Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Reader: John D
Age: 16
Title: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
Author: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Publisher: Random House
Pub Date: 10/26/2010
Galley: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: It's an incredibly sweet and touching book and is guaranteed to make you say "awwwww." This book also manages to stay fresh when so many other romantic texts fall into time worn patterns that destine them for obscurity.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The most compelling aspect of the book for me was the two different character plot lines that continued through the book together. I loved knowing what was going on to one character while the other was trapped by doubt.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: This book most definitely did NOT disappoint! I loved every page and actually reread it in the month that I had the galley. If there was one flaw it was in the ending which seemed to almost come out too well. However this is up for debate and all in all it is a fantastic read.
Cover: The cover intrigued me but didn't really draw me in. It did reflect the contents however. Now that I have finished it I can reflect on the cover more fondly.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 12-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

Banished

Reader: Sydney T
Age: 14
Title: Banished
Author: Sophie Littlefield
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pub Date: 10/12/2010
Galley: Yes
Recommend: No
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The most compelling aspect is that it is about a girl who has the power to heal people, and that the author creates a history for that power.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I was very disappointed with the end of the book because it stops very abruptly, in the middle of a scene, and I think that that is really bad writing.
Comments: If you get really frustrated when authors stop books before the story is done, like they are forcing you to buy the sequel when it comes out to find out what happened, do NOT read this book. Its engaging while you read it, and it’s a good story, but if that really, really bugs you, don't even start the book.
Cover: The cover did intrigue me into picking up the book. However, I don't think it really reflected on the contents.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 12-17
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal

Matched

Reader: Olivia S
Age: 14
Title: Matched
Author: Ally Condie
Publisher: Dutton Books
Pub Date: 11/30/2010
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: It's set in an interesting society, where everything is monitored and predicted. It makes you think about the freedoms we have... or whether we don't have all that many freedoms after all. I couldn't put it down!
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The messages were strong, and I loved the part about poetry. It wasn't super action-packed, but it wasn't slow either, which made me want to keep reading and reading and reading.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I can't say I was disappointed with this book. However, there was something about it that seemed unoriginal. Like they'd taken bits from a ton of other science fiction books and squished them all together. Also, it was a little
predictable.
Comments: It was an interesting and well thought-out read, but not THE best book I've ever read.
Cover: My first impression of the cover was, this is a little plain. But maybe that was the point - to have the attention focused on the girl, while there's not much around her. I
don't know... I guess there could be symbolism I'm not reading into.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 12-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

Fallout

Reader: Sabrina K
Age: 16
Title: Fallout
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Simon & Shuster
Pub Date: October 14
Galley: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: Is there much more than to say than Ellen Hopkins wrote it? I think not! But honestly, since she has made herself into this great author you really have expectations that it will be a great book—and it does live up to these expectations.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The most compelling aspect would be how Hopkins putting light yet again on young individuals that go through a great extent of turmoil pain. Still somehow after all this struggle they reach a point of growth and learn from all these horrible incidences. I loved how all these characters have a similar, yet different situations due to Meth and that they don't get together till the "end" end of the book. It made more sense and really put light on their relationship with each other, their mother, and what Meth has done personally for them.
Comments: I think Ellen Hopkins needs to expand on the characters that she chooses. It was great to read another one of her books, but it feels like the characters are getting a bit repetitive.
Cover: The cover is not original, but I'm not going to complain since it is an Ellen Hopkins book and all her books are like this.
Age Range: 16-18 and up
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

