Lockdown

Reader: Luke M
Age: 16
Title: Lockdown
Author: Alexander Gordon Smith
Publisher: Faber
Pub Date: 10-27-09
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: No
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: A horrible prison where a framed boy is sent.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I liked how the prison was deep underground and the different things that happened to the inmates.
Did you finish: Yes
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I thought that Donovan being picked was really predictable. Monty being a black suit person seemed wrong. Who would recruit inmates to be guards, especially if they can still help other inmates, like Monty did?
Comments: Several things that could be improved:1-Alex needs to be guilty. This prison is full of bad people and Alex needs to be really bad. Too many books have been written about people who are framed. 2-This prison would never have been built, especially by a private
company and then ran by that private company. No matter what happened in the Summer of Slaughter, they wouldn't have a prison like this, randomly torturing and killing prisoners. Also, more description of the Summer of Slaughter would be nice. What did kids do to deserve a place like this and a judge to treat them like that? 3-Make the prison more realistic. The security is horrible! No cameras in the cells, the huge area for kids to meet, shanks, giving out digging tools are all a recipe for disaster. Let’s have the guards separated from the prisoners, armed better and only letting a few kids out at a time, not letting the whole prison wander around as they please. The gas was way too explosive, no gas is like that and if it was, it wouldn't be used in stoves. Why didn't the prison seal up room 2? Dogs would not be used to enforce lockdowns. The cell doors are horrible, if you can stop them with a toilet seat. I wouldn't feel safe with that prison around, inmates would be escaping all the time!
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: The cover was very interesting, as skulls do that. I don't really know what it represents in the book other that maybe a lot of deaths.
Age Range: 16-17
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

Evil?

Reader: Sophie D
Age: 13
Title: Evil?
Author: Timothy Carter
Publisher: Flux
Pub Date: Aug. 2009
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: No
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: It's hilarious. It may not have a very clear plot, but it is very funny and compelling. I could not put this book down.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: This book is very fast paced, which means that you can't stop reading it because you have to know what is going to happen.
Did you finish: Yes
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I was not really disappointed with this book in any way. It is surprising to me that I actually liked it, but it is a great book to read to kill time and I would read it again.
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: The cover is so awesome! It's sideways! I have never seen a book with a sideways cover. And the guy on the front has wings, which drew my attention and made me pick up the book.
Age Range: 14-15
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal

Hold Still

Reader: Sabrina K

Age: 15
Title: Hold Still
Author: Nina LaCour
Publisher: Penguin
Pub Date: October 09
Galley: Yes
Comments: At times Caitlin was a bit annoying with her mood swings—but it would make sense if you lost your best friend. I loved Dylan—I could really envision her the most and loved that character!
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This book shows just how valuable friends are and the emotional roller-coaster people go through without them.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I loved how the notebook tied into the story so well! It was great how after Caitlin read the book that her mood and perspective changed because of what she had just read. It was nice to see a contrast of each girl's perspectives of each event.
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: The cover did tempt me to pick up the book—very intriguing! It related to the content of the book, having some of the notebook pages on there and also some sketches and
one of the pictures that Ingrid took of Caitlin. What I loved even more about the cover is that the picture of the girl on the cover looks vaguely how I would have pictured her. That is a plus!
Age Range: 14-15, 16-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

Hold Still

Reader: Mollie W
Age: 15
Title: Hold Still
Author: Nina LaCour
Publisher: Dutton Books
Pub Date: Oct. 2009
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: No
Annotation: When Caitlin's best friend commits suicide, she must find a way to cope and keep up with the world around her.
Recommend: Yes
Convince to read book: This book felt very real world and though it did have its sad moments, LaCour manages to integrate small victories along the way that manage to keep the book from being a
complete downer.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The best part of the book for me, was how LaCour manages to keep the world around Caitlin moving. So even when Caitlin is struggling, you can see that things around her are still going which contributes a lot to how realistic this book feels.
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: The cover is so ugly. I really wish it could just be a blank page that said Hold Still, because seriously, that would be so much better. The girl on the front looks disgusting and looks nothing the way I pictured Caitlin. In other words, ew.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 14-15, 16-17, 18 up
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal

