The inside soup of iQ Independence Hall

          

  By, JJ Singh

           First Impressions: Right as the read the back cover of this book I knew this book was going to be amazing. I knew it would be exciting knowing that the Secret Service and the Israeli Mossad were an important factor in this book. Another exciting aspect of the book I read from the back was that there was a going to be a mystery of finding out if Angela’s mother was dead. This book has a bit of every genre in it and it grabs your attention with all the action and mystery.

           Theme: The book starts off as the main character Quest (also known by Q) at his mother’s wedding. His mom is Blaze Munoz and she is going to be married to Roger Tucker. Q‘s parents are divorced and Roger’s wife is dead. Roger’s daughter is Angela and she is two years older than Q and like journalism. Blaze and Roger are in a band called Match and are going on a tour around the U.S with the kids. On their way they meet a man named Tyrone Boone who acts very weird and also has a dog who acts strangely. Once Q and Angela found out that they were being spied on and followed Boone tells Angela and Q about what had really happened to Angela’s mom.  Her name was Malak and she was a Secret Service agent who was supposedly presumed dead after a terrorist had blown up the building she was in. The main theme behind the book was everyone and everything has a story behind it. The theme is shown by how Angela always thought her mom had just died in a bombing but really the story was completely different.  What Angela had thought about her mom was not really the story at all. Angela and Roger didn't know the true story behind Malak but Tyrone tells them all about it. IQ is book with great adventure, action, and a lot of mystery.

            Character Development: Q achieves a lot throughout the book. His gift of doing amazing magic tricks gets them saved from the Mossad. He learns to stand up for himself and to be brave. Q is the main character in the book and he achieves a lot throughout his journey. If it wasn't for him Angela wouldn't have known about what happened to her mother.

           Epiphanies: There aren't too many epiphanies in this book but one is when Angela realizes her mom is still alive and wasn't killed by a terrorist bombing. She found out the whole story behind her mom. She realizes her mom wasn't who she thought she was. She also didn't know much about her now except that she worked in the secret service. The story of Malak is unknown to Angela since she faked here death and had her twin die in the bombing.

            Connections: This book is about mystery of Malaks death from a terrorist bombing.Terrorists are bad people that think they are doing a good thing but really it is just harming and killing others. There are terrorists in real life so this book relates a little bit to reality. In real life there are terrorist bombings everywhere. There are also many other book about terrorists and how they are affecting the world.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to everyone 13 and up. The book is a pretty easy read but there are things in the book that only older kids would understand. It is a very fun and exciting book with a lot of action and mystery. IQ is definitely one of my most favorite books that I have read. I think that most kids would enjoy reading the book and also if they like the first book there are many other sequels that they would like that continue on with the story.

iQ Independence Hall Amazon
Official website of iQ

The books in the series

The Graveyard Book Review

Probably the first thing that I noticed when I began reading this book was just how strange it was. A bizarre plot that takes itself seriously combined with the unique writing style of Neil Gaiman makes this a joy to read. The sentences are stringed together almost poetically, and the fear factor is through the roof around every turn. After reading only the first chapter of the book, my expectations for the rest of the book were high. And I was glad that this book ended up delivering on them.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is a deep book with many morals that can be taken from it, but the arguably most apparent one is that everyone and everything has a story behind it. What would your reaction be if you stumbled upon a kid in a graveyard? Would you ever guess that, as an infant, he barely escaped a murderer who was out to kill his family, thanks to the help of some lost souls in the graveyard up the hill? Because that is exactly the plot of The Graveyard Book. Bod Owens is raised by specters, who are afraid to let him into the outside world, because of a man named Jack out to kill him.  Bod eventually convinces his caretaker to let him go to school in the outside world, but Jack is close on his trail.

Epiphanies:Around a third of the way through the book, Bod’s caretaker, Silas, finally tells him about his true past. About how his family was murdered, and Bod barely survived. Bod had an epiphany, and, contrary to how Silas expected him to react, Bod wanted to go to school and see the outside world. With the mindset that; he shouldn't fear Jack, but rather Jack should fear him. This short, yet surprisingly powerful scene sets up the groundwork for the remaining two thirds of the book.

Character Development: Character development is actually very interesting in the terms of this book. The dead never change, never age, never grow. This is great when contrasted to the human characters, such as Bod or his one friend, Scarlett. We get to see bod growing up, how he started off as a curious boy unaware of the world outside of the graveyard, and later becomes a brave 14 year old, mindset on avenging his family he never knew.

Outside Connections: This book uses the orphan trope, which is far from uncommon, making it similar to other novels about orphans being raised by other families, such as Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, or about people feeling as if they don’t belong.

