Focused by Alyson Gerber is about a middle school student Clea who has a hard time concentrating, getting her homework, and following directions. She knows that she can’t say everything that comes into her head but can’t help herself. It’s becoming a huge problem in school, with her friends, and in the chess club. Will she be able to figure out her mind before she misses the big chess tournament? The author does a great job by illustrating the troubles of balancing schoolwork, friends, and extracurriculars of teenage life. Personally, I feel like I could connect with the characters in the novel and enjoyed the light outlooks on teenage years. All in all, this book was somewhat predictable and mainly focused on a middle school audience. Still, I found it to be an easy read and would give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Grade: 9
The outsiders is about a city broken into two sides, the greasers and the socs. The socs and the greasers do not get along. Since the socs can get away with more things than the greasers, they start fights, get drunk, and jump innocent greasers. After killing a soc in self defense, two greasers hide out in an old church. After a couple of days, they return home, go to court, and life gets back to somewhat normal. The Outsiders is about the feud of greasers and socials, but taken a step further.
I loved the outsiders book. It drew me in and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. I would rate this book 100/10. I also loved the movie. The movie isn't as detailed, but it is also awesome. I would recommend you read the book first then watch the movie.
This rom-com style book while can be cheesy at times is over-all heartwarming and charming. Pepper always has something going on, from swim practice to running her Baking account online. When she meets a mystery boy on an anonymous website, they spark a connection; pepper cant wait to find out who this mystery person is. This adorable story, is heartwarming and very sweet. If you like a cute romance story, this book is definitely for you! Grade: 8th
This book is amazing, I have read it twice and I still just fall in love with the story. 5 teens in a traumatic car accident 4 walk away but are scarred for life. This book is all about healing and moving on from the past. Watching the characters face the trauma and make new connections is beautiful. It's hard to put down, because as the story goes on you find out more and more about the characters, the accident, and the story. If you want a book to get invested in, I would definitely recommend this book. grade: 8th
This book, which is based on the musical by the same name is so
touching. It deals with very hard topics like social anxiety, depression,
mental illness, and suicide. This story follows Evan Hansen as he starts to
get caught up in a web of lies. While a very tough book emotionally, it is
also very touching and Evan is somebody that lots of people can relate to.
This book is the perfect combination of emotional, witty, heartbreaking, and
heartwarming all at the same time. So if you are looking for a great story,
realistic characters, and a beautiful message, this is the book for you! -
Grade:8th
Paper Girl is about a girl whose world is caving in around her, and is not able to cope very well with it, until a boy comes into her life. All the characters are so well developed and all have great backstories. The whole book is a big question if she will overcome and has you wondering the whole time, which I loved. Something that I did not love about the book is how the main character's mental illness is portrayed. It is very hard to relate to I feel, unless you have felt similarly. This did not take much away from the book's overall greatness though. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good, cute teen romance book.
The book "The Lovers Dictionary" by David Leviathan gets a "meh" review. While the book seems like it'll be a hopeful love story, it actually spins a web of lies and heartbreak. Each chapter is a new word, and the chapter explains the definition, through a story. While this seems to be a cool idea, it was not well planned out in this book. Sudden changes in setting, as well as changes in the timeline, leave this book quite confusing. It makes you want to get entranced by the book, but also makes it difficult to do so. Had the author better explained both the timing and the reasoning behind the flashbacks of sorts, the story would have been better able to comprehend and relate with. The story also has these thought-changing scenes that make no sense. One second the narrator is madly in love and very happy about it, and the next he is broken-hearted and considering leaving his partner. The constant back and forth is difficult to follow and honestly quite frustrated. I think the idea of the book was a great idea, however, I do not believe the author knew quite how to plan it out.
This book tackles some very tough topics in very realistic and accurate ways. Main character Callie has been placed into a residential treatment center, shortly after her family discovers that Callie had begun to use self-harm to cope with many issues. The stress of being in this facility, as well as familial and mental stress, leads Callie to silence. Acting on selective mutism, Callie chooses to stop talking. Many people try, and yet fail, to help her open up and speak. Through the book, from memories and dialogues that run through Callie's brain, we discover that Callie has an extremely stressful home life that has become detrimental to her mental health. This book speaks on the reality of mental health facilities in America, as well as the type of home life that many live and suffer through silently. This story faces the reality of self-harm and mental illnesses. These topics are very uncomfortable for many, and almost taboo, but "Cut" breaks through that and breaks down the walls of real-life issues, and progress through mental health issues.
Sick Kids in Love was a good book; however, throughout the whole book it felt like something was missing. It would skip what seemed like long periods of time and go to the next topic. It also felt like the same thing kept happening or was talked about over and over. There were some minor plot twits that made it interesting, but they didn't last long and were not really developed. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy read that doesn't go into much detail on anything and nothing too sad.
The book We All Looked Up is from the point of view of what would happen if the world was ending very soon. There is no certainty that the world will end but they also can't be sure that it won't. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book, the uncertainty that there is throughout the whole story. I thought the choices the characters made were realistic and that it was all very well thought out and written. I loved how the book made me think about what I would do if I only had a certain amount of time left to live and what I would want to be doing with this time.
Sleeping In My Jeans is about a mom and her daughters who are newly homeless and follows their life through it all. The book has so many twists and turns, around every corner there is a new plot twist. It is very sad and touches on the topics of teen and child homelessness and trafficking. While I thought it was so sad and at times was hard to keep reading, I had to know how it would all end, and read the whole book in a day. I recommend this book to a more mature reader looking for a heartbreaking book you won't be able to put down.
