Reviewed by OHS Substitute

Fireborne by Rosaria Munda reveals a fantasy adventure that captures your attention from the beginning. Dragons are present in the book, mostly as side characters who choose their beings and perform/act depending on their human counterparts. The dragons play a role in helping these humans determine their status in society. Told from the perspective of two orphans, Annie and Lee, they are growing up in an ever-changing world and are faced with many difficult choices along the way. Annie is an extremely talented, yet humble character who you quickly learn has a quiet strength that allows her to overcome her own personal doubts, as well as prove her worthiness to a society that often seems to doubt her or have low expectations of her. On the other hand, Lee is often favored by the people, but he still has a modesty about him and is constantly observing and evaluating the people and things around him. As these characters and their relationships develop through the book, you begin to connect with them, their feelings and the decisions that they make in the Revolution that arises.

Well written, fast paced. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by OHS substitute.

The story is gripping from the beginning and gets the reader involved immediately. It’s a combination of romance and action. The novel has young ladies escaping their pasts in Europe to begin a new life in New Orleans in 1872.

Celine is escaping Paris because of a murder she committed there. She and her friend Pippa, from England, were taken in by a convent in order to give them better lives. She meets a mysterious young man who has a profound effect on her. She is enraptured by the city and becomes involved in the underworld where ladies are being murdered by a serial killer. Celine has little fear and Pippa is cautious and fears for her friend, but is still there for her.

It was amazing how quickly the plot was developed. The main characters are: Celine, Pippa, and Sebastien Saint Germaine from New Orleans. It was a romantic thriller, a patent fantasy story. It is a great read and I would recommend it to readers of all genres.

Paris Secord, known as DJ ParSec to the dance/rave scene, is found dead right before she’s about to make it big. Two key figures in her life, Kya and Fuse, who were not friends before the murder are forced to work together because neither of them believe that the police are doing enough or even know what they are doing to find Paris’s murderer. Her fan base, ParSec Nation, work via social media to pull clues for Kya and Fuse. And true to social media form, not all clues lead to the truth.

Lamar Giles provides plot twists and thrill scenes, some of which were hard to follow as the story shifts narrators between the three girls as well as jumping back and for between past and present. As in the best murder mystery writing, the murder is not who you think it might be and will probably keep most teens engaged, especially if they like hip-hop jargon.

This book is like science fiction, what I thought was only capable in Hollywood movies like ANT MAN are now working robots. Robots the size of a penny and robots that can see the small print three football fields away.

The timeline on pages 16-17 has dates from 1914-2014. Military robots clearing land mines, flying rescue missions, dropping bombs, and video recording areas for surveilance.

The book shows what they can do, not how they do it.

The book comes with QR codes, but I watched and read it at popbooksonline.com. This information is more in depth, comes with student activities ( matching and word search), and lesson plans for teachers.

The book Life Sucks: How to Deal with the Way Life is, Was and Always Will Be Unfair by Michael I. Bennett is written by a father-daughter team that discusses the big things in your teenage life that can suck in a no-nonsense way.  They discuss the reality of how personal quandaries such as body image, cultural and sexuality awareness can cause questions just as much as the typical drama with friendship, school, and home life. This father-daughter team has given great examples of what to do or how to deal with lots of situations that come up in most teen’s live.  This book will show teenagers that they are not alone in dealing with these issues and help them to laugh them off. The information is given in a way that seems to guide the young reader and will help them realize that it is ok to talk to their parents and others around them about issues that come up in their lives. This self-help type book contains questionnaires and an answer key –great for individuals who have purchased the book but something to monitor in a school library.  This style makes the book easy to read. One can pick it up to read a page or two at a time if need be. Unfortunately, the information and examples become somewhat redundant over time and might be better suited for a teen in their personal library at home.

Reviewed by OHS Student, Angela C.

This book is about two friends and their life after high school. However, at a young age, they both experience a school shooting, which greatly impacts their lives.

I tried to read this book, but struggled with the pacing. It moved really slowly and after 5 chapters, nothing really happened. The characters were flat and didn’t really have rounded personalities. They just seemed to have one trait. One guy was sad, and the other was sad and had diabetes. That was really it. I cannot fully recommend this book.

Recommended by OHS Student, Brixton N.

The Silent Invasion is a graphic novel.
An investigative reporter named Matt Sinkage has an obsession with UFOs. He finds himself investigating the possible invasion of Earth, communist spies, and government programs in 1950’s America

This is an intriguing, scientific story with fantastic art and an excellent window into the media available to the American public in the 1950s.

Pearl and her robot Pascal are going to Gigaworld Amusement Park. While there Pearl will make comparisons between things in the park and computer coding.

Pearl introduces her readers to: code, variables, loop, if-then-else, and sequence. It all makes sense when Pearl talks about it. This story shows how coding does not need to be complicated. Older readers (adults, especially) will definitely want to read “Pearl and Pascal’s Guide to Coding” after the story is over.

Pearl and Pascal work their way around Gigaworld using tokens (a variable) until they are able to get onto the ride Python Rollercoaster with a short line. A loop is explained while they ride the Ferris wheel. If-then-else is explained as they make up their mind as to what to do next when the line to the rollercoaster is too long, in connection with a variable (Boolean).

It all makes sense when Pearl explains it.

By folding paper back and forth neatly upon itself six different projects are demonstrated, step-by-step in this book.

I found these projects easier than origami projects with a greater success rate, too. Directions are given for a snake, fish, butterfly, pumpkin, pinwheel, and a double picture.

Readers will enjoy and want to make more than one of each project as they hone their paper folding skills.

Netflix has Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publishing a graphic novel version of their television show episodes. This one, The Sticky Rice Caper, is from season 1. The graphic novel follows the TV episode with a few exceptions. The graphic novel has omitted one minor VILE character and the French Interpol agents. The graphic novel has placed the factual information about France and Indonesia at the end of the story line. And Carmen Sandiego’s bio information is at the very beginning, before the new story line begins.

Carmen Sandiego is out to foil VILE (Villains International League of Evil) and their new bioweapon which will destroy Indonesia’s rice harvest. Once Vile has Indonesia starving, they will sell Indonesia their artificial rice for a huge profit.

Carmen, the highly capable heroine, defeats VILE once again with the help of her team, her custom gear, and her fighting ability.

Fast paced action the reader will not want to put down.