March 1st, 2012 by fjacksonem
“Everybody knows. Nobody’s talking,” runs the mantra among the Long Island high-school crowd that knows full well Jimmy beats up Latinos every Saturday night. LIE is a book about group mentality and how they protect their hero and deny their own moral touchstones to defend their friend.
LIE is told through the point of view of ten different voices. This is not a fun and easy book to read. Much of the book you will find yourself screaming at the characters wanting them to stand up and do what you believe they know to be right.
What makes LIE such an important book is that it depicts the thought process of everyday kids, kids who do well in school and who are involved in sports and after school activities. It is so scary because it reveals how they can so easily be convinced to go along with the crowd and do what they know to be wrong. The fact that LIE is a fictionalized story inspired by a brutal attack that took place in Suffolk County in 2008 makes this book all that more essential of a read for teens here. It is perhaps only Long Islanders who will get that LIE stands for our famous Long Island Expressway.
I recommend LIE for teens in grades 9-12.
Mrs. Sayan
Young Adult Librarian
East Meadow Public Library
February 23rd, 2012 by fjacksonem
The year is 1996 and the internet is pretty new to most teenagers. When 17 year old Josh gets a free AOL CD-Rom in the mail, he brings it to his best friend Emma’s house where they pop it into her computer. What comes up on the screen is not AOL, but a blue and white website they have never seen before. The site is Facebook and it won’t be invented for another 8 years. At first Emma and Josh think the website is some sort of prank, but they eventually realize they are getting a glimpse of their lives 15 years in the future. Josh is thrilled with the future he sees, but Emma’s future does not look so bright. When she realizes that the decisions she makes today can change her tomorrow, she is determined to change her future for the better.
The Future of Us is a funny book full of pop culture references and a look at life before the Internet, texting, and Facebook.
I recommend this book to students in grades 8 and up.
Ms. Cea
Head of Young Adult Services
East Meadow Public Library
September 6th, 2011 by fjacksonem
Cynthia Johnson reviews Ann Brashares’ SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS.
This is the first time that best friends Carmen, Lena, Bridget, and Tibby don’t spend their summer together. But how do they communicate? Through the Pants. Not just ordinary pair of pants, the Traveling Pants. They will also write letters to each other. The Pants surprisingly and magically fit everyone even though everyone had a different body shape. These Pants will help make the girls more confident, make the girls look very good, and the pants are very lucky. They also make the girls fall in love.
Carmen will be going to her father’s house in South Carolina, but finds out a surprising secret her father kept from her until her visit. Lena will be going to Greece to her grandparents, but her grandma is trying to force her to do something Lena doesn’t want to do, until something bad happens. Bridget will be going to soccer camp in Baja; she shows her soccer skills and finds a forbidden love. Although Tibby will be staying home and getting a job, she will also find a friendship that will last forever, even after death.
The girls will have their ups and downs, but things will always be resolved. Carmen, Lena, Bridget and Tibby will meet new friends and see old friends. They will get angry, frustrated, find love, and a bunch of other emotions. Perhaps the Pants will keep them together when they are separated, and maybe the pants will work their magic. Who knows what the pants will bring.
THIS BOOK WAS INSPIRATIONAL AND FUNNY, SO I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO 7th, 8th AND 9th GRADE READERS.
Cynthia Johnson
Grade 7
W. Tresper Clarke Middle School
September 1st, 2011 by fjacksonem
![SCANDALS RUMORS AND LIES JACKET COVER].jpg](https://yabooklog.nassaulibrary.org/oldblog/SCANDALS%20RUMORS%20AND%20LIES%20JACKET%20COVER%5D.jpg)
Do you love horses and drama? If you do then you should definitely read “SCANDALS,RUMORS, LIES” from the series “Canterwood Crest” by Jessica Burkhart. Everyone is going crazy when the anonymous gossip blogger featuring Sasha & Co. is turning secrets into campus-wide scandals. The big question that everyone wants answered is who’s the hater? The suspense is probably killing you now, but after reading the book we still don’t who the hater is. So, after this book try the next book in the series and try to find out who the hater is.
