The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman is a great fantasy novel about a boy raised by ghosts named Nobody"Bod"Owens. One night, when he was a baby, a man(referred to as "The man Jack") stabbed his elder sister and parents, but Bod crawled out of the house and up the hill to explore. He was found by two ghosts (The Owenses) who were allowed to be his foster parents by the other ghosts. Bod's real guardian, Silas(the caretaker of the church near the graveyard) persuaded The man Jack to search for the baby somewhere else.

Bod is raised like a ghost and is given many abilities including the ability to move through solid objects. The book follows Bod in his adventures in and out of his graveyard. As a young boy, he becomes friends with a girl named Scarlett, but her mother convinces her that Bod is imaginary. Her family eventually moves. He learns many things from the ghost like haunting, dream-walking, and fading. Bod is eventually allowed to go to school, where he does well. He finds it difficult to make friends though. Later, Scarlett and her mother return to the town, but so does the man Jack, who wants to finish the task he failed at many years ago. 

The book is written in a very interesting way. For instance, Neil Gaiman never directly tells you what

Silas is (though he hints that Silas is a vampire), or what Bod's tutor, Miss Lepescu is either. At times, you can see a pattern similar to Rudyard Kipling's novel The Jungle Book. Altogether, it is a great read that I encourage you to try. 

I rate this book 7 out of 10.

Ender's Game

Ender's Game is about a classic sci-fi novel by Orson Scott Card about a 6 year old boy named Ender Wiggins. The books takes place in the future (about a hundred years). The IF(International Fleet), an organization created to protect the world against the alien buggers, is recruiting young kids to be trained in battle school. The best will go to command school, and the best there will be seen as choices to lead the army. They do this by installing monitors in children's necks at young ages to see if they are good enough.

Ender is a 6 year old boy who's siblings were both by the IF but were not good enough. They didn't pick his 10 year old brother, Peter, because Peter looks to destroy everything and is too violent. They didn't pick Ender's sister, Valentine, because she is too kind and considerate to lead an army. Ender's family was allowed to have a third child(a very rare thing) because they wanted to see if he would be a mix of his siblings. Peter, however, is envious of Ender and constantly bullies him.

Later he is chosen to go to battle school. Colonel Graff, of the International Fleet, immediately starts making things tough for Ender in every possible way. This is because he believes that Ender will eventually be able to lead the international fleet in war. Ender is isolated, and at times, the rules are changed specifically to impede his success. Ender however gets around all these obstacles and finds success.

This is a very interesting book, and some of the futuristic technology adds to the excitement. There is also a lot of zero gravity action, since most of the book takes place in space.

I rate this 8 out of 10

The Cay

The Cay is a book about an American boy living in Willemstad, Curaçao named Philip, who's mother believes that it is unsafe to stay there because of the many German submarines in the area during World War II. Philip's mother convinces him to come back to Virginia with her, but on the way, their ship gets torpedoed. Philip gets a nasty blow on the head fro debris, and wakes up on a raft with Timothy, an old, large black man who worked on the ship, and a Cat.

While on the raft, Philip becomes blind from looking directly at the sun. In a few days, they reach a small cay in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, and they must survive there for many months. Timothy also tries to teach Philip the necessary skills to live by himself on the island, in case Timothy dies. Philip eventually knows the island as though he could see it because of Timothy's training.

Also, Philip's mom brought him up to dislike blacks and other non-white sailors who came to Willemstad. Throughout the book, his opinion changes. This is a great read that anyone can enjoy.

I rate this book  7+ out of 10

The City of Orphans

The City of Orphans is a great historical fiction book by Avi. It is about Maks Geless, a 13 year old son of Danish immigrants who lives in the tenements of New York in the 1893. Maks works as a newboy (newsie), but like all the other newsies who sell The World, he has to watch out for Bruno, and his Plug Ugly gang. One day, the gang corners him, and he is forced to run into a small alley where he gets cornered by the gang. When they beat him up, he calls for help. In the middle of the alley, a homeless person gets up and beats the Plug Uglies with a stick. 

