Reviews

Sep

2024

Deep Sky

by Yume Kitasei

In my Instagram (@eveslistofficial) short video, I summarized this book as a hybrid between Harry Potter’s training in Hogwarts and competition and comradery of Hunger Games, two of my favorite series, all set in space. Here’s a deep dive into the Deep Sky:

I never thought I was a fan of space until I read this book. The combination of paranoia, deception, and the ever-lasting search for acceptance made a great theme for this science-fiction. The story follows our main character, Asuka, a girl who has been recruited onto a mission to start a new life on a new planet called Planet X. The first chapter takes off with Asuka being asked to do a spacewalk to investigate a strange object on the side of the spaceship. As she comes closer, there’s an explosion. Just a few months after waking up from ten years of sleep, three people are dead, and Asuka is going to find out who is the traitor. Throughout the book, our perspectives on Asuka change as we see flashbacks up to ten years before takeoff. These little pieces of Asuka’s life let us observe her as a changing girl and learn some things that actually help Asuka in the end.

One of the things I loved about this book was how engaging the plot was. The turn of events kept my eyes glued to the page. Whenever they accused someone new, I was left on the edge of suspense as I kept reading, trying to figure out if they’re really the culprits. When Luis, Asuka’s brother, died, the author was subtly hinting that he had drowned while playing with his virtual reality. That set Asuka’s goal clear; she was going to space for Luis.

I think that this book is for young adults, like me, mainly because Asuka starts training for the program at twelve, and we get to see her grow up throughout the book. I was a little bit disappointed in the fact that we didn’t really see much character growth in Asuka until the very last few chapters of the book. She had the same attitude leaving her mother for the training as she did ten years later leaving for outer space. That was why when I first started reading the book, I kept on thinking that Asuka was 12 in space when she was actually 22, but technically 32 because of the decade long hibernation they did.

I also liked this book because it gave insights into the many struggles of interracial kids. Asuka wanted to find a balance between both nationalities (American and Japanese) but her mom’s enduring attitude to wanting her to be more Japanese made the relationship between them even more distant. We learned that Asuka appreciates Japanese culture, but being able to speak very little Japanese and having only lived in Japan for a year, she felt out of place when meeting the other Japanese candidates.

There was a reason I’ve always been not too fond of space: the risks you had to take. The space wheel in this book was knocked off course and everyone was set for a life wandering in vacuum until death. But, Asuka took a risk and told everyone to blow an explosive on the other side, to straighten the ship back up again. I realized you had to take risks, and if you’re trained well enough to do them, you will most likely succeed. It’s better to try and stay alive than to accept your fate. I recommend this book because I had such a fun time reading it, and I hope you will too.

Dec

2023

Dragon Hoops

by Gene Luen Yang

The last time I read a graphic novel was in 6th grade.You could imagine the excitement I felt opening this book, thinking it was a boring novel with no pictures, to a page full of colored panels. The story is a narration provided by the author, Gene Luen Yang, documenting the magic of basketball. It takes place in a private high school in California, whose basketball teams are supposedly one of the best in the entire state. As a young boy, Gene never had any strong likings to any sports that require balls; he liked writing comics and stories much more. Now as a math teacher, one day he overhears his students talking about the new selected members of the boys basketball team. He couldn’t understand why people loved watching and discussing people throwing balls in hoops. When he decides that his next book will be about basketball at his school, he takes it upon himself to accompany the team to all their scrimmages, games, and eventually, the state championships.

I love reading graphic novels. I really liked the author’s art style. It’s cartoonish (gives a kiddish vibe), while also being able to adhere to more serious circumstances if needed. The colors are vibrant and aesthetically pleasing, which is helpful for keeping the mood light and happy. The author also had a segment where he drew a kid’s hair a certain way to emphasize that the kid was Punjabi, not African American.

The book also touches on some topics such as racism and sexism, things that the old and new high school players faced. For example, it brings light onto the discrimination experienced by female basketball players when basketball was first invented as well as the discrimination the first few Chinese basketball players faced. I liked how we get to learn more about individual players and we see how each player adds to the team, eventually making one of the best high school teams.

I recommend this book to young and grown adults, mainly because of the very grown-up problems that our main character faces. How will he balance teaching, drawing, and family?

I played basketball once in elementary school and I wasn’t very good at it. When I was reading this book, I realized how interesting basketball was and I was inspired to learn more about basketball by doing a little bit of research online. I even went to the gym to practice shooting some hoops; most of which I didn’t make, but it doesn’t matter.