The Graveyard Book

Reader: Meghan K
Age: 14
Title: The Graveyard Book
Author: Neil Gaimen
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pub Date: 2008
Galley: No
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: Yes
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: This is a great cover. I will now share something I just noticed. The cut out on the tombstone? It's a silhouette of a boy's face. Awesomesauce.
Recommend: Yes
Convince to read book: Have you read The Graveyard Book? If the answer is "No," then what the heck are you doing? Seriously, get in your car RIGHT NOW and drive to the bookstore, and buy a copy. I can wait.
Done? Good. Okay, now open it. Read. Now. Else I shall find you, and make you read it. I don't know how, but I will.
In more actually convincing terms, The Graveyard Book is everything you could possibly ask for in a book. Murder, mystery, ghosts, love lost, love found, and then lost again. It's simply wonderful. It's not so scary enough kids won't read it, but it's scary enough they will. It's suspenseful, intelligent, lyrical... This book is everything. Really.
It's that good.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: Neil Gaimen is simply one of the most talented modern authors. His characters are so well-written, so realistic you'd expect to see them in your homeroom tomorrow, yet so fantastic you'd expect to only see them in myth. They're just awesome. This book is made of awesome. The characters are made of awesome. You simply MUST know what happens next. Which is why I should stop wasting your time, so you can get reading. Don't worry, I don't mind. I'm reading, too.
Age Range: Under 12, 12-13, 14-15, 16-17, 18 up
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 5P Everyone wants to read it

Fire

Reader: Elise S
Age: 13
Title: Fire
Author: Kristen Cashore
Publisher: Penguin
Pub Date: October 09
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: Yes
Annotation: Fire is a monster, quite literally. She is extraordinarily beautiful, and can control the minds of humans. Soon she gets sucked into the political turmoil in the kingdom, and encounters everything from cold princes, to brightly colored bunny rabbits.
Comments: The setting was so vividly described it made the book real to me. Fire had problems that were very present and to the end she was still struggling to deal with them. One thing that I enjoyed was the fact that her problems didn't go away, she just had to work with them. It may be gruesome, but I also liked that once she was injured, she stayed injured, instead of mysteriously being cured (hem, hem, James Patterson!)
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This book is one of the best I've ever read. Its characters are funny, intriguing, and make you get involved in the story. The plot is very intricate, without becoming to political or confusing.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I loved the crisis that she went through, as she was trying to decide whether or not to use her powers for the realm. I thought that that expressed some of what I have to go through right now, if not in such a violent circumstance;
Disappointed: No
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: he cover was amazing. Five stars. I love the one, strong, relevant image, (her bow), with her in the background. It lures you in with its vivid colors, and doesn't try
to tell the entire story through the one image, unlike some other books. The color combination is great, so bright, so related to the title and the main character. Everything ties in with the story, and reflects its contents.
Age Range: 12-13, 14-15, 16-17
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 5P Everyone wants to read it

Witch and Wizard

Reader: Sophie D
Age: 13
Title: Witch and Wizard
Author: James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Pub Date: Dec. 2009
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: No
Recommend: No
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The humor. One of the best parts is the way the two main characters view life and their situation. They also mouth off adults all the time, which is pretty amusing.
Did you finish: Yes
Were you disappointed with the book at all: This book suffered from lack of plot. The main characters never really had a purpose or something they were trying to do that they really accomplished. The ending made no sense, though that might just be setting up for the sequel.
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: The cover is very awesome. It has a red jacket that slips over the book and makes all the red writing disappear on the back. It's hard to explain, but it looks pretty cool.
Age Range: 12-13
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal

Standing for Socks

Reader: Elise S
Age: 13
Title: Standing for Socks
Author: Elissa Brent Weissman
Publisher: Autheneum Books
Pub Date:
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: No
Recommend: No
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I read it because I really liked the girl's socks.
Did you finish: Yes
Were you disappointed with the book at all: Well for one thing, the author WAY exaggerated peoples' reaction to mismatched socks. I wear mismatching socks almost every day and sure people comment, but not enough to base an entire campaign around them! Either this book is set in a VERY small town, or the author has never worn mismatched socks. Also, the main character's problems were so petty that it made me just not care very much.
Comments: Who hates socks? I mean come on!
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: I thought the cover was cute, and it interested me, but only because I'm a sock fanatic. It definitely reflected the contents though, in its bright colors, and utter misrepresentation of middle schools!
Age Range: Under 12
Quality: 2Q Needs more work
Popularity: 2P Only for special interest

