Lily W's review of "The Problem with Forever" by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Heya everybody I know it's been a while since I last wrote a review, sorry about that I will try to do better. So last night I finished The Problem With Forever! I want to say first that this review will have spoilers later on and I will warn you before I get to that section but here is the no spoilers review.

I found this book to be extremely cliche, but not in an awful way. The ending did surprise me somewhat which is good! I thought the whole book would be cheesy and predictable! I didn't hate it, which you all know takes a lot for me to say especially for sappy romance novels since the genre usually leaves me wanting to vomit. (Good news I didn't this time!) Some things you should know about this novel before you read it: if you have experienced a very rough childhood and don't wish to be reminded of somewhat similar circumstances do not read this novel (at times there are vivid descriptions of abuse physical and verbal), if you cannot stand any amount of romance don't read this novel (I really hate romance and this book was filled to the brim with it), and if you hate reading don't read this book (really needed a third thing to make the commas worth it guys).

So I personally sorta liked this book. I took two school days to read it but I started reading later on the first night (to give you an idea how long I think it was a little less than five hundred pages or so but I wouldn't swear to that). I was first drawn to it by the super cute clover with these rainbow water colors because water colors are one of the most fun things to work with and it just brought up so many happy memories (but no water coloring in the book I felt so cheated!). When I read the inside flap summary thing I decided to get it because (no spoilers yet this is all on the inside cover flap thingy) it said it was about a girl who had gotten out of an abusive family but had been taken from the foster child she'd grown up with and who protected her from a lot of beatings and stuff like that. They were really, really close. So since then she's been adopted by great parents and has gotten better through therapy and homeschooling, but decides to go to her senior year of high school at a public school where she ends up seeing (cue the drums!) the boy she grew up with who she somehow doesn't think of as a brother but as a love interest and that isn't creepy at all!!!!! Seriously puke worthy for me anyway, but this story isn't awful and I think you guys should check it out I think you'll be happily surprised by the ending! If you can get past the thought of them sorta being like brother and sister...that was hard for me.

HERE COME THE SPOILERS! AVERT YOUR EYES IF YOU HAVE NOT READ AND WISH TO!!!!

So ok now I can just get my true feelings out without being vague. What the heck? Ok so Mallory is in love with Rider? Like how did they not see each other as brother and sister? I mean they grew up together and took care of one another like siblings, I mean it doesn't matter if you aren't related by blood you are still brother and sister. I guess they didn't see it that way because as we all could tell from the story they are happily doing things siblings just should do not do to one another. It took me a while to get past this and accept it because it was clear these guys were lovey dovey from the get go but I tried, I already get grossed out by romance normally I don't need to think about incest being thrown into the mix. Blech! Gross! Ok still getting over that image...onto the next topic!

I felt as if this wasn't the worst love story I've ever read. Like it was nice that they weren't trying to be up in each other’s business every five second and all which lately in teen novels seems to be a common theme. Speaking of common themes, why is it always that the girl is the inexperienced dater? I mean for once can we have the boy in the novel be more nervous than the girl? I mean I understand Mallory is a nervous person and all but come on! I mean every freaking book, the girl is so nervous about it all and the guy is just like “lemme show ya how to smooch sweet cakes” and the girl’s like “but I'm nervous” and he's like “then I'll take it slow honey bunny no rush” then she's like “well even though I said I'm nervous I'm just gonna throw myself on top of you now...because you were so kind and said we'll take it slow.” That's not at all how the dialogue was in this book but this is just how stupid romance novels sound to me all the time!

But anyways, onto the positive! So remember when I mentioned that I liked the book (you know way at the beginning before I said all these mean things) it was not for the new found love and crap, or the fact that they killed off the one sane person in the book...as usual. No I liked it because as stupid as the story seemed, I was vaguely interested enough in reading it and was pleasantly surprised when Mallory stood up for herself at the end of the novel. To her beloved Rider too!!! I was all like “YOU GO GIRL YOU ARE A STRONG INDEPENDANT GINGER WHO DON’T NEED NO BOYFRIEND WHO HAS NO SELF ESTEEM! YOU TELL HIM THAT HE IS WORTH WHILE! WHOOP!” And she also stood up for her career dreams to her parents or whatever...less important. But I was honestly happy! Like she understood that she could fight for herself and did, she screamed love and affection (the only way to express these emotions if you ask me) to Rider and told him he needed to get a grip and realize he deserved happiness, family, and love, that he was isolating himself from these things. I loved that this was not an immediate change for Rider or Mallory. That at the end of the novel they were each still working on believing they deserved happiness! I loved that their happy ending didn't even happen in the book, that it was established they were in a good place but needed to improve and would. On a different note, I was also surprised when they got back together because I thought this book might have wanted to focus on the fact that sometimes no matter what you try, you can't change people even if you love them. But nope, they just had to get back together didn't they?

Overall I like how this book focused on self growth and realizing that you are worth it. That no matter what is in your past you can have a positive impact on others, and can make a good life for yourself. I love positivity and try my best to be positive in real life (just wanted to say because these reviews can be pretty brutal). I know a lot of people take for granted everything they have in life, while they don't even realize that while their parents might give them a ten o'clock curfew to make sure they are safe, somebody else in their school has to deal with extremely brutal situations of their own. Yes we all have our flaws, and I most certainly have a lot I'll be the first to say so! But I believe that we shouldn't take for granted the opportunities our lives give us, because like this book stresses, we don't always get a second chance.  

Library? There’s an App for That by Lily

Hey everybody I have a different kind of review for you guys. Today I am going to review some apps that the library offers for us for free! And we all know that free is good right? So I’ll be talking about Mango as well as Hoopla. I've been dying to write this review so here it goes!

