Street Pharm.

Street Pharm writen by Allison Van Diepen has to be the greatest book I have ever read. Tyrone Johnson the main charactor of the book is at the top of his game. Ty is a big time drug dealer. It use to be his dads business but his dad Orlando was locked up for dealing. So now the family business is in Tys hands and business has nevr been better. But soon Ty will learn that with the family business comes more then just drugs. Tys personal life gets involved and everything starts to fall apart. He can't be with people out in public beacuse his enemies might try and hurt the people that are close to him. Throughout this book there are many different situations that Ty has to face like the cops, enemies, addiction, loved ones, girls and death.

Angry Management

Angry Management was a very good book by Chris Crutcher. This is the perfect book for all of Crutcher's fans; unfortunately I can't say I have read many of his past books, but this book was still great nonetheless. The reason fans would enjoy this book is because the characters are all from previous books, which I think is very interesting to do in a book. And everyone of these characters are all teenagers with issues. That is why they get put into Mr. Nak's Angry Management group. Everyone in Mr. Nak's group has their own stories that begin to come out with each chapter. I love how this book works even if you haven't read many of the others and know the character's stories. It still works out and you learn about the characters through this story. I really enjoyed this book and am planning on reading more of Crutcher's books so I can become more in tune with his amazing characters.

Sucker Punch

In the book Sucker Punch By David Hernandez, Marcus or known as Nub to his friends is a teenager who has a younger brother who's name is Enrique. Marcus is 17 and on his last year of high school. Their father left them a year earlier; telling them to never contact them again. As soon as Enrique and Marcus thought things were going well in their family, their mother tells them that he might move back in the house. They're both furious about this idea; in the earlier years when they were younger their dad used to brutally hit Enrique for the slightest things. The reason for Marcus' nickname is for because a few years before their dad left; he was skateboarding, he fell and his finger hit a wall outside their house. His mom and Enrique quickly took him to the emergency room; not knowing where his finger was. Marcus' friends soon started calling him Nub, and as you can tell it stuck with them. Ashley, Enrique's girlfriend but Marcus' secret crush. Oliver, Enrique, Ashley, and Marcus decide their going to go on a road trip; Ashley soon finds out the plan that they had, she quickly gets angry with Enrique. Oliver has a starter pistol, Marcus and Enrique decide to give their dad a little visit, but not the type of visit you'd normally expect; with all the anger Enrique has built up over the years from his dads abuse, makes things easier to follow through with the plan, not only that Enrique hasn't taken his pills in the last few days making things even less difficult. Their standing at their dads front door step, walking into his tiny, crammed apartment; sitting down on his couch Marcus quickly realizes that his dad has changed. Enrique doesn't want to face the facts that he truly has; going through counseling and getting help with his anger issues. Enrique grabs the starter pistol, which his dad thinks is a real one until Marcus tells him; the frightened look on their father's face eases up some. He stands their with the pistol in his hands, yelling at his dad to say he was sorry; Enrique giving many similar qualities his dad gave the previous year. I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 because even though I didn't find the cover of the book that interesting; the book its self always kept my attention and made me want to keep on ready.

Rash

Rash by Pete Hautman was a very interesting read. It is set in the future, around 2070's and just about everything is illegal. From french fries to football to verbal abuse. Everything is monitored and if anyone has any outburst or tantrums it is recorded and that person could be sent to jail. But jail in this time isn't like it is today; it is a work camp that helps run the country. With it being so easy to go to jail in this time, a large percent of the country is in jail. So they set up work camps that make the goods and run the country, such as having teenage boys work at a pizza factory or minors work on the road clearing it up. I always find it interesting reading something about a messed up future. But for Bo Marsten he finds nothing about it messed up. That is of course until he gets in trouble and sent to a work camp. He learns how scared he's been his whole life is for no reason, he learns to truly have fun and what he's good at. This is a good book and I recommend it to anyone that likes future books such as these.

