The Game - Review by Rayce McCulloch

 The Game centers on a snapshot of life with the Montreal Canadians during the 1978-79 NHL season, as the famous Canadian club marched toward its fourth consecutive title. This was Dryden's final pro season and he did it right.  This book was well written almost like you were on the ice with the team reading their thoughts and feeling the pressure.  This book was an easy read and very attention grabbing.

Ken Dryden took his knowledge of hockey from his days of playing and wrote his thoughts and how the team did with the same feelings he had for the sport itself.  I wish he wrote this book so if you didn’t follow hockey or understand how the sport is played you still knew what he was saying.  During the story he shares his thoughts and feelings it makes you feel like he just pulled you into his head and could feel everything he was saying as your eyes flowed across the pages. 

Ken Dryden shared the highs and the lows in his life in this book and also his team mates thoughts.  The team won the championship four straight times naming themselves the number one team in the hockey league.  Everybody knew about the Canadians and understood the emotion they put into the sport.  He words everything in a way that it hits your heart not bounce off of your eyes as you read.  I thought the book was a great book and I tell anybody that likes to read sport books to read it.  This book isn’t just words on a page it’s a life lesson hidden between each word in the book.

Tales from Michigan State Basketball - Review by Robbie Funk

Tales from Michigan State Basketball

By Gregory Kelser and Steve Grinczel

Review by Robbie Funk

Having never been on the Michigan State basketball team and probably never will Greg Kelser and Steve Grinczel made me feel like I was a part of the team when I read their book Greg Kelser’s Tales from Michigan State Basketball. In the gymnasium of Jenison Field House, Greg Kelser and the Michigan State Spartans go from being one of the worst teams in the state of Michigan to the top team in his four years in East Lansing. Not only did I feel like I was on the team, but I felt as if I were on the bench of the packed gymnasium when the Spartans flew past their opponents at home. Literally jumping out of the gym and slamming the ball down with authority. Magic, Greg, Terry Donnelly, and Jay Vincent running and executing the offense designed by head coach Judd Heathcote. Not only does the book talk about the season; it talks about the aftermath of playing at Michigan State and the careers of players after college.

The thing that really stood out to me about this book was that it was a recap of every game that the Spartans played, but it talks about the rest of Greg Kelser and his teammate’s lives along with their careers. I really enjoyed reading about all the different places that Greg and the team went. The book is set up so that you get a sense of imagery when you read it. Like I stated before, you feel like you are right there at the games when they played.

Did you know that Greg Kelser lived in Okinawa for part of his youth and moved to many different states? At one point he went to six different high schools in one year. He never was at a place long enough to win a high school championship. The last high school that he attended was Henry Ford High School in Michigan. Not only did he never win a championship, but also the farthest he and his team made it was to the district round of the tournament.  So until he graduated and went to Michigan State, “Special K”, as they called him, had never experience winning on the big stage. In fact it was until his junior year at MSU when a man by the name of Earvin “Magic” Johnson arrived on campus and turned it all around.

At six foot eight inches Magic ran the point and distributed the ball like a madman, averaging a double double in almost every game that he played as a Spartan. He could really do it all: pass, shoot, rebound, play defense, run the floor, and block shots. This man could play. In fact his freshman year he and Kelser led the team to a Big Ten Championship and to the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament. But before he even set foot on the campus as an enrolled student Magic had an impact on the culture and activity around it. He used to come and play in the pick up games at Jenison Field house. One time he came and had a bad cut on his hand. He wasn’t supposed to play at all so he played left-handed. He dribbled left-handed, passed left-handed, and shot left-handed with no affect on his game. Magic was easily the best player because of his ability to do everything with both of his hands.

Michigan State had a peculiar National Championship season; they didn’t have quite the regular season that everyone expected. Having only lost three games the season before. A season with more than five losses was very strange. The legendary game that the Spartans won verses Ohio State to get their season back on track was a strange win. Just before he was about to make his very first career start as a freshman Gerald Busby left the team and did not return. Not quite what you expect when you think of the caliber team that MSU was. After Ohio State the Spartans started to roll again. They split the Big Ten Championship and were co winners. The NCAA tournament was extremely tough to get into, even if you won your conference. So the fact that they made the tournament with five losses was a surprise.

Some of the incredible information that I learned when I read this book was amazing. Those two big paragraphs aren’t even a tenth of the information that I learned in Tales from Michigan State Basketball. Many don’t realize that the same season that they won the national championship in 1979 that Michigan State team represented the United States overseas and won a gold medal against the top ranked national teams. Not many people understand that they did that and how big of an accomplishment it was. Had I not read this book I wouldn’t know half of the things that went on at MSU during the four years Greg Kelser was there and the years beyond. 

This truly is the perfect book for anyone who loves sports history and learning about what it was like to play on the big stage back then and compare it to what it is like now. Like I said over and over before, this book is full of facts about Michigan State basketball and players that attended that amazing school of green and white. It really gives you the sense that had Earvin, Kelser, jay Vincent, Terry Donnelly, and others not played at MSU and won that national championship the legacy of Michigan State Basketball would’ve never been this amazing. Who knows if they would’ve had the Flint Stones, Mateen Cleaves, and Mo Pete? It’s hard to say, but reading this book will give you truth and the behind the scenes action that you have dreamt of your whole life.

This novel is a biography of Michigan State and the wonderful people who played and attended the university. This book is a tribute to the teams that played in the retired Jenison field house where Special K, Magic, and some of the boys would play games. Where they would laugh and have fun together as they went through some of the best times of their life.

The true theme of this book was that hard work pays off. Every day in the off season and even during the season the team would get together and work on their game. Sure they would mess around a little, but once they got down to business it was pure tough hard-nosed basketball. They weren’t just working hard, but they were having fun too. Because they worked hard in the off season they were able to have tons of fun during the actually season in 1978 and 79.

