Shelf Life

A California Young Reader Medal nominee for 2006-2007 (Jr. High/Middle School category)

Naomi Soledad León Outlaw is a quiet, unassuming, mixed race-girl with a strange name. She lives with her great grandmother and her brother Owen in an Airstream trailer at Avocado Acres Trailer Park in Lemon Tree, California. Naomi and Owen have lived there for seven years, since their mother abandoned them. Owen is extremely intelligent but is physically deformed from birth defects. He also exhibits some obsessive compulsive tendencies but is otherwise a happy and well adjusted child.

Naomi is a list maker, in fact making list is at the top of her list of things she is good at. She is also good at carving, a skill she inherited from her nearly forgotten father, Santiago León of Oaxaca, México. Naomi leads a poor but comfortable life with her brother and Gram and a small, but close-knit community at the trailer park. She is painfully shy, to the point that she feels unable to defend her brother from the mocking of schoolyard bullies.

Naomi’s world is shaken to its foundation when her mother shows up unexpectedly. She has rechristened herself Skyla and has a new man in her life, the controlling Clive. Skyla claims to have turned her life around through counseling and quitting alcohol but Naomi suspects that this is a front. Skyla reveals that she intends to take Naomi with her to live in Las Vegas with Clive and his daughter. Gram and Naomi realize that Skyla and Clive only want Naomi to baby sit and to get welfare and they refuse to cooperate. Skyla threatens violence and legal action so Gram and her neighbors hookup Baby Beluga (the Airstream trailer) to a truck and head to Mexico to find Naomi’s father in hopes of enlisting him in a custody battle.

In Mexico Naomi feels like she has discovered a part of herself that has lain dormant since early childhood. She and Owen feel just as at home in Oaxaca as they do in Avocado Acres. But tension mounts as they race against time to find their father, with the specter of Skyla looming over them. Ultimately Naomi must find the lion within her—El León—to seize control of her own destiny.

Ryan does an excellent job depicting mood and setting, letting us see Oaxaca at Christmas through the eyes of a child. She vividly brings to life Las Posadas, el mercado, and the little known festival “La Noche de Los Rábanos” or Night of the Radishes. Naomi is every bit as inspiring as Esperanza and, like Esperanza Rising, the ending of this book is very uplifting.

Ever wonder where vampirse come from, or how they can go about unnoticed? Well, if so here’s a novel for you. Vampire Mountain, by Darren Shan, is about a half-blooded vampire and his full-blooded instructor and how they travel to the home of the Vampire Princes in order to alert them of a coming new danger. Just as all his other novels, this is written for those of you who live for the excellent combination of suspense and horror.

By Amardeep Cheema

The novel Cirque Du Freak, by Darren Shan, is about the life of a vampire and how he became one, mostly of how he became one. It is an excellent combination of suspense, action, and a little horror and comedy. Most definately a novel for those of you who love vampires. So, if you want to read something interesting, suspensful, and humourous, this should definately be on your ‘to-read’ list.

By Amardeep Cheema

When Eragon finds a blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is a lucky discovery for a poor farm boy. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, his life is shattered. The world he lives in suddenly takes a plunge into an old legacy. The novel Eragon is about a young teenager Eragon who finds a dragon egg. He plans to use the egg to buy meat for the winter but little does he know that the egg is a dragon hatchling. When the Empire realizes that a simple farm boy has become a rider, it attacks. Eragon’s uncle is killed and Eragon is forced to flee with his dragon, Saphira. His only hope is to find the Varden before the Empire finds him.

This novel is really great. It is an adventure story that you must read. The novel really makes me feel like I am in a different world. It is so full of details that you can see the story take place right before your eyes as you read it. This novel also teaches a moral on the importance of friendship and family. I give this novel two thumbs up and recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading.

By Gurpreet Kaur

Away Laughing on A fast Camel by Louise Rennison is a book about a British teenage girl named Georgia Nicolson. The book is all about Georgia’s life, it about how a typical teenager deals with problems in their life. It talks about Georgia’s crushes. The story starts out with Georgia’s official boyfriend, deciding to go off to Switzerland taking her heart with him. Georgia decides to display extreme glaciosity to all boys Until, she meets Masimo, the new Italian-American lead singer for the Stiff Dylans band. Immediately Georgia likes him and wants him to be her new boyfriend so the rest of the book talks about her funny ways to try to get Masimo to be hers. Georgia thinks she has her feelings sorted out until her ex-boyfriend Dave tells her he loves her and Georgia thinks that she still likes him. Oh what a crisis Georgia is in, if you want to read more about this funny teenage girl then you should go and read it.
By Perveen Mann

Wicked is a thrilling novel about the Wicked Witch of the West and the Wizard of OZ. The novel gives the reader a thrilling chase through OZ and a new point of view.
 
