Book Reviews

Skyward

By Ava Encarnacao

How would you feel if you were always seen as the daughter of a coward? This novel follows Spensa on her life-changing journey from discovering secrets about her father to herself. 

Spensa has always been determined to prove herself. To show that she is the strongest. However, since her father supposedly ran from battle, she has been labeled the daughter coward. Spensa knows her father wasn’t a coward, but she does not have any proof.

Even if people think that she will be a coward, she still wants to follow her father’s footprints and become a pilot and fight. Her planet has been at war with the evil aliens, the Krell. The only thing blocking her from achieving her dreams is to get into flight school.

Even if accepted, she will need to endure months of training and loss. Being a cadet is not as easy as it seems. She will need to memorize and fight to save her friends.

Follow Spensa through her life-changing journey. And follow her as she starts to uncover more about what truly happened to her father, and maybe, something strange about herself. I highly recommend this book that is full of suspense, surprises and thrills Read Skyward, book one of four, to see what happens.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

By Ava Encarnacao

It was hard enough to write a perfect essay to get into the library. It’s even harder to get out. This book is written by Chris Grabenstein and takes place in a library filled with puzzles that each gets you a step closer to escaping.

Tanner loves games. Whether it is a video game or board game, he has played it. Especially when the games are made by Mr. Lemoncello, the game master. When he hears that a new library is opening owned by Mr. Lemoncello, he knows has to go there.

Tanner soon realizes that the only way to get into the library is for twelve kids to be picked to go there based of their essay about reasons why they want to go to the library. Even if though Tanner has never been good at schoolwork, he wrote a perfect essay that got him the last spot in the competition. 

It doesn’t take long for Tanner and the other 11 kids to realize that the library is one big game. A game filled with puzzles. The objective: get out of the library. With all of the obvious exits locked Tanner and the other kids have to use the clues scattered in the library to escape.

Now, the game is on. Tanner must use his game skills to figure out puzzles, find clues, and most importantly…  escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s library. 

Rise of Kyoshi

By Ava Encarnacao

Do you like books about action and adventure? Books about fighting for your life, saving humanity? This book is written by F. C. Yee and takes place in a fantasy world far from here. A world where people have the abilities to use the elements of water, earth, fire and air. 

Kyoshi started off abandoned, living on the streets of the most underwhelming island you could find. While she was struggling to survive the world was trying to find the most powerful human in the world. The one human who can use all four elements simultaneously. Everyone overlooked Kyoshi, no one would think that a girl living on the streets would possess such a power. So, everyone jumped to conclusions and believed that a random boy named Yun would be the chosen one.

Everyone was wrong. Although Yun excelled with using Earth, he could not use any of the others. Instead, it was Kyoshi. A peasant girl out of all people, was the one who would save the world from any threat. But, Kyoshi would never think that the threat she needs to face, is someone who has been there for her throughout her life.

With the help of her friend Rangi, Kyoshi escapes the place where she once lived to master all of the elements while trying to save the world. There were only two problems. She couldn’t trust anyone to teach her to master the elements since the person she must face is one of the powerful people out there who controls everything and everyone. And second, she does not know how to control the elements when using them.

In order to master the elements Kyoshi must join a group rag tag people and travel the world to prepare to face her destiny. 

This book is filled with twists and turns, cliffhangers and shocking moments that you won’t expect. This book will get you on the edge of your seat waiting to see is Kyoshi will save the world or if she will fail.



Paper Heart

                                       By Abibe Aliu


Paper Heart is a great novel by Cat Patrick. Tess, a 12 year old girl went to a cabin in Wyoming with her twin sister Frankie, her mom, her cousins Kennedy and Kane, her aunt, uncle, and her best friend Collette. Tess and Collette love telling each other ghost stories. Tess told her a story about a man named William, who Collette called Billy. William was a regular man who got married. His wife has always wanted to go to Paris so he started taking French classes. His wife didn’t know about it. His teacher came to his house to drop off the Williams scarf that his wife made him. His wife got jealous and killed him. William didn’t really die, yet. His wife left him and he has been living life wearing the yellow scarf so his head wouldn’t fall off. Years later he died. His wife and French teacher came to his funeral. He was buried with the scarf. After talking with his French teacher his wife realized that it was all a misunderstanding. Remember the story of William, it’s important to the book.

A year later, Tess is back at the same cabin in Wyoming. She’s with her aunt, uncle, Kennedy (older cousin), and Kane (younger cousin). Her sister didn’t want to come so her mom stayed home with her. Collette didn’t come because she died 2 months ago. Tess hasn’t been the same since Collettes death. During the time she was at the cabin she went to art camp. Here she made new friends. Her closest  friend there was Izzy, she told him everything. The only thing she didn’t tell him was her feelings for him. Everyone at camp was friends with her, except this one girl. She was jealous of her because she liked Izzy. Therefore she was mean to Tess. 

During her vacation Tess has been seeing a man that looked exactly like the one she made up in her story a year ago. She has also been getting signs. Once when she was at the pool she saw something written in steam, in the bathroom. It said, “Help Find Billy.” Tess was so terrified that she went home. To find out more read this novel. Unless you're scared of ghosts.                                                         



Out of Range

By Ava Encarnacao


Do you like books about survival, drama, and surprises? Do you like sitting at the edge of your seat, excited to see what happens next in a book? Then you have come to the right article for you because I am going to tell you about a book that is all of the above. 

Out of Range is a book about survival, danger, and close escapes. But, it is also a coming of age for three sisters who have a rocky relationship. Abby, Emma, and Ollie can NOT get along. They are determined to make each other’s life horrible. And after months of continuous fighting, their parents ship them off to summer camp together for some quality bonding time. 

They did not bond. In the summer they kept fighting until things got bad. While hiking they were separated from the instructor and left alone. That's when things got worse and a wildfire started. The three girls had to run far, far away. They kept until they were safe from the fire. However, they were alone, in the woods, far from camp, with each other.

Now the girls have to work together in order to survive. They will have to combine all of their talents so that they can get out alive.

Will these girls finally put their differences aside and work together? If they make it out of the woods would they finally be friends? WILL THEY BE ABLE TO MAKE IT OUT AT ALL? There is only one way to find out, and that is to read the book.



The School for Good and Evil

This is an exciting story consisting of any unexpected twists and turns. I have read the entire series and found all the books to be fun each with an unanticipated ending. The books may have a slow start but as the story moves on the story picks up the pace making it impossible for the reader to lose interest. It is a story about two friends who are totally opposite. Sophie who is the prettiest girl in Gavaldon and Agatha a gothic girl who lives in a graveyard and is supposedly a witch are lifelong friends. While Sophie likes to spend time giving herself manicures and carrying out a bajillion skincare routines, Agatha likes to keep her mother company with her half bald cat Reaper. The only thing the two share are their love for reading and their ability to get the best out of each-other but when Sophie who wants a better life writes a letter to the School for Good she gets accepted only to be kidnapped by the School Master who is the leader of both schools. What she doesn't expect is that Agatha will come to her rescue and both of them end up in different schools. Did the School Master really make a mistake? Is Agatha the long lost princess the school needed? Even more peculiar the two of them are now each others Nemesis which means their story cannot end untill one of them is destroyed? Will their friendship survive these hardships or will they both except their fate as enemies? Read the book to find out!