While these amazing stories about Michigan State basketball took place almost thirty-five years ago, the team chemistry is what really shows today. Back then that team was the most together team probably in the entire United States at the time. The 1979 Michigan State National Championship still is the most watch title game to this day. This book reflects on that season and gives an entirely different view of the Michigan State University basketball team from 1973 all the way to some of the players from the 2000 season. Any MSU fan would enjoy this book and love reading about all of the players/staff who helped with the incredible Michigan State program. I think even if you are a Michigan fan you would enjoy reading about the hall of fame players that went through the program of Michigan State University. Greg Kelser’s Tales of Michigan State basketball is one of the few books that I enjoyed reading, which is a big statement coming from a guy who hates reading. So if you’re unsure give this book a shot to blow your mind like the way March Madness does every single year. Anything could happen. All the book needs is a chance.

Divergent - Review by Renae Morton

Divergent

By Veronica Roth

Review by Renae Morton

I have never been faced with a choice in choosing between loyalties; between friends family or what you wish to do, but that is what Beatrice, the main character, must do in Divergent by Veronica Roth.  What would you choose?  Go with your heart or stay loyal to your family?  I know I would have a hard choice.  Disappointing my parents by going a different route or follow their steps in life?

Beatrice ends up making her choice and surprising everyone.  Her choice was not foreseen, but it was foreshadowed in the first chapter.  Her choice goes against all that she is, but she ends up finding a way to make it all work out.  This was a start of a great book, and that is what kept me reading until the novel was finished. 

 She ends up meeting a boy called Four and falls in love.  It is a dangerous love to handle because he is a higher authority in her new city.  There are factions that she can choose from to live her life.  She ends us choosing the faction that keeps her alive but watched.  People have a hard time seeing how she is surviving by herself in her stature, small, skinny and frail. 

Caleb is Beatrice’s brother who wound up in a different faction than what she was in.  Because of this they were never supposed to see each other, but they bent the rules to try and figure out a mystery that had started.  Living in different factions only make piecing the puzzle together even harder for them.

With so many different characters working to get out of training and into the real jobs, they all fight to get there.  This creates drama within the courters that the trainees stay at, since they are co-ed.  From night fights to leaving (to be factionless is like being homeless) to suicide, you have no idea what the characters will be doing next.

Beatrice also holds more power than normal, with some extra power within her genes.  She is not like the others; she could have had three different factions to choose from.  That is dangerous for the countries leaders because they do not respond to any trickery that the leaders play on the faction populations.

I appraise this author for coming up with such a great first book in the trilogy.  Being only 23, her ideas were some that I would have expected to come out of an older writer.  She has surprised me in many ways in the detail she has expressed in this book.

The major problem that arises though is someone wanting to take over all the factions.  The only way to do so is to kill factions off one by one until surrender.  Beatrice, Four, and Caleb all are fighting to stop this from happening, but three against a few hundred controlled faction followers don’t make the job any easier.  What will happen to the DIVERGENT’s?

Phantoms - Review by Elijah Piepkow

Book Review

Elijah Piepkow

Phantoms by Dean Koontz is a great book. Koontz always seems to find a way to keep you holding his books until you pass out. Phantoms starts off with Dr. Jennifer Paige driving her little sister up to the remote mountains in Snowfield, where Jennifer lives.

The thing about Koontz is his superb way at using imagery throughout the whole book. He even finds use of a long boring drive up to the mountains in the first few pages. “The trees- pine, fir, spruce- looked as if they had been fashioned from the same felt that covered billiard tables”(Koontz pg.10). Then, just as soon as they get to the mountains things get suspicious. Even though this place is basically a ghost town out of ski season, there is no one walking down the street and there is an eerie silence.

They reach Jennifer’s office/house and call the maid with no reply and there was no note saying that she had left. Jennifer’s little sister walks around the isle in the kitchen and makes a horrendous discovery, Hilda Beck (the maid) was dead. The scene was odd, she had signs of being dead for days; however, the food on the countertop was still warm. There was no sign of resistance and it seemed as if it had happened quickly as she was in mid-scream when she had died.

            They leave to tell the deputy, but they find him in the same state. They walk around the small town to find that the residents are like this or missing. Well, all except for the owners of the bakery. Jennifer and Lisa (her sister) walk into the bakery and find a very gruesome scene. A pair of dismembered hands stuck to a rolling pin along with a couple of decapitated heads in the ovens. The imagery through these parts of the book only increases the excitement of wanting to finish this book.

            Something mysterious is lurking in the remote mountains of Snowfield. To find out what is attacking all of the people and if/how they attempt to stop it, you’ll just have to get this book and delve deep into the mind of the master himself.



The Last Shot - Review by Joey Penny

The Last Shot: Book Review

            I’ve never been to the projects, but Darcy Frey makes it seem better then what it is, Coney island is filled with drugs, violence, horrible living conditions, condemn buildings, homeless, and lots of talent laying around, rotting away-unused- as if no one cared about it.  Some use this talent to try to get out of the ghetto, go on to something bigger and better, or it’s wasted; by things such as drugs, crime, bad grades, ACT’s, and SAT’s. They take the shot, putting in all of their heart, blood, sweet, tears, life, career, faith, willingness, and all of their power to make The Last Shot.

            The in-depth look at how these superstars where made is the best part. The practices they do are intense like P90X. The skills they have are amazing, they wow me in the NBA on TV, but the details Darcy Frey puts in is better than watching them move fast and swiftly around the defenders, driving to the hoop. The court is where the best action takes place, but off the court is where the drama and romance takes place. The air is filled with hormones and dumb filled brains of the high school students.