     The novel starts out with the birthing of Elphaba and her life as an infant with a fear of water, unnaturally green skin, and razor sharp teeth. The novel then sh\kips ahead to Elphaba’s college days where the reader meets Galinda, Nessarose, Elphaba’s sister, and various other characters. Also in this section the reader is introduced to the Wizard of OZ and his various “crimes”.  Elphabas true personality comes out as the reader follows along her adventures and mistakes, and growing friendship with Galinda.  In the next section of the book, Elphaba becomes known as the Wicked Witch of the West by her own choice, Nessarose has become the Wicked Witch of the East behind her back, and Galinda becomes the Good Witch Glinda. Dorothy is also introduced and we follow along a familiar path in a new light.
 
I personally loved this book. It shines a new light on an old story and give the reader a new perspective.

By Gracie Goodman

In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan portrays the differences between the Chinese and the American cultures through mother-daughter relationships and their misunderstandings of one another. In a way Jing-mei Woo is the main character of the novel, who bridges America and China. Jing-mei Woo and her peers, the other daughters of an organization called the Joy Luck Club, have always identified themselves with Americans. However, they are beginning to regret having neglected their Chinese heritage. Their mothers wonder whether by giving their daughters American opportunities and self-sufficiency, they have alienated them from their Chinese heritage.
 
This novel is interesting and realistic in the sense that it shows what happens when two different cultures clash. It also shows the struggle and fight to keep one’s true identity.
 
By Jaspreet Mann

The book 8 Seconds by Jean Ferris tells the interesting story of a dedicated rodeo cowboy and his experiences. The cowboy, Russ, is a begginer cowboy in the beginning of the novel and attends “cowboy camp” over the summer. At cowboy camp, he is responsible for bettering his rodeo skills and impressing his family and his father most importantly. At the camp he becomes great friends with another cowboy and they have several late night talks about their problems. An undeclared relationship arouses over time and when it becomes public, Russ’ family is quite dissapointed. The novel creates much tension that intrigues the reader. 8 Seconds is a novel to be taken off the bookshelf.

By Marina Millan

The Remains of the Day, written by Kazuo Ishiguro, is a sad, loving novel about an English Butler named Stevens and his reflection on his past. Steven has been working as a butler for the pass thirty years and is contempt to improve his “conversation” skills, which he refers to as “bantering”; he’s a serious man who wishes to entertain his employer with his bantering. Steven decides to take a trip back to his hometown and to Darlington Hall, the Manson where he had worked for all his life. His main objective in this trip was mainly due to the calling of Miss Kenton, the former owner of the Darlington Hall. Although not mentioned, Miss Kenton’s true intention is to get Steven back to the house where they once had a relation…one that both partners could not confess to one another. As Steven resides and clean the Manson, his past comes to him; he recalls events in the past that he would regret. One of which involves Miss Kenton…
The tension grows as Stevens regrets his history and love life.
 
… This novel is quite sad in the way that Steven doesn’t take control of his life. He is always trying to please other people, yet never really trying to make his own life better. This book is recommended for those love-sick people who were once dumped or going to be.  
 
By Yang Her

May 18th, 2006
In the novel Nancy Drew: The E-Mail Mystery by Carolyn Keene Nancy is a young girl who has been waiting for summer vacation anxiously and now that it has come she will not waste another day. Nancy is finally ready to enjoy herself. Nancy feels good that it is already summer and wakes up to the sun shining upon her face. Her blue eyes reflect in the sun and her skin glows along with her reddish hair. Nancy just loves summer, it makes her happy. As soon as she is awake she jumps out of bed and puts on her gym shorts and her favorite blue T-shirt. Now she can wear her shorts and not hesitate to take them off for school. Nancy decides that she is going to go running that special morning, but as she is getting out of the house the phone rings and she doesn’t hesitate to answer it. Her dad just walked out of the house to go to his law office so he cannot answer his client on the other end of the line. Impatiently the client hangs-up and Nancy is left confused. Will her summer turn into winter? Will her smile turn into a frown? Nancy is left with a big mystery to solve as her summer has just began.