Recommendations: I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of intense mystery books, or anyone who hates getting attached to characters, as if you find one you like in this book, they won’t be around for much longer. But seriously, this book has a whole new set of thrills every chapter, and will permanently keep you on the edge of your seat. Even if you are standing. That is just how brilliant this book is.

 Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_UUVwTaemk

Neil Gaiman Reads Chapter 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOF01vb4Rec

                                                

The Mind's Eye

Mind's Eye
By Douglas E. Richards

Everyone and everything has a story behind them 
Everyone and everything has a story behind them. This statement could not be truer in regards of The Mind’s Eye by Douglas E. Richards. When Nick Hall wakes up in a dumpster, not knowing who or where he is, there is a lot of his story that he has to search for. It seems he is suffering from retrograde amnesia (read more at                                    http://www.human-memory.net/disorders_retrograde.html ) Even though he doesn't know who he is, Hall has even worse issues on his mind; somebody is trying to kill him. The story behind this isn't revealed until later in the novel, when it is discovered that Hall and 27 others were kidnapped and used as human test subjects in an experiment to develop a technology to be able to access the internet with your mind. Before, everyone was killed after they had been tested on, but Hall was able to escape due to his ability to read minds. The story behind Hall is long and complicated, but not all stories have to be. Another summary of the novel is given at http://www.sciencethrillers.com/2014/new-release-book-review-minds-eye-douglas-richards/ .

Epiphanies
In The Mind’s Eye, epiphanies play a significant role throughout the course of the novel. The main epiphany occurs shortly after Nick Hall takes an antidote to erase the effects of the amnesia drug he was given. He suddenly remembers his entire life prior to his awakening in a dumpster, except for a 7 month gap. Hall now knows what he used to be like, that he was engaged, and what he did for a living. As for the seven month gap, it was the period he was being forced to be a human test subject. The epiphany Hall has hits him hard, and he couldn't seem to process all of the information.

Character Development
Nick Hall changes and develops as a person through the entire novel. He becomes less selfish and starts to care about others, as opposed to the way he used to be; cocky and self-centered. If it weren't for this development, his female companion probably would be dead and several others too, including Hall.

First Impression
When my dad first recommended The Mind’s Eye to me, I was skeptical, to say the least. The way it sounded, it was just another cheesy sci-fi novel that was completely unoriginal. I read the book though, as I decided it was a bad idea to ignore one of my dad’s recommendations, seeing as he hasn't let me down on one yet. And it turns out I was wrong, it is not another cheesy and unoriginal sci-fi novel, rather, it is one of the most intriguing and well-written novels I have ever read.
Outside Connections

At first, I struggled to find outside connections with The Mind’s Eye. That was only until I remembered a movie I saw couple years back called Unknown. It stars the all-time great, Liam Neeson, and is about a man who wakes up in a hospital and nobody seems to know who he is. Not even his wife. In some way, this book and this movie are related because they are exact opposites. Instead of not knowing who you are, others don’t know who you are, but you do. Yet my mind still seems to link the two together. So they are alike, but they are opposites..
This novel can also be easily related to the Jason Bourne movies, where a man wakes up with no memory of who he is, but has an epic history behind him



















Recommendation
I would recommend this novel to all ages, but it is somewhat complicated to understand and, at times, pretty inappropriate. Thus, I would recommend The Mind’s Eye to all ages 14 and above. Boys and men especially would appreciate this book, with all of the action and adventure inside. Yet I would still recommend it to women and girls because the story is still fun and interesting, despite whether you a female or male. Also, there is a love story, but don’t worry, it’s not too sappy. 

For more information of Douglas E. Richards, consider checking out his website at http://douglaserichards.com/users/awp.php?ln=720205 .

  

The Rifle

Book Review by: Nathanael Cho

          

First Impression

When I first came across this book, I thought it was just about an old gun. But as I was about to stick it back in the book shelf, I noticed that one of my favorite authors, Gary Paulson was the author. This caught my interest, knowing I would not be disappointed if I took a closer look. I decided to read the back cover to get a short summary and it grabbed my attention.

Summary

The Rifle by Gary Paulsen is a very deep and historical book. It follows the story of a gun as the main character and its journey through time. A young gunsmith named Cornish McManus creates a gun, but it wasn't just any gun, it was sweet. Sweet guns could shoot so accurately that the price of a sweet rifle was priceless. A master gunsmith could make only one sweet gun in his life and never any more. One day, Cornish is forced to sell his gun due to getting married and needing money to support his family. From here, the journey of the gun is followed from the late 1600's to modern day. One day the gun is set up on a mantel of a well to do family, and a devastating event takes place.

