YALSA Award

This memoir follows the tumultuous childhood of the author with upheaval and hardships almost too extreme to believe. Through living in extreme poverty, being in real danger medically, emotionally, and physically, Jeannette expresses her constant determination and shows how she copes with and still has deep love for her dysfunctional family. I finished this book very quickly because it is very hard to put down.

Imagine waking up from a high school party to find that all of your friends now littering the house around you attracting flies. Then you hear a noise and realize you are not alone. Upon exploring the house you discover your friend chained to a bed and a vampire chained beside him—just out of reach. What happened while you were blacked out in the bathroom is a chilling story. Readers might find it shocking, but for Tana vampire attacks are an all-too-common occurrence. Not all of the monsters can be contained in the Coldtowns created to preserve the vampires and protect the population. The all-night parties within the walls are streamed live as reality entertainment that gives the vampires a rock-star quality. Those who escape are featured on the daily bounty hunter programs. These parallels to real life, as well as the characterizations of the vampires make them seem approachable and almost amiable. How close can Tana get before she is in danger?

Linh Cinder is unusual. Her stepsisters and stepmother hate her. Her best friend is an android. Oh, and she’s a cyborg – and she wants to go to the ball. Politics, adventure, and a deadly plague all play roles in this book.

Cinder was fun and exciting. Cinder is a protagonist you can really root for. Prince Kai is complex and interesting – he’s more than just the love interest. Queen Levana is a great creepy villain. The futuristic sci-fi world of New Beijing is expansive and really quite interesting. The plot moved at a very fast pace.

I only have one complaint: the plot twists were a little predictable. But, besides that, it is a fun and interesting book! I have yet to read the rest of the series, but I really think they’re going to be spectacular based on what I’ve seen from this awesome book.

Reviewer Grade: 9

Charles Frasier’s novel Cold Mountain intrigued me from the beginning. It tells the story of Ada and Inman who both have suffered from their own tragedies and horrors from the beginning of the novel. Inman is scarred emotionally and physically from serving in the Civil War. Ada is left with the family farm after her father dies and having been raised sophisticated, she has no idea how to maintain it. However, each is able to overcome their trials and defy society’s expectations in pursuit of each other and their own dreams. The characters in this novel are both so relatable in the idea that we all experience horrible, sad things that we must learn to overcome and we also all face limitations and expectations from society that we must ignore in order to embark on our own journey in pursuit of our own American Dream. Although long and a bit tedious at points, this novel is definitely one of the best I’ve read this year.

Reviewer Grade: 11

Nice idea, not especially well executed, but serviceable nevertheless. Penniless but daring young Abigail Rook is stuck in New England when she meets an eccentric private detective named Jackaby. He specializes in supernatural deduction using an ability to see what other people can't -- faeries, monsters, etc. He is also in need of an assistant. When a very odd murder occurs, Jackaby and Abigail are on the case. Who is the murderer? Can our heroes stop the killer in time to save innocent lives? And will we ever learn what Jackaby's initials stand for? At best, it's a really laudable middle-grade supernatural mystery. Unfortunately, Jackaby himself falls rather flat. He seems to be a collection of quirks and mannerisms borrowed from more famous characters. Abigail is by no means and ideal character, but she is independent in a way that many female protagonists aren't. There are several appealing secondary characters -- one of whom is a ghost -- who were a bit more unusual, but on the whole, this book does not have the most intriguing cast, although it does try very hard. The plot itself is reasonably interesting, but suffers from the same malady as the characterizations: originality, or rather, lack thereof. Anyone who's familiar with folklore (or has read Harry Potter) has a good chance at guessing the identities of the murderer and other characters long before the big reveal. If you want a lightweight, easy-read fantasy-mystery with some fun characters and fairly witty dialogue, you'll probably like it, but for really intense murder mystery fans, look elsewhere.
Reviewer Grade: 12

Don't get me wrong -- this is a good book. The narrator is Marcelo, a teenage boy with an Asperger's-like condition that allows him to hear music that no one else can hear, but that also means he has some difficulty with social interaction. He goes to a special school for autistic students, although to be honest he could probably manage in a regular school, it's just that he has been coddled his entire life -- no one has made him push himself to practice functioning in regular society. His parents realize this is the case, and offer him the option of attending a mainstream school for his senior year. To help him decide, his lawyer father his makes him work at his law firm over the summer -- forcing Marcelo to get used to the "real world."

