Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in my... - YA Review by Tristan HB

Reader: Tristan HB
Age: 14
Title: Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in my…
Author: Adam Mansbach and Alan Zweibel
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pub Date: 09/08/15
Galley: No
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: The characters were relatable and you couldn't help but root for Ike.
Memorable or Forgettable: This makes history fun and entertaining while throwing in a classic twist. This also seems real in the sense of the characters.
Cover: The cover made me want to read the book.
Age Range: 12 through 15
Quality: 3Q - Readable
Popularity: 3P - Some teen appeal


tags: comedy / middle school / ya lit

Violent Ends - YA Review by Sophie F

Reader: Sophie F.
Age: 14
Title: Violent Ends
Author: Shaun David Hutchinson
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pub Date: 09/01/15
Galley: No
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: This book is narrated by a different person each chapter. As interesting as this was, I was left with wanting more out of some characters and thinking "just shut up!' with others. I wish the narration would return to several more important characters.
Memorable or Forgettable: The content of this book is something you don't read about too much in teen fiction. More often you get a book solely about suicide and it's effect on people. However, this book talks about the effects of an actual shooting in which other people are killed. In a society where gun control is an ever growing issue, I think we need more books about gun issues and less about depressed, moody teenagers.
Cover: The title is what grabbed at me and the book cover helped. You can definitely tell what kind of book it is by looking at the cover.
Age Range: 14 through 18 and up
Quality: 3Q - Readable
Popularity: 4P - Broad general teen appeal


tags: tragedy / school shooting / multiple narrators / ya lit

The Detour - YA Review by Sam T

Reader: Sam T.
Age: 16
Title: The Detour
Author: S. A. Bodeen
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pub Date: 10/06/15
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: The vivid scenes of Livvy being kidnapped and the scenes involving Flute Girl are nerve-wracking, terrifying, and tense. They are well-done and evoke a sense of fear quite well through the use of imagery and dialogue. 
     However, even though I felt that the scenes where she is imprisoned were terrifying, I don't think much of the rest of the book was really necessary and just doesn't seem to fit. Livvy's various memories don't really relate to the rest of the story, and the Rory subplot is completely unnecessary, contrived, and disappointing. 
     The entire last third of the book and some of her flashbacks could be removed and the book would be 100% better.  After she got rescued, I thought, "Why are there so many pages left? It should end right here!"
     Not only does the main character get kidnapped and get her life threatened multiple times, but she also ends up finding out that her book's ideas were stolen (which I find a little ridiculous and contrived, as you'd think that she'd remember doing something like that), and also finds out that her online boyfriend is really a creepy psychopath (What are the chances that she also happens to be imprisoned by the lady who is that boy's cousin and that the main character just happens to crash her car at the exact right spot?). 
     These events did not make for a good or satisfying ending. Sure, she meets a new nice guy who looks exactly like her old love and shares all of her interests (again, what are the chances of that?), but her life is still fundamentally ruined by this crazy lady and her crazy kid (the former of which was somewhat justified in her anger, because the main character's stealing of her ideas and general entitlement does make Livvy just a little bit annoying). 
Memorable or Forgettable: It didn't really seem to do a ton of original things with the kidnapped-by-a-crazy-person-and-locked-in-their-basement genre, although it certainly tried to convince the reader that it did by using predictable plot twists.
Cover: It was a little on the drab side, although the cover reflected the book's contents.
Age Range: 14 through 17
Quality: 2Q - Needs more work
Popularity: 4P - Broad general teen appeal


tags: suspense / thriller / ya lit

Awake - YA Review by Ella O

Reader: Ella O.
Age: 14
Title: Awake
Author: Natasha Preston 
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pub Date: 08/04/15
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: I really liked the character development of someone other than the main character. Noah's journey down the path of coming to terms with the fact that religion is religion and knowing when enough is enough. 
Memorable or Forgettable: Apart from the hidden craziness that came with the "next life" process I really liked the way Noah's culture lived off the land and everyone helps out and lives together. It's a healthy lifestyle and I personally would like to try that sometime. 
Cover: I'm not super sure how the cover fits in with the story. It's probably a metaphor for how Scarlett feels caged by something bigger than she thinks. But it works and it's eye catching so keep it. 
Age Range: 14 through 15
Quality: 4Q - Better than most
Popularity: 4P - Broad general teen appeal


