M.E.A.T. Blog

          You’d be Mine  by Erin Hahn is a romance novel centered around two teens, ‘Clay’ Jefferson Coolidge and Annie Mathers. Clay is the newest bad boy heartthrob to have reached fame in the Nashville country scene, tall and blonde, and as Hahn repeatedly adds, “very long-legged.” He’s arrogant, of course - what teenage boy in his position wouldn’t be? He parties hard, drinks hard, and makes songs he dryly admits are catchy and fun, but shallow, only made for people to dance and hook up to. It’s enough for him. Yet at times there’s a hint of sadness, maybe emptiness or longing explain later in the novel that grounds his character into something more relatable to readers, something that is definitely likeable.           Meanwhile, Annie is the daughter of two late, legendary singers. She is sweetly down-to-earth, and surprisingly human. While she easily could have, Hahn doesn’t write her as the demure, innocent girl of Clay’s dr...

Warning: Spoilers By Miriam A The Fault in Our Stars is a stand-alone book, one of John Green’s most acclaimed works. Using a 5-star rating system, I would give this novel a 4 star rating. Both of the main characters are well developed and there is an unexpected, painful twist in the plot that succeeded in interesting me in this romance. As the novel progressed, I was disappointed when a side character I had thought would be more prominent in the novel, Isaac, mostly fell out of the storyline; Green probably thought he would interfere with the romance, but I would have enjoyed seeing his character more fully developed. This love story seems original and not  clichéd, but my opinion may be flawed as this is the first romance I have read and I don’t have any others to compare it to. Additionally, there were a few questionable scenes and profanity that didn’t really serve any purpose for the plot (and I would have preferred that Green had excluded). Overall, I rea...

Legend by Marie Lu is set in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles and revolves around the perspectives of two teens, June and Day, that lead vastly different lives, but are eerily similar. Day is a slum boy, who has accumulated an impressive criminal record and become a wanted criminal by the Republic, after continuous efforts to save his family. His little brother is a victim of the epidemic plague that has taken over America - or the Republic, as how it’s now know after the land was laid to waste by catastrophic floods and other natural disasters.           Meanwhile. June is a pampered orphan from the top of the Republic’s social and military ladder, a genius and the youngest graduate of the Republic’s most esteemed military academy. When her cherished older brother’s death is blamed on the infamous Day, she sets out for revenge by descending from the Republic’s elite sectors into the slums in search of Day. However, she’s soon taking a step back as Day turns out t...

Hey guys, this is Ethan. Over the summer, I read the book Lord of the Flies , written by William Golding,  and I really enjoyed it. I heard it was a good book, so I thought I would give it a try, and it totally exceeded my expectations.  First, here is a very brief and simplified summary (warning, spoilers): The story starts with the aftermath of a plane crash on a deserted island in which all the adults died, and the only surviving people are children. The children quickly realize this, and they quickly appoint a leader, which turns out to be a controversial decision among the group. Before long, a bad argument separates the group in half, creating one seemingly normal, reasonable tribe, and one violent, savage-like tribe. The extreme violence shockingly eventually results in deaths. When adults finally come to rescue them, they are amazed that something this horrible could happen. When all of the kids look at what they had become, some actually ...

In an optimistically portrayed universe in 2035, space travel has made significant advances from today. Mars has seen two human visits, and Mark Watney, our main character, is on a smooth journey towards a third expedition with his crew of fellow astronauts. Years of training have prepared them for their endeavor, and every step has been carefully planned out by administration back on Earth. They land their descent vehicle on Mars’ surface and set up base without any errors or miscalculations. That is, until the storm hits. Wind speeds of 175 kph slam the base, more than it can handle. The crew is forced to abort their multi-year mission, and begin evacuation into the ascent vehicle. Suddenly, a huge chunk of debris flies through the chaos, slamming into Watney and carrying him away into an isolated, stormy wasteland. Without any hope of retrieving their likely-dead crewmate, the team is forced to leave the planet behind. As it turns out, Watney survives, albeit with a hole in his ch...

(Warning: Spoilers!)  Hello!  I’m Miriam Arend and I'm writing to tell you about a book I just finished, The Prisoner of Cell 25 . This book was written by Richard Paul Evans and is the first book in the Michael Vey series. If I had to give it a rating, I would give this book ☆☆☆☆☆ stars!  The plot starts out simply, with Michael and his mom living in Idaho. He goes to a normal school with his best friend, Ostin. But unlike the other students at his high school, Michael has a power: his body is filled with electricity that he can release at any time. Michael has always had to hide his power, but when a group of older boys corner him, Michael is so sick of being bullied he sends electric shocks through all of them. A passing cheerleader, Taylor, notices what happened and later confesses that she has similar powers. Michael, Taylor, and Ostin meet up to discuss their powers, and stumble across a group known as the Elgen. However, their time is limi...