4.11 avg rating — 1,695,639 ratings

"My favorite book is Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. It is about an old man named Jacob who tells the story of himself when he was younger. He was about to become a vet when both of his parents died so he ran away and kind of accidentally joined a circus. The circus needed him though to care for the elephant that is used in the show. The book covers his time in the circus and all of the different people involved that Jacob begins to know. One person is his boss’s wife, Marlena, whom he falls in love with! It is a very good book that I recommend! -Emory Bell, Fall 14"

4.36 avg rating — 139,657 ratings

"I don’t really have much time to read for fun so I feel like this book taught me why I enjoy reading for fun. It made me cry, made me laugh, and pulled at my heart strings. -Jade Robinson, Fall 13"

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 66,741 ratings

"The Hate List by Jennifer Brown is a book based on a school shooting. Valerie Leftman tells the story of how her boyfriend killed and injured multiple people at their school, shot Valerie, and then himself. The couple created a hate list, which consisted of people and things they hated. So when people who were on the hate list ended up dead, everyone blamed the only person alive—Valerie. The book is about how she faces her fear of people blaming her and hating her, and how she transforms as a character from blaming everyone else to accepting responsibility for what happened. -Autumn Ward, Fall 16"

4.03 avg rating — 3,022 ratings

"Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun is a by Geoffrey Canada. Canada writes about his own experiences growing up among violence in order to illustrate the larger picture about how currently, especially in the minority neighborhoods of the United States, violence is becoming a critical issue. The book is written in a way that shows small pieces of Canada’s up-bring and how as he grew, and how the inner city of New York grew, so did the evolution of violence. Particularly, he articulates an example of the importance placed on being a good street fighter when he was a very small kid. As the book progresses, even though he was one of the best fighters on his block, he explains how he became increasingly fearful of the environment around him, so began to carry a knife and practice, almost methodically, how quickly he could pull it out and open it. Eventually, Canada felt the need to carry a gun whenever he visited his old neighborhood. This book is very eye opening to the specific situations that youth in inner cities face today. It is both frustrating - as it seems as this problem has become so deeply entrenched by now and how tragic its effects are on our children – and inspiring – as the foundation that Canada has started in light of everything he went through has been a major success, even receiving national attention from President Obama and is to be used as a templet to be followed in many of the major cities of the United States in the near future. -Olivia Wright, Fall 16"

4.36 avg rating — 1,189,300 ratings

"Wonder is a chapter book that is about 300 pages in length but is written on a middle school reading level so it’s a quick read. This book is about a boy named August Pullman (Auggie) who was born with a facial defect. His parents homeschooled him up until 5th grade because they were scared of how other students would treat him. Now that he’s older, they’ve decided to send him to a mainstream school. This book takes the reader on Auggie’s journey of starting a new school and discusses the struggles that he faced. It is funny, uplifting and moving. This book teaches powerful messages and is beneficial for people of all ages to read. -Kristen Fante, Fall 13"

3.85 avg rating — 732,460 ratings

"My favorite book is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Growing up, I did not have girl friends in school. This series provided me with four. The first book helped me mature as a young woman and learn how to cope with life events like break ups and loneliness. I related most with Bridget. Bridget was a strong female searching for her purpose by seeking out another strong female--her grandmother. Bridget did not embrace stereotypical gender roles and refused the stigma attached to mental illness. -Allie Maples, Fall 13"

4.12 avg rating — 5,683,254 ratings

"The fault in our stars is a story about a girl, Hazel, who has lung-cancer. Every day, she has an oxygen tank with her. Her mom tells her to go to support group, where she has to talk to other cancer patients. She doesn’t really like it, until Augustus ‘Gus’ Waters appears. He is very handsome and he seems to be interested in her as well. When they spend the afternoon together, they give each other a book to read. The book Hazel gives Gus is ‘An Imperial Affliction’. AIA ends in an open end, and Hazel has been looking for answers ever since she’s finished the book a few years ago. For Gus’s wish (every cancer-kid gets one) he wishes to travel to Amsterdam with Hazel, where the author of AIA lives. They go there and in Amsterdam they finally share their first kiss. Up to that point in the novel it is a very happy story. The next day, Gus tells Hazel that, a few weeks ago, he had an ache. He went to the hospital and had a PET-scan. And, like he says: ‘I lit up like a Christmas tree.’ The cancer is everywhere. From that on, we follow a tragic downwards spiral, that leads to Gus’s death. The book ends with Hazel telling Gus that she does like her choices in life. -Savannah Siebenburgen, Fall 16 "

