The Last Orphans by N.W. Harris

Genre: Young Adult, Apocalyptic
Source: I received a copy to faclitate my review. The opinions expressed are my own.

From Goodreads:
One horrifying day will change the life of sixteen-year-old Shane Tucker and every other kid in the world. 

In a span of mere hours, the entire adult population is decimated, leaving their children behind to fend for themselves and deal with the horrific aftermath of the freak occurrence. As one of the newly made elders in his small town, Shane finds himself taking on the role of caretaker for a large group of juvenile survivors. One who just happens to be Kelly Douglas—an out-of-his-league classmate—who, on any other day, would have never given Shane a second glance. 

Together, they begin their quest to find out why all of the adults were slaughtered. What they find is even more horrifying than anything they could have expected—the annihilation of the adults was only the beginning. Shane and his friends are not the unlucky survivors left to inherit this new, messed-up planet. No, they are its next victims. There is an unknown power out there, and it won’t stop until every person in the world is dead. 

A spine-tingling adventure that will have you gasping for breath all the way until the last page, The Last Orphans is the first book in an all-new apocalyptic series.

My Thoughts:
My first thought while reading this book was that it should be made into a movie.  Any time I read a book and it becomes so visual, I have to believe it would make a great movie.  I also believe that only really talented authors can do this.  I loved the way that the heroes were those people we would least expect to be heroes.  They would be the ones we wouldn't give a second thought to.  The method the author chose to kill off the adults was terrifying to me.  I can only imagine what a teen would think.  This is so different from most apocalyptic type of books.  Would I recommend this?  You bet!  Will I read it again?  Definitely.  Then I'll sit back a wait, impatiently for the next book.  I love finding new authors and I am so glad I have found this one.

Don't Forget Me Bro by John Michael Cummings

Genre:  Adult, Realistic Fiction
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own

From Goodreads:
In this heartfelt journey, families contain all of it. There’s simply no tidy, predictable emotional or dynamic boundary to draw around these most primal of human units. Even those who don’t know their biological families have collective relationships that daily test their autonomy, individuality, self-worth and dreams. Cummings, who’s spent more than three decades writing about human beings, mainly of the everyday American persuasion, excels in uncovering those beneath-the-skin familial stories that realistically probe uncomfortable, often invisible, areas of life. When families and their perceptions of mental illness collide, as happens with such gritty persistence in Don't Forget Me, Bro all the discomfort of relationships, normal and otherwise, comes to the fore.

My Thoughts:
I loved this book.  The author takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster.  We get a look at a dysfunctional family and the damages done through abuse.  We also look at a family dealing with mental illness.  The tension the author was able to write into this book made it so real.  I felt at times as if I was in the room with Mark.  I almost could not breath. This is a story of a dysfunctional family that is dealing with grief and life to the best of their ability.  If nothing else this book made me take a look at my own family, a coloer look.  I believe after reading this book that all families are dysfunctional in some ways, yet we are all still family.  I will definitely recommend this book.

About the Author:
John Michael Cummings’ short stories have appeared in more than seventy-five literary journals, including North American Review, The Kenyon Review, and The Iowa Review. Twice he has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize. His short story “The Scratchboard Project” received an honorable mention in The Best American Short Stories 2007. His novella The House of My Father, from which his debut novel was adapted, was a finalist in the 2006 Miami University Novella Contest.

The Night I Freed John Brown is Mr. Cummings’ powerful first novel for young readers. A native of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, he draws on his own experiences growing up in this intriguing historic town.

John Michael Cummings lives in Orlando with his cat, Sentry

Student Saturday: Bad Unicorn by Platte F. Clark

Student Reviewer: Luis O.
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Source: I picked this book because I thought it would be funny...And it was

This book started with a boy called Max. He finds an old book he used to read whe he was a childe. The book was called "The Codex". It was show and tell and Max wanted to demonstrate teh book he had found. When he read he read aout unicorns. People started laughing so Max went to another page and read about Frobbits. When he finished reading the teacher said, "I believe I said the assignment was to read a chapter from a historical fiction book."  I recoment this book to kids that like humor.