Teen and Staff Reviews

Teen Review
Mockingbird book cover

Mockingbird

By Kathryn Erskine
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Lucas F.
Mar 22, 2024

Mockingbird, by Kathryn Erksine, is a deep and moving poetic book that shows Caitlin, a girl with Asperger’s whose brother is killed in a school shooting. Ever since the incident, the world has become shades of gray. It is her story of coping with her loss and dealing with the struggles of the world. A heartfelt piece, it is an approachable yet touching story about loss. The main character is a fifth grader, making the language approachable.

Teen Review
Brave New World book cover

Brave New World

By Aldous Huxley
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Lucas F.
Mar 22, 2024

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is an incredibly nauseating science fiction novel that focuses on progress, themes of easy pleasure and the human spirit. In a post-Ford society, children are grown through test tubes into a social hierarchy in an Epicurean society with one goal: happiness for eternity. In it, Benard attempts to higher his social status and ends up revealing more about the world that he lives in than he can cope with.

Teen Review
A Very Large Expanse of Sea book cover

A Very Large Expanse of Sea

By Tahereh Mafi
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by
Lucas F.
Mar 22, 2024

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi is a diverse teenage love story dealing with Muslim racism post 9/11.  Shirin, a socially excluded hot-headed Muslim girl living in a world thrown against her culture, meets Ocean, a star basketball player and school golden boy. This unlikely romance leads to discrimination, and the two have to deal with a world stacked against accepting others and love. This is a very solid book on diverse representation, as Shirin is an interesting character with a Muslim background.

Teen Review
The Sun's Heartbeat book cover

The Sun's Heartbeat

By Bob Berman
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by
Mahad Z.
Mar 22, 2024

The Sun's Heartbeat by Bob Berman explores the rhythmic pattern of solar activity and its impact on Earth's climate and civilization. Berman highlights the correlation between the sun cycle, solar flares, and the solar magnetic field every 11 years, highlighting how these events influence our planet's weather patterns, technological infrastructure, and even human behavior.

Teen Review
The Toll book cover

The Toll

By Neal Shusterman
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Anonymous
Mar 22, 2024

The Toll is a young-adult dystopian novel. It is the final book in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy. Set three years after Citra and Rowan’s disappearance, Goddard has taken over the Sycthedom and the Thunderhead has cut itself off from humanity, only communicating with Grayson Tolliver. 

Teen Review
Scythe book cover

Scythe

By Neal Shusterman
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Anonymous
Mar 22, 2024

Scythe is a young-adult dystopian novel written by Neal Shusterman. It is the first book in a trilogy. The novel is set in a futuristic society in which natural death and disease have been eliminated, resulting in the only way to die is to be killed by Scythes, members of a selective group tasked to keep the world’s population from growing too high. The novel follows Citra and Rowan, two teenagers chosen as apprentices to a Scythe. They must learn the art of taking lives in order to keep their own. 

Teen Review
A Darker Shade of Magic book cover

A Darker Shade of Magic

By Victoria Schwab
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Anonymous
Mar 22, 2024

A Darker Shade of Magic is an adult fantasy novel written by V.E. Schwab. It is the first novel in the Shades of Magic trilogy. It follows Kell, the last of a rare type of magician called the Antari, who can travel between parallel Londons (Red, Grey, White and formerly Black). Tasked to travel between Londons as a messenger, Kell secretly smuggles items between worlds. However, he and Grey Londoner Delilah Bard soon face the consequences of Kell’s smuggling and get caught in the struggle between Londons.

Teen Review
Thunderhead book cover

Thunderhead

By Neal Shusterman
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Anonymous
Mar 22, 2024

Thunderhead is a young-adult dystopian novel. It is the second book in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy by Neal Shusterman. After Citra’s victory at the end of the first novel, she is now a junior scythe under Scythe Curie. Now faced with the corruption infiltrating the scythedom, Citra is forced to take desperate measures to fight against the dangers in the system. Meanwhile, Rowan is dealing with the corruption in his own way, putting dishonorable scythes through his own trials.

Teen Review
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

By J. K. Rowling
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Rishi Tek
Mar 22, 2024

The initial installment in J.K. Rowling's renowned Harry Potter series, this book follows 11-year-old Harry as he receives an invitation to Hogwarts, a school of witchcraft and wizardry. Discovering a plot by a powerful wizard to obtain the sorcerer's stone for immortality, Harry, accompanied by loyal friends Hermione and Ron, ventures to thwart the evil plan. It is filled with imaginative elements, such as a gripping scene where Harry catches a flying golden ball on his broomstick. 

Teen Review
The Battle of the Labyrinth book cover

The Battle of the Labyrinth

By Rick Riordan
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Lucas F.
Mar 22, 2024

The Battle of The Labyrinth by Rick Riordan is a more mature and fight heavy Percy Jackson book that expands on the character’s relations, houses larger and deadlier monsters, and sets up the final villain for the base series. In this book, Percy Jackson must explore the Labyrinth and find a way to shut it down to stop the armies of Kronos.

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