Cat Patrick (2011), Forgotten, Egmont UK Ltd

By Manny Lago, 2º ESO B

London Lane, the principal character in the book, is a sixteen year  old girl who lost her baby brother when she was six because she unlocked the car door while her father wasn't there. This event ripped her parents apart.  Whilst chasing after the villains responsible her father crashed and London technically died. Luckily, her doctors were able to resuscitate her. However, the experience left her with some type of memory disorder in which her mind would "reset" itself, leaving her clueless to the previous day's activities. Every night at precisely 4:33 am, while London Lane is asleep, her memory of that day is erased. In the morning, all she can recall are events from her future. 

          What I like most about the book is that the author wants readers to consider whether  knowing the future is really important or if learning from the past and accepting what was is what we should be thankful for. The book encourages readers to enjoy and embrace the past because, “…what I need to remember most is this: I can always change the future.”   A person’s past is what shapes their character and without those past memories and experiences life is hard and very mysterious with plenty of unanswered questions. The future is being rewritten all the time because of our past.  This makes the reader sympathetic with London and her illness.

What I also liked is that the events that occur through the novel depict situations that could very well be real and happen to anyone who struggles with memory loss.

             What I least liked about the book was the constant reference to the fact London took a long time to forgive Luke.  I thought this was exaggerated and boring.

             I would recommend this book because it is teenage romantic fiction and the romantic themes throughout the novel make it interesting for teenage readers.

Michael Curtis Ford (2007) The Fall of Rome, Thomas Dunne Books

By Elías Ferrer, 2º ESO B

It’s a great story about how one of the sons of a commander of Attila has to escape from the successors of the Huns’ chief after his death. The fugitive, Odoacer, and his brother Onulf have coincidences between them and their enemy, the Germanic-Roman general Orestes, the father of the last emperor of the Roman Empire. Their personal fights made Rome fall.

Rosemary SUTCLIFF (1957) The Silver Branch, Oxford Univ. Press (2007)

By Hugo Ferrer, 2º ESO B

I would like to recommend you the book The Silver Branch.  It is a sequel of the novel The Eagle of the Ninth, written by Rosemary Sutcliff, an acclaimed writer of children's books, especially historical fiction, which is the genre of this book.  I especially like this book because of the action and thrill there is in it. The two main characters, by forming a band of men, are trying to save the Roman emperor of Britain from a plot and also from the Saxons that are invading. There is a lot of suspense so it's very difficult to put it down.

George RR Martin (2000) A Storm of Swords, Bantam Dell

By Elías Ferrer, 2º ESO B

It’s a book you would like. It tells how a kingdom is falling into the hands of seven kings, who claim the central throne. It’s the third volume of Game of Thrones, and it’s a point between mystery, traditional literature, fantasy and other genres. There is some violence in the book but I think the story is good.

Lauren WEISBERGER (2003), The Devil Wears Prada, Harper Collins

By Estefanía Pinilla, 2º ESO B

The Devil Wears Prada is about a young woman called Andrea Sachs, who wants to become a journalist. She gets hired as the second assistant of Miranda Priestly, a ruthless executive of the runway fashion magazine. Miranda’s first assistant Emily advises Andrea about the behaviour of their cruel boss. It will be a challenge for Andrea when she has to drastically change her clothes and image, with the help of Nigel, the magazine’s art director. The job becomes really hard, because of Miranda’s tough working rhythm and impossible tasks, which leaves Andrea without a private life with her boyfriend Nate, family and friends. In the end the old Andrea has gone and the new Andrea is now more preoccupied about her image and her future in the magazine.

What I liked best of the book is the beginning where you realise that although you’re not good at fashion and you don’t know what it is or means, you can still improve and reach the top. I also enjoyed how two assistants realise that although they are competing against each other they can still be friends and work together.

I would definitely recommend The Devil Wears Prada to my friends because it has a really good plot which combines drama with humour. The book keeps the audience interested and there are no slow sections in it. Once you pick it up and start reading you won’t want to put it down. People who are interested in fashion and drama should read it because these are the two main concepts of the book.

Ray Bradbury (1951) Fahrenheit 451, Flamingo Modern Classics (1993)

By Elías Ferrer, 2º ESO B

In the future there will be three supreme dictators in the world. Each one will control people by TV, cameras, microphones, advertisements, etc., making all the world’s population think like the dictators want.

Lewis CARROLL, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Wordsworth Classics (2001)

By Ann Rose Layosa, 2º ESO B

This book was written by Lewis Carroll and this version was introduced by Michael Irwin. It is about a girl called Alice who was on a tree branch listening to her sister's book. She then saw a rabbit with clothes and a watch (very uncommon for a rabbit) and she decided to follow it until she fell down a rabbit hole and entered a world full of many uncommon things called 'Wonderland'. She then met a caterpillar who smoked and who gave her some advice. She also met Pig and Pepper (two brothers), a cat that appears and disappears and the Queen of Hearts, who played croquet. She also went to a mad tea-party, where she found a talking rabbit and an old small man.

I think this book is interesting because it contains many unusual things such as a smoking caterpillar, a rabbit with clothes on, etc., and because as you read, you find yourself in another world full of crazy things, and it's actually interesting to read something that is out of this world.

Sue Townsend (1982) Secret diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾, Harper Collins

By Elías Ferrer, 2º ESO B

It’s a funny book which you will enjoy, if you read it. I had a lot of fun reading it, because it is about an ‘intellectual’ boy, aged 13, who lives with his family but his mother goes away with a man and the boy is left with his poor father, his diary and his friends.

