Pasadena Public Library
review by Alicia Zhang, age 13 The Best Kind of Magic by Crystal Cestari In the novel The Best Kind of Magic by Crystal Cestari, teenager Amber Sand is overwhelmed by the intensity of the two worlds she straddles—one of magic, which is not as glorified as one may think—and the other regular […]
review by Alaina Joby, age 14 City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson A good mystery book is always fascinating because of the slight hint of what one might call “the otherworldly”. There is a moment when intuition is the only thing leading the protagonist towards the final answer. Some of […]
review by Kristina Yin, age 17 The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian classic. American government and way of life have been taken over by extreme Christian fundamentalism due to a scarcely mentioned nuclear war (this book was written in the 50s under the Reagan administration, so the […]
review by Jacob Chon, age 14 The Lost Causes by Jessica Koosed Etting and Alyssa Embree Schwartz A mystery book for the YA genre, The Lost Causes is a fairly unique book and stands out against the majority of the YA genre. It follows five high school students with psychological problems so […]
review by John Chon, age 15 Dreamfall by Amy Plum Summary: Cata Cordova suffers from such debilitating insomnia that she agreed to take part in an experimental new procedure. She thought things couldn’t get any worse…but she was terribly wrong. Soon after the experiment begins, there’s a malfunction with the lab equipment, […]
review by Alena Kunjumon, age 13 The Last Days of California by Mary Miller The Last Days of California, written by Mary Miller, discusses the journey that Jess, the narrator, undergoes both internally and externally. On the outside, her and her sister are two teenagers preparing for the rapture that will take […]
review by Sylvie Bower, age 16 Crossing Ebenezer Creek by Tonya Bolden Crossing Ebenezer Creek is the story of those who aren’t usually heard of from General Sherman’s March during the Civil War — former slaves who join up with the march to protect themselves. It is the story of Mariah, a recently […]
review by John Chon, age 14 A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron A Dog’s Purpose was a step outside of my normal genre, and it felt like a breath of fresh air. The book is about a dog who is reborn again and again, remembering their past experiences and using them again […]
review by McKenna Blackshire, age 14 Caraval by Stephanie Garber Summary: Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where […]
review by John Chon, age 14 Max by Sarah Cohen-Scali Max is a brutally graphic tale from the point of view of a child, who spent his entire life under the Nazi regime. As a historical fiction novel, it does borrow concepts from reality, such as the breeding program executed under the […]