Unbroken

This non-fiction story follows the life of young runner and WWII Veteran Louis Zamperini. He begins his life as a mischievous boy with a record of stealing and cheating. One large advantage he has however, is his speed. Whenever he is caught, all he does is run. This skill is one that will help him forever; he becomes a runner. From there his career lifts off, all the way to the Olympics, but just as he gets a taste of victory, he is cast off to the army, where he must start all over again. And even there, as he begins to feel the glory, his plane goes down and he must learn how to survive, deep in Japanese POW camps. This story taught me how to persevere and how to know what is most important in life.

I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a slightly challenging read that not only entertains, but teaches an extremely valuable lesson. Laura Hillenbrand does a wonderful job of immersing the reader into Louie’s life and making them feel part of the story.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Art of Racing in the Rain is now one of my favorite books. It only took me one day to read because it is so good. It is powerful, sad, happy, and memorable. Part of what makes the story so amazing is the fact that it is written from a dog's point of view. The dog, Enzo, describes his whole life and how he impacts his owner, Denny's life too. The main idea, or what the story revolves around is race car driving, for Denny is a professional race car driver. It is mostly about Deny and Enzo's bond throughout the story, and their friendship/love for each other remains strong even when Denny marries Eve, has a daughter named Zoë, when Eve becomes very ill, and, when Eve dies, the battle between Denny and his step-parents over Zoë's custody.

Enzo talks constantly about how he thinks he is a human trapped in a dog's body. He talks about how many more times he could have helped Denny if "god gave him thumbs and a voice." Enzo has a code with Denny throughout the book; if he barks twice it means faster. This applies to anything. What took me by surprise is that after Enzo thinks he served a purpose or made an impact on Denny, Eve, and Zoë's life, he wants to die so that he can become human in his next life. He fantasizes about what he will do in his next human life, but understands that he won't remember anything from his dog life. I don't want to give anything away, but I will just hint that Enzo and Denny meet after Enzo dies.

This heartwarming story makes you both laugh and cry. You will fall in love with its characters. This book is especially recommended for dog lovers. I hope that you will find time to read this life-changing book!

The Last of the Curlews

This book was recommended to me by my grandpa. It was his favorite book when he was about my age. The Last of the Curlews is a very complex, extremely detailed book where little action occurs. In the very small amount of pages, a member of the species of a bird called an Eskimo Curlew is in search for a mate. He tries but fails to distinguish a female of his own species. For his ancestors this was an easy task, but now almost all of the Eskimo Curlews have been shot by hunters. The book is about his search- how he traveled with a flock of smaller birds through harsh blizzards and storms, and mistakes other types of female curlews for his type. Finally, he finds a female of his very own kind- after years of searching, and they start a life together.

This book takes place all over the world, mostly in Europe. I'm guessing that the time era is around the 1940s. It is a really old, slow-moving and difficult-to-read book, but the scenery it describes is beautiful, and it helps you with your own writing.

Lucy Nelson 10/23/11

The Son of Neptune- Rick Riordan

I recentely finished the book The Son of Neptune, which is a continuation of the Heroes of Olympus series, which is a spin-off of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. In the novel, Percy arrives at the Roman camp with no memory of his life at Camp Half-Blood. He then meets Hazel and Frank and he goes on a mission to save the new camp. They have to travel to Alaska to attack the giant who made Alaska his home. All throughout the book, Percy has experiences that help recall his memory, like meeting Nico Di'Angelo, again. The group of three had to fight against gods, basilisks, and even Amazon warriors. Their quest to Alaska was to free the god of death, Thanatos, from the giants chains. Without him, any monsters that demigods killed just came right back to life because Gaea showed them escape routes from tartarus, which is the place in the underworld where monsters go once they've been killed. Percy learns more about his companions on his journey, like how Hazel has the gift of pulling precious gems from the ground, but it can be perceieved as a curse because they kill anyone that touches them. Frank's life depends on a stick, and when it burns, he dies. The trio complete their quest, saving Thanatos, and return to camp in time for the battle between the giant who was created to kill Neptune, and the camp. They win the battle just in time for the other heroes of the prophecy of seven to arrive from Camp Half-Blood.

The Son of Neptune

last week i read the book The son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. for any of you who have read the Percy Jackson Series this is the sequel to that series. Heros of Olympus book one was The lost hero. both books happen at almost the same point in time. the two main charecters, Percy Jackson and Jason Grace, have their Memories wiped by Hera or Juno (the queen of olympus). Percy goes to a roman demigod camp, he joins up with two new friends, Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque. they go on a quest to Free Thantos who is basically the god of death. their quest takes them to the land beyond the gods, Alaska. They free Thantos and defeat the giant Alconeyus. by freeing death they can now kill their enemies. if you have read the Percy Jackson series or the lost hero i would recommend this book to you, or even if you like exiting, funny, action packed books, or if you are interested in greek or roman mythology.

Hero by Mike Lupica

Im not really that far in this book, but so far I know that the main character is Zach. His dad worked for the president of the united states. His dad did special missions to stop the "bads" and he stopped one bad guy and tried to take him back on an airplane. It was said that the airplane's engine broke down and the dad tried to aim for the harbor, but instead hit a field and died. Zach doesn't think that this actually happened. Zach thinks that somebody invaded and took down the airplane. He knows that his dad was a really good pilot and wouldn't of died in an airplane unless someone took him down. So, right now Zach is trying to figure out what really happened to his dad.

L.A. Candy

I am currently readying LA Candy, by Lauren Conrad. This book is about two ordinary girls, Scarlet and Jane, who move to Los Angeles for Scarlet to go to college and for Jane to start an internship at one of California's most exclusive event planers, Fiona Chen. While trying to fit in, a famous producer spots them and wants both girls on his upcoming reality TV show, L.A. Candy. Without thinking that any fame would come from this, Jane and Scarlet accept. As the filming begins, they realize the true side to reality TV. Madison and Gaby, the two other girls on the show, could not be more different that Jane and Scarlet. Although Jane tries to stay positive and looks like she's having fun, Scarlet makes it clear that she does not like the other girls on the show. Trevor, the show's producer, tells Jane and Scarlet simply to carry on their life, the only difference being the multiple cameras following them. The girls soon realize that the cameras aren't the only change, but Jane's boss becoming suddenly nice, the girls having to talk loudly and walk into a room five time just so the cameras can get the right shot, plus Jane and Scarlet would never hang out with people like Madison and Gaby. Jane realizes, as the show gets number one ratings, that not everyone is looking to be her friend, and many want to see her fall.