The Chocolate War is a fantastic book for teenagers! Teens can really relate to the problems in the book to their everyday life. Robert Cormier does an amazing job with description, but he doesn't bore you with too much of it. It is the perfect amount to paint a picture in your mind and still keep you on the edge of you seat with thrilling suspense. The word choice and description make it easy to read quickly!

The plot is also incredible! It is perfect for high schoolers because the conflicts are the same in reality. The main character, Jerry, is new to an all boy private high school. Many of the kids at the school are involved in alchohal, drugs, violence, etc. Jerry is having trouble with teachers and the other kids, just like one might be at Fremd.

The ending is very thrilling and unexpected. Cormier does a great job resolving the book. Right when you think you know what is going to happen, he throws a twist your way. This helps you read more and more. It is impossible to put this book down until you force yourself to.

The book is not too long and not too short. It is a perferfect in length, so it does not get too boring. There is non stop action the whole book!

Go buy this book and i garuntee you will love it and will not be able to put the book down!

The City of Ember

The City of Ember
Jeanne DuPrau

In a small isolated town, the people of Ember live in darkness even during the day. But all their lights are slowly going out and soon the town will be in complete darkness. Two twelve year-old students, Lina and Doon, figure out that the city is in much danger and need to escape. The two find an important document assuming that they are instructions to escape from the City of Ember. Unfortunately, Lina's little sister, Poppy, ruins them and Lina and Doon have to decipher the passage.

If you have read the Giver by Lois Lowry, you might enjoy this book. Both have young children whose jobs are assigned to them which lead to an understanding of their society. Unhappy with their town and the way it functions, the main characters all plan ahead for their escape.

With the captivating plot, DuPrau keeps this novel simple and easy to read while still capturing the attention of the reader.

The City of Ember is an interesting read. It differs from the original love, drug, abuse, friendship, and family stories and tells of a not so perfect society. This book is very short and an easy read so be prepared to finish the book in a single day.

Glimpse

Glimpse, by Carol Williams. is a story in blank verse about the struggles a young girl faces in the aftermath of her sister's attempted suicide. This Crank-like novel is the book I so adamantly encouraged to the class, and I was, I admit, a little caught up in the moment as I told you about this book. While Glimpse is really good, no doubt, the reason I was so excited to share this novel is that I had never read one of the same genera before. Let me explain. This novel is aimed at pre-teenage to teenage girls, I got that as I was reading the book. But this being the first female young adult novel I had read, I got... caught up in the moment. I had never experienced this kind of writing before, and with the new diction and types of tension. Therefore, I had gotten way too excited about talking about what wasn't new, or what didn't have an original plot.

This doesn't mean that this isn't a good book, no way. I still hold by the compliments I gave to the book. Blank verse, especially, was something I think the book hit dead on. The idea of blank verse is to give the writing a more uneducated feel to it, that the writing almost comes purely from the heart and soul of the writer. However, a lot of books take too many liberties in writing in blank verse, assuming that the originality points for the style would make up for poor writing. You need to get the timing of the writing just right, and then drop down to the next line.

For example:

I talked to my sister

and she said

that I was taking too long

on the computer.

While this was a simplistic example, and probably not a very good one, the idea is that the poetry tell the story, and the story supplements the poetry. They build on one another. And this is the best thing in the novel, in my opinion. But, to quote a cheesy 80's reading program, you don't have to take my word for it.

Prey

Prey, a science fiction novel by Michael Crichton, tells the story of what is probably the most eventful week in the life of Jack Forman, the story’s protagonist. Jack is a programmer that has worked for many start-up companies in Silicon Valley, but a corrupt boss from his last job has made it extremely difficult for Jack to find a job; he has become a stay-at-home dad. On the other hand, his wife Julia has begun working for Xymos Technologies, a company specializing in nanotechnology.

Jack is very pleased that his wife has a solid job, and he enjoys his time with the kids. However, his wife develops strange behaviors, and seems to even be changing in her physical appearance. Jack soon becomes suspicious of his wife’s actions, and even those of Xymos. Before he has time to act on these suspicions, he is called out to be a programming consultant at a remote Xymos plant in the middle of the desert. Seeing this as an opportunity to answer his questions, he accepts the offer.

As soon as Jack arrives, he finds that the Xymos plant is not what it seems to be. There is a sense of tension in the air, and Jack is having a hard time figuring out just who he should trust. Little does he know that he has gotten involved in something bigger than he ever expected. Jack will have to be extremely careful around the Xymos plant, as his life could very well be in danger.



I really enjoyed this book, as the sci-fi element was a big appeal to me. As the story is narrated, Jack occasionally goes into a quick explanation of a technical concept that drives the story. Most of this deals with genetic programming and distributed intelligence, which are topics that I am personally interested by.

However, there is a large psychological element to this book as well. As Jack learns more about Xymos and what their motives are, he soon begins to regard close friends of his as potential enemies. I loved trying to figure out the motives behind each characters actions and what their future actions may be; a few of my predicitons actually came true!

Prey is a wonderful book for those who enjoy sci-fi or a mild psychological thriller. However, be warned that the author chooses to use strong language in some sections. The book is not completely filled with profanities, but it does make each scene tenser and more powerful. Crichton really knows how to bring out the intensity in a written piece.

19 minutes

19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult is a novel that depicts the lives of 5 people who's lives change dramatically due to an unexpected act of violence; A student shooting and killing 10 people at Sterling High School. Josie Cormier is a senior at Sterling High, whose boyfriend of 4 years was killed by the shooter. she has an especially hard time getting back on her feet after the shooting because of her previous friendship with the shooter. Alex Cormier, Josie's single mother, is the most respected judge in town. She feels that she can handle being the judge on the Sterling High shooting, but the emotional toll that it takes on her and Josie is too unexpected and heavy for her to make an accurate decision. She is a better judge than a mother, which doesn't bother her as much as Josie feels it should. To throw her life even more off balance, she finds herself falling for a cop/detective on the same case. Patrick is the cop who is investigating the shooting. He can't help but think that he's not "detecting" anything, but rather the crime has already happened and the people have already been hurt, even before he gets there. His relationship with Alex Cormier throws him through a loop as he begins to uncover the truth and history behind Josie and the shooter. Lacy Houghton is a midwife and has a student at Sterling High. She can't help but ask herself, "What did I do wrong?" as she deals with the emotional turmoil and the social rejection of having a murderer for a son. Peter Houghton has been bullied and socially rejected his entire life. He finds a way out through programming computer games, his favorite being Revenge of the Nerds, where outcasts try to kill the jocks of the school (AKA their tormenters). In the computer game, he always won; her never took into consideration what would happen after he shot and killed 10 students at Sterling High School. This book is fantastic because it leaves you thinking about it even after you're done reading.

In Harm's Way is a horrifying true story describing the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, a WWII battleship, on its way to an island called Leyte. The ship had just finished a mission delivering the parts of the bomb "Little Boy", an atomic bomb that would later be dropped on Hiroshima. This particular story is not just an ordinary sinking however, its what happened to those that survived the torpedoeing that had it the worst. 300 American soldiers instantly died from 2 Japanese torpedoes and the remaining 900 soldiers made a fast escape from the ship. What ensued could only be described as hell. Lost in the Pacific, the soldiers suffered from thirst, starvation, sun exposure, and, worst of all...sharks. Being constantly challenged by the sharks, they also had the looming enemy, insanity. Many went crazy from the lack of water. Of the 900 that went into the ocean, 317 got out after the 4 day battle for survival. If you are into gripping survival stories and general horror, read the book In Harm's Way by Doug Stanton.