We are nearing the end of Quarter One. (Can you believe it?) As we move into Quarter Two, you will have the opportunity to select a brand spankin' new Outside Reading novel! Is the excitement just killing you?
Help your classmates out: What book do you recommend? Why? You may discuss the book you just read for your first Book Talk, or you may discuss a book you read previously.
Also, may I recommend a website for you to reference, as you're making your selections? Click Here.
20 comments:
I read Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta over the summer. It is kind of a girl book, but peronally, I think it's great for everyone. It's set in Australia, about a girl going to a previously all-boys school. She feels bad enough about having to leave her friends, so it just gets worse when her mom gets diagnosed with acute cancer. You wouldn't expect it to be funny, but in a weird way, it is. I highly recommend this book.
Personally, I find the romantic chick-lets the best, with the handful of serious teen angst and political fiction for reading, but in general, I'd recommend, It's Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini. It's about an pot-smoking honors student, who attempts suicide yet fails and is sent to the hospital. There, he meets quixotic people in his hall, and discovers a talent of drawing "brain maps." So, in general, it's realistic and not a giddy, overdone story. It's a great complement to Vizzini's first book, Be More Chill. But, they're not related in character, but genre.
Jackie- That book sounds interesting/awesome! I think I'll actually check it out from the library =). Thank you!
For me, I LOVE fantasy books. I don't have any specific book I like, but one of my favorite authors is Tamora Pierce. All the book series that she's ever writen somehow tie into the other ones (as in, she'll write a series about some girl and the next series she writes will be about her son/daughter, and so on. If that makes sense =)). One of my favorite series that she wrote (and that I highly recommend if you're into medieval times/fantasy books like I am) is The Song Of The Lioness. It is about a girl named Alanna who instead of going to a school to learn magic like all the other young girls her age, she decides to switch places with her identical twin brother and become a knight. Her twin wants to be a sorceress so he takes her place at the magic school. The series is basically about Alanna's training as a knight, her adventures/battles she has and how she grows up in a social group of boys and still manages to keep her sex a secret (women were not allowed to be knights). It is a very exciting, interesting series and if you like fast pace books, this will definitely hold your attention ( I personally can't STAND slow moving books) as will almost any other book by Tamora Pierce.
In my previous comment, I said her mom has acute cancer. It's actually depression. I thuoght I chould clarify that. Sorry...I was just thinking about cancer when I typed it.
I can't believe the first quarter is almost over!
Jackie, that book sounds pretty cool! I might try and look for it next time I go to a book store.
I like to read funny books; especially about teens and their high school problems and how they try to fix them. So for my first book talk i read a book called "Frogs and French Kisses" by Sarah Mlynowski. It is the second book in a trilogy. I read the first one ("Bras and Broomsticks") in 8th grade (and used it for a book talk!) and wanted read the next one becasue it was so funny and I wanted to see what happened next.
"Frogs and French Kisses" is about a girl named Rachel. Her mom and younger sister are both witches but she doesn't have any powers. She makes her sister create a love spell to put on this boy she really likes but it ends up going to his older brother. He is helping organize his prom, so when he asks Rachel to prom, she starts helping too. By the end of the book she managed to ruin prom, then save prom, then riun it again, and save it agen. She also gets powers by the end of the book. I really enjoyed this book and recomend it to anyone who likes a good laugh when they read.
I read the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold . It is an intense book about a girl getting rapped and killed (like I said, intense) but it is also a book that can really open your eyes. This book takes you beyond anything that you can think of. It tells you this story of a girl and the ending is perfect! This book is amazing! It blew me away! I highly recommend this book!
i really like thrillers and fantasys. my favorite author is james patterson. he wrote books like cat and mouse or no one to trust.on the fantasy side of things i love,love,love the eragon trilogy, i find it very entertaining and suspensful.
I read The Supernaturalist which is a book about the future where there is a satalite city and how it is going in chaos. i suggest this book for people who love fantasy mystery books.
I would really recommend Jodi Picoult books. My favorite is the Pact so far which is probably the best book I ever read. It is a love story that has an unusual yet fun way to tell the story. Jodi Picoult tells the story by switching between the past and the now in every other chapter. This book was one of those books that you don't want to set down and is exciting from beginnig to end!
