BeanBall by Gene Fehler

         BeanBall is a series of poems that capture the extraordinarily rare journey of Luke "Wizard" Wallace. When He goes to bat at the last inning of his baseball game against rival team from Compton. The Oak Grove fans had never seen what the witnessed happen to Luke. After Kyle Dawkins makes the pitch, it goes out of control and lands Luke in the hospital. Now as Luke is desperately trying to fight for his chance at ever playing baseball again, you begin to follow teachers, family, and friends of Luke. You watch from all points as Luke Wallace survives a fatal accident and overcomes many surgeries.  You grip the story from 25 angles and each of them with emotion and feeling behind each one.

Master of Deceit: J. Edgar Hoover & America in the Age of Lies By Marc Aronson

Master of Deceit focuses on the life of J. Edgar Hoover. Though he is not the founder of the FBI, he is the one that is able to build up the FBI and create it--to his standards. The majority of the book involves J. Edgar Hoover, though not exactly his biography, in America between The late 1890's and early 1970's, adding Historical events, in which J. Edgar Hoover are linked to all of the events. J. Edgar Hoover is the director of the FBI and ultimately named as the ":master of deceit." Not everything is ever what is seemed to be. The FBI is first started off as disorganized and not very strong in force, until J. Edgar Hoover becomes director of the FBI. In this, some riveting and shocking secrets of the FBI are revealed. Even though often seen as the protectors of America, they are holding secrets of their own, all in the way that J. Edgar Hoover had wanted to do so. J. Edgar Hoover, uses deceit and lies, to rise up to power, that makes everybody fear him, and it is all kept hidden in secret, only to be revealed in this book.

Bomb: the Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

 

"Bomb" begins with Otto Hahn discovering nuclear fission in a Uranium atom in Germany. He only split one atom, which released enough energy to make a grain of rice jump, but if there was 50 lbs of Uranium it could -- and would be -- lethal, capable of causing mass destruction. The news spreads quickly, and Germany begins researching how to combine enough of it to make an atomic bomb -- the most dangerous weapon available. The United States learns of this when Albert Einstein sends President Roosevelt a letter, and then FDR assembles a team. This team's job is to beat Germany in building the world's first atomic bomb. Robert Oppenheimer heads this project. They do research at a lab called Los Alamos, located in New Mexico. Oppenheimer hand-picked most of his team at first, but when they were desperate for all the help they could get, he wasn't unable to hand-pick them...and that is where the problems start with the Soviet Union.
Throughout this process, there are Soviet spies whose goals are to relay information back to Soviet Russia so that they would be able to build an atomic bomb as well. It explains some of their meetings, their passwords (to ensure they were meeting with the right person), et cetera. The US and Soviet Union weren't really allies...They both just shared a common enemy.
In the end though, obviously, the United States wins this race. It turns out that Germany was about 2 years behind the United States. Besides this, the Soviet Union recieved all of the research they needed to build their own atomic bomb, thanks to some of the scientists working on the Manhattan Project (another name for the US' atomic bomb research).
But did they really win? This was the catalyst to an arm's race with Russia -- AKA, the Cold War. It's dangerous.
This is "a story of how humans created a weapon capable of wiping our species off the planet. It's a story with no end in sight..."

"And, like it or not, you're in it."

i will plant you a lilac tree By Laura Hillman

Book Trailer   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOiludXh8Ms&feature=player_detailpage

I will Plant You a Lilac Tree is the story of Hannelore Wolf, a normal teenager living in the 1940's. The only thing different about her is the yellow star on her coat. This book goes through the tragedy of her life, from each concentration camp to the next. It tells of Hannelore's unimaginable bravery, and of the friends and foes along the way. Her motivation and hope comes from the few people left in her life that she loves. Her biggest struggle throughout her experience is not her own,  but the worry of the safety of her first love, her two brothers, her mother, Fella and Eva.She experiences love for the first time in a concentration camp called Budzyn when Bernard Hillman saves her life. He was a lifesaver for Hannelore in many ways through their journey through camp supplying extra food or shoes that could easily cost him his life. Hannelore makes a few close friends on her journey, firstly Fella, and later on a girl named Eva.This book Most importantly shows the terror of the life of this poor girl who was discriminated against and tortured in ways too terrible for words. It shows that through everything Hannelore managed to stay focused on who she loved and she was a survivor no matter the terrible things she faced.

