Dystopia

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What if the Cold War had been different? What if a nuclear bomb had been launched, how about dozens of nuclear bombs landing all across the United States? //Alas Babylon// is about life in a small Florida town after disaster strikes. Read as a group of survivors learns to live without electricity, transportation, and other things that are often overlooked.=====

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I liked //Alas Babylon//. It really made me appreciate the basic objects we overlook, such as salt or soap. My favorite character was Randy Bragg. He was the main character and he really stepped up as a leader after The Day, which is what the day the bombs were dropped is referred to in the book. Normally you could go to a store and buy any supplies of ingredients you need, but if there are no stores how do you live without the basic needs. It was shocking to see the survivors trying to live without these needs and eventually meeting them.=====

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I think older students, around 7th grade or up, might really enjoy this book. Students younger than 7th grade might like it, but they would have to have a good attention span. It is a pretty advanced and intellectual book. It will really open your eyes, so be prepared. It was a really an engaging book and I would recommend it to older students only if you are really interested in it.=====

=__The Book Thief__= By: Markus Zusak

Review by: Pstuchlik1123

Follow the life of Liesel Meminger through Death's eyes in the Book Thief. Liesel Meminger is a young girl trying to get through life with her foster parents, Rudy Steiner, and the others on Himmel Street in Nazi Germany during World War II. Problems arouse when Liesel is being taught how to read, she loves to read so much that she resorts to stealing books, also later in the book her family secretly houses a Jew. Come read the life of Liesel Meminger and learn just how hard life in World War II is. I really liked this book for how its thought provoking and its complexity. My favorite character would have to be Rudy Steiner because of his attempts to get a kiss from Liesel. My least favorite part is when Arthur Berg, the leader of a group of delinquents, leaves. My favorite part would be when they steal from the farmers with Arthur Berg. It is my favorite because one of the only times she is happy.The part I would change is the ending, I would change this because Himmel Street, where all the main characters live, is bombed along with the town. In my ending everyone on Himmel Street would miraculously not be touched. I relate to Rudy because I like to have fun with others and I relate to Liesel because I love to read books. I would recommend this book to people who like to read unique books, for people that really get into books, and for people are interested about how normal life was like in that time period. = = = = = = = = =__**The Lord of the**__ __**Flies**__= By**:** William Golding

Review by: Pstuchlik1123

The Lord of the Flies is about a group of boys trying to survive after being stranded on a deserted island. The story has a deeper meaning, Rule-abiding civilization vs. savagery. Ralph, the protagonist calls all the boys by using a conch shell. They soon become a makeshift democracy with Ralph as the leader. At least for a while. The trouble begins when the main antagonist and leader of the hunters, Jack, gets tired of following Ralph and starts his own hunting tribe. More and more leave Ralph. I like this book because of the morals it has. My least favorite part is when one of the boys, Simon, dies. I dislike it because they were acting foolishly and thought he was the beast. My favorite part was when they first began. I liked it because they listened to Ralph and his friend Piggy. I like this because Ralph and Piggy were making the right decisions. I relate to Ralph because I want to do the right thing but I am sometimes drawn into doing wrong. My favorite character is Simon because he did what he was suppose to do, he defended Piggy when the others mocked him, and because he would spend time in the forest alone, thinking, portraying him as a Christ-like character. If I would change something I would change Simon's death, so that he would live, the consequences doing that is that it will make him seem less Christ-like (his death was more or less the same). I would recommend this book to whoever likes books with a deeper meaning. I wouldn't recommend this book to whoever dislikes violence. The reason for this is because at the end of the book everyone is savages other then Sam 'n Eric and Ralph.

petziez

=__**The Giver**__=

By: Lois Lowry
The Giver is set in the future, where they have committed to 'Sameness', where the people in the community have stopped feeling sadness and pain. That means that they have no happiness or love either. Jonas a 12 in the community, has been given the role of the Receiver, the one person in the community who has everyone else's feelings for them. His trainer, The Giver, has shown him that everything in his community isn't as perfect as if first seemed to be. His world is lacking of color and love. The main characters are Jonas and his trainer, the Giver.

I personally liked the book, but it was a little confusing you could interpret it in many ways. The character I most feel like is Jonas' little sister, Lily. I feel like her because I am a bit different, but I blend into the rest of crowd, the same way that she is different, but she's nobody like Jonas or the Giver. My favorite character is a person called Larissa, who's a person of the community called the 'Old'. She's my favorite person because in the beginning she seemed happy. Even though the people in the community can't really be all too happy. My favorite part was when Jonas first went to the Giver, this part of the book is my favorite, because he learns about so many different things. The things he learns about are snow, warmth, and sunburns. One of my least favorite parts of the book was when the Giver transmitted the memory of war to Jonas, it seemed really sad to me. The part of the book that I wish I could change would be the ending, I would have liked it to be more clear of what happened.

I might recommend this, because some of my friends do like fantasy, and they like to be slightly challenged in their reading. I would recommend this book to people who like dystopia and fantasy books. Also I would recommend this to who would like to be slightly confused or challenged. I wouldn't recommend it to someone who don't like any of the above listings. Like I wouldn't recommend it to someone who prefers for the book to state it clearly what is happening.

The Fourth Apprentice

A book out of the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. By: Soccerismetplc

The stream that supplies the lake that the four clans rely on is blocked off up stream in unknown territory. The four clans decide that each clan should send two of their warriors to work together to go into this unknown territory and find out what is blocking the stream and try to resolve the issue. The main characters are Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Dovepaw. Each of these cats are part of a very special prophecy. Lionblaze can’t be hurt in battle. Jayfeather can walk in other cats dreams. Last but not least Dovepaw knows what is happening miles away from where she is at.

I think that I relate to Lionblaze the most because he is very self confident. My favorite part of the book is when the cats that went on the journey find the problem and fix it. I liked this part because they accomplished what they set out to do. My least favorite part of the book is when one of the eight cats dies trying to save the lake. I didn’t like this part because the cat really wanted to save the lake and go back to his clan, but instead he died trying.

I have a few friends that might want to read this because this book is part of a series and they have read all the other books in the series. They can’t stop now. I think that people that like Mystery and Adventure would like this book because it is a mystery why the stream is dried up. People that like adventure would like it because an adventure is exploring some place new, and in this book they are doing exactly that. People that like horror and Romance shouldn’t read this because this has nothing to do with those categories.