Review: Hate List

By Jenn K.

I would recommend the book Hate List to anybody who likes to be on the edge of their seat, or who likes to read about mysteries. Hate List is about a girl named Val who is being accused of being involved with her boyfriend, Nick when he decided he was going to shoot everybody who was on the ‘Hate List’. Val helped Nick come up with some of the names to put on the hate list, but she had no idea he was going to kill all those people. Val only thought the hate list was to relieve stress for the two of them. Hate list is a very good book that will have you on the edge of your seat the whole way through. That is why I would recommend the book Hate List to everybody.

Review: Storm Front

By Dan Spiers

Storm Front is part action novel, part suspense mystery. It’s about a wizard named Harry Dresden in modern-day Chicago that struggles to work as a private investigator and as a consultant for the Chicago police department. Storm Front jumps right into the action with Dresden receiving a phone call from a woman who wants to hire Harry to locate her husband. Immediately after the call, the Chicago Police hire Dresden to investigate an unnaturally gruesome murder. After seeing the crime scene, on his way home, Harry is harassed by Gentleman Johnny Marcone, local crime lord. If that’s not enough, Dresden also has to contend with drug running, black magic, dark rituals, talking skulls, seductive vampires, and a council of wizards watching Harry’s every move.

Review: Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

By Karina G.

This is about a group of six flying-human kids that are trying to save their youngest flock member. Max is the leader and is fourteen; Fang is the second in command and is also fourteen; then comes Iggy who also is fourteen and is blind but has a sensitive hearing and sense of touch; Nudge comes next. She is from an African descent and is a nonstop 12-year old chatter mouth; she can also decode passwords to computers and things that have passwords. After Nudge is The Gasman. He is eight and is known for his name since he was born with a strange digestive problem. He and Iggy are best friends; they can make bombs out of almost anything! After The Gasman finally comes Angel. Angel is six and she and The Gasman are the only true-blooded siblings out of the whole flock. She can read minds, control minds, and breath underwater.

Book Review: Winter of Our Discontent (John Steinbeck) "Winners and Loser in the Game of Life"

by Zach M.

In 1934, in the midst of the Great Depression, an unemployed Charles B. Darrow developed the board game Monopoly. Upon release, the game was an instant hit. In the interim, Monopoly became an American Icon –according to Hasbro, the owner of the rights to the game, it is the “best-selling board game in the world” and a “phenomenal pastime.” Born during a period of economic strife, Monopoly has lured generations with its promise of riches, however imaginary. With prudent management of assets, aggressive competition with fellow players, and, above all, luck, anyone may be elevated to the status of the beloved Mr. Moneybags. Other players are overcome as a consequence of victory—game theorists call this zero-sum; all players have consented to the risk in the pursuit of said victory. Still, what are the consequences of a zero-sum worldview? In The Winter of Our Discontent, John Steinbeck meditates on winners and losers, the interplay between both in the “game” of life, and, ultimately, the lengths to which some men are willing to go to ensure that they find themselves standing proudly on the winners stand, along with the repercussions of those actions.

Book Review: Carter Finally Gets It (Brent Crawford)

by Darro C.

Carter Finally Gets It is a teenage fiction about a boy named Carter trying to survive his first year of High School. He suffers through things that all teenagers do at his age such as girls, sports, drama, gossip and embarrassment. Carter tries to kick things off with a good start, literally. He becomes the school’s varsity football kicker and achieves a rival at it. He goes out with a girl only to become heartbroken. After a series of crazy events, parties, police chases, football season and swimming season, Carter finds the one thing that he never expected; himself.

This novel is a novel that young teens can enjoy and relate to. They will welcome Carter with open arms and a sense of humor. I definitely recommend Carter Finally Gets It, by Brent Crawford, as a Teen Read.

Book Review: Castration Celebration (Jake Wizner)

by Becca L.

