Sunday, August 28, 2016

                                                                       It´s kind of a funny story                         Ned Vizzini

“It´s kind of a funny story” is an amazing book that pictures the idea of being depressed in a very deep and real way. It´s about a 16-year-old boy named Craig that struggles with depression and wants to commit suicide. He lives in New York City and he attends to Executive Pre-Professional High School. Craig wants to get into this summer business school because he believes that the summer school would help him get into a good university. One of the reasons why he is depressed is that life has not worked out like has planned to. He planned to get good grades so he can enter to a good school to have a good job so he can have a good life. Also His best friend Aaron is good at everything which really affects Craig because Aaron has it all the grades, the school, and the girl. Nia is Aaron´s girlfriend but Craig has been in love with her for a long time. One Sunday in the early morning he decides to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge but suddenly he starts thinking about his family and starts having second thoughts so he calls the suicide hotline which told him to go to the nearest hospital.  In the hospital, he gets admitted into the adult’s psychiatric department 3rd north. In there he meets Bobby, Noelle, Muqtada, George, Smitty, Humbler, Johnny, etc. At first, he didn´t feel like he belonged there because he was just depressed and there they were people with all kinds of problems but then he got passed all of that and started acknowledging the patients  by who they are, not their mental illness. At the end, he learned that “life can´t be cured but managed” and that 3 north really helped him realize what he wants.
What I like about this book is the respect that the characters showed towards mental illness and how the author writes about depression saying that you can´t control it. What I don’t like about the book is how slow it is.

I think everybody should read this book because it´s so real and special. 

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling


Image result for harry potter and the philosopher's stone by j.k rowling

I liked this book because it has a little bit of action and adventure, I don’t read that much but when I do it’s because it’s a great book. This book is about a boy named Harry Potter that thinks he's an ordinary boy who lives with his uncle and aunt, but that is before he discovers that he is actually a wizard. His uncle and aunt dislike him because of the fact of him being a wizard and they don’t treat him fairly compared to their son which gets everything he wants. Hagrid was told by professor Albus Dumbledore to reintroduce Harry Potter to the wizard world and show Harry the fortune left for him by his parents.

 Harry potter later learns his own history and heads off to Hogwarts to learn witchcraft and wizardry. Harry  was placed in the Gryffindor team along with his new friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Harry plays Quidditch, which is a very famous game in the world of wizardry and can be played for days if the Golden Snitch is not catched. Few weeks pass as he sets out to make a journey with his friends to find the Philosopher's Stone, this holds powers and cannot be taken by Lord Voldemort.

This book kept me entertained and not spaced out in the middle of a paragraph, the book was also very detailed and enthusiastic. I really liked this book so much that im willing to keep reading the series. In a number from 1-10 I would give it a 10 because of the interest it gave me, I loved the book especially because it’s fiction. 

Angelique Pimentel

Monday, August 1, 2016

Glass sword by: Victoria Aveyard

GLASS SWORD KNEEL OR BLEED
By:New York best selling author Victoria Aveyard

This book surrounds the main character Mare a girl born a red that came from poverty found herself working in the silver castle and after some time discovered her powerful magic that can destroy balance in both rules but she wasn't the only one to discover this about herself, she was declared the long lost princess by the silvers to try to control her very powerful and dangerous power even though she was a red, they married her off to a silver prince and she secretly begins working with some rebellious red guard that want to take over the silver rule and the after her efforts to make a big enough rebellion she gets what she wants and starts a war red against. And the rest is for the sequel to decide in my opinion i give this book a  6/10  I gave it a bit of a low number because the book did not catch me and pulled me in its one of those books with way to much details involved where there not needed and it just was hard to end without giving up on it.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: THE BAD BEGINNING by Lemony Snicket

Three kids– Klaus, Sunny, and violet—find themselves orphans without warning. They must move to a close relative's house named Count Olaf but what they don't know is that this certain relative is only looking for an evil way to try and steal the family's fortune and make the kids do all the house work and chores and other things, like if they were slaves. With nowhere to go the kids suffer throughout the whole book. At the end they start realizing that Count Olaf is after their family´s money but they are always one step further than him and keep messing up his plans. And the rest is for the next book to decide. 

This book was very unique because the author had a very unique way of writing. At the beginning, instead of starting off with the simple "one day" or "once upon a time" and more, he started off with what he was achieving with this book and a warning for people that don't like unhappy ending books and that brings you to a BIG idea of what you are reading and helps you get more intrigued. Something that blocked me from getting really into the book was that sometimes the author would write long and thick descriptions in parts that where not needed. I give this book a 8/10.

FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl is not the type of book I read but I enjoyed it. Fangirl is about a girl called Cath that has a twin sister called wren. They are  both two girls from Omaha that go to college and stop talking as much of they used to. Cath has to deal with Levi her boyfriend, carry on a fanfiction she is writing, and her family issues. 

What I like about the book is that it is realistic fiction and I feel that a lot of people can relate to her problems. I like the book also because I feel that she describes what being a twin very accurate. I can relate to Cath because I am a lot like her and Rocio is a lot like Wren. Some of the things that had happened to her had happened to me.

What I don’t like about the book Is the Simon and Baz story; I get that she is a fangirl but it doesn’t mean that she has to add 2 pages of this story that it is just copyright of harry potter. 

This book is directed to teens and young adults because there are scenes that can be relatable to people in college.

GIRL ONLINE by Zoe Sugg

Girl online is a book that I can read over and over and find something new. Girl online is about a girl named Penny that lives in England. Penny has very bad luck and with a tragic accident that happened to her at school, her panic attacks, and her anxiety her life couldn´t get any worst. Her parents have a wedding planning company and because of it, they get to go to New York to plan a wedding. In New York, she meets Noah a "rock god" and they fall in love. When she goes back to England she found out that he is an internet sensation that´s cheating on her.

What I love about this book is that she struggles a lot which makes her not perfect and more realistic. I love that it is very unexpected. What I don’t like is that she has too much bad luck. 

I think everybody should read this book because it is amazing and it is embarrassing.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

IF I STAY by Gayle Forman

I would describe this book in two words: "chick lit" because is based on a relationship between not only Mia's family and friends, but her boyfriend also. If i stay is about Mia the main character and her family (Teddy, mom and dad). One normal day they are in their lovely home, a day without class, it was snowing. Were they decide to go out as a family, turns out that a terrible tragedy happens. Her parents sadly ended up passing away and she and her brother are in critical condition. Mia enters a state where she's not dead. but she's not alive either. While she goes around and watches over as her body is being operated on, until she ends up in ICU (Intensive Care Unit). She witnesses as people come and go visiting her and talking to her. All through out the rest of the book she just reflects on her life, on what she has achieved, on what she has completed and just to answer the main and ultimate question, "Should I stay?"

My favorite character has definitely to be Mia's dad because I love how he left his passion which was being a rock star, just to commit and comply with his children and wife. Making huge sacrifices for the ones that he loves the most. The characters felt really real to me, I could literally picture them in my mind. I know this is a little bit cheesy, but my favorite part was when she summoned all her love, feelings and all her energy just to hold and hear Adam. I thought that was really beautiful. The book teared me up a little, not just because of the tragedy, but because of the book being so well written that i could basically feel their emotions, I was empathizing with them. Any way I just really like the book and that's weird because that's not usually my genre of reading. I would really recommend this actually to guys, especially teenagers who think romance and love are overrated, this can really change your point of view.

Bryan Cordero
8th Grade