Wonder is a great book. It shows that not everyone is the same, but everyone should be treated equally. In the book, there is this one character, Auggie Pullman, who was born with facial differences. Auggie decides to go to public school, but it's very scary for him not having any friends to start off the school year. Auggie gets settled into school and starts to make friends with a boy named Jack and a girl named Summer. A rumor gets spread around the school that Auggie can pass the plague, so everyone stays away from him. I enjoyed this book because it teaches a lesson that not everyone looks the same and that we all have our differences.
A Walk to Remember is set in 1958, North Carolina, and is about two seniors who fall in love despite their different personalities. Landon, the mayor's son, is fun and carefree, while Jamie, the preacher's daughter, is 'annoyingly' perfect. Jamie is often clowned by her classmates for her rigid lifestyle, feverish devotion to Christ, and her rather drab way of dressing. When Landon finds himself in desperate need of a date to the school dance, he has no option but to ask Jamie to come with him.
Landon and Jamie begin spending time together, and while Landon tries to hide his feelings, he eventually realizes he loves her for her kindness. He tells Jamie about his feelings, but Jamie responds with hesitance, leaving Landon confused.
The ending is a little sad, but it's also cute and romantic. I liked how Landon developed as a character; he was a bit of a jerk at first, but being with Jaime helped him learn compassion and kindness. Jamie and Landon's relationship is a good example of why you shouldn't take things or people for granted.
This was a 2020 All Pikes Peak Reads teen selection. This is a very good book. It's fast paced for the subject matter and the characters are engaging. I think the 'impossible' message in this book is inspiring, but may have been dealt out with a heavy hand. But that's okay. I liked the magical realism as well. Overall, I would recommend this book.
Five Feet Apart is a really good book that I recommend reading. The story is about two teenagers Stella Grant and Will Newman who both have cystic fibrosis. Both of their lives are very different from our teenage lives. They experience lots of ups and downs in life and the biggest one is them falling in love with each other and having to stay five feet apart. They took a major turn in their lives and risked the rule of being five feet apart because Stella had a dream to see the city lights. Lungs had arrived for Stella that's what she needed but she wasn't in her room. Doctors started to panic because she was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Stella and Will were out on the ice until Will finds himself trying to save Stella's life. Read Five Feet Apart to find what dramatic accident they come upon.
We are Okay is about a girl who goes through some tragic events in her life, and is now trying to deal with them. The book has quite a few twists and turns that can throw you off, but I really liked that. I did not like how short the book was though, and I felt the author could have added more in. The book ended off at a happy spot, but as a reader I wanted to know more about what happens after. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an easy read that you won't want to put down until it is over, which is fairly quick.
Lucky Broken Girl is about is girl named Ruthie, who recently moved from
Castro's Cuba. When her father decides to buy a car and surprise the family,
they get into a terrible accident, testing the car out. Ruthie breaks her
leg, and must live in a body cast to mend her leg and to make sure one leg is
taller than the other, since she is growing. Ruthie must spend months in the
body cast. Along the way, Ruthie makes friends and loses friends, learns how
to paint, and continues her life, as much as possible, as to not get behind.
This is also a true story. The author changed some parts of the story, but it
is based off of true events.
I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me that not everyone's life is
perfect, and everyone is going through something. Even though the setting of
the book was in Ruthie's room most of the story, I had a lot of trouble
putting the book down. There are some sad parts but there are also a lot of
happy parts. This book is definitely a ten out of ten.
Dear Sweet Pea is about a girl named Sweet Pea who is a girl living two lives. Since Sweet Pea's parents are divorced, she has two houses on the same street. In between those two houses lives the towns advice columnist. When her sister gets sick and she has to go out of town, she asks Sweet Pea to mail the letters to her and take care of her plants. Sweet Pea agrees, but while caring for the letters, she runs into friend, parent, and advice trouble.
I loved this book. Some things Sweet Pea said and felt are relatable to anyone. This is a really easy read and I couldn't put the book down. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast and relatable book.
This book is about two unlikely friends who create an imaginary world with many kinds of animals and beasts. Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke become friends when Leslie moves and becomes Jess’s neighbor. But they really get to know each other when Leslie is the only girl to beat Jess in a running race.
One day, Jess and Leslie use a hanging rope to swing over a little river that is nearby, and that’s when they start to rule, as king and queen, the imaginary Terabithia.
There, the two friends have adventures as they try to rule over their subjects, and keep peace and order in Terabithia. Some of these subjects include hairy vultures, squogres, and other spirits, both good and bad. Squogres are massive squirrel-like creatures who are constantly growling, and they wear strange golden helmets with a spike on top, like a Triceratops.
With this book keeping you imaginative, with some sad and happy parts, I'm going to go with 3/5 stars for The Bridge to Terabithia.
The Bluest Eye is about a young African-American girl named Pecola living in 1940's Ohio. Pecola lives with her brother and abusive parents who constantly tell her she is ugly because of her dark skin and kinky hair. On top of that, the children at her school bully her for the fact that her father is an alcoholic. All her life, Pecola has wanted blue eyes to feel pretty. Her only friends, Freida and Claudia try to defend her against the colorism in their community, but Pecola is unable to embrace her features and becomes obsessive over her desire for blue eyes.
One of the reasons I read this book is because of Morrison's writing style and her thematic elements. The book is very intellectually stimulating and gave me better insight into colorism and how it is still largely prevalent today in the African-American community. I really liked how Morrison used a young girl as a main character to show how these feelings of low-esteem and poor body image are started at a young age, and how the people around us influence our thoughts and feelings.
There are a lot of complex characters and you get to hear each of their stories about why they're the way they are. Claudia is my favorite character because she represents women and girls who challenge our ideas of beauty. The ending was sad, but it really brought light to how damaging our obsession with beauty is.