The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson

Another teacher recommended this nonfiction title. I admit it was the serial killer that drew my interest, but the real tension in the book is the effort it took to create the Chicago World's Fair. It was an amazing feat against time and buracracy. I was fascinated by the period details, not just of the building process, but of Chicago itself. At that time (late 1800's) Chicago was one tough city. The smell alone would have knocked most of us to the floor, what with the sewage in the streets and the additional stink of the meat processing plants, yet it was a thriving metropolis with lots of young women coming to the city to work. And that's where the serial killer finds his prey. Even the burgeoning career of detective work gets a role in this fascinating true story. (sumitted by J.S.)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a fantastically humorous novel about a young boy named Christopher who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. Written from his perspective, young Christopher discovers his neighbor's dog has been murder with a gardening fork. He then decides to solve the mystery of who killed the dog, but along the way his difficulties with interpreting the world around him and overcoming his fears. Along the way, Christopher's investigation develops  into a revealing truth surrounding his mother's death and his father. 

The book is more than just about a mystery, it's a biography of sorts about living with Autism and its effects on people and those around them. It's humorous throughout, serious at times and completely original! It's one of the few books I can read again and again. You must read this book. (Corbin - senior)

Blue Bloods By Melissa De La Cruz

This is an exciting book and a new twist on vampires and the people who first colonized Plymouth. It takes place in present day but has flash backs to the old days. There is a mystery on who is killing all the vampires. This is a highly recommended book which is the first in a series.

Pewaukee High School Book Club

A bunch of students have requested that PHS create a Book Club where students and teachers alike read book and discuss them at meetings. I love the idea!!! We are going need some support from students and teachers to make this club run smoothly, we'll also need to work out all the details. If you're interested, which I'm sure you are, come to a meeting this Thursday in room 220 during resource!

For now, keep reading, keep posting and spread the word! 

Corbin (senior)

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Ann Barrows

My adult book club recently read this book and found it to be delightful. It's told completely in letters from one person to another and takes place during and after WW II. The island of Guernsey, off the shore of England, was occupied by the Nazis during that war. Under the cover of monthly "literary" meetings, the islanders do their best to help each other survive a dreadful experience. A saucy reporter begins a dialogue of letters between herself and the islanders who survived that experience, which sounds like it might be heavy material, but it is quite a light hearted book. The letters are full of humor and the engaging eccentricties of individual characters. Part of the draw for me was the reaction the non-readers had to the books they choose to read for their fake book club. One fisherman tries his hand at Shakespeare, with this result: "Mind you, I cannot always make sense of what he says, but it will come. It seems to me the less he said, the more beauty he made. Do you know what sentence of his I admire the most? It is 'The bright day is done, and we are for the dark.' " Lovely. Worth reading. (submitted by JS, librarian)

Looking for Alaska by John Green

It's not very often that I'll judge a book by its cover, but that is exactly what I did when I started reading Looking For Alaska by John Green. One of my good friend's recommended the book, but I can honestly say I was not interested whatsoever, however, an epiphany struck me when I spotted the book's artistic cover on paperback turnstile in the high school library. I started reading it  with only a couple of weeks of school left and I wanted to finish it before my long summer hiatus. Fortunately, the library so kindly loaned me the book over the summer, allowing me to soak up each individual word on every page of the book. 

Miles is fifteen years old, undeniably intelligent and has a strange fascination with famous last words. However, despite his gifted intelligence, Miles is in search of deeper meaning in life, which translates to going to a boarding school in Florida. He eventually finds a goal in life which is inspired by Francois Rabelais's last words, "I go to seek a great perhaps," and wants to discover his own "great perhaps" before he dies. However, his journey is blockaded by his love interest in a young girl named Alaska Young, who causes Miles to embrace the wild side of life and falls into smoking, drinking and a prank war which ends badly. However, while deeper meaning may be hard to notice in this book, readers must challenge themselves to dig for deeper meaning - believe it definitely there. 

