Each summer, we ask you to read books off of a specific book list for the "Teens Top Ten" award. This list includes titles that have been officially nominated for consideration for the "Teens Top Ten" provided by YALSA (the young adult division of the American Library Association) as well as some other titles we added that were worthy of consideration.
We had a wonderful amount of participation this year, with a lot of really insightful evaluations. Here are some review highlights:
Books that Received 2 Stars
Between
the Lines Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer
In this story, Oliver is
a prince in a fairy tale and Delilah is a girl that wants her happy ending. One
day, she finds the children's book that Oliver is a character in and she can
magically speak to him. The rest of the plot consists of Delilah trying get
Oliver out of the book and she manages to fall in love with the fictional
character along the way. I wouldn't recommend this book because the story became
very repetitive and boring. It would just be a cycle of trial and error on
trying to get Oliver into Delilah's world. People who like fairy tales and
romance might like the novel more than I did, but I personally didn't enjoy the
book as much as I hoped I would.
Reviewed by Sharon, Gr. 10
The Hunt Andrew Fukuda
The book, "The
Hunt" was a good read. It's about a boy named Gene surviving from danger.
He is the only human left on earth. His Dad was a human but then got changed to
be one of... them! They are the blood sucking-Immortal-murderers that are
taking over the world! Gene's dad always said to "Don’t Sweat. Don’t
Laugh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, do
not fall in love with one of them." But eventually, he does fall in love
and now he is chosen to hunt the last remaining humans. At the beginning he was
forced to keep that he was a human, a secret. But now that he has a chance to
stand up for the girl of his dreams, he is forced to let the secret out. Now
that he has revealed the secret, he is left to think if this is worth his
humanity.
Reviewed by Yamini, Gr. 9
Books that Received 3 Stars
Revenge:
Jason Steed Mark A. Cooper
I just finished the book Revenge: Jason Steed. It
is about an eleven year old boy named Jason who is an expert at martial arts
and was working as an undercover agent for the SYUI, to find out more about an
international criminal organization called the Triads. But when the Triads
found out that Jason was a spy, Jason had to escape from England and face many
challenges in order to survive. This book has many interesting characters and
the story line is moving and very intense. Overall, this book was good.
Reviewed by Erin, Gr. 8
Kingdom Keepers: Shell Game Ridley Pearson
I just read the book
kingdom keepers.It's about a group of teens who protect the magic of the Disney
world experience. Honestly, I thought that it was too long and hard to follow. It
would have been better if it was shorter. But I guess that's up to you to
decide.
Reviewed by Dominick, Gr. 6
Kingdom
Keepers: Shell Game Ridley Pearson
This book is about a
group of real witches, pirates, and other villains from the Disney Films,
called the Overtakers, who are trying to take over the Walt Disney parks for
themselves. On the other side, there are some people who volunteered to be
Disney Hosts and at night, turned into holograms to help prevent the Overtakers
from taking over the parks, which resulted in many battles that broke out
between the two groups. Both groups have members who have special abilities
such as dreaming of the future that Jess does and Maleficent`s abilities to
throw fireballs and cast spells on people. On a special cruise ship called the
Dream, both groups seized the opportunity to get a chance to win the battle.
Overall, this book was exciting and have interesting characters. It was very
good and I am glad that I chose to read this.
Reviewed by Erin, Gr. 8
Real
Mermaids Don't Hold Their Breath Helene Boudreau
Real Mermaids Don't Hold
Their Breath is a great book. The story is about Jade Baxter, who is a mermaid,
trying to find her mermaid mother and turn her tail into legs again. Together
with her friends, Cori, Luke, and Trey, with the support of her dad, Jade went
searching underwater and almost got herself into a lot of trouble. This book
was fun to read and I like how the book was told in Jade's point of view. The
plot was exciting and the characters have a great sense of humor. Overall, this
book is awesome and I think that it deserves a spot on the Teens Top Ten.
Reviewed by Erin, Gr. 8
Books that Received 4 Stars
The
Princess Of Trelian Michelle Knudsen
The Princess Of Trelian
is a great book. The princess -heir of Trelian, Meglynne, was having
difficulties with her link shared with her dragon, Jakl. Both of them were also
having uncontrollable rages. Meanwhile, Calen, Meg`s best friend, was getting
his mage`s mark when the ceremony was disrupted. This book has some interesting
characters and is very exciting. The ending is a little disappointing, though.
But overall, this book is awesome and I think that it deserves a spot on the
Teen`s Top Ten.
Reviewed by Erin, Gr. 8
Wish You
Were Eyre Heather Vogel Frederick
This book was very interesting. It is
about the conflicts that the members in the Mother-Daughter Book Club faced. A
new French girl was moving into Megan Wong's house, turning everything upside
down for her and some of her friends. Megan's mother was running for mayor, and
Megan herself was going to Paris for Fashion Week. I like the quote at the
ending how each section and chapter starts with a quote from Jane Eyre that
kind of relates to it. However, I couldn't keep up with the numerous characters
at first and i often get confused between which one is which. But overall, this
book was great. I think this book deserves a spot on the final "Teen's Top
Ten".
Reviewed by Erin, Gr. 8
Books that Received 5 Stars
Middle School: get me out of here James
Patterson
Rafe
Khatchadorian's world is turned upside down when he suddenly has to move to a
new town with his family. There, he is accepted into an art school and begins
his newest adventure. I like how on almost every page, there's a dramatization
in doodles of what's happening in his world. It really adds some personality to
the book. I think this book deserves a spot on the teen's top ten list because
it's well written and a really good book to read.
Reviewed by Dominick, Gr. 6
The Dead Gentleman Matthew Cody
I really liked this book.
It had a lot of adventure and twists in the story that made it an enjoyable
book to read. A boy named Tommy Learner and a girl named Jezebel were the
characters in the book, however, they were from different time periods. This
made the book interesting because they had to save the universe together but
they couldn't relate to each other. I would recommend this book because Matthew
Cody did an outstanding job of making the book unique in many different ways. I
think this book deserves a spot on the top ten list!!
Reviewed by Daniel, Gr. 7
