Elementary Book Reviews

Do you want to see more book reviews? Are you in elementary school?  Check out elembookreviews.blogspot.com!

Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

Michael Vey is a freshman at a high school in Idaho. He is consistently bullied and singled out. Luckily, he has the power to stop it. During one of his daily poundings he shoots electricity from his hands and runs away from his attackers. He is not allowed to tell anyone of his talent, until a cheerleader sees that shock he gave his attackers that same day. She also is able to manipulate electricity through stopping the neuron connection in ones head and chooses not to tell people about it. After months of discussion they band together with Michael’s friend Ostin Liss (a computer expert) to find out how this happened to them.  Then, an unexpected turn of events happens. They begin to be hunted by someone or something. All of the clues they can discover lead to a snobbish private high school in Pasadena, California. This quest takes some spins and leads off into the next book in series.

Prisoner of Vault 25 is overall a simple read, not challenging and a basic concept. At times I felt as though certain chapters were designed for a movie instead of a book as no thoughts of the character were presented at all and it was just flashy action moves.  In summary, this is your mediocre Scooby-Doo style mystery that you can just blaze through in a rainy weekend.

3.25 Stars

Jacob Aubrecht

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

John Matherson is a military tactic analyzer that retired and chose to live a laid back life in the hills of North Carolina. He wanted only to live the rest of his life with his children and fellow townspeople. This is abruptly stopped when a power outage occurs.  However, this is no ordinary outage: everything electronic seemed to have short-circuited. All communication has disappeared and transportation is at a standstill. The deeper he looks into the situation, the more he is shockingly reminded of the effects of an EMP (electro-magnetic pulse).  Suddenly, neighboring towns turn hostile fighting for medicine and food, bullets become currency, and he tries to piece together the conspiracy that is happening before him.

One Second After may seem to be some crazy dooms-day book, but in reality it was modeled as a wake-up call to try and alert the public of world issues. The author himself has dedicated his studies to find “hidden apocalypses” that can destroy everyday life. John Matherson was designed to be an average man and his realization that civilization sits on a precariously on a ledge and an EMP can send it tumbling back to the Dark Ages. The best summary is one in the foreword by Newt Gingrich (Presidential Nominee) “Stock up on food and medicine as this horror can happen tomorrow.”

4.75 Stars

Jacob Aubrecht