EXPELLED by JAMES PATTERSON and EMILY RAYMOND

   So, I'm on break like i mentioned in an earlier post. Being on break translates to more time on my hands and more time in turn means more room to fit books into my life. Plans to get my more preferred paperback novels fell through and, i was left look for a book to take me through some part of the break, the format regardless. After it all, i found the above mentioned book--stumbled upon won't be the right word. I really didn't know what to expect when getting the book but then, my past experience with JAMES PATTERSON wasn't that bad a one. So, i was willing to give it a shot.

OVERVIEW
EXPELLED, as probably inferred from the title is about a couple of high schoolers who got dismissed from the a certain high school (Arlington) in pinewood city-- a relatively small town. The lead character (narrator) is Theo Foster, a nerdy kid, who serves as the editor for the school's mag and runs a secret but not so secret twitter account, dispersing school news, gists and everything in between. Other major characters include, Jude, Theo's best friend, a skilled artist and the school's mascot. Sasha Ellis, a smart and seemingly stuckup, often thought as rude high schooler as well, she serves as the schools treasurer. And then, there's Parker, the rather stereotypical  popular highschool sports man. There are other minor characters like Mr. Palmier, Felix, Jere7my, Professor Ellis, Mrs Foster, to mention a couple. The book is centered around the four major characters aforementioned and the quest of three of them to prove their innocence of the acts they were expelled for. Theo was expelled for posting a picture of Parker at a party in a not so decent pose with a fellow female student and a student (thought to be Jude) donning the mascot head and peeing on Parker's football shirt. The school found it insulting and called a hearing that led to the expulsion of the three of them. Sasha on the other hand was expelled for stealing the money gotten from the soda dispenser as she was in charge of it being the school's treasurer.
Theo comes up with the idea of proving the innocence of himself and his bestie, as the expulsion stood chances of ruining the future he thought he had ahead of him--spoiling his chances of getting scholarships. Despite Jude's hopeful view of the expulsion and his initial reluctance, he joins forces with Theo to shoot a movie that ended up being essentially interviews of 'persons of interest' to the case at hand and led to some shocking revelations later on.
In the course of the movie shooting, Theo gets really close to Sasha who he has had a liking for since she joined them at school. They all (especially Theo) push their boundaries in the course of the movie making. In the end, lies and deceits were discovered as they found themselves...

MY REVIEW
I can't exclusively say i have gone out of my way to read a YA book but after seeing a couple of movie adaptations of YA books of recent, i really didn't mind-- as well as the fact that James Patterson was somewhere in this mix. The book had a continuos flow to the chapters, there was hardly any chapter that ended in a cliffhanger kind of way but wasn't boring nevertheless. The scenes were vivid in nature, leaving me imagining as usual, the characters in my head.
I liked the smooth transitions in course of the book and how the emotions represented were adequately conveyed to me. You could read and feel the anger or betrayal in certain scenes. I appreciated the happy ending and the closure the the epilogue provided cos i don't really like books with endings that literally leave me hanging and filling the gaps.
I didn't really see the twist in the plot towards the end coming and i appreciated that due to the lack of much suspense as the story rolled on. I found the relationship between Sasha and Theo rather cliche. In all, it was a fair read and I,d rate it at a 6.

Afterthought: The lack of much suspense was probably due to the fact that it was meant to be a quick read. Read it under a day.