The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, is about four Chinese mothers and their daughters. Each mother tells a story about their childhood and about coming to the US. All of the daughters talk about growing up as a Chinese-American and learning the Chinese culture as they grow up. These four moms start up "The Joy Luck Club" in which they play Mahjong. The stories about these women revolve around playing this game and learning about each other and themselves. I recommend this book to mothers and daughters because you learn a lot about mother and daughter relationships when reading this book. This book would be a good read for girls who are the first generations born in the US. Reviewed by NN.

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes

This book, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, is narrated by first-person progress reports written by 32 year, old mentally challenged Charlie Gordon. He is the first subject for a risky procedure that raises his IQ to that of a intellectual superhuman. He starts to remember painful things from his past about his family and friends; he begins to realize things that he simply could not understand when he was mentally disabled. This book broke my heart and made me think about how fragile and elaborate relationships prove to be. I recommend it to anyone wants a real heart-aching story.

-Reviewed by Jackie, grade 9.