Cure For The Common Universe by Christian McKay Heidicker

Gordon Jack

Plot Summary

For the first time in his young adult life, Jaxon has made a girl laugh. Unfortunately for him, he secures a date with the girl on the same day his dad commits him to video game rehab. Now he must find a way to earn enough points to exit the program so he can hook up with this stranger who may actually like him. Problem is, there are people at the rehab camp who Jaxon has pissed off, either online or in person, and want to see him fail. Now he must see if he can level up in the real world as well as he can in the game world.

Critical Evaluation

I gave this book to my 14-year-old, game-obsessed son and he actually put down the Xbox controller to read the book. Twice. For this reason, I was very intrigued and read the book with interest. Heidicker understands the gaming world well, but more importantly, he understands teens. His characters are all wonderfully flawed and trying their best to improve their lives and relationships with others. The story has a lot of great twists and unexpected surprises that kept me thoroughly entertained. A funny and moving story that I recommend wholeheartedly.

Ender's Game Book Trailer by Erick Arias

Little brother

   

Daniel Bautista

Plot summary:
 Marcus and his friends play a game called Harajuku Fun Madness where they go out to look for clues in order to solve a puzzle. However, one day Marcus and his friends ditch school in order to look for some clues and then it happens: Loud noises are heard and the city is in chaos. Some bombs go off and kill thousands and Marcus and his friends are in the wrong place at the wrong time. They are arrested and blamed for the terrorist attack. Now Marcus wants revenge against the Department of Homeland Security.

Critical Evaluation:  
This book was pretty funny and intense and that's what kept me entertained.  However, I would have to rate this book a 7/10 because the plot wasn't all that original or creative. You mess with a guy and he now wants vengeance. Pretty common plot. But the book does have a pretty cool spin to this plot with America going from a free country to a heavily oppressed and patrolled country with cameras and trackers everywhere.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Erick Arias

Plot Summary

In the world of Ender's Game, kids are taught differently to make them smarter. This book is about Andrew Wiggin, also known as Ender Wiggin is selected into a new form of military where they choose kids from all over the world to command a fleet to destroy an incoming attack by aliens, known as the Buggers. Even though Ender is the most gifted of them all, he faces hardships throughout battle school.

Critical Evaluation

I give this book a 9/10, what keeps from giving this book a ten out of ten is that the battle against the bugger fleet was not all that exciting. It ended in 5 pages. But the rest of the book is cool as it talks about kids training to becoming the best, a lot of competitive moments.

City 1 by Gregg Rosenblum

Erick Arias-Lopez

Plot Summary
This is the third and last book of the series Revolution 19.  The main characters are Cass, Kevin, and Nick, and their parents.  They all live in a safe zone base called freepost.  The people in the freepost rebelled against the robots that have taken over cities in which they used to live. The robots hunt them down and either kill them or "re-educate" them, a process where the robots brainwash the prisoners into believing that the robots are good. Once the humans get that through their head, they are eligible to live within the city.  In this finale, the three main characters, along with a rebel group, fight the robots in their cities.

Critical Evaluation
I give this book a 7/10. Since it's the last book in the series, I thought there would be some plot twists that would make the book exciting.  There were some, but not as much to change the course of the book.  But, it's still a good book.

Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum

Erick Arias

Plot Summary

The main characters, Nick, Kevin, and Cass fight against bots that hunt down people trying to rebel against bots.   Their village or Freepost has been attacked by the robots after one of the main characters, Kevin, gives away their position.   The Freepost is destroyed, people are scattered, and the main character’s parents are gone.  The main characters try to find their parents, but the robots always get in their way, which poses the question, “Will they ever see their parents again?”

Critical evaluation

I rate this book a 8 out of 10.  It reminds me of a video game with killer robots wanting to stop the human rebels fighting against them.  That thought kept me from not reading the book, it’s a very cool book.   There are a lot of likable characters in the book, I hope they appear again in the sequel.  It also reminds of I Robot and the Terminator series.

The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith

Gordon Jack

Plot Summary

Ariel is the sole survivor of a gas attack that wiped out his Middle Eastern village.  After this horrible ordeal, he’s brought to the U.S. and things get even stranger. His adopted father works in a secret lab devoted to de-extinction of animals.  His father’s co-worker, Mrs. Nussbaum, is making the case of male extinction.  And, oh yeah, she’s in charge of the camp Ariel is sent to for boys with technology addictions. While at camp, Ariel must confront the problems of his past and present in order to make a new life for himself in America.

Critical Analysis

The Alex Crow is a 10 out of 10.  If you loved Smith's previous book, Grasshopper Jungle, you will love his latest novel too.  Smith manages to tell many different stories in The Alex Crow that span centuries and continents.  In the end, the stories all come together in a satisfying way.  The dark humor of the book reminded me a lot of Kurt Vonnegut, who Smith has been compared to because he takes a similar absurdist view of our sometimes frightening reality.

Homeland by Cory Doctorow

Jonathan Rutiaga

Plot Summary

Marcus Yallow is in trouble........again!  Marcus and his girlfriend find themselves at “The Playa” or better known as Burning Man.  While they are there, they find Masha, a “friend” of Marcus who has something very important to give him: Government files leaks.  Marcus is to release them if she goes missing.  Upon further investigation of the leaks, Marcus realizes how corrupt the government is and does anything in his power to get it right back on track.  But it is not as easy as he might think. He is being followed by a group called ZYZ, not to mention he is also being spied on by mysterious hackers.  Oh and who can forget about his girlfriend problems?  

Critical Evaluation

Homeland by Cory Doctorow is an adventure/mystery book that will leave you hanging on every page.  If you like adventure or mystery books I definitely recommend you to read this.  This book is an 8 out of 10 but I strongly advise you to read the first book called Little Brother to get more familiar with the characters and what they do.