Somers Library Blog

The Selection by Kiera Cass is realistic fantasy novel revolving around a young poor girl, named America and her experience in a competition called “The Selection”. The Selection is a competition where hundreds of young girls apply, between the ages of sixteen and twenty, to compete for the Prince of Illea’s love and affection. Out of the hundreds that apply, only thirty-five are invited to compete. All of the young women want a chance to be picked, because this means that if they win, they will not only marry a prince, but they will one day become Queen of Illea. We learn that America, is one of the many girls that has applied, even though she doesn’t think she has a chance of being chosen. The story begins when America, the main character, is shocked to find out she was chosen to compete. Throughout the story America meets many different people and has different experiences with each of them.  She finds a best friend and someone she can trust in a girl named Marlee. While having ...

This book "The boy on the porch" is about a little boy whose parents leave him with these nice and wonderful people called Marta and John. Marta and John notice there is a note in his shirt. The note says his name is Jacob, but Jacob is not like all of the regular boys.  Jacob can’t talk and can only communicate by tapping things. After John buys Jacob some paints to draw with, they both notice that Jacob is painting places that look mostly similar to places located in their town. So Marta and John set off on an adventure to find these places. The thing is, that what he is painting in kind of wonky because all of the trees are purple and the grass in blue and it makes it way harder find them but they are still willing to find where Jacob is from. While they were on their adventure, Jacob found his old shoe. Could this of been near where Jacob lived?  Did Marta and John finally find Jacob’s parents? Read the book "The Boy on the Porch" by Sharon Creech, to find out w...

The Other Side of the Island is a dystopian fiction book. The main character, Honor, is a 10-year-old girl who moves from the north to a mysterious island with her mom and dad. When they move there, they are poor. Their house is falling apart, and most of their belongings have not arrived yet. Honor’s parents apply to a school for her to go to. When she begins going to her new school, Honor realizes that the school has very strict rules. All the girls in her class are the same. Honor stands out because her name doesn’t make the “h” sound, her family is poor, and she becomes friends with a boy named Helix. The weather and natural environment usually appears perfect and seems controlled.  At times there are terrible storms that scare Honor. Honor tries to follow all the rules on the island in order to fit in with the others, but her parents keep breaking rules.  Unlike the other families, her parents have a second child, and they chose names for their children that are very diff...

“Guilt is a hunter.” -Joana  “Fate is a hunter.” -Florian “Shame is a hunter.” -Emilia “Fear is a hunter.” -Alfred It is 1945, and World War II has broken out, tearing our world into bloodstained pieces, and leaving four teenagers stranded, fighting to survive each day. Follow the staggering journey of these four; Joana, from Lithuania, who had dreams of pursuing a medical career;  Florian, from East Prussia, a restoration artist hiding a secret that could change the fate of the war; Emilia, from Poland, a kindhearted orphan, who longs for home, and Alfred, a slightly delusional, yet sickeningly patriotic Nazi.  Each facing the daily, endless horrors and hardships of the world’s darkest time in history, each burdened with secrets and loss. Separated from loved ones, brought together by desperate circumstances, the four teenagers will join thousands of refugees seeking safety, and together board the William Gustloff, a German military transport ship. With little kn...

Here is my summary of Pax, Journey Home by Sara Pennypacker. This beautifully written heartfelt book is about a young boy named Peter and his old pet fox, Pax. This story is the sequel to the book Pax. It tells the story of how the young boy takes a long journey away from his grandfather and Voila to find his beloved pet fox Pax and to see and embrace his old life which he left behind during war. On the way he helps one couple restore the water along a river and gets some very important discoveries and wisdom from them. He becomes close with them and they help each other out and form a strong bond. This book is not just from one perspective but also tells the story of his Pax and Pax’s journey and life with his mate Bristle and his three young kits.   It tells of his journeys to reunite with his owner Peter though he has not seen him in five years. Throughout ups and downs both sides of this book tell an interesting, wonderful story of how the connection between both animals and hu...

The Outsiders is a book about the main character Ponyboy Curtis and his gang. The gang is made up of Greasers, the rougher, tougher low lives from the wrong part of town. They are constantly in a turf war with the Socials, or Socs, from the other, better part of town. But one day, the conflict is taken too far. As a result of constant taunting from the Socs, (and a past incident coming back to haunt him) Ponyboy’s friend Johnny has no choice but to kill of one of their more prominent figures. Astounded by what they have done and fearing the consequences if anybody finds out, Ponyboy and Johnny are forced to flee to the countryside. After the better part of a week hiding out on top of a mountain, Dally (a friend) comes to pick them up. They see a group of children in trouble, and so they run to help them. Dally and Johnny hurt themselves in the process and are hospitalized as a result. Now, right about here my description is going to get a bit vague, so as not to give away too much abou...

