2013 Teens Top Ten Book Reviews

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