Summary: After finding a dead body, Flip and Brian are consumed in solving the mystery of such crime. With the clues Elvan, an outcast at school, leaves behind, the boys become intrigued by what this boy wants and become friends. After one year of investigating, Elvan finally admits he killed the tramp. As Elvan describes how he did it, he runs home in panic and as he crosses a worn out bridge, it collapses breaking his neck and dies. Ultimately, that ends Flip and Brian's friendship.
Personal Response: This book is a must read! I couldn't put it down because I wanted to solve the mystery myself. I didn't appreciate the ending, though. The fact that we don't know what actually happened with the dead body, other than Elvan claiming to have done it, was a downer.
Summary: As a sophomore to a new school and still dealing with her parents' recent divorce, Kerry is easily leaned towards peer pressure from the three most popular girls in school, Tanya, Natalie, and Makenzie. The trio asks her to do weird stunts without telling her all the details such as, breaking into strangers' homes to leave them creepy stuff. Kerry helps carry out the group cruel plans as long as she's one of the girls. She thinks her life just got back on track, when suddenly Kerry loses her three new best friends in a car accident. After being in a sad and depressing daze for months, the unimaginable happens. Kerry recieves a text from Tanya, the leader of the group, letting her know they are all fine and to meet up with them in the city. Kerry's unwillingness to let go of their friendship suppresses the idea that her best friends are haunting her and using her horribly wrong. When Kerry finally snaps into reality, she is liberated from such spirits.
Personal Response: I was kind of surprised the book ended and there was no series behind it. I liked that the book focused its plot around high school drama, teen cliques, and trust mixed up with a twisted ghostly story. It was well written, but I did feel it was rushed towards the mid-end of the book. I also thought the teenage talk used was outdated, but other than that the book was definitely creepy and perfect to use in October.
Summary:The Pruitts family lives in Grand Tower, Illinois which was named after the Tower Rock that rose straight out of the town’s river. Everyone in the family fears the Civil War except Noah who is eager to work for the Union Soldiers. His mom is afraid and nervous he will get convinced and sign up for the war. One day two women arrive and are invited to stay with the Pruitts family which makes their lives change forever.
Personal Respond: This story reminded me of what my mom went through when my brother was determined to join the ARMY. My mom prayed and warned him about what might happened. Fortunately, she convinced him to stay in school and earn a degree. I think the author did an amazing job taking us back to those hard times. The setting is perfect for the story because of two reasons. I believe the author chose Illinois as the setting bearing in mind that this was President Lincoln’s home state. Missouri, which lies across the river, was a close distance slave state making the story as realistic as possible.
Summary: After experimenting sex with her boyfriend, Gail starts recieving explicit notes in her school locker and threatning phone calls from a stalker when she's home alone. The notes explain what he plans to do with her, so she seeks assistance from the school counselor without success. The pursuer, her friend's boyfriend, shows up for a visit in Gail's babysitting job and rapes her. Gail and her boyfriend, Steve, try to take matters into their own hands when they realize authorities are too afraid to prosecute his powerful family.
Personal Response: This book has been in my to-read-list for some time now. I believe the book would really help the victim's family understand what victims go through and get an idea of how some victims cope with such tragedy. I do believe the book captivates it's audience with it's intensity, sexually explicit talk, the use of vulgur language, and how it involves the legal system.
Summary: After the most hated teacher in Indiana, old Miss Myrt Arbuckle, dies during the soon to begin school year, Russel and Lloyd hope this will be enough reason to close down the school and follow Russell's dream of being on a threshing crew. They realize this won't happen when their older sister, Tansy, gets hired to be the next teacher in the old schoolhouse and is so good at it, she makes the boys pass their eighth grade exams.
Personal Response: Peck's dry humor is what kept me hooked on the book. The way the characters express themselves of Miss Myrt makes his reader's laugh out loud. Some of my favorites phrases he used to explain people perishing and corpses were "hauled off and died," "There's never enough cavaders to go around," "That's the kind of cadaver the medical students look for, one that's already preserved in alcohol - a drunkard's corpse," "she's dead as mutton," and "...tie up her jaw with a rag to keep it from sagging. So she's shut up at last."
Summary: Secrets at Sea is a sweet tale of mice who live in New York inside the Cranston family home. Helena, the oldest Cranston mouse, is trying to hold the remaining family together after the father was killed by a cat and the mother with two older siblings drowned. When the Cranston humans decide to sail away to England to find a husband for one of their daughters, the Cranston mice decide to follow since food will be scarce. This life-changing voyage for both families has surprising endings for everyone onboard.
Citations
Barnes & Noble. (2012). Shoe town . Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shoe-town-susan-stevens-crummel/1104514005
All Books. (2012). The river between us. Retrieved from http://www.allbookstores.com/River-Between-Richard-Peck-Lina/9780307282507
Barnes & Nobles. (2012). Secrets at sea. Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secrets-at-sea-richard-peck/1101076872
Amazon. (2012). Cook-a-doodle-doo!. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Cook---Doodle-Doo-Janet-Stevens/dp/B006TQZGXK/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346507645&sr=1-2&keywords=susan crummel
Barnes and Noble. (2012). The great fuzz frenzy . Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/great-fuzz-frenzy-janet-stevens/1100897398?ean=9780152046262
Barnes and Noble. (2012). City dog, country dog . Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/city-dog-country-dog-susan-stevens-crummel/1102560091?ean=9780761455387
Barnes and Noble. (2012). My big dog . Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-big-dog-janet-stevens/1100897415?ean=9780375832970
Barnes and Noble. (2012). Find a cow now!. Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/find-a-cow-now-janet-stevens/1111574122?ean=9780823422180
Barnes and Noble. (2012). The teacher's funeral. Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-teachers-funeral-dylan-baker/1104510797?ean=9781400091027
Penguin. (2012). Are you in the house alone?. Retrieved from http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780141306933,00.html?Are_You_in_the_House_Alone?_Richard_Peck
Penguin. (2012). Three quarters dead. Retrieved from http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/CoverImagePopup/0,,9780803734548,00.html
Goodreads. (2012). Dreamland lake. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/92866.Dreamland_Lake
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