tags: thriller / cult / ya lit

Monkey Wars - YA Review by Sam T

Reader: Sam T.
Age: 16
Title: Monkey Wars
Author: Richard Kurti
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Pub Date: 01/06/15
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: I really liked many of the characters, and much of it really did feel believable. 
     Of course, my disbelief wasn't always suspended, especially because there were some things that were unrealistic - such as a romance between two different genera of monkey and tool use way beyond what monkeys can actually do - and other times when the symbolism seemed a little heavy-handed (making Tyrell and his dictatorship like Hitler or North Korea etc., having a rigged democratic monkey election...). 
     Although at times this seemed to be more of a parable about people than a novel about monkeys, it still was interesting enough to read and was relatively enjoyable.
Memorable or Forgettable: Although highly similar to other talking, fighting animals books - such as the famous Warriors series and the book that started the genre, Watership Down - it still had enough differences to be more or less memorable enough in its own right, even at points when the similarities between the aforementioned books were more obvious.
Cover: Yeah, the contrast was interesting and made it stand out. It seemed to be a pretty good representation of the book.
Age Range: 14 through 17
Quality: 4Q - Better than most
Popularity: 3P - Some teen appeal


tags: fable / parable / allegory / facism / political corruption / ya lit

The Oathbreaker's Shadow - YA Review by Ruby F

Reader: Ruby F.
Age: 15
Title: The Oathbreaker's Shadow
Author: Amy McCulloch
Publisher: Flux
Pub Date: 02/08/15
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: The Oathbreaker's Shadow was good, but predictable. There were a few typos, which didn't concern me particularly but threw me off a little bit as I was reading. In the two main characters, there was development in only one of them and even that one character didn't have as much development as I'd like. The plot is very refreshing and not cliched, which is the biggest reason for my approval of the book. I'd consider the book mediocre but enjoyable in spite of it. 
Memorable or Forgettable: I enjoyed the culture and time period of the book. I think it needs some fine tuning but its plot is solid and clearly there's been a lot of thought in the society that the author has created in the story. 
Cover: The cover reflected the book's contents EXCELLENTLY!!!!!!! I thought the cover looked interesting and unique and it portrayed the book very accurately. 
Age Range: 14 through 17
Quality: 3Q - Readable
Popularity: 4P - Broad general teen appeal


tags: fantasy / magic / ya lit

Every Last Word - YA Review by Caroline H

Reader: Caroline H.
Age: 12
Title: Every Last Word
Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
Publisher: Hyperion
Pub Date: 06/16/15
Galley: No
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: The characters are defined very well in this story and the plot moves along very smoothly. Some of the characters are a bit overused and are a little stereotypical. 
Memorable or Forgettable: This book was memorable for me because it dealt with real life problems like OCD, mental illness, depression, etc., and it’s written very well. I felt like I could relate to the different people in the story.
Cover: The cover is very simple and it does relate to the book, but not until about halfway through the story. I think the designer needs to choose a different color than pink for the title, as it seems very feminine and might make male readers shy away from it.
Age Range: 12 through 17
Quality: 4Q - Better than most
Popularity: 3P - Some teen appeal
Additional Comments: The plot is a little all over the place at the beginning and I had to read it over again after I had finished the book for it to make sense. However, this is a book that is not a waste of time to read.


