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I am now reading the Divergent series, I hope that I will get to finish them. So far, I'm on the first book, and I like it very much. This will be an interesting book to post about.
 - Emmie

A Certain Slant Of Light by Laura Whitcomb

A Certain Slant Of Light is about a girl named Helen, who is 27 when she dies, and she turns into Light. Light is sort of a ghost, so no one can see, hear, or feel her. She is living a "life" of terror of going to Hell, and the only way she can prevent that is by being near her host. Her host is a Quick, (Human,) that she has a special connection with. Her first one she calls "her Saint". She always stays by her side, and when she doesn't, Hell comes to claim her again. She always finds a way to get to her Saint again though. After her Saint dies, she starts getting sucked into Hell again. She must find a new host. She does, and stays by that host for a while as well. She goes through a few hosts before she finds a host called Mr. Brown. He was an English teacher. She helps him write a book, and feels happy to be with him. Everything is going well. One day, during one of Mr. Brown's classes, she feels a pair of ey es on her. She is surprised, no one is supposed to see the Light. She investigates further, and finds that he can not only see her, but hear her as well! She finds out that he is a body that is possessed by someone who is Light. The two Light get to be friends, and soon even more than that! Helen and James, (she finds out that name of the Light that is possessing Billy,) want to be a real couple, so they try and find a body for Helen. They try once, and fail, then they find a body of a fifteen-year-old girl named Jenny. Helen possesses Jenny, and they can be together. The only problem is Jenny and Billy's families...
- Emmie
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My friends and I recently raised aroung $360 for a charity organization called Heading Home.  Check it out!

- Olivia

Keeping The Castle by Patrice Kindl

Honestly, it's not the best idea to start with a negative review. I should also choose a book that I have on hand so that I can quote it. But screw sanity and rational decisions! It's summer!

So.

Keeping the Castle.

This is a story about a girl: Althea, and her quest to keep her castle of sorts.

But wait! This is not a story about how Althea, against all odds, paves her own path in 19th century England, and defies stereotypes to make a living, and secure enough money to save the castle-like home her grandfather built.

No, it's not about that.

Because that would empower girls, and why is that important?

This is a story about a girl who attempts to use her beauty and sewing skills to pretend she is not poor, and marry into a rich family. That is, marry a rich man.

And pretend that she loves him. And live with him until death do them part. Even if he is obnoxious. Even if she hates him.

Because her four-year-old brother needs to enherit the castle so that he can live a rich and pampered life, and not have to worry about money.

Because if her four-year-old brother dies, the castle belings to some distant cousin of sorts. Because the four-year-old boy owns the castle. Actually, the second he was born he owned the castle. Because 'science' has proven that females cannot understand much more than household manners. Therefore, the castle must go to the newborn baby. Because that makes perfect sense.

In any case, this is what life is like for Miss Althea Crawley. And she must make the most of it.

To be fair, Althea is not the brainless flower men seem to want her to be. She has a sharp tongue, and says what she means, even if it ends badly. Although this in itself is a bit cliché. Anywho...

Althea has two cruel older step-sisters who have plenty of money, though they do not spend it to help Althea, or her mother. Instead, they buy themselves dresses, makeup, and whatever suits their fancy, leaving Althea to try and repair and embellish one of her dresses that a step-sister ruined.

Wait.

That sounds and awful lot like Cinderella.

Nah, nah, this is different. Right? Yeahhhh... It's nothing like Cinderella. Totally a different story.

Because Althea doesn't have a fairy godmother! See? Cinderella is completely different. Completely.

In fact, Althea catches the attention of many men, due to her beauty.

And while they might love her for her looks, another man likes her unique attitude, though it doesn't seem like he enjoys her company at all!

Wait.

That's a spoiler.

I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have said that.

Psshhhtt, you could have figured it out from the first time you met Mr.––

Oops. Nearly told you!

But, hey!

If you like predictable, boring, Cinderella-like stories about a girl who has to marry a man to save her home for her toddler brother who owns the place, go ahead and read it.

I suppose it does point out some rather important things about misogyny in the 1800s. I think you'll be surprised to find that it hasn't changed all that much.

-The Humbug Potato

- Olivia

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Right now I'm in California enjoying the crazy weather. It alternates from cold to hot all the time! I miss all my friends in Cambridge and can't wait to see you on the last day of school!
- Madeleine

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Allegiant is the third book in the Divergent series. Allegiant is different from the other books in the Divergent series because the chapters alternate narrators whereas the other books are narrated by one character. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes dystopian novels. This is a series you probably would want to read in order like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter, because otherwise it may not make sense. The first book is my favorite so far, and I couldn't put it down!
- Madeleine


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Dork Diaries: Tales from a NOT-SO-dorky Drama Queen by Rachel Renee Russo

The dork diaries is about Three best friends named Niki, Chloe and Zoey. They are all friends and they always hangout with each other. Niki has a crush on Brandon. And since Brandon has a somewhat of a crush on Niki Brandon kisses her. But Nikki doesn't realize that Brandon only kissed her for a dare. So Her friends and Nikki went into there school library and called the place that Brandon got his pizza from because If Brandon didn't kiss Nikki then he wouldn't have gotten the pizza. So they looked at the receipt and it showed that it wasn't from him it was from someone else. That shows that it was a dare. In the end Makenzie gets Nikki's diary and and writes a lot of things in it and reads all of the things that she wrote in it. Then she also gets into her miss know it all coulmn and tries to get Nikki expelled by trying to cyber bully people.

 - Hannah

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