Book of the month: December

Now is the time of year, where people find themselves becoming more and more stressed. Either stressing about the finals coming up, or trying to find the perfect gifts for the upcoming holidays, one finds themselves not giving enough time to just relax. Everyone knows that the best possible way to unwind is to just curl up with a good read. So why not read on to find the perfect book to read this holiday season. When discussing with one of our librarians, Stefani Tovar, the book she highly recommends this month is Cinder by Marissa Meyers. Even though, Cinder isn’t a recent find, Tovar backs up her decision by the continued approval from the Samo community. “Published in 2012, it has received a steady stream of positive reviews by Samo students and professional critics alike,” Tovar said. Although, this book may seem “kiddie” since it’s based on the classic fairytale Cinderella, Tovar guarantees that Meyers adds a captivating twist that everyone will enjoy. “Cinder takes a futuristic and adventurous spin of the fairytale classic, Cinderella. The protagonist is Linh Cinder, a cyborg who lives with mean step siblings and a wicked stepmother.  Such familiar elements exist in this plot, including a prince, a queen and of course the ball. But there's much more to this story for fans and those who passed on the original,” Tovar said. She also elaborates on why she believes Cinder is the perfect choice, suitable for our diverse set of students, by giving us a concise summary for this dystopian, futuristic read.“It's a story that crosses multiple genres to draw in diverse teen interests such as Sci-Fi, Romance and Dystopian fiction,” Tovar said. “Cinder has no rights as a cyborg, and although her circumstances consider her a victim, she is strong and independent - qualities that draw her and Prince Kai toward each other. Set on multiple worlds, a mysterious plague and threat of intergalactic war put everyone at risk of death. But Cinder is immune to the plague, freeing her to save them all.”Following a 550 page count, Cinder is the debut novel for the American author Marissa Meyers. Gaining popularity among readers, Cinder won the Teen’s Top Ten award, administered by the Youth Adult Library Services Association. With this huge success Meyers, fortunately, released Cinder as the first of four in her series. “If Samo readers love the book or have already read it, they can know that this is the first installment of a 4-part book series called The Lunar Chronicles,” Tovar said. If you are feeling stressed towards the approaching events, no fear, here’s the most dependable and simplest solution.