 So I’ll start with Hoopla because it is honestly great! I'm able to check out up to five books, movies, or music (I guess albums I haven't checked that out yet). It's really cool because they have a really nice selection and I can bring it on the go. I don't know what else to say other than this app truly rocks! I think it is perfect for people on the go!

Now onto the amazing app and website Mango! Mango is probably the app I use most, it is this lovely way to learn conversational languages (and a LOT of languages). I am learning Japanese and German in classes at school and this app helps me practice my speaking skills and changes up my usual curriculum by teaching me new grammar that isn't always covered in the textbooks. It focuses on conversational stuff like greetings, asking directions, and other really important materials. It's helpful to review and really great to learn some new tricks! I'm also practicing French (it's not offered at school so I wanted to try it out) and it is just as great for starting a language having no practice in as it is for helping me practice ones I study at school! I love practicing languages with this app! They have a lot of interesting languages I would love to look into and the only other language app that even comes close (free that is I'm broke so free=good) is duolingo. It's not that great in comparison though and only has a few western languages (that is ones that mainly use the English alphabet) and its audio is very robotic and doesn't give you a proper sense of the actual language but it still helps. Also Mango offers lessons in English as a second language in a LOT of languages! It's pretty awesome! One thing is that I wish Mango would also offer is sign language. I feel as if it would be a wonderful language to add because it's focus is on spoken languages and by adding sign languages they could really expand their customers (is it called customers for an app payed for by the library?). There are some good free online resources online and one or two free sign language apps too but I feel like Mango is so awesome and could be even cooler but that's just me fishing to find anything negative about the app!

 So overall I believe these are great programs and I am so happy to see the library offering these to the public! I love this because the library already does so much for the community by offering so much. I mean where else can you borrow the latest movies, music, books, and educational tools? There's a room you can use to tutor as well! I used to tutor some kids with disabilities that had trouble focusing with even small distractions and by using the tutoring room (don't know what it is actually called sorry) they really improved in school! Not to mention all the programs offered to kids, teens, and adults! The library has been a great place for my family to go throughout the years and I am extremely happy to be a volunteer there (and not just for the free snacks though those are a big incentive). It's great to see that apps are being integrated into the programs they offer to everybody because technology is a big part of our everyday lives. So thank you Highland library and everyone in it for being so gosh darn awesome for everybody!

(Librarian note: Mango is working on offering classes in American Sign Language (it is in beta right now)! For people with Full Access or Digital Access Cards at Lake County Public Library in Indiana, you will need to know your card number and your PIN to access Mango and Hoopla. If you live somewhere else, check your local library's website!)

Library Night Live: Why is that Phrase: “Tabling a Discussion”

Our first Library Night Live was so great!

The teens had 1:15 total to create this masterpiece: 

• 20 minutes to brainstorm, make an outline and cast/assign production roles
• 20 minutes to create props and set dressings out of material on hand (in our case, tape, construction paper, markers, and Legos 
• 20 minutes to rehearse and film

Cast:

$Ben Franklin$ - Lily
Announcer - Jackerax
Washington - Jayden
Adams - Zack
Hamilton - Hayden
Jefferson - Nick
Washington’s teeth’s hands - Jackerax
Table flippers - Jackerax and Ms. B
Camera operator - GadgetJax

Captions/audio description: Why is that Phrase: “Tabling a Discussion” Library Night Live: Filmed 5/11/16
Setting: Burger King George’s

Announcer: “It’s time for Revolutionary America's  favorite game…”
Everyone: “Why is that Phrase”
Announcer: “…with your host, the electrifying, Ben Franklin!”
*announcer waves kite with key behind Ben’s head*
Hamilton: “What a nice declaration, it be a shame if anything …happened to it!” *spills drink*
Washington: “Achoo!” *sneezes out teeth*
Off camera, spoken sound effect: “SPLAT”
Adams: “Balderdash!”
Jefferson: *flips table*
$Ben Franklin$: “And that’s why it’s called Tabling It!”

A Review of High School (by High Schoolers Lily W and Melanie VT)

A Review of High School (by High Schoolers Lily W and Melanie VT)

Who better to ask about the stresses of high school than high schoolers themselves?

We are both two honor roll students in high school, one a junior, the other a sophomore. We are writing this article to stress how important it is for us to have our lives back. We both have about four or more hours of homework on a normal day of school, not including our clubs, rehearsals, and practices we both take pride in participating in. All around us, our classmates are breaking under the pressure of the impossible expectations that high schools make for us. Some
classmates regularly have panic attacks, medically recognized anxiety, and related eating disorders due to the stress of homework and the expectations put on our shoulders to stay on top of our class assignments. We are writing this article to bring attention to a problem that teachers and administration for many schools overlook the well being of their students’ mental and physical health.

(Infographic from Teens suffer from chronic stress due to homework, 2014 Stanford study finds) 

On a typical school day for me (Melanie), I receive about 4 hours of homework. I try to
start right when I get home from school at 3:30 and work on it. Add on to that amount of time
dinner and a shower and the general preparation for bedtime and that takes away another hour or
so from my working schedule. Now my schedule is work from 3:30-5:30, dinner and a shower,
and then homework from 7-9.

Afterwards I get ready for bed and try to get one word in with my parents on how my day is going. Not to mention I haven’t had any time for any type of social life whatsoever, yet this is the expectation we are supposed to hold up without any snags or problems with our homework, making it take longer than 4 hours (Often times I spend more than 4 hours on homework because I am a slow learner/worker, which puts me at a disadvantage against quick working kids). My schedule allows me no outdoor activity, jobs, or sports. Sunday should be a day of rest without homework, and I never have the time to simply sit back for one day because of the excess of homework. Studies show teenagers need 9 hours of sleep, which rarely happens for me. Most nights, I get about 6.

