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.

Paper Towns blogged by Sidney B.

Paper Towns by John Green

6 hours

Quentin has loved his neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman since they were kids. Now in their teens, Quentin and Margo are on very separate paths in life until one night when Margo mysteriously knocks on Quentin’s window. Driven by revenge, Margo drags Quentin with her for one wild, unforgettable night of pranks. The next morning Quentin looks for Margo only to find she has run away from home. However, Margo has left a trail of clues to lead Quentin on one final adventure to find her.

A major element of this book was mystery, the hunt to find Margo and also the enigma that is Margo. The unknown creates suspense and keeps the reader on their toes, never knowing what will happen next. Not only do the mysterious elements of the novel keep the reader interested, it makes the work more relatible. Most people know a person that to them is a secret. While most do not seek to solve those enigmas, that is exactly what the main character, Quentin, does. In his quest to find and discover who Margo is he not only finds her, but discovers some things about himself. In Paper Towns, John Green delicately tempers a suspenseful mystery with humor and coming of age elements.   

13 Gifts blogged by Anika N.

13 Gifts by Wendy Mass
2 Hours

This book was about a girl named Tara who got suspended from school near the end of the school year. Her parents decided to let her spend the summer with her aunt that she barely knows, instead of going to Africa with them. They think it will help her be more responsible. After she gets off the train, she loses her Ipod and the $200 dollars for the trip. She doesn't want to ask her aunt for more money and steals one of her uncle's collectible comic books to sell it, But the store owner who Tara tries to sell it to knows who it belongs to. She promises not to tell on Tara if she goes around town gathering collectible items for her store by the time Tara has to go back to her parents.

Flygirl blogged by Nicole H.

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

6-1/4 hours

     I have been reading the book Flygirl. The book is mainly about a black woman name Ida Mae Jones who loves flying but since she's black no one wants to give her a flying license since she is black and also a woman. But Ida Mae has heard of this place in Chicago where they have given licenses to many blacks and many women so she has been a housemaid at many houses trying to earn enough money to get a bus ticket to go there. Suddenly in the middle of what seemed to her to be a pretty average day the Japanese bombed Hawaii. Luckily it didn't effect her or her family since they live in Georgia. Since the U.S. Is now recruiting for the army her older brother decides to go be a doctor and help the countless soldiers. And the news all that is going on has really bummed out Ida Mae so she decides to go into the military as well. 

     The only reason she decided to go into the service was because her little brother showed her an news article saying that the military needs women pilots. So Ida Mae secretly sent in a request to join and then they said she was scheduled for an appointment with the recruiter. When she finally decided to "come clean" her mom and grandfather were very concerned but the let her do it. Now since Ida Mae had light brown skin if she wore the right clothes and acted the right way she could pass as a white woman so when it came time for the interview she did exactly that, mostly because she wasn't sure if they would let a black woman in. Luckily she was accepted into the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) and so she is now off to the WASP training facility.  

House of the Scorpion blogged by Nashir R.

House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer 

4 hours

So I finished the book House of the Scorpion and finally Matt (the main character) has gotten justice and the treatment he deserves from the maids but the kids of the big house are still treating him badly. They would tell him to play a game but trick him into doing something humiliating. Matt was finally returned back to Maria his original guardian and caretaker. I really liked the book because it shows stereotypes and how if you don't look or act or even in Matt's case born like everyone else or how people want you to be you would be mistreated.