Before We Were Free

Title: Before We Were Free

Author: Julia Alvarez

Genre: Historicle Fiction

This book is a story about freedom. It’s about a girl named Anita from the Dominican Republic. Her family is slowly moving away from her all going to the mainland for reasons that no one wants to tell her. One day a man named Mr.Washburn moves into their compound. He has a wife a son and a daughter. By now everything is really tense in the house because the S.I.M are searching everyone’s houses. What Anita doesn’t know is that what the S.I.M is looking for is her uncle. When she figures this out she asks everyone about it but only her sister can explain. There whole family is involved in a plot to kill there dictator El Jefe. When they all decide to go on with there plan they succeed. But they had no one to take over so instead of them finally being free they end up with El Jefe’s son as a leader who’s as bad as his father. Finally Anita and her mom move to America after hiding out in her moms friends closet for months. In the end Anita and most of her family are left in New york not knowing if its safe to go home.

What I liked about this book is the fact that everything is based on how people in places like the Dominican Republic live. Everyone seems to treat the Americans better even in the Dominican schools. I liked how everything seems unfair that some people are suspected more than others just because of their ethnicities and their families background.

Pendragon: Merchant of death

Title:Pendragon: Merchant Of Death

Author: D.J. MacHale

Genre: Fantasy

Rating:***** stars

This is an epic story about how a young boy named Bobby who lives a totally normal life is sucked into a fantasy that seems too impossible to be real. It all started on a normal day where everything was going well. He was going to play basketball (his favorite sport) if they win they get to the finals, and he finally gets a kiss from a girl he loved since 4th grade. Everything is perfect, until His Uncle Press shows up. Any other day he would have been happy with his uncle showing up but his face showed him how serious he was. He even trusted his uncle enough to take him away from his big game. When Bobby finds himself in a broken down railroad station he realizes that to be safe he needed to listen to his uncle. Will he make it out of the situation his uncle started for him?

13: Stories about being 13

Title:13

edited by:James Howe

Genre:Short stories

rating:***

This is a collection of stories by many different authors. All of these stories are about the agonizing pain of being that unlucky age of 13. This book consists of the different narrators’ experiences when they were 13. There are stories like What’s the worse that could happen, Kate the great, If you kiss a boy and so on. My favorite story is What’s the worse that could happen. A boy named Murphy Murphy thinks Murphy’s law of bad luck was made just for him. Whenever he tries to do something it’s always stopped,canceled,moved, or goes wrong. When he gets a chance to do a play he accepts. He does his part perfectly until he chokes and breaks his leg.

A Wrinke In Time

Title: A Wrinkle In Time

Author: Madeleine L’ingle

Genre: Fantasy

This is a story about a young girl named Amy  who has to save her brother from IT. In the beginning she lives a semi normal life with not so normal people; actually she’s not quite normal either. When they meet strange people by the names of Who,Which, and Whatsit everything changes. She also meets a friend named Calvin. He is a great motivator and never gives up. And when thy have a chance to see someone that’s been gone for a long time they start to lose control of what’s happening around them. Everything’s short lived for this family. Will anything be in the right order again? (Tesseract, time and space travel = blue) I like this color it has a dark color with a light side.

Cracker

Title:Cracker

Author:Cynthia Kadohata

Genre: Historical Fiction

Ratings:*****

This book is about a young boy and his dog. When the landlord makes them get rid of his dog he has to find a new home for him. Soon his parents have to make the decision for him and decide to send Cracker to help in the Vietnam War. When Cracker gets there he meets his new owner, a young soldier. Cracker does great until on one mission, everything goes wrong. They get separated and their  both badly injured. Will they ever see each other again?

Yang The Youngest and His Terrible Ear

Title: Yang The Youngest And His Terrible Ear

Author: Lensey Namioka

Genre: Fantasy

Rating:*****

This book is about a young boy who has terrible ears. This is very bad because he comes from a Chinese line of musicians who never miss notes. Every time he tries to play the violin he will screech until the sour look on his father’s face makes him stop. When he goes to school he meets a boy named Matthew who loves music and can play the violin better than him. When his dad announces a recital for all of them he has to figure out a way to save it without having to be heard. When I think of China I for some reason think of green.

the secret history of tom trueheart

Title: The Secret History Of Tom Trueheart

Author: Ian Beck

Genre: Fantasy

This is a book about a boy who has 6 brothers. He is a 7th son in a brave family of adventurers who travel to different lands to create stories by doing what they can and then telling the story bureau about what they encountered and what they did. When all the brothers are  told  to go  on different stories  at different places  and don’t  come back  in time for his 12th birthday then Tom knows something is wrong. His theory is proved when the master of stories sends him out to go save his brothers. He has to go to each of their stories to find clues of what happened to them. Will he be able to make it all the way or will he fail? The red is the True Heart color

Tex

Title:Tex
Author:S.E. Hinton

Genre:Contemporary Realism

This is a story about a young boy who loses his horse named Negro and now he has to try and get it back. His friends are trying to cheer him up but with all the help they try to give him nothing helps. When he falls in love with his best friend’s sister everything changes.

Capt. Hook

Capt. Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Youth

Author: J. V. Hart and Brett Helquist

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5 stars

This is a story about a mysterious boy who finds a beautiful young princess  who loves him because he stands out.  When they get  separated he has to do whatever he can to get her back. He will even go to the depths of the deepest ocean to claim her. Things get very messy in this epic tale where he almost drowns from something that doesn’t exist. Really, how far will he go just to get this girl? At the end of his life, he never regret his answer.

P.S. He doesn’t die in this book.

The Book Of Lost Things

Title: The Book of Lost Things

Author: John Connolly

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

This book is a great Fantasy about getting over your losses and thinking about what you have. In this story a boy named David loses his mother, and his father is starting a new family. Despite this new family, he still feels left out. He finds his way around through books and stories and toy soldiers. One day he finds a crack in a wall that will lead him to a new world. And when he has a chance to get rid of his new younger step-brother will he? The Crooked Man shall put this decision right into his brain until he cannot forget it. Will he take the bait, or will he save himself and his new brother?