On my typical school day (Lily) I arrive before the 7:45 start time for first hour. I have no
study hall and a short lunch after 12. After school gets out (2:54 usually except for Wednesdays
when we leave at 2:25) is club meetings, rehearsals for music or plays, or volunteering at my
local library. Generally I won’t get home until after four o’clock but sometimes it won’t be until
dinner. On a usual day I will begin homework and studying as soon as possible, usually spending
as much as 4-6 hours on it, leaving me no free time to spend doing things I enjoy or time to spend with my family and friends. Being a good student means that I have to give up any chance of my social life on several days of the week including the supposed “weekends” in which I still have a whole lot of homework and projects to complete for these hardcore classes (which are honors and advanced placement). So basically I have eight hours in school + at least one hour of after school extracurriculars + 4-6 hours of homework = very little sleep, incredible amounts of stress, and more time working towards education than adults work on in a full time career! Can you see our frustrations?

We aren’t even the kids who are worst off because of high school. All around, kids are feeling high levels of diagnosable anxiety, depression, and even eating disorders because of the levels of stress placed on us to do so well in school or else face a life where we are “doomed” to never make it into college or to have a successful career and happy life. We are pressured to give up all our free time and our childhoods in order to make sure that our futures are amazing, even if our present situation is not right! Students who are trying to prepare for their future now are applying for jobs which they don’t have time for. This situation haunts millions of teenagers every day and they are just trying to save some money. Some students are expected to keep up a high grade point average while supporting their family financially. Going to college obviously requires a lot of money, and not all parents can easily afford sending their child to whatever college his/her heart desires. Students therefore need to help pitch in by getting a job and supporting their future career. That is, if they had time.

Studies show that more than two hours of homework is counterproductive to the education of highschoolers. Giving only two hours of homework is an attainable goal for teachers. Many teachers do not realize our workload is so bad, not considering that the other six classes in their day also assign plenty of homework. We’re already busy we don’t need the busywork. If only they could take into account that we take their instruction seriously and they can be just as effective without assigning an unreasonable amount of homework. Please remember that we are still children, we need to have a strong social and family life, and having so much busy work really affects how we interact with others. It can be very hard to make friends at this age for many teens, but consider having no time to make or keep those friends what then do you think happens to teenagers emotionally?

(Chart from Homework around the world: how much is too much?)

Several students suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and eating disorders. Many different studies show that about half of high school teens feel stressed about high school (These studies can be found in our works cited). It is suggested that high schoolers should have no more than 2 hours of homework daily, or else it will become counterproductive, but the average American teenager has 3.5. In comparison, adults do get frustrated when they are forced to do an excessive amount of overtime for any job how is this any different? If an adult had literally no time to be themselves don’t you think they would become stressed, burnt out, and upset? No wonder students are so negatively affected by high school’s unreasonable standards.

Many countries, in fact, do not emphasize the need for homework. Finland has even passed laws to ban homework in some areas. Now I know what you’re thinking: Don’t those kids in reaction to less homework have poorer knowledge and ability to take what they learn and apply it to new situations? Surprisingly, no. Because of more student teacher interactions in school, the kids require less take-home busywork. Teachers on the other hand are held higher expectations before they’re even allowed to become a teacher. They must have a master’s degree and be in the top 10% of their class. Class size in Finland is about 12 students per teacher, which makes for better one-on-one interaction time and personal help. Not only that, but most students actually prefer smaller class size.

The purpose of this project we have taken on is to bring light to a subject that a lot of teachers tend not to consider when assigning homework the students’ emotional well being. While you may think that we are all perfectly coping to these high levels of stress and higher expectations, you are completely wrong. We want a life! We are still kids, so while we may be mature and starting to make adult decisions like taking on more responsibility like jobs, we aren’t adults quite yet. You can’t expect us to take on so much work and not have negative effects on our mental and physical health. We just want you to hear us. We hope that this article can make a positive change for kids like us.


Works Cited:
CNN . Cable News Network. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
"Education in Sweden." Sweden.se . 11 May 2015. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
"A High School Student's Perspective on Homework." ASCD
Express 4.26 . Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
"School Stress Takes A Toll On Health, Teens And Parents Say." NPR . NPR. Web. 23 Apr.
2016.
"Teens Suffer from Chronic Stress Due to Homework, 2014 Stanford Study Finds The
Redwood Bark." The Redwood Bark . 02 Apr. 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
"Teens Suffer from Chronic Stress Due to Homework, 2014 Stanford Study Finds The
Redwood Bark." The Redwood Bark . 02 Apr. 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
"There Is No Homework In Finland." Content Marketing Blog . 04 Mar. 2013. Web. 23 Apr.
2016.

Carry On Written by Rainbow Rowell Snarky review by Lily W.

Carry On
Written by Rainbow Rowell
Snarky review by Lily W.

So Rainbow Rowell, we meet again, only this time your ending isn't half bad but the book itself
sucks beyond suck. If you couldn't tell I don't like this book, well I'll make it clear it was awful. I promise no spoilers for this first part of the review (to warn those of you who have not yet read it.) but honestly it doesn't matter if you carry on reading this because it was so gosh darn awful I want you to save your precious life from reading this awful excuse of fiction. Ok I'm especially harsh today so sorry about that but this is as close to a journal as I'll ever get so I promise to be honest about my opinions. For those of you intending to read this please stop reading the review now, but also keep in mind that I AM WARNING YOU IT IS SO AWFUL IT WILL MAKE YOUR BRAIN HURT. Alright now onto why I think all these awful things.

