The Hunger Games By: Suzanne Collins

I really enjoyed this book,I have put off reading it because I didn't want to be disappointed after having seen the movie. The book and the movie have many differences but they complement each other well. Since I have watched the movie the whole time I read the book I pictured the characters as they are in the movie. I think with Peeta and Gale they did a good job making them very close to their book characters, but I found that with Katniss there was more variance between her characters at different points in the book. I really like that this is written from Katniss's point of view; even though it is set in a different time period many of the things Katniss says and feels are things that we today also deal with.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen accidentally becomes a contender in the annual Hunger Games, a grave competition hosted by the Capitol where young boys and girls are pitted against one another in a televised fight to the death.

Percy Jackson The Sea of Monsters By: Rick Riordan

This has been awesome book and I can't wait for the third book!! One of the main reasons I read this is to prepare for the movie coming out later this year. The only problem I have found while reading these books is the fact that Percy is older in the movies, which keeps throwing me off; I forget that he is only 14 in the books.

After a summer spent trying to prevent a catastrophic war among the Greek gods, Percy Jackson finds his seventh-grade school year unnervingly quiet. His biggest problem is dealing with his new friend, Tyson—a six-foot-three, mentally-challenged homeless kid who follows Percy everywhere, making it hard for Percy to have any "normal" friends.

But things don't stay quiet for long. Percy soon discovers there is trouble at Camp Half-Blood: the magical borders which protect Half-Blood Hill have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and the only safe haven for demigods is on the verge of being overrun by mythological monsters. To save the camp, Percy needs the help of his best friend, Grover, who has been taken prisoner by the Cyclops Polyphemus on an island somewhere in the Sea of Monsters, the dangerous waters Greek heroes have sailed for millennia—only today, the Sea of Monsters goes by a new name.the Bermuda Triangle.

Now Percy and his friends—Grover, Annabeth, and Tyson—must retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Island of the Cyclopes by the end of the summer or Camp Half-Blood will be destroyed. But first, Percy will learn a stunning new secret about his family—one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or simply a cruel joke.

Inside Out and Back Again By: Thanhha Lai

This books is written poetically. There isn't much to a page, allowing it to be a quick and easy read. My favorite part about Ha coming to America, comes as she is learning English. I can really relate to feeling the same way she did when I first learned English.

No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama. 

For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.

But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.

This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.

The Outsiders By: S.E. Hinton

S.E. Hinton wrote this book about her own experiences with a gang growing up. A film adaptation was released in 1984, I think they did a pretty good job recreating what Hinton had already created. I can see why this book has continued to remain popular throughout the years; to many people have been raised by an older sibling instead of a parent and gangs are just as much a problem today as they were then.

According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser.

Out of the Dust By: Karen Hesse

This book is write poetically. It is a quick read and allows you to see how life during that time could have been. When I read it the first time it was a great confidence booster to read a book this easily.

When Billie Jo is just fourteen she must endure heart-wrenching ordeals that no child should have to face. The quiet strength she displays while dealing with unspeakable loss is as surprising as it is inspiring.

Written in free verse, this award-winning story is set in the heart of the Great Depression. It chronicles Oklahoma's staggering dust storms, and the environmental--and emotional--turmoil they leave in their path. An unforgettable tribute to hope and inner strength.

Follow My Leader By: James B Garfield

This is a touching story, I can't imagine going blind after seeing my whole life. I think this is a great book for anyone who is facing some sort of impairment that is the result of an accident or an illness. This book was first written in 1957 but to me it felt like it had been written within the last 10 years or so.

After Jimmy is blinded in an accident with a firecracker, he has to relearn all the things he used to know. With the help of a determined therapist, he learns to read Braille and to use a cane. Then he's given the chance to have a guide dog. Learning to work with Leader is not easy, but Jimmy tries harder than he ever has before.