The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch is dying of cancer. He is going to leave three young children, a wife, and many friends behind. The book is a copy of the final lecture he gave to a class at Carnegie Melon about how to lead your life and go about achieving your dreams. Throughout the book, Randy tells the story of his lfe and what he has learned in leading a life in order to be proud of it. He goes through many examples of events that turned him into the person he was the day he passed and those in his life who made him a better person. Wife: Jai, Children: Dylan, Logan, and Chloe

The Bronte Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily and Anne by Catherine Reef

Sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte were gifted writers that rebelled against the standards of 19th century society. During that time women were considered property of men and were expected to live quiet, obedient, unspoken lives. When they were still young children, the Brontes' clergyman father moved the family to a rural village called Haworth in northern England. It is here where the three sisters lose their mother and later their two other sisters Maria and Elizabeth and where they will bond as close as ever with each other and their brother Patrick Branwell (referred to in the book as Branwell). In their Haworth home the girls and their brother find enjoyment in writing of fantasy worlds and take solace in reading. As they grow older, they journey to find their place in the society that appears to uphold the idea that "literature cannot be the business of a woman's life." Despite this, Charlotte, Emily and Anne all create wonderful works of literature derived from their experiences of trying to find happiness in a world that ignores the talents of women. After discovering that teaching held no joy for any of them and knowing that their lack of wealth stole the opportunity to attract good husbands, they send off their works of fiction in hopes of being published. Before long their novels Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey has stirred up controversy among the members of the Victorian era. Each book was continually praised by some and scoffed at by others due to the drastically different traits in the main female characters as opposed to the stereotypical Victorian woman that did as she was told. The books spoke of topics typically ignored by the time's society and struck many as barbarically outspoken. Word of the unusual novels spread and the books soon were labeled classics. But, Emily and Anne had not as much time as Charlotte to witness their fame as they both died at early ages. Emily thirty and Anne twenty nine. Charlotte is left with only her father and their old family friend Tabby and falls into depression before writing two more novels: Shirley and Villette. She is proposed to by her father's curate Arthur Nicholls and eventually persuades him to allow the marriage. They are married for such a little time before Charlotte succumbs to tuberculosis at age thirty eight, but her life is not forgotten as her father asks one of her friends to write a biography of his oldest daughter in her honor, however the three sisters' literary works are what strongly reminds people today of their lives.

Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney

Jared Finch, and his younger sister Mopsy, are about to have their world turn upside-down. Their parents, Drew and Kara Finch, have a powerful voice in their community and church. Drew and Kara Finch earn money rather well and live in town in Connecticut. Drew and Kara Finch have agreed to take on a refugee family of four from Darfur in Africa. Jared Finch, a teenager in High School, is now forced to share his room with Mattu Amabo; the Amabo's teenage son. Unlike his Mopsy, who is rather excited about rooming with Alake, the Amabo's teenage daughter, Jared is not thrilled much about sharing a room with Mattu. However, the experience will all be something to adjust with for both the Finches and the Amabos. Yet, there is something different, something unusual with the Amabo family; for one thing, they all stray away from Alake, the only one that tries to talk to Alake being Mopsy. The refugee family has to learn how to be Americans and has to stay with the Finches for 3 months; yet as they get settled in more comfortably to their new life and home, a fifth refugee is looking for this family of four. The longer that this family of four stays with the Finches, the more the Finches are in danger, and the more Jared Finch is becoming suspicious of them, and for good reason. Soon, Jared Finch, will unravel secrets of the Amabo family that could change everything and it is up to him of what to with the secrets that the Amabo family are holding onto.

Sarah's Key

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay is a very interesting book. The book focuses on this one family that was involved during the Holocaust. 

      Sarah's Key has two narrators, Sarah Starzynski a ten-year old girl, and a woman named Julia Jarmond. Sarah Starzynski and her family was arrested, but,Sarah  thought she would be back so she  left her four-year old brother in the cupboard, their secret hiding place.Sarah kept the key to the cupboard so when she came back she could unlock it. Sarah and her parents were taken away. Sarah was terrified, but still believed she would be back. The book then goes to Julia Jarmond who is a journalist for a magazine in Paris. In 2002 she was told to write about Vel’d’Hivthe roundup. While researching she came across Sarah's story. Julia is now hooked on Sarah's story, and wants to continue to find out what happened to Sarah after the roundup.

