by Anju Ito & Elise Tran, Staff Writers
The following books are this year’s most checked out books in the FVHS library this school year. If you were wondering about books that might be interesting for you to read, try taking a look at these popular books, picked out by the student population.
- Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
By Ransom Riggs
Genre: Young Adult Literature, Fantasy
As the title, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, suggests, this novel takes place at a peculiar orphanage where all the children have superpowers or abnormalities such as the ability to produce fire and the ability to turn invisible. The protagonist, who is mostly a normal boy, visits this orphanage after his grandfather’s murder, traveling back to 1940 while doing so. There, along with his new peculiar friends that he meets, Jacob goes through adventures as he experiences life-threatening experiences. Ending in a cliffhanger, the interesting and mysterious plot along with the eerie pictures in the novel have allured many readers to read the book, and this book became the New York Times #1 Best Seller by 2012. The sequel, Hollow City, was published in 2014, picking the previous story up right from its ending.
“It was a good book. It wasn’t necessarily my type of book that I usually read, but I enjoyed it. Sometimes it was a little bit slow at points but like I said, it was a good book,” said Jennifer Trend (‘20).
- Looking for Alaska
By John Green
Genre: Young Adult Novel
Looking for Alaska revolves around a life of a high school boy, Miles, at his boarding school. With his friends, Alaska, Takumi, The Colonel and Lara, Miles enjoys his new school, having fun and also going through lots of drama, mostly due to his love for Alaska. Containing some sudden turn of events, this thought-provoking novel illustrates a seemingly ordinary life while containing themes that deliver readers into a deeper philosophical thought. As John Green’s first novel, it has won the Michael L. Prints Award in 2006, and is the second most borrowed book in our library.
“I felt the book was really interesting because it was really deep even though it included characters that were around our age, and you can see a lot of problems in their society so it was really interesting how they went through all that,” said Divya Seth (‘17).
- Ender’s Game
By Orson Scott Card
Genre: Science Fiction
The story is set in future Earth and is centered on a child genius, Ender Wiggin. When a fictitious insect-like alien race called the Formics, or Buggers, invades Earth, the military calls for someone who can save the world. The military begins to start a program training students to prepare to fight the Buggers. They then discover Wiggin’s intelligence and his abilities to conquer any obstacle in his way. Now, the world is in Wiggin’s hand and must figure out how to fight the Buggers. As the first book in the Ender’s Game series, this book was adapted into a movie in 2013, with Speaker for the Dead as its prequel.
“Ender’s Game is one of the greatest books I’ve ever read. I read it quite a while ago, although I do believe that it’s one of my favorites. Ender is a very strong protagonist and I really enjoyed his journey from beginning to end, because it was very interesting to see him progress and mature throughout the entire story,” said Kalani Smith (‘20).
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two
By Jack Thorne
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two is considered the eighth book in its series, and is the script book of the play based off J.K. Rowling’s world of Harry Potter. The script starts from where The Deathly Hallows, Rowling’s seventh book in the series, left off. It revolves around the generation of Harry Potter’s child, Albus, and as he enters first year at Hogwarts to begin his adventure, truth and darkness unfolds.
“I liked it a lot; it was really good. It was kind of a bummer, because J.K. Rowling wasn’t like the sole author of it, but I still liked how the story turned out. [I would recommend it to] all my friends because I know they love Harry Potter, so anybody who is a Harry Potter fan has to read this book. It’s a necessity,” said Mia Shepard (‘20).
- A Thousand Splendid Suns
By Khaled Hosseini
Genre: Fiction
The novel revolves around two Afghan women, Mariam and Laila, whose lives cross paths when Mariam and Rasheed take care of a Laila, because of the war. They start to create a bond of friendship and care between each other. Mariam has lived with her mother until her mother commits suicide, and from there she was sent to her father, Jalil, to take care of her, but soon after he marries Mariam to Rasheed, a shoemaker. With the war in Afghanistan going on, Mariam and Rasheed take care of a girl, Laila. With an abusive husband, Laila and Mariam confide in one another and become close friends while going through the hardships of war, loss and abuse. This was the second book after The Kite Runner author Khaled Hosseini has written. A Thousand Splendid Suns was the New York Times #1 Best Seller for fifteen weeks after its release in 2007.
“I read A Thousand Splendid Suns a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed it. I recommend it, because it’s a brave, powerful and big-hearted book,” said Kurt Bui (‘20).
