Teen and Staff Reviews

Vampire Diaries Season 1 is a fantasy, fiction TV series by Julie Plec. It follows the story of Elena Gilbert who lives in a small town called Mystic Falls. Elena’s life is normal and happy until a tragic day when her parents die. Then a pair of vampire brothers move to town named Stephan and Damon Salvatore. In the midst of love, violence, and friendship also lies vampires and witches. With her romance with Stephan and the violence from Damon, will Elena be able to keep everyone safe?

Ender’s Game is a Science Fiction movie which tells the story of a boy named Ender Wiggen. This futuristic film takes place years after aliens invaded Earth almost causing the end of the world. In order to be better prepared to take on the aliens, the government created a battle school for brilliant children to learn how to fight, fly fighter jets, and take down the aliens. Ender Wiggen is one of the most brilliant kids in this program.

The world is broken. The “Phenomenon” has fractured Verity into the North and the South, led by two leaders who have drastically different ideologies of how to rule. In the chaos, acts of violence and sin are physically manifested in monsters — Corsai, who feed off of fear, Malchai, who feed on blood, and the rare Sunai, who survive on the souls of sinners.

Red Queen is a Fiction, Fantasy novel by Victoria Aveyard. This book tells the story of a 17-year-old girl, Mare Barrow, in an Alternate reality. In this world, the color of your blood determines whether or not you have superpowers. People with red blood are powerless, and people with silver blood have superpowers. Mare has red blood and lives in a poor town called the Stilts, but when she finds herself working in a silver palace, she discovers that she has a power of her own.

Poisoned brings an interesting alternative plot line to the classic fairytale Snow White. Sophie is both compassionate and the heir to her father’s throne. Her stepmother shares different ideas when it comes to ruling. She orders for the hunter to bring back Sophie’s heart. Unlike the traditional tale, the hunter accomplishes his task. Sophie is thankfully saved by many mysterious strangers that she meets along the way. She of course has also saved many creatures of sorts, and many of them return the favor.

Love and Gelato is about a young girl named Lina, who just lost her mom. Before her mom passed, she urged Lina to live with an old friend of hers in Florence, Italy. Lina was obviously hesitant about it, but she decided to go anyway. She discovers more about her mom's past than she ever thought possible. Her mom was gone, but it felt like she was right there with her. Plus, Lina meets the cute and sweet Lorenzo and they become fast friends, maybe even more.

This fantasy book by J.K Rowling is one of my favorites. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is about an 11-year-old boy named Harry, who is taken in by his cruel aunt and uncle. One day he gets a letter that changes his life forever. He meets new friends and enemies, and adventures towards his old enemy.  I think the most compelling aspect of this book is when Harry learns about the wizarding world from a big man named Hagrid. I recommend this book to anyone who is willing to explore the land of fantasy.

In If You Come Softly, Jeremiah and Ellie are seen by society to be on opposite poles, however through clashing events, their worlds collide. Ellie, a Jewish American girl is learning of Jeremiah’s African American culture. During that time, they are faced with backlash from others that continuously attempt to separate them. Despite this, the pair manages to fall in love and become an interracial couple. Across many obstacles, the pair still believes that they fit perfectly in each other’s worlds.

This fantasy novel by Rick Riordan (Book 3 in The Trials of Apollo series) is a book that lifted my spirits and crushed my soul. In The Burning Maze, we go back to Meg’s roots and the “people” there help Lester (Apollo) and his friends defeat the burning maze. Lester and his friends help him get on the enemy’s ship to steal a valuable object.

Nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts, and a new generation of witches and wizards are born. Albus Severus Potter, the son of Harry Potter, gets put in the house that no one wanted, Slytherin. After this, Albus changed drastically. He has a new attitude and a new friend, Scorpius. But not any Scorpius, Scorpius Malfoy! With this Albus has uncovered secrets and uses time travel to change the past. But, with that comes a lot of problems. Do you think they can fix these problems before Harry, and the golden trio find out?