Where to begin on this monstrosity? I will admit, I barely glanced at the back cover synopsis. I saw the word castration and decided it must be mine. After all, what’s not to celebrate about castration (I would recommend male readers not dwell on it)? Even the cover, a mockup of the infamous High School Musical promo, tells vicious lies about the content of this book. It is not witty or clever, as the cover would suggest. It is the product of an author with half-formed ideas who, instead of developing one sufficiently, decides to cram them both into the same horrible book. The ONLY redeeming quality was the suggestion that this could possibly be a reworking of The Taming of the Shrew. I assure you, it was not. The unfinished play within the book was, but the book itself was another bit of mindless, romantic teenage drivel. I know, I have stood behind drivel in the past, but this drivel was too inane even for me. Boy meets Girl at camp. Allow me to break this drivel down for you. Girl works out Daddy issues in writing. Boy woos Girl, Girl resists. Boy wins Girl, Boy screws up. Boy magically makes everything better in the last three chapters. The end. The play follows the exact same plot, just more sex centered. I know you will all be shocked, but my friends and I have filthy minds. I can make anything sound dirty in my head and maintain a straight face until the appropriate moment. The lyrics to some of the songs in this book made me blush. I don’t dare repeat any on a library sponsored site, suffice to say that Boccaccio would be proud. When you see this book on the shelves, do not be seduced by its pretty cover or risqué title. Run as fast as you can to the opposite end of the store and thank me for saving you from this particular Celebration.

Book Review: Eyes Like Stars (Lisa Mantchev)

by Becca L.

Once again I come to you in anger. Who could have riled me so, I hear you ask. Her name is Lisa Mantchev. She is on my LIST. Not only did she dare release Eyes Like Stars, the single greatest book written this year, she let it out six months early as a pre-pub! I now have six more months of torment waiting for the second book than any other reader! I would send Nate after her but he’s…. somewhere. Never mind. I shouldn’t tell you that.

Eyes Like Stars panders shamelessly to my thoroughly awesome demographic (you know who you are). It centers around the Theater Illuminata which is home to every character ever written into existence. A show at the Illuminata is cast not with actors portraying a character, but with the characters themselves. As is right and proper, it also houses a Stage Manager, Wardrobe Mistress, Props Master, Set Designer, and Theater Manager. The odd one out is our heroine, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith, or, as those who wish to retain all their fingers call her, Bertie.

Admittedly, she is a stereotypical plucky gal, full of appropriate attitude and spunk, but that character mold rocks so it doesn’t matter. She is about to be kicked out, unless she can find her place in the theater. Of course, to tell you anything else would give it all away, I’m going to make you read it (I know, I’m so cruel). I ask that all my fellow drama geeks sit down, as their glee at what they are about to here will probably cause a dead faint. Dear Bertie is best friends with the fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream!!!!!!!! They have actual characterization! They are no longer the flat bit players Shakespeare doomed them to play! Shakespeare fans may rejoice as the Bard’s more interesting creations are brought into the twenty-first century, Ariel included. And the cool people know I’m not talking about a mermaid.

Before I proceed, I must ask that everyone remain calm and remember that I am entitled to my opinions and if they differ from yours, there’s really no need to stone me, a verbal warning will suffice. Okay, deep breaths…… Nate, Bertie’s someone, is better than Edward. Before you smite me, allow me to present my case.

1. He’s a pirate. Nothing is cooler than pirates. And he’s a hot pirate! Admit it, when have you ever seen a hot pirate? Well, besides the Dread Pirate Roberts, he wore a mask so that doesn’t count. Ha! I told you.

2. His rival is extremely formidable and, quite frankly, can compete on equal footing for awesome points, yet he still beats him. He takes on a spirit made entirely of air and bests him. To use the vernacular, EPIC WIN.

3. HE. IS. A. PIRATE.

The defense rests.

Staff Reviews: Graceling by Kristen Cashore

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Review by Clio, TAB's advisor

Katsa is a Graceling, blessed (or cursed) with the ability to kill with her bare hands. Since she is the niece of the King, she is used as an enforcer, sent out to torture or kill those who have wronged him in some way. Although she doesn't particularly enjoy her job, she is very, very good at it. What the King doesn't know is that Katsa is also the founder of the Council, a group of nobles and commoners who work together to protect those who are vulnerable to the often cruel and frequently capricious whims of the powerful. When a prince from another kingdom is kidnapped, the Council sets out to rescue him and discover both the person behind the kidnapping, and its purpose.


Enter Prince Po, the kidnapped victim's grandson, whose Grace makes him almost a physical match for Katsa, and whose personality makes him endlessly fascinating to her. After Katsa refuses to carry out one of her uncle's orders, she and Po set out to discover the reason behind his grandfather's kidnapping. On the road, they discover more about their unusual skills, and encounter a King with a Grace so powerful it could literally destroy their universe.