Tricks

Reader: Sabrina K
Age: 15
Title: Tricks
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Simon & Shuster
Pub Date: 8/25/09
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: Yes
Annotation: Five teenagers throughout the United States find themselves questioning what path to go on. Through the book each character has its own story on facing obstacles learning just how hard it is to make the right choices in life.
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This book shows the extremes people will take for dealing with situation—in this case it is selling themselves.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: Every character had its own background story on how they ended up in Las Vegas and going into the prostitution business. Each character, one by one, came together, on their own journey, and how they came together was so unexpected.
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: The cover did tempt me to pick up the book—but the main reason I picked up the book was just the fact that Ellen Hopkins wrote it. The cover did reflect the content, but indirectly, which I think is very creative on that choice—not the obvious answer.
Comments: Nothing about this book was predictable, from the start you have no idea what's going to happen. That's one thing I love about Ellen Hopkin’s books, it gets more and more unpredictable. I also love that someone wrote about this topic—it opened my eyes to a whole new world I thought never existed.
Age Range: 16-17, 18 up
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 5P Everyone wants to read it

The Roar

Reader: Megan W
Age: 17
Title: The Roar
Author: Emma Clayton
Publisher: The Chicken House
Pub Date: 04/01/09
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: No
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This plot is extremely original. What would the world be like if animals turned against us? How would we survive? That is what this book is all about. It is set in the future, and people are living behind a massive wall to protect themselves from animals that have caught The Plague, which made animals turn savage and kill everything within sight. It is a fascinating tale that captivated me from the beginning.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I was spellbound as I read this book. While I discovered this "Secret" of the story from the beginning (or at least had a general idea) I was still captivated. I've always loved stories set in the future, and I really enjoyed the post-apocalyptic feel of this particular story. I thought it was a cool twist of the story to have people afraid of animals. They've been hiding behind this massive wall for 43 years, absolutely terrified of animals. I couldn't help but think to myself how awful it would be to not be able to see grass, trees, a blue sky (for they live in a super crowded polluted city) or to live a life without any animals at all. The Roar made me realize that I've taken for granted the simple things of life. My cat in particular benefited from this book; every time I put it down, I would pet her because I needed a normal, loving animal. :]
Were you disappointed with the book at all: There is really only one thing that bothered me. (Well, two actually) One, I got really annoyed throughout the book when "The Secret" was mentioned but never explained. It drove me mad that I had to wait until the very end of the book to find out what it was. It was simply aggravating. Another thing that bothered me was that I didn't know that this book was being set up for a sequel. I really don't want to have to wait for the next book; I want to know what happens now.
Comments: Even though I'm pretty sure this book is aimed towards the preteen age group, I still enjoyed it immensely.
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: I love the futuristic look with the Star Wars-ish hover car/space ship in the center with the tall buildings in the air behind it. What really makes me love this cover though is the lion's face faded in the background. You don't necessarily realize it right away, but when you do it seems as if the lion is lurking in the background, ever watchful. Everything fit the book really well. In my opinion, it is the perfect cover.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 12-13
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal

Once a Witch

Reader: Sabrina K
Age: 15
Title: Once a Witch
Author: Carolyn MacCullough
Publisher: Clarion Books
Pub Date: September 2009
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: No
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This book shows that everything is not what it seems—that however something is presented on the outside is different in the inside.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: How well everything was described! I could vision everything—from the various places in New York to the wacky family members. It was great to read such a descriptive book! The author was always creative on her choices and never made the most "obvious" and "easy" way out. I loved the fact that this family doesn't have "powers" but "talents" - unlike most wizards/witch books- great idea!
Comments: I love how the plot was set. At first it seemed predictable and I loved how she did the "non obvious " way of this. Also, I haven't really read a book about witches/wizards in such a long time so that's great it's coming back.
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: The cover didn't tempt me to pick up the book. It does though reflect the contents of the book- having Tasmin (the main character) holding the family book that can tell the future in her hands. The book cover though does look like Tasmin is a bit studious—when in the book she really doesn't care academic wise, so that was a bit misleading at first.
Age Range: 12-13, 14-15, 16-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal