The New Policeman by Kate Thompson*****

The New Policeman, by Kate Thompson, combines classic Irish folklore with modern storytelling to create a unique plot in an unfamiliar land that is nonetheless things that we have, for the most part, seen before.
All J.J. Liddy’s mother wants for her birthday is time. The time seems to be seeping away from the residents of Kinvira, a small town located near the sea of Ireland. J.J. takes upon himself this seemingly impossible task; he tries to do odd jobs for his mother, to give her more minutes in an ever-shortening day, while also trying to fit in homework and music practice for the upcoming family dance. But, just like all the other people, J.J. just doesn’t seem to have enough hours to complete his tasks. That is until a neighbor reveals a secret…
As it seems, time is leaking from Earth into an alternate version of Earth, the classic Irish folklore land or Tir na N’Òg, where time stands still. So now, not only is time passing in the “Land of Eternal Youth, “ but there are less hours in the other world. J.J. must team up with a “Fairy” named Aengus Òg to find the leak between the two worlds and restore time to its original flow. From the plot mentioned above, you might not say there’s much to the story; no obvious antagonist, little knowledge of the worlds; among other things. In fact, the plot is rather light in the basic sense: an Irish Teenager searches for a rip in the fabric of Time to save both worlds. But, you’ll only get a small sense of the big picture if you don’t pay attention to the scenes that are obviously a back story. If you look closely, you’ll see a deeper plot present itself, one that enhances the experience much past the basic events of the story. Thus, this is a challenging read for most young adults, but the journey is very worth it. The book is also very rich in Irish Folklore, making it a must-read for those close to their Irish heritage, or those interested in the unique mythology of Ireland.

by Mark G. p. 2
Rating: *****

The House of the Scorpion by Farmer, Nancy *****

Science Fiction Pages: 380

Matteo Alcrán (Matt) is a clone, and he was harvested out of a cow. He is the clone of El Patrón, a powerful drug lord. The story takes place in the future and in Opium, a piece of land between Mexico, now called Aztlán, and the United States. Opium is ruled by El Patrón, who is over 140 years old. Matt was created so El Patrón could harvest Matt’s organs when his own organs began to fail. Matt has been raised by Celia, one of El Patrón’s workers. Matt has never met another human besides Celia and the doctor in his entire life because humans treat clones like animals and El Patrón doesn’t want his great-great-grandchildren to have to see him. When Matt is six years old, he jumps out of the window and meets Tom, Emilia, and María. They are all descendants of El Patrón, and have never seen a clone before. Disgust automatically overwhelms Tom and Emilia, but María likes Matt and builds a strong friendship with him as the book continues. The children take Matt back to their family and Matt is treated as a prisoner for several years. He is kept in a room full of sawdust until El Patrón comes to his rescue. El Patrón realizes how similar Matt’s personality is to his as a child and wants Matt to have a better life than he had. As Matt grows into a teenager, he realizes that he loves El Patrón like a father. When Matt finds out that El Patrón only created him for his organs, Matt knows that he cannot let this happen to him. He has high expectations for his life and must leave Opium before El Patrón kills him for his organs. Will Matt be able to escape and start a new life on his own or will he be killed for his organs?
Find out by reading The House of the Scorpion .


Caroline W.
*****
Period: 8

How It Happened in Peach Hill by Jocelyn, Marthe ***

Historical Fiction Pages: 232

How It Happened in Peach Hill is the story of a fifteen-year-old girl named Annie. Annie and her clairvoyant mother who has traveled from town to town Annie’s entire life is scamming people of their money. All Annie’s mom does is lie to people while Annie assists her. When they move to Peach Hill, her mom makes Annie act like an idiot so she can eavesdrop on the townspeople without them becoming suspicious. Annie’s mom puts on a wonderful show for the citizens of Peach Hill and most of them fall for it, especially Mr. Poole. Mr. Poole lives in a huge house on the outside of town. He begins to really like Annie’s mom and decides that he wants to showcase her talents at a performance at his house. Meanwhile, Annie has decided that she’s sick of acting like an idiot and she begins to like a boy named Sammy Sloane. She pretends that her mother magically cured her, and she begins to act normal and go to school. At the showcase at Mr. Sloane’s house, people begin to doubt Annie and her mom. Annie decides that she is sick of lying to people and wants to start a new life on her own. When her mom moves on to the next town, Annie stays in Peach Hill and begins her new life. Read to find out how Annie makes a new life for herself.

