Blog: Teen Book Club

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

7/20/2015

The Call of the Wild was a great book. The story was heart breaking and upsetting though. The torture the dogs had to go through and the malnutrition made me feel completely sick. How could anyone treat an animal like that? In the book Buck was the strongest and stood up for himself. In the beginning when he was beaten by the man in the red sweater, this taught him how to control himself and survive. Tears came to my eyes in the parts where they were clubbed and whipped, killed by other dogs, and not fed.

I would have to say my favorite part in this book was when Buck refused to get up and pull the sled across the menting river. He stood his ground and didn’t give up even though he was beaten almost to death. John Thornton saved Buck and treated him better than the other masters, until one day he was killed by Indians. Buck avenged his death by killing the ones who killed his master and best friend. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes dogs and stands up for animal rights. It made me feel like I was part of the story and it was very well written.
~Monique Caldwell

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Gregor the Overlander

6/22/2015

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Gregor the Overlander is a story focused around a boy named Gregor and his two year old sister named Boots. Early on in the book Gregor and his sister fall down a hole in their laundry room that leads to a place called the Underland where people, giant bats, giant roaches, and many other creatures live. The Underlanders believe that Gregor is the one that will fulfill the prophesy of helping the humans defeat the rats. Gregor then goes on this journey with many others to defeat the rats and rescue his father that disappeared a few years ago.

Now for what we talked about during book club. We questioned how the humans could have adapted to have purple eyes in Underland, and how were the first humans able to survive down there. We also wondered how the roaches were able to grow so big. Lastly we discussed if the first guy who decided to move to the Underland was crazy.
~Caleb Poderalu

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-Kidnapped did not “Captivate” its readers-By: Corban Woosley

6/6/2015

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I was more than a little disappointed with the general reaction to R. L. Stevenson’s book Kidnapped. The plot line follows a youth who is thrust into a dangerous situation, must take charge, and succeeds triumphantly. The novel contains physical violence, revenge, and adventure. However, these basic building blocks for a modern day youth read were not enough to keep the MEWA book club interested. When I first read this book, I was immediately absorbed by its swashbuckling tales and promise of a good revenge story. I didn’t notice anything annoying about the way it was written or received. Others were not so lucky. Before we get into why though, let’s briefly mention what is this book really about.

David Balfour is sent to live with his uncle after his parents pass away. Though Ddavid never knew of him, his mysterious uncle claims to be the heir to the family fortune. However, when David discovers information that indicates otherwise he finds himself kidnapped and aboard a ship, never to return home. With what little resources and experience he has, David makes friends and begins his epic journey back to receive justice on his uncle.

This story that ensnared me did, not hold the attention of my peers, however. I discovered that they felt the dialogue was two dimensional, and that the characters were difficult to relate to. I discovered that they felt the pace of the book was imbalanced and that Stevenson spent too much time writing about un-exciting scenes. This begs the question, are my peers right to think this? I believe that in the end, they do have reason to believe these things. Kidnapped did not contain the same depth and feeling of other Stevenson works such as Treasure Island. Though some readers such as myself are able to remove themselves from distracting parts of books and only focus on the good, most cannot. Nor should they. While I was able to make myself interested in his plight, I will agree that David Balfour as a character was un-relatable and transparent. However, I do urge you to read this book, if not for the pure adventure of it, then maybe just to see if I’m right. Maybe you won’t be as weak willed as me, and will genuinely love it the way I wanted to.

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The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

5/9/2015

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Mistaken Misfits by Makayla Wright

The Outsiders is a classic book that every person that has gone through school has most likely read or heard of. It’s the classic storyline of the rich vs. the poor, burnouts vs. the jocks, etc. There’s a deeper meaning to this story though about how just because they are rebellious they still are smart and have deep thoughts.

The book The Outsiders is about a group of guys called outsiders because they don’t meet the normal standards of teenagers in that time. The teenagers considered normal were rich kids called socs. Ponyboy and Johnny kill a soc because the socs started a fight with them. They leave town so they don’t go to jail and while they’re out of town they stay in a church, meanwhile the church caught on fire. There are kids inside the church and Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dally go inside to save them and have to go to the hospital for smoke inhalation. Ponyboy and Dally are fine but Johnny has to stay because his case is worse. There’s a rumble between the outsiders and the socs, then Johnny dies, and Dally holds up the local convenience store and the police go after him and kill him.

In book club we didn’t talk too much about the book because we also watched the movie but what we said was basically the summary of the book and some people said they liked it because it was relatable and a classic and I agree with that completely.

I think there’s a deeper meaning than just the fact they’re misfits who go through troubles, they show that even though they have to be tough guys they still care about their friends a lot and they have a lot of feelings. The part where they read the “Stay Gold” poem is kind of a symbol for the fact that most of their lives they’ve had to be tough and fight but they still have a lot of innocence inside of them and they’re still pure and good. It’s one of the best books I’ve read and I think that’s a super important theme in the book.

