For Whom the Bell Tolls By Ernest Hemingway

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Cat!

Robert Jordan has one task, to blow the bridge. He is an American dynamiter who is working with Spanish guerrillas to help win the war. A simple task made harder by the fact he must blow the bridge during the day.

If that isn’t bad enough he must deal with the leader’s discontent, and blood lust. All these threaten not only the mission but, also, his new found love in Maria, the girl at the camp.

Told in lyrical English that mimics the Spanish cadence, this book is full of flashbacks. Many of which are lengthy. These elements can make the book hard to understand. I found the Spanish element somewhat distracting, as I have not taken Spanish. I think someone who actually spoke Spanish would enjoy the writing style more.

Over all, I think the book makes you think about love, life, and death, a good quality in a book. Some parts are purely poetic, and those are the parts I really enjoyed.

--Cat

P.S. On the CAPP Summer Reading List for Phair.

P.P.S For all you Nerdfighters, the main character, Robert Jordan, was a teacher in Missoula, Montana. The current residence of one Hank Green.

P.P.P.S 8 days until John Green!!!!

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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls By Steven Hockensmith

A guest review by Teen Room Staff Cat!

The dreadfuls are coming. It’s Victorian England and the Bennet sisters are surprised when Mr. Ford sits up at his funeral (It’s so improper to attend one’s own funeral.) They are even more surprised when their father insists they learn how to fight (Warriors don’t get husbands). But, the training becomes necessary when zombies invade the town.

I liked the book. It has all the love and scandal of Austen novel along with the adventure, gore, and violence of an action movie. I would recommend this book to a fan of either genre.

--Cat

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The Realm of Possibilities By David Levithan

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Cat!

This book is in verse
It follows the lives
that color the school
Connecting them
Through love
Hate
Joy
And sorrow

--Cat

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Looking for Alaska by John Green

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Cat!

It’s Miles Halter’s first year at an Alabama boarding school. Culver Creek has all the fun, excitement, and trouble he thought it would, but it had one thing he didn’t expect. Alaska. Alaska is the perfect girl, and as the year progresses he finds himself falling deeper and deeper into love with her. But Alaska is a mystery, and as he searches for the answer he realizes he might never find the answer.

Looking for Alaska is a great book. It brings to light a lot of questions about life and death, but has enough adventure and romance to keep anyone who reads it happy. Be careful, this is definitely a high school book.

--Cat

P.S. It’s on the Summer Reading List for Seniors

John Green!

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Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

A guest review by Teen Room Staff Cat!

Annabel Greene lives in glass house. Her father is an architect. He built a glass house for his family to live in, except, he built the house so passersby could only see some of the family, and the rest was hidden giving the illusion of a see-through house. Annabel’s life is the same as her house. Everyone thinks her life is perfect. She and her sisters are models; she has the perfect family, what could be wrong? Annabel’s life is unraveling around her. She doesn’t want to model anymore, her sister has an eating disorder, and she doesn’t want to see her friends anymore. What can she do? Soon she becomes friends with the loner of the school. He uses music to show her a new outlook on life, and she listens.

This was a good book. I really enjoyed the prominent role music had in the story. If you liked Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson you will definitely like Just Listen.

-- Cat

P.S. It’s on the Summer Reading List for freshmen.

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Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

A guest review by Teen Room Staff Cat!

Abraham Lincoln was one of the most famous presidents. But he has a deep dark secret, he is a vampire hunter. After his mother and Grandfather are killed by vampires, Abe swore revenge on these other worldly beasts. Along with some help from friends he hunts the vampires who haunt his country. A lawyer by day and hunter by night Abe starts his journey to the White House.

This is a great book, it starts out as an Abraham Lincoln biography, and quickly turns into a horror show filled with gore and lots of fighting.

--Cat

P.S. it’s on the Summer Reading List for Seniors (English 12 and Mr. Phair’s CAPP Courses)

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Paper Towns by John Green

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Cat!