Rating: Caroline W
*** Period: 8

The Swarm by Frank Schatzing ****

The human race is in danger: whales start killing people in Canada; exploding lobsters poison water supplies in Europe and thousands die; toxic, eyeless crabs poison New York City; and to trump it all, the North Sea shelf collapses, destroying the offshore drilling industry and ravaging England and Norway. The events are connected – an unknown white substance seems to be controlling sea organisms. Sigur Johansen, a Norwegian scientist, Leon Anawak, a Native American and other experts try to figure out what is happening. They realize that their efforts could save the world. Top government officials have their own ideas about who should win this war with the sea, especially Judith Lee, a top general who has her own plans for confronting the danger. Can humanity win the war against something that they can’t find or is the sea going to have its ultimate revenge for humanity’s abuses? – A challenging read for advanced readers.

Jonah M.
898 pages

New Moon by Stephanie Meyer ****

New Moon by Stephanie Meyer is the second book in the series Twilight. Bella Swan has fallen in love with Edward Cullen, a vampire. Edward and his family decide to throw a little birthday party for Bella. Bella cut her finger opening an envelope. Edwards’s brother, Jasper, is the newest vampire in the family, and can't control himself. He tries to attack Bella. Edward decides that it is best for Bella if he leaves, so that Bella can live a normal life. He does not want Bella to get into anymore danger. Bella becomes very depressed and is very lifeless now. She spends most of her time in her room, or in La Push with Jacob, a family friend. Bella almost jumps off a cliff to get Edward to come back. Edward could see that she was going to jump and assumed she had died. Alice, Edward's sister comes to check on Bella because Edward has gone to the Volturi to ask for death. Edward and Bella cannot live without each other. They rescue Edward, and both Bella and Edward are reunited at last.

547 pagesAmanda G. period 7.

Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne ***

Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne depicts the real life horrors of teenage prejudice. When fifteen year old Phoebe learns that her estranged cousin is moving in with her dysfunctional family, she can’t think of anything that she would like to happen less. Her negative feelings about the situation only increase when thirteen-year-old, obviously gay Leonard shows up on their doorstep. Leonard becomes a trouble magnet when he flaunts his differences instead of hiding them. Whether he is walking down the halls in pink and lime green plaid Capri pants and homemade platform sneakers or giving beauty advice to the women in Phoebe’s mother’s hair salon, Hair Today, Leonard always finds a way to be himself. It wasn’t until Leonard mysteriously disappeared that Phoebe realized what a huge impact he made on her life.

472 pages

Keira G.

period 2

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini ***

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini is the third book in the Inheritance series. The book begins soon after Eldest ends. The citizens of Carvahall have joined the Varden in their struggle against the terrible King Galbatorix, where Eragon and his dragon Saphira play a huge role as the last free dragon and Rider. They are sent on missions to find allies and are key components in battle, when they never know if Eragon’s brother Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn, will rear their ugly heads. They must leave the Varden to help the dwarves choose a new king who is sympathetic to the Varden’s cause and consult with their elf teacher, The-Cripple-Who-Is-Whole. As they embark on their quest they realize their destinies.

748 pages

Keira G.

period 2

Three Willows by Ann Brashares ***

Three Willows by Ann Brashares is the story of friends Polly, Jo, and Ama. These girls have grown apart as they went through middle school and barely keep in touch now that eighth grade has ended. As their summers begin, they all start to realize that nothing is turning out as they planned. Polly has decided to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps and become a model, which means working on her look. She hardly eats at all in order to lose weight. Her mother barely notices because she spends hours at a time in her art studio. While Jo is adjusting to her new job on the beach, she finds out that her parents have decided to separate for the summer. While the news doesn’t come as a shock, it does change the fact that no one will ever be home anymore. This leaves the house alone to Jo, her new friends from work, and her potential boyfriend Zach. Meanwhile, studious Ama has won a scholarship to take courses during the summer as class credit for the upcoming year. When she receives her letter, she expects an invitation to formal classes in an air conditioned library. What she got was a perilous hiking trip that she hates even before she gets there. As their summers start to turn into disasters, Jo, Ama, and Polly realize how much they’ve missed each other and the value of their friendship.

