Reviews by Category: Teens

Salt to the Sea is a story about the greatest maritime tragedy in history. Though not well known

the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German ship that was sunk in 1945 that was carrying refugees from the

war was sunk, with about 10,500 passengers inside. Ruta Sepetys guides you through this story

between the perspective of 4 characters all from very different backgrounds, but finding

themselves on the same ship.

Cast Away is a great movie about a plane crash that leaves Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks)

stranded on an island, fighting for his survival. I think Tom Hanks was perfect for this role and

delivered an excellent performance, making it feel as if he really was alone on an island. The

progression of his loneliness was also very well portrayed, making for a dramatic scene when

the water pulls Wilson, the volleyball, out to sea. Besides a few gruesome scenes, I would say it

Billy Madison is a hilarious movie about a grown-up immature person named Billy. Who, in order

to inherit his father’s hotel, must repeat all twelve grades of school again. But this is no easy

task for someone as stupid as Billy, for he almost loses the second-grade spelling bee. My

favorite scene, however, was when Billy threw dodgeballs at all the kids during recess. While

the adult audience may not be fan of the slap-happy Billy Madison, the younger audience, like

Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings is an excellent book for adolescents about friendship and

trust-- for when thirteen-year-old Brady and his best friends J.T. and Digger get entwined in a

tragedy, Brady has to decide between company and right and wrong. I love this book because it

teaches kids to do the right thing and to tell the truth no matter what. I also enjoyed this book

because of its surprising twists and turns, keeping the reader on their toes.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K Rowling is by far my favorite book in the Harry

Potter series. It is full of action, romance, comedy, and tragedy as Harry attempts to discover

more about Voldemort's evil backstory- hoping it will uncover secrets important to his defeat.

During his sixth year at Hogwarts, Harry also attains a mysterious textbook belonging to an

Whitney Richards is the cheerleading captain for her school, she is dating the

captain of the football team, and she has all A’s. Life is going great until Whitney gets

a D in calculus and her boyfriend breaks up with her on Valentines Day. Now

Whitney’s mom is furious and she insists that Whitney finds a tutor. Whitney’s teacher

connects her with a tutor named Taylor. Whitney begins to notice that Taylor is very

kind and she finds him good looking. What will Whitney’s mom think of this, and how

Kara McKormick is going to be a star. She loves comedy which the whole world could

see on a reality tv show she was on. Now Kara is headed to Orlando with 10 other girls

to be a co-host on another tv show.

Chad Beacon already is a star. After winning America’s Next Star, he has a lot to lose

if he does the wrong thing. Chad is worried that if he becomes a co-host on a tv

show many will disapprove. How will Chad manage school, relationships, friends, and

being a star?

1984, George Orwell, Realistic Fiction

A new mystery has come to Pippa’s hometown and Pippa has set out to solve it. Pip

had promised herself, her parents, and boyfriend that she would not try to solve any

more mysteries but she can’t keep her hands off of this mystery. Pippa’s friend

Conner’s brother, Jamie, has gone missing and the police won’t do anything about it

so Pippa feels it is her duty to provide justice to Conner and his family. Pippa knows

she is putting herself in danger with this mission but does she really know how far this

will take her?

In the book called Rated, by Melissa Grey, it is set in a dystopian society where people

survive based off of their ratings. This rating system keeps people in order and it ranks the

society for value. The higher score you have the more value you keep to the society and lower

you have will mean less value and harder work you have to do to then increase rating. At a

school called Maplethorpe Academy, EVERYTHING the people do counts to their ratings.