Austin

Red Kayak Book Review By Austin Noska A teenage boy, Brady Parks, is famed as a hero for rescuing a child from the Corsica River. But after he discovers a dark secret that involves him and his two best friends, he had to make a decision that will morally affect his life forever. __Red Kayak__  is the type of book were the protagonist has a moral dilemma, and throughout the book is trying to make the right decision but isn’t quite sure what it is. Priscilla Cummings does a spectacular job describing and defining the characters in this book, they sound like actual real people, people I can relate to. Cummings has truly done an excellent job with the __Red Kayak__  and I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars. The book tells the story of Brady Parks, who has to make a choice, and the pressure and guilt is killing him, the plot of this book was very natural and believable, and I lingered on every word of the book. The plot nicely reflects the setting, since Brady lives by the river in Maryland, and that river plays an important role in the book. The conflict is that Brady’s neighbors went out on the river on a bad day and there was an accident and when Brady finds out why it happened, he needs to either be with his friends and keep quiet about the whole mess or make a decision that might make his friends hate him for the rest of his life. I think the author’s goal here was to teach readers to make the right decision even if it isn’t an easy decision.  I think the author did an amazing job when it came to the characters, she did a wonderful job describing them, I felt as if these were real people. The characters evolved with the story, the changed the way they acted, I think it was the part that the author did best with. Another good job the author did was the style and the suspense behind the book. After almost every chapter I had to keep going because I wanted to know what was going to happen next, and everything that the characters said just flowed and it was all so believable, the dialogue was one of the best parts of the book. So to conclude, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read, because I really enjoyed the book because of the authors amazing style of writing, the extremely believable characters, and the suspenseful endings to the chapters. I highly rate and recommend __Red Kayak__  and any other book by the amazing Priscilla Cummings.

__Wizard’s First Rule__  Book Review By Austin Noska  Richard Cypher was a normal man just trying to get by in Westland when his entire life changes forever when his father was brutally murdered, and no one knows who is behind the crime, until Richard finds a beautiful woman roaming around in the forest, this woman will change Richard’s life forever. Terry Goodkind does a fantastic job telling the tale of Richard Cypher, he in an amazing author all around, and this book is near-perfect. The book is heavily into detail with the fantasy described in the book, although some may not enjoy fantasy related books, this book is the exception because it makes you feel like you are there the whole time. This book earns a 4 and a half out of 5 stars from me, because although it is near-perfect there were some minor flaws in the book, that were hardly noticeable, but do not affect the quality of the story.  The main idea of the story is that, Richard Cypher finds out that his father was brutally murdered and he sets out to find out who did it, and what their motive was. Partway through the story he finds out that his fathers murder was just a small part in a master plan to take over the world, by a very sick and disturbed man named Darken Rahl. Richard is told by his friends that he is the only one that can stop him and he sets out with his team of friends that will aid him along the way. This all takes place in the three lands that have been divided up by boundaries, Westland, The Midlands, and D’Hara. Richard hails from Westland, the land of no magic, The Midlands is where Richard and his friends must travel through to find Darken Rahl, and D’Hara is where Darken’s palace is. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The conflict in the book is that Darken Rahl wants to rule the world and he can do so if he has three boxes of Orden, and he wants to rule the world for evil, and Richard must stop him before they are all slaves to Darken Rahl. The book taught the reader that there is almost always a villain out there, but there is rarely a hero because it takes courage to be a hero, and not too many people have all the courage that it takes to be a hero. The characters in the book were my favorite part of the book, the author described them all so vibrantly and with so much detail, the characters just really connected with the reader, and with each other. But what kept the characters glowing with detail is how they evolved throughout the book and really learned lessons and truly changed. The characters were truly the authors strong suit, and he did a fantastic job with them. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Another great part of the book was the suspense and the style of the book, after every chapter i just wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next, the author held my attention throughout the book. Everything the characters said was totally believable, the dialogue was just so natural and flowing. To conclude, this is a fantastic book, and everyone who is into a good fantasy read, i highly recommend this book to you. Terry Goodkind is just a fantastic author and if you liked this book you should continue with this series, The Sword of Truth.