By Jessica Gregorio Me and Earl and the Dying Girlby Jesse Andrews ![]() Greg Gaines has no friends. Or at least that’s what he likes to say, but he still has his friend Earl. As Greg starts his senior year, he makes sure to fit with all the crowds. He is everyone’s friend and no one’s friend at the same time. With Earl as his only friend, they spend their time making horrible parodies of movies. After making their first movie as kids and realizing how horrible it was, they decided to continue making movies, but not show them to anyone. It is when Greg is at home that his mother reveals to him that his Jewish friend, Rachel Kushner, was diagnosed with leukemia (a type of cancer). Greg’s mom tells him that she expects him to reconnect with her and be there for emotional support. Of course Greg is horrified by this, how is he supposed to fit in with everyone/no one if he’s expected to hang out with Rachel Kushner? Greg starts talking to Rachel, which she doesn’t enjoy anymore than he does, and they begin talking about the films. Rachel gets to meet Earl and even gets to watch some of their films. Greg, Earl, and Rachel begin spending time together, all growing closer to each other. As Rachel’s cancer progresses and their friendship grows stronger, Earl tells Greg that he has to make Rachel a movie, after they realize that she might not make it. Greg and Earl make one last film for Rachel to watch. The movie is set to premiere June 12, 2015. Greg will be played by Thomas Mann, Rachel by Olivia Cooke, and Earl by RJ Cyler. If you would like to purchase a copy from: Barnes and Noble Amazon Or borrow from: San Jose Public Library Paper Townsby John Green ![]() Quentin “Q” Jacobsen is a high schooler who fell in love with the wrong girl. After his neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman, snuck into his room one night, dressed as a ninja, Q realized he was in love. Margo said that she needed his help to get revenge on her ex-boyfriend, Jase (who cheated on Margo) and her ex-friend, Becca. Margo says that she needs Q to drive her around town all night. They go to the store, buy all the necessary materials for their revenge-plan (ranging from fish to shaving cream), and set out. They go to Jase and Becca’s houses, graffiti the letter “M” and leave them fish. Then Margo tells Q to choose someone who has tormented him in order to get revenge. Q chooses Chuck Parson (the school bully); they shave off his eyebrow as he sleeps, and put vaseline on all his door handles. After getting their revenge, Margo decides that they should break into the SunTrust Bank building in order to see the city. As they stand in the conference room and look out the window, Margo says that they live in a “paper town” and says that it’s fake. Q drives them home and barely manages to get ready for school. When he gets to school he realizes that Margo isn’t there. After days of missing her parents decide to file a police report because this is the fourth time that Margo has run away from home. When Q finds out that she ran away he goes into her bedroom to see if he can find clues as to where she went. It starts off with the poster of Woody Guthrie and eventually Q finds a piece of paper jammed into his door with an address. Q goes to his friends, Radar and Ben, to ask for their help. They skip school and go to an abandoned mall (the address on the paper) and find evidence that Margo had been there. Q worries that this time she didn’t run away and that she committed suicide. As they try to find more clues as to what happened to Margo, Q grows more depressed. The clues start adding up and Q realizes that she is hiding out somewhere in New York. This is the story of their trip to find the paper girl from the paper town. The movie is set to premiere July 24, 2015 (the same date that The Fault in Our Stars was released last year). The film stars actor/musician Nat Wolff as Q, and model/actress/singer Cara Delevingne as Margo Roth Spiegelman. If you would like to purchase a copy from:
Barnes and Noble Amazon Or borrow from: San Jose Public Library
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By Alejandro Villasenor ![]() If you are an Avengers fan, then you might be interested in looking into their other stories. In this new series, the Avengers embark on a new journey to expand their team and to continue to battle against villains and help keep the world in peace. On their first mission, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the Hulk go to the “red planet”, Mars, where they will encounter the Ex Nihilo, and his sister Abyss. These two brothers arrived at Mars when young and thought that they had to help planets evolve and become something better. When Ex Nihilo and Abyss try to “help” improve and evolve the earth into something better, the Avengers come to stop them, and in their first attempt, all of the Avengers are caught in Abyss’s trap and Ex Nihilo decides to send Captain America back to Earth to warn the other superheroes that if they decide to stop his plan, there will be serious consequences. After Captain America recovers, he and Iron Man begin their big plan, to bring all sorts of superheroes into the Avengers team and help rescue the captured Avengers. “After arriving on Mars, they terraformed the red planet, creating an atmosphere and vegetation. They flash-shepherded years of evolution in hopes of creating a ‘perfected’ version of mankind. After they shot an Origin Bomb at Earth to accelerate the evolution of mankind, which affected almost two million people, the Avengers scrambled a response team.” http://marvel.wikia.com/Ex_Nihilo_%28Earth-616%29 This new challenge will take the Avengers to a whole new world as they meet new superheroes while facing new enemies and challenges.
