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 Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

By Maria Donlucas

Plot Summary
Christopher is a 16-year old boy. He is short, has brown hair and brown eyes. He has a pet named Toby which is a rat. He wants to take level A math which involves physics. He is mentally ill and can't talk to stranger or be touched by anyone even his father. He hates the color yellow and brown. A dog died named Wellington with a pitchfork to his stomach. Now Christopher wants to find out who killed Wellington but along the way the ones that loved him won't be by his side.

Evaluation
I give this book a 10/10 because it had adventure and mystery. Another reason is because it always kept you on your toes. There was never a part where I didn't want to read it. Once you pick up the book it will become your favorite. Christopher the main character is very interesting. He is complicated like a puzzle but once you put the pieces together you start to know who he is. He has no friends which makes me like Christopher because I always have to be surrounded by people. To get a perspective of someone who does not have friends is very interesting. Christopher also shows to never give up and the ones you love will end up hurting you the most.

Boomerang Effect by Gordon Jack

Haotian Jiang

Plot Summary
Lawrence Barry is a 16-years-old teenager boy who goes to Meridian high school in Silicon-Valley, California. He uses drugs to get high and get drunk in parties. His dad thinks his friends are "idiots" and is often disappointed in Lawrence because he always gets in trouble at school. When Lawrence is assigned as a mentor for a freshman after a conference with the teachers, he realizes that he needs to change his old lifestyles.


Excerpt

“I had been involved in enough ‘incidents’ in my two years at Meridian that we could go on like this all day” (Page 6) The quote reflects Lawrence's lifestyles during high school, he always causes troubles, and the school Principal hates him.

Critical Evaluation 
I give this book a 10 out of 10 because the main character Lawrence Barry is a really interesting character. Lawrence was miserable and had a messy life when he was around his old crew, but when the Principal threatens to sent him to Quiet Haven, he knows that he needs to start to put his life together. This book is good for readers who likes to read books that has humor and it is about teenagers. I really like this book because some of the things that happened in the book actually related to me, and instead of feeling embarrassed, I actually found it to be fun and encouraging.

The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey

 
Haotian Jiang

Summary
This book is mainly about a girl named Cassie who tries to rescue her brother who has been taken to the Alien camp to be trained to be a cold blooded soldier after the Alien invasion to Earth. After the 4th wave, you can’t trust anyone...

Excerpt

“Because if I am the last one, then I am humanity. And if this is humanity’s last war, then I am the battlefield.”

I really like this quote because this is when the main character Cassie is trapped under a car and is bleeding really badly, but she can’t get out because there are Aliens out there waiting for her. She can either get out and die or die of waiting. Because she believes she is among the last people who is still alive, she does not want to die worthlessly, and decides to make something big happen.

Evaluation

I give this book a 10 out of 10 because it’s so fun to read and eye-catching. It’s fascinating to see different people’s perspectives of the world when aliens invade their society. I really enjoyed this book and I strongly recommend to people who like mystery and sci-fi books. Once you start to dig deep into the book, you can’t stop digging and just want to keep reading!

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Brendan Lai

Plot Summary:
Jon Krakauer is a news article author, in this book he wrote about how Christopher McCandless who is a student that just graduated from high school. McCandless decided that he will travel Western United State in his last summer before he goes to college. He also traveled to CA, and later his last trip to Alaska. The author Krakauer later of the year follows McCandless's trip from Western United States, and then to Alaska. He also interview his family about why McCandless will travel around the world instead doing something more fun, or something that college interesting more.

Critical evaluation: 

This is a good book to read because from this book shows me that how McCandless we can find our freedom from a lots of ways, not just from technology but from natural. I will rate this book about 10/10 because this book related to a lot of people who need to find a way to get relax.

The Raft S.A. Bodeen

Oscar Chavez

Plot Summary

This book is about a girl named Robie, and her miserable visit to her aunt's house. Robie wanted a break from her parents, so her parents sent her to Oahu with her aunt. Everything was going to plan until her aunt received a call from work the day before before Robie got to her house. This was an important call for Robie's aunt, telling her that she had a meeting in Los Angeles the next day. Robie begged her aunt to let her stay at her place, because she didn't want to go home with her parents yet. She convinced her aunt but that same night her aunt left made Robie realize that she doesn't want to stay in her house alone ever again. Robie decides to go home, and a terrifying thing happens while in the plane.

