Hello Neighbor: Missing Pieces by Carly Anne West is a very unique kind of book. It’s because the book is based on a video game called “Hello Neighbor.” I didn’t know much about the video game at the time, but I knew the video game was very successful. So when I saw this book at my school book fair, I thought I should give it a try. I don’t regret my decision either. Missing Pieces is one of the best mystery books I have ever read. It takes all the mysterious elements the video game had, and included them in this book. While it might not be long (it’s only 200 pages), it’s extremely fun to read and very suspenseful. The story is about a young kid named Nicky Roth, who just moved to a new city called Raven Brooks. Not long after he moves, he befriends his neighbor next door, who is a kid named Aaron Peterson. They soon become best friends, and pull pranks and have fun around Raven Brooks. But soon, Nicky learns that the Petersons and Aaron are not a normal family, and they have secrets hiding deep within their houses… There are a lot of reasons I think this book is very unique compared to other mystery novels. The first is that I love the author’s style of writing. It’s told through the perspective of Nicky, and he is very creative in how he talks throughout the book. For example, instead of talking about moving to Raven Brooks like a normal person would talk about moving, he talks about it descriptively and interestingly, but you still feel like you don’t know all the details. I like this style of writing because it felt like the perfect style for this book and because it’s the most unique element that makes this story different from others. Like in one part of the book, they give the meaning of the word “bad” in a different way than what other people think: Nicky: What does make a person bad, then? Aaron: Being bad when bad things happen. This is how most of the book is written, and this makes the book even more suspenseful. The second reason I love this book is because the book doesn’t have any paranormal activity to make it scary. All the stuff in this book can happen in real life, and making a book like that is not as easy as you think. The book also involves messages like tragedy, fate, loss, and sadness. All this stuff can be related to, and that’s why you sometimes feel sad and depressed when you read this book. I also love that Aaron and Nicky don’t have a normal friendship. They have hobbies and habits that are unique (lock-picking, trespassing, etc.). Their friendship doesn’t always go well sometimes and even though they are friends, Aaron keeps secrets to himself, and doesn’t share everything about his personality. This made me scared, and I couldn’t put the book down when I first read it. It left me wondering: What’s really going on? Even though this book is amazing, there are some problems with it. The first and the biggest reason is the lack of variety in the story. The whole story revolves around Nicky developing a friendship with Aaron, while at the same time discovering his dark past. The setting usually takes place in Aaron’s house or around Raven Brooks, and the only things that Nicky and Aaron do are sleepovers, pulling pranks and picking locks. Other than that, there is not much that they do, and this disappoints me, because there are only a few chapters in the book that don’t involve these kinds of things. I also don’t like how the book sometimes tries to be funny. It can be really hilarious at times, but other times when it’s dark and gloomy, the author tries to sneak a joke in, and it really doesn’t fit the mood. Overall, I loved Hello Neighbor: Missing Pieces. It kept me hooked throughout the whole time reading it. However, I want to say one thing before I end the review. If you don’t enjoy dark, creepy and sad stories, then I suggest not to read this book. The book barely contains any cheerful or happy scenes, and this might scare some people. But as for me, I can’t wait to read the follow-books in the series, and I am very happy I didn’t underestimate the power of a book that is based on a video game.
Book Reviews
The Ramona Quimby Series, Reviewed by Tara Prakash, 12
The Ramona Series are the type of books that you will just keep pulling out of your bookshelf to read, any day, any age, just because. Maybe it’s because author Beverly Cleary developed the characters so well in our minds, it’s as if they are your best friend. Maybe it’s because the adventures Ramona gets into are so relatable and funny. Or maybe it’s just because these books reflect life. Messy, funny, scary at times, but always coming back back stronger each time. I think what won this book over for me was just how much of a character Ramona was. I can’t even fully put it into words- it was unbelievable. This had never happened with any other book before, just Ramona. She is just such a charismatic girl, filled with spunk and adventure, with such a BIG imagination, always hoping to be excited by the everyday things. Her experiences push her forward, and throughout the books, you can see her growth. During the stories, I would practically hear Ramona’s voice echoing in my ears. It was as if she was alive, and words, just the sheer power of language, had never done that before. I think what also made Ramona such a character was her family. Her sister, Beatrice, christened Beezus, is the typical sister. Annoying, mean at times, and kind at the perfect moments. She and Ramona have the usual relationship, and you can see both girls evolve and change from their experiences with each other. Both of them have their own problems, Beatrice with the drama that comes with junior high and Ramona with the feeling of never growing up, and throughout the book you can sense that they trust each other and support each other more, with secrets or just things both siblings want to conceal and hide. For example, when Beezus went to the mall with her friends, she got her ears pierced but without her parents’ consent. Worried about what her mom and dad would think, she told Ramona what she had done before she told her parents because she trusted her sister- that trust had been built like a wall of bricks, day after day, placing each brick on top of the other. Ramona’s father is a