Book 10

Title: The Giver

Author: Lois Lowry

Pages: 180

Publication: 1993

Date finished: April 16, 2010

Grade: 10/10

Plot:
The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life. The society has eliminated pain and strife by converting to "Sameness", a plan which has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives. Jonas is selected to inherit the position of "Receiver of Memory," the person who stores all the memories of the time before Sameness, in case they are ever needed to aid in decisions that others lack the experience to make. When Jonas meets the Giver, he is confused in many ways. The Giver is also able to break some rules, such as turning off the speaker and locking his door. As Jonas receives the memories from the previous receiver—the "Giver"—he discovers the power of knowledge. The people in his community are happy because they don't know of a better life but with the knowledge of what they are missing out on it could create chaos. He faces a dilemma: Should he stay with the community, his family living a shallow life without love, color, sound and knowledge or should he run away to where he can live a full life?

Book 9

Title: Vampire Diaries: The Awakening Book 1

Author: L.J. Smith

Pages: 253

Publication: 1991

Date finished: April 19, 2010

Grade: 10/10

Plot:
The first volume of the series introduces the reader to Elena Gilbert, a popular high school student in Fell's Church, Virginia, and her best friends Bonnie, Meredith, and Matt. A former friend, Caroline, is also introduced and revealed to be Elena's antagonist. As her senior year at Robert E. Lee High School begins, Elena meets and becomes involved with a mysterious new student, Stefan Salvatore. At the Homecoming Dance, Elena is upset to see that Caroline has shown up with Stefan, and later leaves with Dick, Tyler, and Vickie to go to the cemetery. After getting Elena alone with him in the graveyard, an intoxicated Tyler begins to assault her, but she is rescued and brought home by Stefan. As Elena and Stefan fall in love, strange attacks begin to happen in the town, and Elena encounters another mysterious man - Damon, who turns out to be Stefan's older brother. During a Halloween fundraiser at the high school, Bonnie finds their history teacher, Mr. Tanner, dead. When Elena leaves to go to the boarding house where Stefan is staying, she finds him on the roof, feeding on a dove. She starts to back away in fear and falls from the roof, but he catches her and then they both go back up to his room. Stefan reveals his past, and explains that he wasn't avoiding her, but protecting her. Stefan tells of his love for a young vampire named Katherine, and his fight against his brother to get her. He says that Elena reminds him of Katherine, and that Katherine was unable to choose between him and his brother. Katherine killed herself, claiming it was an attempt to bring the two brothers together. However, her death just fueled their feud, and Stefan and Damon fight, resulting in both of their deaths, and re-awakenings as Vampires. After Stefan takes Elena home, Damon shows up to taunt Stefan with his own desire for Elena. This leads to a vicious fight. In the morning, Elena becomes extremely upset with Stefan's disappearance.

Book 8

Title: The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

Author: Paul Zindel

Pages: 109

Publication: 1970

Date finished: April 2, 2010

Grade: 10/10

Plot:
The play revolves around the dysfunctional family consisting of single mother Beatrice and her two daughters, Ruth and Tillie, who try to cope with their abysmal status in life. The play is a lyrical drama, reminiscent of Tennessee Williams' style.
Shy Matilda "Tillie" Hunsdorfer prepares her experiment, involving marigolds raised from radioactive seeds, for the science fair. She is, however, constantly thwarted by her mother Beatrice, who is self-centered and abusive, and by her extroverted and unstable sister Ruth, who submits to her mother's will. Over the course of the play, Beatrice constantly tries to stamp out any opportunities Tillie has of succeeding, due to her own lack of success in life. As the play progresses, the paths of the three characters diverge: Tillie wins the science fair through perseverance; Ruth attempts to stand up to her mother but has a nervous collapse at the end of the play, and Beatrice—driven to the edge of sanity by her deep-seated enmity towards everyone—kills Tillie's pet rabbit Peter and ends up wallowing in her own perceived insignificance. Despite this, Tillie (who is much like her project's deformed but beautiful and hardy marigolds) secretly continues to believe that everyone is valuable.

Book 7

Title: Nightfather

Author: Carl Friedman

Pages: 130

Publication: 1991

Date finished: March 16, 2010

Grade: 9/10

Plot:
A young girl and her two brothers try to come to terms with their father, who feels compelled to recount his concentration camp experiences over and over again.

A young girl and her two brothers try to come to terms with their father, who feels compelled to recount his concentration camp experiences over and over again

Book 6

Title: Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters

Author: Rick Riorday

Pages: 279

Publication: 2006

Date finished: March 16, 2010

Grade: 8/10

Plot:
During school, Percy is stuck playing dodgeball against large seventh graders who turn out to be Laistrygonians. They summon explosive fireballs and attempt to kill Percy, but he is protected by Tyson, a friend, who is unharmed by the monsters' fireballs. Annabeth saves Percy by stabbing the last Laistrygonian from behind and takes Percy and Tyson back to Camp Half-Blood. They find the camp under attack because Thalia's tree, which protects the camp, has been poisoned by an unknown intruder. Chiron, the assistant director, has been fired because he is suspected of poisoning the tree, and is replaced by Tantalus, a spirit from the Fields of Punishment.
Percy finds out that Tyson is a Cyclops and Poseidon claims him as his son. Annabeth and Percy ask Tantalus to send somebody on a quest to find the Golden Fleece, which he does, sending Clarisse. Percy receives help from Poseidon, who gives them three Hippocampi, and together with Annabeth and Tyson, ends up on a passing cruise ship, the Princess Andromeda, which is revealed to be owned by Luke. They are captured and learn that Luke is trying to revive Kronos, a Titan who is the father of Zeus. They manage to escape and are later saved by Clarisse, who has a boat of her own that was given to her by her father Ares. It is destroyed upon entering the Sea of Monsters, known to mortals as the Bermuda Triangle. They reach the island of Polyphemus and save Grover with the help of Tyson and Clarisse, recovering the Fleece in the process. They make their way to Florida, and Percy sends Clarisse, with the fleece, back to camp. Percy, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson are captured by Luke. Percy manages to contact camp with an Iris-message, tricking Luke into admitting he poisoned Thalia's tree. In a duel with Luke, Percy is nearly killed. He is saved by Chiron and his relatives, the Party Ponies. Chiron is rehired after being proven not guilty, and the Fleece cures Thalia's tree of its poison, and Thalia herself is spewed out of the tree.