She is Willa, a homeless girl. Her mother died, and her father disappeared, so she now lives alone on the streets of New York. Maks takes her home telling her that she can get food there, and that his mom is very nice. Upon arrival, however, they learn that Maks' oldest sister Emma, who works as a maid at the Waldorf Hotel, has been jailed for stealing a watch from there! Maks knows that she would never steal. Maks and Willa learn some detective skills and try to find out who really stole the watch, all the while having to evade the Plug Uglies.

This is a very good book, and is also a great way to learn about New York in the late 19th century.

I rate this 7+ out of 10.

Case of the Stuttering Bishop

Case of the Stuttering Bishop by Earl Stanley Gardner is a great mystery novel. The main character is Perry Mason, a lawyer who does lots of detective work too (which sometimes helps his clients). The books starts with Bishop William Mallory, a bishop who 

stutters, asking Mason for help. Then  Bishop Mallory is attacked in his hotel. 

Later, Julia Branner who knew Bishop Mallory a long time ago, asks for help to prove that the "granddaughter" living with Renwold Brownley, a rich man in LA, is an impostor. Renwold Brownley's real granddaughter is Julia Branner's daughter. The story goes into a whole bunch of complications, including the murder of Renwold Brownley(where Julia Branner is one of the police's suspects),  when finally, Perry Mason figures out who the murderer was, and who the impostor was. 

This was a great novel, and it was interesting to see a lawyer do lots of detective work too. I would have to say that Sherlock Holmes and Poirot are better though ;-)! This is a book which you should certainly try reading. 

I rate this 7 out of 10.

Watership Down

Watership Down by Richard Adams is a great fiction book about a group of rabbits who live in Hampshire County, England. The rabbits are anthropomorphized, possessing their own culture, language(Lapine), poetry, and mythology. The story starts in the Sandleford warren with Fiver, a runt rabbit (who is a seer) recieving a vision of the warren's destruction. He and elder brother Hazel try to talk their chief rabbit into evacuating the warren, but the chief rabbit disagrees. Hazel and Fiver manage to convince a small band of rabbits to come with them, including 2 Owsla(the 'police') Bigwig, and Silver to come with them.

Finally, after a long journey (by rabbit standards:  less than 5 miles), the group, reaches Watership Down, a hill in Hampshire County. They establish a warren, however,  they are uncertain about the future, as they have no does to continue the warren.The rest of the book is spent trying to get more does, and they go through many difficulties, including a fight against a large warren, called Efrafa. For this they get the help of a large bird named Kehaar.

Throughout the book, only real place names are used also, though the animals have a language, mythology, and can understand some ideas (e.g. wood floats, which came in use to them when crossing a river, and later when escaping from the Efrafans), that most animals can't, these rabbits can physically do only what real rabbits can.  This was a great and interesting book which I recommend you read.

I rate this book 7 out of 10.

Elephant Run

Elephant Run, by Roland Smith is a very interesting story about a boy named Nicolas Freestone. As a young child, Nick lived on his father's family teak plantation in Burma. His mother however didn't enjoy it that much, and eventually, she moved to the US. Nick's parents divorced and then Nick, his mother, and step-father Bernard moved to London. The book takes place during World War II, and his family never got affected by the war, until November 30, when their apartment was bombed. His mother and father both felt that he would be safer in Burma, and sent him away.

In Burma, Nick gets used to life at the plantation, being with elephants, and so on, until the Japanese arrive, and his father, Jackson, is taken away from the Japanese. Nick, along with Maya, the daughter of the singoung at the plantation; and Taung Baw(translates to "hilltop") an old mahout and Buddhist monk, have to escape the Japanese; and find a way to free Nick's dad and Indaw (Mya's elder brother).

