Beautiful Creatures

By: Kayla Carrico

            Beautiful Creatures is 592 pages of mystery and suspense. Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl will not let you put the book down. They keep you captivated and guessing and you feel a connection with the characters.

            Beautiful Creatures introduces you to the small southern town of Gatlin, where everyone is expected to have the same exact views and originality is frowned upon. Then enters Lena Duchannes; a young gothic girl coming to live with her crazy reclusive uncle who is nothing like the people of Gatlin.

            When Lena catches the attention of Ethan Wate both of their lives will change. Ethan feels connected to Lena but he can’t explain it. Add that to all of the weird things going on around town since Lena arrived and you get a story full of mystery and unanswered questions. Just when you figure one thing out something else is thrown right back at you.

            Beautiful Creatures is an incredible story that pulls you along in such a way that you cannot force yourself to put it down. Stohl and Garcia do such an excellent job of keeping you interested and building their characters that you feel a connection to them. This can only be contributed to the marvelous handiwork of the two authors.

If you want to take a walk into a world that seems so similar to your own, yet exceptionally different, into the world of Beautiful Creatures.

Book Review: "Hush, Hush"

By: Kayla Carrico

Hush, Hush, the first book written by author Becca Fitzpatrick debuted as a New York Times bestseller. Hush, Hush is amazingly well written. It is Good enough to capture the attention of even the most diehard vampire fan.

            Hush, Hush is the story of a high school student named Nora Grey. Nora’s life is completely normal until the day that Coach switches seats in biology and she has to sit by the incredibly mysterious Patch. Before this, Nora had never shown any interest in boys. She had a plan and they were not a part of it, but there was something different about Patch. He just seemed to draw her in.

            When unexplainable things begin to happen to Nora she’s not sure who she can trust. Patch seems to know everything about her. Nora Grey is being thrown into a battle as old as time itself, with fallen angels and many more mysterious happenings. The only thing left for Nora to do is decide which side she wants to be on.

            Hush, Hush is so well written because Becca Fitzpatrick makes you feel like you’re a part of the story. Nora’s battle becomes your battle as you feel the need to pick sides. She includes a mixture of everyday problems that all teenagers face, (including friends, school, and other teenage pressures) and it combines them into a world with a whole new perspective.

            Hush, Hush is new; it includes a fresh idea that also sticks to the popular genre of today. I think that it is wonderfully written and very unique. Although books of this nature have been written before, (those with angels and fallen angels), this novel has a new take. Becca Fitzpatrick took an old idea and put a new spin on it, she spent five years perfecting it and her hard work shows in her fantastic writing and her brilliant character development.

            If you’re looking for a good book to read, look no further. Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush is just what you’re looking for.

Hancock Does Well Despite Tough Competition

By: Drema Johnson

On Saturday October 23 the Hancock County Cross Country teams traveled to Owensboro to compete in the Apollo Invitational. Although the girls didn’t have a full team, they did exceptionally well. Leading for Hancock County was Drema Johnson. She placed third with a time of 21:29. Other finishers included Sydney Young placing eighth with 22:10, Kensey Estes placing fourteenth with 22:48, and Tanisha Johnson placing fiftieth with 29:13. 

“All of my runners exceeded my expectations,” Coach Wes Meserve stated. “This was a pretty hard course, so times weren’t the best, but the places were even better than they were projected to be. For them to go out and do as well as they did, I have to say that it was the best race that I’ve seen all season.

The varsity boys also did extremely well. Cody Roach led the race for Hancock County. He placed eighth with a time of 17:52. Other finishers included Cody Inman placing fifty- fourth with 20:30 and Josh Daugherty placing fifty- ninth with 20:54.

“I started out too fast, because I overheard some of the boys in my race talking about boxing me in.” Roach stated. “I knew I didn’t have many options so I just went for it.”

Just like varsity, middle school gave it their all, and in return got great results. The boys were led by Cody Schroader who placed fourth with a time of 15:14. Others included Austin Schadler sixth with 15:26, Dylan Johnson eighteenth with 16:16, Bailey Terry forty-eighth with 17:57, Bo Powers sixty- ninth with 18:47, Wesley Nevvitt seventieth with 18:47, and Jacob Young eighty-ninth with 20:19.

As far as the girl’s middle school, Kirsten Johnson led the race with 16:58 and Kelsey Rodgers placed eighth with 18:13.

“I’m very proud of my middle school runners as well.” Meserve stated. “A few of my boys were up there with some of the top runners in the state, and Kelsey proved just how far she has really come. Also, Kirsten, as a sixth grader, won her race beating some of the best middle schoolers in the state.”