            It’s not the romance that keeps you interested in this book to the point where you can put it down, and that is the hope of the young men trying to get out, get out of the ghetto and into the world, to get out and do better than family members of the past. Theirs failure, and success but it all comes with a price. They all pay the price for the shot of getting that division 1 scholarship, playing for a top dog-while getting there four year bachelor’s degree at one of the leading schools across the nation-earning their spot in the world. That’s their real goal, the goal of getting a degree, a better education, to get a good paying job, to get out and escape their past and the ghettos.

            Darcy Frey makes every second of The Last Shot very energetic and enthusiastic. The details and time she puts into every sentence keeps you reading to see what happens. The literary terms used in this book are unbelievable for two reasons. The first reason is how well their connected together and flow from one to another. The second is how well the reader is able to analysis it. This book clearly deserves a10 out of 10 for a rating, or 5 out of 5 stars. It’s one of the best all around books I’ve read in a long time, especially when it comes to sports.

Moneyball - Review by Joe Barr

Moneyball

By Michael Lewis

Review by Joe Barr

I have never been a manager or a scout of a baseball team, but Michael Lewis takes you first hand into the Oakland Athletics baseball club and what he did to make an unorganized and pathetic team into a booming World Series contending team, all for their great coach Billy Beane. Never knowing how Beane was capable of such a thing, he takes you through his journey of off season training, a scouting report, spring training, and the long journey of the first season. Lewis made me feel like I was a part of Moneyball.

Moneyball is associated with the Oakland Athletics, a major league baseball team. I love this book because I am a huge follower and fan of baseball.  The Athletics only start with a couple decent players and moved their way up onto some three star and eventually some four star players. This book really explains how many people can work together and make a masterpiece.

The reader will realize what coached will do on a daily basis during practice. During the book you will be in the atmosphere of the stadium or in a business seat listening to other people talk about the draft and what they are going to pick or trades that could possibly be made. This makes me want to want to jump through the words in the book and start taking ground balls with the players.

This book is based on a true story about the baseball club and if they ever were able to get back financially and become a good baseball franchise. This is only one of the many reasons to read Moneyball. If you think this book is just about baseball, you’re wrong. This book has more about financial problems. This book really is an eye opener for the everyday baseball guru and also the guy that doesn’t like the game.

The character of Billy Beane really shows readers that anything is possible with hard work, integrity, and discipline. Many times Billy would show readers how to make the best out of the worst scenario possible. Billy had to outsmart many of the higher budgeted programs and take undeveloped baseball players into a new revolution of baseball.

Being a fan of baseball, I have read Moneyball by Michael Lewis and have enjoyed every flip of the page. He connects you with the things that are happening, and it encourages you to keep reading when you think you have to put the book down. This book was well rounded with really motivating parts and a lot of action coming to you. This book is a must read for any baseball fan.

Moneyball was awarded the number one New York Times bestseller. Michael Lewis also wrote some other popular books such as The Blind Side, The Big Short, and Liar’s Poker. Moneyball  is an amazing book, and I would recommend it to anybody.

Iceman - Review by Garrett Latta

The book I read was Iceman by Chuck Liddell. If I were to rate this book, I would give it a 9/10.  The author really makes you feel like you are inside the ring fighting for the light heavyweight title. The way Chuck walks you through each one of his fights and even what first started his passion for the sport of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).  Chuck puts a lot of detail in each one of the fights he is describing. Chuck describes every punch that was thrown.           

            Reading this book makes you feel as if you are in the front row of the stadium watching each one of these fights go down. The part I like is before Chuck entered the UFC, he talks about how he used to get in fights all the time on the street and how he was always sort or poor.  Chuck talks about how he always went to The Pit (his gym) and trained when he was bored and this got him noticed by UFC president Dana white which lead to a few fights when he wasn’t getting paid very much for but after he won a few it got him more and more noticed.

            The experiences Liddell faced are the reason I loved this book he makes you feel like he feels when he wins the light heavy weight belt the detail makes you feel as if you are right there in the ring with him and you feel excited for him.  Other parts such as when one of his family members passes away you feel sad for him the detail in this book really drives you emotion to the way Chuck was feeling in the book. Every fight he wins feels like you are winning.

Chuck goes through every step he had to take to get the belt he starts off when he was a little kid and talks about how he liked fight, then he takes you into his teenage years when he

was doing wrestling and the goes through his years as a adult whether he was fighting Tito Ortiz or Babalu he tells you about every fight and every training regiment he had to go through to become the champion.

            I feel that this is one of the few books I could read more than once because the hole time when he’s describing a fight you are always rooting for him to knock the other guy out Chuck Liddel is a legendary fighter who was known for his quick and heavy hands and a positive “he knocks me out or I knock him out ether way this fight is gonna end in a knockout attitude” after being the champion for some time liddel got into the UFC hall of fame and then I feel he wrote a 9/10 great book.

The Butterfly Garden - Review by Chase Briggs

The Butterfly Garden

By Chip St. Clair

Review by Chase Briggs

I’ve never encountered a convict before, but author Chip St. Clair put me in his shoes and I actually felt like I knew his father. In Chip’s memoir his dad is an escapee on the America’s most wanted list and Chip is just a kid having no idea that his parents are on the run from the law.

Chip used such emotion in this book and that’s truly why I loved it. He tells about his memories of his dad when he was little and just some of the things he was put through are what really made him an inspiration to readers. There’s this one time where Chip was thrown into the middle of Lake Michigan and his dad rowed to shore. Chip was made to swim a couple miles. At the time, Chip didn’t know how to swim, so he was panicking the whole time almost drowning. When Chip was a child he was beaten a lot by his dad and even was made to dangle from a 10 story balcony.

The Butterfly Garden really takes you on an emotional roller coaster because at some parts you can see that Chips dad is a funny guy, but then you realize how harsh he is and what a terrible human being he became. Readers will absolutely love this book for that reason. Towards the end Chip is trying to solve a mystery in a way because he can’t really figure out exactly who he is, who is parents are, and why they never told him. Throughout the novel as a reader, you begin to become more interested in what’s going to happen next. You begin to experience the same feelings as what Chip is going through which makes you keep turning the pages.