tags: romance / coming of age / OCD / ya lit

Exquisite Corpse - YA Review by Ella O

Reader: Ella O.
Age: 14
Title: Exquisite Corpse
Author: Pènèlope Bagieu
Publisher: First Second
Pub Date: 05/05/15
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: An interesting read. The main character keeps a crappy job and lives with a crappy boyfriend. She wants more from life but isn't always wise on how to get there. I thought that the way Zoe learns from her mistakes on people was good. 
Memorable or Forgettable: Again, Zoe and her adventures are fun and there was some character development but not much. She just moves from one person to the next and maybe she should take time for herself. Just thoughts. 
Cover: I love graphic novels so that's what made me snatch this up. However the cover art is interesting and the pops of red against the layers of blue is quite pretty. 
Age Range: 14 through 15
Quality: 3Q - Readable
Popularity: 3P - Some teen appeal


tags: graphic novel / comedy / ya lit

The Rules - YA Review by Dana F

Reader: Dana F.
Age: 14
Title: The Rules
Author: Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Pub Date: 06/23/15
Galley: No
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: The Rules has a wide cast of narrators, each with their own rules they live by. The motives and actions of the characters are very well laid out within the plot of this book. The development of the characters didn't really happen, but that wasn't the point of the book. Speaking of the plot, this was a great horror/thriller. I couldn't figure out who the murderer was until the end of the book. 
Memorable or Forgettable: I don't really read that many horror or mystery novels, so this was a new experience for me. It was a  little gory for my taste, but it would make a great movie. Like I said, the motives of the characters were very well thought out, but as most of them died at various points in the book, there wasn't much development. The one thing I really didn't think was necessary was the prologue, which just made me confused as it didn't stay consistent with the rest of the book.
Cover: I liked this cover, it reflected the mystery of the book. It vaguely reflected the contents.
Age Range: 14 through 18 and up
Quality: 4Q - Better than most
Popularity: 4P - Broad general teen appeal


tags: thriller / suspense / ya lit

Lizard Radio - YA Review by Sam T

Reader: Sam T.
Age: 16
Title: Lizard Radio
Author: Pat Schmatz
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Pub Date: 09/08/15
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: I hated this book; in fact, it was one of the worst things I have ever had the displeasure of reading. 
     Almost every other word is a complete nonsense word or phrase, like "jazzy", "sweetbits", "Cleezies", "Mealio", "benders", "samers", "Pieville", "vape", "Quint", "lands smack in my biz", "kickshaw", "fikety-fike", "quiet-quiet", "brainiola", "burby", "Blight", "frods", and countless others I didn't have time to mention. 
     Every time one of these nonsense words appear little or no explanation is given to their meaning. Often the book also uses bizarre sentence structure, such as using phrases like "a big happy", among others. 
     This book reads like an inebriated baby chimpanzee that is well versed in nonexistent 90s hip-hop lingo messed around on Google Translate.
     The story (if you can call it one) concerns a teenager dropped into a camp where the campers grow vegetables, take weird drugs, pray, and have sex. 
     The government, called the bizarre name of "SayFree Gov", makes kids decide their gender at age ten and then not only changes it for them but then makes them take classes on how to be that gender. There's also something called "The Blight" and "vaping". NOTHING IS EXPLAINED.
     This gender-bending idea is unrealistic not only because it seems to be a completely useless allocation of resources and effort, but also, considering that transgendered people make up a tiny fraction of the population, it doesn't make sense to make the other 99% of people go through this arduous process.
     There's also something about reptilian aliens, which seems like something pulled straight out of either the craziest conspiracy forum on the Internet or a bad 50s B-movie.  
     This book is all over the place. It is extremely difficult to read (and this is coming from someone who's read some postmodernist literary theory and technical scientific documents!). The only part of it I actually enjoyed was writing this review. I only made it to about chapter four or five before the comedic value had grown old.
Memorable or Forgettable: This book is memorable only because of the level of my dislike for it. This book makes me angry.
Cover: If you removed the silhouette of the person, the words "Lizard Radio", and the pages in between the front and back covers, it would be an OK cover.
Age Range: 14 through 17
Quality: 1Q - How did it get published?
Popularity: 1P - Yech!  Forced to read it
Additional Comments: There is a place for bizarre, surrealist contemporary "art", but the YA genre is not that place. This book was a confusing slurry of made-up words, strange sentence structure, and overall incomprehensible plot. On an A to F scale, it gets an F minus.


tags: science fiction / dystopian / coming of age / ya lit