Shattering Glass

Shattering Glass is about teenage friends in their senior year who "have it all". Young is the narrator of this compelling story. He and his friends all followed their "leader", Rob, who decided to make the nerd of the school one of their cool new friends. Simon Glass is a geeky, computer loving, anti-social, nerd of the school. He is always being made fun of and getting picked on. Until one day, Rob decides he wants to transform the nerd into prince charming of the school. Rob is already the most liked guy in the school and he considers it a fun challenge for him and his friends to get people to like the unlikeable. Unfortunately, we find out from the beginning and from all the foreshadowing done at the start of each chapter, that Young and his friends killed Simon. But the story goes on and we find out what exactly would cause them to kill Simon Glass. I think the story does a nice job of the foreshadowing by parents, teachers, friends, and police; in the future telling us what happened to the boys after they committed that awful act. I thought this was a good book that was done creatively. I liked the idea of knowing what's going to happen before it does.

The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (author of The Messenger) is one of the best books I've ever read. I've read the book twice in the last two years and it is still one of my favorites. It is a book about a young German girl in Nazi Germany. Liesel Meminger is only nine years old when she is taken to her foster parents. On the ride to them, her younger brother, Werner, dies and leaves a hole in her heart from then on. At his funeral, Liesel takes a book left behind by the grave digger, and this starts a long list of book stealing. The book takes us through five years of Liesel's life on Himmel Street in Molching, Germany with her new foster parents. It is told in the eyes of Death. This is an excellent story about growing up and loving the people around you. I think it is astounding how Zusak uses Death as the narrator in this outstanding book. It's hard not to fall in love with the very realistic characters and to care so much about them. It is kind of a longer read but I promise you once you get started, it's next to impossible to put down.

Glass

Glass is the continuing story of Crank. The book Glass picks up when she has her son Hunter who's father raped her. Now having a baby to take care of, Kristina thinks she will have control over her meth addiction, but she's wrong. She figures out that she needs the monster to get through her everyday life and to do that she needs to give up her baby too. When she gets back into the monster she meets a guy named Trey and ends up falling in love with him. Together they figure out the struggle of being on there own and trying to find money for there addiction. They both find there selves in jail after getting busting with a half pound of meth and also another child in the picture. I thought this book wasn't as good as Crank and I really didn't like the ending, but over all it was a pretty good book and really shows you where drugs can leave you.

In the book A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer, Dave is treated very poorly; many unexpected things happen to him while he is living at his house. In his younger years before the abuse started, his mother Catherine and his father Stephan used to love him and treat him just as if they treated his other two brothers. Soon enough things changed in the household, Dave’s punishment starts out with standing in a corner for many house; quickly switching to vicious things. He had to wash dishes in a time limit which he never seemed to finish in time, the water was scalding hot. That was only the beginning of what has happened to him, his mom smashed his head onto mirrors making him repeat over and over “I am a bad boy”. He would go days without any food, he started stealing food from other classmates lunch boxes; the school realized it was him and called his mother. He always tried to stay a step ahead of her, but things didn’t work out as he had planned every attempt he made to get food; his mother made him throw up the food and knew he had eaten or not. She made him drink spoonfuls of ammonia which Dave thought at those moments that he was going to die, this treatment didn’t last long. She quickly changed it to him having to clean the bathroom with the door closed and a bucket of ammonia and Clorox. Many students picked on Dave for the way he had dressed, smelled, and acted; but he couldn’t help it. He was an easy target for the bullies; his mother decided that she wanted him held back in the first grade, which made him in the same grade as Stan. He never got presents at Christmas; Stan questioned why Dave only had gotten a few presents and that resulted in a lecture. Dave was now treated like the slave of the family, she thought of a new punishment for him quickly. She asked him to take off all his clothes while filling up the bathtub with all cold water, he didn’t quite understand it at first, but soon enough he hated it. His head had to be under the freezing cold water while, she would tell him to get out going outside and sit on a rock for hours. He tried to sit in the sunny part, but she requested in the shade so he did what she said. Dave quickly realized that he had to be stronger then her, but she got him to hate himself. His heart sunk deeper then ever when he finally knew his mother only recgonized him as an "it", not a real person anymore.

Impossible

Impossible is a book about a teenage girl, Lucy, that lives a pretty normal life. She does well in school, she is a good athlete, she is looking forward to her junior prom, oh and she has a crazy mother that gave her up to some friends and haunts her occasionally throughout her life. But she has a great life with her foster parents, they love her as their daughter and she's never thought of them as anything but parents. But on prom night something terrible happens, that leads to Lucy researching her family's history and finding out a terrible secret. She comes to realize that her family is cursed. And it is up to her to break that curse, just like every member of her family has tried before her and failed. Only she has something they never had, she has a family that loves and supports her, and maybe something new with her long time friend, Zach? This is a good book about love and trust and helping the ones that you love and reality or fantasy, whats real or not. It's a great read and I really enjoyed it.

