Have you ever wondered what your fellow students are reading on their own time? Sometimes it’s not just a smartphone screen. Sometimes they’re reading actual books…and The Eagle’s Cry decided to find out exactly what BHS students are reading and enjoying.

Recently, BHS junior Grace Jang mentioned that her favorite author was James Patterson, perhaps best known for his book series, Maximum Ride, a fantasy novel about the adventures of Max and her five other friends who escape from their lab facility called “The School.” They’re human hybrids (they have wings), and soon their identities are known to the world. They have to avoid the people trying to get them back into the lab while also staying out of the public eye.

Another book mentioned by students, also by James Patterson is Zoo, a science fiction thriller about Jackson Oz, who is ostracized by his colleagues, all biologists and ecologists. Oz feels strongly about the information he has on mammal attacks on humans, but no one’s willing to listen. The rest of the novel involves coming to accept his data, mammal attacks getting crazier, and world leaders who keep taking the wrong actions to fix this problem.

Junior Mallory Wilson stated that Rick Riordan was her favorite author. Rick Riordan is known for writing the Percy Jackson and Olympians series. It’s in the fantasy genre and is centered around a young boy who is actually the son of Poseidon. All the books in the series are The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian.

I asked another student, Priya Patel, who her favorite author was and she immediately replied with “Sarah Dessen…I love all her books!” Sarah Dessen writes mostly realistic fiction. She’s known for writing books like Just Listen, Lock and Key, Dreamland, This Lullaby, What Happened to Goodbye, and just recently, Saint Anything.

Raquel Wetzler said that Patricia McCormick is her favorite author. Patricia McCormick was a young journalist who then turned to writing books. She’s best known for writing Cut and Purple Heart. Cut involves a girl named Callie who’s going through a rough time. Throughout the book, we learn what she goes through and how she gets better.

In Purple Heart, Iraq War veteran Private Matt Duffy is awarded with recognition, and everyone calls him a hero. He doesn’t feel like a hero, though. During the war he saw some things he wasn’t proud of. He suffers through a head injury, so he doesn’t remember what exactly happened that devastating day. Eventually, readers learn more and must decide if Matt can ever consider himself a true hero ever again.

Usually, it’s hard to find a good book that you’re really interested in–but from this list, there’s a lot of options. These are all great books from different genres and different authors to check out.