Best books I have read in 2013

       This year I have begun to read young adult books that can be intense. But I have read these intense books and have found a great story and meaning to these books. My favorite books of the year are The Maze Runner, Never Fall Down, and Leverage. These books really spoke to me and they were very interesting. I hope you will take my recommendation and read these books.

       In the book Never Fall Down, the protagonist is a boy Arn who lives in Cambodia. One day his whole village is forced to walk to rice fields where they will have to face starvation and overwork. Arn learns to help others instead of himself so later they could help him. This book shows that in a tough situation you need help from others to overcome a great obstacle. It also showed me that motivation helps people overcome or finish tasks.

       In the book The Maze Runner, Thomas, the protagonist is put in the glade without a memory and has to fight mutant animals. He has to think with others before time runs out and has to make decisions for the greater good. This book also shows how you need others to overcome something big. It also showed that you have to make choices that will help the majority so there will be more survivors.

       Finally, the book Leverage was about a small gymnast and a big tough football player in high school. While there is a prank war happening between the two sport teams Danny (gymnast) and Kurt (football player) become good friends and learn to fight off the bullies in high school together. This book shows how you shouldn't fall into peer pressure and you should tell others about bullies. This also shows me how friends can help you overcome someone/ something big or stronger than you. 

       After reviewing all of these books I realized that one of the theme's is using friends to help overcome difficulties or great challenges. This could be a pattern in young adult books, I wonder what other ways books can show how using friends help you overcome challenges.