11th+Grade+Favorites

11th Grade Favorites

//This table may change in its format as updated infrastructure issues get solved!//
 * **First name only** || **Book Title/Author** || **Review** ||
 * ex: John || //How the Grinch Stole Christmas///Dr. Seuss || Here is where you write your review of the book, utilizing the instructions on the home page. When a new person needs to add their name and information, have the cursor located in the far right column and click the tab button. That will add a new row! ||
 * Madison || //Dancing Naked// by Shelley Hrdlitschika || //Dancing Naked// is one of my most favorite books. It grabs you within the first couple pages, and you don’t want to put the book down. It teaches you a good life lesson, and I think it is a good thing when you get that from books. The main character from this book is Kia. She is enjoying life until the day she finds out she is pregnant. Derek is not the greatest boyfriend; he doesn’t care that she is pregnant. He wants her to have an abortion. She doesn’t go through with it, and she goes through the process with adoption. The characters are like any day life teenagers. It can happen to anyone. It teaches everyone to use protection and how bad abortion can be. You need to think twice before it happens. ||
 * Anna || //Bloody Jack// by L.A. Meyer || Female readers: Don't be scared off by the cover or the title. This book is much more than a bloody adventure story. L.A. Meyer tells the story of Mary, an orphan living on the streets of London in the 18th century. Mary decides to disguise herself as a boy and join the company of the //H.M.S. Dolphin//. Along with chasing pirates and fighting in sea battles, Mary, now dubbed "Jacky," also deals with concealing her true identity and hiding her growing affections for one of her fellow ship's boys.

The story is told in Jacky's hilarious, blunt, honest manner, and it actually surprised me to find out the author is male. The details of the book are also authentic and historically accurate, but they don't get in the way of the awesome story. Bloody Jack is the first book in a series that currently consists of six books, and I'm sure anyone who discovers the series will anxiously await the next installment as I do. ||
 * Austin || //The Beet Fields// by Gary Paulsen || //The Beet Fields// is a very interesting story about a 16-year-old boy from Bemidji. and he ends in Grafton, ND thinning beets for a farmer. He ends up with a traveling carnival running from the cops. This book kept me interested from the first to the last page. ||
 * Markas || //The Beet Fields// by Gary Paulsen || //The Beet Fields// was a very informing book about thinning beet fields. It takes place in 1955 in all areas of North Dakota. A sixteen-year -old boy runs away from his drunken parents to go work on farms in North Dakota. His man job is hoeing beets with Mexicans, but he is a runaway, so he has to stay hidden from the cops. He runs away from the farm and joins a carnival as a carny. Traveling all across North Dakota to different county fairs. I liked this book because it was about farming and showed how you have to work to make a living. ||
 * Naomi || //Memoirs of a Geisha// || //Memoirs of a Geisha// is a cultural novel that brings the complex life of young Japanese woman out of the shadows and unfolds what a Geisha really is. This book contains a story about a young girl whose misfortunes lead her into the life of a Kyoto Geisha. With her parents death, Chiyo-chan and her sister were misled to believe that they were being adopted into a loving family to find out they were being sold, and trained to be Japanese prostitutes. I thought this story was incredibly moving and exciting. Even though it can be difficult to follow at times, I was intrigued throughout the entire book. I felt close to Chiyo-chan as she grew up in a life of hurt and misery, but she worked hard until she reached her goal. She worked hard every day even though she was pushed around and beaten; she still held her head high and kept on.

I liked the structure of this book because it told about Chiyo-chan’s whole life story. It was very descriptive and described everything. I also liked the character of Chiyo. She was a very strong young woman who strove for her dreams and was determined to make her life better.

My favorite part of this book was that the author wasn’t afraid to describe what some of the cruel and dark things that Geisha women had to endure in their every day life. He brought things out that most people would be shocked to hear, but he didn’t make it grotesque or inappropriate. //Memoirs of a Geisha// is an incredible book that will not only educate you on Geisha and Japan, but it will take you on the journey of a life of a young Japanese Geisha. || by: James Patterson || This is the third book in the series, and so far it is the most thrilling and exciting book in the series. Max and Fang get into a fight, the worst one they have ever had, and the team splits into two. One half of them goes with Max. The other half went with Fang.
 * Cody || //Maximum Ride - Saving the world and other extreme sports//

Max and her group go to England and try to take out the body of the hydra (a mythical creature that grows back 2 heads for every one it loses, so the only way to kill it is to take out the body). So they have to go to the main headquarters. Fang and his group go to the west coast and get into a lot of trouble with the Flyboys (machines that are super strong and can fly).