So Fangirl was a pretty good book, funny, not too heavy, but weird ending. I'm starting to notice a pattern with Rainbow Rowell’s books too. So like the first 150 pages or so the main character wanders around with no purpose but telling us some backstory from their life (you know instead of making life easier for all of us and just starting at the beginning) and basically just making me want to hit my head against the wall because I began reading another weird Rainbow Rowell book, I should have learned by now you'd have thought? Then everything changes for the main character when he/she realizes their true love is right there and goes from zero interest to must stick my tongue down this guy/girl’s throat immediately me life depends on this make out session! Like in Carry On Simon didn't even think he had a thing for Baz but he just thought yo there's a dude freaking out about to kill himself in a forest fire, you know what will make him feel better right about now? Me deciding to “snog” him without actually knowing if he has interest in kissing boys or girls and not previously thinking even for a second if I myself was interested in kissing boys or if I was interested in just this one. Because kissing people when they are having a magical mental breakdown makes sense. But anyway back to the pattern. Now that they are sure they have true love within fifteen minutes (because that's how love works) something complicates things. (Ok I feel like I should mention that Attachments doesn't quite follow this pattern, that book was basically saying that reading someone else’s email and falling in love with them is okay and not creepy and stalkerish in anyway. No that's sweet, because it's not like there are creepers out there and cyber stalkers but anyway sorry tangent) So something HUGE comes to complicate the two love birds, weather it be your weird eleven year old magic sucking self come to kill your bloodsucking boyfriend, or it's just the guy you like ended up kissing some other chick or something to that affect(Fangirl), and that HUGE conflict
really makes it difficult for the love birds to be love birds. Than they get through the complication
and get to an ending that really doesn't actually wrap up the story, it just ends. Like she was
going to write an ending, but didn't hit save before she shut off her computer and she lost all the
progress and was like screw it I'm done with this crap.

So in Carry On we are basically reading the equivalent of The Deathly Hallows or The Last
Olympian but without actually reading the several books before it. Like you just skip to the end.
At least in Harry Potter and Percy Jackson we got explanations, in Carry On we are just told this
is how this works and there is no good reason other than magic. Ok? What KIND of magic, what
is the backstory on this, why should I blindly believe that this book represents magic? Because
you start with Simon killing one goblin (like one monster thing the whole book? And he claims to
have slayed several in the past like this is normal? And one never really pops up again accept in
flashbacks? And he briefly just rode a dragon? Come on!) we just assume that the precedent for
being told the bare minimum of how this world works will be enough to help us get by and
understand completely what's happening. Let me just say, J. K. Rowling can write spells that
could sound silly (wingaaadiumleviosaaa), but it doesn't sound stupid because there's
reasoning, whereas Rainbow Rowell is all like You can't touch this because song lyrics now
have the power to be powerful? And what's all this crap about a musician having to have a
voice, what about mute or deaf magicians? Like for real I refuse to believe that in this world of
many many magicians that they all can speak and hear perfectly well. They are human too.

Not only are we thrown into a strange place in full on story mode without any idea what the heck
is going on or how anything is happening, but did Rowell seriously never hear about copyright? I
mean I know J. K. Rowling doesn't own the idea for wizard schools but come on! A British
wizardry school, a super smart and loyal girl bestie, orphaned brunette who is the chosen one ,
evil mysterious roommate with widows peak ( Draco anyone?), a kindly groundskeeper who is
tearful and cares for animals all the time? I mean seriously (but not Siriously...that guy’s dead)
how dumb do you think I am? Like I don't think you even had to have had watch the movie to
catch this! How is Rainbow Rowell not being sued at this very moment? Is she? If she is I really
wanna know. Anyway how can you rip off Harry Potter and not include RON? He was great, a
poor friend for poor Harry but Ron showed him what it was like to have a perfectly dysfunctional
family! Then you give Penelope Hermione’s attitude and characteristics and just make her have
Ron’s family dynamic? Did you not rip off Ron just for the purpose of not having another guy be
competition for Baz?

And what was up with Agatha anyway? What was even her purpose? Was it to be the Ginny of the Carry On universe? Because if so I wanna say how brave and powerful Ginny was in Harry Potter and point out Agatha is nothing like that. And for real I can understand that she wanted nothing to do with magic but then why would she befriend the most powerful magician out there? And then date him? And break up with him? And basically just say you don't want a normal happy ending then move to California to live a normal happy ending life? Good for you to following your dreams but you also totally left Simon, Penelope, and Baz for dead because you were too busy running away to care about possibly keeping them safer. And Baz, could you get more vampire cliche? Widows peak? Evil rich guy? And why does every book with a gay main character automatically make sure he has had a disappointing childhood because their parents don't accept their gayness? Like isn't there any other way to give someone a dramatic backstory? I mean I guess watching his mother pretty much incinerate herself after he himself was bitten by a vampire wasn't enough right? He couldn't manage to have a loving supporting family? And the dude is totally 100% no doubt Draco Malfoy.

And then Simon. Dude is an orphan who will pretty much never know who his parents are (never seen that one before right?). And then he totally was visited by his dead mother, but confused her for Baz’s dead mother, and never found out that he not only killed the Mage but the Mage was literally his father! No wonder Penelope used the these are not the droids you are looking for spell at the end to hide Simon’s for no reason devil wings, because the Mage was Darth Vader and Simon is Luke. And I haven't even seen Star Wars and I know that!

