Teen and Staff Reviews

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.

Bella Kirkwood is on the case again, this time after finding a woman with a sword

through her heart at the circus. Bella can’t help trying to solve the case with her

editor Luke Sullivan, however Luke seems to be distracted by Ashley Timmons, the

new girl in town. Bella’s dad is about to get married and she thinks there is something

fishy about this marriage and she needs to find out before her life is ruined by

Christina, her dad’s fiance. Bella puts herself in danger once again to solve the

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco is fantasy fiction. Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria,

and their family, are witches living in Italy. They avoid humans but one night, when Vittoria is

murdered, Emilia vows to do anything to get revenge for her sister and find the murderer. Her

plan didn’t include accidentally summoning one of the six Deadly Princes of Sin- Wrath. Emilia

knows not to trust Wrath, she’s been warned her entire life about how dangerous the Princes of

Splinters of Scarlet is by Emily Bain Murphy, the genre is YA historical fantasy. It’s about a girl

named Marit whose father died in a mining accident, and was moved to an orphanage where

she eventually grew out of the age limit for being adopted. Even when she has every reason to

be bitter, she's not and tries her best to get her friend Eve adopted. On the day of Eve's last

chance to be adopted by someone, Marit uses her magic to sew an amazing costume for Eve.

The Last Thing He Told Me was a fantastic read. The book was a mystery-thriller

that kept me engaged throughout the whole book. Hannah’s husband

mysteriously disappears after trouble with work. This sets Hannah and her

step-daughter Bailey on a mission to find answers. The story emphasizes the

importance of family and what one is willing to do to protect those they love. With

many twists and turns this will keep readers engaged and wanting more. I would

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton is a classic coming-of-age novel. In this book, Ponyboy finds himself caught

up in the middle of a few too many conflicts. Ponyboy is a greaser, and being a greaser isn’t easy. He

knows he can depend on his brothers and the gang and not to trust the socs. When Ponyboy’s friend,

Johnny, kills a soc in self-defense, the two boys are forced to run. Being a greaser means the police

Unlocked by Shannon Messenger is #8.5 in the Keeper of The Lost Cities fantasy series. The first half of

the book is bonus material. It contains summaries of all the major characters, extra bits of information

from the Lost Cities, portraits, and much more. The second half of the book is the novella. The novella

alternates between Sophie and Keefe’s perspectives. In the novella, Keefe is recovering and struggling to

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K Rowling is undoubtedly a fantastic book. I

loved reading about the Knight Bus, the Marauders, the Dementors, Buckbeak, and all the little

details that made this book stand out. I even liked Draco and Snape in this book despite their

unlikeable personalities, which says something. As for the mystery behind the Prisoner of

Azkaban, I found it thrilling and shocking. There are so many great things about this book; I