I liked the part of the book where Max finally reunites with her mother and father after losing them all of her life. It shows that even though she has been on the run all of her life, she can still be normal and live a happy life. Yet at the same time, she needs to finish her mission to save the world. So she can not sit around and be normal for too long. ||

I liked that it had action in it, from the killing of the bear, to finding his friends dead. I liked the part where the dog tried to save Brian by jumping on the bear and biting it in the neck. ** || By: Alice Sebold || The book is about a girl who dies, and watches everyone from her own heaven. It could be very depressing, but it has some happy moments as well. It really does sound like something that could happen to a family going through the same situations.
 * Nick || //Brian's Hunt// by Gary Paulsen || **This book is the 5th installment in the Brian books by Gary Paulsen. Brian finds a wounded dog and gets worried about his Cree friends, so he heads north to make sure they are ok.
 * Kelsey || //The Lovely Bones// 

The girl is concerned about her family and watches them, wondering when she can move on in peace and make it to the end. She wants to be able to tell people what she wants them to know, but honestly can’t, so she just stays in her heaven watching her family grow up together without her.

The two characters that I didn’t like were the neighbor and the mother. I got so angry with them; it honestly made me want to jump in and shout at them. ||

By: V. C. Andrews || Cathy lost her dad when she was a child, and her family didn’t know where to go. They went to her rich grandparent’s house and had to live in the attic, waiting for her grandfather to die, until they could come out. Cathy, her brother Chris, and the twins Cory and Carrie, would only see their mother every so often. Cathy and Chris took over the role of being parents to the young twins. They kept up hope for getting out of the dirty old room they were cramped into. They were treated terribly and deserved so much better.
 * Katie || //Flowers in the Attic//

I loved this book because I just couldn’t put it down. It was very emotional and sometimes I wanted to completely stop reading the book because I got so mad at what was happening. I felt so bad for those kids and the ending was very sad. This book is amazing! ||
 * Blaine || //I Can't Accept Not Trying//

by Michael Jordan || This book is very inspirational. Michael Jordan tells a lot about what he went through to get to the NBA and to be the best. The book sends out a good message that says that if you work hard enough, you can become anything you want. He talks about how he made small goals and achieved them one at a time. He had a life changing experience when he got kicked off his high school basketball team. He never wanted to feel like that again, so he set a goal that he was going to make it back on the team and be the best. I liked that he didn’t fear anything; he just shut everyone out and played basketball, because he loved it. I liked this book, and it inspired me. ||
 * Cassie || //Message in a Bottle// by Nicholas Sparks || This book is one of many heart-pulling stories written by Nicholas Sparks. A single, middle- aged man (Garret) who for three years has mourned the death of his wife, meets a woman (Theresa) who is on a search for the author of a //Message in a Bottle//, who could possibly turn out to be the man of her dreams.

On a somewhat forced journey to Wilmington, North Carolina, Theresa Osbourne is searching for the man who wrote so beautifully, and tossed it out to sea in a bottle, in hopes of sharing his beautiful, heartfelt messages with the world, in her newspaper column.

Garret, living the life he chose and loves, still isn’t enough to make him happy. The loss of his seemingly perfect wife Cathrine has kept him from living a happy life. || Throughout the book, there were twists that kept me reading to see what would happen next. What I liked about the book was that it was suspenseful and kept me reading and wondering what was going to happen until the last paragraph.
 * Paige || //Gone for Good///Harlan Coben || The book was about a man whose brother was charged with murder of his former high school girlfriend. His brother then ran away and was seen by different people throughout the world. Though the FBI is convinced that he did it, his family thinks differently. Eleven years later the FBI has contacted him to see if he knew anything about a murder that they thought his girlfriend and his brother was involved in.

What I didn’t like when I was reading the book was that there was so much going on. The story followed three people, and each chapter was about a different person. But by the end of the book it all made sense. ||


 * Chadd || //Killing Mr. Griffin// by Lois Duncan || This book is about a mean English teacher that the students don’t like. They make a plan to kidnap and frighten him so he will not be so mean to them and give them better grades. Then things end up going wrong with their plan. This book has a very good plot to it, and it gets pretty interesting. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read.

I think Lois Duncan did a good job of writing this book and the story of it. I liked the way she set it up and the way she had things happen in it. It really pulled me in, and I didn’t want to stop reading it.

I liked how there was one student who felt guilty about doing this and wanted to stop. She really cared about Mr. Griffin and didn’t want to hurt him. Then there was one student who really didn’t care about him and was happy he was doing this. || By Lucy Grealy || Nine-year-old Lucy was hit in the jaw with a ball during a game of dodgeball. After this, a large bump appeared, which led doctors to the diagnosis of jaw cancer. At first Lucy liked the attention from the diagnosis, milking it for all it was worth, but later realized the severity of her situation. Lucy went in for surgery to remove the tumor, and later numerous surgeries to try to reconstruct her jaw which did not result well. Throughout her teenage years, Lucy continued to undergo reconstructive surgery and cancer treatments, and she shares the emotional details.
 * Briana || //Autobiography of a Face//

