Before I Fall blogged by Sidney B.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

8 hours

Samantha Kingston leads a charmed life until one day everything changes-she dies. However, that’s not even the strangest part, what’s even weirder is she keeps reliving the day she dies.

Before I Fall allows readers to explore different possibilities of the same day without being boring. Each day is so drastically different from the last it is interesting. Even though the reader knows Samantha dies at the end, her death is still heartbreaking because the character is so lovable. Throughout the novel Samantha is endeared to the reader as they follow her on a journey through her last few days in which she discovers more about herself than she ever thought possible.

If I Stay blogged by Sidney B.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

4 hours

Mia had two loving parents and an awesome little brother until they die in a car accident while Mia survives. Mia is in a coma watching everything around her unfold, including events that influence her choice, to stay on Earth without her family, or to let go and join them in heaven.

Mia’s story is gripping and suspenseful to the very end. There are many factors that determine whether Mia wants to live or die, and she must decide if they are worth fighting for. When something as important as your family is pulled away from you everything comes into question. The novel makes us question the relationships we have outside of the family, and if they are strong enough to withstand anything.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time blogged by Mya W.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon
1hour

    The book starts off with Christopher, who is going for a midnight stroll and suddenly sees his neighbor's poodle lying on the grass dead. He runs to help the dog and sees a fork stuck into the dog's side. Mrs. Shears, the owner of the poodle, calls the police. Once the police arrive, they ask Christopher a series of questions that he does not understand. Out of fear and confusion, he hits the police officer and gets arrested for assaulting a police officer.
    Christopher is a very smart boy. He can name every prime number up to 7057 and can name every country in the world and its capital. He also likes astronomy. Christopher is not very good with interacting with people. He is not very social, and he can never tell what people are thinking with their facial expressions.

A Monster Calls blogged by Andrew W.

Yesterday, I reviewed The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. Today, I shall report on A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (inspired by Siobhan Dowd). This is a picture book, but it's fairly dark and deals with some mature themes. A troubled boy named Conor, with an ailing mother, a divorced father, and a slightly unpleasant grandmother, is paid visits in the night by a huge monster, made of a yew tree. The monster tells Conor three tales in exchange for a fourth tale told by Conor. The boy thinks he knows what the fourth tale is, but dreads its coming even as the monster tells him a tale of royal backstabbing and intrigue, a tale of an apothecary and a holy man, and even a tale of Conor and his schoolyard bully. Finally, it comes time for the fourth tale: his recurring nightmare about losing his mother to a fiery monster, aka. cancer. The monster forces Conor to relive the nightmare, and helps him cope with the loss of his mother and make amends with his grandmother.