Caged Warrior by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

Brandon Sanchez

Plot Summary

The book is about a kid named McCutcheon Daniels that fights in underground fights to entertain rich and high power gang leaders for money to feed his family (and because his dad is forcing him).He lives in the poorest part of Detroit and along the way he fights people who try to kill him or want a piece of him because his rep in Detroit is being undefeated. At thirteen, his mom leaves and McCutcheon must fight for money and to stay alive.

Critical Evaluation:

This book deserves 10/10 because it's really emotional and descriptive of the actions the character takes.It's very exciting to hear all the fights he gets in and there's drama and gang violence.The book is very interesting and full of action.I like this book because the character had the same goals as me. I could also relate to some of the struggles he goes through. He trains everyday like me in order to increase his strength or abilities.

Cure for the Common Universe By Christian Mckay Heidicker

Haotian Jiang

Plot Summary

A boy named Jaxon is sent to video game rehab because his dad is tired of his laziness and disrespectful attitude. Later on, Jaxon tries to escape the video game rehab by cheating in the games so that he can go on his first date with a mysterious girl who’s “anti-technology”.

Critical Evaluation

I give this book a 10 out of 10 because, although the book itself is funny, it still shows the readers that how harmful it can get when you become addicted to video games. The lesson I learned from the book is that what you learn in the real world is much more useful than what you learn in a fiction world. Once I started reading the book, I couldn't put it down.

The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

 

Anayency Favela

Plot Summary:
Sonia Rodriguez was born in the United States but her parents are Mexican Immigrants who came to the California for a better life. Sonia has big dreams of graduation high school and going to college, but her mother makes it impossible for her to keep up with school. Her mother is pregnant with twins and leaves Sonia to take care of her other siblings. She has to cook for her whole family and clean up the whole house, which leaves her with not enough time to do her homework.

Critical Evaluation
I give this book a 10/10 because it taught me valuable lessons, like allowing yourself to have a voice in certain situations and standing up for yourself. This book is a sad story but a very good one, it gives good details in certain scenes.

The Nix by Nathan Hill

Antonio Sanchez Ortiz

Plot Summary:

This book takes place during different time periods, the 1960s,1980s, and 2011. We also have different perspectives of different people throughout the book who all have different problems. We see Samuel dealing with problems such finding out why who his mom really was, trying to earn the love of his childhood crush, and dealing with problems at his job as a teacher. While seeing his mom, Faye, deal with problems such as a dad that was never happy for her, finding real love, and fitting in with social norms.

Critical Evaluation:

This book deserves 9.8/10 since the many perspectives of people it gives us during the book. Also since we see how there is many subplots are connected onto the one big subplot of Samuel finding out more about his mom. We also get to see life during different time periods and many based things that happened in the book happened in real life like the 1968 protest of the democratic convention. Overall, this book this goes deep about issues about love, politics, and family, while keeping you wanting to read more.

The Art of Racing in The Rain By Garth Stein

Madeline Cruz

Plot Summary

The Art of Racing in The Rain is a novel told by the perspective of the family dog Enzo. Enzo talks about how great his life is, but soon comes to end when a disease comes in between his family.

Critical Evaluation

For this book I give it a 5 out of 5 stars because you really learn a lot from reading it from the perspective of a dog. You learn to value people more because you never know when it's going to be the last time you'll see them alive.

Spider from Mars my life with Bowie by Woody Woodmansey

 

Joseph Gomez-Garcia

 Plot Summary
This book mainly focuses on the author's early life and how he became a drummer. It starts off how the drummer Woody was a well-behaved school boy living in a small town in England. The town Woody lives in is full of hard working people that end up working in factories nearby and many of his friends drop out of school to go work. Woody is drumming in several bands and soon he leaves school to become a drummer. Shortly after he gets a call from David Bowie to join his band to tour and play in several albums. Woody recalls several memories with Bowie as well as fights they had in general. Most notably he even writes about his perspective onhow Bowie killed off Ziggy Stardust and broke up the band.

Critical evaluation 
I give this book a 10/10 because it was one of the best reads I've had! Any person who has rebelled against their parents can relate to the author's story . You also learn not to listen to your parents when it comes to expressing yourself .

All Involved By Ryan Gattis

Tania Sanjuan

Plot summary 

All Involved connects all the characters and how their lives relate to one another. Throughout the book we meet lots of characters and how they are overcoming with gang life and police brutality in LA while there are riots and shootings going on. The only thing gangs are seeking is revenge.

Critical Evaluation

I give this book a 10/10 as it allows you to enter a new world of gang life, living in LA, and police brutality. There is a whole lot to understand in the end, and a lot of coldness throughout the book, but it will help you understand why people do the things they do.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Maria Donlucas 

Plot Summary

Human and Cyborgs live together in New Beijing.Cinder is the best mechanic in New Beijing.  A deadly plague has affected the Human race. Cinder’s sister has been affected by it. Cinder’s stepmother is furious and summits Cinder to be a guinea pig for the deadly plague. Will Cinder survive? Who is Cinder? Will she safe the human race?

Critical Evaluation 

Cinder is not the fairy tale where she finds her prince charming at the ball and they get married. Cinder is independent and wants to help the human race. She is the smartest cyborg. I see myself in this book because I am a strong independent women. Cinder doesn't wait for her prince she goes out and finds her true self.