Going Bovine By Libba Bray

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The book, Going Bovine by Libba Bray, orbits around the illusions of 16 year old Cameron Smith as he is slowly taken over by Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human equivalent to mad cow’s disease. His story begins after he accepts a quest offered by Dulcie, a literal pink “punk rock” angel, to engage in an exorbitant adventure find Dr. X, the time traveling physicist who triggered the end of the universe via his excessive trips across dimensions through the means of wormholes. Along with Gonzo, his neurotic hospital roommate affected with dwarfism, the sudden appearances of Dulcie, and random signs of guidance, Cameron goes on a utopian road trip to Disney World, the location of Dr. X’s secret laboratory. En route, they meet Balder, a Norse god cursed to appear in the form of a lawn gnome, escape the ever appearing theoretical fire dragons commanded by the Wizard of Reckoning, encounter a mysterious cult, meet the acquaintance of several physicists and fight against a notorious snow globe corporation. At their final destination, Cameron realizes his true identity and twist that shakes the reader’s entire perspective of the book is revealed. The book offers valuable insight to the true meaning of life and leaves the reader wondering even after the last page, regardless of the number of times, has been turned.

 

The novel brings up unpopular yet eye-opening perspectives on modern education, religious cults, as well as American materialism, and includes several references to wormholes and string theory. Its overall bold quirkiness and unpredictable storyline also added to the book’s appeal. The unexpected twists and turns of the plot made the book more intriguing and harder to put down. Although the book supports several disliked opinions and contains varying degrees of profanity, it offers stimulating views on various topics trending in modern culture. The book invites the reader to be more curious as to how a character ends up. I would recommend this book to readers interested in profound, vivid and yet cryptic dark comic tragedy.

 

Reviewed by Sritharini R.

 

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief, the first book of the Percy Jackson series, is written by Rick Riordan. He has also written two other series, one about Egyptian mythology and the other about Greek as well as Roman mythology.  The Lightning Thief is a fantasy fiction, revolving around Greek Mythology. Riordan uses the three powerful Greek gods: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades as well as the Titan Kronos to play major roles in this novel. This fictional book is based on a dyslexic 6th grade boy, finding out that he is a half-blood, meaning his father is a god, however his mother is a human mortal. This boy, named Percy Jackson, finds out that he is not a normal human. He is taken to a camp to be trained to face evils that he will face in the future. As the title states the Lightning Thief, this book is about a thief who stole the Lightning Bolt, a symbol of power, from the Greek god, Zeus, in order to ignite a significant war against the powerful gods. The ending of this novel, is left at a cliff-hanger as the thief is known only to Percy. The overall theme of this book is associated with the motif of identity. Riordan suggests that the theme of the novel is: identity should be recognized as life progresses, rather than at rough times of life. This fictional book talks about a young boy and his ambiguity of his reality. This novel is really interesting as a boy in middle school finds his real parents and sets out on adventurous journey to help a god. This is an action packed book which ensures that the reader doesn’t get bored at any point of the plot. The only question that this book would raise in a reader, is, “What happens next?” By ending the plot with a cliff-hanger, Riordan compels the reader to continue reading the next book in the series. In my opinion, this book lacks nothing. It is both relatable as well as action-filled. By visualizing the plot of the novel, I personally find it amusing to read this book. I love this book, because it is fascinating to portray in my mind. As the plot deepens, so does my attention to detail as I visualize the images of the plot in my mind. The book talks about the strength that each god posses, and their power granted to their children. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in action-filled novels.

 

 I picked up this fictional book, because it had a displayed a contrasting and interesting juxtaposition of an innocent boy in a dangerous world. The novel implied a relatable yet an engaging tone as suggested by the adventurous almost dangerous cover. I selected this novel, because of both the peculiar and the conceptual title, The Lightning Thief. Finally, I chose this novel, due to the vast majority of my friends and peers recommending it. I was genuinely drawn into the novel because it was fascinating to me. Not only was it easy to comprehend, but also this book was extremely relatable to me and displayed to me that even though school and life gets rough, just seek comfort by surrounding yourself with people that give you positive influence in your life. This book was also exceptionally easy to visualize the scenes in my mind, which in turn made it better for me to effortlessly understand the entire plot. I would give this fictional book to anyone interested in reading action and adventurous books. People who are interested in fantasy fiction and greek mythology would love reading this book. This text could be given to anyone as it is easy visualize the plot.