And so the story was seriously lacking story and like plot and other important stuff like I don't
know character development? The whole story can pretty much be summed up with this: if
Draco had a crush on Harry all along and then Harry randomly decides to kiss him. Than the
climax is a lame excuse of an action sequence in which Hagrid is killed by a weird Dumbledore
and Harry gives away all his magic to save the world from himself causing future harm but not to
actually fix the mess he unintentionally made. And kills Dumbledore by accident and will never
know he was really his father. Then Draco and Harry get all cuddly in front of Hermione's and
she starts to suspect that perhaps Harry and Draco are cuddly instead of trying to kill each other
why? STILL FOR NO REASON BECAUSE IN THIS BOOK YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH
SOMEONE YOU NEVER BEFORE HAD INTEREST IN BECAUSE HE IS TRYING TO BURN
DOWN A FOREST. Like for real I'm not trying to sound like a homophobe here trust me that is
not at all the message I am trying to get across, what I am trying to say is even with my limited
understanding of love one does not suddenly flip a switch in their brain and say yep I hated you
yesterday by now want you to be my soulmate. And this is just for Simon, I know Baz always
had a thing for Simon so he's ok in this instance. But also from what my gay friends have told
me one doesn't just all of a sudden think I'm gay . It's something they come to accept over time,
or always knew. Simon at the ending was still very clearly confused as to why he decided to kiss
Baz in the first place, so why hasn't he tried to figure it out yet? BECAUSE RAINBOW ROWELL
HAD THIS THING WHERE SHE JUST DOES NOT THINK BOOKS SHOULD MAKE SENSE!

And whatever happened to Nicodermus anyway? And like everyone else? Was that part of the
book you forgot to save on your computer before it shut down too? And then is Penelope’s mom
is now Professor McGonagall because she took over after the Mage died. For no reason other
than well she seems ok to be headmistress and we need a sassy woman to run the school to be
a true Harry Potter rip off.

Anyway I didn't like this book all that much and have almost nothing good to say about it except
that the cover art was ok? Oh and one more thing I don't think Harry Potter used as many British
specific words to convey the idea of it being British. Like only an American would exaggerate it
that much. Plus every character used the f word like it was seriously the only possible way to
convey annoyance, anger, or sadness. Like I don't mind cussing but that was a bit excessive
towards the beginning of the book. You would think an actually author would be able to afford a
thesaurus! Anyway I hope you enjoyed this review more than I enjoyed the book have a magical
day!

Quote of the Month: Zack & Lily

Quote of the Month January 2016:

Zack: There were three forms of Jabba...

Lily : Runny, crusty, gooey?

(from our Teen Book Discussion on 1/6/16)

Lily's review of Winter by Marissa Meyer

A review of

Winter

By Marissa Meyer

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS PLEASE READ THESE BOOKS I PROMISE YOU CROSS MY HEART IT IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ IN MY 15 OR SO YEARS OF READING EXPERIENCE! Ok granted a good portion of that time was spent learning to read but still! Please read Marissa Meyer’s series called the Lunar Chronicles! There are five books (the first of which is Cinder) it is such a great twist on the fairytales that we all know and love...or tolerate. Like for example to show how good this series is if you know me, you know how much I hate the fairytale of Cinderella *I’m literally like gagging now* but these books are AMAZING LIKE SO GOOD IT MADE ME LOVE THIS VERSION! The writing style is so cool and unique (I haven't seen third person omniscient in quite some time! Oh I hope I got that right and I didn't totally bomb my English final..) and the way the author lines up her completely different story with the classic fairy tales is amazing! Like one second you're all like “what does being a cyborg have to do with being Cinderella?” And than you're all like “OH MY GOSH THAT WAS SO COOL HOW THAT ALL FITS TOGETHER LIKE OH MY GOSH TOP FIVE BOOK SERIES LIST RIGHT NOW!” So I really wanna not spoil these books for you so here is my presidential teen advisory board declaration READ THEM ALL NOW! The lake county public library system has all the copies floating around somewhere so head on over there and request some novels! So I'm gonna continue the review now but there will be spoilers! So don't be a dummy and keep reading this review if you haven't read the book yet ok? You can read my completely opinionated and biased review after you read these beautiful books!

Alright so Winter was a really great way to end this series! I really love happy endings like what's the point of sad endings anyway books are meant to entertain you not make you all depressed and confused *cough cough Divergent*. And I lllllloooooovvvveeee fairytales like to Luna and back (see what I did there! ) Fairytales are so sweet and magical and... morally ...like it's too great to pass up a good fairytale (unless it is that stupid Cinderella like for real no one else has the same shoe size in the whole kingdom? Come on!)

So at first I was reluctant to read Cinder because Cinderella (yes I know don't judge a fairytale based book on your previous hatred of that stupid story whatever) but when I started I was totally hooked! This world was so high tech but believable, I loved Cinder even though she didn't love herself that much (It's ok I love her enough for the both of us), and it was so cool she was all like “I'm a mechanic and who can google blueprints with my built in computer!” I loved all the characters in book one and it was such a great story, I love how she was like “oh no I'm from the moon and a cyborg that's like double the weird” at first but later in the series came to terms with it all and I think that's really sweet! And Scarlet and Cress were just as amazing! But I gotta say that I was a little creeped out by the whole dating wolverine “alpha” thing but I mean I won't judge, actually yeah I judge that's kinda why I write reviews in the first place! Like Scarlett was so not sweet innocent red riding hood (but totally likeable) and Cress was such an adorable satellite hermit and so sweet and innocent like red riding hood! The series was really epic so far! I liked Fairest, but honestly I wasn't as into it because the narrator couldn't be trusted you know? She was crazy and when you hate everything  the main character does it doesn't make you feel invested in the story, but I feel like it was a good prologue. And her short stories for the series were nice too (I'm pretty sure I read at least two of them but who knows that was like a year ago and my memory is about as good as Dory’s).