Critical Evaluation
I would rate this book a 9/10. This book deserves 9/10 ,because it has all a reader is looking for. This book gives you a sense of how a teenager lives and what they think. This book also gives you a sense of how to survive out in the ocean for a couple of days. This book also teaches you a great lesson. The reason why I gave  it a 9 Is because we I think it had a dull ending.

The Giver

Lois Lowry

Matthew Murphy

Summary:

       A world without evil, war and hate. A utopian state with perfect order comes Jonas a young boy whose will to find out the truth about his world. Jonas is assigned a special job and has a duty to achieve in his world of peace. Will Jonas find the real truth about the world he lives in or will he be just as normal as everyone else.

Critical Evidence:

     I'm not much of a reader, I never really am able to find that many books that I like. The Giver was really intriguing, I would rate the book a 9.5/10. This book was really good and knowing there is more follow up books to read I'm glad that this series continues.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Antonio Saldivar

Plot Summary:

Katniss has to go through a number of events in her next adventure. While she becomes a part of the rebels, Peeta is kidnapped by president Snow. There is footage of him being punished by the president and Katniss has to do something to stop it. What will she do?

Critical evaluation:

I give this book a 7/10. If you like the rest of the series you will like this book. This book wasnt that interesting for me because it didnt have enough action for me to enjoy.

Always Running By Luis Rodriguez

Alexia Gonzalez

Plot Summary: This book is about a teen who got into the gang life in the streets at a very young age. He talks about all the struggles he went through trying to fit in with the gangs, and his struggles of trying to find his true belonging. He really struggled getting his life back together after the gang life. He dedicated it to his son, and any other teens struggling what he went through.

Critical Evaluation: I would give this book a 9.5 out of 10. It really shows all the struggles that people go through in gangs. I really like how when he's telling his story he's not being a hypocrite about and telling kids, don't join gangs because this will happen, he says it in a way that his story will inspire teens to take a different path in their life.

S. E. Hinton- The Outsiders Review by: Anthony Hansen

Anthony Hansen

Book Summary:

The books about racism and about gangs and back then when old cars used to be the thing. Have you ever watched the movie "Mi Famlia" it relates to it in a way but if you haven't your missing out as well, Ponyboy is a lower classman who is trying to live his life but the white rich kids aren't making it easy for him. So Ponyboy falls into the gang life for protection but a lot of violent acts happen.

Critical Evaluation:

I really enjoyed reading it i really don't read because I can't find good books hat engaged me but this book got me till the end. I would rate it a 100/10 to be honest i wish there was another book from it.

All The Bright Places By Jennifer Niven

Francisco Lopez

Plot Summary:
 All The Bright Places, by Jennifer Niven, is a book which tells the story of a young couple. A boy named, Theodore Finch, who knows how to live but is fascinated by death, and a girl named, Violet Markey, who's scared to live, and move on. They meet at school, when Theodore Finch volunteers to be Violet's partner for a senior project. They go on adventures around their state and as he teaches her how to live she slowly falls for him. Out of nowhere Theodore disappears but leaves clues for Violet to follow.  

Critical Evaluation:
 This book kept me intrigued the whole time, and it made me want to keep reading. It is a new kind of love story, which just makes you want to find out what happens next. The book is also very relate-able. I give this book a 10/10.

Divergent By Veronica Roth

Haotian Jiang

Plot Summary
Tris Prior who lives in a future generation where the human society have been divided into five factions, Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), Erudite (the intelligent), Abnegation (the selfless), and Candor (the honest). When Tris turned into an adult, she will have to choose which factions that she will live in for the rest of her life, Tris wanted stay in Abnegation in order to stay with her family. The day of the choosing ceremony, something huge changed during Tris's life, the tester did not tell Tris which faction is the best fit for her, instead, she deletes all Tris's test scores and hand wrote what happened. When the truth is starting to floating into surface, Tris discovers she is a divergent, and she must keep in secret in order to protect herself and her family.