Holes By: Louis Sachar

This book was made into a movie in 2003. One of my favorites part about this book is the sweet onions that can cure anything, it doesn't matter how bad they stink they work. I love the happy ending, the rain that was so desperately needed but also the reunited families.

And so, Stanley Yelnats seems set to serve an easy sentence, which is only fair because he is as innocent as you or me. But Stanley is not going where he thinks he is. Camp Green Lake is like no other camp anywhere. It is a bizarre, almost otherworldly place that has no lake and nothing that is green. Nor is it a camp, at least not the kind of camp kids look forward to in the summertime. It is a place that once held "the largest lake in Texas," but today it is only a scorching desert wasteland, dotted with countless holes dug by the boys who live at the camp.

The trouble started when Stanley was accused of stealing a pair of shoes donated by basketball great Clyde "Sweetfeet" Livingston to a celebrity auction. In court, the judge doesn't believe Stanley's claim that the shoes fell from the sky onto his head. And yet, that's exactly what happened. Oddly, though, Stanley doesn't blame the judge for falsely convicting him. Instead, he blames the whole misadventure on his "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather." Thanks to this benighted distant relative, the Yelnats family had been cursed for generations. For Stanley, his current troubles are just a natural part of being a Yelnats.

At Camp Green Lake, the warden makes the boys "build character" by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the treacherous warden is searching for something, and before long Stanley begins his own search—for the truth.

Fate conspires to resolve it all—the family curse, the mystery of the holes, the drought that destroyed Green Lake, and also, the legend of Kissing Kate Barlow, an infamous outlaw of the Wild West. The great wheel of justice has ground slowly for generations, but now it is about to reveal its verdict.

Love, Stargirl By: Jerry Spinelli

This was an interesting book, I personally like the first one better. This one focuses solely on Stargirl and the people she touches. I do love the fact that she has moved to a place where people truly seem to appreciate her uniqueness.

LOVE, STARGIRL picks up a year after Stargirl ends and reveals the new life of the beloved character who moved away so suddenly at the end of Stargirl. The novel takes the form of "the world's longest letter," in diary form, going from date to date through a little more than a year's time. In her writing, Stargirl mixes memories of her bittersweet time in Mica, Arizona, with involvements with new people in her life.

In Love, Stargirl, we hear the voice of Stargirl herself as she reflects on time, life, Leo, and - of course - love.

Stargirl By: Jerry Spinelli

Stargirl is a story about how overrated it is to fit in. Stand out and as long as you're happy that is all that matters. I think it is a great book for anyone, boys or girls, who don't think they fit in or care a little too much about what everyones else thinks. It makes you step back and look at your life and ask yourself, am I happy with who I am?

Stargirl. From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of “Stargirl, Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’s heart with just one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. At first. 

Then they turn on her. Stargirl is suddenly shunned for everything that makes her different, and Leo, panicked and desperate with love, urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her: normal. In this celebration of nonconformity, Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli weaves a tense, emotional tale about the perils of popularity and the thrill and inspiration of first love.

Uprising By: Margaret Peterson Haddix

Margaret Peterson Haddix did an amazing job showing us just what could have gone on, on that tragic day. I love the fact that with this book she tells of workers but also of a high society girl who is also greatly impacted by the fire. Definitely a good read for anyone who likes to read about historical events.

Oh, please, God, don't let me die, she thought. I've never even had a chance to live.

Bella, newly arrived in New York from Italy, gets a job at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. There, along with hundreds of other immigrants, she works long hours at a grueling job under terrible conditions. Yetta, a coworker from Russia, has been crusading for a union, and when factory conditions worsen, she helps workers rise up in a strike. Wealthy Jane learns of the plight of the workers and becomes involved with their cause.

Bella and Yetta are at work -- and Jane is visiting the factory -- on March 25, 1911, when a spark ignites some cloth and the building is engulfed in fire, leading to one of the worst workplace disasters ever.

Margaret Peterson Haddix draws on extensive historical research to bring the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire to tangible life through her thrilling story of Bella, Yetta, and Jane.