The Seer of Shadows
By: Avi


This book was a frightening story of photography, ghosts, revenge, and mystery.  It takes place in 1872.  The main character is Horace Carpetine and he is the apprentice to photographer Enoch Middleditch.  Horace was raised to believe in knowledge and science.  He believes that photography is the most honest form of art because it expresses what the artist believes while still being accurate and truthful of what they are taking pictures of.   When Horace helps take a self-portrait of grieving Mrs. Frederick von Macht, he sees the face of her dead daughter, Elenora.  He becomes friends with  Mrs. Frederick von Macht's slave girl Pegg and strange things start to happen.   Enoch tries to use the supernatural beings in the pictures to make money while they are being overcome with fear by the revenge of Elenora. 

A Northern Light

In A Northern Light Jennifer Donelly crafts an exciting historical fiction set in rural New York, Herkimer county to be exact, in the year 1906. The novel revolves around a 16 girl named Mathilde Gokey, who goes by Mattie. The book follows her struggle to go Barnard college, which was almost impossible for her to do. She is held back by her father and is stuck raisig her three sisters Abby, Lou, and Beth after the death of her mother. She is very intelligent and chooses one word out of the dictionary to use daily. Another obstacle she faces is her relationship with the extremely handsome Royal Loomis, who is not quite so intelligent and his only aspirations are to be a farmer like his father and Matties. He doesn't really listen to or respect Mattie and she later finds out that his interest in her is primarily because of his want to inherit a portion of her fathers land. He also tries to get a poor woman and her children evicted from their home just for the land. The poor woman is Emmie Hubbard and he detests her because she is having an affair with his married mother. In the end she leaves the ring Royal gave her and goes to college. Leaving behind her life in the north woods so she can get a good education and be independent. It is important to bring up her best friend Weaver, an African American boy. He too wants to go to college but his money is stolen by white folks. Most of all it is important to mention that all of this is set around the real-life murder of Grace Brown by her love Chester Gilette. This story adds inspiration and romance to Matties life and gives historical perspective.

Everyday

Everyday is a new life, a new body, and a new stork. Every morning, A wakes in a different person's body for one day only. The predicament is that every day hes is in love with the same girl. This soul can wake up in women or male bodies yet he can only wake up in a different body in tan area the last body fell asleep. For example, the story takes place in different towns Maryland. He or "A" takes on one person life for a day. The soul can search for memories of the body that he is then but cannot find emotions. A sets rules for him self as well such as never get too attached. avoid being noticed, and do not interfere. A is at peace with the way of his life until the day he wakes up in Justin's body. That day he spends a great amount of time with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon and falls head over heals for her. After this point, he does not follow by his rules with Rhiannon. They are meeting day after day and A finally has someone to be familiar with and spend more than one day with. In this book, he goes through crazy emotional events with Rhiannon but he also goes through climatic struggles with a boy named Adam. The day after meeting Rhiannon he wakes up in Adams body and attempts to be with Rhiannon at a party. He ends up leaving Adam stranded in a car on the side of the road. Adam wakes up the next morning and believes he was possessed by a demon and is attracting attention fast. At the end of the book, A wakes up in a body he believes is very much like him and that Rhiannon would be happy to be with. To keep her happy and to keep himself from hurting Rhiannon he leaves her with this boy. Then, he runs.   

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The Shadow Society by Marie Rukoski

Darcy Jones is a social outcast as far as everyone in her Lakebrook Illinois high school is concerned. But Darcy comes from a mysterious background. She was abandoned at age five outside of a Chicago firehouse with no recollection of any memories before that event and has been passed down time and time again to new foster parents. One day at Darcy's school a mysterious new stranger named Conn shows up, claiming to be a student and like many others, Darcy is intrigued with him. When assigned an English project with him, she learns so much more of him than she ever expected. She is taken to a whole new world in another dimension that branched off of a great historic event in Chicago's history: the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Here, she learns of a new species of beings called Shades who have the incredible ability to become invisible to the human eye but leave one trace of their presence: a shadow. But, these beings are labeled by society as heartless terrorists that use their abilities to concoct chaos and destruction and, for the most part, the shade population is exactly that. Upon learning she is a shade, Darcy is presented with a deal from The Interdimensional Bureau of Investigation to spy on her own kind and in return be allowed to return home. Through her experiences from inside the Shadow Society she is able to gain information to feed to the IBI and slowly learns the truth of her past and dares to risk everything she loves to save the human race from another Chicago tragedy.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina Dombegh is the daughter of Claude Dombegh, who is the main adviser and lawyer that made Comonot's Treaty. A treaty, that was signed 40 years ago by Ardmagar Comonot(leader of dragonkind) and Queen Lavonda, which have kept peace between dragons and humans alike. Seraphina Dombegh, is looked upon in high regard, but has a secret of her own. Her secret, being that her mother, was a dragon, who died in child birth. Seraphina is half-dragon and half-human, though there is peace between these two races, this act is illegal and frowned upon. For many years of her life, this fact was hidden from Seraphina, until she started to grow scales on her arms and back. Now, Seraphina has to hide her true identity and is watched over by her uncle(on her mother's side), Orma. Seraphina is assistant music mistress at the palace and has a talent for music, which is very uncommon for dragons. Having a life at the palace, is difficult, with hiding her secret. However, a few days before the arrival of Ardmagar Comonot to the palace(to celebrate the annual signing of the treaty), Prince Rufus, first heir to the throne, is murdered. As the mystery of the murder unravels and as Seraphina prepares for Comonot's arrival, as well as keeping her secret, Seraphia will have to call upon a few friends to help her, along with a dangerous love interest, to save Comonot's treaty and perhaps Ardmagar Comonot himself.