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel is a story that is obviously based off the children's story, Hansel and Gretel. Only that this book is placed in the setting of World War 2 in Poland. It begins in 1943 and is a very scary time for the characters in the book, because not only are Hansel and Gretel children but they are Jewish children running for their lives in this scary time. This book tries to explain the reasoning for the things that happen in the children's story and does a good job at it too. This is my favorite book of all time and I've read it a bunch of times, and still each time I learn of something different in the book. It's a great book about survival, war, friendships and family, learning who to trust and when it's most important. I also enjoy this story because it doesn't just follow Hansel and Gretel but also the "witch" they live with and their father and stepmother and we learn the reasons they abandoned their children. Louise Murphy has an interesting way of writing by always changing who's point of view it's in, sometimes by every other paragraph. I love the originality in this book, you really feel for each character you meet and it's an amazing story. I recomed this book to anyone who would like to know the true story.

Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

Kim: Empty Inside

Kim: empty inside is about a teenage girl that is suffering from an eating disorder. This book is another that is from an anonymous teenager diary. The story starts off from when life seems to being going okay for this teen, it is right before she graduates and goes off to college. But right from the beginning we see a little problem with her eating. It is as the story progresses and she moves to college with new people and harder classes and her family and friends aren't there with her anymore. She becomes stressed and deals with it by her food. In this book, we watch how a girl with everything going for her slowly destroys her life. It's a sad tale because of how true it is these days, but it is a really good story. I love how it doesn't seem like an actual book because it's in diary mode, it's more fun.

Great Expectations

Great Expectations takes place in 19th century England and it is about a young man named Pip, who was raised "by hand" by his overbearing older sister after his parents passed away. Pip and his sister live in a forge with Joe Gargery, her husband, who is a blacksmith. In the beginning of the novel, Pip meets an escaped convict in the graveyard where his parents were buried who threatens to kill him if he doesn't bring him some food and a file to get the iron shackle off of his leg. Pip does this out of fear and the convict leaves him be. When he returns home, it is arranged that he should be apprenticed to Joe, and become a blacksmith. Before this happens, however, Pip is forced to play at Miss Havisham's house. Miss Havisham is an older, aristocratic woman who hasn't left her house since she was left at the alter by her lover, who scammed her into buying her brother's share of some property left to him by their deceased father at an immensely high price so he could split the profits with her brother. As he regularly visits Miss Havisham's house, Pip gets a taste of the sweet life and he doesn't want to go back to the forge to be a blacksmith. He also meets a girl named Estella, who was adopted by Miss Havisham with the sole intent of raising her to be a heartbreaker so she could have her revenge on men. She is very condescending to Pip, but this doesn't stop him from falling in love with her. Just after he is bound to be apprenticed to Joe, he is informed that someone had put aside a large sum of money for him. This marks the beginning of Pip's Great Expectations. However, he would soon find out, after getting a taste for the finer things in life, how money erases the goodness in people's hearts, and he starts to regret leaving the forge and, more importantly, his family. I can't say any more without ruining some really good surprises, but i would definitely reccomend this book to anybody who likes stories with memorable, realistic characters and suspensful plot turns. This is by far the best novel I've ever read.

Crank

Crank is about a girl named Kristina Georgia Snow also known as Bree when she finds the monster, crank. Kristina was a normal, average teenager before she met the monster. When she meets a guy named Adam a.k.a. Buddy on a visit to her Dad in Albuquerque, her life is turned around. Adam introduced her to crystal meth and she gets hooked. When Kristina finds the monster, her alter-ego Bree takes control. She learns that it's not fun and games anymore when she runs into addiction. In her struggle she also runs into rape and pregnancy. Also the hard decision to keep her child or not. She realizes the monster will forever speak to her and it's more than a drug, it's a way of life. When you walk with the monster you can turn your back, but never really walk away. I thought this was a really good book and I really like this author.

