Despicable Me 3 is a good standalone movie but is disappointing and lackluster when compared to its predecessors. The movie starts off showcasing Gru and Lucy on a mission to retrieve the stolen diamond from Balthazar Bratt a former child star. They end up failing to capture him and up getting fired. In a surprising twist, Gru finds out he has a twin brother. This premise is fascinating, but it also resulted in a movie that does not execute the story.
Despicable Me 2 is a perfect installment to the series and ties up to the first installment perfectly. The movie starts off with Gru continuing his job of being a parent and turning to living an honest life, but then his life takes a turn as he is hired by the anti-villain league to partner with Lucy Wilde to find the culprit who stole the research facility with dangerous contents. Gru’s transition, from being a villain to a hero, was fun to watch. We see Gru develop as a character and become a better person.
Donner Dinner Party is part of the series Hazardous Tales, by Nathan Hale. This book features America during the Age of Discovery when people traveled the trail from Missouri to the West at Oregon or California. In this book, the Donner Family goes on a trail to California in a group of wagon trains. However, Father Donner tries to take a shortcut which ends up being longer than the real route and drains them of resources. Throughout the route, their oxen get stolen, and there are vicious fights between the company.
Ember of Night by Molly E Lee follows Harley, desperate to give her younger sister a better life than what their abusive father gives them. When a stranger reveals Harley’s importance in stopping a war between heaven and hell she calls him a liar. But as strange things keep happening that Harley can’t explain, she can’t help but think he was right.
Five Survive is a thriller novel about six friends who are going on a road trip for spring break. On the way, their RV breaks down in the middle of a forest at night. They quickly realize that it was not an accident. There is a sniper outside of the RV who wants one of the people in the RV to reveal one of their secrets. Throughout the book, many secrets are uncovered, trust is broken, and tensions rise.
Till Human Voices Wake Us, by Rebecca Roque, chronicles the twisting journey of seventeen-year-old Silencia “Cia” Lucero as she attempts to uncover the secrets buried in her hometown, Summerset. Cia has her own dark history, her own secrets. Including a traumatic past as Silence Bennett, living in a house with three sisters and a father that ended up blowing it all up. And when her best friend Alice says that she has answers to secrets that lead back to the Bennett house, Cia isn’t ready to hear any of it.
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a timeless coming-of-age novel about identity, belonging and the struggles of growing up. The story follows Ponyboy Curtis, a thoughtful teenager caught between two rival social groups: the working-class Greasers and the wealthy Socs. As tensions between the groups escalate, Ponyboy is forced to confront violence, loss and the harsh realities of life.
Hockey player, Nathan Hawkins, and figure skater, Anastasia Allen, do not start off on the right foot. Ana seemingly hates hockey players, especially the ones that play for Maple Hills. Ana and Nathan meet at one of the Nathan’s parties and end up hooking up. However, after Ana flees the scene. As they grow up the try to discover themselves and each other while playing their respective sports.
Lowen Ashleigh is walking down the street when someone gets into a car accident. She stays to clean up when a stranger, Jeremy Crawford, also helps her clean up. They share an intimate moment. Jeremy’s wife, Verity, was a famous author who was tragically killed in a car crash. Jeremy asks Lowen to finish Verity’s novels and even offers to let her live in his house. While Lowen is living there, she finds Verity’s unpublished autobiography where strange and mysterious things are revealed about her life.
Pippa Fitz-Amobi decides to investigate the Andie Bell case as part of her high school project. Andie Bell was murdered five years ago, and the case was closed when they named Sal Singh, her boyfriend, her murderer. However, Pip always thought there was something off with this case. She teams up with Ravi Singh, Sal’s brother, to investigate the truth of what truly happened to Andie Bell.
