St. Charles Library - Teen Book Reviews

The Diviners takes place in 1920's New York City with flapper Evie O'Neill, a young girl with a taste for excitement. She is living with her uncle as punishment for things that she did back in her hometown of Ohio. Her unusual uncle gets wrapped up in a serial killer case, and Evie and her friends all pitch in to help and solve the crime and stop the murderer. I give this book a 4; it's a long read, but worth your time!

The Diviners takes place in 1920's New York City with flapper Evie O'Neill, a young girl with a taste for excitement. She is living with her uncle as punishment for things that she did back in her hometown of Ohio. Her unusual uncle gets wrapped up in a serial killer case, and Evie and her friends all pitch in to help and solve the crime and stop the murderer. I give this book a 4; it's a long read, but worth your time!

I’d give the book, Dancer Daughter Traitor Spy, two stars because I didn’t know what was going on half the time. It’s about this Russian ballet dancer, Marya. She and her mother have a special gift. She gets random visions of the future while her mom gets them from the past. One day her mom gets secret information from one of her visions. The KGB “put her away” and it forces Marya and her dad and uncle to the United States to hide.

I’d give the book, Dancer Daughter Traitor Spy, two stars because I didn’t know what was going on half the time. It’s about this Russian ballet dancer, Marya. She and her mother have a special gift. She gets random visions of the future while her mom gets them from the past. One day her mom gets secret information from one of her visions. The KGB “put her away” and it forces Marya and her dad and uncle to the United States to hide.

The Edwards family has never been really close; everyone always seems to have their own separate things to do. Taylor’s younger sister, Gelsey, has ballet, Taylor’s older brother, Warren, has scholarly activities, and Taylor has an annoying knack for running away when things get tough. But that changes when Taylor’s dad receives tragic news about his health. The family packs up the car and heads to their old lake house for the summer. They have not been there in five years, having been too preoccupied—unintentionally or not—to return the past five summers.

Penelope ""Lo"" is OCD; a condition that has worsened since the death of her beloved older brother. It also leads her to the murder of a young woman from a seedy area of town. It puts her in grave danger, but she also finds a young man who can see past her problems.

The OCD aspect makes Penelope's character very interesting.  But the view of homeless young people is a little too glossy and the connection she finds between herself and the murder victim are a little to neatly woven.

Let me tell you, Prodigy is an amazing book! I really liked to pace that it moved at and all of the characters were totally captivating, I couldn’t put it down. The plot of the book starts with Day and June making their way to the Patriots where they team up with them. The leader of the Patriots gives Day and June an assignment, which is the death of an important person. They almost go through with it until some unexpected information surfaces. The discovery compromises everything they’ve ever worked for. In this book all of the characters are tested and pushed to their limits.

Emma thought that she was just a normal teenager until she met Galen. Galen is a Syrena, or a mermaid, as the humans call them. He is convinced that Emma is a Galen, even if she doesn't believe it herself! This book is fun, dramatic, and action-packed. The characters are so real, believable, and lovable. I highly recommend this book to anyone who can read! :)

Han Alister, former street gang leader, and Princess Raisa, future queen, have very little in common on the surface.  Except for the fact that they both seem to be battling the same magical family, the Bayars.  Brutal murders of street gang members and a kidnapping of the princess all ensue as Raisa and Han collide in this great high fantasy novel.

"After her big sexting incident, Dylan Mahoney has become public grounds for teasing in her suburban Chicago high school and has never felt more alone; it doesn’t help that her two best friends have abandoned her, too. Now utterly embarrassed and alone, Dylan discovers the blog world of “homeschooled fundamentalist Christian girls,” is instantly intrigued by their ever so structured world and decides to make a blog, herself, under the guise of Faith.