This was a very interesting book, and not predictable at all. Part of their escape includes finding secret underground passages within the Freestone family's house, which also makes the book interesting. A large part of the book takes place on an elephant, giving the book it's name. This book is also a great way to learn about elephants, Burma, plantations; and a little bit about World War II in Southeastern Asia.

I rate this book 8 out of 10.

Johnny Tremain

Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes is a historical fiction book about the life of a teenage boy. The book takes place in Boston, in the late 1700s. That was a time when all of Boston was in anticipation of the Revolutionary War, and plans were being made to fight the British. During these years, there was strong political support for either Whigs, or Tories.

The story follows Johnny Tremain, an apprentice silversmith for the Laphams. Johnny has always  been Mr.Lapham's best apprentice, but one day, he burns his hand in silver and became crippled. he struggles to find work in some other field. Over the course of this time, Johnny meets many of the revolutionary leaders of the day, including Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Joseph Warren. Johnny was also involved in the Boston Tea Party, and had friends who fought in the Battle of Lexington.

The story is very interesting and taught me a lot about those times. It is a good read, and anybody interested in historical fiction should read it.

My rating is 7+ out of 10

Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie is a detective novel, and another Poirot book. It is easily one of the best mystery novels I have ever read, with a very good story. It is also very hard as the reader, to figure out the solution.

Hercule Poirot is going back home to London on The Orient Express. While on the train, an American businessman, Mr.Ratchett is murdered, and the circumstances are such that almost every solution posed by Poirot or his companions are impossible. 

This book also includes many things that make it even more interesting. For, instance, most of the book takes part on a train, and you can see how trains were a long time ago. Also, the suspects are from many different countries, and rise from many different backgrounds. In most mystery stories, one can guess what the solution is fairly early, but this is such that you can only figure it out at the end, after all the evidence is given, and Poirot sits down to "Think". This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in mysteries. 

I rate this 9 out of 10

THANK YOU SACHIN

This time around, it's not a book review, but a tribute to a legend...

As we bid farewell to one of the greatest cricketers to have ever stepped upon the face of this earth, I, as a boy living in the US, think about how Sachin Tendulkar has influenced my life. 

One of my earliest memories of Sachin was during the 2006 India-Pakistan test series. We had many close friends come over to watch India play, and watch Sachin bat. At the time, I was only 4 years of age. I remember coming downstairs after waking up late, only to find that he was out. I remember being disappointed and then running back and forth across the hall, pretending I was Sachin running between the wickets, screaming things like, "Sachin scores 3 runs,  Next ball, Tendulkar hits a Six! (I hadn't exactly understood the fact that Sachin Tendulkar was one person; I thought that Sachin and Tendulkar were two completely different people)!!

When we went to India in 2006, my father bought me a toy cricket set. That year, at the age of 4, I learned how to play cricket. Since then, I've been playing with my father, (in our basement) for the past 8 years. Watching Sachin always kept me interested in learning how to play properly. I kept watching and following India(and Sachin) play. In 2008, I really started following cricket, checking Cricinfo's scorecards daily. This was mainly because of the IPL. Though my favorite team was, and always will be CSK, I always loved watching Sachin play for Mumbai. It was wonderful to see a great player like him adjust to the T20 format and still do very well. 

Around 2010, I began to go crazy about cricket; First thing in the morning, every morning, I would go and read previews, and many other articles. During the 2011 World Cup, I woke up before 4 in the morning, and on some days, stayed home from school to watch Sachin play. It was great to see Sachin play so well and end up as one of India's top scorers. I was very disappointed to see him get out in the final, but was overjoyed to see India win, and watch Sachin being carried on his teammates shoulders. 

One might find it hard to believe that I am so interested (correction: obsessed) with cricket even though I live in the US. I have never played gully cricket in India or lived there. However, even in the US, I feel the effect that Sachin has over people. In 2011, on our trip to Paris and London, The one thing I was most excited about was the practice match(ODI) that India played against Kent. Sachin was 12th man. When he came out of the pavilion to wave to the crowd, I couldn't believe it. I was overjoyed, finally, I had seen my greatest role model, Sachin Tendulkar.

