Reader: Perrin S.
Age: 15
Title: I Become Shadow
Author: Joe Shine
Publisher: Soho Teen
Pub Date: 06/10/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This book has an amazing voice,the character talks to her readers in a way that most books don't. It was very engaging. The writing at times was very intense and hard to put down and even at less action packed moments, the book is still interesting.
Memorable or Forgettable: This plot is not very new, the whole "government trained killer" has been done before, a lot. That was a little disappointing. However, the author redeemed himself by making the story interesting in aspects outside of the plot, such as the distinct character voice. This book was also able to pull out a few interesting twists. Though at times it seems that the author had trouble completely understanding his characters and wasn't able to represent them in a realistic way.
Cover: The cover of this book is super bad ass. It is the reason I decided to read the book. It gives an exciting feel while at the same time echos the aura of the calmness of a highly trained killer.
Age Range: 12 through 17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Annotation: Ren is trained to be basically a spy. Then is assigned to protect some nerd, which is fairly boring until he almost gets kidnapped. Then they run away for a while.
tags: thriller / action / coming of age / government trained assassins / ya lit
Reader: Tori H.
Age: 13
Title: Killer Instinct
Author: S. E. Green
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pub Date: 05/06/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This book had very strong and interesting character development and plot. It was a great, strong book.
Memorable or Forgettable: It was memorable, because this girl starts punishing criminals for their crimes in a odd yet perfect way.
Cover: It tempted me because it is blood washing down a drain. It reflected the contents because of the whole serial killer aspect.
Age Range: 14 through 18 and up
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Additional Comments:
It is a great book, but it isn't for everyone. I think you have to be ok with graphic details.
Annotation: Hello, my name is Lane. I am a perfect student with good grades, but I have one kink - I am fascinated with serial killers.
tags: thriller / serial killers / ya lit
Reader: Aiden J.
Age: 13
Title: The Falconer
Author: Elizabeth May
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Pub Date: 05/06/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: I think the biggest area that needs improvement is the character development. The main character seemed flat and very predictable. The plot was also very predictable and nothing really big changed.
Memorable or Forgettable: The most memorable part was how descriptive the book was, but overall the book was forgettable because of the shallow characters and predictable plot.
Cover: The cover did make me want to pick up the book and it did reflect the contents.
Age Range: 14 through 17
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 2P Only for special interest
tags: fantasy / romance / action / steampunk / Scottish lore / ya lit
Reader: Tara L.
Age: 14
Title: Don't Look Back
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Hyperion
Pub Date: 04/15/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: Yes
Convince us to read the book: I liked the way she kept changing and hating the person she was before.
Memorable or Forgettable: The qualities of the book made it memorable because of the way the author wrote the book.
Cover: The cover did tempt me to pick it up and yes, it did reflect the contents.
Age Range: 12 through 17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Annotation:
Samantha lost part of her memory. The doctors say it's most likely because of her traumatic experience or stress related. They all say her best friend was with her, but no one has found her yet. Samantha was missing for four day until she woke up and had no idea who she was.
tags: psychological thriller / suspense / mystery / amnesia / ya lit
Rain, rain, go away...
I don't know about where you live, but here in the Twin Cities, MN we've seen more than our fair share of rain during the month of June.
How do TKB teens while away a rainy day? They read!
If you share their passion for reading (or our soggy weather conditions), check out the reviews for these books that published in June (click on the reviewer's name to launch the post):
Title: Hexed (The Witch Hunter #1)
Author: Michelle Krys
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pub Date: 06/10/14
Review By: Devon K. (Age 17)
Title: Lies My Girlfriend Told Me
Author: Julie Anne Peters
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pub Date: 06/10/14
Review By: Katie J. (Age 14)
Title: The Prince of Venice Beach
Author: Blake Nelson
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pub Date: 06/03/14
Review By: Pazao L. (Age 13)
Title: Summoned
Author: Anne M. Pillsworth
Publisher: Tor Teen
Pub Date: 06/24/14
Review By: Rayna Grace C. (Age 15)
Title: Take Back the Skies
Author: Lucy Saxon
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Pub Date: 06/03/14
Review By: Veronica K. (Age 13)
image credit: Rain Rain Go Away, 2010 MrPuffin
Reader: Simon D-S
Age: 13
Title: Quarantine: The Burnouts (Book Three)
Author: Lex Thomas
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Pub Date: 07/22/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: The book had good plot movement with the author finishing the plot points from the other books, as well as introducing new ones. However, the characters all seemed broken and scary. I wanted to hide in a corner from a previously balanced character cast. To the author's credit however, I could visualize the entire book in high definition. (Not always a good thing.) As I said about the other books, this book could easily be made into a movie. I found the ending to be realistic, and overall, it made a good finale. However, the author could have easily made another book about the outside world, as the characters barely get to experience it, which disappointed me.