Suzanne LaFleur 2009), Love Aubrey, Puffin Books

By Estefania Pinilla Taylor, 2ºESO B

Love Aubrey is about an eleven year old girl who was abandoned by her mum. A few months before, Aubrey's dad and her younger sister Savannah, died in a car crash. She thought it was fun at first playing house, eating cheese and crackers every day and night. Until her grandma showed up, Aubrey was taken to her grandma's house in Virginia. She made friends with the girl next door called Bridget. She was put into school and was convinced to go talk to the school's psychiatrist. Making friends was easy for her but it made her sad every time someone asked her about the scar on her forehead. At the end her mum comes back for her, but it was too hard to go back and live with her after everything that had happened. They all thought that it was best for her to stay with her grandma. However, her mum did come and visit often.

I really like this book because the author expresses Aubrey's feelings as if they were real, and keeps the reader wanting more. The story is written and told very well, and I think that more people should read it because they will enjoy it and want a second book by the same writer. 

H.P. Lovecraft (1999) The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories Penguin Modern Classics (reprinted 2002)

By Elías Ferrer, 2º ESO B

A compilation of terrifying and full of suspense stories. People spit on the author’s tomb because his novels are too scary. Until the end of each story you will not know what’s going to happen next.

Roald Dahl ( 1988), Matilda,  Puffin Books (1989)

                                    By Lia Calcines, 2º ESO B

Matilda is a book for children, which is really interesting and great, and that is the reason why I still like it. It has mystery, for example, what is the relationship between Mrs Trunchbull and Matilda´s teacher Ms Honey? It made me read and not stop reading until the end because of the mystery. You just know the truth of the story at the end. Matilda is a very special girl, she is really clever and she has powers. She is the leader of the school, because she had a virtue which was to be brave and face Trunchbull. I hope you read this book, to enjoy it and its magical ideas.

(Anonymous) Beowulf 

By Elías Ferrer, 2º ESO B

The first story written in a Germanic language (Anglo-Saxon). It’s about a man who arrives at a far Nordic kingdom to kill an ogre which is attacking the realm. You would like the story and it would make you interested in this style of stories.

First page of Beowulf in Cotton Vitellius, 15^th century

William SHAKESPEARE,(1600), A Midsummers Night’s Dream, Wordsworth Classics

By Clara Galindo Moreno, 2º ESO B

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is about a young woman called Hermia. She is in love with Lysander but her father wants her to marry Demetrius. Another young woman, Helena, is still in love with Demetrius, although he left her to marry Hermia.  Duke Theseus, following the law of Athens, gives her four days to obey her father and marry Demetrius or else she will die. Hermia and Lysander plan to run away to get married. She tells her plan to Helena, who tells Demetrius. Oberon, the king of fairies has a potion which will make people fall in love with the first person they see when they wake up and…

                  In my opinion this book is very entertaining and enjoyable for people who like William Shakespeare. Until now, the only book I had read by William Shakespeare was “Romeo and Juliet”, but I prefer “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” because it is less cheesy and it’s less of a tragedy and more of a comedy. I totally would recommend this book but not to people of my age unless it’s an adapted version because it’s very difficult to read because of the vocabulary.                          

Thomas BREZINA (1999) Tiger Team: Curse of the Pharaohs

By David Ramos, 2ºESO EFL

I like this book because it´s interesting and at the end of each chapter it makes you a question. It also brings tools to decrypt the answer.

Tiger Team is a collection of several books, each of different subjects but with the same characters.

          I recommend this book because it makes you participate and has clues that help you solve the problem. The characters are interesting. It is a mysterious book.

Thomas HARRIS (1981), RED DRAGON, G P Putnams Dell Publishing

By Ann Mundzic, 2º ESO B

A serial killer, known as The Tooth Fairy, has a habit of stalking and murdering families at random. He has murdered two families until an FBI agent, Jack Crawford, finally comes to sort out the situation. Crawford needs help to capture The Tooth Fairy, so he gets in touch with his protégé Will Graham, who caught the serial killer Hannibal Lecter three years earlier (which makes him a very good protégé). Will agrees to assist Jack. After looking at the crime scenes over and over again, Jack and Will realise that they are missing something. In order to find The Tooth Fairy Will and Jack have to visit Hannibal and get help from him (as Hannibal is a brilliant psychiatrist). The serial killer - calls himself the "Great Red Dragon" as he is obsessed with a painting called "The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun". Dolarhyde (the real name of The Tooth Fairy) usually gets flashbacks of his past, shows of what happened to him as a child and... 

This is a book for people who like crime, horror and thrillers.

Nathaniel HAWTHORNE (1850), The Scarlet Letter, Dover Thrift Editions

By Lorena Davies Mosquera, 2º ESO B

This story is set in the 17^th century in Boston. It tells of a married woman named Hester Prynne who has given birth to an illegitimate daughter. Hester is then forced to wear the letter A on her dress, the A standing for ‘adulteress’, and then lives in solitude with her daughter, Pearl. Only the involvement of Arthur Dimmesdale keeps Hester and Pearl together. Meanwhile, feeling betrayed by his own wife, Roger Chillingworth sets out seeking revenge on Hester’s unknown lover.

I recommend this book because it has deep symbolism and is a very interesting read. While it can be complicated at certain stages of the book; it is a classic that will not fail to capture your heart, with intriguing characters, a stimulating plot and a vivid