Sachin has inspired me so much. Not only is he a great player, but is also a great man. I find that Sachin Tendulkar is a man who possesses almost all the good values that my parents have taught me. He has been a role model to me in the way he conducts himself, on and off the field. He is very humble, and also makes sure that even with his extremely tough schedule, and an 'almost-privacy-less' life, he still spends time with family. My knowledge of Sachin and his career, was greatly increased when I read books like Sach (by Gautam Bhattacharya), Sachin: The Story of the World's Greatest Batsman(by Gulu Ezekiel), and Sachin - Tribute to a Legend(by The Hindu). 

Last week, I stayed up till midnight, (I had school the next day) watching the beginning of Sachin's 200th and final test match. Before the match, my father and I watched some of Sachin's best knocks. When the game started, it felt as if I was there; The hot, humid air of Mumbai, Ravi Shastri's booming  voice, and the Wankhede crowd's deafening roar all seemed to drift off the iPad screen. The next morning, I awoke at 6 to see Sachin batting. Again, the next night, I watched as Sachin reached his 50. The next day, it was all over. Later, when I heard a replay of Sachin's speech, I was almost brought to tears, seeing the great man for the last time.

Thank You Sachin...

-Akash Jyothish

My Side of the Mountain trilogy

This is a series written by Jean Craighead George and is about a boy from New York named Sam Gribley, who wants to live and survive in the wilderness of the Catskills.

The first book, My Side of the Mountain, is about how Sam survives by living on wild berries, nuts, vegetables, animals, and many other things. He also has many animal friends, the closest of all being Frightful, a peregrine falcon who he raised since she was just  a few days old. He also makes a few human friends.

In the second book, On the Far Side of the Mountain, his family after visiting him, leaves, but Alice his younger decides to stay. She gets used to life in the wilderness very quickly. One day, a conservation officer takes Frightful away from Sam, and a few days later, Alice decides to leave Sam's mountain. Sam(along with his friend Bando, a teacher) spends the whole book looking for Alice. 

In the third book, Frightful's Mountain, Frightful, (who became free at he end of the previous book) tries to live like a regular peregrine, but finds it very hard since she almost depends on Sam. The book follows her as she tries to adjust to everything.

This was a great series, as it is very interesting to see the way Sam survives, like what kind of shelter he had, all the foods he made, and many other things. There are also a lot of things in the third book about protecting endangered animals, and how much of difference it makes when people help. Sam also makes some very cool things in the wild. 

These include:

• A house made from a burned out tree, (like native americans made dugout canoes)
• An oven
• A grill
• Some furniture, such as a bed, a chair, and a table
• A plumbing mill(built with Alice)
• A huge watermill(built with many friends

All together, it was a very interesting series, and a very good read. I probably liked the first book the best though. 

Rating: 8 out of 10

Hardy Boys Series

The Hardy Boys is a detective series written by several authors, (all by the pen
name of Franklin W. Dixon). In the original series, there were 58 books, but now there are other small series too. The 2 Hardy Boys, Frank and Joe are sons of Fenton Hardy, a famous detective. They are very good sleuths themselves, and sometimes run into mysteries, (or are asked for help from one of their dad's clients).

Unlike Sherlock Holmes  and 

, Frank and Joe use much less deduction, and the books are much more adventure-filled. For instance, many times, the book starts with the boys following a suspicious character and becoming mixed up in some complicated mystery. Many times, they get captured, and then escape. Also, another difference from the other books is that the Hardy Boys have to follow many leads, and end up with many dead ends, whereas in Sherlock Holmes and Poirot, they solve their mysteries on their first try and are sure about most things they do.

