Pasadena Public Library
Review by Nina Dinan, 16 Deep Dark Blue: A Memoir of Survival By Polo Tate Polo Tate arrived at the U.S. Air Force Academy with a mentality that fed off challenges. She was a highly successful student-athlete who quickly rose to the physical and mental demands of the academy. She was […]
Review by Jasmine Sov, 13 Again, but Better By Christine Riccio Christine Riccio’s delightful debut, Again, but Better, introduces readers to the wonderful world of college– a world where Shane Primaveri has been totally killing it with her amazing grades, pre-med track, and happy parents. Right? Wrong. In fact, what […]
Fractured Films Writing Contest 1st place “Hermione’s Hogwarts Letter” by Samantha Savage Age 14 Film inspiration: Harry Potter Around midnight on the night of the ninth of September 1990, Hermione Granger awoke to a crash and the hooting of an owl just outside her front door. She sat up startled as […]
Fractured Films Writing Contest 2nd place “Ursula’s Backstory” by Siluni Abeywickrama Age 14 Film inspiration: The Little Mermaid Ursula was beautiful. Her tail sparkling white, and her long wavy hair the deepest black. She was known not only for her beauty, but for her kindness. Every merman in Atlantica wanted to […]
Review by Jasmine Sov, 13 The Voice in My Head By Dana L. Davis Dana L. Davis’s The Voice in My Head tells the story of Indigo Phillips, a girl who’s always been known as “Violet’s twin sister”. Violet is everything she’s not: popular, pretty, and sweet-tempered. But when Violet suddenly becomes […]
Review by Jasmine Sov, 13 Brightly Burning Edited by Alexa Donne Alexa Donne’s reimagined future space version of the popular classic Jane Eyre, Brightly Burning, follows the story of Stella Ainsley, a teenage orphan living in poverty and working an engineering job aboard the Stalwart. But when she relocates to the […]
Review by Nina Dinan, 15 Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America Edited by Ibi Zoboi This collection of short stories examines the many dimensions of African American experiences through the eyes of multiple young protagonists. Different writers give voice to each story, and their plot lines are […]
Review by Nina Dinan, 15 Always Smile: Carley Allison’s Secrets for Laughing, Loving and Living by Alice Kuipers In early 2013, Carley Allison, a Canadian figure skater and singer-songwriter, was diagnosed with an extremely rare cancer in her trachea. Instead of being dismayed by the diagnosis, she chose to use her experience […]
Review by Kira Toal, 17 Lovely War By Julie Berry “Lovely War” by Julie Berry is a historical fiction romance novel set at the height of World War I and (here’s the interesting part:) narrated by Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. It features two main couples: Hazel and James, a talented young […]
Review by Jasmine Sov, 13 Twice Dead By Caitlin Seal “Twice Dead”, a story by Caitlin Seal set in the fictional land of Belavine City, is about a girl named Naya who meets her untimely death within the first chapter while on a trading mission for her merchant father. However, she’s not […]