Reviews by Category: Teens

Esperanza is a young girl whose father owns a ranch called El Rancho de las Rosas in Mexico. The night before her thirteenth birthday, something terrible happens. A series of events eventually forces Esperanza and her Mama to go to the United States in secret, where they hope to start a new life. In the United States, Esperanza’s life is changed forever. She must take care of babies, manage housework, and more. Will Esperanza be able to learn patience and strength as her new life unfolds before her and many things threaten to pull her down?

The Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman comprise a set of comics detailing the high school experiences of a group of friends. The story focuses on Charlie (a shy over thinker in Year 10) and his relationship with Nick (the popular rugby lad in Year 11). They end up sitting next to each other in a class and a relationship begins to bloom. As they hang out more and more, Charlie starts to have feelings for Nick, though he’s not sure if Nick feels the same way. Luckily, even unlikely wishes often come true in this case!

Kiss and Tell is a story about Hunter, a boy going through a hard breakup with his boyfriend. A boy who is also in a band that is widely popular. But he doesn’t know how to be the perfect gay boy for the band. Stuck between things The Label wants from him and the new relationship he’s falling into with another band’s drummer, Hunter is stuck. But when the media’s idea of him is changed after some texts get leaked, he must juggle his actual life and what people want from him.

Night is a non-fiction memoir book written by Elie Wiesel. The book is about how Jews were treated by the Nazis in concentration camps while they were being persecuted. The main characters are Elie and his father. He and his father want to escape the camps while they endure hard labor but the Nazis won’t let the Jews escape. Elie tries to survive the time through the winter in the camp by not running out of food or water during the journey.

Crooked Kingdom is a fantasy novel written by Leigh Bardugo. It is the second novel in the Six of Crows duology. After being double crossed, Kaz Brekker and his crew are faced with new enemies as more powerful forces search for the dangerous drug, jurda parem.

Legend by Marie Lu is the first book in the Legend series. Set in a dystopian future United States, Legend is told from two points of view: June, a government prodigy and Day, an infamous criminal. After Day supposedly kills June’s brother, she sets out to hunt him down. When their paths cross, June’s loyalties are called into question as she discovers Day may not be as bad as her superiors say.

What If It’s Us is about two guys named Ben and Arthur who met at a New York City post office. Arthur was on his way to work, while Ben was sending off a heartbreaking box with his ex-boyfriend's belongings in it. When the two crossed paths, they were unable to forget each other even though they thought they would never see each other again. They defied all odds and find each other once more and decide to start a relationship, but will their flourishing relationship last?

In Shameful Flight, Wolpert analyzes the British exit of India and the permanent effects it had on society. His book follows the various political figures that were key in the partition such as Nehru, Jinnah, Atlee, and Mountbatten. The book shows the process of the partition and focuses the blame on Mountbatten, who in his haste, left India with no unity and arbitrary boundaries.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami is a complex contemporary novel with elements of mystery and magical realism. The story follows a young man named Toru Okada who, at the beginning of the novel, is told by his wife to look for their missing cat. His journey takes him from the suburbs of Tokyo to a supposedly haunted house to the bottom of a well to a strange dream world that somehow affects reality. In the process of looking for their lost cat, he loses his wife as well.

Red White and Royal Blue is a contemporary young adult novel. It follows Alex Claremont-Diaz (the love of America and the son of the first female president) and his nemesis/fake friend/lover Henry (a British prince who also happens to be gay). Alex and Henry’s burgeoning relationship undergoes trials and tribulations throughout the entire book – from Alex’s perception of Henry as an annoyingly perfect douchebag to Henry’s reticence to show his feelings.