Some of my favorite books are: The House on the Cliff, The Mark on the Door, The Ghost at Skeleton Rock, The mystery at Devil's Paw, The mystery of the Chinese Junk, The Viking Symbol Mystery, and The Jungle Pyramid.

I really like the Hardy Boys because it has more adventure and more suspense. They also do a lot more traveling than Sherlock Holmes, or Poirot would. It is also sometimes funny, especially when they talk about Chet Morton, (a close friend of the Hardys'). Finally, it is very interesting how many of their cases get tied up with some of their dad's cases. I really enjoy this series and suggest you give it a try.  (You can start with any of the books, as they aren't really connected to each other).

My rating: 8+

Milkweed

Milkweed, written by Jerry Spinelli, is a very good book about the Holocaust. This book is not based on a real story, but is entirely fictional.  In this book, the protagonist, a little boy doesn't know who he is. He doesn't know his name, what his parents were like, whether he's a Jew, a gypsy, or even neither! He lives on the streets of Warsaw with some other kids, and steals food for himself, and for the children of the orphanage. Unlike the older teens, (mostly Jews) who help him and live with him, The boy wants to be a Nazi someday.

This book is different from others about this topic. One thing is that in other books I've read, it is either a story of hiding, or of the struggles Jews within the concentration camps face. Also, in this book the boy doesn't know, or understand much of what is happening.

It was a great the book, but the way the book ended while he was still in Poland (he goes to US at the very end) could have been better. It was also kind of annoying for me while reading, when he, (being a kid) did some stupid things that could have gotten himself killed. Still it was an amazing story full of friendship, and the many struggles in life.


My rating: 8 out of 10

Fig Pudding

Fig Pudding is  very casual, nut interesting book written by Ralph Fletcher. The protagonist is Clifford "Cliff" Abernathy, the oldest in a family of eight. Being the oldest, Cliff has to be the "Mr.Perfect" big brother, while the other 5 can do whatever they want. He doesn't particularly enjoy it, but hey, being the oldest has it's advantages too.

The book is a nice, casual story full of funny happenings within this close-knit family. I really liked this book as it provided a more easy-going story, unlike other books I'd been reading recently. It also gave me quite a few laughs :-D. There isn't much of a plot, however, but instead each chapter is almost like a short story of it's own. This is a nice, relaxing read that you should try.

My rating: 7 out of 10

The Thief Lord

The Thief Lord is a very interesting book written by Cornelia Funke. It follows the story of two brothers, Prosper and Bo. They are on the run from their cruel aunt and uncle, and ended up in Venice, where they meet a strange thirteen year old boy named "Thief Lord", who leads a small gang of street kids who commit petty crimes in order to survive in their small hideout. The Thief Lord, however, has many secrets of his own. In the end, the story takes a very interesting turn and leads to a great conclusion.

I really enjoyed reading this book, because towards the end, became very interesting. One might expect that the kids keep going on stealing things, and surviving in their hideout. That doesn't happen, because about halfway through the book, their plan to break in to a house and steal something (as part of a deal), is foiled, and everything changes.

The book being set in Venice makes it more interesting. (Once, they had to get onto a vaporetto,(canal boat) to escape from someone. The book is also full of friendship and adventure. This is certainly a very good read, which I recommend. 

 Rating: 8 out of 10


 Btw, I also learned a few words of Italian :-D

HERO

Hero is a very well written and exciting book by Mike Lupica. Though Mike Lupica usually writes about sports, Hero is a different type of book. Zach Harriman, the protagonist is the son of Tom Harriman, an "advisor" to the president. Actually, Tom goes around the world saving people with his superpowers. When Tom dies in a plane crash, Zach's life completely changes. It turns out that he has inherited his dad's powers, and that he has a job to do as well.