For all of his life Quentin Jacobsen has lived next to Margo Roth Spiegelman, and for as long as he remembers he has loved her. Margo is the odd popular kid, cool enough to hang with the popular crowd. But when Margo’s boyfriend cheats on her she releases a storm of revenge with Quentin as her sidekick. She disappears that night. This is typical Margo behavior so only Quentin suspects there is something more to her disappearance. Following clues left by Margo he and his friends embark on a quest to find Margo, and for Quentin to find himself.

This book is great! Parts of it will make you laugh a lot.

--Cat

P.S. This is on the Summer Reading List for the Sophomores, and John Green is coming to Waupaca!

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Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson

A guest review by Teen Room Staff Cat!

Catalyst: a substance added to a reaction to speed up the reaction’s process.
Kate Malone has her life all figured out. In the fall she’s going to MIT, the same school her mother went to, and until then she’s taking care of her brother and father, and she’s not going to let anything stop her. But then several catalysts shake her life, and she learns life isn’t always what she expects it to be, and, maybe, that isn’t a bad thing.

--Cat

P.S. This book is on the Freshmen Summer Reading List.

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13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Cat!

If you were to die tomorrow what would you want to tell your friends? Hannah Baker has thought about this and she has all the answers or thirteen of them at least. Hannah is a good girl with a bad reputation and when her life spirals out of control she decides she has had enough, so she kills herself. But she is not about to be forgotten. She leaves thirteen tapes for her classmates to listen to, thirteen reason why she died.
The story follows Clay Jensen’s journey through Hannah’s mind and life, as he tries to figure out why he is on Hannah’s list, and who else caused her death.

This story has some obvious mature material in it. I would recommend it though, it is a great book. I couldn’t put it down. I just had to know how it ended.

--Cat

P.S. See here for Best Celler's review of the same title.
P.P.S. This book is on the Waupaca High School Summer Reading list for Juniors!

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Stitches by David Small

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Cat!

David Small was just a boy when he woke up from a seemingly harmless operation to find he could no longer talk. The lump on his neck that he thought was a cyst was actually a tumor, though he didn’t find this out for two weeks after he had his surgery. Stitches tells the story of this boy. His life has many morbid facets, and each facet is shown in clarity. This autobiographical work seems to be a story from made up in a dark world, but this really is David Small’s life, and he manages to come out of this life brilliantly.

I loved this book. It had a relatively happy ending which is always a plus, and it’s a graphic novel, which I really liked. It is a tiny bit graphic, so be prepared if you want to read it.

--Cat

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Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Cat!

Geektastic is a collection of stories all about geeks. They are written by all your favorite authors, Holly Black, M.T. Anderson, Garth Nix, and John Green, among others. Every author covers a different spectrum of geekdom, from a Star Wars convention, to a viewing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, quiz bowl preparations and more. Some are funny. Some are serious. All are worth the read.

--Cat

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The Host by Stephenie Meyer

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Cat!

You all know Stephenie Meyer as the vampire lady, but in The Host she takes a step into a different genre. Science Fiction.

The Host tells the story of aliens. These aliens find planets with life forms, and then insert their souls into these forms, and now they are on earth. The main alien, named the wanderer, had lived many lives and seen many planets. She is put into a body which, she finds out, is from a rebel human, one of the few left alive. The Wanderer is supposed to help track down these last humans, but the human, Melanie, lives on in her head. This is quite unexpected, and leads to turmoil. Should the Wanderer help destroy the humans?

I liked this book. It’s a nice blending of sci-fi and romance, which makes it more accessible to lovers of both. It is a little lengthy though I don’t think it was boring, so the length shouldn’t really be a problem.

--Cat

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Cat's Top Ten of '09

Top ten in ’09 in no particular order, by Teen Room Staff Cat!