Feb

2023

The Outsiders

by S. E. Hinton

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton is about the rivalry between two groups on opposite ends in the spectrum of wealth. Ponyboy, our narrator, leads us through two weeks of his life where he contemplates the difference between right and wrong in society. The Greasers, which he is a part of, is a poverty stricken group of boys ranging from adolescents to young adults in age. The Socials or the “Socs”, are a generalization of the wealthy teenagers living on the other side of town.

When the rumor spreads that Ponyboy and Johnny were with girl Socs, the girls’ boyfriends decide to take revenge.They pull up to Ponyboy and start beating him and his friend up, but Johnny had a pocket knife and accidentally killed someone. They run away and deliberate whether or not they should turn themselves in.

I really liked how many meanings this book could take on. Since I read this with my class as an assignment (which was one of the few I enjoyed), we had to analyze and explain what the theme or moral of the story was. When it was time to share, each of us (there’s around 30) had different answers, some following the same path, while some were in another destination. For example, I said that innocence will eventually leave our worlds as we grow older. My friend, Meher, said that you should enjoy things in life when you experience them, referring to Johnny’s regret.

Hinton’s style of writing was also very intriguing. For example, in the beginning, you think that this was a narrative (it is) presently spoken but in the end, it’s revealed that this was a thesis book thingamabob Ponyboy wrote for English. I liked how the beginning and end end with the same phrase, showing that mistakes and events can happen again, but what changes is your perception of it.

I also liked how she included a poem from Robert Frost that gives this book its overall distinguished motif. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is about how special the season of spring is and how even special things can’t stay forever. This can take on many meanings as well.

I would recommend this book to young adults, but older people can still enjoy it. In the movie based on this book, it had many actors who are very famous now and lets you see where they started and how much they’ve improved.

Jan

2023

Three books I read recently and why I liked them

I was asked about some books I read recently on a high school application. Here are my answers:

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I read this dystopian novel and three other books in the series for literature class this semester. The story was surreally close to our world right now. It describes a lockdown triggered by a natural disaster. The characters’ experiences and emotional reactions were very relatable. A lesson I learned is that even when the entire world is bleak and desolate, you can find a community that accepts and helps you. Another lesson I learned from one of the characters is that if you are bold enough to persevere, then everything will work in your favor.

Educated by Tara Westover. I first read the book a couple years ago and recently reread it as I am thinking about my own education going forward. Initially, I was shocked by the “weirdness” of Tara’s family and impressed by how she broke the boundaries and escaped. Then I started to realize that choices all have consequences. It taught me to value every opportunity for education and do my best.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. I’m reading this novel right now. The story is very captivating as it is told from multiple perspectives over thousands of years from ancient Greece to the space age future. I learned that knowledge is precious. It takes a lot of low-probability events to line up for knowledge to survive history. The book touches on many issues concerning our world today, like climate change, poverty, virtual reality and AI, and social isolation. I haven’t finished the book yet, but I look forward to seeing what happens at the end.

Jan

2023

Life as We Knew It

by Susan Beth Pfeffer

I read a dystopian novel series recently, called Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I thought it was very interesting because it is very close to our world right now. It’s about a girl living in the present day Earth, and an asteroid knocks the moon off course. This causes abnormal tides and tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Everyone stays at home since the ash from the volcanoes is filling the air.

I found these books interesting because this was very much like our life during the pandemic, when we had to quarantine. Clouds of ash block the sun, and Earth is thrown into an early winter. Electricity is down, crops die and diseases spread. Miranda’s friends either leave their Pennsylvania town, hoping to find a better life by heading south, or die of starvation. As snow comes early, the family eats one meal a day, trying to conserve their decreasing supply of canned foods until things improve.

I think that this book is very good because it examines the human spirit during humanity’s lowest. There’s no happy ending, but there is a glimpse of hope which makes me want to read the next one. I believe the lesson we can take from this is maturity, growth, hope and family are the ingredients to survival.

Overall, this was a very good book. The next ones in the series are too.

Dec

2022

How Lucky

by Will Leitch

A book about finding a purpose in the world, How Lucky by Will Leitch is narrated by a young man named Daniel who is grappling with a physical disability called SMA (spinal muscular atrophy). It is a progressive disease that slowly paralyzes muscles from the core. He lives a boring life working remotely from home for a regional airline and has several caretakers who visit to assist him with his needs. Daniel meets a man online named Jonathan and gets to know him. Later in the book, Daniel discovers that Jonathan is keeping a girl hostage in his basement and suspects that his new friend may be a psychopath. Jonathan shows up at Daniel’s house and Daniel runs away fearing that he might hurt him. They go on a crazy chase, until Daniel’s caretaker comes in for her shift and calls the police, arresting Jonathan and saving the girl.