caring, gentle, hilarious man. He loves to draw and at home is a cartoon artist, drawing comical illustrations on her lunch bag, while struggling in the first few books to get a job after he got let off at a agency. When Ramona gets into her mayhem and accidents that don’t always result well, her dad is there to hear her out, give her a hand, and help her through whatever knot she is in. Always. Ramona’s mother is more serious but has an air about her that just makes you feel comforted and happy. She is understanding, just like Ramona’s father and knows what her children need. Aunt Beatrice, her mom’s sister, is always there for Ramona. When Ramona is upset or frustrated with how something is going, whether she feels like she isn’t helping her father, whether her sister has called her a pest, whether she fell off the unicycle her neighbor Howie let her ride, Aunt Beatrice is always there with a joke, or a small gift, or the perfect words or story, that make Ramona feel better instantly. She is to Ramona a one of a kind ointment to the scrapes and burns that Ramona gets. Ramona also builds friendships at her school, and throughout the series, you can see how she grows in the social arena, opening up, creating new circles, and expanding her universe. Her neighbor and friend, Howie, is adventurous as well, and always open to trying new things. They get to know each other throughout the series very well, as in the earlier part of the series, Ramona went to his house everyday after school until her parents got home from work. One part of the book that stands out is the part where Howie lets Ramona ride his brand new unicycle, and he takes Ramona’s bike. Ramona crashes head over heels, and she ends of being okay, but its one of their many adventures throughout the book. They also stomp through the neighborhood one day in the pouring rain, with handmade stilts made with buckets and yarn, screaming “100 bottles of beer on the wall!” As each book in the series age, so does Ramona. She grows up, and matures, and she has different kinds of adventures, not like the kind when she was doing a car wash on her neighbor’s car (Howie’s uncle), and the car rolls off the sandbag and into the shed, where over fifty buckets of paint topple onto it, causing the what was once a black Jeep to look more like an ice cream truck. These are just a few of the adventures of spunky Ramona! She meets Daisy, a kind, funny girl, remarkably like her name. They grow close, as Ramona nears the age of 13, which is where the book series ends at. What I loved about Ramona is that through all of her adventures, she was always trying to make the world a better place, and make someone else happy. When the buckets of paint dumped on her neighbor’s car, she had been doing a car wash to raise money for her family, because her dad had been suddenly let off. Everything she does is because of an outcome that she has in her mind, but more often than not, it’s not what she expects, which is what makes the book such a colorful, unique book that stands out on the shelves. If you like a series in which the characters are vividly developed, have a lot of funny adventures, and are always trying to make the world a better place through them, then the Ramona Series is for you! Ramona Quimby Series by Beverly Cleary. HarperCollins, 2016. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the
Finally, Reviewed by Vandana, 12
There is magic in everyday life. Sometimes we overlook it or take it for granted, but it is there. There’s magic in friendships, in perfectly timed coincidences, in the learning space between childhood and adulthood. The optimistic, lighthearted novel Finally by Wendy Mass celebrates this fact and highlights the uniqueness of even the most seemingly average people and places. The protagonist, Rory Swenson, is about to turn twelve. She’s been waiting for this day her whole life: when she’s twelve, she’ll finally be able to do a multitude of things that her friends have been doing without her for years. Get a cell phone. Wear makeup. Exchange her glasses for contact lenses. Babysit . . . Rory is used to feeling overlooked, left out. She’s heard people call her “mousy” and “bookish.” She’s quickly forgotten in a crowd; and stemming from this is perhaps the most hurtful thing of all: she feels she doesn’t matter. Rory hopes her big day will change all that. But as each long-cherished wish is granted, Rory is forced to consider the difference between what she needs to do to fit in and what she truly wants. I first discovered Finally at the school book fair in fifth grade. I was captivated before I had finished the first page. I had found a person just like me in the honest, cheerful Rory, and I walked home that day feeling like I had just made a new friend. Two years later, Rory has accompanied me through all the ups and downs of school and summer. Her chatty, entertaining voice brought sunshine to my darkest days, and though Finally is no action thriller, the protagonist’s hilarious mishaps and sensitive heart weave the kind of tale which never grows old. Frank, funny, and full of surprises, Finally is a story that spins many themes together, and consequently appeals to a wide range of readers. For one, it portrays the pressure to grow up before one might be ready, which nearly every middle schooler experiences at some point in their life. It touches, with a fresh take on the classic coming-of-age story, on the search for an identity both unique and “normal.” At the end of the book, quiet Rory realizes that in her own, brown-haired, makeup-free way, she has changed lives. This is the part which I always treasured, because it reminded me that while some people are special in different ways from others, everyone is truly unique. Under a captivating layer of humor, action, and frank reality, Finally broadcasts a powerful message, like pills dissolved in jelly: everyone is different, although it can be hard to realize. The pull to satisfy the mirage that constitutes the idea of “normal” can be strong, but it is possible to fight it. And when you do, the magic inside you will be unleashed. Finally by Wendy Mass. Scholastic, 2011. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? Let us know in the comments below!
