Reviews of Teen Books by Genre: Nonfiction

Disloyal: A Memoir
Cohen, Michael
3 stars = Pretty Good
Review:

Disloyal is a personal account of Michael Cohen's time as President Trump'spersonal attorney. Cohen describes in depth about his various experiences as serving as Mr. Trump's personal attorney and adviser. Cohen goes into detail about things and topics that the mainstream media does not report on. I liked this book because of how it it was a personal and first hand account from working in the Oval Office and with President Trump. I choose this book because I am very interested in politics and learning more about happens behind closed doors. This book was surprising and not at all what I was expecting. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading books about politics and political leaders.

Reviewer's Name: Ananth
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
Hamilton, Edith
4 stars = Really Good
Review:

Edith Hamilton's collection of Greek and Roman stories covers the gods, creation, and earliest heroes; stories of love and adventure, the great heroes before the Trojan War, the heroes of the Trojan War, the great families of Mythology, the 'less important' myths, and the mythology of the Norsemen. There are over 100 Greek/Roman/Norse stories, and a family tree and glossary of all the gods and goddesses included. A bonus was the illustrations which were really detailed. I read this book because I wanted an introduction to the Greek gods and goddesses before reading the PercyJackson and Olympians series, and I think it's a great book to gain somefamiliarity with the mythological characters.

My favorite short stories were: The Underworld, Cupid and Psyche, Pyramus and Thisbe, Perseus, Theseus, Hercules, and Antigone.

Reviewer's Name: Nneoma
The Answer Is....Reflections on My Life
Trebek, Alex
4 stars = Really Good
Review:

The Answer Is by Alex Trebek is a well crafted autobiography and masterpiece. Alex Trebek is the beloved television host of Jeopardy and he reflects on his life in this book. Trebek goes into further details about his personal life which he has rarely discussed with anyone. Trebek also mentions his tough battle with stage four pancreatic cancer. I choose this book because I have always been a huge jeopardy fan since I was 5 and I wanted to learn more about this great man. I really liked this book because of all the great moments that were highlighted. I also really liked the very truthful and honest reflections that Trebek gives about his own life. My hope is that more people will read 'The Answer Is' because it is excellent read and it's about a legendary figure that we tragically lost this past year due to cancer.

Reviewer's Name: Ananth
Shoe Dog
Knight, Philip
4 stars = Really Good
Review:

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight is a book that you do not want to miss out on! This book is a memoir about the life of Phil Knight, the founder and creator of Nike. I really liked this book because I love Nike shoes and I am also very passionate about starting my own business someday. So this book gave me a lot of encouragement and motivation to start a business. Shoe Dog goes in depth about all the challenges Phil endured to create the empire that Nike is today. I choose this book because it seemed interesting to get the experiences as well as the ups and downs endured in the process of trying to create a world famous brand. I would highly recommend this book to anyone dreaming of becoming a successful entrepreneur!

Reviewer's Name: Ananth S.
Night
Wiesel, Elie
4 stars = Really Good
Review:

The autobiography Night by Elie Wiesel is a gripping nonfiction retelling of his experiences during the Holocaust. Starting with Elie’s normal life before World War II and continuing onto the horrors of the concentration camps. Elie was a young boy growing up in the town of Sighet, Romania when he was taken to a concentration camp with his family. The book saddens me every time I read it. It draws the reader in and makes them feel as though they were there, starving in a camp or trudging across the frigid wilderness with no end in sight. I would recommend Night not because it makes the reader happy but because it is the best depiction of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Reviewer's Name: Harrison B.
Night
Wiesel, Elie
5 stars = Bohemian Rhapsody Awesome!
Review:

I had to read this book in English class Freshman year. I honestly wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. It's a true story called "Night" written first hand by Elie Wiesel about the Holocaust. It's about a young boy and his family that got sent to Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. This book is extremely well written, and is a really sad story. There was one part, I won't spoil it, but I couldn't stop crying. "Night" really gives you a look at what it would have been like to be in Elie's shoes. Overall, of course this is quite a sad book, but I would highly highly recommend!!

Reviewer's Name: Emani K.
The Emperor of All Maladies
Mukherjee, Siddhartha
5 stars = Bohemian Rhapsody Awesome!
Review:

The Emperor of all Maladies is an informative and gripping history of cancer. Starting with the first recorded cases in ancient times and the remedies used by ancient doctors and progressing to the medical breakthroughs of chemotherapy and radiation, the book provides a wealth of information in a riveting tale. Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee tells the stories of cancer’s most prominent adversaries like Dr. Sidney Farber as they work to develop life-saving treatments and procedures. The book is quite lengthy but kept me engaged throughout while teaching me about cancer history and treatment in a form that feels more like a novel than a textbook. If you want to learn more about one of the most prolific diseases in human history while viewing history through the lens of cancer researchers, The Emperor of all Maladies is perfect for you!

