We just posted a bunch of book teasers/reviews that teens from Ms. Broeg's class at James Madison sent us! If you would like to have a review posted, send it to us at youthservices@burlington.lib.ia.us!
Happy Reading!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Warriors
Title: Warriors
Author: Erin Hunter
Genre: Adventure
If you enjoy animals… and adventure, then this series would probably be perfect. The first book in this on-going series, Into the Wild tells the tale of a young kitten named Rusty as he makes the difficult decision to leave his soft life for the life of the Warrior. He leaves his best friend Smudge to join one of the four clans of the forest, Thunderclan. The medicine cat of the clan gets the prophecy: Fire alone can save the forest. The strange omen was accompanied by the vision of a shooting star. Rusty, as an apprentice of Thunderclan takes on the name ‘Firepaw’. He goes through training with friends Graypaw and Ravenpaw. But not everyone in Thunderclan is friendly to the ‘kittypet’. Ravenpaw carries the dark secret of his mentor and the mysterious murder of the clan’s deputy. Firepaw and Graypaw receive their Warrior Names. The young cat must face many challenges before he is truly one of Thunderclan. But will he survive the hardships of the clans when he is, after all, a kittypet?
This series would probably be best for those from late elementary school to maybe perhaps middle school, as the author grows with the books, the reader would as well. The books in this series are:
Warriors:
Into the Wild
Fire and Ice
Rising Storm
A Dangerous Path
The Darkest Hour
Warriors: New Prophecy
Midnight
Moonrise
Dawn
Starlight
Twilight
Sunset
Warriors: The Power of Three
The Sight
Outcast
Eclipse
Long Shadows
Sunset
Warriors: Omen of the Stars
The Fourth Apprentice
Fading Echoes
Night Whispers
Sign of the Moon (unreleased)
The Forgotten Warrior (unreleased)
There are also multiple Super Editions, Manga Books and Field Guides
Reviewed by: Tori T.– Grade 6
The House of Night Series
Title: The House of Night Series
By: P.C. Cast & Kristen Cast
Genre: Fantasy Fiction
The House of Night Series are books about an Oklahoma
I would recommend this book for students from grades 7th to college. High school students would particularly enjoy this series because of the fast-paced, action-filled plot.
Reviewed by Rachel S. 7th grade
Book 3 of The 39 Clues Books: The Sword Thief
Title: Book 3, 39 Clues: The Sword Thief
Author: Peter Lerangis
Genre: Mystery
This book takes place in Japan
Reviewed By: Jared G.
The Host
Title:The Host
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Genre: Science Fiction
This book focuses on a young adult who was caught by a type of soul called a seeker that captures humans for healers to perform an insertion. But when the inserted soul tries to take over the body the young adult, Melanie, refuses to let her body be taken over so easily and fights back. Melanie slowly releases memories to the soul in her mind controlling her. But Melanie won’t release any memories showing loved ones whereabouts until she’s sure she can trust this soul. All the memories being released to this soul are causing it to fall in love with Melanie’s love, Jared, and to care about and love Melanie’s younger brother, Jamie. This makes Melanie and this soul, wanderer, to be unwilling allies to find any survivors, hopefully Jared and Jamie.
This book may be difficult for some people to read so I recommend it for 7th grade to young adults.
Reviewed by: Madison O. 7th grade
The Giver
Title: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Genre: science fiction
The Giver is a story about a boy that gets chosen to receive memory from an elder in the community named the Giver. The boy in this book goes through many problems to get to the powerful stage he is in. The boy’s adventure is dangerous and can be scary at times. At the end this boy will have more power than he knows and his journey will be long and difficult. Do you think that any one could live in such a way as the community in this story?
I would recommend this book to people who like mysteries or adventures. This book could be for 6th to 8th grade readers with a higher reading level.
Reviewed by: Kyle M., 6th grade
Tuck Everlasting
Title: Tuck Everlasting
Author: Natalie Babbit
Genre: fantasy, adventure
Have you ever thought about what it would be like to live forever? Well you don’t have to wonder if you read this book! The Tucks are a small family of four. They found an unusual spring and they drank some of the water. I’m sure you can figure out what happened to them; they can never die! Not even if they fell off a cliff. One day, Winnie, a curious little girl finds the spring… If you want to find out what happened check out this book!
I think anyone who likes fantasy books would like this. People from ages 9-109 would enjoy this, not just kids! If you read this I’m sure you’ll like it too, I did.
