Runaways: True Believers

    True Believers, the 4th book in the Runaway series, is about the Runaway's finding out about their possible future and what they must do to stop it. It begins with them getting a visit from the futuristic Gert telling them they have to stop a boy named Victor from growing up and taking over the world. Once they track down Victor, they find out he's actually quite normal and loves super heroes. But as the story moves on and the runaways decide to let Victor join them, Victor finds his powers and finds out about his real father and how his mother is in danger. With the Runaway's help, he tracks down the evil villain who has his mother and destroys his father. The Runaway decide that Victor would be more dangerous against him than with him, so Victor becomes part of their group.
     I thought this book was pretty good. It helps set up the rest of the series as they try to protect something bigger than them, and also goes into the whole trying-to-control-your-fate category. It held you tight at every twist and turn and was quite action packed, yet it felt like it was missing something. I thought that they could of gone deeper into Victor's past and maybe even deeper into Gurt's future self.
     Still, overall, it was a really good book.
     I would give it an 8.

If Chins could Kill: Confessions of a B Moive Actor

          If Chins could Kill: Confessions of a B Moive Actor By Bruce Campbell if an AMAZING book. Its an autobiography, and we all know how boring those can be. But this one is about Bruce's life as an actor that's in tons of movies, like the gym teacher in Sky High, the American spy in Cars 2, the mayor in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and the star, Ash, in the classic old horror film, The Evil Dead. Turns out he's one of those guys that's isn't as famous as people like Judy Garland or Charlton Heston, but tons of people still know, and love, him and his acting.
     This book is about his life and the tough world of acting. He goes through him and his friends filming the The Evil Dead deep in the woods of Tennessee, facing the challenges of staring in a movie that involves tons of fake blood, and trying to make it into Hollywood.
     When this book was written, it was before Campbell was in Sky High, Cars 2, Ant Bully, and some other low key films. Bruce Campbell is currently co-staring on the USA show, Burn Notice. His book, If Chins could Kill, was a New York Times bestseller, and he has another book out, called Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way.
      I would give this book a 9.
      LOVED it. It's the kind of book you never want to end.







                           


                                                                               (what a chin!!! perhaps one that could.......kill????)

Only the Good Die Young

    Only the Good Die Young, a Graphic Novel written by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Jo Chen, is the third book in the Runaways series, about 6 kids on the run who are trying to stop their evil parents from destroying the world. The runaways are in for a surprise this book though, as they find out that one of them is a traitor and is leaking information to their parent secret group, the Pride. As the story moves on and the runaways find out more and more about the Pride's past, the runaways aren't sure of who is telling the truth and who isn't. As the final battle between the Pride and the runaways comes to and end, the truth is shown and the runaways find out the traitor and defeat the Pride.
     I thought that this book was really well thought out and very well written. The ending was a total shocker when I found out who the traitor was, it totally took me by surprise. They were actually my second favorite character in the books so far, so when they stood proud to the Pride, I was in disbelief. Brian K. Vaughan did such a good job writing this book because even though I knew it was fiction, the distrust and surprise felt so real to me.
     BUT Brian was also able to make the joy and laughter of the runaways seem real as well. He really was able to highlight ALL the emotions and give you a connection to these kids. He showed you the belief, the doubt, the rejection, and the desire.
     I'd give this book and 8.5.
     Superb quality, Brian. Good Job.

I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I want to be your Class President

I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I want to be your Class President by Josh Lieb is a funny, smart, and great book. It's about a kid, Oliver, who's in 7th grade and is amazingly smart but acts really dumb. Everyone who knows him thinks he's stupid, even his parents, when really he's the 3rd richest man in the world, has a secret lair under his house, cameras around the school, and a Russian dog who can load and fire an armor-piercing missile. Oliver's fine with acting dumb if it means he can keep his secret fortune, but when his dad says that he doesn't think Oliver could win class president, Oliver decides he's up for the challenge winning while keeping the same reputation of being clueless.
      Josh Lieb is a hilarious author. Turns out he's also an Emmy-winning Executive Producer of The Daily show with Jon Stewart, and has also worked on The Simpsons and NewsRadio.
      I thought the book was excellent and super funny. The plot was really good as well, but I didn't really like the ending. It was weird how he goes off, showing his true feeling, and then decides to pee his pants to get everyone to go back to believing that he's stupid. It was also a bit of a cliff hanger, but at the back it says that Josh Lieb is working on the next book, so hopefully it will fill in the gap the ending left you.
      But over all: great book. Highly recommend it.
      I'm gonna give it a 7.

The Runaways: Teenage Wasteland

     Runaways is a series about 6 kids who find out their parents are all part of a evil secret society called The Pride. The Pride is trying to help these monsters turn the world into a wonderful safe garden, but to do so, they have to wipe out mankind. Once all the kids: Alex, Nico, Chase, Gert, Molly, and Karoline, find out these horrible things about their parents, they run away and try to find out a way to over throw their parents. The thing is, their parent all have superpowers, but the runaways then realize they have powers also.
     Teenage Wasteland is the 2nd book in the Runaways series, the 1st one I read at school during our graphic novel course. Teenage Wasteland is an amazing book that reflects on the teenagers trying to find out more about The Pride and how they can stop it. They also get a visit from Cloak and Dagger, who think that the runaways are the bad guys. This results in a huge fight thats one of the first times the kids get to test out their newly discovered powers.
     The graphics are amazing in this book. Takeshi Miyazawa, the person who does the pictures, can really work her magic with a pencil. Also, Brian K. Vaughan, the writer, is very creative and has thought out this story to every twist and turn. His style of showing you the Runaways for most of the book and then giving you a few pages to show you how the parents (who make up The Pride) are doing now that they know their own children are trying to destroy what they've build up for them and how willing they are to fight back. Great Job Brian! Keep up the good work.
     I'd give it a 6.5.
     Next comes Only the Good Die Young, which I've heard has great reviews and has something to do with one of the Runaways being loyal to the Pride, risking the lives of the other Runaways...

A Good Book

     Another super great book is Maximum Ride. Well, it's actually a series, but it's still great. I highly recommend it. It's about a group of 6 kid who call themselves the flock: Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, Iggy, Fang, and Max. The kids are part human, part bird, but the only bird part about them are the wings that they fly with. The flock leader, Max, and the other 5 are all on the run from these part human, part wolves people called Erasers. The Erasers are the guards at this place called the School, which is where the flock was created and where they escaped from. This series is all about them fighting, hiding, and running from the Erasers and trying to figure out who their parents are, all while trying to save the world. Great books, I know you'll love them.

A Good Book

     The Time Traveler's Wife is one of the best books I've ever read. It's a love story where this young girl named Claire keeps meeting her future husband when he keeps uncontrollably time traveling back to her. It's an amazing story and is very well written. At first, I thought it was just following Henry, the time traveler, but later on I realized that it was following Claire: starting with Claire growing up and first meeting Henry, Claire as a teen and realizing that Henry's first visit to her, not Claire's first time seeing Henry was coming up, Claire and Henry getting married. Henry's path is so confusing, but we just see Claire make one slow climb. The ending's so sad, but it was worth it since this is one of the best books of all time. I highly recommend it.