This was a very interesting book, with a good story, and lots of action. The book could have been better if the author brought the story on farther, and showed more of what Zach can do. (Zach only uses his superpowers once in a real-life situation). Otherwise, this was  a good read which I encourage you to try out.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas

Agatha Christie is a famous mystery author. Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective (known for his unique mustache & slight French accent), is the most famous character in her books. Poirot is similar to Sherlock Holmes in some ways (both use deduction and their train of thought), but the main difference in their methods is that Poirot is more of a psychological detective than a crime-scene analyzing type.

My dad introduced me to Poirot by showing me some episodes of the TV show, (from amazon instant). I really enjoyed watching them, so he suggested I go to the library and get a book. This book was written in 1938.

This is the first Poirot book that I read. It is a very good murder mystery, and it is also tough to find out who the murderer is till the very end of the book. The author does a good job sticking pieces of information in the book so that it is just enough for Poirot, (and the reader) to solve the mystery. This was a very interesting and suspenseful book.

My rating: 9 out of 10

Son of Sobek

The Son of Sobek is a short story(about 40 pages) by Rick Riordan. The point of this was to get readers more interested by combining Percy Jackson and Carter Kane. The book is very interesting, as it combines, Carter's power's (like combat avatars), and Percy's powers. Carter and Percy fight together to save a bunch of mortals in Long Island

This Greek-Egyptian mix was very good but could have been a little better if Rick Riordan had actually got Percy and Carter to talk more about who they are, and to try to explain themselves to each other. Another problem is that the author never mentions when this book takes place, (in relation to the Kane Chronicles, Heroes of Olympus, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians books). I can't blame him though, as this was a side project to the House of Hades.

Heroes of Olympus series

The Heroes of Olympus is a series written by Rick Riordan. This series is connected to the Percy Jackson series, and once again takes place partially in Camp Half-Blood. This time, there are many new characters. Also, the series introduces you to Camp Jupiter, the Roman demigod camp in California.
So far there are 4 books in the series, (The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena, and The House of Hades). Book 5 (Blood of Olympus) is to be released in 2015.

In the Percy Jackson series, the antagonists are the Titans (mainly Kronos), whereas in this series, they are Gaea and her children (the giants). The driving force of this series is the Great Prophecy shown below:

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

In the Percy Jackson series, the antagonists are the Titans (mainly Kronos), whereas in this series, they are Gaia and her children (the giants). Throughout the series, the demigods work together in both camps to stop the giants, and in the 3rd and 4th books, seven demigods, Greek and Roman go all the way to Greece and Rome in order to close the doors of death, and defeat Gaea.

These books display many important virtues such as friendship, loyalty, bravery/courage, etc. Like the Percy Jackson Series, this series also teaches you lots of Greek Mythology, as well as Roman Mythology. So far this is a very good series which is most certainly worth a read.

Ratings: An average of 7+ for the series. The 2nd and 4th are better than the others in my opinion.

SCAT

Scat is a fiction book by Carl Hiassen. Scat can be viewed as a mystery, but also focuses a lot on eco-friendliness and endangered animals (esp. Florida Panther)... Nick and Marta, the protagonists both go to the Truman School. One day, on a school field trip, their 'evil' and 'witch-like' biology teacher, Mrs.Starch disappears. Apparently, she's away on a "family emergency", but they don't buy it. They do everything they possibly can to find her.

Later in the book, Nick, Marta and Duane "Smoke" Scrod Jr, a 'strange' kid from Truman work together to try and understand what is really going on in the swamp, and this brings in teamwork ,and friends into the book. The reading experience is  interesting as it follows the story from 3-5 different points of view:
>Nick/sometimes Marta 
>Duane's house 
>A Texas Oilman
>Twilly(I will not ruin the book for you by explaining) :-D
>Headmaster of Truman
This helps, because as the book progresses, the reader themselves can put the pieces together pieces of the story.

I like this book as it is very different from a typical mystery, but it still keeps you reading, and wanting to know what happens. Also, it is interesting how the author brings eco-friendliness into the book. This is a great read and I recommend it.

My rating: 8 out of 10