Pasadena Public Library
–review by Kara, teen reviewer One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn It’s a pretty straight-forward title, but it doesn’t tell you that Ivan Denisovich is a prisoner in one of Soviet Russia’s work camps, one for political prisoners to be precise. This is a fairly […]
review by Kara, teen reviewer Parallel by Lauren Miller Abby Barnes has a very detailed plan for her life. She has everything mapped out from what classes she’ll take, what college she’ll attend, to when she’ll get a job. But her plan doesn’t account for a canceled class and in […]
–review by Kara, teen reviewer Raging Star by Moira Young This is the last installment in the Dust Lands Trilogy so if you haven’t read the first two books, don’t read this review. Like I said, this is the last book and it does a pretty good job of wrapping […]
–review by Kara, teen reviewer In Cold Blood by Truman Capote This is the story about the murder of four members of the Clutter family, some of the most prominent and respected people of their community (a community that, prior to the murders, never locked their doors). It is an […]
–review by Kara, teen reviewer Going Bovine by Libba Bray This is the story of how Cameron Smith, a disappointment to all teen, somehow finds himself diagnosed with Mad Cow Disease (hence the title) and journeys across America with a dwarf who has a crippling sense of paranoia, a lawn […]
–review by Kara, teen reviewer Everlost by Neal Shusterman This book is about children in limbo. Our two main characters, Allie and Nick, are involved in the same accident, one that led to their deaths. This is their story about trying to “survive” in a world that is stuck in […]
–review by Kara, teen reviewer The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland This book is about the life of Artemisia Gentileschi, a painter living in 17th century Italy. While this book doesn’t cover her life from birth to death, it covers all of the important parts. It’s a work of […]
Our September YA Book Club meeting was in celebration of Banned Books Week. We discussed Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why, a powerful novel about high school bullying and suicide. The book was released in 2007, and since has been banned from schools for being “unsuitable for the targeted age group,” […]
–review by Kara, teen reviewer Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel This is the second book in the series. If you haven’t read the first book, This Dark Endeavor, stop reading this review and go find it to start the series. This time Victor doesn’t just dabble in alchemy, he […]
–review by Angelina, teen reviewer Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer The book is the first one published from Susan’s ‘The Last Survivors’ series but I think it’s the most amazing one yet. The story takes place in northeastern Pennslyvania. A female sophomore Miranda has an average […]