Crescendo

Reader: Briana G
Age: 17
Title: Crescendo
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pub Date: 10/19/10
Galley: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I have yet to place what the exact hypnotic quality of this book is, but I don't think it's any one aspect alone. The author does a fantastic job of keeping you guessing throughout the book, and a lot of times my predictions were happily let down in terms of the plot. The setting is vivid enough to picture yourself there, but it isn't overdeveloped. The characters are enthralling, fantasy aside they're very realistic in terms of personality. They're really consistent and even though you might not *want* a character to be the villain, the explanations she gives are quite reasonable. The characters developed according to what happened to them in the first book, and I really appreciated that. One of the things I appreciated most, especially so because this was a sequel, was the author was able to keep you in the dark enough to be unsure if Nora's life was actually in danger. Though in the back of my mind I know it’s unrealistic for the author to kill her main character, I always appreciate the illusion, and few authors have managed to pull it off well in my experience as a reader. She also managed to wonderfully surprise me by the villain. Most authors would've made Scott the villain, and I was certain it was going to be him, but she switched it up on me, and I'm glad. It made the story a lot better. I also loved the title. Succinct, and a great word besides. Simple titles really appeal to me as a reader, especially when they manage to captivate the essence of the book.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: The hardest push for me was the first three chapters, they seemed cliche and didn't motivate me to read the rest of the book, I'm glad I did continue reading, but the set-up in the first part of the book was lacking. I also don't care much for cliffhanger endings. It was *more* acceptable in this story than it would have been in Hush, Hush but I still believe it’s better to end on a note where the author doesn't appear to be forcing the reader into the next book in the series.
Comments: deathly captivating. Thank you. (and the book took me away from my school work...it was that good, which is both awesome and annoying)
Cover: I thought the cover was merely 'okay'. I believe the red feather ruined the effect for me, on the cover of Hush, Hush the feathers looked far more realistic. Here it looked like bad computer stickers screened onto a photograph. The rest was great, and I was pleased at how similar it looked to the first cover. I can't wait to see what the next cover looks like.
Age Range: 14-17
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

Mockingjay

Reader: Mollie W

Age: 16
Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pub Date: 08/24/2010
Galley: No
Recommend: No
Compelling Aspect of the Book: For most of the book you feel connected with someone in the story. Even if it isn't Katniss, you end up caring about a couple of characters. It's easy to see some of yourself or someone you know in this book.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: The first 300 pages were decent—sub-par is how I would describe them, but I shrugged it off. I tried to go with it. I TRIED. This is where we enter into spoiler territory. The following information will leave it very clear how it ends, you have been warned. She skipped the revolution, killed Prim(?!?!??!!), turned Katniss into a weakling, and killed off Finick, leaving Peeta AND Gale completely untouched. Oh and Katniss ALMOST dies every other page.
Let's start from the top. The whole climax of this book is Katniss breaking into the Capitol and settling the score with Snow. But instead she's in the hospital, wakes up and the revolution is over. If that's not anti-climactic, I don't know what is. Secondly, Prim is the main reason Katniss is fighting. She's one of the few that Katniss has been working to protect this whole time. The way she killed off Prim was very weak as well. Some may say that it's realistic for Katniss to crumble under the pressure and have a meltdown for the first half of the book, but I ask, why now? She's survived two Hunger Games. One of the most admirable traits of Katniss was her strength which is not present for any of this book.
Finick was another unnecessary casualty. By this point, it's not so much that Finick died, it was that she didn't kill Peeta or Gale. If we're being "realistic" by the same standards as the people who disagree with me on the Katniss front, then one of them or both should have died. They were in harm’s way for the majority if not all of the book. Lastly, Katniss getting hurt all the time got really old. That's self-explanatory.
Comments: WHY SUZANNE COLLINS, WHY????????
Cover: The cover didn't stick with the pattern of the other two books. I didn't care for the color or the position the bird is in. It was a let-down and was nearly as intriguing as the other two were.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: Under 12 to 18 up
Quality: 1Q How did it get published?
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal

Lord Sunday

Reader: Guananí
Age: 14
Title: Lord Sunday
Author: Garth Nix
Publisher: Scholastic
Pub Date: 3/2010
Galley: No
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: If you have read the other six books, this is a very satisfying ending to the series without being too happy or leaving any major loose ends. It was better than I expected and an enjoyable read.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The most compelling thing to me about this series is the complexity of the House and all its systems, random magical objects and fascinating inhabitants. There are a lot of interesting and original characters who move the story along and make you care about the fate of their world. Even though there are some minor characters who are cooler and more interesting than Arthur, the protagonist, this adds to the story rather than taking away from it.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I was very satisfied with this book, especially the well planned ending. I was not at all disappointed, though at first I thought I would be just because that seems to happen with many long series.
Cover: The cover matched the other six books and also reflected the contents of the book. I picked it up because I instantly recognized the cover as The Keys to the Kingdom series, and was curious to how Garth Nix would end such a long story.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 12-15
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal

Linger

Reader: Payton G.
Age: 14
Title: Linger
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pub Date: 07/??/2010
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: Yes
Annotation: Sam and Grace thought they had worked everything out. They had cured Sam, or so it seems, and it looked to be happily ever after. But all that changes when Grace becomes suddenly ill, and a new wolf who doesn't seem to obey the laws of shifting appears. What will disappear? And what will linger?
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: You really only need to say that it's the sequel to Shiver. If you read Shiver, and liked it, then you should read this, as it's the continuation of the story.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I liked that all the werewolf business became logical in this book. Maggie managed to think up scientific explanations for werewolfism, and that made me so happy. A lot of the time with cross-species dating, it's just "Oh, a mythical creature, I think I'm in love!" But with this it was actually grounded in logic. Nice change from the status quo.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: The ending disappointed me, but only because I've never been one for cliffhangers. I like instant gratification with books, not long, drawn out waits between them.
Cover: I like the cover. I liked the cover for Shiver also, and with this one, you can tell their part of the same series. I think it was a reflection of both the mood, and to some extent the contents.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 14-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal

Dark Life

Reader: Guananí
Age: 15
Title: Dark Life
Author: Kat Falls
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pub Date: 5/ /2010
Galley: No
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: The world building in this book is fantastic. You can really believe all the systems of the underwater colony and understand how it could work in real life. The story also has some exciting twists and well-conceived characters.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The setting is definitely the most interesting and compelling part of the book. The plot is actually pretty simple and wouldn't be nearly as interesting if it weren't for the cool setting and brave main characters.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: The only disappointing thing in the book was some random romance in the ending that wasn't very important or relevant and made me roll my eyes. Besides that small detail, it was an enjoyable read.
Cover: The cover is absolutely beautiful. It made me pick up the book and even after I read the blurb, which didn't seem super interesting, I kept this book in my stack because of the cover.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 12-13
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal

Cloaked in Red

Reader: Elise S.
Age: 14
Title: Cloaked in Red
Author: Vivian Vande Velde
Publisher: Marshal Cavendish
Pub Date: Oct 1 2010
Galley: Yes
Recommend: No
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The most interesting part of the book was just seeing what she could come up with next, and how absurd it got. The majority of the short stories were unoriginal, and played exactly to the things that she complained about the original in
the introduction. There was one about a Little Red Riding Hood doll that stood out, and gave me hope to finish the rest of them. Also, it was really short, so the blahness wasn't prolonged.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I felt like there could have been a lot more room for creativity. Every single story started out the exact same way: Once upon a time, before there were (insert electronic/modern name here). Yes, it was intentional, but
after a while just got irritating. The introduction also got on my nerves. "It has bad characters, animals acting totally against their natural instincts, a bad plot, bad role models, implausible actions, terrible setting, bad writing-" and on and on and on. And all in this
faux funny/sarcastic/hip writing. The kind that might get a laugh if it were being used in a story, but written down just looks sad and washed out. And unfortunately authors seem to think teens love. But it was the complaining that really got to me. No, the wolf doesn't act like a real wolf, but it's a FAIRY TALE. That's OKAY. And when one goes through her stories, almost all of them have anthropomorphic wolves too. Bloody hypocrite.
Cover: I thought that the cover was the most interesting thing about the book. The dark red against the green looked dramatic and mysterious. As a cloak collector myself, I covet her cape very dearly. One thing that did bother me was the age of the woman. She looks to be at least 16, and Little Red was a lot younger than that.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range : Under 12
Quality: 2Q Needs more work
Popularity: 2P Only for special interest