So Winter...OH MY GOSH IT IS SO GOOD! So I loved how it was written because I feel like every character got a fair amount of spotlight unlike previous books that leave you wanting more from one or less from another. I really liked that Winter was innocent and perfect, she was so good that she refused to use her moon mind control on anyone which made her crazy. I like how her story intertwined with the other’s slowly too. And quick tangent  I was so sad when Scarlett was captured and tortured like forget about the cruelty she faced that's not fair putting me through that emotional distress! Anyway I was like BOOYAH when she got out semi-safe even if she was smelly. I liked how the whole book felt actiony and like something big lead to something bigger which lead to something catastrophically huge which then lead to serious stress! But the end of Winter couldn't have been more perfect! I seriously miss books that let all the main characters live to see their happy endings! Like everyone was happy. The moon was on the track to recovery as well as Earth, and Cinder was totally still the coolest chick!

I about had a heart attack when Levana stabbed Cinder in the heart, I thought that she might have died and that whole chapter after it where Scarlett says I love you or something gushy and gag worthy to Wolf/Ze’ev (never know what to call that guy) I was like so focused on Cinder I couldn't focus on like anything else! (Can I just do a blanket apology for using “like” every five seconds, I just try to write whatever pops into my head so my reviews are more honest and I am a teenager so I certainly talk like one!) but then she was ok (not The Fault in our Stars “okay”, because that's depressing… Although that dude totally was missing a limb like Cinder…) and I was all like WOOT WOOT because she gets her own happy ending… Or will eventually I mean she has to get through the whole being queen for a limited amount of time before they go all republic and then she’ll get to be the official empress/mechanic of New Beijing. Yeah like Scarlett/Wolf, and Cress/Thorne got like immediate happy endings and Winter/Jacin and Cinder/Kai get like happy ending rain checks but still extremely good ending! And can I say just how much I love Iko? Good call on the color changing depending on mood eyes!

I really miss books that have happy endings without too much heart break, I read “young adult fiction” books not for the hormones or the drama in them (believe me I've got enough of that going on around me to write my own book) but for the chance of a sweet story that has good life lessons where you love the characters and they all get happy endings like they should (in my opinion, some authors like Lemony Snicket may beg to disagree). I really can't complain all that much about this series. I really loved the characters, writing, story, and the inside jokes! Overall this series is totally five stars and is on my top five list! It's not like an official list it's just like I know Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus are #1 and I think the Lunar chronicles could be #2(hehe #2 duty) it may have tied with Artemis Fowl for me which is a huge honor I might add! I hope you all enjoyed these books as much as I did and oh my gosh I literally just realized I read Winter during the season of winter! How cool is that!?!? Okay I'm done with the puns (I hope) hope you guys have a happy new year and all that jazz!

Oh really quick I just realized this is like the only series on my top five list to not have magic, like unless you call glamour magic, I mean she gave a logical-ish explanation right? Oh well it. Counts a sci-fi not completely magicy series is on the top five list! This totally counts as branching out right? Right. Okay bye guys!

-Lily

Lily's review of Fangirl By Rainbow Rowell

A Review of 
Fangirl
By Rainbow Rowell

Ok so I'm not new to the Rainbow Rowell book universe, I've read Attachments as well as Eleanor and Park, but I think Fangirl really stands out! I really didn't like the others that much, that's what you get for having a friend that's a sucker for sappy weird love stories that give you the heebijeebies!
Okay so some generic no spoiler reasons why I like this book so much:

Adorable main character who makes you just want to hug her and tell her everything will turn out ok in the end!
A realistic and relatable setting that reminds me of college (I mean I think so, I'm still only in high school so I only have those brochures to compare it to in my head…)
REALLY fun characters that you actually love because of their different personalities! Or love to hate...that too!

So I can't really continue this book review, I feel like for this to keep going I need to be able to spoil things like the ending so I can complain and praise this book so 

CONSIDER THIS A WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! 

If you read the book (I think you totally should check it out from the library!) make sure to read the rest and tell me what you think! Ok spoiler time!

JEEZ RAINBOW ROWELL COULD YOU PLEASE WRITE AN ENDING TO A BOOK THAT ISN’T SO ABRUPT AND STRANGE? Every time I read one of your books I feel like you just ripped it right out of my hands, like I WAS READING THAT DO YOU MIND? Or a more relatable comparison, you're just eating a sandwich and Rainbow Rowell comes up to you and goes HAH right in your face and swipes it out of your mouth running away laughing villainously! Even saying “SWIPER NO SWIPING SWIPER NO SWIPING SWIPER NO SWIPING” doesn't work! Once again I WAS NOT DONE WITH THAT! Like the ending for Attachments was ok (the whole book weirded me out a lot!) and Fangirl is, like, one million times better than Eleanor and Park (I'm literally puking in my mouth from that whole book) but for real Rowell it's like you can't decide when to stop so you just do! Like you could have finished a lot more hanging storylines by the end of Cath’s spring semester but you didn't! You seemed only worried about Cath and Levi’s lovey-doveyness...like she didn't even wrap up the fact that they wouldn't see each other that much in the summer and stuff. Not to mention the mother thing, like I respect that Cath doesn't want anything to do with her mom, but Wren and her mother Laura both want Cath to have some sort of relationship with her. Sooooo many loose storylines! I can't even fathom how an author who very clearly understands the need to finish a story right ( example: Cath obsessing over how to wrap up Carry On) could have totally disregard how her endings! Ugg! Just it was a really good book and you don't want your last memory to be sour! Right? Please agree with me Rainbow Rowell (not that you'd actually read this but slight minuscule chance that you do I'm sure you're a great gal...I just hate your endings:) )

So Cath and Levi, even though I'm, like, the most anti love and mushy goshies person in the world, even I can agree that this love story was not the grossest one I've ever read, it was sweet (even though sweet makes me want to puke on the inside, not in anyway does this reflect on Rainbow Rowell’s writing, just my total disgust towards love). I thought it was nice that Levi tried so hard, but I feel like that part where Levi made out with that other girl before he and Cath were a thing was a little forced, like it was written to show that “Dudley-do-right” could mess up, like he had to do that to show that nobody is perfect. Like it just made Cath not want to go back to school which was really saddening.

Anyways Fangirl has like THE BEST sarcastic lines! For real you guys it just is the kind of quick sarcasm that makes you snort laugh and think *I totally have said something like that*( I can be very sarcastic, in fact just this morning my mom said “ Don't you want to support *insert teacher name* and buy spirit wear? I believe my response was “ if he wants support so bad he can go buy a bra!”) this book made me keep reading for the quick one liners that are the best!

This book was pretty great and even though I sound harsh, it's just that I'm a harsh person and am very blunt with my reviews, so I hope you all enjoyed (the like two who read it:)love ya guys!) and see you at the next library event!

-Lily

(Image source: Nice Save Baz by Nina on deanneedsyou.tumblr.com)

Lily's review of Avatar the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra

Avatar the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra

So basically this is a review about my childhood right? Well I first got hooked on these series when I was much younger and was all like hey there's this remote thing that has buttons on it... Let's try it out! Eventually I found the glorious channel of Nickelodeon, home to shows like iCarly and fairly Odd Parents. 

So as great as these shows were, they paled in comparison to the epic Avatar the Last Airbender. Like even the title sounds cool! So this is the time in my life where Hannah Montana was just starting out, like way before scary Miley Cyrus went all crazy, unlike Hannah Montana who as much as I loved her all she really did was sing and say sweet nibblets, Avatar actually had an AMAZING story line, a bunch super awesome strong and smart female roles (who were literally my idols), and probably like THE BEST art in an animated series that I have ever  seen! (And I watch a lot of cartoons people, like a lot) 

So if you don't know about Avatar you have probably be living under a rock, but anyone if you haven't seen it WATCH IT! AND KORRA! If you don't want spoilers STOP HERE! LIKE HALT RIGHT NOW! GO NO FURTHER. 

But anyway time for the actual review. So Avatar got so deep and made me think as a kid, the bad guys were actually not all that bad when you thought about it, then they became the good guys too! The good guys weren't invincible as much as others wanted them to be. And the good guys got beat up, like A LOT. But that's ok because they fail so spectacularly that you are on the edge of your seat WAITING for it to work out!

And bending, don't even get me started on how AMAZING SPECTACULARLY AWESOME THAT IS! I don't know any kid who didn't want to be a bender when they grew up like I still think wouldn't it be nice to just throw a giant boulder at that guy? And I was totally convinced I was a fire bender one time, I was staring at a candle and it like flickered, and I literally spent the next hour staring at it trying to make it move by thought! Anyway the art of how it was animated! Like it still blows me away! Like the artists made it so that they used different styles of martial arts for each bending style and each bender! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!! I could probably rant for hours about how beautiful the background and characters were made, but I think that would bore you guys so let's move onto some of my favorite characters, shall we?

So Aang was like soooo cool! He was really young and had tattoos! But unlike the youngsters that I know who have tattoos he totally was all peaceful and innocent! Like a kid should be! You really watch Aang grow up throughout this series which is really a great thing! He's so funny and takes nothing seriously at first, but even as he grows up he never loses his goofyness! That's a word right? Goofyness? Oh well, it is now! 

Now onto my favorite...DRUMROLL PLEASE!!!!

KATARA *thunderous applause*

She was my IDOL she had long brown hair (like this gal) and had an older brother who she yelled at a lot (like this gal) and had amazing powers of WATER BENDING (ok maybe not EXACTLY like this gal but I sure hoped I'd get it!) So of course, I thought I was basically Katara and became obsessed with her in everyway! She was very girly but still beat everyone up! That's something I really appreciated because girly girls can be seen as weak, but I've always been girly and very in people's face and bossy (in a good way... I hope). She traveled around the world with her best friends and beat up bad guys learning valuable life lessons! What more could I ask for in a role model?

Sokka, what can I say other than that you and your boomerang is such a better love story than twilight. Like on so many levels! And your sword, I almost cried during the finally dude, I almost cried! That was worse than like the fault in our stars dude! Anyway Solka is amazing and every time I see a guy who shaves the sides of his head and pulls the rest into a manbun I think of Sokka and smile. 

Toph was so incredibly strong and independent, but she had a lot to learn from her friends still, like the fact that she needed to depend on them, she couldn't just be alone her whole life and not be really happy. I loved Toph so much, and the choice of the creators to make her blind was a great call, I loved how she depended on her Earthbending to "see" and her disability really made her stronger. It was nice to see a children's show acknowledging such a touchy subject.  

And Zuko, Sifu Hotman, what can I say, I totally hated you as a child! You had that creepy ponytail and sad backstory, but I never got how Katara and Sokka with their sad backstory were good, and you were bad with yours. But then you went from ROAR FIRE GRR to LESS RAWR STILL FIRE LESS GRR. And I was cool with you! Mainly because Iroh. And let's face it when Katara forgave you so did I!

And there are SOOO MANY AMAZING PEOPLE IN THIS SHOW  I could rant for days about cabbage guy! But I won't b/c as amazing as Avatar was, it ended, I cried, and then, Korra came. 

At first I was all no way Jose that is not for me! Because not only was this show telling me Aang was dead, but that a hot headed and sorta selfish girl is his reincarnated self! I had a few issues to say the least. But I came to terms with myself and was SOOO glad that I did! 

So it was only like a year ago I got really into Korra, I found all the episodes on nick.com but then they took them off, but luckily the library came to the rescue and had them all!!! Woot woot! So I watched them and fell in love! This show was so incredibly funny, well written, beautiful to watch, made you think, got really dark, and related to current events!!! What more could anybody ask for?

Like I really loved how the seasons progressed, unlike Avatar, Korra had a completely different enemy every season, Aang had the fire lord the whole time, but lots of enemies scattered around, so I never knew if Korra would be renewed for another season! Which was a serious factor for stress! I love how in the first season she traveled to a new place, got new friends, and then there were terrorists! Like really terrifying terrorists! It really seemed to relate to current events with all the craziness in our world! Than the second series had levels of deep thinking and spiritual stuff that Avatar was never able to delve into! All of a sudden the whole Avatar universe made perfect sense! Season three was heart wrenching and I finally saw Korra growing up to be more level headed and mature! It was a relief because even though I loved her, I worried she would never be as intelligent as she could be. And I loved seeing the air nation being rebuilt so much! And then season four, how do I begin?!?! Korra has to face all of her demons, big and small, and everyone got so much older! And the ending was so perfect to me! Only I misinterpreted it...big time. 

So apparently Asami and Korra were dating? I really didn't catch that, mainly because they were acting just like I do with all of my friends. Don't get me wrong, I think it is great for a show that means so much to kids really emphasis that being gay or bysexual is great! I have actually been wanting for more shows to do so! But I always liked the ending I first understood, I thought that the fabulous team avatar: Korra, Asami, Mako, and Bolin ended this story as best friends! I really don't care for romance in any form so I was so excited to finally watch a show that had a happy ending with everyone as FRIENDS! I mean I still think that the intended ending was great, it's just not what I got at first. 

Anyway, I love all the characters so much and feel no need to describe them any more because I love them all SOOO MUCH!!! Just know that they are all so so so great!!! Plus there are like too many and I would forget to write about one and feel awful! But a special highlight on Ikki! She seriously talks just like I do and I love her for it! 

I feel like this review was very long, so if you've read the whole thing thanks! I hope you enjoyed it because this is a show that is really close to my heart! And I hope you've enjoyed these series as much as I have! 

Oh and there is an AMAZING comic series about the adventures of The Gaang that you should also check out! The first is called The Promise and it's really good so check it out! It is really fun to read about them!

Quote of the Month: Lily

"She is a strong independent Godzilla. She doesn't need a man to get pregnant!" Lily W.

Lily's Review of Oedipus a greek tragedy

Review of Oedipus a greek tragedy

No. Just No. I am required to read this for school. Just no. I was excited because I love the Greek Myths, but, just do yourself a favor and don’t read it, please. Just No.

-Lily

Quote of the Month: Lily

"How romantic, you smell of freshly puked apples." Lily W.

This was Lily's reaction at discovering that in one of the versions of Snow White, the prince wakes the princess, not with a kiss, but by jostling a bite of the poisoned apple from her throat.

Here is a handy link to the Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts. Professor D. L. Ashliman created it when he was at the University of Pittsburgh. Here is a link to his translations of a bunch of different versions of the Snow White story so you can compare them yourself!

This was at our book discussion of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman on 5/6/15.

Lily's Top 10 Books

My Top Ten Favorite Books

I can be a very picky reader (okay and a very opinionated person in real life too) but these are some of my favorites. It was very hard for me to write down just ten but these are sure to make you love reading! (And these are all at the library.. I’m pretty sure)

1.Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan I’m sure many of you have heard of these series I'll just say that it is beautiful and should be read as fast as possible (It was agony waiting for the last few books over the course of three years.)

2.Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. For once we get to read a novel with the villain as our hero! With fairies, centaurs, and LEPRECON these books are amazing!

3.Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha VanLeer. This Mother daughter duo did an amazing job, you’ll get sucked right into this fantastic adventure! (If you have read the book that joke makes a lot of sense!)

4.Dealing With Dragons by Patricia Wrede. I just did a review on this so read that so I don’t have to retype this! Its awesome so read it!

5.The 39 Clues/ The 39 Clues Cahills vs. Vespers/ The 39 Clues Unstoppable/ The 39 Clues Double Cross by like a million different authors but it is a popular series so you will have no trouble finding a copy at the library. It really is unstoppable it’s on its fourth series and I am behind two books, granted they are very short books, they are amazing but don’t waste your money trying to buy all of these unless you have an infinite amount of money, they are expensive since they somehow made a card game with it!

6.The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis is a classic story that is set in such an amazing world! I have to say it is so fun to read these books!

7.Cinder by Marissa Meyer.If you know anything about me it is that I absolutely HATE the fairytale of Cinderella, damsel in distress who never stood up for herself doesn’t float my boat sorry. This novel completely flipped the fairy tale on it’s head and I suggest you read this futuristic cyborg based series because it is pretty amazing.

8.Its Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini is a lighter take on teenage depression, though the plot is rather sad the story is full of hilarious plot twists, sadly though the author Ned Vissini died from his depression, I suggest you read this wonderfully funny novel, even if it isn’t a fantasy!

9.Beautiful Creatures  by Kami Garci and Margaret Stohl is a BEWITCHING (pun intended) novel about magic and even some voodoo! Check it out because it is super funny! The last book in the series is actually my favorite!

10.The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley is a children based series but it is so amazing it cannot be looked over. No matter what your age you will love this new take on the Brothers Grimm fairy tales!

Gosh that was so hard to narrow it down to just ten favorites! I barely came out of this alive! Well I’m onto my next quest, I hope you all can enjoy these books as much as I have!

Happy Reading!

-Lily