Graceling is, quite simply, one of the best fantasy books I've ever read. Katsa is a fantastic heroine. Her relationships with family, conspirators, and Po unfold naturally, and her journey from enforcer to protector is well-crafted and believable. The concept of some people having superpowers is not, of course, new, but the Graces in this book are presented in a very unique, original way. One of the things I particularly enjoy is that not all of the Graces mentioned would be useful in any real way, which adds a touch of realism. Graceling is followed by a prequel, Fire, which came out in October 2009. Check each of them out immediately - you'll be glad that you did.

Book Review: Geektastic (Various Authors)

by Jesse B.

Swords and sorcery, lasers and lightsabers, fiction and reality: All these collide in Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, a new anthology of short stories collected and edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci. The authors syndicated within aim to thoroughly describe the follies and fantastications of the geek life.

As with all anthologies, there are low points and high points. There are two stories, specifically, which may strike the reader as dubious or simply ridiculous. (I have read previous works by none of the authors contained within the book, so I can ensure you an unbiased opinion.) In "One of Us", by Tracy Lynn, the head cheerleader at a high school pays a group of nerds to teach her about nerdy things; apparently, her boyfriend, the quarterback of the football team, is a clandestine geek, and she wants to impress him. It gets worse: By the end of the story, both cheerleader and quarterback attend a comics convention together. The implausibilities here are apparent. First of all, it should be obvious to anyone who survived high school that there's no such thing as a clandestine geek; a quarterback and cheerleader who attend a comics convention would instantly have their reputations shattered. Secondly, geeks would never associate with a cheerleader, not even for money; they hate cheerleaders and everything they stand for. Admittedly, there are some humorous moments in the story, but they are overridden by the stupidity of the underlying concept.

The second story which could be considered a low point is "The Wrath of Dawn", by Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith. In the story, a girl named Dawn feels cheated by her mother and stepfather and feels a connection with Dawn from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, considering herself her parents' unwanted child. She attends a Buffy sing-along flick with her wicked older stepsister (Cinderella, anyone?) and jumps up in front of the screen to protest the crowd's mockery of Dawn (the film character). Eventually everyone is applauding at her remarkable display of courage. The story is fine up until then, when the whole thing becomes a load of bullshit. No person in their right mind would applaud someone for blocking their view of a movie. And no person in their right mind would ever stand in front of a movie screen and shout protest to the film's content. This leads the reader to the inevitable conclusion that the entire audience, Dawn (the literary character) included, is clinically insane. Absolutely ridiculous.

Luckily, the book is redeemed by the other stories included within. While quite a few are exceptionally well-written, two shall here be addressed. In M.T. Anderson's "The King of Pelinesse", fantasy backgrounds are seamlessly interwoven with a young man's quest for truth. Jim sets out to meet an accomplished fantasy author whom his mother had had an affair with years ago and discovers things he would have rather not. Intriguing in its prosaic style, "The King of Pelinesse" is easily one of the best stories Geektastic has to offer.

Another interesting story included in the collection is written by Libba Bray and is entitled It's Just a Jump to the Left. In the tale, two teenage girls begin to experiment with sexuality. The interesting factor is that this sexual coming-of-age revolves around the girls' exposure to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The girls at first think it is merely a whimsical movie but over time learn of the movie's sexual connotations, all while experiencing their first "loves".

Overall, Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd is an excellent read. Any geek or nerd would be hard-pressed not to pick it up. The collection is to be published this month in hardcover.

Book Review: Storm Front (Jim Butcher)

Storm Front is part action novel, part suspense mystery. It’s about a wizard named Harry Dresden in modern-day Chicago that struggles to work as a private investigator and as a consultant for the Chicago police department. Storm Front jumps right into the action with Dresden receiving a phone call from a woman who wants to hire Harry to locate her husband. Immediately after the call, the Chicago Police hire Dresden to investigate an unnaturally gruesome murder. After seeing the crime scene, on his way home, Harry is harassed by Gentleman Johnny Marcone, local crime lord. If that’s not enough, Dresden also has to contend with drug running, black magic, dark rituals, talking skulls, seductive vampires, and a council of wizards watching Harry’s every move.

All in a day’s work for Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden.

The story successfully merges numerous plot lines into an exciting and shocking conclusion. Storm Front delivers witty dialogue mixed with a touch of magic. Personally I enjoyed this book because I’ve always been a fan of fantasy books, yet if one were to ignore all the mystical references, they would find value in Jim Butcher’s style of writing that gets the reader involved with the moment. Storm Front is only the first book in the series “The Dresden Files”.

Book Review: The Brothers Torres (Coert Voorhees)

By Alexis M.