Moonbird by Phillip Hoose

B95 (AKA “Moonbird”) is an amazing survivor of the subspecies rufa. He was first tagged in the year 1995, when he was thought to be around three years old. Rufa typically travel around 18,000 miles a year, and B95 has flown over 325,000 miles in his lifetime. He goes between Rio Grande, Delaware Beach, and his breeding grounds in Arctic Canada. B95 has beaten all of the odds; rufa’s numbers have been decreasing a little more each year. This is most likely attributed to humans, B95’s greatest predator. Humans have been destroying the areas where rufa like to stay, and more importantly, humans have been greatly reducing one of the rufa’s most important food sources: horseshoe crabs. Horseshoe crabs contain LAL, a lifesaving element in their blood that prevents them from getting infections. Unfortunately, it’s not just the crabs that find this LAL useful; humans have been finding it useful as well. Despite all of the adversity, B95 has survived. He is the oldest known surviving Red Knot there is. He provides the perfect example of adaptation; he’s survived all of the challenges he has been handed. He has had some help, though, because many scientists (and ordinary people alike) have come together to save the rufa Red Knots.

Nation by Terry Pratchett

Mau is a young island boy on the verge of passing his "test" to become a man in the eyes of his people. Suddenly, he has everything he knows wiped out by a giant wave. Stranded on his island, Mau discovers he is not alone when a girl from the other side of the world named Daphne appears - the only survivor of a shipwreck. The two struggle with communication issues as well as survival while Daphne awaits rescue. Suddenly, more and more people begin showing up and Mau is thrust into being a leader and keeping these people protected from the natural dangers of the island and a rowdy band of pirates looking to take over.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

        Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay is two different stories in one. It focuses on the Holocaust and tells all the conditions and prejudice the Jewish along with many other groups faced.


           One set in Paris of July of 1942.  There was a roundup taking place that intended to kill off the entire Jewish population.  The book then focuses in Sarah Starynski, a ten-year-old girl who was arrested during this roundup along with her entire family except her younger brother Michel, who she-assuming she would be back to rescue him- hid him in a secret cupboard, and took the key to the cupboard with her. The story then moves on to tell about a journalist named Julia Jarmond who in 2002 is asked to write about this roundup which is called the Vel’d’Hiv’ roundup.  When Julia was researching the roundup, she came across Sarah's story and becomes fascinated by the intriguing story.  I was taken along as I learned Sarah's sad, emotional story as Julia did. I learned that Sarah and her family had been sent to a concentration camp and learned about the holocaust and the terrible conditions.  The story told all the hardships and problems the family faced.  In the end, Sarah and her family were finally taken to Auschwitz where they were executed.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

          This book was interesting to me because it wasn't typical.  It takes place during world war two, and one of the main characters end s up being captured b the Gestapo.  The introduction started off by the narrator saying she was a coward, which contradicts the typical main character hero.  She is a British spy prisoner to the Gestapo, and the story shows what she writes to them as her  confession chosen opposing being tortured and executed.  She writes everything she knows everyday about the one topic her capturers give her: British secret missions.  What drew me in about this story is that I almost thought the narrator, whose code name is Verity, was insane.  I thought this while reading because she is spilling her guts to the German and giving them all the information she can, while she herself says that she will be shot no matter if she says a word or if she refuses.  While Verity explains how she got to be where she is now, she ends up telling her best friend Maddie's story rather than her own.  Maddie was a girl who loved planes, and her awe drove her to learn to fly.  She was the pilot flying Verity on her mission to France.  While on their way, the two friends crash landed and while Maddie somehow got left, Verity was captured by the German. 

