Student Saturday: Guts by Raina Telgemeier

Genre: Middle Grade, Biography, Graphic Novel
Student Reviewer: Zoey L.

The book I read this month was called Guts. This book is about a young girl named Raina. She always did great in school and never had a problem with anything. Until, one night she wakes up with a terrible stomachache. Later, she returns to school with normal school days, drama, and bullying with the other stuff too. Although everything is back to normal, Raina is not. She can't take her mind off her stomach bug. She just keeps thinking about it. Now it is starting to get into the way of everything. Will Raina be able to fix this problem? Overall, I like this book. I have read similar books by this author. They are always fun to read. I relate to this book because I get stomach aches too. I would recommend this book to my little brother because he likes comics. I give this book a 10/10 and I would definitely read it again. 

They Came From the Shadows by Christopher Francis

 

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

This is book four in the series. Unlike a lot of prequels, this one serves two purposes. For those who have read the first book in the series, you will understand the characters better.  We open once again with the alien's first visit.  We are shown a glimpse of what happened before the second wave came.  We still see the same bubbly, smart, and talkative Margaret, her best friend Bailey and Sheldon who has always been their protector.  This book not only tells us what happened with the first wave of aliens, but what happened after. We learn about area thirty-two and how those who were infected are now surviving and where they are today.  We learn so much, yet at the same time this book is written in a manner that the author could continue the story. Consider it a flashback in time with benefits. The benefits of learning something we didn't in the first book. Like all of this author's other books, it draws you in and holds you, forcing you to continue reading until the last page. But that isn't all it does. It leaves you craving more.  So I say, we all beg the author to add more to this story.  I would love to see this series made into a movie.  I believe it would be a blockbuster.  Well done Christopher Francis.

Student Saturday: Dead Lake by Darcy Coates

 

Genre: Adult, Horror, Suspense
Student Reviewer: Franklin G.

Sam, a young artist, got an invitation for her art to be shown at the Heritage Gallery, which was a huge deal for her. But her mom sadly passed away shortly after, so for the next few months, instead of preparing artwork for the gallery, she forgot about it completely until about a week before it was happening. Sam's uncle let her stay in his cabin, which was completely off the grid, and only a few people knew about it. As she was there, she thought she was alone. Her uncle wasn't there, but there was no cell reception, and there wasn't anyone for a few miles. Then she started painting these strange images in her sleep. These images were of a man, and he looked strange, but she slowly realized that the man had been watching her and started to attack her. He would sit and look over the dock and watch her from the woods. These woods had always had disappearances, and it turned out he was the one killing them, and Sam was in grave danger. She had met a ranger from a nearby park and wanted his help, but things went from bad to worse the longer she stayed at the cabin. What happened to Sam and the ranger? Did the strange man kill them? Did Sam's art go to the gallery? 

I loved this book, and I thought it was great. It is a shorter read and Darcy Coates put two other short stories in the back. This story, though was great. I love the action and the mystery, but most of all I like the little horror details in the story. This is a great book if you like mystery combined with horror and action. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 10 because this book might be scary for younger readers, but all in all, this was a really good book.

I can't fully relate to the characters in this book but I can say if I was in this situation I would try my hardest to survive.