I heartily recommend Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The English department is hoping to add it to our core book list, but, in the meantime, I hope you will read it. Whenever I come to discuss this novel, the word "haunting" comes to mind. It is a striking story about what it means to be a part of the human race. It will, I promise, stick with you, should you choose to read it.
Tyler Carter block 3
For any guy who likes action books, the Dirk Pitt series by Clive Cussler are great reads. They never get boring, and have some scenes where you just can't put the book down. There are now more than twenty books, and almost all of them are great reads. Some of my favorites are Shockwave, The Mediterranean Caper, and Valhalla Rising.
A book and series I loved is "Angels Watching Over Me". I enjoyed this book so much that I started getting into other books by the Author ( Lurlene Mcdaniel). Her first book is about a 16 year old girl named Leah who gets stuck in the hospital after getting the horrible news that she has a certain bone cancer. But throughout her hard struggle in the hospital she befriends her 9yr old roomate Rebekah. Rebekah and her Amish family are strangly different to Leah but Leah becomes close to the family as her and Rebekah heal. Throughout the story Leah falls in love with Rebekah's older brother, Ethan, and so the story goes.
I promise you will fall in love with this book and not be dissapointed! You will laugh, cry
(like I did), be suprised and fall in love with these amazing characters. I strongly reccomend reading her books they are WONDERFUL! (FIVE STARS)
Okay so this is mostly a girl book but I know a few guys who have read this book. I totally recommend the whole twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Twilight is the first of the series and, okay don't judge, it's a vampire book. Aside from the whole supernatural thing, it's one of the cutest love stories I have ever read! A girl named Bella falls for a vampire; it's really a horror also, but really sweet(one of the main characters, in my opinion, is better than Romeo)
Read it!!
Ms. McGowan- i thought kite runner was based off of a true story. we can read it?
Kite Runner is fiction. It does feel a little like a memoir (which is also an option for your outside reading choice), since it is written in first person, but it is not.
I also loved Kite Runner, because it not only portrayed the grief of the Afghani people in that time period, but also a smaller, personal story. Another book by Khaled Hosseini is A Thousand Spendid Suns--it reminds you how good we have it here.
On a lighter note, a very good book is Emma by Jane Austen. It is not as famous as Pride and Prejudice, but it is a very good book--not serious at all, which is not what most would expect.
~Zoe Klingmann from block four
Last trimester I read the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold . It was more intense than most books you read in school, so if that's what you want, it is the book for you. It was about a young girl who was lured by a rapist and then the story was told from her point of view from heaven. It shows the reality of the world we live in and all the family problems that are really common. It was my favorite book in awhile. I strongly recommend it.
I read The Secret Life of Bee's last trimester. I LOVED it. I would definately recommend it to girls becuase it follows the story of a teenage girl, however the story line is wonderful, creative, inspiring, and educational. The book includes several descriptive parts that make you feel as though you are right there with her. An amazing book - and movie! I watched the movie after reading. Which is what I would suggest others to do also if you haven't already seen it. The movie is amazing as well however it leaves some things out and rearranges the beginning and end.
I agree with Jackie Zhou 100%! In fact, I just talked about It's Kind of a Funny Story in class a couple of days ago when Ms. McGowan asked us about our Independent Reading assignment. I have never found a more depressing(but also uplifting at times)story to read, yet been able to find so much insight about the characters and how it related to me. This story is, as Jackie explained, about an honor student going down the wrong path that was driven by depression, and one day...he just couldn't take it anymore; he tried to kill himself. He is then checked into a psychiatric hospital for 5 days and there, he learns to fit in, make friends, and even fall in love. I am completely in love with this story and I would recommend it for anyone looking for a little understanding. There is a scared person in all of us and Ned Vizzini really showed me that from what he wrote this incredible novel. If you read it and you have an open mind, I know you'll love it!!
I read Fahrenheit 451, and it was great. I recommend it to anyone who wants a little adventure. It kept my attention throughout the entire book.
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