Reader: Aiden J.
Age: 13
Title: The Neptune Project (The Neptune Project #1)
Author: Polly Holyoke
Publisher: Disney / Hyperion Books
Pub Date: 05/21/13
Galley: Yes
Top 25: Yes
Convince us to read the book: One of the strong parts of the book was the plot line. I found myself always wondering what was going to happen next. Another strong part of the book was the character development. Nere went from being shy and quiet, to an amazing leader.
Memorable or Forgettable: I find this book memorable, because I have never read a book like it. I also liked how you had no idea what would happen next.
Cover: The cover made me want to pick it up. It did reflect the contents well.
Age Range: Under 12 through 15
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal
Annotation: Nere and 2 others were genetically engineered to be able to survive underwater. With the help of the Dolphins she has been training, and other people they meet along the way, they need to travel through miles of dangerous ocean to get to her father's colony.
tags: science fiction / dystopia / The Neptune Project / ya lit
Reader: Veronica K.
Age: 13
Title: I Have a Bad Feeling About This
Author: Jeff Strand
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pub Date: 03/01/14
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: This book was really well written. The characters stayed who they were throughout the whole book, so there was no random, "I am suddenly a super hero because the author could not do anything with me," kind of thing. The characters interacted well, and the way the plot was designed was amazing.
Memorable or Forgettable: This book was really memorable because it was really funny. It was definitely written to be humorous, and it worked. Also, it seemed to be written for teens, while still kind of making fun of the things it talked about. It had a YouTuber in it, talking about the really bad remake of the events that happened in the book movie. That was interesting.
Cover: The cover was very much the book. The words being written in something that could be red paint and could be blood was definitely a good idea.
Age Range: Under 12 through 18 and up
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 5P Everyone wants to read it
tags: humor / realistic fiction / ya lit
Reader: Claire W.
Age: 12
Title: Noggin
Author: John Corey Whaley
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Pub Date: 04/08/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: Well the plot was original, but was executed badly. All Travis focused on was getting back his old girlfriend who is five years older than him and married. So, ew! He doesn't even react to big changes in his life; he just wants his girlfriend.
Memorable or Forgettable: The book was forgettable in the writing style but the plot will be remembered for being done badly.
Cover: Yes the cover was great and really reflected the contents.
Age Range: 12 through 13
Quality: 2Q Needs more work
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal
tags: science fiction / contemporary / humor / ya lit
Reader: AJ G.
Age: 18
Title: Parched
Author: Georgia Clark
Publisher: Holiday House
Pub Date: 03/14/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: This book had a lot of potential. The plot was great, full of interesting twists and compelling themes like social justice and corrupt governments. It unfortunately falls down somewhat in the way the plot is delivered. I could see almost all of the twists coming about thirty pages before they did. The foreshadowing was just heavy handed. I also found the main character a little dull. She was really flippy floppy, which is to say she had strong opinions that seemed to completely reverse on a whim. I loved the ending though. If the entire book could have been like the last two or three chapters, it would have been incredible. I would say it's worth the effort to get to the ending.
Memorable or Forgettable: I really liked the plot. In a world where the planet has been almost literally sucked dry of all it's resources, how can the wealthy elite selfishly take the last remaining water for themselves, and leave millions to die? It was post apocalyptic in a way I had never read before. In most other natural disaster apocalypses, the remaining people are all in the same boat. The idea of an Eden being created for the wealthy is a really cool twist to that. I thought that there were certainly elements that were forgettable or unnecessary, but the idea of trying to bring equality to this world the book takes place in was not only interesting, but also extremely compelling to me.
Cover: I think the cover could use some work. It's beautiful, but you really need to be up close to see that. It also looks dated, somehow, like it belongs to a book much older than this one. I think it's a great reflection of the contents, but it doesn't have great shelf appeal. I honestly picked it up at random, without really looking at the cover at all. If I had to make any suggestions, I'd say that maybe an image just of a desert would be better, or a similar picture to the existing cover but in brighter colors, and maybe done on a computer, rather than in what looks like paint.
Age Range: 12 through 17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Additional Comments There were a lot of grammatical and spelling mistakes, which could sometimes make it difficult to figure out. I hope those get corrected before final copies are made.
tags: science fiction / robots / post apocalyptic / ya lit
Reader: Eoghan G.
Age: 13
Title: Will & Whit
Author: Laura Lee Gulledge
Publisher: Abrams
Pub Date: 05/07/2013
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: I could count more errors than I have fingers. The plot was okay, actually pretty good, but other than that anything and everything could use improvement.
Memorable or Forgettable: The characters make or break a book. In this case - break it. The characters are all cardboard cutouts with a name and a face. Nothing more. The only exception to this is the main character, Whit. She has real fears, but you need more than one character to have some pizzazz to them. In the end, no matter how good the plot was, the characters ruined it for me and made it really hard to remember the book.
Cover: The cover has a great color scheme and all, but it really didn't make want to pick it up.