When I first bought The Butterfly Garden I didn’t think it would be anything great until I got a couple chapters in and the action immediately took off! Chip talks about all his horrible memories of his family and how he moved to several different states as a kid. That can really take a toll on a kid, losing all his friends, his homes, and his former life there. You can get very attached to something and in the middle of the night he’d have to up and leave.

I would recommend The Butterfly Garden for a limitless amount of reasons. This is what Dave Pelzer, author of the book it had to say. “The Butterfly Garden delivers a bold and powerful story of tragedy and triumph. This book gives one the courage to look within, and provides everlasting hope in the human spirit. St. Clair's work inspires and empowers." As you can see, this book has been chosen by many popular names. In the end Chip discovers who he really is and who his parents really are. If you want to find out though, you’ll just have to find that out on your own.

True Grit - Review by Allen Gloor

True Grit

By Charles Portis

Review by Allen Gloor 

I couldn’t imagine growing up in the old west. I also couldn’t imagine having to at the age of only 13 going out on my own to chase down my father’s killer and bring him to justice. But in the book True Grit that is exactly what Mattie Ross did. This book was exhalent and is one of my favorite books. Mattie’s father was gunned down in Fort Smith, Arkansas and was robbed of all his personal possessions over a poker game buy Tom Chaney. Mattie decided to take matter into her own hand and contracts Roster Cogburn to go into Indian territory and find Tom Chaney.

The best part of the book is Roster Cogburn. He is a very tuff man and he tells it like it is. He isn’t afraid to be blunt and to the point. Even though he is very tuff but to his friends he is nice and takes care of them no matter what happens.

The reason that this book is so good is that you don’t know what happened next and you won’t to find out if they ever find Tom Chaney and his group of outlaw friends.

Mattie Ross even though she is only 13 acts more like she is 30 and is very responsible even for growing up in the old west. Even though some people like the Texas Ranger LaBoeuf thinks she is better off staying in town and letting Roster and him handle finding Chaney.

The people that are in the book True Grit riley make the book exillent. LaBoeuf the full of himself Texas Ranger. Roaster the drunk get to the chase marshal and MattieRoss the young girl that wants her dad’s killer hanged.

Mattie thought the book was dead set on one thing and one thing only and that was to have tom Chaney hanged for what he did to her father and she wouldn’t stop for anything until the job is done. She would have gone after Chaney buy herself if no one else would have wanted to go with her.

The theme of the book was to never give up and no matter who you are you shouldn’t give up just because someone tells you no. Roster and the Texas ranger tried to keep Mattie from going with them but she never gave up, or when they found Chaney and they didn’t get him she just kept going and going.

This book is a very good book and it will always be a good book. A lot of people now would probably gust given up and wouldn’t have taken matters into their own hands like Mattie did. She riley never gave up and never doubted the decision she made.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Reviewed by Courtney Kirchen

Book Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Review by Courtney Kirchen

The novel Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children was a fairly good book. The author used quite a bit of metaphors and had an excellent use of imagery. As the book went on, the plot got more and more interesting, keeping me involved, and not wanting to put the book down.

The story centers around a character named Jacob, who believes he has a crazy grandpa. They think he has post traumatic stress disorder from being in WW2, because he frequently claims to see monsters. The thing is he may not be lying. Through the use of pictures and action, Ransom Riggs keeps the reader flipping the pages, and the plot gets more and more interesting.

Everybody believes that Jacob’s grandpa is crazy. But after Jacob finds his grandpa in a bloody mess out in the woods, he sees a weird person. And by weird, I mean this person had no pupils and had snakes coming out of his mouth. “I saw a face that seemed to have been transplanted directly from the nightmares of my childhood. It stared back with eyes that swam in dark liquid, furrowed trenches of carbon-black flesh loose on its hunched frame, its mouth hinged open grotesquely so that a mass of long eel-like tongues could wriggle out” (Riggs 32). Jacob’s friend didn’t see it, so Jacob wasn’t sure if it was just a hallucination or what. Jacob takes his grandpa’s last words into consideration, and ends up on Cairnholm Island with his dad. There he meets kids with supernatural powers, stuck in a time loop, and he realizes that he is just like his grandpa, and the monsters are real.

This novel contains pictures, mainly of people Jacob meets. These pictures are creepy, yet accurate to what Riggs describes them as. This adds a visual element to the story, which makes the book harder to put down. “It couldn’t have been a coincidence, which meant that the photos my grandfather had shown me-had really come from this house” (Riggs 116). This was where Jake found out that his grandpa wasn’t making up these people the whole time, they were actually real. These people were extraordinary, and Jake was just finding this out. The downside of the story is that it is a very easy read, and it is slightly elementary. It’s not as creepy as the cover promotes it to be. On the other hand, it is original, and unlike many other stories out there. It starts off pretty good, and the ending is even better. The ending had a lot of action, and it was like a movie playing in your head. Jacob and his new found friends got into a battle with the species that killed his grandfather, and it endangers the lives of either Jacob or his enemies. The ending was really good, but you will have to read it to find out exactly what happens.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children wasn’t the best novel in the world, but maybe that’s because I like a slightly darker element to my stories. Overall, I would give this book 3.5 out of 5. It had its up and downs, but the author’s use of images and the strange plot of the story are very interesting. I would recommend this book to anybody who doesn’t mind reading a paranormal book, something that is unrealistic. Yet it is interesting, and hard to put down. This is a pretty good book, and can stretch out to a wide variety of readers.