4.17 avg rating — 157,266 ratings

" The book starts off being narrated by a man named Ira Levinson. He was in a snow storm and ran off the road and hit a tree. He talks about his wife, even though she is not with him because she passed away a few years ago. The book then goes to a different narrator, Sophia. She is a college student who lives in a sorority house. Her sorority sisters, after a lot of persuading, finally convince her to go to a bull-riding event. After the event there is a barn party. Her ex-boyfriend is coincidentally there as well. He finds Sophia and starts raising his voice at her. A bystander jumps in to stop the argument. This bystander happens to be the cute bull-rider who won the event today, Luke. Sophia and Luke hit it off and Luke asks Sophia out on a date. When they are on their way home from the date, Luke notices a car has ran off the road. They stop and help the man and get him to the hospital. Sophia decides to wait at the hospital until the man is out of surgery. The man turns out to be Ira Levinson. Sophia and Ira develop a great friendship because Ira has these letters he wrote to his wife but can't read them anymore so Sophia offers to read them to him. She comes to visit him everyday and to read him a letter. One of the things in the letters is about Ruth's, Ira's wife, love for art. Sophia also has a love for art, for she is an art major. Sophia and Luke continue to build their relationship and begin to fall in love. They hit a bump in the road when they realize they come from two completely different backgrounds, a love for art and a love for bull-riding. Once they get past this, Luke becomes endangered if he continues to bull riding because of a serious injury he got before he met Sophia. Luke insists on continuing to ride even though there is a risk of death. Sophia decides she cannot be with someone who she doesn't know will come home or not. Sophia gets a call that Ira passed away but there would be an auction to sell all of Ira and Ruth's art pieces. Sophia goes to the auction. Luke shows up and buys the first piece of art sold, which is a painting of Ruth done by a boy she taught and took under her wing. Luke tells Sophia that he rode Rango, the toughest bull and he made the 8 seconds and that he was done riding. Sophia and Luke make up. Then they find out because Luke purchased the painting of Ruth, he receives the collection in its entirety. This collection is worth millions of dollars. Luke works on the farm and Sophia opens an art gallery and they both live happily ever after. -Kathryn Rawley"

3.93 avg rating — 5,868,187 ratings

"In high school I really enjoyed reading the Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald. The story is told by Nick Carraway who was once Gatsby's neighbor. The story is told post 1922 in East Egg, Long Island. Nick goes there to visit his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom. He discovers that Gatsby holds parties for the rich, and decides to attend. He meets Gatsby for the first time there and notices he hangs out at a great distance form his guests. Gatsby and Nick become friends over that summer and Nick discovers that Gatsby loves Daisy even though she is married. Some drama goes down when Tom's mistress mysteriously dies after being hit by a car and Gatsby and Tom get into a massive argument over Daisy. In the end Gatsby dies and no one is willing to make the funeral arrangements except Nick. The funeral mainly consists of Nick and Gatsby's estranged father. -Mackenzie Mahon, Fall 15"

3.84 avg rating — 1,022,387 ratings

"Thirteen Reasons Why is one of my ultimate favorite novels and now a new television show is being released about the novel. The book is about a girl who commits suicide and there are thirteen people that were the reason why she killed herself.
This book is written as if each chapter was a cassette being played and the reactions of the people listening to them. Each individual receives the tape with a description of why they are the reason that she killed herself.
For me I really enjoyed the lay out of this book and I never wanted to set the book down because I wanted to see what was going to happen next. Although the book is very sad, I recommend it because it has a really good message within the book. It is an easy read and you get hooked really fast. -Haley Wudke"