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Rootless by Chris Howard

4/24/2015

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Rootless
by Zander Woosley

Rootless is an epic tale of a young man named Banyan. It is an extraordinarily unique, Mad Max-like world made for a wildly fun and exciting setting. I couldn’t seem to put the book down as I flipped through its pages.

Chris Howard is a visionary writer with fresh new Ideas. Howard managed to connect me to the characters, making me want to cry when they cried, even making me wish they could have death when things got bitter and hopeless, and making me leap for joy when they struck back.

The book stuck with the popular genre of teens rebelling against a threat that thinks killing people is for the greater good, yet at the same time it also separates itself from those other popular titles.

I wouldn't exactly recommend this to every audience due to its violent and mildly mature content, but this is a sure title for the ages. I can’t wait to get started on the book’s sequel, “The Rift”, and will be waiting patiently for Chris Howard to finish the series with its third and final title.

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Scorch Trials by James Dashner

4/7/2015

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Burn, Betrayal, and…. Love Triangle?

By: Rachel Ohm
Many of you who read Scorch Trials by James Dashner know about the burning of the sun, and Teresa’s bitter betrayal. However, did any of you see the love triangle between Thomas, Teresa, and Brenda? When I read Scorch Trials I couldn’t believe the author tried to make a love triangle. They’re all fighting for their lives; they don’t have time for love! I thought the author tried a little too hard to make the triangle part of the story, and by the end of the book you can totally tell he’s going to make that into a big deal in the next book. To me, it was a bit Hunger Games-ish. The story is great as is, but then the author tried to make it appealing to a wider reader base by adding a ridiculous, and not needed love triangle.

So basically here’s what happens in Scorch Trials! The Gladers were rescued, and given food and shelter. They’re thinking this is awesome, they finally escaped, and could now live normal lives. Boy were they wrong! The next morning all their ‘rescuers’ were strung up and deceased. However, what they are later told is that was all fake! They are then told by WICKED that they have two weeks to get to this so called ‘safe haven.’ If they don’t go, they die; if they do go, there is a high chance of death. They also find out that there is an all-girl team called Group A, and that they were Group B. They went through the same Glade process that the guys did! Crazy right! Skipping ahead, this girl group is lead by none other than Teresa. She tricks Thomas multiple times until he feels utterly devastated and betrayed. Supposedly this would give WICKED some kind of brain pattern that they needed.

As these two weeks go by the gladers are given all sorts of obstacles and challenges. At the end when they get to the ‘safe haven’ they are greeted by monsters (worse than the grievers) and after they destroy them a helicopter arrives. They all run to it (almost missing it) and get on. A officer/guard dude wanted the Cranks that had joined their group to be thrown out of the plane, but Thomas wouldn’t let them go. The officer finally agreed and they were fed and fell asleep. Thomas wakes up in a white room and has no idea what’s going on. The End. Talk about a huge cliffhanger!

At my Book Club’s monthly meeting we discussed what everyone thought about the Scorch Trials and the consensus was that the book had too many plot twists, Teresa was a son of a nutcracker, and that everybody hated Teresa. I don’t blame them, Teresa stunk! However, she did what she did because WICKED said they would hurt/kill people if she didn’t! I would have done the same thing if I were in her position. If I were Thomas… I don’t think I’d ever be able to forgive Teresa even if what she did was fake. It was too much mind meddling, and trust breaking! There’s also the issue of the love triangle. Most kids in our club didn’t like Teresa and were all for Brenda. Others didn’t like the love at all, and thought it was unneeded. I personally like Teresa, but after what happened, I would want Thomas to choose Brenda.

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D.U.F.F. review by Kelsi Buckner

3/21/2015

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A D.U.F.F no more

The book I will be talking about is called The D.U.F.F by Kody Keplinger. D.U.F.F. was altogether a good book but not the most appropriate. It had a lot of cursing and sexual content. But the plot and the ending were very well put together. It had a lot of drama which I like and it had romance. It was also an easy read. I thought it ended really well because it was something so unexpected and I love books that have an ending you weren't expecting.

The D.U.F.F was about a girl named Bianca and she was at a party when rich jock Wesley Rush came by to talk to her. Basically he called her the D.U.F.F of her group of friends. D.U.F.F means Designated Ugly Fat Friend. Bianca was very offended so she just went back home and that next week for her was the worst. Bianca’s ex came and visited, her mom and dad got a divorce, and she ended up in bed with Wesley.

