Across the Universe

Reader: Sabrina K
Age: 17
Title: Across the Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Publisher: Penguin
Pub Date: 3/22/11
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teen’s Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Comments: Amy and her parents are put into ice chambers and are suppose to be opened 300 years later to help create life on a new planet. Amy, a 17 year old girl, is one who is purposely woken up early and is faced to deal with the fact that she might not ever see Earth again-let alone her parents. This book describes her journey of the spaceship and the adventures she has on it.
Convince us to read the book: This book gives a probable version of how the future of Earth could be -and space too! How the author made the ship and the events going on in the book probable and likely. Revis's description of the events and the characters made the book lively, chilling, and even at times confusing (but in a good way!).
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The most compelling aspect of the book is how the characters react with one another and how there's an evident social structure within the ship and the Society. It was very compelling to see this internal struggle for Elder and how he was going to handle the situations facing him.
Cover: The cover tempted me to pick up the book a bit-and did reflect the contents of the chemistry between Amy and Elder and gives an insight for why Elder opened her chamber up. It would have been nice though if there had been a little sketch on the cover showing Godspeed-it would have made more sense. The cover was a bit confusing at first for the reasoning behind it but towards the end it made sense.
Age Range: 16-18 and up
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 5P Everyone wants to read it

Beat The Band

Reader: David L
Age: 17
Title: Beat The Band
Author: Don Calame
Publisher: Candlewick
Publish Date:
Galley: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: It's funny, creative, and up to date. It feels like it's written by someone who just got out of high school--that's how much realism the book has.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The witty banter. The main character is an amazing liar and his quick comebacks and fibs make the book worth reading.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I was not disappointed with this book. The writing may not have been utterly stellar, but the author made up for the fact that occasionally it sounded like a "Ramona" book by keeping it light, real, funny, etc. It's also really a great book for male readers. Most books seem to be directed at girls, but Don Calame does a great job of getting inside the teenage boy's mind.
Comments: I love how the narrator doesn't linger on things, beating himself up, etc. I also love how he has to answer for some of his lies at the end, and above all, I love his rock and roll attitude. I wish it carried through more near the end of the book, although it's also neat how he develops and loses some of his arrogance.
Cover: I liked the cover. It was a little garish, but a drum set reflects the contents as well as anything else. The rock lettering is awesome.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 12-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal

Crazy

Reader: Payton G.
Age: 15
Title: Crazy
Author: Han Nolan
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Pub Date: 09/??/2010
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Annotation: Jason has had a hard life. His mom is dead, his dad is nuts, and his house is falling apart around him. Oh, not to mention the voices in his head to whom he narrates his life and has conversations with. Is Jason also crazy? That's up to you to determine.
Convince us to read the book: I would say that it is a story of a boy who has had a tough life, and has witty input from his cast of imaginary friends, which he responds to.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I most liked that while this wasn't an AVERAGE teenager, it wasn't totally on the other side of the spectrum. I was happy with the lack of vampires/werewolves/paranormal beings featured.
Cover: I really like the cover. It was what initially drew me to the book. I think that it's very eye-catching. However, I don't think it really reflected the contents of the book. There's no significance for the neon stripes featured. Nevertheless, it's a good cover.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 14- 18 and up
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

Entice

Reader: Sabrina K
Age: 17
Title: Entice
Author: Carrie Jones
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pub Date: December 10
Galley: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This book has action, romance, and comedy. Everything you could ask for in a book is in here. It has mythical creatures but still has relevant issues that are happening in the teen world we know today; just with a twist. The fact that all the characters (or a large majority) are mythical creatures brings the book more into perspective on "their" world.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The most compelling aspect of the book is Zara-for once there's a real female lead character that has the brains to act for herself! Carrie Jones does an excellent job with this character. Zara's drive and passion is what makes the book come alive; not the events going around. It's her desire to change what's happening and her reaction/action to them.
Comments: It felt like the book was very repetitive when searching for Nick. Every other chapter it felt like Zara was saying "I'm miles closer from Nick" after the second time I just lost it and almost wanted to give up! I'm doubting that was an intentional feeling that was supposed to happen for the reader. It just felt like at parts of the book it was prolonged and leading up to the next book of the sequel. Can't every book that's a part of a sequel not be prolonged?
Cover: The fact that it was the sequel to Captivate and Need was good enough for me! I jumped up and down full of excitement when I saw this book. The cover reflected the contents on the book about the glamour. I think it would be really cool though if the next cover was like the gold glitter on the snow-or like by someone's feet or something.
Age Range: 14-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