Critical Evaluation
I would rate this book a 10/10. This book is good for people who likes actions, mystery, and adventure. It's a really engaging book, once you start to read the book, it's hard to put down, and it makes your mind keep imagining what the place looks like, keeps you on track of what's going on, and it seems real to you, once you are engaged, it feels like you are part of the book. This book is also part of a series, and each book gets more interesting, there's also movies for each of the book, so you can look forward to watch the movie after reading the book. 

She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick

Daniel Bautista

Plot Summary:
Laureth is a 16 year old girl from the U.K who is blind. She is looking for her dad in the city of New York with her brother. She essentially kidnaps him from her mom. Now she has to solve the clues in her father's book in order to find him.

Critical Evaluation: 
I liked this book but it wasn't too intriguing since the end is kind of predictable. It was still a good book that kept me entertained and gave me insight on how a blind person thinks about the world. This book also sheds light on how blind people feel when they are ignored or treated like little kids and the struggle they go through. I kept reading because this book changed my view on blind people.  I would rate this book a 7/10.

Wise Young Fool by Sean Beaudoin

Carlos Diaz

Plot Summary

Wise Young Fool is a book about a teenage rock group that is in preparation for what could be their big break. Unfortunately, the main character gets arrested instead of becoming famous. Jump forward to 2013 and Ritchie and Elliot decide that they could form a rock band and compete in "Rock Scene 2013." Will they win Rock Scene 2013, or all hope be lost for their rock band?

Critical Evaluation

On a scale from one to ten, this book would rate a 7/10. This book does very well in narrating important and specific events that help advance the story. This book however does not really include a tension based factor that would lead to wanting to read faster. The plot is predictable, and but there are some interesting parts that demonstrate difficult situations to get out of, that help us learn about more about the main character.

Speaker For The Dead by Orson Scott Card

Erick Arias

Plot Summary:
Speaker For The Dead is the sequel to Ender's Game. It takes place after the genocide of the bugger race, and Andrew Wiggin, aka Ender, is held responsible. In this story a new alien species is discovered; they're nicknamed the "piggies" because their faces appear to be the face of a pig. Just like the buggers, their alien ways are frightening. Ender bravely tries to find the truth as a speaker for the dead.

Critical Evaluation:
I give this book a 9/10. The story is very interesting, and how the whole plot of the story is based upon just getting information about the new alien species. There is a lot back story that describes how the aliens came to be.

Ender's Game Book Trailer by Erick Arias

Paper Towns by John Green

Maria Ortega

Plot Summary
This book is about a series of mysterious adventures involving a boy,  Quentin Jacobsen, who is hopelessly in love with a girl named Margo Roth Spiegelman. They hang out one night for the first time since they were kids. They do a bunch of mischievous things to people who hurt Margo. The only problem is that the following morning Margo disappears leaving no trace behind. Or so they think. Soon Quentin starts finding clues that may or may not lead to Margo's whereabouts... Only one question runs through Q's mind... is she alive?

Critical Evaluation
I rate this book a 9/10.

                 

Undertow by Micheal Buckley

Plot Summary

Carlos Diaz

Plot Summary

Kids that go to the mixed school of Coney Island are constantly under surveillance and searched every school day. This book is about a girl named Lyric Walker who goes through an emotional and physical change when she meets the Alpha. She is drawn to the Alpha prince, Fathom, but she feels that they may not be able to be with each other, because she is human, and he is Alpha.

Critical Evaluation

This book would rate a 8 stars out of 10. This book is a solid book with a persistent mix in emotions and action. The changes in characters will keep you reading to uncover more about the characters past, and their true intentions.

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.

Good Fortune by Noni Carter

                                               

Carlos Diaz

Plot Summary

Good Fortune by Noni Carter is a book that follows a young female slave named Ayanna Bahati as she embarks on a dangerous journey in order to find the freedom she believes everyone deserves. What Ayanna wants the most is the right to learn, but the slave owners don't like the idea of slaves getting an education, so Ayanna must seek a place where she can escape her mischievously vile masters and receive an education. But, the only problem with this plan is that she has no idea where to begin. Luckily, she overhears that two people are escaping, so she tags along to see where this action may lead her. But the question remains: Will she find the freedom she's looking for?

Critical Evaluation

I believe that this book deserves a 10/10 because it's filled with suspense. It has various messages on relationships, goals, perseverance, and humility. This book will keep the reader interested in its mysterious plot and interesting characters.