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Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

3/6/2015

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Guest post from Gene:

The book that I am doing my blog post for is Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I really liked that book. It almost reminded me of the movie Bedtime Stories where the uncle tells stories to his niece and nephew before they go to bed and then the next day, the things that happen in his stories that he tells happen to him in real life. One of the things that I liked about the book was that it was its own type of story and it wasn’t about what a lot of today’s teen and young adult books are about today where the main characters have to survive something or they have to battle other kids their same age. Here are some things that I did and didn’t like about the book.

There was one thing at the end of the book that I didn’t like so much. What happened was the author Fenoglio had disappeared and it never said what had happened to him. I am wondering if the next book Inkspell will be told the same way where Inkspell is based off its own book and the characters come out. At first, I had thought that Fenoglio might be a bad guy. The reason why, is because when I heard about what was supposed to happen to Dustfinger and also when he said that some of the heroes in books die, I started to wonder if he was going to end up being bad and somehow team up with Capricorn because he had never said anything negative about him. I really liked Farid because he was a really nice kid and in my opinion he seemed like a son or a brother to Dustfinger because of how close he was to him. I was surprised at the end where it said that he went away with Dustfinger but it didn’t say where they were going.

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Hiroshima: Student Book Review

1/20/2015

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100,000 people died on August 6th, 1945 at 8:15 AM in Hiroshima. The United States just dropped an atomic bomb in Japan. Less than a year after the attack, New Yorker journalist John Hersey interviewed many people, but decided to focus on just six individuals.

Hiroshima explores the lives of six people during the atomic bomb: Hatsuyo Nakamura, a mother; Dr. Terufumi Sasaki, a young surgeon; Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, a priest; Toshiko Sasaki, a young clerk; Dr. Masakazu Fujii, a physician; and Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto, a pastor.
I don’t want to spoil the book for you, so I have decided to include some Fun Facts.

Did you know?
1. For decades, the mayor of Hiroshima, Tadatoshi Akiba wrote letters of protest each time a nuclear test was conducted, as a plea to end the use of nuclear weapons?

2. After the first Hiroshima atomic bombing in Japan, one Hiroshima policeman went to Nagasaki to teach police about ducking after the atomic flash. As a result of this timely warning, not a single Nagasaki policeman died in Nagasaki’s atomic blast.

3. In 1945, a man named Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived the atomic blast at Hiroshima, dragged himself into an air-raid shelter, spent the night there, in the morning caught a train so he could arrive at his job on time in Nagasaki, where he survived another atomic blast.

4. The oleander is the official flower of the city of Hiroshima because it was the first thing to bloom again after the explosion of the atomic bomb in 1945.

5. “Hiroshima shadows”: When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the intensity of the blast was of such intensity that it permanently burned shadows of people and objects into the ground.

6. “Horton Hears a Who” was an allegory about Hiroshima and the America’s occupation of Japan and may have been Dr. Seuss’s way of apologizing for his support of Japanese Internment.

7. Godzilla was created by Japan as a reaction to the bombings of Hiroshima, the monster itself spawning as a result of the nuclear detonations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

8. The USA originally denied that atomic bombs caused any lingering radioactivity whatsoever, calling such claims as Japanese propaganda. Even New York Times ran an article with the headline “NO RADIOACTIVITY IN HIROSHIMA RUIN,” citing only military sources and ignoring eyewitness accounts of radiation sickness.

~Emily Berry

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The Fellowship of the Ring for Book Club

1/10/2015

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The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tokien
~Aidan Durias

Once upon a time, in a little hole in the Shire, lived a peaceful hobbit by the name of Frodo Baggins. Frodo lived a normal life with his friends, until one day, his uncle Bilbo entrusted to him his old ring. But little did either of them know that the ring was more than a pretty piece of jewelry. In days of old, it was the One Ring, the Ring of Power. Sauron used this ring to wreak havoc across middle earth, but was eventually defeated. But now, in the dark land of Mordor, he has risen again in the form of a great eye, perched on top of a sleek, black tower. Now Frodo, along with his faithful friends, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, must take the ring into the Crack of Doom to destroy it. In the first installment of this epic tale, Frodo meets men, elves, and dwarves. He discovers new friends, as well as new enemies. Follow Frodo across Middle Earth as he attempts to carry the ring to Mordor. Will he do it?

In Book Club, we discussed the different effects the Ring had on each character that possessed it. We talked about why the Ring chose Bilbo, and why it didn’t really affect him as much as Frodo. We looked into why the Ring ditched Golem, and if it chose Bilbo, or was it an accident that it went to him. Finally, we talked about the absence of Tom Bombadil in the movie. We were all pretty bummed out that he didn’t get added.

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<<Previous

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Gregor the Overlander

-Kidnapped did not “Captivate” its readers-By: Corban Woosley

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Rootless by Chris Howard

Scorch Trials by James Dashner

D.U.F.F. review by Kelsi Buckner

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Hiroshima: Student Book Review

The Fellowship of the Ring for Book Club

Chris Struyk-Bonn

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