Flipped
Title: Flipped
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Genre: Realistic fiction
Flipped is an accurate title for this story because the dialogue goes back and fourth between the main characters, Brice and Juli. Juli Baker’s back yard is nothing but dirt and chicken poop. Some of her neighbors give her money for her eggs, but Juli loves Brice Loski so much; she gives him the eggs for free. But why is Brice secretly throwing the eggs in the garbage?
I recommend this book to middle school students, mainly girls. If you enjoy reading this book you may also like Scarlett, by Cathy Cassidy.
Heaven Looks a Lot like the Mall
Title: Heaven Looks a Lot like the Mall
Author: Wendy Mass
Genre: Fantasy, Suspenseful
Tessa gets knocked out by a dodge ball during gym and dies… or so she thinks! She wakes up in her hometown mall, her second home, and doesn’t know what’s happening. Is this heaven? Where is everyone? Tessa still has bloody hair and her gym clothes on. She falls asleep and wakes up in a doctor’s office. What’s going on? With visits from the boy with a drill bit in his head, she goes back through time to try to figure out who she is.
I recommend this book to students middle school age and older. If you like malls and fantasies, you’ll like this book. It is very suspenseful and I read it in two days, it’s definitely a page-turner!
Reviewed by:
Kassidy L., 7th grader
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Read-Alikes
Star Jumper: Journal of a Cardboard Genius
Asch, Frank
Alex has had it with his little brother. Jonathan is always hanging around–asking weird questions, messing with Alex's stuff, and generally being a pest. Mom says it's all just normal sibling rivalry, but Alex decides there is only one thing to do–leave Earth–and Jonathan–forever. Using his astounding scientific ability–plus lots of grocery boxes, duct tape, and assorted bits of junk, Alex designs the Star Jumper. This advanced cardboard spacecraft will take him across the galaxy to a brother-free planet–if only he can keep the first grader out of the way until liftoff.
Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel
Barshaw, Ruth McNally
Eleven-year-old Ellie McDoodle illustrates her sketchbook with chronicles of her adventures and mishaps while camping with her cousins, aunt, and uncle.
Dear Dumb Diary (series)
Jamie Kelly chronicles her middle school life in a series of humorous diary entries and doodles.
Attack of the Mutant Underwear
Birdseye, Tom
Fifth-grader Cody Carson keeps a journal of his hopes for a fresh start in a town where nobody knows about his humiliating mistakes of the past, but before school even begins so does his embarrassment.
Clarice Bean (series)
Child, Lauren
This series deals with the eponymous Clarice Bean's difficulties in navigating the complex ethical and social questions children deal with at school and at home.
Lunch Money
Clements, Andrew
Twelve-year-old Greg, who has always been good at moneymaking projects, is surprised to find himself teaming up with his lifelong rival, Maura, to create a series of comic books to sell at school.
Horace Splattly: The Cupcake Crusader
David, Lawrence
When his little sister's magic cookies transform him into a flying, fire-breathing superhero, ten-year-old Horace Splattly has adventures which include confronting the monster at the school playground.
The Curse of Addy McMahon
Davis, Katie
After her father's death, aspiring sixth-grade writer Addy McMahon feels like she is cursed with bad luck, and when she temporarily loses her best friend, and is forced to admit that her mother is dating again, she vows she will never write another word.
The Great Brain at the Academy
Fitzgerald, John Dennis
The Great Brain faces the challenge of life at a strict Catholic boarding school with daring exploits and money-making schemes.
Hoot
Hiaasen, Carl
Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.
Horrible Harry (series)
Kline, Suzy
Horrible Harry of classroom 2B cuts back on his mischievous pranks after falling for Song Lee.
My Life as a Fifth Grade Comedian
Levy, Elizabeth
Although Bobby's father thinks that he might be expelled just like his older brother, with the encouragement of a new fifth-grade teacher, Bobby tries to channel his penchant for humor into a learning experience.
Bobby vs. Girls (Accidently)
Yee, Lisa
When Bobby inadvertently gets into a fight with his best friend Holly, their disagreement develops into a boys versus girls war involving their whole fourth-grade class.
Judy Moody (series)
McDonald, Megan
This series follows the hilarious adventures of third-grader, Judy Moody.
Stink (series)
McDonald, Megan
Seven-year-old Stink Moody (the younger brother of Judy Moody) discovers exciting ways to create catastrophe and adventure for his classmates and friends.
