Reading Abounds

Title: Eight Keys Author: Suzanne LaFleur Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 52693 Description:  When twelve-year-old Elise, orphaned since age three, becomes disheartened by middle school, with its bullies, changing relationships, and higher expectations, keys to long-locked rooms and messages from her late father help her cope. Rubric Rating: Level 4: Love It Why I Read it: I was looking for a book for middle school that would appeal to girls.  I liked the two kids on the cover. Lori's Notes:   Things all change for Elise when she starts middle school.  Her locker partner is a hurtful, name-calling, bully who makes Elise question her friendship with her best friend Franklin and worse her own self-worth.  Elise's story is complex; her mother died the day she was born and her father dies just three years later of cancer.  Aunt Bessie and Uncle Hugh raise Elise.  They are very compassionate and mostly understanding to her situation. Every year on...

Title: Lockdown Series: Escape from Furnace Author: Alexander Gordon Smith Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 40155 Description: When fourteen-year old Alex is framed for murder, he becomes an inmate in the Furnace Penitentiary, where boys who disappear in the middle of the night sometimes return weirdly altered, and escape might be possible. Rubric Rating: Level 2: Like it Why I Read It: The cover looked really interesting and a little bit frightening; particularly the boy looking back in one eye of the gas mask. Lori's Notes: Alex is no angel but he certainly doesn't deserve the hell that is Furnace Penitentiary.  Located miles underground, this prison is a nightmare.  No windows, no fresh air, and strange mutant guards and dogs. When Alex is framed for murder he finds himself facing a life sentence.  In order to keep his sanity he searches for a way to escape.  His cellmate Donovan and fellow inmate Zee and eventually "new fish" Toby attempt escape.  Al...

Title: Robopocalypse Author: Daniel H. Wilson Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 60920 Description: Two decades into the future, humans battle for their survival after a powerful AI computer goes rogue, leading all the machines on Earth to rebel against their human controllers. Rubric Rating: Level 4: Love It Why I Read It: My husband scooped this book up first and highly recommended it. Lori's Notes: This was a fantastic read.  The book begins at the end and through the "Hero Archive" we see how Cormac Wallace and the "bright boy squad" have ended up in remote Alaska battling the AI - Archos.  The story is very well put together.  By using the Hero Archive, Cormac is able to piece together the stories of the various "heroes" Mathilda Perez, Takeo Namuro, Lonnie Wayne and Paul Blanton, Nine one Two, and the many others who were indispensable to human survival.  The events take place all over the world and by telling the story in retrospect we are a...

Title: Cheesie Mack is Not a Genius or Anything  Series: Cheesie Mack Author: Stephen L. Colter Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 48874 Description:  Eleven-year-old Ronald "Cheesie" Mack relates events he and his best friend, Georgie, experience as fifth grade comes to an end and their summer plans are drastically changed, due in part to an old, possibly valuable coin that may belong to the mysterious inhabitant of a place they call The Haunted Toad. Rubric Rating: Level 3: Laud It Why I Read It: Trying to find a book to appeal to a boy and the title was really cute. Lori's Notes:  Cheesie is a great friend, and honesty in this book really does turn out to be the best policy.   I loved the relationship between these two friends and between Cheesie and his sister June (aka Goon).   The book is easy to read, covers a short time period of time - Georgie and Cheesie's grade 5 graduation, and has a good mystery story included.    The only flaw for...