Ten-year-old Honor and her family move to Island 365 after being enclosed in the North.  The god of the island, Earth Mother, has every family in its place and obedient to its rules.  However, Honor’s family is different.  Their family's house is a wreck because they cannot afford anything better and they do not follow the rules of the island.  Honor’s real struggle is school.  She stands out compared to everyone else.  Nobody wants to be friends with her because her name is unusual and her parents do not follow the rules of Earth Mother.  Luckily, she has one good friend named Helix.  Three years later her parents have a baby boy named Quintilian.  This makes her stand out even more because most families on the island have only one child.  Honor’s parents start doing even more unusual things.  The curfew on the island is nine o’clock, but for some reason her parents keeps sneaking out late at night.  They claim that they are w...

Based on true events, this novel tells the story about Yanek Gruener and the traumatic experience he went through as a Jewish boy in the 1930s and 40s in Poland. His unimaginably tragic journey starts in the Polish city of Krakow and ends In New York City. In 1941, when he is 12 years old, Yanek first lives in a Polish Ghetto until the Germans bring him to a concentration camp. He is without his parents and every day is a struggle to survive. There is hardly any food, the Nazis make him work till he is completely exhausted and there is the constant fear of being killed. Yanek has to dig trenches; mines rock in a quarry, and chop wood. From 1942 to 1945 he has to live in 10 different concentration camps. His uncle Moshe had told him not to talk to anybody, not to remember his family and not to tell anybody any personal details about himself. When he is brought to Auschwitz, a glimmer of hope appears in the form of a boy called Fred. He is the first person in years he opens up to and bec...

“Out of My Mind” is a realistic fiction novel written by Sharon M. Draper. The main character of this book, Melody, is a girl who is diagnosed with a disease called cerebral palsy. This disease prevents Melody from speaking and limits her ability to control her body the way she wants it to. Over time, Melody has learned thousands of words by watching and listening to the people around her. However, Melody grows frustrated as she cannot speak the words bouncing around her head. One day, Melody's mother applies Melody to school. Melody starts school but comes to realize that people think she is different and not as intelligent as other people because of her physical disability. She is put into a class with other disabled students. Her school begins a program for the class which allows them to try classes that other students take. She is assigned to a caretaker named Catherine to help her in her classes. After a few classes, Melody imagines a computer that allows her to communicate ea...

This book shines on the relevant issues of 1987 Venice, CA like figuring out who you are, and making new friends. Our protagonist, Bug, is a ten-year-old girl living with her Mom and Brother, Danny. Bug is getting ready for a great summer in the late 80's. With her friends and neighbors by her side, Phillip and Hedvig, she's about to have the time of her life on the Venice beaches. Her brother Danny wants independence from Bug and her mom is too busy! It is overwhelming for Bug.   She just wanted an ordinary summer! Nothing more. Well, without her brother or mom, there is only one person left, Phillip's nephew Frankie. Bug is very hesitant of Frankie. She's used to going to the beaches and hanging out with her friends there, but now there's a kid who she doesn't even know that she has to become friends with! Frankie isn't so thrilled either. He gets thrown into a big city with someone he doesn't know. He wants to investigate a nearby murderer on the ...

America is now a barren landscape left after a brutal war. Most of the population was killed by a vicious strain of influenza. People called the influenza the "Eleventh Plague".  Stephen Quinn is a 15 year old and was born after the war. Ever since he has lived the life as a salvager. He would salvage anything worth food or clothing with his father and grandfather. His mother died delivering his brother, who died right after birth. Eventually Stephen's grandfather caught the sickness and died too. Now, with just his father Stephen, they continue salvaging. But when they run into slavers, Stephen's father falls into a ravine and hits his head, falling into a coma. Stephen is found by people from Settler’s Landing,  a community that had everything from medicine to food that was hard to get. There Stephen meets Jenny, a mischievous girl that doesn't like things as they are. When the two play a prank on the Henry's house, things get out of control and chaos erupts...

In the suspenseful and action-packed “Legend” by Marie Lu, it is some point in the future when the former United States of America has been split into two; it's the Republic versus the Colonies. The book focuses on June, a military prodigy who is graduating four years ahead of all her other normal classmates in one of the Republic’s top universities and is one of the government’s favorite and most promising soldiers. All her life she has heard the shocking and impressive rumors of Day’s crimes, one of the most notorious fugitives in the Republic that can never seem to be caught. Even though she should despise criminals, she has a bit of admiration for his work and is eager to match his skill. It's not until she hears the life-shattering news that Day had killed her brother Metias during one of his crimes that she has a real reason to hate him and get revenge. June isn’t the only main character in this story, as we also get a large peek into Day’s life. Day lives on the streets ...

