Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older

Gordon Jack

Plot Summary
Sierra Santiago is a teenager who spends her days hanging out with friends and painting murals in her Brooklyn neighborhood.  When people in her community start dying and coming back as reanimated corpses, Sierra realizes that sinister forces are out to kill her family and friends.  Soon, she becomes immersed in the world of shadowshaping, the ability to provide physical forms for the spirits of her ancestors. This skill will be the only thing that can save her from a man out to destroy everyone she loves.

Critical Evaluation
I would rate this book a 9 out of 10. Older does a great job of showing a community trying to maintain its cultural heritage as their neighborhood becomes gentrified by hipsters. Sierra is a great character, a tough fighter who loves her "fro" and "curves".  I had trouble at times understanding the history and rules of shadowshaping, which kept me from feeling the peril the characters experienced. Besides this though, this is a world I was happy to get to know better.

Navy Seal Dogs by Mike Ritland

Alexis Torres Aguilar

Plot Summary
The book Navy Seal Dogs explains how author Mike Ritland trains dogs so they are capable to go to war and protect their handlers. Mike also has the passion to work with dogs and comes up with a great idea to combine dogs and the SEALs. Ritland explains how loyal the dog is and why the bond between the dog and soldier is important. Building trust with the military dog is super important because if the handler gets shot or harmed the dog will protect you from getting severely wounded.

Critical Evaluation
I rate this book an 8 out of 10 because at the beginning the book didn’t really get my attention. However he tells a few stories about the dogs and how they save other members’ lives by detecting explosives and taking down snipers.

Ask the Dark

Daniel Bautista

Plot summary:
In this book A boy named Billy is looked down on by most of the people of the town because he steals a lot. Not many kids like him either. His father is going to lose the house unless he can make the many to pay the bank. However, on a silent night walk he stumbles upon a dead body. He knew the kid, and turns out that there was a serial killer that only targeted boys. Billy starts digging into the case and Somethings happen and He finds out who it is and surprisingly it has a good ending.

Critical evaluation:
While this book was okay, i wouldn't read it again based on the fact that the plot and the whole story is pretty cliche. I would rate this book a 7/10 just because of the humor. That's what kept me reading. It was the foul language this book has and how it's used.