The Stand

By Stephen King

Review by Scott Cook

I don’t know about you, but if a man escaped from a testing facility with a strand of flu that’s contagious to anyone and could potentially wipe out 99 percent of humanity within weeks, I’d be scared. In the novel The Stand, the only way to gain hope for an afterlife, to rebuild a community you’ve once created so many memories in and starting all over. The survivors face problems and conflict with dialogue and emotion throughout. As Stephen King makes you feel as if you were there right along with the problems, you become hooked with cliff hangers and a thrilling story line.

All the characters and mainly Charlie and Sally, really helped drag me in. The dialogue and details of the scenery makes the readers realize this could actually become reality. Being in the 1980s this isn’t something you’d be alright with, There’s no vaccine or cures for this contagious flu.

Let me tell you about the author for a second; Stephen King has written a very high amount of novels and short stories. He was nominated for a “world fantasy award for best novel “in 1979! And this book actually became a television miniseries. The television mini-series was published by Modern Marvel Comics playing on ABC. Also this novel was dedicated to his wife, Tabitha “for tabby: This dark chest of widows.”

The novel The Stand was actually published in 1979 and sold well but then fell off the shelves and later republished in 1990 and gained attention everywhere. And as I mentioned before in 1994 the novel The Stand also was written as a teleplay, creating a series directed by Mick Garris.

Also filled with character’s that come from all different types of backgrounds. The characters relate and conflict between each other just like people in today’s communities. They are just tragically trying to restart and start over because they’re humanity’s only hope. Fighting the infections between close character’s, and creating suspense at an impeccable level.

Making you think you could actually be going through this in your life. And if the dangerous strand of flu had broken out, what would happen? Within a very short amount of time the flu beginning to spread all over the world killing 99 percent of humanity. And that one group of less than 1 percent was lucky to survive and come together as an alliance; this is an amazing fictional novel.

As a new group trying to rebuild, they decide they need a leader and mother Abigail who is a 108 year old woman, and a man named Randell Flagg known as the notorious “dark man”, And seemed to be delighted by violence and chaos.

Even though the characters did have their differences, they had to work together and put them aside for their sake. And to keep their life’s they must defend from some of those criminals that want to steal or rob from them maybe even threaten most of our chances for a new beginning. Sending emotion through characters as if you were there and listing to their every word.

They need food and water to survive, so as they become a larger group that means they need more recourse. And not to mention they might really not have enough. This is a must read book. It’s filled with problems that keep you reading and wondering how the life after humanity begins to restart. Through all this chaos, do they survive?

I think just reading this novel, that could possibly impact your life someday may intrigue you as a reader and with constant cliff hangers and conflict around every corner. That’s what makes this novel that much better.

And being in the later 1970s this could have been a new worrisome subject for them to think about. Knowing this could actually happen. And with nothing they can do to stop it, making it that much worse to endure. Just try reading the novel, The Stand.

The Hunger Games - Review by Dan Wireman

The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

Review by Dan Wireman

            I know plenty of survival skills, but I have never  had to put them to use in a televised fight to the death. This is exactly what Katniss Everdeen is forced to do in the epic novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. In Panem, where Katniss lives, the games are the capitols best weapon, and best entertainment.

          Katniss and her best friend, Gale, were the characters that I could relate to the most. They spent most of their time in the woods outside their district, hunting to feed their families. Hunting is illegal though and is punishable by death, but the two of them risk it to feed their families so they don’t starve like so many others in the poorest of the 12 districts, of Panem, district 12.

          Far away from where Katniss lives is the capitol. The government there, led by president Snow, is harsh to the districts, particularly the poorer ones. They claim to still give protection to then though. Long ago there had been 13 districts. Anger had been building in some of the outlying districts though. When district 13 rebelled against the capitol, the district was completely destroyed. Now as punishment for the uprising, every district is forced to send two tributes, one boy and one girl into the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death. There can be only one winner.

          Katniss does everything in her power to protect her little sister, Prim. Their father was killed in a mining accident, and since then, their mother shows no interest in anything. It is up to Katniss to take over and protect her little sister. But the games are something she cant control, and when Prim is picked as tribute, Katniss volunteers to take her place.

          The genre of the book would have to be science fiction. Colins has created her own world, a world far to futuristic to be anything but science fiction.

          I really liked this book because of how fast paced it is. It was very interesting, and it quickly and fluently transferred to what was happening.

          The idea that children could be forced from their homes to fight against twenty four other kids for entertainment purposes was intriguing. Katniss is handy with a bow and a knife, but does  she have the strength to win the games? Pick up a copy and find out for yourself.

Through My Eyes - Review by Trent Strang

Through My Eyes

by Tim Tebow, Nathan Whitaker
Review by Trent Strang

“They said I couldn’t be a high school quarterback. They said I couldn’t get a D-1 scholarship. That you can’t make it, you’re not good enough, you’re not skilled enough. They said I couldn’t win a Heisman. They said I couldn’t win a National Championship. They said I wouldn’t be a first round draft pick. They said I couldn’t play in the league. I appreciate that, find what fuels you.” ~Tim Tebow (They Said Youtube.com)

Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow and Nathan Whitaker is an autobiography written by Mr. Timothy Tebow himself. Most people would ask what can be so thrilling about reading an autobiography on someone’s life? But this isn’t just any average Joe; Timothy Tebow has some of the most truly inspirational stories of overcoming adversity that I have ever heard. All of these stories are told in Through My Eyes first hand, from Tim Tebow himself. This is what makes the book so awe-inspiring and attention seizing.

Pamela Elaine and Robert Ramsey Tebow II wanted a preacher. They had children already but decided that they would have one more kid in hopes that he would become a preacher, following his father’s footsteps, who was a preacher already. When Pamela was pregnant with Tim she became deathly ill with an infection that was suppose to kill her baby. Against all odds a few months later Timothy Tebow was born in the Philippians, just the first of many instances where Tim was supposed to be denied. But against all odds he showed that he was not to be denied. The miracle birth of Tim Tebow marks just the beginning of an inspirational life Tim has lived and written about all in his book Through My Eyes.