Marcelo is extremely relatable and well-drawn -- he is a sympathetic character, and both earnest and honest. When he is faced with difficult choices, the reader experiences his conflict. Many of his interactions with other people seem realistic and believable. I loved the first half of the book. My problem was with the second half. A major plotline appeared that I simply didn't like -- it didn't seem to fit the rest of the narrative in the sense that it brought a new focus to the story that altered its tone. I didn't enjoy it very much, but I think that many other readers wouldn't mind it. The book as a whole is still definitely worth reading. If you like thoughtful, introspective books with appealing narration and moral conflict, this one does very well.

Reviewer Grade: 12

Six year old Scout Finch is living in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. Raised by Atticus Finch, Scout and her brother, Jem, are very comfortable with Maycomb and understand the well being of their neighbors, except the house of the mysterious Arthur Radley, whom they obsess over. Half the book is basically about Scout, Jem, and Dill (their new friend) trying to lure Arthur Radley out of his house. However, when Atticus, a lawyer, decides to take the case of a black man named Tom Robinson, tensions become high and the trial to see whether Tom Robinson is guilty or innocent based on his crime and, especially, his skin color is at stake. I absolutely love To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and it is my #1 favorite book because the structure of this book is so eye-opening since it addresses the struggle and tensions between African- Americans and Whites during a time period where slavery was abolished just less-than a century ago. I highly recommend this book because it is just so jaw-dropping and it hit me with surprises that had me at the edge of my seat.

Reviewer Grade: 10

This book by J.K. Rowling engulfs you in a world of magic where you want to keep on reading without putting it down. Harry Potter takes place in England, and is all about a boy named Harry Potter's time at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. This book can attract readers of all kinds of reading levels because of its simplicity and depth. The Harry Potter series is an extremely fun series and the characters are full of emotion. I guarantee that you will love this book.

Reviewer Grade: 8

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a very good and interesting book. This book is about an Indian boy named Arnold, also known by his nickname Junior, who is a freshman in high school. Junior lives on a Native American reservation and doesn’t fit in with any of the other kids very well because he has many special abilities that make him look, talk, and function differently. In the story, he has a best friend called Rowdy who is in his eyes, is really tough and strong. One day, Junior decides that he needs to go to a better school OFF the reservation (Rez) called Reardan. When he transferred, Rowdy decided that he hated Junior. Everyone at his new school calls Junior names, and makes fun of him because he’s an Indian with disabilities. Throughout the book, Junior encounters many more hardships and obstacles. I did like the book, although it was very depressing towards the end. The book has parts with more mature content, but is not bad if you are older. The part I enjoyed in the book is when Junior makes the basketball team by being crazy and making crazy shots. This is the second best book I have read in 2016… Messenger of Fear being the first. All in all, this is a great book that any teen should check out if they are mature enough to read it.

Reviewer Grade: 7

The book Sidekicks is an amazing book! It starts off with a boy named Scott, and he is a Sidekick to Phantom Menace, a hero that fights crime. In the beginning, Scott has an archenemy named Monkeywrench, and he later discovers that Monkeywrench is someone he knows. They get to like and get to each other. Also their Mentors are archenemies, but they don’t care. They just want to be together. But something puts a wrench in their plan! (No pun intended). Sorry, I don’t want to give away the ending! In my opinion, this was a great book, and probably the best book in 2016 that I have read. I chose this book because the cover and name just appealed to me, and later on the story did. This was a basic superhero Romeo and Juliet. The story made me sit on edge when I was reading it. It was an amazing thriller, with lots of twists. This story was very entertaining. The story had lots of jokes, lot of character development, and a lot of happy things in it. This is why the book was appealing. Also it had no things that diverted you from the topic; it was straightforward and very precise. If you want a book that is an easy read for 12+ this is one of the best ones, there is no need to reread. But this book does have some mature humor, so not a very good bedtime story for little kids.

Reviewer Grade: 7