Frankie Towers is always looking up to his brother Steve. They’re complete opposites. Steve is a popular senior who always gets exactly what he wants. Girls, soccer scholarships, etc… While Frankie spends his time making things explode with his best friend, Zach, working at his parents restaurant, and being crazy and obsessed about his crush, Rebecca Sanchez, that he thinks he’ll never have a chance with. After Frankie gets into a fight with Steve’s longtime nemesis, John Dalton, Steve takes Frankie and begins to help him get a higher social status. Things with Dalton continues to simmer and after another incident, Steve is bent on retaliating. Frankie must choose to respect his brother… or respect himself.

‘The Brothers Torres’ was okay. This wasn’t one of my favorite books but it wasn’t horrible either. I found it confusing because it uses a lot of Spanish words randomly in the dialogue, and not knowing a word of Spanish, I had no clue what they were saying. I’d recommend this coming of age novel to anyone who speaks Spanish or is going to read it with a translator near by.

Book Review: Elsewhere (Gabrielle Zevin)

By Mandi I.

When Liz Hall dies at the age of fifteen her life is turned upside down. She wakes up on a ship crewed by boys younger than her. At first she does not realize she is dead until she watches her own funeral from a binocular type device. Liz discovers she is in Elsewhere, a town of ageing backwards to death. It is only there that she begins to truly live. She gets a job, drives, and falls in love. All things that never happened to her on earth. The more Liz lets go of her life on earth the more she accepts her digression back to a baby and finally back to earth and is born again

Gabrielle Zevin offers an unlikely approach to question, “What happens when we die?” with an entire list of characters Zevin creates a world where life is relative and time is about living. She settles into de-aging with her avocation and living with her grandmother, and from there you follow her deaging until she is born again.

I really enjoyed this book and it’s different view on the afterlife. I give it five stars!

Book Review: Uglies (Scott Westerfeld)

By Liesl P.

Are you looking for a good book to read that is a quick read? Uglies is a great book for a good but fast read. Scott Westerfeld keeps the action rolling in which there is a world that on a person’s 16th birthday they are made pretty and are allowed to be admitted into the pretty society. This society is a colony of pretty people whose goal in life is just to have fun. What could be bad in this perfect world? Tally, the main character, becomes friends with a girl named Shay who isn’t sure she wants to look like all the pretties in Pretty town. Shay wants to stay her own unique self. After Shay runs away to keep from becoming a pretty, Tally has a hard decision. Don’t become a pretty or betray Shay. This first book in a trilogy will keep you entertained while Tally struggles to find out where her true friendship lies.

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling)

By Nathan W.

As midnight neared on Friday July 20th, the tension mounted at bookstores all over the world. Why? Because at 12:01am on Saturday July 21st, the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was to be released. I picked up my deluxe edition with trepidation and excitement; the saga that has been a piece of my life would be over, yet we would know the climax in a few minutes.

I was torn between savoring the book and racing through it, but I finished it. Overall, I liked the book; however, there were several scenes that disappointed me.

I was happy with the pacing of the book, and the description of people, places, and things. The battle at Hogwarts was amazing! All of the characters that we’ve come to love took place, and it was similar to the battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi, where the ewoks used guerrilla warfare to defeat the enemy. My favorite line was near the end when Mrs. Weasley screams “NOT MYDAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!” at Bellatrix Lestrange, and when Neville told Voldemort that he would join him “when hell freezes over.”

What I disliked, however, was Harry and Ron’s argument which led to Ron falling out from his two best friends. I was also pissed at the lack of continuity from the previous books, especially the wandless, wordless magic that was expressed frequently in Half-Blood Prince, yet never mentioned in Deathly Hallows. I also got upset at Harry’s lack of action. He continued to use simple spells and Hermione to get him out of sticky situations. I wanted Harry to step-it-up; I wanted him to take charge, learn more advanced magic, and set traps for his nemesis, yet he didn’t. The epilogue also irritated me. It’s the part of the book that was written first- about 10 years ago- but it didn’t seem like Rowling’s writing. It was a crammed 4 page story about what happened to the survivors of the war with Voldemort ( although not all survivors were mentioned).

Since this book was a war, many of the characters that we’ve come to know and love have died before our eyes. I won’t mention any in case you haven’t read it yet; some characters’ deaths made me cry, while others were fine with me. Overall, I liked the book. I can’t wait to see it as a move- it’s very Indiana Jones-ish – which will make a great action movie. Though parts of the book disappointed me, the series is over and there’s no changing that. Harry Potter, however, will continue to live on in our hearts.