By Jessica Gregorio If you enjoyed: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith You Might Enjoy: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler (Illustrated by Maira Kalman) ![]() Min Green dated Ed Slaterton for two months. Min, the girl who loves old movies and great coffee fell for Ed, the basketball player. After they broke up Min decided to write Ed a letter and send him a box. The box is filled with everything that had value in their relationship: a cookbook, bottle caps, movie tickets, a flag, and other things. Illustrator Maira Kalman includes drawings of all the things that Min puts in the box. On the car ride to Ed’s house Min finishes the letter that explains why they’re breaking up and what happened, putting an end to everything that they had. Min Green loved Ed and Ed loved her. After two months of dating, they broke up. This is Min’s final letter to Ed, talking about their relationship, how much they liked each other, and what went wrong. From movie dates to following a celebrity, Min and Ed’s relationship was a complex, new thing for both of them. Those two months were the best and worst two months for Min. From her point of view we find out what truly happened when they broke up, how Ed actually treated Min, and what her friends thought was going to happen. Although their predictions were true, Min still thought that this was a great learning experience. This book talks about having your first love, the struggles of high school, the expectations of others, and how to maintain healthy relationships with friends, family, and partners. If you would like to purchase a copy from:
Barnes and Noble Amazon Or borrow from: San Jose Public Library By Jessica Gregorio If you enjoyed: If I Stay by Gayle Forman Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky You Might Enjoy: Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira ![]() Laurel is starting high school and already she knows that its not as magical as her older sister, May, made it seem. When Laurel gets to her English class her first assignment is to write a letter to a dead person, so she chooses Kurt Cobain, May’s favorite singer. Even though she completes the letter, she doesn’t turn it in after she realizes that her English teacher was once May’s English teacher. So throughout the year Laurel fills out a notebook with letters to: Kurt Cobain, Judy Garland, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, River Phoenix, and other famous people who are now dead. Through these letters Laurel talks about her feelings after May’s death, her new friends, her crush, and her family. Throughout the letters May is described as the happiest, kindest, funniest person that Laurel ever knew. As she struggles to talk about May’s death, she talks about the strange circumstances of May’s death. Laurel also talks about how her family is struggling while mourning May. To top off the stress in her life, her parents get divorced and her mother leaves to California. After the divorce, Laurel starts spending time at her aunt Amy’s house, while her father struggles to keep himself together. How is Laurel supposed to keep the family together when May was the one who united them all? The story deals with depression, suicide, same-sex relationships, rape, divorce, and the grief of mourning for the loss of a loved one. If you would like to purchase a copy from:
Barnes and Noble Amazon Or borrow from: San Jose Public Library By Alejandro Villasenor ![]() The Maze Runner, by James Dashner is a “young-adult post-apocalyptic science fiction trilogy”, followed by the Scorch Trials (2010) and The Death Cure (2011). This post-apocalyptic world takes place in a vast area called the Glade, which is surrounded by an ominous and dangerous maze. In the beginning, a teenage boy named Thomas arrives to the Glade and is not able to remember anything about his life. However, Thomas is not the only one trapped in the Glade. There is a community of other boys who are in the same position as Thomas, ones who have been in the Glade for months, even years. As times goes on, Thomas begins to gain curiosity and decides to go against the rules that are set in the Glade. Gally, the second leader in command, has a strong hatred toward Thomas and does not like the idea of him gaining curiosity about the maze and how it works. As time progresses, Thomas explores the maze, learns the secrets of the Glade and tries to find a way to set everyone free. Do I Recommend It?Overall I give this book a 4.5/5 because it gives insight on what people can do to fight for survival and a post-apocalyptic future could look like. In the book, we learn that if one does not question or explore, they can remain locked up in their mind and in this case, the Glade. Sometimes, if you let others control you without question, you will never understand why and how things are. Student Opinion: The Book or the Movie?![]() Sheyla Q: Do you prefer the book or the movie, and why? A: I like the movie because it was interesting and it kept you at the edge of your seat and the acting was also really good. Q: Do you know what happens at the end, and why do you think that is how the book ended? (movie/book) A: At the end they break into the lab, and then the youngest one dies protecting Thomas from one of the Gladers, It reminds me of “A Brave New World”, because they shared some of the same ideas, such as being