Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Chronicle of a Death Foretold is sort of a supernatural mystery. It starts off with the narrator talking about the death of Santiago Nasar (the main character, Santiago Nasar was murdered, and it goes through what was happening with pretty much everyone in the town when Sanitago’s murder occurred. This book was originally written in Spanish and may be part of your IB curriculum for English Literature. Just a head’s up saying that you should try reading the book so you know a bit about it later. Other than it being for school, it is also a good book to read during your free-time. The book is not short, and is a very quick read. You won’t be spending a lot of time reading it.

Luqman Sattar

The Fire Thief by Terry Dreary

The Fire Thief is Greek mythology novel by Terry Dreary. The book follows the story of Prometheus, a Greek titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to the humans. To pay for his crimes, he was chained to a rock and have his liver ripped out by the Fury. After a hundred years of punishment, Prometheus breaks free and kills the Fury, but his freedom is short lived when Zeus arrives. He gives Prometheus the chance to prove that humans are worth saving by sending him into the future to find a hero among the humans, but at the same time he will be hunted by the immortal Fury which aims to kill him and chain him back to the rock. This book is filled with adventure and awesome characters. The book is mostly written for young middle school students, so if you are a fan of adventure and interesting set of characters, then I recommend you read this book.

Sameer Khan

Mobile Suit Gundam I, the origin by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko

Mobile Suit Gundam, the origin is a science fiction Japanese manga by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. In the distant future, mankind has been emigrating its excess population from Earth into space. Hundreds of man built, terraformed, cylindrical structures were space colonies where millions of humans resided and found new homes and lived peacefully, but not for very long. Side 3, the colony farthest from Earth declared independence from Earth Federation as the Principality of Zeon which declared war on the Federation. In just over a month, fighting between the principality and the federation had lead to the slaughter of more that half of Humanity. The war ended in stalemate and an uneasy truce. During this time the Federation began to secretly develop new and highly advanced mobile suits known as Gundams in preparation for future war. Soon this peace was broken and the Principality attacked on one of the Federation colony's where the Gundams were being developed. In this colony a young boy named Amuro learns how to use the Gundam by himself and displays himself as a capable pilot, defeating many Principality mobile suits. I enjoyed reading this manga because of its Sci-Fi genre, action packed plot, skilled drawn art, and characters both heroes and villains who have great characteristics and well developed back stories. Gundam is one of the manga classics and one of my favorite anime of all time. If you are a Japanese anime or manga fan like me, I would recommend you to pickup this book from the library and start reading.

Sameer Khan

The Thief Lord

The Thief Lord is a fantasy, and speculative fiction children's novel written by Cornelia Funke. The book is about two young brothers Prosper and Boniface who run away from their Aunt Esther and Uncle Max to go and live in the city of Venice. While there, they meet a gang of children, Caterina, Riccio, and Mosca. They are all orphans who live in an abandoned movie theater called The Stella. Prosper and Boniface are taken in by these children and are introduced to their leader Scipio. The brothers learn that Scipio is know as The Thief Lord for his reputation of stealing valuables from the rich and bringing them back to be sold. Prosper and Boniface are both excited and happy starting a new life with this gang of thieves, and their new life takes a bigger turn when a man by the name of Conte contacts Scipio and asks him to steal a wooden lion's wing for him, and in return they children would receive a reward greater than everything they had ever stolen.The children gladly accepted Conte's offer and decide to pursue this daring mission which will require them to break into a house and on top of that they have to make sure they avoid Victor Getz, a private detective, sent by Aunt Esther and Uncle Max to find and bring back Prosper and Boniface. The story is one of friendship, brotherhood, betrayal, and adventure. I loved this book because of its originality, suspense, and shocking plot twists that kept me reading for long hours. I would recommend anyone to read this book because of its exhilarating plot and in interesting characters.

Sameer Khan

World War Z by Max Brooks

If you watched the movie, you should probably know that there is a book that came before it. World War Z is a book by Max Brooks about zombies. It starts off in China with the start of a few infected people. But it starts to spread, and fast. Soon it spreads all over the world. A cure must be found, and fast. The story unfolds with individual accounts of people (obviously fake accounts). The book is considered an apocalyptic horror book. But I consider it a science fiction and thriller book. It is a good and exciting must-read that I absolutely recommend. If you are reading this for the movie-ness I will tell you right now that even Max Brooks said that the only thing similar between the book and movie was pretty much its name. So… yeah, big difference.

Luqman Sattar

Spartans by Don McLeese

This is a history book about Spartans, but here’s the super awesome twist. It’s in the form of a comic book! It talks about Sparta in Ancient Greece. If you don’t like history books because they don’t have any pictures, this book is definitely something that you should check out. You know what? Even if you do like history you should try giving this book a whirl. I do, however, recommend that you DO NOT use this book as a source for any type of assignment that requires research or the citing of sources. But again, it is a very creative way to “teach” history and is interesting enough to be read by anyone.

Luqman Sattar

The Lorien Legacies: I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

The story begins with a peaceful planet called Lorien. And like all peaceful planets in anything science fiction related, it gets destroyed in an intergalactic invasion. In a last hope to save their species, nine children are sent to Earth with their designated guardians. All these children are charmed and given numbers. This number they have is the number they will be killed in. Numbers 1 to 3 have been killed by this evil alien race called the Mogadorians. Number Four is obviously next. He and his guardian flee to this small town called Paradise, which, in his opinion, really sucks. However, he does make his peace with the town and becomes happy. But something just isn’t right about Paradise. I am Number Four is the first book in Lorien Legacies. The book, as well as the series, are action packed, fast paced, and sprinkled with hints of romance here and there. But it’s mostly action and fast-paced though.

Luqman Sattar