Book Review: The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman)

By Eric M.

This book is the story of Lyra, a young girl who grew up in Jordan College in Oxford. The world that Lyra lives in is similar to ours in many ways yet there are a few a key differences. One main difference is that in Lyras’ world people have daemons. Daemons are a part of a person and during childhood a daemon can take the shape of animals at will but at the age of puberty a child’s daemons takes one form and keeps it throughout the persons life. Lyra is a fierce young girl that is an accomplished liar and is full of pride from her upbringing in such a lucrative college. She has a powerful uncle and the love of all at the college. In the book Lyra struggles against many hardships has many close calls makes enemies and makes more allies. It is a gripping tale of a girl living her harsh life trying to do what’s right and having to make many tough decisions. I think this would be a good read for any teenager.

Book Review: On a Pale Horse (Piers Anthony)

By Liesl P.

If you want to look at the figure of Death comically, this is the book for you. This fantasy book is about a man who kills Death because he doesn’t want to die, and then has to take the place of Death. Because of not knowing how to be Death or how to do his job correctly this book is extremely funny. This man has everything go wrong that can go wrong and then to top it all off, he gets involved with a conflict with the Devil himself and must risk everything he has to save the woman he loves from Satan. This humorous book with a bit of romance intertwined is one of the most unique books I have ever read and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Piers Anthony is one of the funniest writers I have ever read and this book is a compelling read. Once you start to read this book, you will not want to put the book back down until you have finished it.

Book Review: The Devil Wears Prada (Lauren Wiesberger)

By Abby H.

This movie is based on the book by Lauren Weisberger, and follows a young assistant through the perils of her new job for the high end fashion magazine, Runway. The young assistant, Andrea, is fresh out of college and is applying at places all over New York City, when she receives a call back from Elias-Clark where Runway off ices are. She gets the job as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the editor-in-chief of Runway. Andrea is not the usual assistant for Miranda, considering fashion is on the bottom of her list of important things and her true passion lies in writing.

Andrea soon realizes that working for Miranda is not like working for any other, usual boss. Miranda is demanding, cruel, and acts as thought she were the queen of the world. Andrea finds that she must cater to her every whim unless she wants to loose her job. This movie take you thought the trials and tribulations of a young girl truly working for, "the boss from hell."

Book Review: How to be Popular (Meg Cabot)

After five years of being a social outcast, Steph finds a way out. She figures that the book is the only way. But everyone knows the story of a geek gone popular. She changes and becomes a jerk to her real friends, in order to be with the in-crowd. She then over throws the Queen Bee, kisses the Queen Bee’s boyfriend and loves it. After the in-crowd does something to get said geek in trouble, and usually they fall for it.

Not only is this the case, though. Steph decided that she liked her old friends better, before it was to late. She ends up falling love with her best friend, which adds a great twist to the end.

Book Review: The Game of Sunken Places (M.T. Anderson)

By Liesl P.

If you like the movie Jumanji, or if you are partial to science fiction/fantasy this is the book for you. The Game of Sunken Places is about two boys going to visit the one boy’s uncle—a man who is eccentric and lives in a very creepy mansion surrounded by a forest. The forest is also creepy. Whenever someone ventures into the woods, he or she is never seen or heard from again, or at least not alive anyway. When the boys get to the mansion, they find a game board called “The Game of Sunken Places.” As they wander around the house, they find more and more pieces to this game. After awhile, they learn that they are the pawns of the game and they must win in order to live. M.T. Anderson creates a spellbinding tale of two best friends playing a game of life or death.

Book Review: Locked in Time (Lois Duncan)

By Kelsie

Ok. My first thought of the book after the first page…not so spiffy. My thoughts on the book after a couple of chapters in…pretty decent. It seemed to me as though the book had a little trouble getting off of the ground and into the air. I guess that is a common thing, but it’s really cool when you come across a book that takes off right away. The main idea of the book is pretty similar to some other things that I’ve read, but it has enough of a twist to make it really cool.

The book starts out with Nore as the central character and her journey to her father and stepmother’s new house. Since her mother passed away, she decides to go and live with the remainder of her family. Little does she know that her new family would be so…umm…peculiar?.

After a few days in her new home with her new family, she begins to see how oddly everyone is acting. Something foul is afoot and she sets out to uncover what it is. Unfortunately, she is the only one who notices what is going on.

Throughout the book, Nore begins to put all of the pieces together, and in the end finds a way to stop something horrible from happening.

I really enjoyed this book and I would advise you to read it.