Core 1

In the last chapter, Ghost ducks into Mr. Charles’s store to tell him about the coming race. The handshake exchanged between Ghost and Mr. Charles is a sign both of manhood and respect, and is a sign that Ghost has become a young man. It is a sign that Ghost is finally coming into his own and is truly shaping his own life and his own future. As the novel ends, Ghost prepares for his first real race. However, the book ends disruptively as the race begins. The ending represents the idea that no one knows what will come next in life, and it is up to us. Each and every moment of our lives decides what we will become and who we will be. At the same time, the reader should know that Ghost imagines himself running for his life – not away from his father and his past, but towards a better life in the future. -Molly Chernawsky

Ghost was a really great book, showing that people can preserve through their problems. Ghost was a very strong young boy and proved that no one can bring you down. One thing I really enjoyed about the book is that he felt like part of a team at the end. At the begging he had like no one to have his back but then toward the end he felt like he belonged to something. Something I would change is definitely the  ending. We never even got to read about him racing, and that is kind of the point of the book, right? If I could change the book I would make a race at the end.

Outcasts United is a book that gives us a story about a refugee soccer team. Luma is the coach of the team and she is always looking to push her players. She provides us with so vauluable lessons about the book.

I would recommend this book to people who like video games, adventure/solving clues, and people who like suspense and action. The book is about a teenager who lives in a dystopian version of Earth (2045) where life sucks in the real world and plenty of people are homeless and hungry. The only good part about life is that there is a VR video game where you can be anything and do anything. When the creator of the game died, he left clues and hints to his fortune of money that he left for a smart guy. Wade Watts is one of the last people trying to find money after 5 years, trying to stop the evil corporation that will destroy the Oasis.

Outcasts United was a really interesting book and keeped readers into it all through the book. If I were to rate this book out of 10 stars I would rate this eight and a half stars. I would rate it like this because it was very interesting and when things were a little boring the author would get the reader back into the book with a dramatic or important event. I liked the book a lot and would recommend to teens.

Ready player one was a great book overall. The book had action and was very exciting. The book is about a hunt where if you win you become a multibillionaire. I think that there is nothing wrong with the book and I don't really have any critiques.

Ready Player One was a good book. With many pop culture references. The action was cool with all the difference weapons from several movies and video games. The entire OASIS was filled with different planets from Doom to Ludus. It be good book. Suggest I.

Scythe was a very interesting book. The concept is a future world where nobody can die. To deal with overpopulation, certain people are assigned jobs as "Scythes," who are legally obligated to kill people. Two teenagers, Citra and Rowan, are assigned to become scythe apprentices under Scythe Faraday. It is a very interesting and dark book with looks of interesting ideas with likable protagonists and understandable antagonists. The book has some minor pacing issues, but other than that it was a great book, and I would definitely recommend it

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a very action-packed, emotional and touching story. the book does a good job of describing the kids' lifestyles and struggles they have to go through every day.

I sort of enjoyed the book, it was very interesting, but also somewhat depressing about Claire's dad, and his stroke. It was dramatic too, with drama and weird parts in the book. It wasn't the worst book of course, not necessarily my favorite though. Claire was going through a lot, especially with her dad and his stroke. Some parts I was angry about their decisions because that's not how I would solve them. I would give this a 3.5-star rating, mostly because of the events that took place and certain parts of the book that wasn't that interesting. 

Ghost was a very good book. It was about a kid who joins his local track team and has to persevere through his challenges. I like this book and the lessons that it teaches. I would of likesd to see a better ending because it ends on a clifthanger. Bu overall I would rate this book 4 stars because it was very good and I enjoyed reading it.

Scythe was a very good book. It had mentorship, mystery, and competition. Citra and Rowan each had been taught different ways and by different people, but ended up being very close friends. This book had many twists and turns and many people would be entertained by this, especially 6th-9th graders.

In my opinion the book, Falling Over Sideways, would be about 1.5 stars. This book was lacking in serious key aspects to make a good book, it did not have a strong plot line, the structure was confusing, and the overall story was basically boering. The story was based on a lot of repetition on how she is sad about her father's death, and takes it out on others. This book didn't include any interesting plot twist or any other ideas rather than a girl who is overly-dramatic, is a dancer, and needs to learn how to have a positive attitude. 

In our last reading, there was a big plot twist in out book.  Dustin is the killer, he killed Eli and bombed Reya’s moms car. Dustin got in a fight with his dad, so he decided to kill him, and Dustin is now in jail. Reya finds the password to the last video, and Nicks mom leaves town. She found out Nick lost the flash drive, but she copied it into a hard drive either way. She watched the video and discovered Nicks real name was Tony, and that he was a troubled kid so they broke up. Nick and his dad plan to go to Florida. The government re do the J-room and ask Nick to run it. For the beginning of the book, I think that the book was very confusing, but at the end, it got a bit less confusing and more interesting. I would rate this book a 3 stars just because of the way the author wrote the book.

