By Crystal Mobaraka,
Parliamentarian / Staff Writer
What books should you read in 2021?
Here are some book recommendations from some current SOAR students!!
The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - Recommended by Danna Solano
“One of my all-time favorites!!”
Throughout the 1991–1992 school year, Charlie, the 15-year-old protagonist, begins writing letters about his own life to an unknown recipient addressed, "dear friend". In these letters, he discusses his first year at high school and his struggles with two traumatic experiences: the suicide of his only middle-school friend, Michael Dobson, and the death of his favorite aunt, Helen. While beginning his high school experience he meets the enigmatic Patrick a senior and his stepsister the beautiful Sam in Charlie’s words…
(This book is also available as a movie on Netflix :p)
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - Recommended by Neithen Navarro & Valerie Padilla
The Alchemist follows the journey of an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago. Believing a recurring dream to be prophetic, he asks a Gypsy fortune teller in the nearby town about its meaning. The woman interprets the dream as a prophecy telling the boy that he will discover a treasure at the Egyptian pyramids. Early into his journey, he meets an old king named Melchizedek, or the king of Salem, who tells him to sell his sheep, so as to travel to Egypt, and introduces the idea of a Personal Legend. Your Personal Legend "is what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is.”
Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson - Recommended by Emily Ontiveros
“This is the book that made me fall in love with reading :)”
Heartbreak brought them together...will love to tear them apart? Adam’s life used to be awesome. Straight As, close friends, and perfect home life. Then his oldest brother died. Now his mom cries constantly, he and his middle brother can’t talk without fighting, and the father he always admired moved out when they needed him most. Aspiring director Jolene’s life is nothing like the movies she loves—not the happy ones anyway. With her divorced parents at each other’s throats and using her as a pawn, no amount of mental reediting will give her the love she’s starving for. Forced to spend every other weekend in the same apartment building, the boy who thinks forgiveness makes him weak and the girl who thinks love is for fools begin an unlikely friendship. The weekends he dreaded and she endured quickly become the best part of their lives. Have Jolene and Adam found something real? Or is their connection doomed from the start? They’ll find out...every other weekend.
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls - Recommended by Esteban Aguilar Murillo
“Highly recommend to anyone of any age level.”
An old man named Billy Colman rescues a redbone hound under attack by neighborhood dogs. He takes it home with him so that its wounds can heal. In light of this event, he has a flashback to when he was a ten-year-old boy living in the Ozark Mountains. The book is Wilson Rawls own story with Billy Colman as the fictional character who wants nothing more than a pair of Redbone Coonhounds for hunting. After seeing a magazine ad for coonhounds, Billy spends the next two years working odd jobs to earn the $50 he needs to buy two puppies. Billy's dogs are delivered to Tahlequah, over 20 miles away. Billy decides to walk the distance. As he returns with the dogs, he sees a heart carved on a tree with the names "Dan + Ann" and decides to name the puppies Little Ann and Old Dan. With his grandfather's help, Billy teaches his dogs to hunt. Both dogs are very loyal to each other and to Billy.
Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama - Recommended by Miralla Nader
“When I first started reading the manga, the plot seemed rather simple to me. However, as the story progressed I realized how much depth it truly had which is why it’s my favorite”.
The story revolves around a boy named Eren Yeager, who lives in the town of Shiganshina, located on the edge of Wall Maria, the outermost of three circular walls protecting humanity from Titans. In the year 845, the wall is breached by two new types of Titans, named the Colossal Titan (alternatively named the Colossus) and the Armored Titan. During the incident, Eren's mother is eaten by a Titan while Eren escapes. He swears revenge on all Titans and enlists in the military along with his childhood friends, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert.
(This book is also available as a tv show on Hulu :p)
Thank you to our wonderful book recommenders:
Danna Solano (9th), Esteban Aguilar Murrillo (9th), Miralla Nader (9th), Neithen Navarro (9th), and Emily Ontiveros (9th)
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