The Paw Print

The Compound

by Miranda, Copy Editor

The Compound by S.A Bodeen is one of this year’s Lone Star books. This book seriously made me question the state of Texas’ book choices. It is boring and doesn’t really get good until the end. Although I did finish it—it was hard.

In The Compound Eli and his family move into an underground compound their father had built over many years. He built it for the nuclear war that was supposed to happen. When on a camping trip, the war starts and they make a run for it. Eli’s twin brother doesn’t make it into the compound where he will be safe. He and his grandma were left outside to withstand the nuclear war. After six years of being in the compound, the food supplies run low and everyone has a feeling that the father is lying to them about everything. Everyone but the dad wants to get out of the compound. He is the only person who knows the combination to get out. He keeps his family trapped inside his world of fantasy.

This book is one of the most boring I have ever read. I would not recommend it unless you really want to finish all 20 Lone Stars. There is no action until the end and really no excitement to speak of.
 

1776

by Aida, A&E Editor

If you’re looking for a great nonfiction read to give you something to do over a long car drive, DON’T pick 1776 by David McCullough. It is one of the most difficult and boring books I have ever picked up.

I decide I wanted/needed to read more nonfiction over the summer—so I picked up 1776 in June. Now it’s December, and I still haven’t finished it.

It’s chock full of hard-to-understand quotes and it’s one of those books that you can read, but not understand. I had to read over parts of it five and six times over just to remember it long enough for the rest of the section. Each chapter is divided into three to four sections each. In chapter two, the first section is 20 pages long, and the chapter is 48 pages long. I was happy for the break from the complicated text when the two to four page picture sections came around, but even some of those were confusing maps.

Just to give you an idea of how bad this book is, here’s an excerpt from chapter 1, page nine.

“Indeed, bribery, favoritism, and corruption in a great variety of forms were rampant not only in politics, but at all levels of society. The clergy and such celebrated observers of the era as Jonathan Swift and Tobias Smollett had long since made it a favorite subject. London, said Smollett, was ‘the devil’s drawing-room.’ Samuel Curwen, the Salem Loyalist, was dissipation and ‘vicious indulgence’ everywhere he looked, ‘from the lowest haunts to the most elegant and expensive rendezvous of the noble and polished world.’ Feeling a touch of homesickness, Curwen thanked god this was still not so back in New England.”

I had read everything before that, and still didn’t understand it. You have to have an immense knowledge of history to comprehend most passages in this book. I don’t know who Jonathan Swift, Tobias Smollett or Samuel Curwen are.

Moral of the story is, don’t judge a book by its cover, which would lead you to believe you were picking up an exciting account of the revolutionary war.

I used the first Simon & Schuster paperback edition 2006.
 
 
The City of Bones

by Mai-Lan, Reporter

Many are discouraged by the pages and length of the book The City of Bones written by author Claire, Cassandra. But, this book is one that you can’t put down once you begin reading it. The plot of the story is heart racing and exciting. Claire, Cassandra did an amazing job of hooking the reader from beginning to end.

Clary, the main character, is a girl who most teenage girls can relate to. And Jace is what some girls dream about in their boyfriends.

City of Bones is not a typical, predictable love story where the girl falls hard for the boy, has a mishap of problems and then gets her guy.

Between the cover are pages packed with action and the adventures of shadowhunters, who are like fallen angels that protect mundane (humans) and exterminate downworlders (werewolves; vampires; and warlocks).

Think your life is complicated? Well ask Clary about life and you’ll be listening for a long time! Clary was thrown into a world she never knew existed. Her discoveries make her begin questioning her mother’s foggy past and who she really is. What has her mother been hiding from Clary all her life? What really happened to her father, and who is he? What’s in the box her mother keeps and cries over each year?

Clary is questioning everything she thought was true. When a hot, mysterious guy walks into her life, things only get more confusing.

But, Clary is set on getting answers. Follow this determined red-head through her battles of love, life and questions.

Every page has you itching for more. Adventure, suspense, and the supernatural are weaved into each line on the page. The story leaves you demanding more—and that’s where the sequel comes in!

The City of Ashes is a continuation of the Mortal Instruments. The second book is just as well written as the first! Anyone who enjoyed the Twilight series would enjoy the Mortal Instruments series.

Although this series has more adventure than Twilight does, it makes it all the better! Stephenie Meyer, watch out! The Mortal Instruments series might bunk Twilight down on readers’ favorite book list!