Alan Turing : The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges

“Alan Turing The Enigma” is a biography about a World War 2 mathematician named Alan Turing. He was the son of Julius Mathison Turing and Ethal Sara Stoney. He wasn’t any ordinary person. He was deeply interested into science and mathematics at a very young age and was also unique by being a homosexual. He had a close friend who he also loved named Christopher who died when he was a young adult. Devastated, Alan Turing went on to get hired to crack the secret German code-The Engigma. He cracked it by using the “first computer” named the Turing Bombe. This wasn’t the end of his adventure since he had also developed papers based on Comptable Numbers and Universal Machine. His life was not easy once he admitted being a homosexual. From then on, his life went on in a hard fashion.

In my opinion, Alan Turing : The Enigma, by  Andrew Hodges, was great however I did not like how most of it was dedicated to explaining advanced Mathematics. I think people who had goals of being in the Math or Science field would enjot this book as that’s is what most of the book is. Even though this book was hard to understand, it made me think outside the box, for example when I would try to figure out how to solve some problem myself. I enjoyed the book and recommend it for others to read.

Reviewed by Anonymous, Grade 8

Casa Verdugo Library

Titans, by Victoria Scott

 

This is a story of a girl named Astrid Sullivan who has to risk her future in order to save her family. She comes from a poor family whom the grandfather played cards and lost everything and a father who bet on the Titans, lost his job and now eventually will lose everything. Titans were not the old Greek gods, they were the half machine, half horses that always raced to win. She had never ridden a Titan, nor she ever thought of riding one in her life, but as we all know life changes everything all of a sudden. Destiny is all. She decides to ride a 3.0 Titan from her neighbor who found it. If she wins, everything will change, and her family will be saved. If she loses, there'd be no hope for saving her family and they might become homeless and fall apart from each other. What would happen? Will she make it or lose the race?

Titans, by Victoria Scott, is a fine book. It takes place in a time that is both known and unknown to us.  We don't have such things as Titans in our lives, but sure we have other things that are like it.  I believe the story has lots to tell and lots to teach.  It is an interesting book even though it wasn't my type. What I didn't like about it was how the story went slow and how tense the setting was. However, that's my opinion. What I liked about it was how the main character had hope and tried to do her best to save her family from falling apart. I recommend this book to those who are seeking for a both familiar and unfamiliar world to learn new things in their lives.

Reviewed by Orkideh, Grade 12
Downtown Central Library