Tim Tebow was a phenomenal athlete throughout his career. His parents wanted him to attend a high school where he could continue to pursue his career as a pastor, so he chose Nease High School which was a Catholic private school. At Nease, some of his coaches said he had the best work ethic and was one of the strongest kids they had ever seen coming in as a freshman. Tebow was so big that many people said that he couldn’t be a high school quarter back, but against everyone’s word he became a quarterback. He led Nease High School to the State title game and won it as a senior in high school. Tebow earned scholarships from nearly every division one school from the west coast all the way to the east coast and everyone in between. Tebow’s story, despite being a biography, is such an inspiration because despite all of the doubt everyone had in Tebow, he gritted his teeth and went through each daily grind, with everyone who ever doubted him in the back of his mind as motivation. He had something to prove, and was a man on a mission, but the most inspiring thing of all is his relationship with God and despite all of the popularity, he never let anything get bigger than life. He stayed humble and even to this day when he plays in the NFL he constantly preaches the word of God, and does all things through Christ. This is true inspiration.

You should read Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow if you enjoy sports, if you believe in God, or if you just flat out enjoy an inspirational story because Through My Eyes is all of thee above. From Tebow being a miracle child, to being doubted as a high school quarter back but then proving he could by winning the state title. Then he got a D-1 scholarship, won a Heisman, won two national titles as a Florida Gator, drafted by the Denver Broncos, won an NFL playoff game and most recently traded to the New York Jets. Not to mention while doing all of this he went on mission trips to the Philippians, preaches the word of god every day, doing what his parents dreamed, and on top of that he has started organizations to help children. Through My Eyes can relate to anyone I guarantee it, and that is why I recommend you to read the book because it truly highlights the beauty of life on earth, opportunity and God, are heavenly father from above.

The Walking Dead - Review by Blaine Brown

Book Review

The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman review by Blaine Brown

          I wonder what it is like to be shot and thought to never wake up. Then again I would be so surprised to wake up in Harrison memorial hospital not knowing who I was or that the hospital was deserted and full of new things called a ZOMBIE!? The Walking Dead starts off with Rick Grimes wandering around town wondering what has happened, and then he gets hit over the head with a shovel because a kid thought he was a ZOMBIE! So then Rick wakes up.  He starts freaking out and asking a lot of questions, but then Morgan Jones, the father of the little kid Duane, (the one who hit rick with a shovel)  explains everything to him and they became friends.

          So then Rick drives to Georgia, hoping to find people who are alive, but all he finds are dead bodies everywhere! Then zombies everywhere start coming at Rick and a young kid Glenn yells, “hey, over here, come with me if you want to live!”  so Rick starts running at the zombies! He chases after them, and they climb a ladder and get on top of a building where the zombies can’t get them.  Then Glenn says,  “here come with me, I’ll take you somewhere safe.”  So then Glenn takes him back to this camp where Rick bursts out crying because he thought his family was dead.  But he actually gets reunited with his family.  He runs to his family, and they all group hug. Tears of joy spread. So after reuniting with his family, Shane, his best friend comes and says, “hey man,” and Rick goes “hey its getting dark.  Let’s go hunting,”  because Rick and Shane both know it’s going to get cold because it’s snowing, so when they get back with the firewood they set fire and everybody gathers around to feel the warmth. After about an hour Donna goes to the bathroom and never comes back...

Playground - Review by Holly Austin

Playground book review

I have never experienced what it feels like to be an outcast, or always having things go wrong. After moving into the city and in with his mom this is exactly how Curtis feels. Playground Bully is a book I am reading by Lizzi Akana. This book talks about many real life situations about a boy named Curtis. No matter how much he tries to get things off his mind one thing after another leads to some serious incidences in Curtis’s life.

Curtis is a young man who has always been a little bit on the quiet side. For the most part he kept to himself. As a young kid he often was made fun of because of his weight. Although I’m sure this made Curtis extremely upset, he never was the one to say anything. However, after his parents’ divorce this was all about to change.

A “playground bully” is what most people would describe Curtis as. Curtis for most of his life has had a really hard life. His parents split when he was seven years old, and ever sense then he just has not been the same. He got his nickname as the “playground bully” after several incidences’ that occurred out on the playground after his parents’ divorce. But what exactly were these incidence’s.?

As Curtis became more upset with the divorce, his anger got the best of him, after a boy from school called him fat. Curtis took things into his own hands. He stepped toward the boy and started beating the crap out of him. Although Curtis, sense the divorce, had been in many other fights, something about this one made it much more violent than the others

Curtis was never a bad kid, but something about the divorce made him crack. Teachers, friends, and family have all tried to help Curtis through whatever it is he is going through, however he will not open up to anyone.

After this incident, Curtis’s mom decides to get some professional help for him. She though if not even his own family could get through to him, maybe a professional could. However Curtis was infuriated with the idea of having a counselor, but nothing he said could change his mind about this.

Curtis starts meeting with the counselor (Liz) four times a week. It takes Curtis awhile to open up to her, but soon enough Curtis starts talking. Liz tries to get the story behind what happened between the fight, but all Curtis says is “that b**** had it coming”. He tells Liz that living in the city has changed his mind about a lot of things, and fighting is the only way he can get his anger out.

Meeting with this counselor may have changed Curtis’s outlook on life. Or maybe he takes things into his own hands again. You never know with a mind like Curtis what is going to happen next. Which only means one thing, you’re going to have to read the book Playground Bully to find out!

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell - Review by Corey Huffman

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell

Tucker Max

Reviewed by Corey Huffman

                Tucker Max is an amazing author with an astonishing story to tell come and read I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. Throughout this story Tucker makes it more than known how he lives and who his enemies and friends are. This is a man who is loved by few and hated by fewer; although he has relationships that last a week or less he looks forward to everyday. To put it plan and short he is a promiscuous, but the women love him and the people are attracted to his charismatic personality.

