Teen and Staff Reviews

Teen Review
The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give

By Angie Thomas
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Anonymous
Jul 21, 2023

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, is a story about an African-American 16-year-old girl named Starr Carter. Starr is stuck balancing living in a poor run-down neighborhood and attending an upper-class prep school in the suburbs. But everything goes even more downhill when she witnesses her best friend Khalil getting murdered by a police officer. Khalil was unarmed and hadn’t done anything that would cause him to get killed.

Teen Review
If This Gets Out

If This Gets Out

By Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by
Anonymous
Jul 21, 2023

If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales is a boy band romance that will capture heartstrings. Following the band, Saturday, throughout a tour we see two castmates fall in love and face challenges that come with being queer and being a teenager in the spotlight. Issues of coming out and discovering who you are is presented throughout the novel. Zach and Reuben face challenges from all around them and challenges in their own relationship.

Teen Review
Refugee

Refugee

By Alan Gratz
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Mahad Z.
Jul 21, 2023

Summary: Refugee by Alan Gratz is a gripping and emotionally charged novel that joins together the stories of three young refugees from different time periods and regions. Josef, a Jewish boy escaping Nazi Germany in 1939, Isabel, a Cuban girl aboard a makeshift raft fleeing to America in 1994, and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy seeking safety in Europe in 2015. Each character faces unimaginable hardships and dangers as they journey towards the promise of a better life.

Teen Review
The Rescue

The Rescue

By Erin Hunter
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Neil J.
Jul 21, 2023

The Rescue is a graphic novel as part of a 3-book miniseries called Skyclan and the Stranger by Erin Hunter, overall part of the Warriors books. Skyclan is a clan broken up long ago but helped reformed by Firestar and Sandstorm. They live separately far away from the other clans. Leafstar has found out that some of the apprentices have been taking food from a human who lives nearby, but she has made them stop.

Teen Review
Warrior’s Return

Warrior’s Return

By Erin Hunter
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Neil J.
Jul 21, 2023

Warrior’s Return is a graphic novel as part of a 3-book miniseries called Graystripe’s Adventure by Erin Hunter, overall part of the Warriors books. This book is the final book of the miniseries. At the end of the second book, Graystripe and Millie find out that the old forest had been destroyed and all the clans left it. They decided to visit Ravenpaw, Graystripe’s old friend, along with Ravenpaw’s companion Barley, for help, and they told them that the clans left and gone toward the sun-drown place(the sea).

Teen Review
Warrior’s Refuge

Warrior’s Refuge

By Erin Hunter
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Neil J.
Jul 21, 2023

Warrior’s Refuge is a graphic novel as part of a 3-book miniseries called Graystripe’s Adventure by Erin Hunter, overall part of the Warriors books. This book is the sequel to the first book The Lost Warrior. In the first book, Graystripe meets Millie, a pet cat, who becomes friends with him and decides to leave her old life behind to journey with him to find the clans. In this book, as they are traveling, they stay with a few cats and their kits, who live in a barn house.

Teen Review
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women

By Louisa May Alcott
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Hannah K.
Jul 21, 2023

This beautifully written 19th-century classic follows the adventures of the four March sisters as they transition into womanhood; Margaret (Meg), Josephine (Jo), Elizabeth (Beth), and Amy. Meg is portrayed as a beautiful, delicate young lady who dreams of a life of luxury. Jo is shown as a headstrong, tomboyish person with a heartfelt desire to write her own book someday. Beth is an innocent, sweet soul who only wishes for happiness. Amy is a romantic (though somewhat spoiled) girl who longs for a life as an artist.

Teen Review
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief

By Markus Zusak
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by
Anonymous
Jul 21, 2023

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a story about Liesel Hubermann, a girl growing up with foster parents in Nazi Germany. Being narrated by Death itself, it reads from a different perspective. Liesel steals books from various places and learns how to read. She finds a sense of comfort tangled between words and uses it as her escape from the distressing time she resided in. Liesel also becomes really good friends with Rudy, who is a boy in her neighborhood.

Teen Review
They Went Left

They Went Left

By Monica Hesse
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Mahad Z.
Jul 20, 2023

They Went Left by Monica Hesse is a powerful historical fiction novel set in the aftermath of World War II. The story follows Zofia, a young Holocaust survivor searching for her younger brother, Abek, who got separated from her during the liberation of Auschwitz. As she navigates through the ruins of war-torn Europe, Zofia grapples with the trauma of her past and the uncertainty of her future.

Teen Review
Holes

Holes

By Louis Sachar
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Owen C.
Jul 20, 2023

Stanley, a 14 year old boy was wrongly accused and sent to Camp Green Lake. Camp was not how it was expected to be, Every day he had to do holes six feet deep and six feet wide for no reason. There, he becomes friends with Zero to break the 150 year old curse on his family. 

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