A Midsummer Night’s Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare  [Adult Non-fiction]

by Christine, 12th grader

A truly hilarious play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream centers around the lives of four young people: Helena, Hermia, Demetrius, and Lysander. Helena and Lysander are in love, but Helena’s father wants her to marry Demetrius, who is being stalked by Hermia. When Helena and Lysander run away to the forest to escape Helena’s father, the others follow. The fairies notice Hermia’s distress over Demetrius’ treatment of her and decide to interfere. Except, they interfere with the wrong couple… and chaos ensues. I truly enjoyed this play!

The Secret Hour

Midnighters: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld  [YA Fiction]

by Aziza, 7th grader

According to this book, there are not 24 hours in a day, but 25. The extra hour just passes too quickly for most people to notice. Midnighters: The Secret Hour is an exciting and spooky book. I loved every minute of it, and I’m sure everyone else will too. It’s a story you won’t be able to leave alone!

My Heartbeat

My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr  [YA Fiction]

by Marina, 10th grader

Ellen is in love with her brother’s best friend, James. James is in love with her brother, Link, and Link can’t figure himself out. It’s a pretty good story but unfortunately the characters are a little flat and static. The ending wasn’t that great, but I still recommend you read it.

Othello

Othello by William Shakespeare  [Adult Non-fiction]

by Christine, 12th grader

With all the tragedy of Hamlet and none of the glory, Othello is definitely the darkest play Shakespeare wrote. Filled with death, revenge, and jealousy,  Othello has every element necessary for a great tragic play.

When passed over for promotion, the jealous Iago hatches a vengeful plan to utterly destroy his commander Othello. Iago is spectacular in his cleverness. He literally plans to trick Othello into killing his own wife. Will Iago get away with this foul deed? Hmm… well, it IS a tragedy…

The Truth About Forever

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen  [YA Fiction]

by Jill, 6th grader

Marcy woke up one morning to find her dad dead in the middle of the road. Her life was turned totally upside down. She stops running and meets Wes, her dream guy- but then she gets in trouble and is forbidden to see him. This is an adventure you will not want to put down!

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë  [Adult Fiction]

by Jessica, 7th grader

Wuthering Heights is usually thought of as a boring classic that you are forced to read sometime in your school career, but if you give it some time you will find it is a very interesting story of  love and hate. Give it a try- you may really enjoy it, just like I have.

Suite Française

Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky  [Adult Fiction]

by Jeana, 10th grader

This book follows the lives of several families fleeing paris during the German invasion of WWII. Suite Française is a book that really captures humanity and the way war causes both desperation and unity among both soldiers and civilians. There aren’t any real battles, or great action scenes, but the book shows war from the point of view of the people and families war affects most. I recommend this book highly.

The Red Thread: A Novel in Three Incarnations

The Red Thread: A Novel in Three Incarnations by Rod Townley  [YA Fiction- we don't own]

by Abby, 7th grader

The Red Thread was a very exciting book that had a lot of suspense and strange characters. The main character, Dana, keeps having strange dreams and finds out that the dreams are scenes from her past lives. Things get out of hand from there because things from her past lives begin to intrude on her present life. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes hypnotism and excitement!

Candle in the Darkness

Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin  [Adult Fiction]

by Christine, 12th grader

Caroline is a young (Pre-Civil War) Southern Belle with a too-kind heart. She was born in the wrong place for her abolitionist views. The book follows her life from the time she was 11 (her first bad experience with slavery), all through her teen years during the war. This book is written frame-narrative style, with everything in the middle written as her personal account of the “Why?” behind her actions as she faces some very tough decisions.

This was one of the best books I have read in a long time. I highly recommend it along with its companion book: Fire by Night.

Number The Stars

Number The Stars by Lois Lowry  [J Fiction]

by Megan, 7th grader

Number The Stars was about the war with the Nazis. There were two girls: one Jewish and one not Jewish. The girl who was Jewish almost got taken away by the big mean soldiers, so her non-Jewish friend let her live with her. This was the worst book I ever read. I highly recommend you not reading this book- it was totally horrible! Hope you don’t have to read this!