2018-2019 Senior Honors Book Reviews

McCoy Vandermolen Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card In an imagination of the far, far future, Earth is in a destructive war with aliens known as the “Buggers”. After an initial invasion in which humanity barely managed to fend off the insect-cognate species, the people of Earth must now prepare for a second invasion-- or face complete extinction. One key part of this preparation is finding new generals and military masterminds to lead Earth’s fleet. The time elapsed between invasions has rendered the commanders of the past unusable, so humanity must train and raise their only hope: the children. At Battle School, located somewhere in the vastness of space, the brightest and boldest kids are taught skills and strategies in the hopes of eliminating the approaching alien menace. Readers are introduced to Bean, a young orphan from the streets of Rotterdam with an intellect far bigger than his height. Growing up in a street gang, Bean endured experiences most ...

Grant Robinson Titanicus by Dan Abnett Do you like reading multiple paragraphs describing a single scene? Dizzyingly hopping between a laundry list of characters and perspectives that you have to keep track of? Then Titanicus is the book for you! To briefly summarize up to the page I have read to, page 197 out of 602, the story takes place on the forge world Orestes. A forge world is essentially a planet whose sole purpose is to produce weapons, ships, commodities, Titans, and anything else a factory can produce. Orestes is home to two factions, the God Empire of Man, also known as humans, and the Mechanicus, cyborgs that most of whom have been cybernetically modified so far from the original human form that they can speak in binary code out loud amongst each other almost as a whole other language via augmentations to their voicebox and fail to pick up on common human social cues. Although the two are allied together, there is tension between them; the humans are distrustf...

Jamie Mills The Notebook By Nicholas Sparks This adventure starts with a poor mill boy, Noah, who falls in love with a rich girl, Allie. However, Allie’s parents do not approve of their relationship. When Noah gets the news that he will soon need to leave for the war at the end of the summer, he realizes that he must make the most out of every moment with Allie. As time passes by, Allie feels that life must go on; she gets involved with another man named James who later proposes to her. Noah’s time in the service ends soon but before he gets back Lon and Allie are arranged to get married. Later, Allie sees a newspaper and notices that Noah bought and restored a house. Allie now knows where to find Noah, and she begins to feel confused about her emotions towards him. She wonders, is she in love with the man who first captured her heart or with her fiance? Who will she end up with? Allie's answer will come to her when she “follows her heart”(139). This is a story full of ...

Mikey Burke Black Mass By Dick Lehr How much power can a singular man possess? Lifelong South Boston resident James “Whitey” Bulger showed that the only limits to his authority were where he chose them to be. Whitey was no Senator (though his brother was the president of the Massachusetts Senate and University of Massachusetts), he was no athlete, he didn’t own much, and wasn’t too rich. Bulger is none but the most notorious mobster in the prided history of the city of Boston. His gang, the Winter Hill Gang, ran rampant through the streets of New England, committing murder, armed robbery, and drug distribution everywhere from their home streets of Southie all the way out to places like Miami and the shores of their ancestors in Ireland.   While it is the tale of the adventures of notorious mobster Whitey Bulger, it is just as much about FBI agent John Connolly. Connolly, also a native of South Boston, is trying to climb his way up the authoritative ladder of the FBI, so he ...

Matthew Scheufele W.A.R.P. The Reluctant Assassin Eoin Colfer Time travel, murder, action, and crappy writing, W.A.R.P. :The Reluctant Assassin has it all. This book begins with us meeting one of the main characters, Riley, a young and reluctant apprentice to a magician turned assassin, Albert Garrick. They approach a target, and Garrick tells Riley that the kill would go to him. Riley approaches the man, knife in hand, when the target, an old man, wakes up, and a field of green light appears around the man. Riley is unable to perform the kill, so Garrick forces his hand, killing the man. This causes a portal through time, to the year 2013, which Riley makes it through, but not Garrick. Then, the readers meet Agent Chevron Savano, a part of a failed F.B.I. Project to “combat the increasing problem of terrorist infiltration in high schools.” Chevron, or Chevie, was moved to London for P.R. reasons after publicly taking down a threat, causing the project to be exposed due to so...

Madison Wan Complications: A Surgeon's Notes On An Imperfect Science By Atul Gawande Imagine being an intern for your local hospital. You're in the ER and your senior chooses YOU to perform the blood work. You're scared out of your wits and a number of things are running through your mind. What do you do and what should you consider? This is how Atul Gawande made his readers feel. If you haven't read his book Complications: A Surgeon's Notes On An Imperfect Science , sprint to the nearest Barnes & Nobles and read the book because he exemplifies the importance of being a physician and highlights the struggle of underrated doctors that have to face the angry people of today and the politics of their experiences in the medical field. Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, is a general and endocrine surgeon, a writer, and a public health leader who practices at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Having already done his time as an intern, resident, and attending,...