The Chosen by Taran Matharu

Cade was framed. He didn't steal the laptops. He didn't want to get sent to a secluded school for bad kids. And most of all, he didn't want to appear in a world, far away from our own where dangerous creatures and enemies are lurking just around the corner. Cade is a teenager who wakes up in a strange world that looks very different than the one he is used to. He sees a landscape devoid of visible buildings or people. The only life he comes into contact with is hostile, a mutant looking creature, who attacks him, and who he barely kills. As Cade wanders around, he finds others who wound up in this world as well, others from many different times and ages, as well as acquaintances from his day and age. As they wander further, they come to realize they are in a game, a game to save the world.

This was a book I really enjoyed. Taran Matharu is a very good writer, who likes to create new, and unique worlds for his stories to be set in, and this book is no different. Even though some parts of the plot just kind of fall through, the whole book is still a good one in my eyes. The fact that the author uses dinosaurs, Roman legionaries, and other different bits and pieces of history is really interesting to me. I would recommend this book to people who like reading about dinosaurs, or enjoy a fun adventure book. I'm really excited for the second book's release January of 2020.

Reviewed by Julio B., Grade 10
Glendale Central Library

Fairy Tail: Volume 8 by Hiro Mashima

During the guild battle between Fairy Tail and the Phantom, the scenery itself gets more intense. We would all know by Natsu is a Salamander which is a celestial wizard who has magical fire-breathing power. He also can eat fire as well without feeling sick. His biggest rival, Gajeel, has demolishing powers meaning all he needs is rocks to destruct a certain building or structure. The two guilds have such powers. This is just a continuation of this battle based on the previous volume. If you read, who will win?

This volume wasn't pleasing in my personal opinion. It reminded me of something that has a basic pilot such as My Little Pony since two guilds were fighting for something superior. The only thing I liked about this was when things started to get intense when the author described the Phantom's guild getting destroyed. That just brought suspense. I started to get bored out of it because there isn't anything new happening besides fighting and combating other guilds. It's like as if the story repeats itself but in different types of ways. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, to be honest, but if anyone is a fan of My Little Pony, you should read this. Manga is a reading source I somehow enjoy but not if it's so repetitive. Every volume you read of Fairy Tail, it should state the content should be read by people who are thirteen years of age or older but it just depends on the scenes and imagery in each one.

Reviewed by Hannah Rachel, Grade 10
Glendale Central Library

Fairy Tail: Volume 7 by Hiro Mashima

The next problem of Fairy Tail is they must go against one of the archenemy guilds which is the Phantom. The Phantom is one of the most powerful guilds any typical guild would have to face in battle. In this story, they slightly kill three wizards of Fairy Tail and one of the buildings got demolished. Erza and everyone else of Fairy Tail must defeat the Phantom that way their evil magic can stop doing their reign of terror. But the thing is... who will win?

My opinion is a bit neutral at this point. The part when the author introduces Fairy Tail and the Phantom into battle was really intense just like the battle itself. I'm starting to think the way how the characters always stammer in the story is redundant and how the author uses too many periods and exclamation points in one word bubble. Although, I really like Erza's and Sherry's personality, not only in this particular volume but right when they were first introduced. I also have to say this is not a good manga to read if you're around eight years old because there is quite an amount of inappropriate body exposure and sexual touching which made me feel slightly uncomfortable. This manga also contains a mild amount of profanity so if I had to recommend this volume to an age-range, then I would say people who are like sixteen or seventeen years of age depending how long you can handle such content like this.

Reviewed by Hannah Rachel, Grade 10
Glendale Central Library