Jane

Reader: Emily
Age: 16
Title: Jane
Author: April Lindner
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Pub Date: 10/11/201
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: Jane tells the story of a young woman faced with poverty trying to etch out a living as a nanny. As a modern adaption of the classic Jane Eyre, the heroine faces a parallel life, but in modern times, including a rock-star boss, a sweet little girl, a crazy ex-wife, and compelling life lessons.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: Jane Moore, a reflection of Jane Eyre, is not a helpless woman, but takes her life into her own hands, focuses on what she needs to get accomplished and is very headstrong.
Comments: As a fan of the classic story, I was at first skeptical that the story could be retold, April Lindner proved that to be wrong. As soon as I started reading it, I found I couldn't put it down! A great read, one that I would definitely enjoy reading again.
Cover: The cover was very plain, although the giant pink text is certainly eye-catching. Because the cover is not final, I can't accurately assess it, but a more creative cover would be welcome.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 14-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

Wither

Reader: Sydney T
Age: 15
Title: Wither
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pub Date: 03/22/11
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This is a really cool book about things in the future, and most of them are not pleasant. People only live to a certain age, then die. Rich guys buy wives so they can reproduce. Pretty creepy, but totally awesome.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I like the totally depressing future the author created, and the things that people did to retain their family lines, and one girl's struggles to avoid helping.
Comments: One thing I really liked about this book is that even though it’s the first in a series, the author still finished the story line. Most authors cut off in the middle of the story, to continue, but this book has a really nice breaking point.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I wasn't disappointed in this book.
Cover: The cover is pretty cool, plus the title is really intriguing. Those two things are what made me pick up the book.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 14-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

The Latte Rebellion

Reader: Luke M
Age: 17
Title: The Latte Rebellion
Author: Sarah Jamila Stevenson
Publisher: Flux
Pub Date: Jan 11
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I think the rising use of social media to fuel grass-root movements for change makes this book very relevant and possible today. The knowledge that anyone can go out and improve the world gives hope and this book cements that possibility. I also enjoyed the pressure of parents to be perfect in school, an under used subject and the stress of applying to colleges. The difficulty of maintaining friends with pressure of school and separating for colleges is also well portrayed.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I found most every section with the cheerleader captain Kaelyn, from any comment overheard to her trial speech ridiculous and over exaggerated. You can do better than that. I also thought Roger Yee's motives were dumb. Trying to keep membership in his group? No. The harsh reality is that the main back-lash to any organization like this would be racism. There is little actual racism present in this book, overlooking a major issue in the real world. If Roger Yee must remain only a jealous idiot, make the vice principal a bigot instead (which is the only way for his actions to make sense).
Cover: The cover was brilliant. Sickle and hammer in a coffee cup instantly grabbed my attention and ties in perfectly with the contents, being the symbol of the movement. I also liked the drawings on the napkin, repeating the logo and showing the propaganda comic character. Very nice job, not a standard stock cover.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 16-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal
Comments: The back cover lists the movement turning militant. It never armed itself or did anything closely militant. If you want that, add radicals and rallies. I only gave you a 3 for popularity as it appeals more to upperclassmen in high school due to topics.

The Replacement

Reader: Meghan K
Age: 16
Title: The Replacement
Author: Breanna Yovanoff
Publisher: Razorbill
Pub Date: 9/21/10
Galley: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: 17 years ago, something stole Malcolm Doyle from his crib and left something else in his place. In the present day, Mackie, the thing that replaced Malcolm, is just trying to get through high school and maybe score with Alice, a girl in his class.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I liked this book. I really did. It took classic Irish mythology and made it suitably modern and unique while still being recognizable. It was a little jarring to see some of the terminology changed ('replacement' in for 'changeling,' anyone?) but the book was good enough that I stopped noticing after a while. Mackie was very well-written. I wanted to know what would happen to him next, and how he would deal with the challenges thrown his way.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I felt like the story was blatantly setting itself up for a sequel, but hey, what else is new? Also, as much as I liked Mackie, I thought a lot of his friends were kind of unrealistic. My biggest gripe was with Tate, his love interest. Her character just fell flat for me.
Cover: I liked this cover, eventually. I didn't like it when I first picked the book up, but once I read it, I liked it because of how well it reflects the contents.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 14-18 and up
Quality: 4Q Better than most