Reviewed by Sam Choppala

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

 

 

 The book If I Stay by Gayle Forman is about a young girl named Mia who wakes up to an unexpected joyful snow day, making her and the rest of her family now have some available free time. They all together decide to take a small trip to visit some family friends at their home. They could have visited, then go to a bookstore to roam all of its inviting ailes, and then have dinner with the grandparents, but everything changes within seconds. There is a sudden car accident, completely totaling the car. Mia gets up only to shattered pieces of the car everywhere,both her now deceased parents, and her younger brother lying on the ground. She finds her own wounded body on the ground as well. She watches as the ambulances arrive quickly rushing her body in an ambulance and follows. Mia is in very critical condition putting her in coma. Now, Mia is forced to accept the death of her family and realizes she might not want to stay at all. This story brings attention to the difficult question that Mia has to answer that will make out what her life will become. In the end,she still is struggling with making her decision whether to take the easy way out and leaving with her family or to fight and live with the loss of her family. Will she have the power and courage to stay?

 I picked this book up because it caught my eye after hearing and many good reviews about it. I also knew there was a movie and was excited to read before watching to compare and contrast. I kept reading even though it was upsetting to me, I was determined to find out what she decided. It helped me in a way I could relate, my situation is not as tough and difficult as hers but it still guided me on my own life decisions making me realize every decision has an impact and effect. I would give this book to be honest to anyone really. It’s a great fictional read that could very much be a real life thing. It has the message of how in the matter of seconds everything can change and any decision you make no matter how easy or hard there’s always needs to be consideration of yourself and others.

Written by: Anam .R

Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

 

 

Also Known As by Robin Benway

Book trailer

Margaret is a normal name for a normal girl right? Wrong. In fact, it is the exact opposite. The only reason her parents named her Margaret was because it has so many different nicknames: Peggy, Maisie, Molly, Margie, Meg. The list is endless. She has traveled the world with her parents, cracking safes for the world’s premier spy organization. But when Maggie is sent to New York City for her first solo assignment, her life is transformed. Suddenly she’s attending a private school and befriending Jesse, the cute son of a potential national security threat… while trying not to blow her cover.  It had me laughing every five minutes. This is book is unbelievably funny. While reading this book I got a lot of looks from people, all thinking that I had officially gone crazy. But I mean who wouldn’t think that if they saw a girl laughing at a book by herself, right? So make sure that when you do read it, you are either very good at holding in your laughter or you’re alone, because I assure you, that there is absolutely no way you can read this book without laughing at least once. This book is a hilarious portrayal of a teenage spy’s day to day life. It had a great mix of realistic conflicts and humorous disasters. This book is the perfect combination of dramatic diva a girl that is too mature for her age. It showed interesting and relatable situations at home and at school. Overall, this book was something that almost everyone can relate to, from teenage girls to parents. I had recently finished reading a book and was looking for a book to read next. I searched up “girl” on the school catalog computer and 658 books popped up. Working in the library gives you some down time to waste. So as I was scrolling through them all, I came across a book titled “AKA” (Also Known As).  The cover was a forest green and the letters A, K, A were written in pink with a magnifying glass on the back. Of course, I went to the shelf and picked it up. Once I read the summary, I decided I would give it a go. As soon as I got the the second line on the first page, I knew that there was no way I was putting this book down until I finished it. When the first sentence is, “ I cracked my first safe when I was three.” who in their right mind would put that book down? The book is filled with humorous sarcastic comments and hilarious dramatics.  I would give it to pretty much anyone who can read. This book is relatable to everyone, including your grandparents and parents. This book is for anyone who likes mystery, spies, romance, action and non-fiction. It has mix of all of the above and much more. This book is really amusing and entertaining that everyone would enjoy.

 

Reviewed By Prathista Annapareddi