Falling Over Sideways was a... dramatic book. Throughout the book, the main character didn't have a positive attitude at all. If rated, the book, in my opinion, is 0.5 stars. The main character, Claire, has a father that went through a stroke. Since then, her family has been struggling to help him, and Claire is snotty and turns her nose up at him. Because of this, my group concluded that this book was about a spoiled, dramatic girl. The book was repetitive; about how Claire was upset about her father, dance, about how Claire was upset about her father... and so on. The plot was easy to guess, as this was a very cliche book.

In the book Holding Up The Universe Jack and Libby are the main characters. Jack and Libby have a weird relationship because at first Jack thought that Libby was really weird but once he met her he really liked her. He was really happy when he was with Libby but once he broke up with her he was very sad. In the text on page 333, it states, " The way I feel when I’m with her. Like I just swallowed the sun and it’s shooting out of every pore.” Jack is going through more rough things like his parents are separating and Jack still isn’t with Libby even though he really like her. Libby and Jack are still into each other if though they split. In the end Jack and Libby end up being together and kiss.

In this reading we found out that Dustin was the killer. He killed Eli, and bombed Reya’s moms car. He knew that Eli knew so he killed him. Dustin and his dad got in a fight and he killed him and Dustin is now in jail. After all of this is over, Nicks mom leaves town and Reya finds the password to the last video. She found out that Nick lost the flash drive but knew that she copied all of the info on a hard drive. Reya got the password to the last video and watched it. She found out that Nick was actually Tony and not a good kid. They broke up. The government re-done the J-Room and they’ve asked Nick to be the main leader of the paper. Nick and his dad decide to make a plan to leave and go to florida. Our group didn't really enjoy this book and neither did I. It was not my kind of book.

Holding Up The Universe was a very good book. One thing I really liked was how despite all the cliches and everyone telling them they shouldn't, Jack and Libby still got together. Something I learned that I thought was important was that you should be yourself no matter what. One thing I would have changed about the book is the fact that it was so cliche. Even from the very first chapters, I knew exactly how the book would end. Even though it was very cliche, I still enjoyed Holding Up The Universe.

Holding Up The Universe is an adventurous story of the journeys of high school. While everything seems to be falling apart in general for both Libby and Jack, the only thing keeping a spark for both high school lives is each other. The cruel jokes played on Libby active Jack's actions leaving both of them in counseling only to soon develop a closer relationship as the days deepen further.

Rowan and Citra had heard the unexpected news. Their teacher and mentor, Scythe Faraday,  had gleaned/killed himself. They were given different scythes to complete training to become one themselves, Scythe Curie and Scythe Goddard. Scythe Curie then takes Citra to a gleaning. After eating with the man's family, that they had gleaned, they continued training. She then went to explain her darkest secret, pushing a girl in front of a truck, to that girl. Then, the story talked about Rowan. There was a party in his honor, even though he didn’t really want it. Goddard then turned off Rowan's healing nanites so that he could feel pain, and pain he felt. Goddard and his followers beat up Rowan so that he could "learn" something. These pages really put a twist on the book and many people would be entertained by this, especially 6th-9th graders.

Fake ID is interesting but sometimes confusing. Eli has been killed, either by himself or a mystery person. The book has been a mystery the whole time, from Eli’s death to Whispertown. Nick’s parents are in an organization that helps them keep jobs and live securely. Eli’s dad has been sneaking around and working on a special project, that Ei had something to do with. We rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars, this is because we think the book is very confusing and it doesn't meet some of our interests.

Pages 78-109 Chapters 9-11 In these assigned pages, we see a different side of Luma. A strict and even mean version of her. For example some of the kids on the Under Fifteens' were late to a game. As a result, Luma decides to cancel the rest of the Under FIfteens' season. The players are crushed and they don't know what to do with themselves now.

There is much significance and great maturity when Ghost tells Coach he is afraid of himself. In other words, he does not want to end up like his father. He does not want to be anything close to being the same as his father. But not everyone is the same. Ghost does not have to be the same, either. As Ghost comes to practice with the team, he begins to recognize just how truly diverse the team is – from the albino Lu to the tall and pretty Patty (adopted by a white mother) to the wealthy Sunny. Everyone approaches the track and runs for a different reason – but Ghost does not yet know any of these reasons, These things will become apparent in coming chapters, but readers should keep in mind that running track is exposing Ghost to a diverse array of good people. Ghost finds himself longing to fit in among them, but his accident at track – where his shoes come off and he crashes – becomes a source of humiliation for him. His shoes, specifically, become symbolic of that humiliation, and wi...

From what we have read so far, this book is interesting because it tells us the stories of two high schoolers facing the many different challenges of high school. Jack, is a popular guy with prosopagnosia, a disorder where you are unable to recognize peoples faces. Libby is a self-conscious girl because of the challenges she has faced in the past causing her to become overweight. Throughout the book, Libby and Jack develop a strong friendship. We would recommend this book who likes romance and humor. Overall, Holding Up the Universe is a great book!

Falling Over Sideways is a book about Claire and her struggles. When her dad gets a stoke, her life starts to fall apart. Kate and I's rating would be two stars, because the plot is predictable, and we dislike the character and her attitude towards the situation. At certain times, she's too dramatic when she isn't supposed to be, and others, she's just being a whiny brat.