Memorable or Forgettable: I found myself cringing at 65% of the book, as all of the characters were horribly screwed up from being locked in a school for a couple years. The author gets into the disgusting and gritty parts of the universe that no one wants to get into. A lot of the time I was saying inside: "AAAAA! Help me.! Get me out of here!" That summed up the book for me.
Cover: The cover doesn't tie into anything in the book, it just adds to the post-apocalyptic feel. The reason I picked the book up is because it was the finale to the trilogy.
Age Range: 14 through 17
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
tags: science fiction / dystopian / Quarantine series / ya lit
Reader: Ruby F.
Age: 13
Title: The Meaning of Maggie
Author: Megan Jean Sovern
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Pub Date: 05/06/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: The Meaning of Maggie was a book unlike any other book I've read. Maggie Mayfield is an eleven-year-old who plans to be future president, is a shareholder in Coca Cola, and is the smartest kid in her grade. For her birthday, Maggie receives a leather bound notebook that she decides to write her memoir in, and I found that reading from her perspective is more interesting than I originally perceived. I was impressed with how, even though Maggie is young, the book was very interesting and unique. Maggie developed in many different ways throughout the story, whether it was learning how to ignore her antagonizing sisters or bite her tongue when she heard an answer she didn't quite agree with. Maggie made me laugh a lot, and this book was the kind of story I could re-read over and over again without getting tired of it.
Memorable or Forgettable: I loved this book because Maggie was unlike any other fictional character that I've read. She was headstrong and so confident in herself, that she was more surprised than upset when she was wrong. Even though the book was from her view and she didn't specify every single detail of her daily life, in some of the situations I can almost imagine what she's thinking. I love the author's style of writing and overall, the book itself as well.
Cover: At first the only reason I decided to check out the book was because of the cover. It was unique and fun, and after reading the book, the cover seems very appropriate.
Age Range: Under 12 through 13
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
tags: coming of age / ya lit
Reader: Greta H.
Age: 16
Title: Breakfast Served Anytime
Author: Sarah Combs
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Pub Date: 04/08/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: Yes
Convince us to read the book: The book was spectacularly written; I would find myself going back to reread sentences sometimes, not because they were confusing, but because they were just really well crafted. It is chock-full of insight, thought, and realizations. Though it is a "coming of age" book, it was not cliché to me. One thing that stood out in particular was that Combs' characters - from main to minor - all seemed to jump off the page in that they seemed very real and believable.
Memorable or Forgettable: Sarah Combs managed to take the typically cliché baseline theme of a "coming of age" novel and turned it into what I would describe as a "slice of life" book; one that just exists and is wonderful, real, and honest.
Cover: The cover is a reference to several pieces of the book and is quite aesthetically pleasing. I very much appreciate it and believe it is worthy of representing the contents.
Age Range: 12 through 18 and up
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Annotation:
When Gloria Bishop applies for a class simply entitled "Secrets of the Written Word" at a Kentucky "geek camp," she does not expect the ensuing experience it provides. In the weeks at camp, Gloria undergoes what can only be described as coming of age, but in an insightful and honest way that is fresh and real.
tags: coming of age / gifted and talented / contemporary / realistic fiction / ya lit
Reader: Tara L.
Age: 14
Title: Far From You
Author: Tess Sharpe
Publisher: Hyperion
Pub Date: 04/08/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: Yes
Convince us to read the book: I really liked the style of how the author writes. Even if you can't relate to the main character you still get her. I also like how you are always confused or guessing tho the killer is and are almost never right.
Memorable or Forgettable: I liked how the story ended. I also liked the story line.
Cover: I did like the cover and it did reflect the contents.
Age Range: 14 through 18 and up
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Annotation:
A girl named Sophie almost dies twice. The first time, she got hooked on her pain killers. When her mom finds out, she sends Sophie to her sister who gets her clean. The second time, her best friend dies but she doesn't and the killer makes it look like it was a drug deal, but it wasn't.
tags: mystery / addiction / ya lit
