How Do You Build a Time Machine and Other Puzzles with Science, by Erwin Brecher

How Do You Build a Time Machine and Other Puzzles with Science, by Erwin Brecher, has studied mathematics, physics, psychology and engineering. He finds the book entertaining and fun for those who like science. The book's contents includes an introduction, puzzles and answers for the problems in the book at the very end. In this book, there are 98 pages of problems or puzzles as the book says itself which are suitable for brain training or it can be called as brain exercises. As recommended by the author, each problem is suitable to be spent time on for about a day or two. For an example, the first problem that readers are about to be challenged is about a time machine and everything about time. To find the answer, the reader needs critical thinking and a background knowledge of physics. However, at the very end of the book, readers can find their answers if they were not really able to solve puzzles. Moreover, most of this book includes problems of mathematics and physics. The interesting part of this book is when everything might seem fine and reasonable in a problem, but if reader pays close attention, she or he might find the answer without referring to the answer key. However, as mentioned earlier, most of these problems require a background knowledge of science taught in high school. 

To me, I sometimes find mathematics and physics fascinating since science is all about wonder so this book can be so entertaining for me. Unfortunately, I find this book with all of its entertaining problems, somehow annoying since it reminds me of school and homework, but it doesn't mean it is not good. I believe this book would be amazing for those who are passionate about science especially physics and mathematics. There are so many problems that can be so challenging for minds. However, some might not find it really interesting or some may find it annoying solving a bunch of physics problems. So this book is only good for those who are willing to spend their time solving physics problems. It all depends on you if you would like the book or not.

Reviewed by  Orkideh, Grade 12
Downtown Central Library

The Kill Order, by James Dashner

The Kill Order, by James Dashner, is book about survivors of a disease trying to get a young girl named Deedee. Unlike most, she is immune to the disease. Mark, Alec, Trina, and Lana must take Deedee to an organization that is trying to find a cure by testing immunes.

I think this book is well written and unlike The Fever Code, it is an independent story.  It has its own story line and it has a lot of twists and turns. If you like fiction, action, and survivalist books then I recommend reading this because that is exactly how this book is written. The characters are very likable and its i'll be honest, I was so addicted to reading this, I only put it down no more than 10 times.

Reviewed by Anonymous, Grade 9

Montrose Library

Champion, by Marie Lu

This book was about two teenagers, named Day and June, who live in the future society of the United States called the Republic. In this future society the United States is split into two different countries, the Republic and the Colonies. The Colonies invade the Republic and threaten to release a deadly virus onto the whole country of the Republic. Day and June are sent to do anything they can to stop the colonies, even if it means sacrificing themselves or the ones they love.

Champion, by Marie Lu, was really good but I hated the ending. I didn't like how the book ended at all and it made me mad and sad. I literally cried when I read the ending. In my opinion people who liked the Hunger Games and the Divergent series would seriously love this book. It is one of the best books that I have ever read. This book made me realize how fast a country can change and how different the future can be. We really don't know what could happen in the future and this book helped me realize that.

Reviewed by Emily, Grade 11
Montrose Library

Fever Code, by James Dashner

The novel, The Fever Code, by James Dashner is a story about the way that the maze was built. It is a prequel to "The Maze Runner" also by James Dashner where it explains how the group ended up in the maze. It shows the building of the maze and how the facility worked. The story follows Thomas as he is first introduced to the maze and all of the horrible things that he had to deal with.

I think that this story was very well written and the characters were accurate to their counterparts in the main book. I thoroughly enjoyed every page as the secrets introduced in the first book were slowly unraveled until the ending of it all. I also enjoyed how the characters were very realistic and behave as a twelve year old would behave in such situations. Over all I think that this book is very well worth your time and would be a great read.

Reviewed by Kevin N., Grade 9
Grandview Library

Book of Lost Souls, by J. Michael Straczynsk

The Book of Lost Souls, by J. Michael Straczynski is a graphic novel which is about the struggles of life for different types of people. There are six issues or as it can be said, chapters that combines the struggles of life with fairy tales. It all starts from a man called Jonathan who travels with a black and white cat to different places. The first issue starts with a woman who has lived with her husband for a long time, but her husband has been abusing her. She sees herself as a princess who everybody loves her except a dragon. The dragon sometimes wakes up and destroys everything. The princess is afraid of it, but she never leaves because the dragon has taken her love so here comes Jonathan to help her with his cat called Mystery. In other words, in real life, the dragon is her husband who has changed for a long time and isn't the one she used to love. However, she still stays with him, doing whatever he wants, only because she has the hope of her true love to be back. When Jonathan comes to help her, he asks her why she doesn't leave everything behind and go away. As he finds out that the princess is not willing to leave, he tells her to stand up and fight the dragon and let all of these to be over. Finally, she listens to Jonathan and fights the dragon, or in other word, her husband who has been abusing her. In conclusion, this book brings all of the issues we have into fairy tales and how all of these can be defeated and be over only if we are willing to. The princess defeating the dragon was only the first issue which has been mentioned here. There are five more issues that Jonathan and his cat go for them to solve.