Lauren Moerler
Grade 6
W. Tresper Clarke Middle School
July 8th, 2011 by fjacksonem
THEODORA TWIST by Melissa Senate is an exciting novel about a teenage movie star’s journey to clean up her bad girl act by living with a regular teenage girl and her family in her old house and going back to her school for a reality T.V. show. In “Theodora Twist” Theodora learns how to go back to her regular life even with the other students treating her like the celebrity she is. Also Emily learns to live her regular life with a twist. The story goes back and forth between the two girl’s point of views adding another twist. I recommend this book to middle school girls who aren’t looking for a regular novel, they’re looking for one with a twist.
Lauren Moerler
W. Tresper Clarke Middle School
Grade 7
February 8th, 2011 by fjacksonem
The book, ANYTHING BUT TYPICAL by Nora Raleigh Baskin, is about an autistic boy named Jason. Anywhere Jason goes there’s a problem but when he writes on the Storyboard website, he turns into a different person. When Jason posts one of his stories a girl reads it and really likes it. So, they start to talk and share their different stories with each other. Since Jason has talked to her, he hasn’t been having any problems in school.
Every year there is a Storyboard convention Jason always wanted to go. Because he’s been doing well in school, his parents decide to take him. The girl he shares his stories with is also going. The one thing going through Jason’s mind is will she hate me or will she like me?
I would recommend this book to middle school students, both boys and girls.
Lauren Moerler
Clarke Middle School
Grade 6
September 24th, 2010 by fjacksonem
Have you ever imagined being an ugly, fat blimp whose social status is practically dead? Well, that’s exactly how Marcy Lewis in
THE CAT ATE MY JUMPSUIT by Paula Danziger feels like. She has no friends , unless you consider Nancy who is forced to talk to her a friend. Living in her house is torture if you’ve got a father who is downright mean, and won’t stop yelling. And Marcy most definitely hates school, that is until Ms. Finney, the new
English teacher comes along. She makes going to school have a purpose with her extremely fun teaching methods. So when the kids hear Ms. Finney is getting suspended, Marcy helps organize a protest and finds that she too is also suspended. Read this Humor- filled, heartwarming book to find out more.
I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS LOOKING
FOR A GOOD READ.
Riya Shah
Grade 7
W.T Clarke middle school
September 23rd, 2010 by fjacksonem
LOVE ME TENDER by Audrey Couloumbis is about families, and how they can come together in good times and bad. This book is about two girls with a pregnant mother and an Elvis impersonator daddy. When the Dad leaves and the mother gets a call from her sister that her mother is dying, The two daughters, Elvira and Kerri and their mother set out for Memphis to see their dying mother/grandmother. This book is all about families and how they are nothing like the familes on televions. They are actually better
.
I RECOMMEND THIS TITLE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO APRECIATE THEIR FAMILIES, ESPECIALLY SIXTH AND SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS.
Lauren Moerler
W. Tresper Clarke Middle School
Grade 6
July 19th, 2010 by fjacksonem
The book
BEST FOOT FORWARD is by and amazing author. Joan Bauer really showed me to never make your first impression your last, just like Jenna, the teenage heroine of the book.
Jenna met Tanner at the shoe store where she worked and got the wrong first impression when he was stealing a pair of shoes. He comes back and offers to work in the store to make up for what he did. That was a good start on making her impression better.
I wish I could tell you more but that would ruin the book for you, if you choose to read this amazing book and let it leave a foot print on your heart like it did to me! I hope you choose to read
BEST FOOT FORWARD.
I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR GIRLS IN GRADES 6 AND 7.
Lauren Moerler
Clarke Middle School
Grade 6
July 14th, 2010 by fjacksonem
Ever moved to a new neighborhood, if you haven’t try
THE SQUEAKY WHEEL by Robert Kimmel Smith.
Mark Baker is losing too many things all because of his parents. He lost his house and has to live in a new apartment in a new neighborhood. He misses his old school and his friends. The new school is tiny, and they eat their lunch in a basement. Mark’s
parents are getting divorced and they say they still love him but not enough to get back together. The thing that worries Mark is that he only gets to see his father on a lousy old Sunday every week. Untill a new friend tells him that ” the squeaky wheel gets the grease”, Mark realizes he will have to fight to get what he wants or life will just get worse. There’s only one problem. Mark has never fought with his parents before. Will he get the courage to say what he wants and get on with his life, or will he just let things get worse than they already are? Read this entertaining and heartwarming story to find
out more!
I recommend this book for people in middle school who is looking for a great book to read!
Riya Shah
Clarke Middle School
Grade 7