GJSHS book reviews » Realistic Fiction

What Happened to Cass McBride by Gail Giles

Christina Brownell — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:57:39 +0000

Another fantasic book by Gail Giles. The athor of Dead Girls Don’t Write letters and Shattered Glass. Now with her newest book What Happened to Cass McBride. In this book Cass Mcbride, the popular rich girl in her school, is abducted by an enraged teen named Kyle. Kyle abductes Cass to avenge is brothers death. But with in the prosess he figures oiut the real reason for his brother’s, David, susicide. In this spine tingaling book you will find out how money isn’t everything.

Mackenzie M. – Grade 8

What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

Christina Brownell — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 12:03:48 +0000

All junior high school girls will like this book because it
Involves crushes, bestfriends, and secrets. These are all
things that us girls have to deal with. It was very easy to
get into the mood of the book and to just loose track of
time while reading it. I sure did!

-7th grader

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

Christina Brownell — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 14:06:35 +0000

Go Ask Alice is a great book. It all starts when Alice goes to a party where someone puts LSD in her drink. She thought the LSD was really cool and she oculdn’t wait to try other drugs. She tried just about every drug there is: speed, cocaine, heroine, anything she could get her hands on. Within months, she was addicted. her parents knew that something was wrong and were always on her case. They would barely let her go to the bathroom alone, so Alice ran away. You’ll have to read the book to find out if she came back or not.Anonymous – 8th grade

Where the Kissing Never Stops by Ron Koertge

Christina Brownell — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 14:04:07 +0000

I absolutely loved this book. It was extremely entertaining. It is about a boy named walker, his dad just died. About a year later his mom announces that she has got a new job, as a stripper. He is absolutely shocked and angry. He does not want anyone to know about this, maybe not even his best friend Sully, who is a year older. His girlfriend moved away and he is lonely. Sully and Peggy introduce him to a new girl; Rachel who he does not realize will be the person he can’t stop thinking about. He will later lose his innocence to her, and go to where the kissing never stops.

Nate B. – 8th grade

Baby Blue by Michelle Kwasney

Christina Brownell — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:58:48 +0000

I would give this books five stars. It’s a book that you can read over and over again and still enjoy it as much as the first time you read it. This book is not for everyone though. I think that mostly girls would appreciate it. The story is about a girl named Blue. Her father drowns while trying to save another little boy. Then Blue’s mother meets a man named Lyle, nicknamed Jinx by Blue and her sister, Star. Jinx abuses Blue’s mother, so Star runs away. Blue is trying her hardest to find Star and desperately trying to help her mother find a way out. This is a tale that will touch everyone’s heart.Tory – 8th grade

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

Christina Brownell — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:56:31 +0000

“The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that’s what you’ve give me. That’s what I’d hope to give to you forever.” This is a story that many of you may have seen in the movies but it is nothing compared to the book. It is a story of true love and how no matter what happens in your life, your dreams will come true if you go after them. Noah Calhoun and Ally Hamilton are the two dreamers in this story who suffer many hard times and troubles in their life. They realize that not everything can be perfect like you want it to be. This is an amazing book, very poetic, and very romantic. For those of you who aren’t into gushy love stories, maybe this isnt the one for you. It is a book for more the adult like mind as there is some sexual references. Even still, there are many wonderful parts to this story that lead up to a wonderful ending. Of course, I cried as I always do when I read good books and I believe many of you will to. There are some chapters in the book that make the story come alive that weren’t in the movie. I do recommend reading the book first if you haven’t seen the movie yet. It will give you a whole new insight of the story and how wonderful a writer Sparks is. I do love to read but this story is exeptional! Absolutely the best!

Carly C. – 8th grade

The Trouble with Liberty by Kristin Butcher

Christina Brownell — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:52:07 +0000

This book called Trouble With Liberty was a really good book that i enjoyed. Its about this girl named liberty who moves to a diffeent school and who is really pretty and all the guys want to go out with her. Then she says something happens and not many people beileve her except her boyfriend and father. Until her best friend finds out the truth about liberty she is on her side. Everyone finds out eventually and liberty is no longer going to the school because of what happened.

What someone may say may not always be the truth people could just say things to get the attention from it.I think people who enjoy reading books about problemed teenagers would really enjoy this book, ya it was a short book and easy to read but it has alot of info and really enjoyable.

Kathleen B. – 7th grade

Plainsong by Kent Haruf

Christina Brownell — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 18:56:17 +0000

This story is a about the town people of the little town of Holt. There is Ike and Bobby, bothers who are dealing with their absence of their mother and taking on more responsibility around the house. Their father, Guthie, has to deal with his job as a teacher. He has trouble balancing his home and work relationships. There is also Victoria, the teenager not only dealing with a controlling boyfriend, living in various locations, but she is also pregnant. Then there are the McPherons bothers, two old, sweet men living their life the only way they know how: Through farming, who end up giving Victoria a place to stay. Together these characters face many hardships and together they get though them, better and wiser people for it. I recommend this book to men and women alike. I believe there is something that would capture the interest of all inside this book.
Christina N. – 12th grade

A Face First by Priscilla Cummings

Christina Brownell — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 18:54:11 +0000

This book was written by an author who used to live in Granby so if you want to read a book by an author you might know this is a book for you. This book is about a girl, Kelley Ann Brennan, who lives in Maryland. She gets into a car accident and gets severely burned. Cummings tells about the emotional ups and downs of Kelley while she is in the hospital. When she comes home she finds her sister home from studying abroad. Leah plans on tutoring Kelley because she missed a few months of school. Kelley doesn’t want to go back to school because she has to wear a mask to keep her skin from scaring. With the help of her friends and family Kelley overcomes her fear of the world and realizes that “a face is the first thing one sees but a second impression can make all the difference.” Cummings spent many months in a burn unit observing patients so when she wrote this book it feels like you are actually right there next to Kelley. This is a good book because it tells of a girl who made it through a very tough time in her life and how she made the best of it.

Elise T.- 12th grade

Stoner and Spaz by Ron Koertge

Christina Brownell — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:51:37 +0000

This is a book about an unlikely friendship between the high school’s biggest drug abuser (Colleen Minou) and a kid with cerebral palsy (Ben Bancroft) who is a straight A student and never does any thing wrong, nor has had a girl even talk to him. Ben wants to be a movie director and Colleen wants to sit around and do drugs with her so-called friends all day. Ron Keortge writes an amazing story of how they met at a movie theater when Colleen was all drugged out and Ben was sitting there alone (like always). Colleen finds out that she does not need the drugs; all she needs is someone there for her. That is where Ben comes into play.

Note: I normally do not even like reading and I absolutely loved this book it was so entertaining and I could not even put it down.

Nate B. – 8th grade