City of the Beasts, by Isabel Allende

The book I am currently reading is called City of the Beasts, by Isabel Allende and is set in the States and later, the Amazon rainforest. It begins with the story of Alexander Cold whose mother is dying of cancer. Alex’s dad decides to send the kids to their grandparents because he plans to take his wife to better hospital, out of California. Alex goes to New York alone to live with his eccentric grandmother who has been planning another expedition to a foreign place. Alexander ends up going on a trip of a lifetime when they travel to the heart of the Amazon Rainforest.

O.M.

Blue Bloods by Melissa de La Cruz

The book I just finished reading is called "Blue Bloods" by Melissa de La Cruz. The book was based in New York City and follows the life a 15 year old girl named Schyler Van Alen. She is from a once-rich family and has to deal with being poor at her ritzy private school. As if that wasn't hard enough, she finds out she's a vampire. Mostly all of the old prestigious New York families are. I really liked this book because I loved Gossip Girl and this was recommended. It's a really good book because it has the glitz of New York City, but the depth of more serious books. I would give this book a 9.5 out of 10. It was amazing.

Charlie Wilson's War, by George Crile

I'm reading Charlie Wilson's War. This is the story the new movie is based on: the tale of a rogue congressman, a playboy, who masterminded a covert ploy to fund the Taliban against the Russians in Afghanistan. It is a good read.

L.M.

Lullaby for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill

The book I am reading right now is called Lullaby for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill. It won "Canada Reads" last year on CBC Radio. It follows the story of Baby as she navigates her way in and out of her father's life. She'll often ask her Dad what happened to her mother and he'll always tell her a different story. She is a tough young girl, but I am not finished reading it yet, so we'll see how it turns out for her. At the end of the book, the author lists some amazing books that have influenced her. She is very convincing and I now want to read all of her recommendations!

RL

The Zombie Survival Guide, by Max Brooks

A very unique and different take on a survival guide. The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks is a very humorous book dealing with, well surviving a zombie outbreak. The book is very detailed; it has steps and precautions to take if you are confronted with different epidemics. The book also instructs you on how to manage your resources, what items you should have. At the end of the book, there are many "Historical Zombie Attacks" that were recorded since the beginning of time to the present. Even though they are fictional they are pretty entertaining to read. So if you're an avid zombie fan, or have time to burn, I suggest you pick up this book.

L.L.

A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews

I just finished Miriam Toews "A Complicated Kindness". I was very disappointed as I felt like it was a "Seinfeld" episode--I kept waiting for something to happen. While it was interesting to learn about Mennonite life, the plot never developed. As I hate to let a book defeat me I finished it, but since it had won awards I was expecting a lot more. All in all--disappointing.

Poison, by Chris Wooding

The morbid tale of a vengeful assassin... is not this book. This one is more like a fairy tale that's been twisted around so that the ends meet, and the middle part is just as loopy.

A girl named Poison lives in a swamp, and she doesn't like it, because she doesn't fit in and her step-mother hates her. When her little sister, Azalea, is kidnapped by phaeries in the middle of the night and a changeling is left in her place, Poison leaves her home town in order to go and rescue her sister. Sounds simple? Well, it's not. Take all the fairy tales you can think of and smoosh them together, and that's just the beginning, but I won't say any more, because spoilers are bad.

This book is definitely for people who like action and adventure, and don't forget twisted fairy tales. If you don't like twisted fairy tales, find something else to read.

Another good book by the same author is "The Weavers of Saramyr" and the ensuing trilogy.

M.B.

Darkness and Light by Paul B. Thompson & Tonya C. Cook

Ever wanted to visit Krynn's red moon, Lunitari? Well then this is thebook for you. From the epic Dragonlance series, Darkness and Light (by Paul B. Thompson & Tonya C. Cook) tells the tale of Sturm andKitiara's journey from their hometown Solace north and through the landof Solamnia. Sturm set's out to find out about his father, and his ownplace in the knighthood, but he ends up finding out a lot more than heanticipated. About himself, Kitiara and his views on Good and Evil (Darkness and Light).

It's a very quick book, a non stop read. I got through it in a weekendbut that's about all I did. If you like Fantasy, and medieval typesettings I would recommend the Dragonlance series and this book wouldbe a good place to start. Paul Thompson enjoys describing allot of thelittle habits and abilities of different races, in this book you'llfind Gnomes (and lots of them), Tree men, Giant Ants, Dragons andelves. If you find yourself enjoying this book and want to read moreDragonlance then Dragons of Autumn Twilight would be the next logicalchoice.Enjoy reading!E. M.

Sloppy Firsts, by Meg McCafferty

Sloppy Firsts is an excellent novel. It follows a year in the life of sixteen year old Jessica Darling. Jessica’s best friend, Hope, moves away from Pineville she is devastated and doesn’t know how she’ll cope growing up alone. Without hope she doesn’t know how she’ll to cope with the boy/shopping crazy girls at school, her mother obsessing over her sister, Bethany’s wedding, her track obsessed dad, and her non-existent love life. This book is a must read! The funny writing style of Cafferty is similar to Judy Blume and Dorothy Parker. nout of n. The sequel to this wonderful novel is titled Second Helpings, followed by Charmed Thirds and Fourth Comings

Leading at the Edge

Leading at the Edge : Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition by Dennis N. T. Perkins, Margaret P. Holtman, Paul R. Kessler, and Catherine McCarthy (Hardcover - May 5, 2000)

It's a good book about leadership skills, but definitely not as interesting as the book I would like to read by George R.R. Martin entitled A Dance with Dragons, which I am patiently waiting to be released. When I read for pleasure (mostly in the summers, it seems) I like fantasy novels or novels about vampires. The best vampire series is by far the Necroscope series by Brian Lumley.

A.D.

Fruits Basket

I have recently read #17 of the graphic novel series Fruits Basket. I felt that the book explained a lot about the history of the main character Tohru. However, I do feel that the other books before it were more enjoyable and fun to read. #17 has a lot of explaining, and sad parts with not too much comedy. Out of 10 I would probably rate this book a 7 and a half.

A.S.

Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling by Brett Hart

Yes, this autobiography by Canadian Brett "The Hitman" Hart provides some interesting insight into the real world of pro wrestling and Brett's wrestling family but probably only a hard core wrestling fan will persevere in reading through the blow by blow descriptions of wrestling matches that seem to be on every second page. It is interesting to discover who the real men were behind their wrestling personas and how "world champions " were determined, but the wrestling descriptions become more than tedious after the first 50 pages. True wrestling fans need to forewarned that the book is very frank about whether pro wrestling is a sport or strictly entertainment. I can only rate this book as 4 bookmarks out of 10.

DC

Welcome to the Shaftesbury Review

This is a place for students and staff of Shaftesbury High School to post their reviews of the books they're reading. Whether it's a great book that you want to share, or a bad one that you want to warn people about, this page is your chance to sound off.

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