Keeper of the Lost Cities: Everblaze

Keeper of the Lost Cities: Everblaze
By Shannon Messenger
Read in 8th Grade
Everblaze is the third installment in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. I think it is the best one. Sophie Foster, the first-ever human-born elf and created by a mysterious organization called the Black Swan, has many abilities. Among them are healing elves who have gone insane. She is ordered to heal a Pyrokinetic, someone who can summon fire. He had unleashed an unstoppable fire called everblaze on human cities and had had his mind shattered while the Elvin telepaths tried to dig secrets out of his head. However, as one can clearly see in the cover image, things don't quite go as planned.

The Heroes of Olympus

The Heroes of Olympus Series
By Rick Riordan
Read in 5th Grade

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall. An oath to keep with a final breath/And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death." Percy and his friends team up with the long-forgotten Roman demigods in a fight against the giants. After the fall of the Titans, Gaea, Mother Earth herself, produced the giants, only killable by a combination of demigod and god. But the gods have become reclusive and the Greek and Roman camps have a millennia old rivalry. To overcome these, Hera has crafted a careful plan that could either go great or horribly wrong.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series
By Rick Riordan
Read in 4th Grade
Percy Jackson, a teenage son of the Greek sea god Poseidon, discovers his true heritage. As a son of one of the "Big Three"(Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon), he will make a choice to save or destroy Mount Olympus. Meanwhile, the evil titan lord Kronos stirs from his imprisonment and frees himself. With spies inside and out, the Greek demigods take sides and battle up to the fateful day in New York, the modern home of the gods. There, the titans appear to have the upper hand, but Kronos's closest lieutenant, who has given up his body for his master, makes the final choice. He stabs his only vulnerable spot(for he has swum in the River Styx), and kills himself with Kronos.

The Two Koreas

The Two Koreas(Third Edition)
By Don Oberdorfer and Robert Carlin
Read in 7th Grade
In this day and age, there is a lot of strife about North Korea, South Korea, nukes, and on and on and on. But how did there come to be two Koreas? This book provides an objective explanation of the Korean war, how the Korean Peninsula came to be divided, and how the two nations are still working toward reunification.
I highly recommend this book. It taught me a lot about why reunification is so hard and why the two halves are so different.

Storm

Storm
By DJ MacHale
Read in 8th Grade

Book 2 in series

Click for first book in series
Third book

Tucker and his friends make it to the mainland almost make them wish they had stayed on Pemberwick. They find themselves in the middle of a second, high-tech civil war between the Air Force and Navy. The Air Force being convinced that humanity is naturally bad and committing genocide, the Navy quarantining various bases in order to save what's left. Not knowing who to trust, they make their way across the country, following a mysterious radio signal from survivors of the Air Force's attacks. Soon, they must go on a mission and try to destroy every Air Force plane in, wait for it, Area 51. It works, but it turns out the Air Force has far more power than they could have known.

Sylo

Sylo
By DJ MacHale
Read in 7th Grade

Tucker Pierce lives on calm, out-of-the-way Pemberwick Island off the coast of Maine. Or, it was until Sylo invades. Soon after some mysterious deaths, a mystery division of the Navy quarantines the island under orders from the President. No one leaves, no one enters. And they mean it. Tucker sees their captain shoot and arrest seemingly innocent people, and when he thinks he has found the cause of everything, he is put under arrest as well. He and his friends make a daring escape attempt to the mainland, but what they find is even worse. The Air Force and Navy appear to be in a second Civil War, and everything has been decimated.
Click for second book in series
Third book

Ahn Junggeun's "A Treatise on Peace in the East"

안중근의 동양평화론 - Ahn Junggeun's "A Treatise on Peace in the East"

By Ahn Junggeun

Read in 7th Grade

This treatise was written by Ahn shortly before his death sentence for killing the unjust Japanese ruler of Korea, Ito Hirobumi. He explains how Japan came to occupy Korea in the first place, all the atrocities they have committed since, and his final rationale for killing Hirobumi. Today, he is a national hero as a freedom fighter, having given his own life in the process.

The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code
By Dan Brown
Read in 8th Grade
Robert Langdon, professor of symbology at Harvard, in trying to relax in the wee hours of the night after giving a speech to the American University of Paris. Then, Jacques Sauniére, a renowned art curator, is murdered. And Langdon is the scapegoat. However, all is not lost. He and a police cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, discover that Sauniére protected an ancient secret - one that could destroy the church. They go on a hunt to try to uncover the secret, but with traitors and police at every turn, they must work fast. It turns out at last that they are looking for the Holy Grail, the fabled chalice in the Bible. The Knights Templar supposedly found it in Jerusalem long ago, and it is being protected by the Priory of Sion.

Auggie & Me

Auggie & Me
By R.J. Palacio
Read in 6th Grade
In this sequel to Wonder, three of the characters tell their own stories about Auggie. First up is Julian's apology. When he visits his grandmother over the summer, he learns where he got his name, and to respect differences. Pluto is the story of one of Auggie's former friends Chris. Despite having been friends all his life, he struggles to incorporate Auggie into his life in a new city and new friends. Finally, the story from Charlotte's point of view, and the drama among the girls' overlapping the one over Auggie.

A Hatchet Adventure Series

A Hatchet Adventure Series
By Gary Paulsen
Read in 8th Grade
Most of you have read Hatchet. But what would have happened if Brian hadn't been rescued? Follow Brian through the Canadian wilderness as winter sets in, then his rescue. However, it seems that he can't stay away once he's been part of the wild. He eventually returns to demonstrate survival skills, then to visit the family who saved him. But on his final visit, something is off...

The Giver Quartet

The Giver Quartet
By Lois Lowry
Read in 6th Grade
The series starts off in the "community" with Jonas. It's a boring, regulated, colorless place, with its citizens unaware of the outside world. But Jonas is special. He can "see beyond", and is selected to hold all the memories of the past for the rest of the community. But as he receives those painful memories and sees past the veil of sameness in his village, he becomes determined to change things. The books progress through 2 others with special powers, until they all meet in the final showdown with an evil force known as the Trademaster in Son.

50 Physics Ideas You Really Need To Know

50 Physics Ideas You Really Need To Know
By Joanne Baker
Read in 8th Grade
In this book, Baker, well, obviously explains 50 physics concepts in a quick and clear manner. My favorite was black holes(Idea #42). Scientists believe that they are either holes or massive dips in the fabric of space-time. They are created by large masses with high gravitational pull, so strong that not even light can escape once it passes what is called the event horizon.