Amelia’s 6th Grade Notebook
Moss, Marissa
Problems arise for Amelia when she starts sixth grade at the same middle school where her older sister Cleo is an eighth-grader, and she gets the school's meanest teacher for three of her classes.
Clementine
Pennypacker, Sara
While sorting through difficulties in her friendship with her neighbor Margaret, eight-year-old Clementine gains several unique hairstyles while also helping her father in his efforts to banish pigeons from the front of their apartment building.
Captain Underpants (series)
Pilkey, Dav
This series covers the exploits of two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, and the aptly-named superhero they accidentally create by hypnotizing their principal, Mr. Benny Krupp.
How to Eat Fried Worms
Rockwell, Thomas
Two boys set out to prove that worms can make a delicious meal.
Marvin Redpost: Alone in His Teacher’s House
Sachar, Louis
Marvin is pleased when his teacher asks him to take care of her dog while she's away, but he soon finds that there's more pressure involved than he likes.
Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger
Sachar, Louis
Unusual things continue to happen in the classroom on the thirtieth floor of Wayside School, which was accidentally built sideways with one classroom on each story.
Fourth Grade Rats
Spinelli, Jerry
Suds learns that his best friend is wrong. You don't have to be a tough guy, a "rat," to be a grown up fourth grader.
Doyle and Fossey (series)
Torrey, Michele
Fourth-graders Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey combine their detective and scientific investigation skills to solve a variety of cases, involving a hungry cat, endangered penguins, a fish-stealing monster, and a dirty election. Includes a section of scientific experiments and activities.
Tripping Over the Lunch Lady: And Other School Stories
School is great—lots of friends, fun sports, and interesting classes. But then there are the days that are horrible: arguing with your best friend, being laughed at in front of your class, meeting up with the school bully, failing a test you really studied for. We’ve all been there, including these authors. In this hilarious and diverse collection of short stories, ten well-known writers, including Avi, Angela Johnson, David Lubar, James Proimos, and Susan Shreve, tell of those funny and memorable middle school moments.
It’s Only Temporary
Warner, Sally
When Skye's older brother comes home after a devastating accident, she moves from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to California to live with her grandmother and attend middle school, where she somewhat reluctantly makes new friends, learns to stand up for herself and those she cares about, and begins to craft a new relationship with her changed brother.
Sammy Keyes (series)
Van Draanen, Wondering
The series focuses on Sammy's adventures as an amateur sleuth. Sammy begins her adventures in the first book as a seventh-grader, and the series will end when she completes the eighth grade.
Camp Babymouse
Holm, Jennifer
Baby Mouse is excited to be going to Camp Wild Whiskers for two weeks, but she soon discovers that camping is not as easy as it seems.
The Curse of the Bologna Sandwich (Melvin Beederman series)
Trine, Greg
fter graduating from the superhero academy, Melvin Beederman heads for Los Angeles, where he unexpectedly teams up with Candace Brinkwater, school play actress, to nab the evil McNasty Brothers.
Sardine in Outer Space
Guibert, Emmanuel
The adventures of the intrepid Sardine, who travels across the universe meeting cosmic squids, space leeches, talking clouds, and other strange beings.
Starving for more Hunger Games?
Carbon Diaries: 2015
Lloyd, Staci
In 2015, when England becomes the first nation to introduce carbon dioxide rationing in a drastic bid to combat climate change, sixteen-year-old Laura documents the first year of rationing as her family spirals out of control.
TEEN LLO
The Compound
Bodeen, S. A.
Eli, the teenage son of a billionaire, has spent the last six years with his family in their massive underground compound, believing that a nuclear war has destroyed the outside world. With food supplies running low, Eli becomes both frightened and suspicious of his father, who seems to be hiding something.
TEEN BOD
Epic
Kostick, Conor
On New Earth, a world based on a video role-playing game, fourteen-year-old Erik persuades his friend to aid him in some unusual gambits in order to save Erik’s father from exile and safeguard the futures of each of their families. Sequal: Saga
TEEN KOS
Gone
Grant, Michael
In a small town on the coast of California, everyone over the age of fourteen suddenly disappears, setting up a battle between the remaining town residents and the students from a local private school, as well as those who have “The Power” and are able to perform supernatural fears and those who do note. Series: Hunger –Book 2, Lies –Book 3
TEEN GRA
Graceling
Cashore, Kristin
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Kasta struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king. Sequel: Fire
TEEN CAS
Heir Apparent
Vanda Velde, Vivian
While playing a total immersion virtual reality game of kings and intrigue, fourteen-year-old Giannine learns that demonstrators have damaged the equipment to which she is connected, and she must win the game quickly or be damaged herself.
