Book+Club--Period+Eight

Please read the summaries and positive reader reviews (from Goodreads.com) for the following six books. Afterward, you will receive a ballot. Please HIGHLIGHT your number one choice. Write the number "1" in the box. Put a number "2" in the box that corresponds to your second choice...and so on. Please be aware...you may not choose a book you have already read! NO FUN!

 __The Westing Game__ by Ellen Raskin

Summary: ~One fateful day, sixteen people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will. To their surprise, the will turns out to be a contest, challenging the heirs to find out who among them is Westing's murderer. Forging ahead, through blizzards, burglaries, and bombings, the game is on. Only two people hold all the clues. One of them is a Westing heir. The other is you!

Positive Reader Review: ~The Westing Game is about 16 heirs competeing for Sam's Westing's inheritance. This book is a clever mystery full of excitement, danger. and suspicion. There are 8 teams, each team has a set of clues and together they must understand them. Together you must find out who Mrs. Westing is and who killed Sam Westing. You too may strike it rich, who dares to play...The Westing Game. We really loved this book it keeps you on your toes and every little thing matters. If you like a suspenseful, exciting book that you can't put down this book is for you. Remember: it's not what you have it's what you don't have that counts.

__The Giver__ by Lois Lowry  ~ In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy.
 * Summary:**

~T his book is a classic. It explores the frightening aspects of a world of conformity, without crime, devoid of any extremes such as anger, sadness, and pain or joy, love or pain. the concept is a great one and it is written in a very raw manner from the perceptive of a young character that is given the job of the apprentice of the sole keeper (the giver) of all that has been taken from the world. This young man slowly comes to realize the joys life has to offer, and that you have to take the bad with the good. Like I mentioned, this is a raw book, and is a bit depressing, but the depth of the lesson it teaches are amazing.
 * Positive Reader Review:**

__Fever 1793__ by Laurie Halse Anderson **Summary**: ~During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook liv es above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out. Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather. But she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere, and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease.

~I loved this book. It's about the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793. It takes place in Philadelphia, which was then the capital of the United States. The store is told by Mattie Cook, a 14-year-old girl whose family runs a coffeehouse 2 blocks from George Washington's house. Mattie has a crush on a painter's apprentice named Nathaniel, but when the fever strikes she is sent out to the country and doesn't know if Nathaniel has survived the epidemic. Laurie Halse Anderson is known for two things: impeccable historical research (as in Chains) and great emotional depth (as in Speak). This book has them both. Mattie is trying to survive a horrifying historical event, but at the same time she is a 14-year-old girl, and this aspect does not get left by the wayside. The writing is great, the plot is gripping, and the characters are believable. This is a great book.
 * Positive Reader Review:**

__Esperanza Rising__ by Pam Muñoz Ryan  ~Esperanza thought she'd always live with her family on their ranch in Mexico--she'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home, & servants. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California during the Great Depression, and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers. Esperanza isn't ready for the hard labor, financial struggles, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When their new life is threatened, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances--Mama's life and her own depend on it.
 * Summary:**

~ When I first started reading this book. I didn't know how I first felt about it. Then things started getting very interesting, and I didn't want to put this book down. It really teaches you a good lesson, there was this spoiled rich girl who got everything that she wanted. Then things go wrong and she's poor, and her mom is in the hospital and she has to make money to pay for her mom's medical bills, and food for her and her family. This book is great. I loved it.
 * Positive Reader Review:**

__Ender's Game__ by Orson Scott Card  ~Ender Wiggin is a very bright young boy with a powerful skill. One of a group of children bred to be military geniuses and save Earth from an inevitable attack by aliens, known here as "buggers," Ender becomes unbeatable in war games and seems poised to lead Earth to triumph over the buggers. Meanwhile, his brother and sister plot to wrest power from Ender. Twists, surprises and interesting characters elevate this novel into status as a bona fide page turner. It captured the Nebula and Hugo Awards.  ~ Wow! How did I miss reading this book before now? I just loved it. It must have been brilliant because here I am extolling a book that takes place at a military school and has military maneuvers throughout the book. It’s not normally my kind of book, but I was engrossed throughout and I cared so much about the characters, especially Ender. I just loved Ender. I ached for Ender and I felt as though I understood him. I rooted for him. I loved the way all the gifted children in this book were depicted.
 * Summary:**
 * Positive Reader Review:**

__The Last Book in the Universe__ by Rodman Philbrick 

It's the story of an epileptic teenager nicknamed Spaz, who begins the heroic fight to bring human intelligence back to the planet. In a world where most people are plugged into brain-drain entertainment systems, Spaz is the rare human being who can see life as it really is. When he meets an old man called Ryter, he begins to learn about Earth and its past. With Ryter as his companion, Spaz sets off an unlikely quest to save his dying sister -- and in the process, perhaps the world.
 * Summary**: [[image:924194.jpg width="222" height="331" align="right"]]

I'm very surprised that I enjoyed this book. Firstly, I rarely ever like science fiction books, and two, the cover looked boring. Although there are some cases that this isn't true, this is certainly a case where you should not judge a book by its cover. This book is about a boy named Spaz who is a "normal" and meets an gummy (aka an old person) named Ryter. Together, they embark on a journey across lands controlled by different vicious gangs to take a look at Spaz's sister one last time after they were separated from each other. On their way, they meet a really nice "proov" (yes, this must sound weird, but you'll understand once you read the story) named Lanaya who lives in Eden, a place where genetically improved (hence the name "proov") people live. Well I can't reveal any more or it would pretty much be a spoiler, although I have no idea what there is to spoil, as there is no superbly "spoilable" ending here, but the ending is both wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. I found that this book seemed a lot like Fahrenheit 451, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones put into one. However, I'm sure that many people will find this book interesting.
 * Positive Reader Review:**