1. The Hunger Games-Suzanne Collins
2. Catching Fire-Suzanne Collins
3. Graceling-Kristen Cashore
4. Fire-Kristen Cashore
5. Let it Snow-John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle
6. Paper Towns-John Green
7. Looking for Alaska-John Green
8. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist-Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
9. The Bog Child-Siobhan Dowd
10. The Last Lecture-Randy Pausch

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is the start of a post-apocalyptic series. The country is spilt into districts, and every year each district sends two children to compete in the hunger games, an Olympics of sorts, but with deadly consequences. The series continues with Catching Fire. Graceling by Kristen Cashore is the story of a fantasy world, where people are “graced” with powers. This book has enough adventure and excitement to keep you hooked until the end (Kristen Cashore has another book called Fire, it is set in the same world, but with different characters, I haven’t read it, but I’ve heard nothing but praise for it, so I felt it would be worth a mention). Let it Snow by John Green, Lauren Myracle, and Maureen Johnson, for the romantic in you. Let it snow has three different stories about finding love during the holiday season all tied together at the end. Now, I can start with the John Green Books. First, there is Paper Towns, which takes you on a whirlwind ride to find Quenton Jacobsen’s Neighbor, and the town’s resident bad girl, Margo, who just happens to be Quenton’s crush. Next is Looking for Alaska by John Green. This book came out in 2005 so I’m a little behind, but if you haven’t read it yet please do you won’t be sorry. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn is another book that takes you on a wild ride, in this one two teenagers lose love, find love, and then lose it and find it again, all in one night. My last two are more serious. The Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd tells two stories, one of Fergus McCann, in Ireland 1981(during one of the many struggles of Ireland’s History) and one of Mel, 2000 years earlier. The stories meet when Fergus finds Mel’s body in a bog. The last book is the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, last lectures are usually given by professors who are retiring, they tell the things they’ve learned and give advice, but this last lecture really is a last lecture, because it is given by Randy Pausch who had terminal cancer.

--Cat

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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Cat!

This book follows the story of Arthur Dent, a rather boring Englishman, who finds out his best friend is an alien and that the earth is about to be destroyed all in the same day. The friend is named Ford Prefect, and is a researcher for the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, an encyclopedia, of sorts. The guide instructs hitchhikers about the best ways to travel the galaxy, using firsthand knowledge and a very British sense of humor.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of my personal favorites. Sometimes are so ridiculous, all you can do is laugh.

--Cat

P.S. If you like this, don't miss the sequels!

Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, the Universe, and Everything
So Long and Thanks For All the Fish
Mostly Harmless
Salmon of Doubt

And Eoin Colfer, the author of the Artemis Fowl books, has added a sixth book to the series.

And Another Thing

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An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Cat!

Colin Singleton is a child prodigy, and he only dates Katherines. He always ends up getting dumped by Katherines, too. After Katherine number nineteen, he and his Judge Judy loving friend, Hassan, take a road trip. This lands them in Gutshot, Tennessee, the location of the grave of Archduke Ferdinand. There Colin works on his Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability.

An Abundance of Katherines is one of my favorite books. The characters are rich and hilarious. Colin and Hassan’s use of foreign languages add to the characters. Colin’s attempt to solve the problem of his relationships using math is a fascinating concept, which interested me a lot. This is another great book from John Green.

--Cat

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Psyche in a Dress by Francesca Lia Block

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Cat!

Psyche in a Dress is a very modern retelling of the Roman (or Greek) myth of Psyche and Eros. Very Modern, and is written in verse. Francesca Lia Block is very modern and unorthodox, and it shows in this book.

Psyche is a film maker’s daughter. Her mother left when she was little. She starts being visited every night by Eros, or Love. He has only one rule, she must never see him in the light. For a while all is well. Then Psyche heeds the advice of her sisters and looks at Eros. She sees he is beautiful, but he wakes up and finds her breaking his one rule so he flies out the window. Psyche is heartbroken. She travels around looking for Eros and trying to earn his love back.

I liked this book. It was unlike many books I had read. There is a deep mythological undertone, and Block seems to fit most of the gods, and some of the myths in the book without trouble. The poetry can make it difficult to follow. Some things didn’t click until later in the book, and I had to reread some passages to really understand what happened. I wished Block had spent more time on the Eros and Psyche part. It seemed to be over within a few pages.

I don’t think you need to be familiar with the myth to read this book. It will help though, since the author tends to leave out details about the myth itself. This is definitely a very mature book. I would not recommend this to a young audience, but to anyone else it is definitely worth a look, and it is a very quick read.

--Cat

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