Teen and Staff Reviews

Pretty Dead Girls by Monica Murphy is a mystery thriller book. All the popular pretty girls in

school are getting murdered. So far, all of them were linked to Penelope Malone in some way.

She decides to investigate further in these murders, but as she tries uncovering more secrets,

Penelope is terrified she might be the next victim.

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus is a mystery thriller book. 5 classmates at Bayview

High walk into detention. Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, Cooper, and Simon. Only 4 come out alive. By

the end of detention, Simon is dead. The five students in the classroom don’t know what

happened, all they know is Simon drank a glass of water then fainted. The investigators say

Simon’s death wasn’t an accident. A little background on Simon: He wasn’t the best person,

Shara Wheeler was perfect in every way. She was smart, kind, beautiful, athletic, wealthy.

Shara Wheeler was perfect. Until she went missing after prom. She left no trace when she

disappeared, no obvious answer. Just a series of notes on pretty pink stationary. Notes

addressed to the only three people she ever kissed: Smith, the star of the football team, Rory, a

stoner and musician, and Chloe, the only outed bisexual that goes to their catholic high school.

Rowan had spent her entire high school career competing with Neil, her longtime rival, for the

title of valedictorian on graduation day. When Neil is granted valedictorian instead of her, she

has one more chance to beat him once and for all at HOWL, their end of year senior class

“assassins” style game. Upon hearing that they are two of the most popular targets, the pair

reluctantly decides to team up. As they get to know each other more and more, they start to

Unwind by Neal Shusterman is the first book in a 4 book series, which Shusterman refers to as

a “dystology.” After a war breaks out between pro-life and pro-choice people in America, both

sides come to an agreement to implement a practice called “unwinding,” or the retroactive

abortion of teenagers ages 13-18. The method promises to keep 98% of the child’s body alive,

but harvest all of their organs and donate them. This is the story of three teens, Connor, Risa,

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid is an historical fiction book.

When Daisy Jones, a talented and lively up-and-coming singer, moves to L.A., her producer sets

her up with a new blues-rock band, the Six. There she butts heads with Billy Dunne, the broody

lead singer, and discovers their odd connection. Thus, legends are made.

This book is a great read if you just want to escape reality for a little bit. I loved the

Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince features Jude Duarte, a girl who was stolen from the mortal world

alongside her twin and older sister, Taryn and Vivi, by a Redcap Fae named Madoc. Years later,

Jude and Taryn now attend school among the higher ranked fae, including Prince Cardan

Greenbriar, the cruel prince of Elfhame (get it?). He and his friends, Nicasia, Valerian, and

Locke, do whatever they can to make Jude and Taryn miserable for their human heritage. The

Brave is about a boy named Jensen who is trying to navigate middle school one level at

a time. He faces bullies, mean friends, and evil teachers. When the newspaper crew asks him

for help, he gladly accepts. When middle school starts getting harder and more confusing,

Jensen has to decide for himself who to hang out with and who to stand up to. I really enjoyed

this book because it had lots of interesting facts and well developed characters. My favorite part

Crush is about a boy named Jorge Ruiz who has middle school life under control. At

least until he runs into a possible crush on a theatre girl, Jazmine. He has to figure out a way to

ask her to the athletics ball without everyone noticing since Jorge hates gossip. I really enjoyed

this book because it was funny and exciting. My favorite part is when Jorge helps the drama

club move boxes and they get pizza. I would recommend this book to 5th, 6th, or 7th graders.

A 12 year old, Percy is diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. While on a field trip, Percy’s

teacher, Ms. Dodds, pulls him over to punish him, but instead she turns into a monster and tries

to attack him. Percy gets saved by his Latin teacher, Chiron, and is taken to Camp Half-Blood.

At Camp Half-Blood, Chiron introduces Percy to Mr. D, the god of wine. He is then taken to the

Hermes cabin because they didn’t know what godly parent he belonged to. Later, they find out