GUEST POST!!! Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral

Name: Melissa “Buck Rogers”
Grade: 11
Title & Author: Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral
Impression: Okay; Recommend: No

Favorite Part: I had none. The book was hard to get into.

Favorite Character: Francisco. I liked him better than Glory, and they were the only two characters to choose from.

Summary: Glory is a teenager who is a piano prodigy. She lives with her dad in New York City, and her dad has ambitions for her to become a famous pianist playing sold out shows in venues across the globe. Another teenager, Francisco (or Frank) moves in next door, and they begin to interact and fall in love. She loves his artwork and taste in music, and they constantly IM each other to escape from the problems in their lives.

Comments: Call me crazy, but I think a book should have more words in it, and not be made up entirely of photographs.....

Bubble World by Carol Snow

Name: Melissa “Cleo”

Grade: 11

Title & Author: Bubble World by Carol Snow

Impression: Good; Recommend: Yes

Favorite Part: When Freesia helped her sister at the party by jumping in the pool with her.

Favorite: character? Why?

Freesia. Despite the lies behind Bubble World, you could tell she was smart and observant about the things going on around her. She was also always generous to those whom she considered friends, and in the world outside Bubble World she was polite to everyone, even though the people in the real world didn't live up to her expectations, both physically and personality wise.

Summary : Freesia lives in Agalinas, an island town in Bubble World, an online virtual reality program that's supposed to be providing its users with a first class education. One day, the program starts experiencing malfunctions, and she wakes up to find herself in a bubble in the real world, looking nothing like the gorgeous avatar she was endowed with in Bubble World, and with family members who vaguely resemble the avatar family she had in Bubble World. Freesia must now get used to living in the real world and interacting with real people, although she intends on returning to Bubble World. Things go haywire though, when Bubble World is exposed as a fraud. Now, Freesia must get used to the real world, her real family, and actually learning things in school.

The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke

Name: Paris D.  Nickname:  Rare Diamond

Grade:  11

Title & Author:  The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke

Impression: Good

Recommend: Yes

Favorite part: When Nere found out that she was a science experiment gone wrong, I mean she thought that she was a normal gal until one day Nere found out that she has powers and when she found that out it was wicked and totally crazy.

Favorite character:

Nere was my favorite character, she is brave and inspiring. I like that she is so brave and urges others to move on and battle the govt.

Summary:  So the Neptune project is a about Nere a young teen who finds out her DNA was genetically altered by her mother! now she must go into the depths of the ocean to fight alongside other teens who have been the victims of their parents dumb experiments. Eventually they fight the govt. to retain their ocean and save their lives and they must do this all before it's too late.

Additional feedback: Can't wait for part 2 of The Neptune Project

The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke

Name: Jake F.

Grade:            10

Title & Author:         The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke

Impression:        Excellent

Recommend:      Yes

Favorite part: I enjoyed the part when the Neptune kids went to the smugglers' makeshift village in order to obtain more spear darts. This part was exciting and added more depth to the idea of dystopian future.

Favorite Character:     My favorite character was Robry because he was always very upbeat even though he was in a serious situation. Robry had a strong spirit despite being one of the youngest kids.

Summary:      Long into the future with little hope for human survival a group of scientists decide to genetically alter children so that they can one day live deep in the ocean. Nere, and her friends must sink or swim if they want to make it to the underwater colony and stay safe. This is an exhilarating underwater adventure.

Additional Feedback:           I would recommend this book to any person who enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy. The Neptune Project has a similar feel to it and I really enjoyed reading it. I'm sure you will too.

The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke

Name:  Melissa R.

Grade: 11

Title & Author: The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke

Impression:          Excellent

Recommend:         Yes

Favorite Part: I enjoyed the whole novel so much that I find it hard to select one part as my favorite; however, I really did love when Nere's mother GLADLY sacrificed herself, proving that she did love Nere as a daughter, rather than just as an experiment.

Favorite Character: My favorite character was Dai. I just find him hilarious, with how he teases Nere and reads her mind even when she doesn't want him to. I also liked the darker aspect that there was to his personality.

Summary: Nere is a young girl who grew up in a small coastal village in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian America. She always was different from those around her, with her weak eyes and lungs. One day, she finds out from her mother that she is part of the Neptune Project, a group of young people who were genetically altered as embryos to live in the ocean and keep humanity alive. When Nere's mother is killed, Nere and her companions must rely on help from the dolphins Nere has trained to help them reach their ultimate goal; Safety Cove, a safe haven for the Neptune Project children, built by Nere's father. Nere and her friends must brave shark-infested waters, attacks from boats, and other unforeseen dangers presented by the ocean.

The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke

Name:  Hannah C.
Grade: 10
Title & Author: The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke

Impression: Excellent Recommend: Yes
Favorite Part: I liked Tobin's vain attempt at saving Sara and the ensuing funeral. It showed how reality doesn't always have a happy ending and how human they still were in thought and emotion, despite their need to breathe underwater. Its writing was also realistic, from Tobin's guilt to Penn's grief that "fills the cabin with a psychic pain so sharp it makes my head pound." This realism adds further depth into both the story and the characters themselves.

Favorite Character:  Ooh, I think my favorite character is either Tobin or Thom.

Tobin's the resident medic (I usually hold medics in high regard) and he exhibits great care in keeping everyone healthy. His gentlemanly mannerisms and ability to keep a cool head during emergencies, especially of the medical type, won me over from the beginning.

Thom, meanwhile, is one of those shy teddy bear giants that I'm an absolute sucker for. Despite his apparent shyness, he's more than willing to take on enemies much bigger and nastier than he, if it meant the others would be safe. His courage especially shines in the group's battle with the giant squid.

Summary: Nere Hanson and her teenaged companions are shocked to find out they had been genetically modified to breathe and live underwater. Now, they must journey across the oceans and attempt to find refuge from a dystopian government eager to help them permanently "sleep with the fishes."

Feedback:  While there were a few times that I felt like it was a bit too low of a reading level for me (understandable since this is a middle school level book), the book captured me and wouldn't let me go until I finished the entire thing. The plot was fresh and original, the characters were realistic, and the book went against traditional 'rising-climax-falling' by ebbing and flowing from light events to crucial ones then back to lighthearted ones again. This break from tradition makes the book more grounded, since real life does not follow the storytelling technique of 'rising-climax-falling.'

The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke

Name: Kayla Q.
Grade: 9
Title & Author: The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke
Impression: Good
Recommend: Yes

Favorite Part: The journey to find Nere's father.The adventure with the new friends Robry,lena and Nere meet along the way.Surrounded by sharks the dolphins do not allow anything to stop them from moving on.

Favorite Character: My favorite character was Robry ,young,caring but yet adventurous and risking.

Summary: It was great i had a lot of fun reading this book.I am a type of person that only certain books that catch my attention will be read.The Neptune definitely did that.Fighting off those who want to capture them,sharks and other great dangerous creatures in the big ocean.Making their way to there new home.