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__Hate List__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Book Review <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">by Austin Noska <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The thrilling story that is told in the book, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__Hate List__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, is just amazing. It has suspense, mystery, drama, and action. Jennifer Brown, the author, has a fantastic debut novel that wonderfully tells the story of Valerie Leftman, a high school girl who has just gone through a traumatic shooting experience at her school. The novel tells the story of the events leading up to the shooting, during the shooting, and the events after the shooting. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Valerie Leftman may not have been the most normal girl in school, or she may not have had the most normal life, but it was not as complicated as it was about to become one May morning. Her boyfriend, Nick, and her were at school and all seemed like it was normal, and then out of what seemed like nowhere, he pulled a gun out and started shooting at people that he and Valerie hated, he had killed some and injured others. At the end of this he Valerie saved a girls life and then Nick pulled the gun on himself. The books plot is very well developed and believable, and of course, extremely emotional. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The book took place in the small rural town of Garvin, basically in the middle of nowhere, this huge media hungry event occurs. The setting of the book plays a huge role in the intensity of the plot, because if this had happened in a more urban, city like area or a well known place, it would be different. Since their such an unknown town the publicity is a strange thing to them which is something I really like about this book, and how that is shown. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The obvious conflict of this book is that, a bunch of people were randomly shot, and as it would be expected, there is some major trauma involved here. Some might say the most exciting part of the book is the shooting and the action parts, but I personally feel that the part where Valerie recovers from it all is the most important part. It’s the most important because I think the authors message was forgiveness, and by the end of the book, I think the author had accomplished sending her message. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The characters, and their growth, in the book were such an important part its unfathomable. The Valerie we knew at the beginning of the book, was by far a totally different person by the end of the book it’s crazy. Valerie wasn’t the only one who had changed, everyone had, a little over a year had gone by and everyone in the town of Garvin was just a brand new person, it’s amazing how the author did this. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> When I read this book, I had been reading pretty slowly and then I just couldn’t stop, I read it all in a matter of hours and I was just hooked. At the end of every chapter I just wanted to keep reading, the book was just so spectacular I couldn’t stop. The dialogue between the characters only enhanced this experience. It was so real, it was like I was watching a movie, I could actually picture people saying this stuff, everything just clicked. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> To conclude, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__Hate List__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> is an amazing book, and Jennifer Brown has done an amazing job with this book. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__Hate List__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> has everything you could look for in a great book and more. I highly recommend <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">__Hate List__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, as I rate it a full 10 out of 10 stars, it’s an instant classic, and a must read.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A __Child Called It__ Book Review <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> by Austin Noska <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I read __A Child Called It__ for my 2nd trimester book. David Pelzer, the author, accounts the hardships of his childhood, as an abused childhood. He tells how his mother horribly beat, abused, tormented, and controlled her son. The genre of the book would be classified as an autobiography of his childhood, and the horrible things that happened during it. At one point during the book, David tells of an incident where his mother was so drunk and was threatening him with a knife, she accidentally fell over and stabbed him. To find out what happens in the rest of the book, read __A Child called It.__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The plot of the book was a sad one, while the author did a good job describing the story and the plot, the whole book was still very sad. While the plot seemed to be very realistic, it was more of a memorable thing, and a book that I will remember as a sad one when I reflect on it later. When I was reading this book I was so focused on it that I blocked out everything else and only focused on the book. The plot was so interesting and you just wanted to follow along and you wanted to know what was going to happen next. But in this case since it was so sad, it was like watching a car crash happen, you wanted to see how it would end up but it was horrible so you wanted to shield yourself from it, yet you couldn’t look away. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">At the time of his mothers abuse, David lived in Sonoma county, California. I think that in the book, the setting was a very important factor, in making the book come to life. Since his father did jobs all around the area, and in San Francisco, during a certain time period, it made you understand everything that was happening in the book better. As for David, he really did not know a life outside of California, since he was abused so much, although he had several good times as a very little child, he does not remember them due to the overwhelming time period that he spent being abused. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Well the obvious conflict in the book is that David is horribly mistreated, and abused. I think by reading this book it has helped me to appreciate all that I have, and that I am not abused. I think as his goal at the author recounting these tails, his goal was to let the rest of the world know his story, and so that others could be aware that child abuse does take place, and that it is a horrible thing. After reading this book, it filled me with sadness that such a thing is even imaginable to happen on this planet, and I think because that happened, David accomplished his goal as an author. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The characters in this story have almost the same convictions throughout the entire story, they just get stronger and stronger as the book progresses. David hates life more and more, his mother becomes more and more insane, his father drinks more and more, and his brothers resent him more and more. As I read on and on I felt myself in such shock that these very things could happen, it was unbelievable. The entire book ended on such a sour note it made me a little sad, so the suspense was kind of killed by the books ending. So in conclusion I liked this book andwould rate this book a 3 out of 5 stars because of the unbelievable story, but not a full 5 stars because of the let down of an ending.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">__The Catcher in the Rye__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Book Review <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Austin Noska <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">__ The Catcher in the Rye__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by, J.D. Salinger, is a book about a 16 year old boy named, Holden Caulfield. He attends the school of Pencey prep school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania, where he is about to fail out of his fourth school and he doesn’t want to go back home to his parents back in Manhattan, so he doesn’t. I feel that the book took on a very dramatic theme of sorts, but almost over dramatic. As the book is notoriously known for, since it was a banned book, its more explicit themes, I feel the book is more for a young adult, late teenager age group audience. So before I get on with this review, I’d like to get my opinion on the book understood before I talk about the book in depth. This book was recommended to me since I didn’t know what to read, and it was an alright read, but overall, I didn’t enjoy it that much. I really like the way the book told the story because they told it from the perspective of Holden, and I feel it would have been told worse from a third person type of view. Maybe that would have made the book better, but then you wouldn’t get to know all of Holden’s thoughts, which were such a huge part of the book. The book follows Holden on his adventures as he tries to realize who the real him is, but he keeps running away from everything. I feel like if he had not ran away so many times, he would have found out who he was faster, than if he kept running around the country. The way the book ends was a change of pace though, and I didn’t like it that much, so I don’t know how worth it the ending is, but if you want the twist, you could make it the end. The book takes place mostly in December of 1949 throughout the Easter part of the United States, like Pennsylvania and New York. The setting is definitely a huge part of the book and brings the story to life, because of all of his adventures in New York, and all of his friends he has a crazy time with, it’s because of the insane New York scene and lifestyle at the time, that makes that part of the story believable. I think that the conflict of the story is that Holden is having all those feelings of uncertainty inside and does not know who the real Holden is, so that’s why he does everything he does, and runs away, to find out who the real him is. Now I don’t know if J.D. accomplished what he set out to do, because I mean one of the greatest musicians of all time died because someone who read the book took it the wrong way and was insane. But since the book can be received in a number of ways, I think he accomplished what he set out to do, which is get the reader to think about who they really are. I really understood where the characters came from, and I couldn't personally connect with any of them on my level, but I still understood them, and that is an important part of any book. As I mentioned earlier, the book ended in a way I didn’t really see coming, because I felt like I truly knew Holden and that he wouldn’t do what he did at the end, and I was wrong, so he grew a lot, and changed over the course of the book, and even though he might have still been confused as to who he was, the reader knew, and the reader knew that deep down, Holden knew too. The way that the Characters talked, was just so natural, it all flowed and worked, everything just happened. When reading the book I found it hard to stop reading, just because I really wanted to finish the book, and maybe because I liked it a little. So, to wrap up this book review, or as I’m thinking of it now, book reflection, I think I did really like the book after all. It just took a little bit of thinking about to realize that, I can see why the book was recommend for me, because it was something that I understood, and I connected with the book, because sometimes, I don’t really know who I am myself. I can say that if you want a nice, smooth, good read for a book that will make you think about yourself, this is the book for you. Four and a half out of five stars is an acceptable rating from me, but if you are going to read this book, just don’t go out and shoot Ringo Star. So if you have not read this infamously banned book, I highly recommend it.