Brisingr

This book is the third installment in Christopher Paolini's Eragon series. After surviving the dreaded battle in Farthen Dur in the first book, Eragon, and the catastrophe of the battle on the Burning plains against another Dragon Rider, Eldest, Eragon along with his cousin Roran are seeking out the dreaded creatures known as the Ra'Zac that attacked and destroyed their home of Carvahall and killed Brom the story teller (a fellow rider). As Eragon traverses the landscape of Alagaësia in search of a new sword and ridding the world of the dreaded dark king Galabtorix he learns of secrets that will shock the young rider and turn his world upside down. The novel is filled with romance, drama, revelation, action and an intense twist to the plot. Through Paolini's writing you will see a whole new world unlike our own as the Elves,Dwarves, Urgal, and Human unite in order to save the world from a dark tyranny that has for long destroyed and shattered peoples lives and learn of their one true hope of forever defeating the dark king. I enjoyed this book enough to read it a second time, it's captivating and an fantasy genre. lover should settle down and read the series. Overall I'd give this book a 8 out of 10.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisingr

Annie's Baby

Annie's Baby is set up as a journal by Annie as she tells the reader everything that is happening to her in her life. She confides in the diary, which she named Daisy, what she cannot tell anyone else. Daisy is her only friend later on, so through Daisy's eyes we can understand Annie better. This book is about a teenage girl that falls for the perfect guy and they both love each other, and live happily ever after. Okay, not really. It's more, Annie falls for Danny, and Danny uses Annie. But then, Annie finds out shes pregnant, And Danny wants nothing to do with her. So now shes on her own. She begins to realize how mean Danny truly was to her and that she doesn't need him; but she does need help with this baby. What will she do? Shes scared to tell her mother and doesn't have any friends. So she tells everything she thinks to her dear old diary, and we see how everything unravels. It really is a great book, and a true story which makes it sad. But I would recommend it to anyone.

Street Pharm

Street Pharm by: Allison Van Diepen is a book about a sixteen year old drug dealer who sells cocaine. When Tyrone Johnson's father Orlando went to prison for drug dealing, Ty took over the family business. Ty and his business partner Sonny were the biggest drug dealers in their town. Ty gets kicked out of school and joins a new school where he meets a girl. Things start to get more dangerous when some thugs come into town from Miami and try to take over Ty's territory. People get shot and killed and everyone who accosiates with Ty becomes a possible target for these thugs to try to run him out of business. He has to make the decision between the life hes living with the family business or the girl he loves, since he can't have both.

http://www.allisonvandiepen.com/street.htm

you remind me of you

You Remind Me of You is a memoir on someone's teenage years. The book is written all in poetry and it is very creatively done. I loved reading the poems that tell a story, I thought it very interesting. The book in general is about a girl in her teens that suffers with an eating disorder. She goes in and out of a hospital for years but the one thing she has is her boyfriend and anchor, Daniel. He is the one that gets her through her tough time, and when he does something so upsetting, she is still there for him. It's a story about love and lust and hurt and betrayal. It's a great read and I definitely recommend it. If you are looking for something new and different to read, or if you enjoy reading poetry as well. Very good.

The Big Empty

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if half the world died from a nasty virus? Well in The Big Empty, you get a look at what one person thinks it would be like. It is interesting enough. It is about seven teenagers that want no part of the new world the government has made up and are ready to move on. They meet in odd ways and are all completely different and have their own stories, but they all have one thing in common; to survive. In the new life after the virus, the government has evacuated everyone into certain areas. All the kids must go to school, not to learn but to be kept somewhere controlled. Most teachers and police officers aren't who they normally are, in the old world they might have worked as something else but now this is all they can do. The big empty is the evacuated zone. Can the kids make it to the new world when there are police and soldiers patrolling the area willing to shoot anyone out of place? Find out and read, The Big Empty.

Julia DiVino struggles to not join a gang when her school, South Bay High School is made up of bloods and crips. Drama never stopped at her school with the mixed territory. She always was careful what she said and knew who her friends were. That is until she met Eric Valiente, a new kid in school. She ends up making the wrong choice when she has a decision to be with him and be a part of the action or not. Julia doesn't realize what Eric is hiding and the secrets he isn't willing to share. She runs into a lot of opsticales and ends up getting beaten up and jumped. She finds out once a crip, your always crip. Also the label of being a snitch which may never leave you. I thought this was a pretty good book and an easy read. Here's another review of Snitch.