            “My name is Tucker Max, and I am an Idiot and jerk toward people. I get excessively drunk at inappropriate times, disregard social norms, indulge every whim, ignore the consequences of my actions, mock idiots and posers, sleep with more women than is safe or reasonable, and just generally act like a raging dickhead. But I do contribute to humanity in one very important way: I share my adventures with the world,” (Back of the book).  This man is one who does what he wants and doesn’t care what the consequences are.

            Meanwhile Tucker Max has a friend called “Sling Blade” who is a similar person to many people you can relate to, laid back and really doesn’t care what is going on. “Sling Blade” just lies back and waits for things to come to him, thus making him less predictable. This character was met at collage where Tucker Max and he became best friends.

This book would most likely fall into non-fiction bibliography/ life genre, because almost every event in the book comes true during the reading of the novel. I would say that this book is largely true and is based off this guy’s main life which is dramatic. He lives the life of a man who never learned how to regulate things, so as a result he does things that most people would find strange and completely wicked. Tucker did an astonishing job making the novel seem as if you were in the places with Tucker Max and he was someone that you might know.

Tucker Max did an amazing job narrating his life, to such an extent that readers have raved that he is “Disgusting, vile, repulsive, repugnant, and a foul creature,” (Back of the book). This is just an extent of how he explains events throughout his book, which makes it hard for people to believe that a person like this could even be real. He made the book such a real and believable story that you begin to think about someone you know that reminds you of these characters. I personally believe after you read this novel you can point out five to ten people you may know that fit these characters.        

This author wrote this novel to speak to other people like him so they can change their lives before they make the same mistakes. This author wrote this novel in a house in Boston based on his real events that happened in his life. These characters throughout this book portray all the real characters in real life. These people are portrayed as the author remembers them so some of the facts about these characters like their mood and personality are only as he remembers them.

This author makes you completely feel engulfed inside the plot, only because you can completely relate themselves to yourself and friends. This novel can be seen through your eyes only because there are people like this out there throughout the world that will stab you in the back. This author does a wonderful job on explaining the characters for example, their emotions, there moods and thoughts of the character really well.

To find out what happens when Tucker Max lives his life of being an idiot and jerk toward people; you need to tune into his life in which is filled with drama and heart shed. Secondly if you would like to find out what happens to an idiot when life catches up with him stay tuned and read the book.   

Forever - Review by Alexis Tennant

Are you looking for a book to tug at your heart strings? A book that will ultimately give you a new, stronger sense of hope? If yes, then pick up the novel Forever by Karen Kingsbury, book one of its series. Kingsbury gives you a story about a small town girl whose dreams all come true but at the same time experience the ups downs of marrying a well-known actor.

Karen Kingsbury is known for her compelling, uplifting novels, and Forever is no exception. Kingsbury has written over forty life-changing books, the Firstborn Series lying in her top ten. The author places this novel in the twenty first century, and creates a place that thousands of small town residents can connect to.

Katy Hart is one of those characters who the author imbeds into your heart that will last for a long time. Katy is from a small town in Indiana called Bloomington, “the kind of town that treated people like family and friends” (Kingsbury 6). Katy’s actions always reflected the relationship she had with God, even when she meets the guy of her dreams, Dayne Matthews whose position in the public eye easily causes problems.

Katy’s fiancée Dayne is Hollywood’s hottest actor. The couple comes from two different sides of the world it seems. Dayne struggles with keeping the script and his director’s mind clean. He also has the constant struggle of fighting off the media, which in return puts his life in jeopardy.

Kingsbury attracts her millions of fans once more, keeping her genre the same, christian fiction. Her characters always lead a life that would please God. Karen Kingsbury creates a bad situation just so her readers can learn from the characters faith and determination to put it all in the Lords hands and sit back and watch the miracles happen.

Its no mystery what Kingsbury is trying to teach you! A message that everyone needs to learn in their life: when you put your faith in God, miracles do happen!

Katy meets the love of her life when Dayne wanders into Katy’s youth Broadway show and instantly falls for Katy. They date for awhile before he pops the question. Katy can’t believe it; she is going to marry the most popular actor in Hollywood. The press discover family secrets that Katy and Dayne never wanted the world to know when Dayne enters into a coma for many months. Katy and her family know only prayers can save him. Will Dayne make it?

Will the press break up Daynes family when they reveal his secrets? Karen Kingsbury’s book one of the Firstborn series will be a page turner till the end! So what are you waiting for? Read on!

From Pieces to Weight - Review by Tristan Heisler

From Pieces to Weight

By 50 Cent

Reviewed by Tristan Heisler

From Pieces to Weight Review

            I’ve never been to Southside Queens, but the author and rapper, 50 Cent, gave me the feeling I was walking along side of him down the street in the autobiography about his life.  The story of the life in Southside Queens is told by 50 Cent himself in From Pieces to Weight.

            There were many reasons I enjoyed reading this book.  The main reason was because it wasn’t just some made up story by someone that knows nothing about what they are talking about.  50 Cent is a well known rapper, and a lot of people would love to hear his story.  I like that in this book he holds back on absolutely nothing; he tells the straight up truth.

            50 Cent starts telling the story about his childhood.  He tells how all of these people around him are making tons of money without a job and he does not understand how it is happening.  When he realized what they were doing and finally put all the puzzle pieces together, he wanted in on it.

            When 50 Cent was younger his mother was not around because she was out selling drugs.  He rarely saw his mother, and then one day he never saw her again. That puts a rough patch in his life, and makes his life devastating.

            From Pieces to Weight shows how 50 Cent goes through many complications in his life.  “I can remember when there was no such thing as crack” (50 Cent).  That is the first line in the book, and just from that you can see that this man has a messed up life.