I really liked the book, both its art and story. The author has brought today's life into fairy tales. In my opinion, the author is trying to show the audience of how we all can solve the problems we have, no matter how tough they might be. I also liked the art of it and how it has been illustrated with so many details. I believe, this book would be good for teenagers and young adults since it's graphic novel. The good part of this book is that it can teach its audience to never give up and how to face difficulties. Also, it pictures the reality of the world and what's going on, beside of that, it brings up fairy tales which can be seen as dreams. I really recommend this book to those who are struggling with life a lot and need a motivation and also those who need to see and face the reality.

Reviewed by Orkideh, Grade 12
Downtown Central Library

Kekkaishi, by Yellow Tanabe

Yoshimori Sumimura comes from a long line of Kekkaishi, or demon hunters that utilize magical barriers. At night Sumimura reluctantly acts as a protector for the living, as his grandfather demands he continue on the family tradition even though his true passion is baking. When out fighting, Sumimura often runs into his neighbor Tokine Yukimura, the heir to the rival Kekkaishi family. The two become friends even though their families hate one another due to a dispute over succession.

Kekkaishi's story is not very original, taking some obvious inspiration from Romeo and Juliet (although Romeo and Juliet didn't involve and demon slaying). The author didn't make any risky leaps so the story isn't terrible, but it's not great either. 

The characters don't have much depth to them but they are very likable. My favorite character being the recently deceased patissier who is never named. The relationship between him and Sumimura was really cute and enjoyable, as he taught Sumimura baking techniques. 

I don't have much to say about Kekkaishi, by Yellow Tanabe, besides that, since over-all Kekkaishi just didn't have much of an impact. It was really mediocre.

Reviewed by Matty, Grade 12
Montrose Library

Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story, by Ursula K. Le Guin

Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story is a simple and short guide to writing creatively with the instructions of Ursula K. Le Guin. This book is the rewritten version of the same title because Le Guin strictly wants to inform the readers of the specific writing crafts which is relevant to the twenty-first century. Le Guin provides examples of passages from notable writers in each of the chapters’ lessons and also includes her own humorous commentary to enhance the tone of the book. In Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story the author focuses on creating a thorough guideline for grammar, rhythm, sentence structure, sentence length and etc. I didn’t expect this book to focus so much on the nuts and bolts of basic writing which is why I was disappointed overall. The chosen passages from the notable writers were an effective way to demonstrate what each lesson was meant to teach. Also, this book lacks on providing the inspirations to actually writing a wholehearted story.

Fruit Basket, by Natsuki Takaya

Fruit Basket, by Natsuki Takaya, is manga series consisting of 23 volumes in total and centers around a young high school girl named Tohru Honda. Faced by continuous tragedies, Tohru Honda lives her lonely life as an orphan never hinting anything to any of her friends. Then one day she meets the mysterious Sohmas, a family guarded by ancient secrets and magical curses of the zodiac signs. When the generous Sohmas take Tohru in as a part of their family, she gets a glimpse of a breathtaking extraordinary world.

After reading Fruit Basket, I now understand why it has received so much praise for living up to the qualities of a slice-of-life genre. This lighthearted graphic novel is a great way unwind after heavy reading because the effervescent main character sets the mood to be quite relaxing throughout the entire first volume. Even though the artwork lack character and the dimensions are quite poor, considering the time it was published, the manga still leaves a strong impact upon its readers.

Reviewed by Anonymous, Grade 12

Glendale Central Library

Chocolat, by Shin JiSang

High-schooler Kum-ji is obsessed with the boy band DDL, and wishes to join her school's fan club so she can be closer to her idols. The only problem is that the fan club is no longer accepting new members. Believing that she will not have a chance to see DDL otherwise, Kum-ji joins the fan club for the newly debued band, Yo-I. Things go as planned until E-Soh, the lead singer of Yo-I, sees through her ruse.

To be honest, I wanted to like Chocolat, by  Shin JiSang, but I just can't say anything good about it.

To start off, there are a lot of surface mistakes. There must have been some issues with translating, because there are quite a few issues with the grammar. None that would make the text unreadable, but it does tarnish the over-all experience. I mean, even the title seems to be misspelled. Other than that, there are some issues with anatomical correctness with the art. The style isn't very refined, and characters tend to look broken when not front-facing.

The real problem one may have with Chocolat is the story. The premiss just doesn't make much sense at all. Kum-Ji joins a rival band's fan club to be closer to DDL? It's sort of understandable since the two bands often perform close to each other, but why does she need to join a club for that? The book makes it seem like being apart of a fan club is essential in attending a concert.

Reviewed by Matty, Grade 12

Montrose Library