This book by Lucy Grealy was very inspirational and motivating. It made me look at my life and to be more appreciative. Lucy did an amazing job writing about her life struggles and her life lessons. || The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks is one of the best books I have ever read. It is a fast read. This is one of the most memorable books I have ever read. No matter how many times you read this book you it will bring tears to your eyes. The book is about two teens that get a whole summer to fall in love and at the end of the summer they are torn apart by distance. They are separated for many years but eventually they do get back together. Waiting to see if they are going to get back together is very suspenseful. You hope that Allie chooses Noah in the end. I don’t have a favorite part of the book. I love every single part. This book is just good overall. A short summary could never explain how amazing I think The Notebook is. ||
 * Taryn || //The Notebook///Nicholas Sparks ||  
 * Dylan || Red Knife by William Kent Krueger || This book is about Cork O'Connor who is a retired police chief. ||
 * Nicole || //The House of the Scorpion// by Nancy Farmer || This book is based on futuristic events, the main character Matteo Alacran was not human but what they called "Harvested". His Master El Patron cloned him with his own DNA. Matteo soon faces danger and has to escape from the land of Opium, (previously Mexico). Secret tunnels are in the house with the "scorpion symbol" which he uses to flee from the property. This book is full of suspense and tension, and Matteo is faced with life or death situations and decisions. //The House of the// //Scorpion// keeps you interested all the way through and is definitely worth reading! ||
 * Shannon || //Among the Hidden// by Margaret Peterson Haddix || Luke is an illegal third child and according to the population law, if he is found he will be killed. The only people who know he exists are his mom, dad, and two brothers Matthew and Mark. What happens when the government chops down the forest behind his house and builds new houses? Luke discovers another shadow child named Jen who has a plan to get rid of the population law.

//Among the Hidden// is an interesting book that tells about a boy named Luke who must stay hidden or die. Will Luke and Jen free the shadow children? or will they be killed? You’ll have to read it to find out. || ARK ANGEL is a good action and adventure book that u will want to keep reading and reading. Its number 6 in the series and one of the best. So yes you should read it if u like action. || by Anne Tyler || A couple, Maggie and Ira, have to take a trip to Baltimore for her good friend Serena husbands funeral. Maggie thinks that her marriage to Ira has been nothing but happiness but on the way to Baltimore, she realizes that they don't have the greatest marriage. They make it to the funeral, but even when they are at the funeral things still go very wrong. This book was very confusing. Its one of the books that go back to the past and they don't really tell you or detail it that its going back. Then they come back to the present. This book was an OK book. The one thing I liked about it was that the things that happen to them on the way to the funeral and what happens on the way home, its what all couples go through, it happens in everyday life. ||
 * Nick G || ARK ANGEL || This 14 year old kid named alex rider was shot by a 22. caliber rifle, which the bullet just missed his heart and he is put in a hospital. There he meets the son of a powerful man named Mr. Drevin who is the mastermind behind the hotel in space... Ark Angel. Alex Rider then finds himself battling a dangerous terrorist group name FORCE THREE. A group who was trying to make the world better, by killing anyone who gets in their way.
 * Madison || Breathing Lessons
 * Markas || Blood Hollow || This book is about Corcoran O'connor a retired police chief living in the town of Aurora, Minnesota. ||
 * Anna || //The Lacuna// by Barbara Kingsolver || For Harrison Shepard, who is a half Mexican, half American misfit, a plaster mixer, a driver, a cook, and a writer, living in Mexico is tough. That's especially true when your bosses, the artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, are crazy and insensible and radical. As the book goes on, life becomes dangerous for the Rivera household. Lev Trotsky, a Communist hunted by Stalin, comes to stay with the Riveras, bringing excitement and crowded rooms and intrigue and danger and politics. The experiences with Lev shape Harrison's view of the world, especially when he moves to America and becomes a writer. Harrison's experiences are extraordinary and interesting, and you step inside his shoes as the story progresses. Though the story sometimes seems long, keep reading–the ending is worth it. ||
 * Anna || //Saving CeeCee Honeycutt// by Beth Hoffman || Imagine having a mother who is actually crazy, who buys prom dresses at the Goodwill daily, and who relives her one pageant-winning beauty contest moment over and over. Imagine that your father is never home, and that he might have a girlfriend somewhere who is not your mother. Then imagine that one day, your mother is hit by a truck and dies. For Cecilia Honeycutt, this scenario was not pretend–it was real life.

CeeCee lived a unique life in Ohio until the day her mother died. Then her life suddenly changed. A woman called Aunt Tootie swept in and took CeeCee down South to Savannah, Georgia. There, CeeCee meets a host of unique women, from the Black cook and housekeeper of her aunt's house named Oletta to the eccentric and mysterious neighbor Miz Goodpepper. In Savannah, CeeCee learns what true love is, what life looks like, and how to grieve for the mother she had–and the mother she wishes she had. This book is sweet and charming, and was a refreshing break from normal life. I highly recommend it. ||