Fullmetal Alchemist Manga Review By Sterling C

                Fullmetal Alchemist, as another manga series I decided to start reading, it’s probably one of the best right behind Death Note. Written by, Hiromu Arakawa, Fullmetal Alchemist is a story about two young boys whose goal is to bring their dead mother back from the dead. The only problem with that is that it’s never been done before.         

                In the failed attempt to do so, the two brothers lose a piece of them, the oldest, his arm and leg, the youngest everything but his soul. After years that have passed the eldest brother Ed went into the military as a state Alchemist. With the two brothers working for the government they try harder and harder to get to answer of their question, how to successfully bring someone back from the dead. They go to many different places and try to figure out how they will find there answer.  

                With the boys searching they get close, but yet have the hardest time trying to find the actually answer itself. Going from the library which had burned down, to the “secret place” which they got caught and almost died at, and then going back to their teacher whom won’t teach them anything else and is too weak to do much. After all the traveling the two boys have found many clues as to what may help them in there soon to become long journey to find the secret ingredient, the philosophers stone.

                As a very good book and a very good series, Fullmetal Alchemist is a book for people who like books that keep you interested and like action. This book/ series is probably one of my favorite books so far, I rate this book series a four and half out of five. Now my question to you is, will you find out whether they find the stone or not and retrieve there long lost mother?

I Heart You, You Haunt Me Book Review by Megan E

                The book I read was “I heart you, you haunt me” by Lisa Schroeder.  This book is quick, sad and heart-warming all at the same time.  I wasn't crazy about the verse set up, but the story itself was really good, and it really connected you to the characters.

                A teenage girl, Ava, just lost “the love of her life”, in a tragic accident.  Now, her dead ex-lover, Jackson is literally haunting her, reminding her constantly of their love together.  Her parents start to become worried about her because she never leaves the house.  Then one day at the beach, she meets a boy named Lyric, and once he asks for her number, she quickly withdrawals, thinking of Jackson, and went home.  Then one night, her friends want her to go to a party with them and her parents insist that she goes.  She tags a long and it ends up being at the place where Jackson died.  One of her friends wants to introduce her to a boy they like, and it ended up being Lyric.  After a while of being at the party, Ava starts losing it and Lyric ended up driving her home.  Towards the end, Ava begins to discover that even though she will always have a place in her heart for Jackson, she can’t separate her life from actual living people and makes a decision that will change her life for the better.

                The only thing I did not like about the book was how it was written in verse.  Otherwise, I thought it was phenomenal.  The author cut right to the chase, and did not make it unclear that someone had died.  It lets me as a reader feel more emotionally connected to the character and story.  “ I've never been to a funeral until today” is the opening sentence, even though it’s really short, it holds so much meaning and sets the tone.   This book showed the stages of grief when you lose someone, and that is something that almost everyone can relate to.

                This book hold a lot of purpose, it showed someone struggling to let go of her best friend, her other half and they had to learn how to cope and live life without them.  They started finding themselves and moving on, but never forgetting.  I loved this book; I would recommend it to anyone.  I give it four out of five stars.