            50 Cent is really the only character in the book that you actually get to know much about.  He is writing his own autobiography about how he made it through his rough life.  He shows that he is really the only one that stands up for himself.  I believe that the theme of this book is that no matter what life brings on you, you can get through it.  You  just need the will.

            In From Pieces to Weight by 50 Cent basically explains how you have to fend for yourself in the ghetto.  In the ghetto they say you have to get rich or die trying.  50 Cent shows how this phrase becomes true in his life.

            50 Cent becomes a drug dealer at a young age, but when he wants to get out of that business, he can’t.  He becomes a very well known dealer.  He realizes he wants to get out around the time that the dealing becomes life threatening.

            If you would like to find out the true life story about 50 Cent and how he survived the rough patches in his life, I recommend you read From Pieces to Weight.

           

It - Review by Calvin Dale

It

By Stephen King

Calvin Dale

            I have never experienced being mutilated and disemboweled in a shower, but writer Stephen King made it feel like I have been a countless number of times. On a rainy day in the summer of 1984, George was playing on the sidewalk with a paper boat. As it washed away down the hill toward the gutter, George chased after. It started to create a whirlpool at the entrance of the sewer drain. “There were yellow eyes in there the sort of yellow eyes he had always imagined but never actually seen down in the basement. It’s an animal, he thought incoherently, that’s all it is some animal, maybe a housecat that got stuck down there.” (King 12) After George realizes what he sees It kills him. Many years later in 1995 is where the rest of the story takes place.

            Stephen King did a magnificent job with the detail in this story. Everyone in this story has a great amount of detail behind their past and who they are. The character with the least amount of detail would probably be It that you learn about more and more throughout the book. As people disappear and bodies turn up, the plot begins to thicken, every death detailed to the color of the blood.

            The story jumps around but revolves around one town and mainly one family who has a hard time from the beginning. Mike the brother of George is probably the biggest character in the book, besides It. Mystery revolves around It and most of the characters in the book. Family and friends are a big section of this book. After George’s death many people blamed Mike for what happened along with the rest of his family but in the end his family has done nothing wrong. In the Some people think the killer is someone from the town while others think it is a sadistic demonic entity not of our world.

            Stephen King did a fantastic job with this story. There is detail in every part of the book along with deep character quality. The setting has detail and the story has a surprising ending. It has immense action, and a lot of things happen. The action in this story is amazing along with the relationships between the people running from the terror It. Everyone needs to read a book like this, it will shock you and fill you with suspense and fear. Many things jump at you in this book it will sound like a peaceful seen then bam some eerie description will come and then a horrific seen. If you want to know what happens to Mike and the rest of his family and the people in the town then you will have to read It by Stephen King yourself.

           

The Hunger Games - Review by Russell Pliley

My review on The Hunger Game

            The United States are not split into 12 districts controlled by one capital and ruled by a dictatorship. In the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins she does a fantastic job of telling us what it would be like if it was like that. Suzanne lives in Connecticut but grew up in New York. She got the inspiration for this New York Times Bestseller when she was channel surfing one day, she saw a game show on one channel and Iraq footage on another; she started to mix these two ideas and then The Hunger Games was born.

            The country this takes place is called Panem (it is what is now North America.). There are twelve districts and a capital that controls them all. There was once thirteen, but the districts had rebelled against the unruly capital and lost 13 was destroyed for starting the rebellion and thus the games were made to remind the districts who’s in charge. The games are a fight to the death, Only one winner in arena; the contestants are one boy and one girl from each district.

            The story is told through the eyes of a sixteen year-old girl names Katniss Everdeen. She lives with her mother and her little sister Prim who just turned twelve so she has to enter the drawings for the games. She takes us on her journey through the tough life in the district 12 and the horrific events of The Hunger Games.

            The strong determination of Katniss to keep going a make things better for her sister and the districts is what keeps the reader engaged. She tells the story in such a way that really helps readers see and feel the things she feels and see on her journey. It has that edge of your seat Cliff hangers that leave readers begging for more and the action that everyone likes to see.

            “I don’t care if we’re rich. I just want you to come home. You will try, won’t you? Really, really try?’ asks prim. ‘Really, really try. I swear it,’ I say. And I know, because of Prim, I’ll have to” (Collins 36)

            This is just one of many quotes where Katniss tells us that she doesn’t want to survive for herself; she has to for Prim and her mother. This is a common theme throughout the Hunger Games series. But what Katniss doesn’t know is everyone else is also doing everything they can to keep her alive. Katniss doesn’t necessarily want to live, She just wants to do enough to get prim a better life.

            Suanne Collins has picked two really good characters for this book. Katniss is sixteen and she is living in the seam (where the poor workers families live). She is a very grown up young lady, but she’s had to be to keep Prim alive and her and her mother. Her father died in a mining accident and her mother pretty much died with him. Katniss is very strong willed and will do anything in her power to keep the food on the table for her family. Peeta Mellark is the boy tribute that was picked for the games. He is seventeen years-old, soft spoken and very polite, but when he talks everyone listens, He’s a great leader. At home he’s a baker and has saved Katnisse’s life once already, when she was going to starve to death. But once in the games, he risks his life with the tributes most likely to win (the careers).

            In this first book the plot is pretty much set up by Katniss. She is planning on winning these games and defying the capital. She wants them to know that they do not own her and will not control her.

            I would rate this book a 10 out of 10. New York Times have called it “Brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced.” It is also a bestseller since its release in 2008. Now you don’t need to listen to those reviews, but I do not read and even I could not put this book down.

            If you want and edge of your seat thrilling book. Something that keeps you guessing and makes you have emotions you didn’t know you could have reading a book. Then I would definitely recommend you read The Hunger Games by Suanne Collins.