Book Reviews

Being a super busy junior, I don't have very much time to set aside for reading. But, I try to read whenever I have a little bit of free time. This semester, the types of books I've read range from easy, entertaining reads to harder, more complex reads. Some that I have read are Willow, Change of Heart, Dreamland, and The Awakening.

• Willow, by Julia Hoban, is a simple yet emotional book that I couldn't put down until I was finished. This book is about a seventeen year old girl, Willow, who loses both of her parents in a terrible accident. Overwhelmed with guilt, Willow's only way to cope is cutting herself...until she meets Guy, who refuses to give up on her. Even through the extremely graphic cutting scenes, I was completely captivated by this book. I definitely recommend this book to everyone-teenagers, parents, teachers. It teaches many different important lessons about how people cope with problems differently and how you can help them to find a new way to deal with their emotions.

• Whenever I'm in serious need of a book, I just go searching for Jodi Picoult because she does an amazing job of telling stories. Recently, I finished her book Change of Heart and it's my favorite so far. One reason why I liked this book so much is because it is very similar to one of my favorite movies, The Green Mile. Also, it was told by three different characters which kept the book in constant motion. This story is about a carpenter, Shay Bourne, who killed June Nealon's police officer husband and young daughter. He is sentenced with the death penalty, and while on death row began to perform various miracles in prison. Soon after, Bourne became known as "the Death Row Messiah." Almost 10 years after the murders, June's daughter Claire is in serious need of a heart transplant, and Shay Bourne wants to do anything he can to give her his heart. Is Shay Bourne the next Messiah? And does he find a loophole through which he can donate is heart to the sister/daughter of the innocent people that he murdered 10 years earlier? (2 Books)

• Another book I read was The Awakening by Kate Chopin. It is a classic based on the struggle of a woman living in the 1800s who realizes that she isn't happy with her wife/mother only role in life. While it's usually hard for me to read classics, this one was very easy for me to read and understand. The It isn't a book I would recommend as a fun, entertaining read, but it is a book I recommend if you are trying to deepen your thinking skills.

• Dreamland by Sarah Dessen is about a girl named Caitlin who always lived in the footsteps of her older sister, Cass. Cass was perfect, two weeks away from going to college at Yale. Caitlin's sister had what seemed like everything...until one day when she ran away from home. Without Cass around, Caitlin began to find herself. She started dating a "perfect" guy, Rogerson, and slipped into a dreamland where nothing seemed real. I recommend this book to everyone, even though it is extremely depressing and very raw at times.