One of the main themes in the book is Daniel’s growth. In the beginning, he thinks his life is simple, and he is not destined to do much more. He feels bound because of his disability and does not seek to try in life. In the end of the book, after Daniel experiences something life changing, he feels that he is capable of doing anything, and starts to work towards his goals. I liked this book because in the beginning, Daniel says that his life is not a thriller. In the end of the book, it is a thriller, but a very unusual one. This book took some very sharp turns that I was not expecting. This pacing made it much more enjoyable. It made me want to read more in order to see what happens next. Daniel also has a sense of humor that makes reading the book the same as watching a comedy. I would read this book again for the comedic value alone.

This book also taught me a lot about SMA, which I had never heard of until I read the book. He mentions ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and describes their similarities and differences. Children who develop SMA used to die young, but now they can grow into adulthood. After finishing this book, I went onto the Internet to research more about SMA and the different treatments Daniel wished he could have had.

I also liked how the characters gave the story a real human touch. In some books I have read, the characters seemed distant and inhuman occasionally, or had too much emotion that the story didn’t feel real anymore. In this book, there is a huge variety of characters with very different personalities, so everyone of us can find someone to connect with in this book.

Overall, this was an entertaining and educational book to read. I really enjoyed reading this “thriller” because Daniel is so relatable. He does not hide his feelings, or deny anything about himself. He is sincere, which is why I think he sets a great example of a trustworthy person. I think Leitch would like us to know that even if someone is different from us, that does not mean we cannot be friends with them or understand them. I would recommend this book for teenagers, because I think this book is more mature than most young adult novels.

Nov

2022

Coo

by Kaela Noel

In the book Coo, a girl is raised by a flock of pigeons who found her in an alleyway after a woman left her as a baby. Coo learned to speak pigeon while living in the dovecot on the top of an abandoned building. One day while Coo is playing, a hawk comes and breaks Burr’s wing after several unsuccessful attempts, with Coo in the way. Coo gains the courage to go into the human world and finds a nice old lady named Tully. Tully mends Burr’s broken wing and helps Coo stay calm from her isolated life. Coo experiences warmth, safety, and human relationships for the first time. But just as Coo is beginning to finally fit in, she learns the human world is more complex than she could have imagined.

This book is very fun and playful. But it’s also very realistic. In the beginning, a mother abandoned her child and in the real world, mothers who didn’t want a child are doing the same thing. It wasn’t surprising that the author added it in there for a young adult novel, as this is the time when we learn about the not so perfect parts of the world.

Also, another part I liked was the part where Coo meets her new friend and has so much fun with her. Coo also learns to speak the English language in such a short amount of time which is so cool. She is even thinking about going to school. Tully wants to adopt her and let her live with her legally. There are some complications, of course because Tully doesn’t sound believable to the police. Coo gets frustrated and wants to go back to her pigeon family but Tully promises to her that they will be able to see them every day to feed them.

I didn’t like the parts where the police were involved because they thought that Billy was a crackhead and didn’t believe her. I actually wanted them not to believe her because I didn’t want Coo to be separated from her flock and for her to not be happy. Sometimes police don’t really help people if they don’t feel like it in some parts of the world. That was very surprising for me because even if this book is fictional, and in most books many characters are mean and ignorant, I just want to punch them very hard in the face.

Overall, I really liked this book and I think that all middle schoolers should read it for the life lessons taught and the stories learnt. It’s a very fun and exciting book to read, especially because there is a plot twist every chapter so you never know what’s going to happen next. I loved getting lost in Coo’s world. I think Coo is something that people of all ages can enjoy and learn from, and I hope that’s exactly what happens. It’s a very good book and I liked it very much.

Oct

2022

Akira Book 1

by Katsuhiro Otomo

A classic manga that sparked the sci-fi genre internationally, Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo is set in Neo-Tokyo (a futuristic Tokyo set after world war III). The story revolves around Kaneda and Tetsuo, two 15 year old childhood best friends. When Tetsuo starts exhibiting paranormal powers, he is taken in by a mysterious secret group of the government. At a bar, Kaneda meets Kei, a member of the Resistance. The Resistance is an anti-government terrorist group that works to free the Espers, a group of psychic children cared for by the government. After Kaneda steals one of the Epser’s pills, he is officially a criminal, with the entire military looking for him. At the end of book one, Tetsuo escapes and confronts Kaneda, concluding the book with a huge battle.

