In March I read the book Code of Honor by Alan Gratz. Code of Honor is a realistic fiction book about a kid named Kamran Smith, a senior and star running back of East Phoenix High School. For Kamran, life until now has been going great. He played a great football game, he is the prom king, and his best friend got them tickets to the Super Bowl. However, at the prom Kamran is accused of being a terrorist since him and his brother are half Iranian. This escalates into a large fight which results in Kamran’s mother coming to pick him up from the school. This is when she drops the news about Kamran’s brother, Darius, claiming to be a terrorist in a video he posted. Suddenly, all of Phoenix is against Kamran and his family, but Kamran refuses to believe his brother is a terrorist, and tries to find anyone who believes the same.

I really enjoyed this book because of the way that Alan Gratz worded it so that Kamran actually sounded like a high schooler. Often times authors make the children in books sound too mature for their age, but Alan does a great job of writing like a high schooler. There is great description throughout the book, however, some of the fighting in the beginning can get repetitive leaving me to feel as if I read the same thing twice.

My favorite character was Kamran’s down to earth friend, Adam because of how impartial he is. The text states on page 31, “‘That part’s stupid,’ Adam admitted. ‘But, Kamran, you have to understand how everybody else sees your brother. He basically went on TV and said ‘I’m a terrorist.’” This shows that he is able to see both perspectives of this situation, and he is trying to help his friend Kamran do the same. He doesn’t think that Darius is a terrorist, but he knows that other people might because of the evidence given.

My favorite quote is on page 39, “1) Be the strongest of the strong. 2) Be the bravest of the brave. 3) Help the helpless. 4) Always tell the truth. 5) Be loyal. 6) Never give up. 7) Kill all monsters. We were big on killing monsters. Darius and I had solemnly signed the bottom of the paper in our grade school cursive. If we could have signed it in blood, we would have.” I like this quote because throughout the book I was hoping that Darius wasn’t actually a terrorist, and when I came across this quote, I felt as if it was proof of him being innocent.