TEEN VAN
The House of the Scorpion
Farmer, Nancy
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patron, the 140-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.
TEEN FAR
The Hunger Games
Collins, Suzanne
In the future North America, where the rules of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss’ skills are put to the test when she voluntarily take her younger sister’s place.
Catching Fire – Book 2 and Mockingjay – Book 3
TEEN COL
Incarceron
Fisher, Catherine
To free herself from an upcoming arranged marriage, Claudia, the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, a futuristic prison with a mind of its own, decides to help a young prison escape. Sequel: Sapphique
TEEN FIS
The Knife of Never Letting Go
Ness, Patrick
Pursued by power-hungry Prentiss and a mad minister Aaron, young Todd and Viola set out across New World searching for answers about his colony’s true past and seeking a way to warn the ship bringing hopeful settlers from Old World.
Chaos Walking Trilogy: The Ask and the Answer and Monsters of Men
TEEN NES
Little Brother
Doctorow, Cory
After being interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the after math of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, seventeen-year-old Marcus, released into what is now a police state, decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right.
TEEN DOC
The Maze Runner
Dashner, James
Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he find himself if he is to escape.
TEEN DAS
Nation
Prachett, Terry
After a devastating tsunami destroys all that they have even known, Mau, an island boy, and Daphne, an aristocratic English girl, together with a small band of refugees, set about rebuilding their community and all the things that are important in their lives.
TEEN PRA
Rash
Hautman, Pete
In a future society that has decided it would “rather be safe than free” sixteen-year-old Bo’s anger control problems land him in a tundra jail where he survives with the help of his running skills and an artificial intelligence program named Bork.
TEEN HAU
Salt
Gee, Maurice
Hari, one of the enslaved people from Blood Burrow, and Pearl, a member of the ruling families known as the Company, forge an unusual alliance and become reluctant traveling companions, as they undertake a desperate pilgrimage to save the world from a terror beyond their greatest imaginings.
TEEN GEE
Shade’s Children
Nix, Garth
In a savage post nuclear world, four young fugitives attempt to overthrow the bloodthirsty rule of the Overlords with the help of Share, their mysterious mentor.
TEEN NIX
Ship Breaker
Bacigalupi, Paolo
In a futuristic world, teenaged Mailer scavenges copper wiring from grounded oil tankers for a living, but when he find a beached clipper ship with a girl in the wreckage, he has to decide if he should strip the ship for its wealth or rescue the girl.
TEEN BAC
The Sky Inside
Dunkle, Clare
Martin live I a “perfect world” under the protective dome of suburb HM1, where every year a new generation of genetically-engineered children is shipped out to meet their parent. And it’s all about to come crashing down because a stranger has come to take away all the little children, including Martin’s sister, Cassie, and no one wants to talk about where they have gone. Martin has a choice either to remain in the dubious safety of HM1, or to break out of the suburb into the mysterious land outside.
JF DUN
Storm Thief
Wooding, Chris
With the help of golem, two teenaged thieves try to survive on the city island of Orokos, where unpredictable probability storms continually change both the landscape and the inhabitants.
TEEN WOO
The Supernaturalist
Colfer, Eoin
In futuristic Satellite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill escapes from his abusive orphanage and teams up with three other people who share his unusual ability to see supernatural creatures, and together they determine the nature and purpose of the swarming blue Parasites that area invisible to most humans.
JF COL
Taken
Bloor, Edward
In 2036, kidnapping rich children has become an industry, but when thirteen-year-old Charity Meyers is taken and held for ransom, she soon discovers that this particular kidnapping is not what it seems.
TEEN BLO
Tomorrow: When the War Began
Marsden, John
Seven Australian teenagers return from a camping trip in the bush to discover that their country has been invaded and they must hide to stay alive.
Book One on the Tomorrow Series
TEEN MAR
Uglies
Westerfeld, Scott
In Tally’s world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from ugly to supermodel gorgeous but with a price. Pretties –Book 2 and Specials –Book 3.
TEEN WES
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Welcome!
Welcome to the BPL (IOWA) Teens Blog page! Our plan is to use this Blog to post reviews about books we like and that you like, alerts about new books, music, cool websites, ideas and pictures of all our teen events!