really controlling. Q: Is exploring and questioning things a good thing or a bad thing? A: In the context of the book it was good, because they were able to escape and bad because some of the Gladers got hurt. Angie Lopez Q: Do you prefer the book or the movie, and why? A: I like the movie because I like the main actor (Dylan O'Brien). Q: Do you know what happens at the end, and why do you think that is how the book ended? (movie/book) A: The ending was really suspenseful and it keep you waiting for the next movie (The Scorch Trials). Q: Is exploring and questioning things a good thing or a bad thing? A: Exploring and questioning things is a good thing because you can stand for what you believe in. By Alejandro Villasenor ![]() On January 29 2015, the Senior class began to read their second book called, A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. In this book, the students will read about a “utopian” society, called World State, where the new humans are genetically made and have no sort of freedom. Throughout this book, the students will see that there are many similarities between World State and North Korea, and how each country has its own ideas of being “great”. A Brave New World was published in 1932, before North Korea was established in 1945, despite having different time periods there are many similarities between them. One very close similarity between these two are the restrictions and lack of freedom these two countries give to their people. In World State, human beings are created using genetic technology, and assigned to a specific job based on their group. Meanwhile in North Korea, their Supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, forces people to have limited resources and stick to one job all their life, just like in World State. Overall I give this book a 4.5/5 because this book gives everyone an insight of what is to be believed a “perfect” place and how science and change play a major role in society and in today’s world. The author of the novel, “who defies standard political classification, was no stranger to controversy”. This novel showed the world that there are many things that occur in the daily life of people that are crazy and many of us don’t realize it. http://nationalvanguard.org/2015/01/the-inquiring-mind-of-aldous-huxley/ But what do the students think... Olivia Lopes, 12th grade Q: What do you think of the book so far? A: I think it is very interesting, yet weird because what we think is normal is like the complete opposite, and I also believe that the people there are blind. Q: Would you like to like to live in World State? A: No I would not because I would have no emotion and not be able to express myself, having no background no clue to where i came from and placed in a society that is cruel and sad. Q: What is something that you have learned from the book so far? A: I have learned that questioning society is not always a good thing, and that there is no such thing as a “perfect” society. Diego Dias, 12th grade Q: What do you think of the book so far? A: I hate it, because it is not interesting. Q: Would you like to like to live in World State? A: Hell no, because it is not normal. Q: What is something that you have learned from the book so far? A: I have learned nothing. ![]() Everyday, A wakes up in the body of another person. A has no body, gender, or family. A moves from body to body, female and male. A has created some guidelines in order to make it through the day: don’t interfere, don’t get attached, and avoid being noticed. At 16 years old, A has learned how to fit into someone else’s skin without being noticed. This is, until the day that A is in Rhiannon’s boyfriend’s body, Justin. Spending the day as Justin, A gets to know Rhiannon better and falls in love with her, hating Justin for the abuse that he puts her through. However, A only gets to stay in Justin’s body for one day and he can’t forget Rhiannon. So, every day, A tries to do something that will get him closer to Rhiannon. Every day, A tries to come up with a new way to improve Rhiannon’s life and an excuse as to why he needs to help her. What do you do when you can not stay with the person you want to help? I got to give this book a 4.5/5 because of the plot. The book starts off on day 5994 of A’s life: “I wake up. Immediately I have to figure out who I am. It’s not just the body—opening my eyes and discovering whether the skin on my arm is light or dark, whether my hair is long or short, whether I’m fat or thin, boy or girl, scarred or smooth. The body is the easiest thing to adjust to, if you’re used to waking up in a new one each morning. It’s the life, the context of the body, that can be hard to grasp. Every day I am someone else. I am myself—I know I am myself—but I am also someone else. It has always been like this” - first paragraph of the book. Today, A is in Justin’s body, a sixteen year old who has no cares in the world. When A gets to school he finds Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon, and he sees in her what he has seen in other girls. He sees the abuse caused by a loved one. A decides that at least for that day, he is going to change the way that Justin acts with Rhiannon. For the next couple of days, A changes the way that Rhiannon views the world. If you would like to purchase a copy from: Barnes and Noble Amazon Or borrow from: San Jose Public Library |