Pasadena Public Library
Review by Nina Dinan, 17 The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton By Edith Wharton Edith Wharton, renowned Gilded Age novelist and interior designer, was sometimes so disturbed by ghostly books that she was compelled to burned them. Luckily, this profound fear did not stop her from lending her own pen […]
Review by Jasmine Sov, 14 Rules for Being a Girl By Candace Bushnell and Katie Cotugno There’s a whole set of unspoken rules in society just for girls, and Marin knows how to follow them perfectly. A stellar student and school newspaper editor with a dream to get into Brown University, […]
Review by Jasmine Sov, 14 Spin the Dawn By Elizabeth Lim Maia Tamarin has always been an excellent tailor, following in her father’s footsteps with thread and needle. But while her aspirations reach sky-high, her reality is potentially having to marry the loathsome son of a baker in order to […]
Review by Jasmine Sov, 14 The Meaning of Birds By Jaye Robin Brown Jessica Perez’s girlfriend means everything to her. Vivi’s the one who drives Jess to pursue her love of drawing and makes her strive to be better about her anger issues. To Jess, the future suddenly holds countless […]
Review by Isabella Henriquez, 16 Parachutes By Kelly Yang Every year, thousands of students from China migrate to the US to study in their schools. They are known as the “parachutes”. This includes our protagonist, Claire Wang. Claire’s parents didn’t believe that she would pass the gaokao, which is China’s […]
Review by Nina Dinan, 16 The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens who Made England) By Dan Jones Are you a fan of Game of Thrones or The White Queen? If so, you’ll love The Plantagenets, the true story of the ruthless and visionary family that transformed England from a […]
Review by Jasmine Sov, 14 The Easy Part of Impossible By Sarah Tomp *Spoilers Ahead* The Easy Part of Impossible by Sarah Tomp is told from the perspective of ADHD-diagnosed Victoria “Ria” Williams, a teenage diver who excels in her sport as opposed to her struggles in school. Fiercely pushed along […]
Review by Jasmine Sov, 14 Frankly In Love By David Yoon Frankly in Love is a story from the perspective of Frank Li, Korean-American high school senior whose parents are very, very traditional as in “go to Harvard for college and marry a nice Korean girl” traditional. In fact, when […]
Review by Genevieve Ruth Harvey, 16 The Astonishing Color of After By Emily X. R. Pan In The Astonishing Color of After, X. R. Pan crafts a story using nonconventional colors, such as fuchsia and alizarin crimson, to indicate the complex emotions Leigh is dealing with following her mother’s death. Leigh, […]
Review by Jasmine Sov, 14 Bone Crier’s Moon tells the story of Ailesse and Sabine, two young girls who must one day complete their rite of passage—summoning and sacrificing their destined true love—in order to become true Bone Criers, ferries of the dead. Ailesse is the daughter of her famille’s […]