Insurgent

I finished Veronica Roth's second installment to the Divergent triology, Insurgent,  a few nights ago.  As usual, I had the "What happened in the first book?" confusion. I really felt the need to go back and refer to book one.  However, I checked it out from the library and did not have a copy of it.  For some reason, I was really confused about the Amity faction.  I also kept asking myself, "Who was Will?" I just had no memory of this character from book one.  Overall, I was not totally blown away by the beginning of this book.  Yet I'm really glad that I stuck with it because it really picked up. I don't want to be a "spoiler" but this book was action-packed. My favorite part of these books are the serum sequences.  Roth does an awesome job of incorporating those scenes.  I do look forward to book three and the possible movie.

I hope to start Michael Grant's Fear. This is the forth book in the Gone series.  Again, I hope I remember enough from book three so I know what is going on.

Divergent

Both Mrs. Kozuch and Mrs. Savini told me that I had to read this book. They were right.  I loved it.  The writing was excellent.  This book was thought-provoking, suspenseful, and filled with action.  Also, it is dystopian, my 100% favorite genre right now.

Here's an overview from the Barnes and Nobles website:

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the YA scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

Get your copy today from the GSMS library.  You might have to get on the waiting list once word of this book comes out!
http://www.thedivergenttrilogy.com/
Author's Blog: http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/

The Eleventh Plague

After a great debate at our first book club meeting, we abandoned Frankenstein and choose a new book.  The book we chose is The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirst.  I am thrilled at the awesome turn out we had. 

I went to Barnes and Nobles on Saturday.  I bought the last two copies of the book there.  (I tried to see if there were more copies but I was with my four month old nephew.  He doesn't wait when he wants to leave so I couldn't wait in line.)The book was about $17 so it might be a good idea to share.  I will lend out my two copies. Plus, I downloaded another copy on our classroom Nook and on Kindle on my iPhone. Big thanks to J. G. who is also lending out his copy.  I know that the library has all copies out but we can check those out as they come back in.

 Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, November 14.  Same time, same place.  I was thinking we could set a finish the book deadline by November 29, which is the day after Thanksgiving break. 

A. G. has typed up the invitations for our next meet.  I hope everyone gets a copy of the book and gets to start reading!  See me or leave me a message here with any questions. 

Bruiser

I LOVED Bruiser by Neil Shusterman!!!!  (What English teacher wouldn't?  He named every chapter by a ten cent SAT word....) http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/9780061134081.asp

 Here is a trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r3nVUuJcf\A

Check out this great book talk video:
http://naomibates.blogspot.com/2010/09/booktalk-intro-video.html

Do You Shelfari?

https://www.shelfari.com/ShelfariLogin

I really like how fun and easy it is to use Shelfari?  I would use it more if I had an app for it.  However, I also like GoodReads.com.  This is a great way to find awesome books besides using Destiny on the library website.

Do you know of any other great "book" websites? If so, let me know.

Birthmarked

Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien is another book that I couldn't resist from our Scholastic Book Fair.  (BTW, Great job, Mrs. K.!)  In this futuristic novel, a girl named Gaia, is following in her mother's footsteps to becoming a midwife.  The setting of the book is pretty grim.  It is about 300 years into the future, the sun is harsh, and the Great Lakes are now "unlakes." Gaia lives in the outskirt of a city that is walled in.  The only time she enters the gate is to deliver babies who fulfil the "Enclaves" quota of the first three babies a month.  Then, Gaia's parents are arrested and she is interrogated.  This is the first book of a trilogy.  I can't wait to read the second book. I'm not the only one who loved this book. See below!
Readers who enjoy adventures with a strong heroine standing up to authority against the odds will enjoy this compelling tale.”—School Library Journal

“A wonderful addition to the dystopian genre.”—TeensReadToo.com

“Reminiscent of both 1984 and a Brave New World, this gripping page-turner is a perfect intro to futuristic, dystopian fiction. . . . Readers accompany the novel’s inspiring heroine on an undertaking brimming with danger, intrigue, and romance.”—Education.com

“O’Brien’s . . . impulsive and spirited heroine . . . is the kind readers adore.”—Booklist

“This science fiction adventure is a brisk and sometimes provocative read, thanks to solid pacing, a resourceful heroine, and a few surprise twists.”—Publishers Weekly

“Well-written and fast-paced.”—VOYA

“In grand dystopic tradition.”—Kirkus Reviews

“It was a very good book that made me think.”—Abby, age 12

“I love dystopian futures. Birthmarked is great dystopian future.”—Sam, age 16

Exciting New Updates!

"CAT FIGHT- about the only good thing that can happen the first day of school."

 So begins Janet Nichols Lynch's Messed Up.  I may not have liked the questionable language and borderline "school inappropriateness" but I could not stop reading this book! At the start of the book, the protaganist, R.D. gets suspended for helping break up a fight.  Not fair, you say? Well, nothing in R.D.'s life is fair.  He has never met his father, his mom is in jail, and he is repeating the 8th grade again.  R.D. is living with his grandmother's boyfriend who is not in the best of health. Will R.D. make it?  Read this very realistic novel today to find out.