By Evelyn Hernandez

    Scarlet O’Hara used to be a rich and beautiful southern belle: the most popular in the whole county. Whatever she desired, she got. But soon the tables are turned and Scarlet’s life is dramatically changed. The South’s beloved Confederacy is now at war with the Yankees. Scarlet must now face the death of her husband, raising an unwanted child, and the eye-opening events going on all around her. The once extremely dependent and spoiled Scarlet must learn to fend for herself and adapt to the drastic changes in her life.
    Although lengthy, Gone With the Wind is an outstanding novel, and definitely well worth the time. You are guaranteed to become glued to it’s dramatic and unpredictable storyline!

By Emily Crohare

In the novel Red Midnight by Ben Mikaelsen a young boy named Santiago and his sister Angelina view something most people don’t ever see in a lifetime. There entire village is burned and everyone killed including their family. Santiago and Angelina are then on a journey to the United States of America to tell of what has happened and get help. They face many obstacles on the journey like heat, storms, soldiers, and lack of sleep. They get some help but not much. They are very young, Santiago is around twelve or thirteen years old and Angelina is even younger. It is one of the best books I have ever read and recommend it to everyone especially if you like adventure novels.

By Sikander Sandhu

In the novel Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson. The main character is the author, Phil Jackson himself. Phil is a NBA basketball coach. He is the head coach of the Chicago Bulls and writes about his greatest players that he has had the honor to coach. He talks about Michael Jordan, whom many consider to be the greatest player to ever step foot in a NBA arena. He talks about Jordan’s sidekick, Scottie Pippen and monumental role players such as Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr. This novel will take the reader on a wild journey into the mind of the most prolific basketball coach of all time, whom many consider to be the greatest coach of all time with the likes of former Celtics head coach, Red Auerbach. Jackson brought a new style of coaching to the NBA ranks. A style that had never been tested in professional sports. Jackson writes about his philosophy of mindful basketball and his life-long dream to bring enlightenment to the competitive world of professional sports. Sacred Hoops reveals how Phil Jackson directs his players to act with a clear mind; to respect the enemy and be aggressive without anger or violence. In this novel you will go into Jackson’s mind as he builds one of the greatest teams ever assembled in not just basketball but any sport. This novel is not only for sports fans, but for people who want to learn about the human spirit and the practice of Zen.

By Gurvinder Johal

The novel The Watcher, by James Howe, is a very intriguing novel with a wonderful plot sequence that will keep you on the edge until the end. The novel begins with a young girl who spends her summer afternoons watching perfect strangers. Everyday Margarette sits at the top of the stairs and watches a handsome lifeguard, and a brother and sister playing. She watches them everyday and imagines what their lives are like while hers is a complete disaster.
 
Margarette keeps a diary in which she makes up her own little fantasy world. In this fantasy world of hers, she is a princess held captive by a monster who tortures her, and an enchanted doll that sings and is oblivious to anything around her. In the end of her fantasy she is rescued by an angel and a prince.
 
In reality, Maragarette’s father was the evil monster that kept her captive in her room and tortured her by placing her head under water as a punishment. When the young boy that Margarette watched daily figures out what is happening, he calls the lifeguard and they both rescue her. They are her prince and guardian angel.
 
The enchanted doll of her fantasy world was really her mother who ignored everything until this point when her spell was broken. Margarette is now sage from the grasps of her evil father and now has her mother back.
 
I recommend this book to everyone!
 
By Cristina Ramirez

The 100th Student Review!!

Cynthia Voigt’s Homecoming is the first book in her Tillerman cycle. The novel is about a young girl, Dicey Tillerman, and her three younger siblings and their travel to find a home. They get left in a mall parking lot by their mother with nothing but a couple of peanut butter sandwiches and about seven dollars. They trudge their way to their aunt’s home by foot. They meet several different people, some that want to help and others who could care less about four kids. When they finally reach their Aunt Cilia’s house it is nothing to their expectations. New plan? Of course, they head to their grandma’s, who they have never met before. Together they meet more challenges, but they do reach their destination. The only question left is if they have found a home yet?

By Arielle Arias

Filled with thrill and comedy, a book you will surely enjoy reading is the Robber’s Bridegroom by Eudora Welty. It is an American modern fairytale where irony and humor, outright nonsense, and deep wisdom become an exquisite style. The Robber’s Bridegroom is about a fair young lady Rosamond who can come up with lies in an instant, which eventually led to her downfall as the story unfolds.

Rosamond is raised by her loving father who treasures her greatly, and an evil step-mother who wants nothing but kill Rosamond. Many plans have been enacted to kill the girl, but so far, all of them have been a failure.