Overall, after I complete all of the books pages, I had to read more by John Green. His writing style was so eloquent and straight to the point that reading it was nothing short of a cake walk, while still managing to be quite humorous and interesting. The character depth is also very well constructed, allowing for readers to sympathize with all the events that unfold before their eyes. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in humorous anecdotes, dramatic circumstances and deep meaning all wrapped up in one little paperback. (Corbin - senior)

Marked, Chosen, and Betrayed by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

This series, known as the House of Night series, is a great vampire twist. It involves Gods, love, and loss. This is an intresting take on how people become "vampyres" and the powers associated with the Goddess Nyx. A major recommendation if into vampires, look forward to Untamed the fourth in this amazing series. (submitted by Austin, Sophmore)

Brisingr By Christopher Poalini

This book was an exhilerating addition to the Inheritence series. Throughout the entire book I just kept wanting to read more. I highly recommend this book as well as the first two books in this series (Eragon and The Eldest). However, never see the movie Eragon because it is a rip off of the books. Anyways, Brisingr was an exciting adventure and I can't wait to read the fourth book. (Submitted by Alyssa, Junior)

Resurrection Men by T.K. Welsh

The review said this book was a challenging read, so I picked it up just to read a few pages to see what they considered challenging. I ended up reading the whole book even though I was in the middle of another novel at the time. Set in Victorian England, this is a rather dark "Oliver" tale. The main character is a young boy who is orphaned and placed on a ship as a cabin boy. When he breaks his leg, the captain has him tossed overboard since he is no longer useful. This cavilier treatment of the poor and unfortunate, particularly children, factors greatly into the plot of this story. Our young orphan survives his intended death and eventually ends up in London, part of a group of begger children, very much like Dicken's Oliver Twist. What makes this novel darker is the topic of stealing bodies from fresh graves (hence the title) which was an illegal, but not uncommon practice at the time as medical science was beginning to take off. The plot is fairly action packed, but cringe worthy on a number of occasions due to the gruesome topic. In terms of being challenging: the author has a great vocabulary and there may be a number of words the reader won't know, but most can be figured out using the context of the paragraph. I find it quite refreshing to be introduced to new vocabulary, so I enjoyed that aspect. (submitted by J.S, librarian)

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

On my own free time I read Girl, Interrupted, a memoir written by Susanna Kaysen. This memoir is an account of her experiences in a psychiatric hospital during the 1960s after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The book does not follow a typical linear plot, instead the author chooses to reflect on events through a series of non-chronological reflections. Through her experiences at the hospital Susanna meets other individuals going through dissimilar experiences, yet they share a common bond of the female spirit. Written with honest personal revelation and poignancy, Girl, Interrupted is a fascinating story of survival amongst defying circumstances. (Corbin - senior) 

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the most memorable books in classic literature. With Vonnegut's distinct writing style and dark sense of humor, Slaughterhouse-Five constructs a complex story about Billy Pilgrim, a soldier fighting in World War II who is abducted by an alien race known as the Tralfamadores. Billy thus becomes "un-stuck" in time as he travels back through various points in his life from the war in Germany to the calmness that surrounds his life after the war.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Road is a post apocolyptic tale of a father and a son trying to survive. Everything has been burnt, not much vegetation is left, so people are starving and many have turned to cannibalism as their only hope of survival. (submitted by CB - senior)

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

This was easily the best book I read this summer. It reminded me a bit of Steinbeck with his vivid settings and unique characters. We meet Edgar, the main character, when he is just starting high school. He lives on an isolated farm near a small midwestern town. He was born unable to speak, though there is no apparent physical reason. His parents breed and raise dogs and the dogs are central to this tale. Edgar, who is beginning to take on some of the dog training responsibilities, shows a keen ability to communicate with the dogs. Without giving away any major plot points, what appears to be an idyllic story line, turns dark and never looks back. Even at the point I recognized where the author was taking me, I couldn't stop turning the pages. I'm not sure I liked the ending, but I very much enjoyed the ride. I give it 5 out of 5 stars. (submitted by J.S - librarian)

