SSOJ Blogs

Renegades by Marissa Meyer is a thrilling book following Nova, a super-villain set on taking down the Renegades. The Renegades are a group of prodigies who use their superpowers to try and handle all evil in the city. Nova began disliking the Renegades at an early age after her whole family was killed by a group of evil prodigies while she hid inside a closet, waiting for the Renegades to come to rescue them. When the Renegades didn’t come, she realized that they will always let people down because they can’t take care of everyone. Her uncle, Ace Anarchy, founder of the Anarchists, a group of villain prodigies, took her in and gave her the name of Nightmare due to her power to put others to sleep by touching them and the ability to never need sleep. Now, as a 16-year-old, Nova plans to take down the Renegades by joining them and taking them down from the inside.  This book perspective switches between a boy named Adrian who is already a part of the Renegades and Nova. But, I d...

One of the first novels written by Ernest Hemingway, The Torrents of Spring, originally published in 1926 begins with a man named Scripps O’Neill, who returns to his home and finds that his wife and daughter have left him. In a state of frustration, O’Neill leaves his home for the town Petoskey, where he seeks a new partner. Upon entering a beanery in Petoskey, he encounters Diana, a British waitress, who he marries immediately. Diana is worried that O’Neill will leave her, so she tries to impress him by reading the literature that he likes. However, O’Neill leaves her regardless for another waitress named Mandy, who entices him with multiple anecdotes, although they may not be true. The focus then primarily shifted to Yogi Johnson, who is a World War I veteran who works at a pump factory. Johnson is worried that he is not in love as spring is approaching. After wandering around with some American Indian veterans, they all eventually enter the same beanery as O’Neill. Suddenly, an Am...

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green is focused on a boy named Colin. Colin was a child prodigy, and now as he grows older he feels a sense of worthlessness and despair at the prospect of becoming insignificant. He cannot come to grips with the fact that he is becoming normal. There’s something else that is peculiar about Colin, he has dated 19 girls, every single one of them named Katherine. Not Catherine, not Kate, exclusively Katherines. After being dumped by his most recent girlfriend, Katherine the 19th, he feels especially hopeless. Colin has an extreme want and need for an epiphany, something that would make him unique and make him matter. So his best friend Hassan takes him on a road trip for the summer with no destination, to get his mind off of everything. They have adventures and meet new friends.  Although I am only about half way through this book, I have enjoyed every page and I c annot wait to see what happens next. The plot is unique if anything. T...

Flame in the Mist written by Renée Ahdieh and published in 2017 is an exciting book following the life of Mariko after her convoy taking her to her betrothed, Prince Raiden, is attacked by the feared Black Clan. After Mariko barely escapes death, she is forced to pick herself back up and survive. She daringly cuts her hair and poses as a man in order to find out who in the Black Clan wishes her dead. She picks up the name Sanada Takeo and has an unexpected meeting with the Black Clan and their leader, Ranmaru. His men take her to the Black Clan where she believes she is a prisoner, only to find that Ranmaru wants her as a recruit. She meets a man named Ōkami who she at first finds lazy but realizes that he is very skilled.  Ōkami finds Mariko confusing due to the fact that she is so educated yet lacks so many survival skills. They both banter in a way that friendly and challenging throughout the book, especially after Ranmaru decides to have Ōkami train her. As Mariko gets to kno...

In 2002 Nancy Farmer wrote the book “The House of the Scorpion,” which takes place over fourteen years, the sequel takes place over only one year, and this short timeline compared to the first book could be the reason the sequel, “The Lord of Opium,” is a bit of a disappointment. In “The House of the Scorpion” the main character, Matt is created as a clone of a drug lord El Patron who is over 140 years old. Matt is created for the sole purpose of having his organs harvested for when El Patron needs new organs. For the first six years of his life, Matt is raised by El Patron’s cook Celia. The book begins the very moment Matt is created in a science lab, the book ends when Matt is fourteen. Because the book takes place over such a lengthy period, it is no surprise there are many obstacles Matt has to overcome. From the moment Matt realizes there is a small world outside of the house he lived in for the first six years of his life, to being trapped in a jail cell, possibly having his orga...