Reviewer's Name: Harrison
NFL Century: The One-Hundred-Year Rise of America's Greatest Sports League
Horrigan, Joe
4 stars = Really Good
Review:

NFL Century is a book about the lengthy history of the National Football League. Joe Horrigan gives a brilliant overview from the earliest days of the NFL to now. This book is also not just about the history but about the rise of American football to the pinnacle of American sports. The author beautifully describes how football overthrew baseball as America's favorite sport. I loved this book because I am a huge football fan and I was happy to learn to more about NFL history. I would highly recommend this book if you enjoy reading about sports or history.

Reviewer's Name: Ananth
Gone at Midnight: The Mysterious Death of Elisa Lam
Anderson, Jake
3 stars = Pretty Good
Review:

Gone at Midnight is a nonfiction crime book about the mysterious and brutal murder of Elisa Lam. Elisa Lam was a college student from Canada who came to visit Cecil Hotel but went missing. The Cecil Hotel is notorious for having a chilling haunted past. After a week or so Elisa Lam is found dead and an investigation is kicked off. The author goes in depth about how this investigation was messed up and didn't follow the proper procedures. I liked the suspense of the book and learning about how many people on the internet were also trying to solve the case. Finally, the author goes into detail about how this tragic event greatly impacted Elisa's family and on future investigations.

Reviewer's Name: Ananth
Cover of the book Final Jeopardy: Man Vs. Machine and the Quest to Know Everything
Baker, Stephen
5 stars = Bohemian Rhapsody Awesome!
Review:

Final Jeopardy is a wonderful read. Final Jeopardy tells the story of Watson, the question-and-answering computer built by IBM to play Jeopardy. Stephen Baker describes the journey of Watson from an abstract idea, to an ignorant computer that took hours to answer a single question, to the great computing wonder that took on two of Jeopardy's greatest players, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Final Jeopardy also gives insight into the great minds that developed Watson and their stressful years of programming leading up to the match. Final Jeopardy is a fantastic book and I highly recommend it for anyone who is a fan of Jeopardy, is fascinated by computers and their programming, or is interested in the future of technology.

Reviewer's Name: John B.
Cover of the book Too Much and Never Enough
Trump, Mary L.
3 stars = Pretty Good
Review:

Too Much and Never Enough is a memoir written by Mary Trump. She is the niece of our current president. This book extensively describes the several interactions that Mary Trump had with her uncle. In this book she blames the behaviors of the Trump family for negatively influencing Trump's personality. Also, she describes in depth about Donald Trump's role in the multi-billion dollar family business. She also expands upon the Trump family's political connections, which lead to the creation of a real estate empire. Mary Trump explains the several high expectations that Fred Trump held for his children. This book was well-written and used excellent vocabulary words to express her opinions. Too Much and Never Enough kept my attention as it was interesting and this book gave an insightful perspective about Donald Trump from an insider's point of view. Finally, I liked how Mary Trump elaborately explained each of the Trump children’s lives and the turmoil within the family during tough times of the business.

Reviewer's Name: Ananth
Born a Crime
Noah, Trevor
4 stars = Really Good
Review:

Born a Crime is an autobiography about Trevor Noah's life. I picked this book because it describes the humble beings of a
famous comedian and his extraordinary journey to the pinnacle of American comedy. It describes his life growing up in the apartheid government in South Africa. The title of this book refers to the fact that Trevor Noah's birth was actually a crime. This is because of his biracial background, which made his birth illegal under apartheid laws. Born a Crime is filled with jokes and will not fail to crack its readers up. I would highly recommend reading this book if you love humor and learning about valuable life experiences of famous celebrities.

Reviewer's Name: Ananth S.
Cover of the book We Should All Be Feminists
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
5 stars = Bohemian Rhapsody Awesome!
Review:

Chimamanda is one of my favorite Nigerian artists! In this book, she talks about her life growing up as a girl in Africa and how her friends and family knowingly or unknowingly forced gender expectations on her. I felt that because she used personal experiences, it was easier for me to connect with her. This book is a good read for everyone, whether you identify as a feminist or not; the book is for anyone who believes that women and men should be treated equally.

The book is short, sweet, but filled with thought-provoking ideas on gender dynamics in modern society. Contrary to what the title implies, Chimamanda doesn't necessarily try to sway your opinion on the topic of feminism: she lays out her experiences as a woman and leaves it to the reader's judgment to decide whether feminism is important or not. I also thought it was interesting how she mentioned that the most feminist person in her life was not a woman but in fact a man.

Reviewer's Name: Nneoma
Genres:
The Wright Brothers
McCullough, David
4 stars = Really Good
Review:

Wilbur and Orville Wright changed history in 1903 when they successfully built the first heavier-than-air powered machine that could fly and carry a pilot. Many people are familiar with the Wright brothers, but few know the full story of their quest to build the first flying machine and prove to the world that they were not far-fetched fanatical dreamers. Writtenusing Wilbur and Orville Wright's letters, diaries, technical data books, documents, proposals, and private family papers, this book gives great insight into the curiosity, intellectual ability, diligence, and determination of the brothers. This book is well-written, readable, and exciting, yet still incredibly factual. I highly recommend this book for anyone fascinated with aviation, engineering, or the quintessential American spirit.