Theme

This novel is about the history of a gun and its journey through time. The theme of this story is that everything or person has a story behind them that not many people may know. This theme is illustrated throughout the book because the rifle was made by a poor craftsman back in the 1600's and has throughout the many centuries of its existence gains value. Eventually the rifle comes to a young couple and is stored in their attic so it becomes forgotten and when it is retrieved, many people believed that it was just an old gun. These events lead to the ultimate theme of the storage that everything has a history of past that may not be known.

Epiphany

Throughout this book there are many epiphanies that enhance the novel. One example, is when John Byam, the second owner of the rifle realizes that it is sweet. This is an epiphany because John realizes the rifle’s value, he offers a hefty price for it and it impacts the story forever.

Character Development

Throughout the book there is not very much character development due to the fact that the main character is a gun. The development is not mental, but physical. Throughout the many years that the rifle is present, it the oil and greases there to preserve it begin to wear away and slowly erode.

Connections

This book connected me to many things in the outside world. For example, I can connect The Rifle, to the many guns in my grandfather’s house and it makes me curious what the stories behind them are. Also, I can connect this story to the movie Rubber, due to the fact that it follows the story of an inanimate object and what the story behind it is.

Recommendations

I would recommend this book to everyone ages 14 and up. This book is a takes a little more comprehension to understand, but as you follow the story you feel as if you are there documenting every step of the rifle’s journey. This story keeps you wanting more, and is an enjoyable read. Although, the book may seem dull, the journey is filled with action and adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole story.

Review of Goodbye Mr.Chips

Review by Nick Riina

             

First Impression
               When I first saw this book, the name caught my eye.  Then after reading the back I had to read the book.  The back boasts of this book’s legendary status, “walking on the Earth next to classics such as A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.”  And how amazing and wonderful this book is, so I had to find out if the boasts on the back cover, could be supported by the context.

         Theme and Summary   
              This novel is about a lovable school master, Mr. Chipping.   Before a life changing event, Mr. Chipping was described as a dull, boring teacher, not a lot of students enjoyed.  Eventually on a mountain climbing trip, he met his true love and it changed his life forever.  He became a joyful, humorous teacher, who remained friends with his students until he reached his old age, and even then was visited by former students.  The story tells of his life, and of how when the time came, the students and district had to choose between him, and a new, young principal.  A main theme of this book is that everyone and everything has a story behind it.  This is illustrated by how Mr. Chips new and fun attitude had a story behind it.  Not many knew about Mr. Chips’ wonderful wife, a girl who turned him into a man loved by his colleagues.   His story was not known by his work place, and by the time Mr. Chips grew old, many felt bad for the man.  He lived alone and many thought his life was always that way.  But the gracious man they know all those years ago was still there. 

Character Development
 The story does not contain many characters; the ones it contains develop and grow very well.  The main character, Mr. Chips grew from a grumpy old school teacher, into a lovable amazing schoolmaster.  He grew from his life changing event where he met his wife, and she made him into the man people love.  Another character was his wife. She was introduced as a reckless, joyous girl, who spent her time have fun.  When she met Chips she turned into a responsible, fun person to be around for all ages.  The story also tells of how some key students grew to be into older, more responsible people.  A student described as, “always late, and never prepared,” turned into, “clean cut,” and, “self-presenting.” 

          Outside Connection   
             This book could almost be real in the world itself.  It is a sensible story of a man whose life is changed by his wife, a common real world scenario.  Also many teachers, can turn into, or be happy, joyous teachers, while others can be less pleasant.  This reminds me of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens because in that book, a man transitions from grumpy, into joyous and loved.

          Epiphany   
               In this story, many quick things change, and happen, much like a real school.  After the school board tried to fire Mr. Chips, the board had an epiphany.  This epiphany was that people don’t love Mr. Chips because he is a clean cut, perfect teacher.  He is a man molded by his work, that all students, teachers, and people in the community love.
          Movie Comparison

             Like many movies, Goodbye My. Chips the novel is much better than the movie.  The movie is a romantic film about a retired school master whose wife died in childbirth and he was scarred by her death.  After this life changing event he became a better man, the book, on the other hand, is much more in depth.  His wife dies at old age, and she makes him into a better man.  In the movie, Mr. Chipping is much less close to the students as he is in the book, although the book had very close character overall development, the book still rains ahead.

          Recommendations   
              I would definitely recommend this book to kids grades 8 and on, all the way to senior citizens.  This book is pretty easy to understand, and brings joy to one’s heart the entire way through.  The plot never lets go of the reader’s attention, despite not having much physical action.  Although the book might not be what it said, it will always be one of my favorite books.