Speak

Speak

Laurie Halse Anderson

Scholastic Inc., in 1999

Summary:

Speak is about a girl named Melinda who gets raped at a party. She is a shy girl who is too afraid to tell anyone what happened. After the party, she called the police because she didn't know what else to do. She is an outcast for doing that, for calling the cops and ruining the party that everyone was at. Everyone at her school hates her and Speak is about how Melinda deals with it and how she gets through it and how she learns to find her voice about the whole thing.

Review:

I really liked this book. I didn't know what something like that could do to you. I felt so sad for Melinda and how she felt like she couldn't tell anybody what had happened, not even her parents. She didn't have any friends and she couldn't speak. I love how Melinda develops and how she comes to realize that it wasn't her fault what happened and that she can get through it.

Cautionary Note:

There are a few swear words in the book.

Bomba The Jungle Boy The Underground River

Bomba The Jungle Boy, The Underground River

Roy Rockwood

Clover Books Publishing in 1953

Summary:

Bomba is a boy who was raised in the jungle, even though he is white. He has never known his parents and all he has known is an old man who took care of him and an old witch woman who tells him of his parents, and his two faithful servants. Bomba goes on a journey to find out who his parents are. He follows this map that the witch woman gave him to help him find the chest where he can find out more about his parents, who he is desperate to find out about. While following this underground river, he encounters many obstacles, coming close to death many times but with the help of his faithful and loyal servant, Gibo, he overcomes these obstacles and manages to find the chest and survive.

Review:

This book is not one that I would normally read but it was very interesting. It seemed like there was always something new and unexpected that comes up that tests Bomba and Gibo's strength and bravery. It seemed like a little bit too much but I liked it. I liked how loyal the two friends were. I liked Bomba and how brave he was, and how he was trying to so hard to find his parents.

Godless

Godless

Pete Hautman

Simon and Schuster, Inc., 2004

Summary:

Jason is a boy that doesn't believe as his father does. His father is a big Catholic and he wants his son to be like him, and believe just like him. But Jason makes up this own religion- Chutengodianiasm, where they believe that the water tower, or the ten-legged one, is their God and that they are the disciples. He and his friends climb the water tower. They swim in the water tower. They get in trouble because of the water tower. Henry, one of his friends, gets hurt and his other friend goes crazy because of everything having to do with the water tower god. They all have to decide what is real and what can destroy them.

Review:

I read this book really quickly. I liked it because it was so interesting and crazy. It was crazy that Jason would create this new "religion" and that Shinn would really believe that the water tower spoke to him. I liked the kids and how different each of them were. I was amazed at the book and how it made you think about life and about how other people really think and what can really get you into trouble.

Cautionary Note:

There is some swearing in it.

Inexcusable

Inexcusable

Chris Lynch

Simon and Schuster Publishing in 2005

Summary:

This book is about a boy who has raped a girl. He thinks that he hasn't done it and tries to convince the reader that he didn't. He tries to tell everyone that he is a "good boy" and he really believes it. He is a very unreliable author because he has raped someone! He tries to say that he maybe has done some things that he shouldn't have but that he would never rape somebody.

Review:

I didn't really like this book. It was hard to get past the kind of person that he is, that he would rape someone and not really think that he did it and that it was ok. I didn't like how he made all this stuff up and really thought he was a good guy. I did like how it was written though. How you don't really get the full story until the end. It keeps you in suspense because you don't really know what he did or what happened for sure until the end.

Cautionary Note:

This book had a few swear words in it.

The First Part Last

The First Part Last

Angela Johnson

Simon and Schuster publishing in 2003

Summary:

This book is about a boy named Bobby who has to take care of his baby. He made a mistake with his girlfriend that he fell in love with and she ended up pregnant. Bobby has to figure out how to take care of his own baby when he himself is only sixteen years old. He finds out the hard part about being a father but also the love he feels for feather, his baby. Bobby becomes a man and takes care of the baby as best he can, even if he shouldn't have to be doing it yet.

Review:

I loved how this book was written. How you don't actually find out what happened to the mother of the baby until the end and how you see the pain and frustration that Bobby has to go through to figure out how to take care of his beautiful mistake, feather. I love Bobby and even though he is not ready, he takes on the challenge and figures out how to love this baby and how to take care of it and also himself. I love how you get to see so much of what Bobby is really thinking about everything. I really liked this book a lot.

Cautionary Note:

There is some swearing in this book.

Touching Spirit Bear

Touching Spirit Bear

Ben Mikaelsen

Harper Collins in 2001

Summary:

Cole Mathews is a young boy that is angry- with the world and his family and himself. One day, Cole takes out his anger on another boy named Peter Driscall. He smashes Peter's head against the sidewalk and Peter ends up with almost permanent brain damage. As punishment for Cole, he has to go to an island in Alaska for a year so that he can learn how to heal and to let his anger leave. At first, Cole destroys the shelter that was built for him and tries to swim an escape. He can't escape that way and is brought back to the island where he is mauled by the great Spirit Bear. He is left to die. During this time, he learns a lot about himself and changes. Cole learns how to release his mind and roll his anger away and how to do the animal dances and how to carve and how to forgive. He learns so much about himself and about life and others.

Review:

I have read this book before and I think that it is a pretty good book. I like how Cole changes so drastically and that you know why and how he changed so much. I like the drastic differences between the Cole then and the Cole at the end of the book. I liked the people that tried to help him, Garvey and Edwin, who were always there to help him through his trials and to care about him. I like how there were some lessons in the book that everyone can learn- about love and trust and anger and revenge.

Cautionary Note:

This book has a lot of gross things in it. He eats things that people wouldn't normally eat and he as well as Peter get beat up pretty bad, which explains how they were beat up and the damage it caused. The mauling of the bear was really violent and bloody.

Uglies

Uglies

Scott Westerfeld

Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing in 2005

Summary:

Tally is an Ugly. Everyone is an ugly until they turn 16 which is when the have the big operation and turn Pretty. Tally meets a girl named Shay, who doesn't want to turn Pretty so she runs away to join the other Uglies that didn't want to turn Pretty. The government, or the people who are in charge, the Specials, take Tally and tell her that if she wants to be a Pretty, then she has to go and find Tally and bring the Specials to them so that they can get them back to "where they belong." Tally doesn't want to do this to her friend but she goes and finds she likes it there, in "The Smoke." Tally accidentally lets the Specials know where The Smoke is and they come and take most of the people away. Tally tries to rescue them but she may need rescuing herself.

Review: I really liked this book! It was interesting and I loved how it had romance as well as character. I loved Tally. She came to realize what she really wanted and who she wanted to be, or not to be. I liked seeing her change and grow throughout the book. I liked Shay, who showed her the way and I liked David, how he really grew to like her a lot. It was a really good book.