Isaiah Roby's Blog: MI Book Reviews, page 98
May 27, 2019
Stargazer Girl
“Book 4 finale of the completed 4 book series.
A determined girl will cross the galaxy, risking everything she holds dear to find the one thing that’s missing …
Pursuing answers to mysteries has led Evelyn to being kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured, poisoned, battling bionic super-soldiers and sea monsters, and maybe worst of all … other teenage girls. So, when she is confronted with another mystery involving the same colonists who have ridiculed, hunted and exiled her, she’s certain it will br...
May 21, 2019
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Its Terrifying Times: A Cultural History
“When Tobe Hooper’s low-budget slasher film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, opened in theaters in 1974, it was met in equal measure with disgust and reverence. The film—in which a group of teenagers meet a gruesome end when they stumble upon a ramshackle farmhouse of psychotic killers—was outright banned in several countries and was pulled from many American theaters after complaints of its violence. Despite the mixed reception from critics, it was enormously profitable at the domestic box offi...
May 16, 2019
Fever Dream
By Samanta Schweblin
“Experience the blazing, surreal sensation of a fever dream…
A young woman named Amanda lies dying in a rural hospital clinic. A boy named David sits beside her. She’s not his mother. He’s not her child. Together, they tell a haunting story of broken souls, toxins, and the power and desperation of family.
Fever Dream is a nightmare come to life, a ghost story for the real world, a love story and a cautionary tale. One of the freshest new voices to come out of the Spanish...
May 8, 2019
The Opposite of Loneliness (Maddy’s Review)
By Marina Keegan
“An affecting and hope-filled posthumous collection of essays and stories from the talented young Yale graduate whose title essay captured the world’s attention in 2012 and turned her into an icon for her generation.
Marina Keegan’s star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York International Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at the New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation...
Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No Bullshit Guide to World Mythology
By Cory O’ Brien
“All our lives, we’ve been fed watered-down, PC versions of the classic myths. In reality, mythology is more screwed up than a schizophrenic shaman doing hits of unidentified. Wait, it all makes sense now. In Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes, Cory O’Brien, creator of Myths RETOLD!, sets the stories straight. These are rude, crude, totally sacred texts told the way they were meant to be told: loudly, and with lots of four-letter words. Skeptical? Here are just a few gems to consider:...
Escaping Camp Roosevelt
““He’s a bad boy—cocky and damaged. So, why can’t I stop thinking about him?”
Broken Dreams
Sociable and unselfish, eighteen-year-old Tucker Graves loves two things—his darling little sister and the thrill of playing baseball. He never dreamed that he’d be homeless, but after a series of misfortunes, his life is nothing like he could have possibly imagined. Shocked and shattered, Tucker, his mother, and his baby sister now must brave the dangers of a dilapidated homeless encampment called Cam...
May 7, 2019
Gender Identity, Sexuality and Autism: Voices from Across the Spectrum
“Bringing together a collection of narratives from those who are on the autism spectrum whilst also identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and/or asexual (LGBTQIA), this book explores the intersection of the two spectrums as well as the diverse experiences that come with it.
By providing knowledge and advice based on in-depth research and personal accounts, the narratives will be immensely valuable to teenagers, adults, partners and families. The authors round the...
May 2, 2019
Locked Up
“When he was fifteen, Kevin took a car for a joyride and got in an accident that seriously injured a pedestrian. Known inside juvenile detention as Strider, he has spent more than two years incarcerated, and has learned the hard way how to survive inside. Strider keeps his head down and continues his schoolwork, and another inmate called Wired gives Strider protection from the gangs in exchange for ?loans? of money and helping Wired cheat on tests. When his parole officer suggests that he app...
Cutter Boy
“Bullied at school and ignored at home, Travis has a secret: cutting himself with a razor blade is the only thing that lets him control the pain in his life and find some peace. When he becomes friends with Chyvonne, a new girl at school, he doesn’t know how to get close to her without revealing his secret and making himself even more vulnerable. Spending time with Chyvonne spurs Travis to try to discover why his mother can’t seem to face his very existence. It’s only when he learns about the...
April 30, 2019
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
“In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.
Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged po...