Reviewer's Name: John
Cover of the book Walt Disney: An American Original
Thomas, Bob
5 stars = Bohemian Rhapsody Awesome!
Review:

An American Original Walt Disney by Bob Thomas is a masterful biography which tells the story of the man who created Mickey Mouse, along with one of the largest entertainment franchises the world has ever seen. It describes how Walt started as a small-town cartoonist, went through bankruptcy, had his work stolen, and even borrowed money on his life insurance to make his ideas become reality. It was fascinating to see how things like Disneyland and Mickey Mouse originated. While some biographies are extremely dull, this one captivated me from the start. It is written in a way that makes it easy to experience what Walt and his company are going through, whether it is success or failure. Entertaining as well as factual, this book is one of my favorite biographies. I would give this book five stars and would recommend it to anyone who would like to read about one of the most interesting men in the world.

Reviewer's Name: Zach M.
AP U.S. History Prep Plus 2020 & 2021
Kaplan Publishing
5 stars = Bohemian Rhapsody Awesome!
Review:

I knew that AP US history would be a difficult class with lots of information. Since the beginning of the school year, I've been trying various resources to see which will prepare me the most for the APUSH exam. From browsing YouTube channels to finding online practice tests, I haven't found a resource as valuable as this book. Another helpful piece to this resource is that, with the book, you can access the online website. On the website there are even more quizzes over the various units. I am so glad I found this resource and I am certain it will help me a lot when it comes time for the big test! I strongly recommend. Grade 11

Reviewer's Name: Elizabeth P.
The Missing Kennedy: Rosemary Kennedy and the Secret Bonds of Four Women
Koehler-Pentacoff, Elizabeth
4 stars = Really Good
Review:

Tragedy ran deep in the Kennedy family--so much so that some people even questioned if the family was cursed. Rosemary Kennedy was born in 1918. At the time of her birth, the hospital was overcrowded with victims of the Spanish flu. The nurse, who though perfectly capable in assisting Mrs. Kennedy to give birth, urged her to wait until the doctor could come. The baby, Rosemary Kennedy, was forced back inside her mother's birth canal for two hours by the nurse during the wait. This irregular birth led to lifetime consequences in Rosemary. She had learning disabilities. Despite this, she was pushed equally as hard by her parents. Rosemary never made it intellectually past the fifth grade level. Her condition affected the Kennedy family because at the time people with disabilities were seen as having a "bad gene" and were not even allowed to receive the sacraments or eucharist at the catholic church. As Rosemary's condition worsened, her parents were desperate to fix her before she "ruined" her brother JFK's political career. This story is unique because it sheds light on a member of the Kennedy family whose tragic story eventually brought positive change in how to deal with the disabled.

Reviewer's Name: Elizabeth
Desert Solitaire
Abbey, Edward
3 stars = Pretty Good
Review:

Desert Solitaire, written by Edward Abbey, is essentially a memoir of his time spent as a ranger outside of Moab, Utah, in the Arches National Park. It includes compelling commentary on the progression of industrial tourism, as well as life changing events and exciting stories. For some, the book may be a frustrating read, either because it lacks a linear plot, as a collection of journal entries and secondary memoirs, or because Abbey’s views are reminiscent of traditions from the 1930s. Abbey is aware of this, and begins the book with a series of disclaimers. For readers who enjoy beautiful writing about life in the West, Desert Solitaire should be a potential read.

Reviewer's Name: Malachi
Night
Wiesel, Elie
5 stars = Bohemian Rhapsody Awesome!
Review:

Night by Elie Wiesel is a powerfully graphic novel that tells the story of a Hungarian Jew's experiences in various concentration camps within Nazi Germany during World War II. I really enjoyed this book. It was very well written and hard to put down. This book not only tells of Wiesel's experiences in concentration camps, but provides insight into psychological and philosophical ideas that make it even more interesting. Wiesel was just a teen when he and his family were sent away. He and his father were separated from his mother and sister and underwent an immense amount of trauma that was life altering for both of them. I'd recommend this book to those interested in World War II. The book is a quick and easy read with deep, profound content.

Reviewer's Name: Elizabeth
Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story
Tobia, Jacob
4 stars = Really Good
Review:

Sissy is complex, introspective piece about gender and sexuality and how society's view can impact self-worth. Jacob Tobia recounts experiences throughout their life that have impacted them in the manner of their gender and sexuality and their self acceptance of themself. They reveal how even as a young child they identified more with femininity than their born masculinity and how that brought out negative feelings in those around them, including their parents. Tobia expresses how the trials they have faced have made them into who they are today but they wish queer identities were more accepted. A rousing autobiography of growing up queer, Sissy inspires the reader to open their mind to what is different and look within themselves and ask the question "Is it really black or white?".

Reviewer's Name: Maddie