The Terror by Dan Simmons

I don't know how many students would enjoy reding this rather lengthy novel, but some staff might. In any case, it's what I've been reading this summer. In the mid 1800s, two British ships set sail for arctic waters; the Terror and the Erebus. We know the ships were iced in for at least two winters in northern waters, but we don't know what happened to the crews as none were ever heard from again. This story is Mr. Simmons' idea of what may have occured. It is chock full of graphic details about what it must have been like to survive (or not) in a ship being slowly crushed by the winter ice, with food supplies disappearing and scurvy coming on. It's brutal, I tell you. I feel like I've been stuck in the arctic for years in a wet woolen greatcoat with my teeth falling out from scurvy. Two criticisms: The author could have seriously used an editor, plus, I don't think he had to include the supernatural element in the form of a large, man eating, intelligent monster (though this does make for a curiously interesting ending which I did not see coming). If you are looking to cool down and you like survival stories, go ahead and give this one a shot. Just don't say I didn't warn you. (submitted by J.S. - librarian)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

There are hundreds of Holocaust books, but this one is unusual. The setting is a German village during WWII and the main characters are primarily German citizens who survive (or do not) the war and the rise and fall of Hitler. Liesel is a young girl when she is given over to a German couple for caretaking when her mother, a communist, realizes she cannot care for her. It is Liesel who is the book thief and the main character. Through her we get to know the villagers and we live out the war and it's many hardships. Don't assume this is a dark book, however. It is chock full of warmth and gentle humor. It celebrates compassion and story. I enjoyed this rather thick book very much. I give it 4 out 5 stars. (submitted by J.S. - librarian)

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies, the first in a sci fi series, takes place in the future (near future ?) in which all 16-year-olds have plastic surgery to enhance their face and body. It's referred to as "becoming pretty." This is something all kids aspire to. It is a right of passage into adulthood. Tally, the main character is looking forward to her 16th birthday when she meets Shay, who curiously, is not interested in becoming pretty. Tally and Shay become fast friends, hooverboarding (like skateboarding on air) all over the place including some old ruins, where Tally is first introduced to the idea that there is a group of humans beyond her world who are not welcome by the authorities. Who they are and why they aren't wanted is part of the mystery of the story. This is a highly readable novel. I'd give it 4 stars out of 5. (submitted by J.S. - librarian)

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult

My friend, KBD, begged me to read this book so she had someone to talk about it with. I hadn't read anything by this author before, but I am an excellent friend, so I picked it up and read it. It's an adult book, but I think high schoolers would enjoy it as much as adults. It's a great story with excellent characters who are smart and the dialogue didn't annoy me as dialogue so often does. The gist of the story is that a couple, having given birth to a child that is seriously ill, has a second child, who can help the first child survive by providing blood transfusions and other medical necessities. The second child, Anna, is now thirteen and she's had it with being poked and prodded. She's tired of being defined in relation to her sister. She wants it to stop. She wants it to stop even though it may mean the death of her sister. As you can imagine, the parents are not happy, but Anna gets a lawyer and the story begins to play out. I found it quite compelling and thought provoking, as well as entertaining. I would give it 4 1/2 stars out of 5. (submitted by J.S. - librarian)

Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks

I just finished this one. The main character is a 7-year-old genius, but I would say the book is aimed at an older audience, anywhere from 4th grade through high school. Cadel, the boy genius is sent to a college that appears from the outside to be a normal college but the classes he studies include such topics as embezzellment, computer hacking and infiltration, disguises, poisons, and more. Cadel is taught that evil is relative and the world needs people of his intelect to control it. Despite all he is taught, Cadel is basically a nice kid in a not very nice environment. All around him students are disappearing or getting wacked. There's plenty of action and intrique here, especially in the last part of the book. For me, I would give it 3 out of 5 stars, but I suspect a younger audience would really enjoy it. (submitted by J.S. - librarian)

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

I read this book a few months ago. I admit I am a bit of a survival wonk, as in the idea of being put in a survival mode fascinates me, though I pray never to have to actually be in a situation in which I would have to survive because I would be toast. Still, I love reading about other unfortunates who are in such situations. Life As We Know It is the story of a high school girl whose world changes drastically when Earth is hit by an asteroid. She and her family have to survive in their house cut off from nearly everyone else. It kept my attention all the way through. I think the author captured what this experience would be like for a teenager trapped with her family. I'd give it a 4 out 5 star rating. (submitted by J.S. - librarian)

What RU Reading?

This is a blog for young adult readers. Anyone who is interested in blogging and wants to get the password just needs to drop into the library and see the librarian anytime.