Four individuals are assigned jobs by the Allies to support the D-Day invasion. Part of that group is Dee, a German born US soldier who is racing towards Omaha Beach on a flimsy landing craft to help liberate France from the Nazis. It is a treacherous journey to the beach. On the other hand, there is Samira, who lives in France and works as a spy for the French resistance. She will try to sabotage the German forces and encounter lots of life-threatening situations. The third person is James who leaps from planes at midnight. He is known as a paratrooper and ordered to start a dangerous midnight raid and secure military checkpoints for the Allies. He will face challenges such as landing in flooded fields and almost drowning but he is incredibly determined to make the invasion as easy as possible and to hopefully liberate France from the Nazis. The fourth person is Henry. He is a medic who runs through the crossfire on Omaha beach and tries to save as many lives as possible. Unfortunatel...

The book, Wonder, is about a boy named August Pullman. Auggie was born with facial deformities. Because of this, he has had several surgeries since he was a baby. Auggie is the center of his family’s world. Everyone focuses their attention on him and this causes his sister, who loves him greatly, to feel left out. Auggie has never gone to a mainstream school. He was always been home schooled, so that his parents could look after him.  Now that he is in the fifth grade, his parents decided that he was ready to start school at Beecher Prep. They wanted him to start living a normal life and make friends. Auggie is very nervous about going to school for the first time. He doesn’t want people to treat him differently because of the way he looks. Auggie’s first year in school has a lot of ups and downs. He makes friends, loses friends, gets bullied and experiences what it is like to be an ‘ordinary’ middle schooler. In my opinion, this is a wonderful book and everyone should read it at...

In a world where countless eyes follow your every move, your relationships are closely monitored, your friends disappear without a trace, your most inner thoughts, harvested, twisted, and used against you - few challenge the Party’s control, and those who do are always found with a bullet in the back of their skull. Bringing forth the fears many had after WW2, George Orwell in 1984 paints the picture of what a world run by a totalitarian government would look like in the Western Hemisphere. Following the character of Winston Smith, the reader sees how life would be if telescreens analyzed everything about you: your facial expressions, unusual habits, or nervous tics that could show signs of unorthodox thoughts against the Party. A violation of any of these could lead to the Thought Police taking you away to the Ministry of Love. The four ministries in this book all have specific tasks, but as you find out later, the names are the exact opposite of what they are used for. The Ministry o...

The 57 Bus is an absolutely enrapturing non-fiction book about a real event that happened in Oakland California. The story is a detailed novel about two teens, the crime one committed, and how it affected their lives forever. Sasha, an agender teenage student attending   Maybeck Private High School, and Richard, an African-American student from Oakland High School. Two people that probably never have met, except for one thing they had in common- the 57 bus ride home that day. The book dives deep into different topics like discrimination, apparent flaws in the youth justice system, and peer pressure specifically. It’s a book that really makes you think, and wonder about the different perspectives of the characters.   Richard, who struggled immensely throughout his childhood and early adolescence, was working hard to make changes to his life, better himself, and work to help support his large family along with his mother. Sasha is someone who has struggled with acceptance and id...

Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation is a page turner. It is a first of three books so far and I feel there are more to come. Charlie Thorne is an absolute genius that knows more than 20 languages. She is a normal 13 year old when you look at her, but she has a wild brain causing her to breeze through college tests. However the CIA has different plans for her. They tell her that Einstein has left something: Pandora. An equation that solves the worst of earth’s problems but, if fallen into the wrong hands, it will have everyone at its mercy. The CIA members Dante Garcia and Milana Moon want the young prodigy to help them find the equation before the evil organization does. This book has tons of action and Charlie goes on many daring missions throughout the series. With the most powerful equation in the world at stake, Charlie finds herself determined to find it. However, there are some obstacles blocking the way. Charlie and the CIA have to outsmart the enemy and crack intense codes to ...

Ben Ripley was a student at the CIA Academy of Espionage. Was. After a training exercise went wrong the blame is put on Ben and he is kicked out of the school. Trying to get back to a non-crime fighting life, Ben goes back to his old Middle School. His first day back wasn't ideal considering that he just came from a spy school and needed to pretend that he knows nothing about the organization. Suddenly as Ben was leaving school he gets a proposition, a proposition from SPYDER. Ben joins SPYDER angry at the CIA but still not to turn to the line of crime, just to figure out what SPYDERS up to. Ben goes to SPYDERS evil spy school and makes friends with some of the students there and to his surprise.... has fun! But that's not all soon he finds out that being expelled from the CIA spy school was all just a scripted play to get SPYDER to come after Ben. Ben gets angry but then understands the logic to the plan. Until he realizes that what he thought was casual evil spy training for ...