318 pages

~Keira G.
period 2

Bounce by Natasha Friend ***

Bounce by Natasha Friend is the story of a thirteen- year- old girl named Evyn. Evyn lives with her dad, Al, who they call Birdie, and her brother, Mackey, who is a few years older than she is. Evyn's mom died when Evyn was one year old. They live in Maine and Evyn's best friend's name is Jules. When Birdie tells Evyn and Mackey that he is getting married to a woman named Elini, Evyn is not thrilled. To make it worse, they have to move to Boston AND Elini has six kids! When Evyn tells Jules, she is devastated. When they move, Evyn has to share a room with fifteen year old twins Cleo and Cassandra. At Evyn's new school she becomes friends with the popular girls once they find out that she is Ajax's step-sister. They think he is adorable and ask her to find out who he likes. She lies to them about who he likes to keep her popularity. When they find out that Evyn lied to them, they set out to destroy her. To make her life worse, Birdie and Elini tell the family that they are having another child together. At first, Evyn hopes that they are kidding. When she finds out that they are for real, she learns to be positive, even in bad situations. She also learns how to build new friendships, even when you live hundreds of miles away from your best friend. When Jules finally comes to Boston to visit, Evyn and Jules are able to have the time of their life, even though Evyn's life is now completely different!
Caroline W.

188 pages
Period: 8

Where I Want to Be by Adele Griffin ***

Where I Want to Be by Adele Griffin is the story of two sisters named Jane and Lilly. Jane was killed by an ongoing car as she was walking across the street. Where I Want to Be explores both girls' perspectives on what really happened to provoke the accident and on the day of the accident. Lilly is seventeen. She is the younger sister, has always been really popular and has a lot of friends. She has always fit in well and she has a very loving boyfriend named Caleb. When she first started dating him, Jane was very excited when he came over to their house. Caleb had been almost killed by a dog when he was in middle school and Jane had tons of questions for him. Jane is the older sister and is eighteen when she dies. Jane had a mental disability. Once Lilly outgrew the age when she enjoyed make-believe, Jane had always felt left out of her younger sister's life. After Caleb had been coming over to their house for a while, Jane got sick of him being there all of the time because, after all, it wasn't his house! Jane starts to become disappointed with her life when she compares it to her sister's. Her grandparents, who she was extremely close too, died, and that pushed her completely off of the edge. Find out the final reasons leading up to Jane's actions by reading Where I Want to Be.

Caroline W

150 pages
Period: 8

Where I Want To Be by Adele Griffin ***

Griffin, Adele Pages: 150

Where I Want to Be by Adele Griffin is the story of two sisters named Jane and Lilly. Jane was killed by an ongoing car as she was walking across the street. Where I Want to Be explores both girls' perspectives about what really happened to provoke the accident and what happened on the day of the accident. Lilly is seventeen. She is the younger sister, who has always been really popular and has a lot of friends. She has always fit in well, and she has a very loving boyfriend named Caleb. When she first started dating him, Jane was very excited when he came over to their house. Caleb had been almost killed by a dog when he was in middle school and Jane had tons of questions for him. Jane is the older sister and is eighteen when she dies. Jane had a
mental disability. Once Lilly outgrew the age when she enjoyed make-believe, Jane had always felt left out of her younger sister's life. After Caleb had been coming over to their house for a while, Jane got sick of him being there all of the time because, after all, it wasn't his house! Jane starts to become disappointed with her life when she compares it to her sister's. After the death of her grandparents she is pushed completely off of the edge. Find out the final reasons leading to Jane's actions read: Where I Want to Be.

Rating:
Caroline W.

Period: 8

Pretty Tough by Liz Tigelaar ***

Pretty Tough by Liz Tigelaar is the story of sisters Krista and Charlie Brown who have grown apart since Charlie entered high school. Since then the girls have hardly spoken to one another and the words that they do exchange aren’t ones that leave them on good terms. While surfing Charlie meets the new soccer coach, Martie, who is looking for general athletes to join the team. Knowing that her sister has high hope of being captain this season, Charlie agrees if only to see Krista’s face when she hears that she’s on the team. When Krista hears she is more convinced than ever that Charlie is a freaky surfer rebel who is out to get her. Being under constant pressure from her best friend Brooks and her dream boyfriend Cam, Krista just doesn’t have the time or energy to worry about her younger sister ruining her chances at the one thing that is entirely hers. Being on the team turns out great for Charlie; she can get under Krista’s skin and do well in her new position at starting striker. As the season goes on, the girls come closer together as sisters and as a team, but will a big misunderstanding ruin their chances at a championship title?

~Keira G. Period 2

246 pages

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