Teen and Staff Reviews

Teen Review
Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose

Twelve Angry Men

By Reginald Rose
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Aryan C.
Aug 18, 2021

Twelve Angry Men was a confusing book in my mind. The play was written differently than many others but once I understood how it worked, I loved how these characters fought about everything. There were Twelve Jurors and each of them had a different opinion on the case. After many days of a court proceeding, they were deciding if a boy killed his father. There was much evidence towards guilty but Juror 8 was more of a protagonist and defended this boy. He thought there was a reasonable doubt.

Teen Review
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

The House on Mango Street

By Sandra Cisneros
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Aryan C.
Aug 17, 2021

The House on Mango Street represents a perspective of someone whom you would never think of. I liked how this book took into perspective how Esperanza lived in her community and how she was looked at by certain people. This book shows a lot of realistic events that seem very meaningful and makes the book very interesting to read. I gave this a five-star rating because I liked how this book was written. It is very intense in Esperanza's feelings but also very truthful about what happened to her.

Teen Review
Batman Nightwalker by Marie Lu

Batman: Nightwalker

By Marie Lu
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Aryan C.
Aug 16, 2021

I read this book for a school project and ended up liking how DC Icons focused on how these main anti-villains and heroes came to be. When I read the first chapter of Batman Nightwalker I could not put it down because it had a suspenseful grasp on me. There were so many clues and mysteries to whom the nightwalkers were led by but with every chapter it felt astounding to read. I read that book two times since I finished it the first time on a weekend; I did not completely understand it so I read it again.

Teen Review
Star Wars Force Collector by Kevin Shinick

Star Wars: Force Collector

By Kevin Shinick
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Aryan C.
Aug 15, 2021

The first time I saw this book was online while I was browsing through the Johnson County website. I was interested in this book because of the cover. As I read further into this book I understood that it was more than an adventure story but also a way of going on the journey with Karr. This book has the highest of commendations because it shows how Karr, a kid, journeys throughout the entire galaxy to find out how his powers work only to find out that he was predestined to do something else. This book will help people find how to find themselves because it helped me in that way.

Teen Review
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

By Laini Taylor
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Lisa J.
Aug 14, 2021

Meet Karou. She is a 17-year-old art student living in Prague, loves going out for goulash with her friend Zuzana, and spends an excessive amount of time avoiding her nightmare of an ex-boyfriend. But there’s more — Karou was raised by demon-like chimaera, uses tiny beads to make wishes that really do come true, and runs errands with magic portals that take her over the entire world. However, when mysterious black handprints start appearing on doorways around the world and winged strangers make themselves known, Karou is swept up into a conflict much larger than anything she’s ever known.

Teen Review
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Vampire Academy

By Richelle Mead
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Taylor E.
Aug 13, 2021

Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy, the first book in a series of the same name, was excellent. After running away from school, Lissa, a Moroi princess, and her unofficial guardian/best friend, Rose, are caught and forced to return to St. Vladimir's Academy. There, the two girls must figure out who's after Lissa, all while trying to navigate a high school filled with vampires.

Teen Review
Cover photo of the book Monster

Monster

By Walter Dean Myers
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Afraah H.
Aug 12, 2021

 Monster, by Walter Dean Myers, is a realistic fiction novel about a teenager who is charged with felony murder. The main character, Steve, is abruptly put into prison because he is accused of being part of a plan that went wrong and accidentally killed a store owner. Steve continuously tries to explain to the judge and the jury that he wasn't present at the time of the crime, but because of racial injustice and the people he hangs out with, they find it nearly impossible that he is innocent. This book shows the entire process of the case in much detail with some plot twists.

Teen Review
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me

By Tahereh Mafi
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Karmen H.
Aug 11, 2021

Juliette, a girl with a lethal touch, was locked up in an asylum for 264 days. She wants human contact but her lethal touch holds her back. Suddenly she gets a cellmate, Adam. She helps him adapt to life there, only to find out he is a soldier working for The Reestablishment. He isn’t completely loyal to The Reestablishment and against all odds is somehow immune to Juliette’s touch. Warner, the Chief Commander and Regent of Sector 45, intends to use Juliette as a weapon for The Reestablishment.

Teen Review
Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller

Daughter of the Siren Queen

By Tricia Levenseller
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by
Lisa J.
Aug 10, 2021

After months of scheming and fighting, Alosa has finally retrieved all three pieces of the treasure map from the leaders of the pirate families — Vordan, Jeskor, and Kalligan, her father. The assembled map shows a path to the Isla de Canta, where unspeakable treasures are guarded by sirens, waiting to be claimed. Alosa plans to work with her father in order to collect the treasure, but when she discovers a terrible secret that her father has been harboring for years, she begins to question everything she’s ever known.

Teen Review
Bomb by Steve Sheinkin

Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

By Steve Sheinkin
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Garrett L.
Aug 9, 2021

One of the greatest scientific discoveries has been made - on the brink of a war. It’s 1938, and chemist Otto Hahn has discovered that neutrons, at a high enough speed, can cause uranium atoms to split apart, releasing a huge amount of energy. The idea of an atomic bomb slowly falls into place and spreads like lightning, as Germany begins its campaign across Europe. As Germany begins collecting uranium, the rest of the world needs to catch up and create their own atomic bombs. Renowned scientists coalesce in Los Alamos, researching the atomic bomb, even with spies in their midst.

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