I really liked this book because I have never read anything like it. This book has a unique plot, unlike anything I’ve heard or watched. The characters’ personalities are all very different, which adds a lot more diversity to the book. The characters don’t change much during this first book, but I am excited to get my hands on the second volume to see what becomes of them.

Another thing I liked was the inclusion of character flaws. Many authors leave out the imperfections of the characters to make it easier for the story to flow but I like how Otomo added in many flaws to make the story more realistic. It also made it harder for the reader to predict the story so I felt more surprise and thrill with the story development.

The style of the art in this book is unreal. I was shocked to see how well it was drawn. The author included every single detail in each frame. I really enjoyed taking time and looking at everything on each page. There was a slight problem though, several of the characters looked alike due to the manga style and in some scenes, I couldn’t tell who was who or what side was fighting whom.

Overall, I think this was a great book, and I would recommend it to ages 12 and above, but there is also a movie version that is unfortunately rated R.

Oct

2022

Six Wives of Henry VIII

by Alison Weir

The book The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir is a historical book about the true story of King Henry who was notorious for how he treated his six wives. The book has a chronological timeline including all of his wives, which is very helpful for history buffs, and for novice like me if I want to look back on a date I forgot.

As I was researching this book, I found that the author wrote this book to debunk the myths about 16th century Britain. She said that there have been many books about King Henry’s marriages but not one of them (in her opinion), “ …have fully and/or thoroughly explored the essential human character of each of Henry’s six wives.”

I liked how the author wrote each of the wives’ lives with so much detail, from birth to death. Each wife took just over 100 pages, which is a manageable length because there aren’t so many words that you want to stop and read another book. After reading about one wife, then you can take a break and come back for another one later. The information is also very educational because if you’ve ever studied Henry VIII in school, you would’ve heard about his life and feel intrigued to learn more.

Another thing that I enjoyed were the pictures inserted into the middle of the book. It showed every wife (with captions) and relatives of Henry VIII. It was interesting to see what each wife looked like and put a face to the stories you read. Even though all of them are lined up on the book cover, you don’t know which one is which, so the inserts were really helpful.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading the book. I would recommend this to teenagers because younger children may get bored after a while.

Jun

2022

Lies My Teacher Told Me

by James W. Loewen

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen (young readers edition) is a great book that tells you more about the topics you may have been briefly told about in school but did not delve deep into. People whom you see as glorified heroes in history textbooks are revealed to possess human qualities and flaws just like the ordinary people in this book.

For example, in this book, Loewen says that we’ve probably heard of Helen Keller as an inspiring, hardworking role model. But he says that we’ve only been exposed to her first 20 years of life. Many of us don’t know what she did when she was older. Turns out she became a socialist and developed strong beliefs about class equality and justice.

I started this book to learn more about American history and I learned much more than I would have in my history class. This information can help me out in scholastic bowl. The first clues they give you are often the hardest and least known ones. Knowing more about each person is very useful.

This book also changed my views on certain people. An example is Woodrow Wilson. When you think of him, you think of the person who created the League of Nations after World War I. What you wouldn’t think of was how racist he was and how he was the inspiration for the movie The Birth of a Nation, the movie that sparked the Ku Klux Klan to return.

Overall, I think it is very educational. I learned a lot and hopefully more young adults will read this book to know who these people really were.

Reviews

Deep Sky

by Yume Kitasei

In my Instagram (@eveslistofficial) short video, I summarized this book as a hybrid between Harry Potter’s training in Hogwarts and competition and comradery of Hunger Games, two of my favorite series, all set in space. Here’s a deep dive into the Deep Sky:

Dragon Hoops

The Outsiders

by S. E. Hinton

Three books I read recently and why I liked them

Life as We Knew It

by Susan Beth Pfeffer

How Lucky

by Will Leitch

Coo

by Kaela Noel

Akira Book 1

by Katsuhiro Otomo

Six Wives of Henry VIII

by Alison Weir

Lies My Teacher Told Me

by James W. Loewen

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by Yume Kitasei

In my Instagram (@eveslistofficial) short video, I summarized this book as a hybrid between Harry Potter’s training in Hogwarts and competition and comradery of Hunger Games, two of my favorite series, all set in space. Here’s a deep dive into the Deep Sky:

by S. E. Hinton

by Susan Beth Pfeffer

by Will Leitch

by Kaela Noel

by Katsuhiro Otomo

by Alison Weir

by James W. Loewen

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