           Verity tells her friend's story and how they met.  I learned to know the characters as Maddie being a unique girl who although shy at times wasn't afraid to be herself, and chased her dreams, and Verity as someone who actually has a lot of loyalty to her loved ones.  She is young, attractive, and very intelligent, not afraid.  The two are unlikely friends, definitely reinforcing the "opposites attract" theory.
          However, I learned that Maddie had been killed during the crash landing of the plane, and I wondered if Verity going on about her friend was her way of denial.  But as the story went on, I realized that there was a method to Verity's madness.  Verity tells the Gestapo next how she even got to France in the first place, how she was a spy. 
           The book was split into two parts and the second was told by Maddie's point of view and tells what happened in the plane. She explains how the plane crashed, how she was left there, and how Verity tried to escape.

The City of Bones by : Classandra Clare

 

Fifteen year old Clara Frey decides to go into a club, Pandemonium with her best friend Simon. When they enter the club Clara see a boy with green hair being followed into a back room. As she investigates she soon sees her first encounter with demon hunters and a demon. Clara in shock and confusion goes home to find her mom worried sick about her and ending up fighting. Clara escapes the house to go to a poetry reading with Simon and meets one of the demon hunters that night, Jace. Jace tries to explain to Clara who he is, and who se really is when Clara gets a phone call from her mom. Her mom telling her to not come home. Clara worries and runs to her home to find it destroyed and her mom not there. As Clara searches the house she encounters a demon and kills it. She wakes up in a bed at the Institute where Jace and the other demon hunters "shadow hunters"  live. Clara is taken into a world she as never dreamed of and discovering her true past. On her mission to find her mom Clara  encounters warlocks, vampires and werewolves. As Clara gets closer to finding her mom she also gets closer to the shadow hunter Jace. Clara soon discovers that her real dad is actually Valentine. A killer who want to kill all downworlders and also finds out that, Jace is her brother. The book City of Bones is a young adult urban fantasy that will leave you wanting more and more. 

Insignia by S.J. Kincaid

The science-fiction novel Insignia is written by S.J. Kincaid. It has some dystopian principles and explores a future which isn’t totally out of question with the way science has advanced technology. World War III is being waged throughout the solar system and is nothing like anyone could have imagined. India and the United States, the Indo-Americans, have formed an alliance against Russia and China, the Russo-Chinese alliance. To avoid the carnage and bloodshed of a traditionally fought war, the fighting has been taken to astronomical levels that are literally above and beyond. In Tom Raines’ world, little else than scrounging up enough money to eat and take shelter at hotel has mattered… until he is scouted out by the government because of his incredible gaming skills, in the form of an attractive teenage combatant, to be part of a special military project based in the Pentagonal Spire. Made the offer of a lifetime. Although his father is far from thrilled at the idea, Tom is unable to turn down the chance to be a somebody, and fight for his country, and have a shot at actually having friends. A neural processor is implanted in Tom’s brain to give him the mental flexibility and speed of a computer and the ability to control remote battleships throughout the solar system. To become an actual combatant and fight in the war, he will have to endure a few years of training and become acclimated to a new way of thinking and functioning. After a short time in training Tom hears of an enemy combatant with the call sign Medusa, supposedly unbeatable, and is instantly fixated. With computers in their brains, the combatants and trainees are prime targets for malware that could cause them to literally malfunction. Not only are they vulnerable, but Tom's father's words ".. they'll use you like equipment" continue to flash through his thoughts as he may find some things a bit off in the Pentagonal Spire.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Lia and Cassie were wintergirls. Bonded under the moon and frozen in time. Now Cassie is dead, and leaving Lia alone. Her mom wants her to move back but Lia doesn't want to leave Emma. Dr. Parker wants her to return treatment at New Seasons and her dad wants her to cope with the loss of Cassie. Now her phone has missed calls and her weight is dropping. Can Lia keep telling herself to stay strong and empty. When the hotel calls with a message for her from Cassie will the lost wintergirl return to Lias life, but take Lia with her when she returns back to the lost life? Will Lia stay frozen, forever not gaining or losing but empty and strong?