This year, Ms. Marieke’s English class has been involved in literacy circles. I was in a group with Rebecca, Emma and Raul and we happened to be reading a book that was written by a lady who lives in our community. We were all really lucky to have the opportunity to be discussing the book with the author while reading it.

Over the course of reading, the unpublished author came to visit our group a few times. This was the perfect time to discuss what we had read and what we thought of the book. It was really interesting because she actually took into consideration everything that we had to say. In the end, the author came in one more time and we were all bubbling with thoughts and opinions. The fact that we were part of editing a book that was yet to be published was an amazing experience.

Sienna and Kristian are international twins who have traveled the world with their mum and dad. When both parents tragically die, Kristian and Sienna are both whisked off to America with their uncle who they haven’t seen in a very long time. During their time there, many events happen along the way. Kristian joins a gang, which results in Sienna falling in love with one of the members. At the same time, Sienna and Kristian find out a magical truth about their family. Sienna is hit with shocking facts and reality situations. Can she balance out her life with so many events hitting her at once?

I really enjoyed the book because it had a very interesting plot and I have never read anything like it. One element of the book that I really liked was that there were so many plot twists throughout the book that I absolutely did not expect. I found myself at times feeling quite tense because I felt like I was in the book and experiencing the story with the characters. Also, I really valued the characters and they all had very different personalities. Sienna is quite quirky while Uncle Marco is quite suspicious. My favorite character would have to be Sienna because I can really relate to her and I can see myself being friends with her if I was her age. In the end, I really appreciated the book and it was quite a page-turner. I loved the ending and I can’t wait to read the sequel.

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of reading a book that was not yet published and the fact that the unpublished author visited us often. I liked that the author took our comments into consideration. I would definitely recommend the book when it is published.

By Marina Lazareva