Teen and Staff Reviews

Teen Review
Aurora Burning by Aime Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Aurora Rising

By Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Rated by
Abigail R. from MO YA Lit Council
Jul 29, 2019

The action is intense and the storyline is fast-paced; there is always something going on. The setting in intergalactic space and the unforgettable characters make for a perfect storm of events that draws you in deeper the more you read. The writing style is beautiful and the slang feels so natural it's like the culmination of 7 people's autobiographies thrown backward in time.

Teen Review
The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

The Last True Poets of the Sea

By Julia Drake

Rated by
Hadley K. from Blue Valley YA Lit Council
Jul 24, 2019

I think that the cover is beautiful. I like that the illustrations of the plants and things in the background give the cover the feel of the ocean since the book is called Last True Poets of the Sea. The most compelling aspect of this book was that the main character was hunting for a lost shipwreck that one of her ancestors survived. I thought that the plot of the story was really interesting. The only thing I was disappointed with in this book is that it seemed to take a while to get the story going, the beginning was a little slow.

Teen Review
The Beholder by Anna Bright

The Beholder

By Anna Bright

Rated by
Bryn D.
Jul 24, 2019

This book details a young girl's journey that every teenager goes on at some point- one of family responsibilities and new friends and loves, all mixed with self discovery and coming out of a childhood persona.

Staff Review

Munmun

By Jesse Andrews
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Chris K.
Jul 23, 2019

Whoa! Now here's an exercise in extended metaphor. Andrews has taken an idea that could have been a simple allegory and turned it into a fully developed novel. Imagine, if you will, an alternate reality in which physical size is literally determined by wealth. A standard person is middlescale. The middlerich are those larger than that up two doublescale and the middlepoor extend to halfscale. Smaller than that are the littlepoors: quarterscale, eighthscale, and tenthscale--about the size of a rat. The bigrich just get bigger and bigger to hundreds of feet tall.

Teen Review
Squad by Mariah MacCarthy

Squad

By Mariah MacCarthy

Rated by
Callie S.
Jul 1, 2019

This book explains issues many teens have today in a very realistic way. It helped me understand that I'm not necessarily the only person who's had a friend just completely turn around and change on them. It also deals with somebody trying to grasp somebody's gender identity which is unfortunately something many people still don't understand. Everything was explained in just the right way and the book was absolutely incredible. 

I loved the cover! I think the bows on the cover plus one of them being cut in half perfectly represented what was going to happen in the book.

Teen Review
You Must Not Miss by Katrina Leno

You Must Not Miss

By Katrina Leno

Rated by
Liz N.
Jun 27, 2019

You Must Not Miss will take you into a teenager’s messy life, and the perfect life she creates in her notebook. When Magpie is tired of all the problems life has dealt her, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She starts writing and creates her perfect world: Near.

Teen Review
The Lovely and Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Lovely and Lost

By Jennifer Barnes

Rated by
Jessica W.
Jun 24, 2019

This book had an incredible story line, and it kept me wanting to read. There were lots of elements to the novel like mystery, love, and humor which made it even more enjoyable. The characters were easy to relate to and very intriguing. I had the same sense of desire that Kira did throughout the book- I wanted to know why things happened, and what about her past led her to her current situation just as much as Kira did. I thought the cover went well with the book because it ties into elements of the novel.

Teen Review Jun 20, 2019

Dreamland tells the tale of America's opiate epidemic in a way that feels as though you are hearing it firsthand; it weaves the stories of addicts and activists alike into a novel that is enticing and shocking. Quinones writes a novel that shows the behind the scenes of an epidemic that hits close to the heart of many Americans, yet he tells it in a way that takes you on an adventure rather than a report.

Teen Review
Starworld by Audrey Coulthurst

Starworld

By Audrey Coulthurst

Rated by
Molly J. from BV YA Lit Council
Jun 10, 2019

Do you ever find your self wanting to escape into a different world? Well, that is exactly what happens in this book. High school students Sam and Zoe have existed on two very different platforms, but find themselves more similar than they thought. It all starts with an unexpected encounter that leads the two girls to swap phone numbers, and in their text messages they build up the wonderful Starworld. In Starworld both girls feel free and they share things they never shared with other people. But will this amazing world last? Will feelings get in way of this unexpected friendship?

Teen Review
We Rule the Night by Claire Eliza Bartlett

We Rule the Night

By Claire Eliza Bartlett

Rated by
Nate N. from BV YA Lit Council
Jun 6, 2019

In the world described in this book, there are two types of magic: spark, which is the "legal" and "good" magic, and weave, which, in essence, is weaving the strands of the fabric that makes up the world. However, it is illegal due to its "bad" nature. When two girls, Revna and Linné are brought together by the government, they find that their government is getting desperate to win a war and will cross lines it needs to do so. 

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