Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Saving Francesca is about a girl in high school who goes to St. Sebastians a former boy's school that has only a few other girls in it. All of her other friends go to Pius Senior College, but her mother wouldn't let her go there.  There are no girls who she is similar to or is friends with. And other than one boy named Will, none of the boys are interesting to her. And in her home life her mother is depressed. Francesca doesn't feel like she has anyone to relate to and she feels really alone. The book is set in Australia so the general culture is sort of different. I thought that the plot was really good and you really like the main character. If the story sounds interesting than I would recommend this book.
Over winter break I may read Looking for Alibrandi, another book by the same author. I also wanted to read See You At Harrys so those are the books I may read.

Slice of Life

My backpack feels like it is full of bricks. I carry a bag, my lunchbox, a jacket and shoes. I fumble my way in to the seat, and drop it all beneath me, sighing. I buckle my seatbelt as the car starts to roll along. The roads are icy, but not dangerous. Music from the radio quietly plays as we turn on to Colfax. We speed up, and I know that I will not be late. When I do show up, I am not late. I gather my things and walk in to the school. The classroom is quiet and empty when I walk in. I grab my binder and head to the Spanish classroom.

Eight Keys by Suzanne La Fleur

Eight Keys is about a 12 year old girl named Elise who lives with her Aunt and Uncle. But one year  everything in her life started to fall apart. That year she finds a key with her name on it in her uncle's workshop. After finding the first key, she finds more that lead her on an adventure that shows her more about her family and her past. Some parts of this book were somewhat interesting, but I did not like it overall. I thought it was kind of boring, so I would not recommend it.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart is a historical fiction book. The main character is named Okonkwo and it is a story about his family and his life. He lives in a town called Umuofia, in Nigeria.  He starts to really like Ikemefuna. One thing that I really liked about this book was that it showed a lot of examples of a different culture. One week in the story is called the sacred week, which is supposed to be very peaceful, but Okonkwo broke the peace, and got a bad reputation in his community. But he was still very powerful  Okonkwo got another son from a different village. His name was Ikemefuna, and Okonkwo really came to like him. But three years later Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna as a sacrifice. There are a lot of things like this that happen in the book. I think that Things Fall Apart was a good book, but the plot was a little bit confusing and unclear. I would maybe recommend this book.
For the next book group I would like to read a historical fiction or non fiction book because those are types of books that I do not read a lot of, but I have liked those books when I read them before.

The Little Prince

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is a book about a man who crashes his plane in the Sahara desert. When he wakes up he sees a boy above him. Through drawings and description he describes the boy and calls him the little prince. The first thing the little prince asks is for the man to draw him a sheep. After this, they talk and the man learns about the Little Princes journey. He is from a tiny planet, and all he has to talk to is a flower. So he left, and visited other comets. On the comets he meets interesting new people, but then leaves. Once he comes to earth all he finds is animals, until he finds the man. They are both really childish and become friends. I would recommend this book if you are looking for a quick read.
The new genre I want to try is nonfiction. If you have any good recommendations, one type of nonfiction that I like is memoirs.

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Landline is about a woman named Georgie, and her husband Neal. Neal leaves with their two young daughters to go to Nebraska for Christmas, but Georgie has to stay in Los Angeles to work. Georgie realizes that her marriage may be over, and Neal may have left her for good. But then, when she calls Neal
from a rotary phone in her Mom's house she realizes that she is calling the Neal who left her to go to Nebraska 14 years ago. She wonders if she should break up with him, or if she should try to make something better and fix her marriage. This book is not very long, and is really interesting. If you have read Rainbow Rowell books before, this is a lot like her other books so if you liked those, I would recommend this.

This One Summer

This One Summer is a graphic novel about two friends visiting the beach in Florida in the summer. One of the girls parents are fighting, and she is having a really hard time. The other girl has a really loud and happy personality, and she is one year younger. The girls always visit a small store, and they find out a lot about what is happening to the people who work at the store. I think this book would be really good for anyone who is interested in graphic novels, but is has some mature topics and language. I think that Willa or Sofie might be some people who would really enjoy this book.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Coraline is a really creepy book about a little girl who moves into a new apartment in London. She loves to explore, and one day she decides to count all the doors in her house. She finds 31 doors that open, and 1 door that is locked. So her Mom shows her that there is nothing behind the door but a brick wall. But one night she goes back to the door and opens it. Behind the door she finds a version of her mother and father, but they have button eyes.  In this book there are 2 big symbols: button eyes represent that if Coraline would put them on she would be selling her soul, and because in this book there is a lot about being trapped in/ behind a mirror I think that is a symbol too. I can't say anymore without giving away too much, but this is a pretty quick read and I would recommend it!!

Flowers for Algernon, Week 2

This book is about Charlie Gordon, who is retarded. His teacher at school recommends him for an experiment that is supposed to make him smarter. The book is written in progress reports, and it is obvious as he gets the operations that he is getting a lot smarter. He works at a bakery, but as he gets smarter people start to dislike him, and he gets fired. When he becomes smarter than the professors and doctors doing the operations, he realizes that Algernon, the mouse they also do operations to, is getting sicker and sicker, and Charlie fears he will too. This book has so many aspects to talk about and think about, and that is why I would definitely recommend it for another book group!

Flowers for Algernon, Week 1

This week was my first week in the Flowers for Algernon book group. It is a really great book about a man who is mentally retarded. Professors and scientists decide to do a test on him that they think will make him smarter. They are also doing this test on a mouse named Algernon. Charlie does get smarter, and he starts to remember a lot about his childhood, and become a genius. But he still struggles socially. He and the mouse kind of become friends, and this book is about their stories. I have only read one week of it, but I think it is a really great book, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet.

Water for Elephants, Week 2

This week I finished reading Water for Elephants. A man in a nursing home tells his story about being the veterinarian in a circus. It is a mystery about traveling circuses. This was a really, really great book. It is pretty long, but I recommend it a lot!

Water for Elephants, Week 1

This week I started reading Water for Elephants, which is about an old man telling the story of when he was a kid and he worked at the circus. He was a veterinarian, and he worked with the animals. This book is kind of a mystery, and about circuses that traveled on trains. A good part that sets the scene is when he is describing the circus tent. I peer inside. The tent is enormous, as tall as the sky, and supported by long straight poles jutting in different angles. The canvas is taut and nearly translucent-- sunlight filters through the material and seams, illuminating the largest candy stand of all. This book isn't very inappropriate, and it is very good!!!

Catalyst

This week I read Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson. It is about a girl named Kate who is relying on getting into MIT. She doesn't tell anyone, but it is the only college she applied to. Her father is a preacher, and she acts like a perfect kid, but on the inside she really isn't. Their neighbors, the Litch's house burns down, and Teri and Mikey move in with Kate and her little brother Toby. Teri and Kate have always been enemies and Kate has to work on opening up to her. This book is almost 300 pages long, and it is pretty appropriate for any age. Kate and Teri were both really deep and interesting characters. Kate has 2 sides: Good Kate and Bad Kate, and it is interesting how they both come up in the book. And Teri just has a lot of hard things to deal with, and it is interesting to see her in that position. Overall I just think this was a really good book and I recommend it.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

This book by John Green and David Levithan is about two boys with the same name. One Will has a gay friend named Tiny, and a crush on a girl named Jane, and he deals with social things. The other Will realizes he is gay when he and Will meet and a store and he falls in love with Tiny. The first sentence is: My Dad used to tell me "Will, you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends nose." It is pretty intriguing, and you definitely want to keep reading with that first line. This book has a few curse words and mature topics but not too many!!!

Paper Towns by John Greene

Paper Towns is a boy named Quentin and his neighbor, a pretty girl named Margot. Quentin and Margot go on a big adventure one night after Margot finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend. Then Margot is not at school the next day, but Quentin does find a clue that she left, and tries to track down the girl of his dreams. Paper Towns is a pretty popular and good book, it is kind of funny, and not very inappropriate! I definitely recommend reading it!!!!





To Be Read
Lock In
The Center of Everything
All the Wrong Questions 3
The Hunger Games
Catalyst