• Marcelo in the Real World

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:90 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.5 Fraction:4.5★ Rating:90 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.5 Fraction:4.5★ Rating:90 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.5 Fraction:4.5★ Rating:90 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.5 Fraction:4.5½ Rating:90 Star Piece:0.5 Fraction:4.590%

    Marcelo in the Real World

    Fransisco X. Stork

    Arthur A. Levine Books, 2009

    Fiction

    ISBN: 0545054745

    320 pages

    Synopsis

    Marcelo Sandoval hears music no one else can hear–part of the autism-like impairment no doctor has been able to identify–and he’s always attended a special school where his differences have been protected. But the summer after his junior year, his father demands that Marcelo work in his law firm’s mailroom in order to experience “the real world.” There Marcelo meets Jasmine, his beautiful and surprising coworker, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm.

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    Posted in 2009, Best Of, Classroom, English/Reading, Fiction (non-fantasy), Geography/Culture, Recommended, Religious/Mythology, Reviews, Social Commentary | No Comments »

    The Hunger Games

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:94 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:4.7★ Rating:94 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:4.7★ Rating:94 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:4.7★ Rating:94 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:4.7½ Rating:94 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:4.794%
    The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, Book 1)
    Suzanne Collins
    Scholastic Press, 2008
    Science Fiction
    ISBN: 0439023483
    384 pages
    Awards

    Synopsis

    Katniss lives in the dystopian future, where America has been sectioned into 12 different districts. District 12, where she lives, is the mining district, and other than the difficulty of hunting outside the perimeter to catch food for her mother and sister her life is generally fine. However, the selection for the Hunger Games is about to begin, and when her sister is chosen to be a participant, Katniss steps in to take her place. Now she must fight to the death with 23 other tributes in a televised game, and even her hunting and tracking skills may not be enough to keep her alive.

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    Posted in 2008, Award Winners, Best Of, Classroom, English/Reading, Fantasy/Science Fiction, Ignite Imagination, Recommended, Reviews, Series, Social Commentary | 1 Comment »

    Starclimber

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:74 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:3.7★ Rating:74 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:3.7★ Rating:74 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:3.7½ Rating:74 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:3.7☆ Rating:74 Fraction:3.774%
    Starclimber (Book 3 – Airborn Series)
    Kenneth Oppel
    HarperTeen, 2009
    Fantasy Fiction
    ISBN: 0060850574
    400 pages

    Synopsis

     

    Working as a pilot for an airship that transports building materials from the ground to the upper regions of the tower that the French are building to reach into space, some Babelites attempt to use Matt Cruse’s ship to bomb the tower. Narrowly escaping both death and rescuing the city from major impending doom, Cruse becomes a hero yet again. However, the French government cover up the whole thing in order to keep its citizens from becoming frightened.

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    Posted in 2009, Best Of, Classroom, English/Reading, Ignite Imagination, Reviews, Science/Engineering, Series | No Comments »