One day, Rosamond’s step-mother orders her to go to the woods and get something very important. When the girl obeyed, her step-mother commands their desperate neighbor to go after her and kill Rosamond. In the woods, Rosamond starts singing her dead mother’s song, which soften the murderer’s heart, and before the murderer could get out of it, a man on a horse came and took Rosamond away.

Rosamond’s father, Clement Musgrove is worried of her daughter and will do anything to get her back. He calls on his friend, Jamie Lockhart who helped him while he was in town when some guy tried to steal their gold. He promises Jamie her daughter’s hand in marriage when Jamie finds her and brings her back.

There is more to Jamie Lockhart than what meets the eye. He is living a double life as a bandit and a gentleman. Would he abandon one or the other?…And where is Rosamond? Read the book, and you will find out a shocking revelation of the truth and an unexpected ending…

Charlene Gallardo

In the novel Breathing Underwater the character Nick Andreas,a teenage boy, is accused of abusing the his girlfriend, Caitlin McCourt. Nick does not understand how Caitlin could say that he has ever hit her or done anything to hurt her. Because of this, Nick looses his best friend Tom, and becomes an outcast. Nick goes through many difficult childhood memories when trying to recall his past. As the novel goes on it goes back to when Nick and Caitlin spent many times together, before Nick began to become abusive.

This is a great novel. It is realistic and it expresses the love and hate theme. It also shows how the life of a teenager becomes complicated when in a relationship at such a young age. Breathing Underwater will keep you in suspense and feelings allowing the reader to relate your everyday life experiences to those of the characters.

by Michael Pryor

Anna Comnena is the daughter of the emperor of the Byzantine Empire. She is her father’s favorite daughter and his successor. When her baby brother is born she is not the least bit worried even though many believe only a boy should rule the empire. Anna dismisses them just like her father. Anna enjoys her lessons with her grandmother but she doesn’t want to be controlledby anyone. Her arrogance and inteeligence over her grandmother makes her grandmother lose her trusyt in her. Overnight Anna’s dreams of ruling the Byzantine Empire are snatched away and given to her little brother. Bitter at these events Anna wiats for the right time to seek her revenge and the throne of the Byzabtine Empire.

by Ramnit Sidhu

Friday Night Lights by H. G. Bissinger is a true story that takes you into the lives of a high school football team at their goal to win a state championship. The Odessa High School Permian Panthers are one of the highest ranked football teams going in to the football season. The season gets off to a good start but takes a unexpected blow when the team’s star player Boobie Miles gets injured. The team continues to battle and face many other obstacles ahead of them. They deal with a lot of local pressure and all work their hardest to get to their goals. Friday Night Lights is one of the most inspirational stories I have ever read and I would recommend it to anyone. It is truly a remarkable story that puts you into the shoes of these young high school men and is full of surprises.

By Mandeep Samra

This novel begins with the main character, Robert Langdon, being awoken by a strange phone call during the middle of the night. On the other line is a particle physicist by the name of Maximilian Kohler who is requesting for Robert to fly to Switzerland and meet him at his research center. One of the scientists at CERN, the research center, had been murdered that night and Robert has been summoned not only to help solve this mystery. Reluctantly, Robert agrees and from that moment on he is swept into a whirlwind of thrilling adventure.

As the novel progresses, the clues lead Robert to Vatican City with Vittoria Vetra, the murdered scientist’s daughter. At this time Il Conclave is occurring and a new pope will soon be elected, only there is one problem; the four preferiti (chosen cardinals up for election) have gone missing. Robert and Vittoria gain the help of Olivetti, a member of the Swiss guard and Carlo Vantresca, the Pope’s chamberlain, to find the cardinals. Officers are sent out all over the city in search of the four men, and something else, something far more threatening.
Not long after, a mysterious phone call is made to the Vatican from a caller who claims to be working for the Illuminati and says that he has the preferiti. He goes on to say that one will be killed every hour starting at eight in a public place and there is nothing they can do to stop him. The caller says that these murders will be the Illuminati’s way of getting even with the Catholic church and for murders that they had committed. He will brand each cardinal with a symbol of an element; earth, water, air, and fire all in the name of science.Robert and Vittoria now must race through the city in order to decipher the clues left behind by the ancient Illuminati cult in order to find the locations of the murders and save the cardinals before time runs out.

I really enjoyed this book and found it to be very exciting. I couldn’t put it down, it was an amazing page turner that pulls you into the story. Dan Brown does an extremely good job of keeping the reader intrigues and never knowing what lies on the next page. I was left guessing until the very end of this novel. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense, mysteries, and thrillers.

By Katelyn Turner