Age Range: 12 through 13
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
tags: graphic novel / realistic fiction / contemporary / ya lit
Reader: Katie J.
Age: 13
Title: A Midsummer Night's Scream
Author: R.L. Stine
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pub Date: 07/02/13
Galley: Yes
Top 25: Yes
Convince us to read the book: WOW! This book was amazing. It was also really scary. Actually, it wasn't scary, it was gory. Like, super gory. Six people died in this book. They all died horrific deaths. For example, two people get their hands cut off, 2 people break their necks, one person gets electrocuted, and one person dies in a microwave (just don't ask).
Sixteen year old Claire is an aspiring actress. She gets a job from her dad, who owns a film studio. They are remaking a movie that had gone... badly in the 1960's.
This book is really confusing to try to explain, but the book itself makes sense.
Memorable or Forgettable: This was a great book because it was really scary and yet really interesting.
Cover: I didn't think the cover worked with the book.
Age Range: 12 through 17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Additional Comments: WARNING: REALLY SCARY!!!
Annotation: Claire is an aspiring actress who finally gets a part in a movie her dad is directing. However, someone is killing off the actors and actresses.
tags: horror / thriller / ya review
Reader: Devon K.
Age: 17
Title: Hexed (The Witch Hunter #1)
Author: Michelle Krys
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pub Date: 06/10/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: This book is a quick, silly read that will be a great one-off when you want a trashy book (in the same way someone enjoys Teen Wolf or the 60s Batman live-action show). Also, that epilogue ending is a load of baloney that was made to infuriate and is shameless marketing and should be fixed; even when an author continues a plot to a sequel through a cliff hanger, such a poorly contrived cut off is absurd and should not have made it through the editing process.
Memorable or Forgettable: This book is memorable because it makes great leaps and wears on the suspension of disbelief too much.
Cover: The cover would be decent if it actually matched the book's contents, which it did not; the cover shows someone who is so far from the picture painted of the main character in the book it is barely laughable.
Age Range: Under 12 through 15
Quality: 2Q Needs more work
Popularity: 2P Only for special interest
Annotation: Indigo's life is great, except for her mother, whose witchcraft loving eccentricities have brought Indigo nothing but mockery. Then this Bible her mother is extraordinarily protective of vanishes, and a handsome young man named Bishop appears asking Indigo to help him locate the Bible to protect it from a group of sorcerers, because Bishop claims she is a witch charged with its protection.
tags: fantasy / paranormal / witches / The Witch Hunter series / ya lit
Reader: Ella O.
Age: 13
Title: Breakfast Served Anytime
Author: Sarah Combs
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Pub Date: 04/08/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: GEEK CAMP. A baby. A puppy. Good plot development, good character development.
Memorable or Forgettable: The main characters personal growth is memorable.
Cover: The cover tempted me, but what made me go looking for it was the good reviews from other readers. The cover also very much reflected the contents.
Age Range: 12 through 13
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Annotation: It takes place in Kentucky at "geek camp" where four friends meet and have an awesome 4 weeks together. The main character Gloria comes a way, as she spends 4 weeks away from her best friend Carol and is deprived from her electronics.
tags: coming of age / realistic fiction / contemporary / gifted and talented / ya review
Reader: Pauly S.
Age: 14
Title: The Lord of Opium
Author: Nancy Farmer
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Pub Date: 09/03/13
Galley: Yes
Top 25: Yes
Convince us to read the book: The plot was very interesting in this book just as its predecessor, The House of the Scorpion; it's set in a world where El Patron had made a country between Mexico and the U.S. for just manufacturing drugs. Growing opium to be exact.
Memorable or Forgettable: In the beginning, Matt didn't know almost anything about himself, then seeing him find who he really is in this weird world really made the book interesting.
Cover: The cover fits the book well, especially with a hand crushing an opium flower.
Age Range: 14 through 15
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Additional Comments Hard to understand if you don't read the first book, The House of the Scorpion.
Annotation: Matt, a former clone who's sole purpose was to supply spare organs for a old Mexican drug lord, is set free when El Patron finally dies. People take Matt as the new El Patron, and he is faced with living the life of a successful drug lord.
tags: science fiction / Matteo Alacran / ya
Reader: Katie J.
Age: 13
Title: Winger (Winger #1)
Author: Andrew Smith
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Pub Date: 05/14/13
Galley: Yes
Top 25: Yes
Convince us to read the book: Ok, this book was good. I literally cannot believe that it is this good. The end is pretty sad, but that is what makes it good. I know that sounds weird but it's true.
Memorable or Forgettable: It was memorable for me because even though the book was told from a boy's point of view, I felt like I could relate.
Cover: I think that the cover was pretty good. it could have been better, but it still worked.
Age Range: 12 through 18 and up
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Annotation: Ryan Dean is a super smart 14 year old who is a junior. He gets moved to O-Hall at his boarding school. Then some crazy stuff happens.
tags: contemporary fiction / realistic fiction / coming of age / sports / boarding school story / humor / ya lit
