St. Charles Library - Teen Book Reviews

In another dystopian American future, Cia Vale lives in a society that selects certain students from different districts to participate in ""The Testing"" - a gruesome and deadly set of trials that decides what 20 teenagers across the country can attend university.  Cia's father survived The Testing when he was a teenager and has been haunted by vague but horrifying nightmares ever since and he sends her off with one warning: Trust no one.

In this book James is a sad and sensative person, whos sister was expelled from school and disowned.  He finds his sister and tires to get her to move back.  And while in the process he becomes depressed and thinks of suicide.  He starts to talk to a therapist and he tells her about his plan to get his sister to start school again and move back in.  in the end he ends up happy enough to yawp.

Taylor Edwards is known for running away when things get hard. Her first thought when she finds out her dad is struggling with cancer is get away. This time, however, running away will not make it go away. If only for her father, Taylor agrees to go back to the family’s old lake house for her father's last summer, not knowing she will also be confronting the past she abruptly left five years ago. These new cramped living quarters force Taylor to quit ignoring her two exceptional siblings.

Beautiful Creatures is a very good book. It is the kind of book where you're anxious for the end, but enjoy the whole thing. Lena is new in town and is staying with her Uncle Macon, the town shut-in. Lena and her boyfriend, Ethan, have been sharing the same dream before they even met for months. They also can talk to each other, in their minds. Ethan soon finds out that Lena is a Caster, technically another word for witch, wizard, sorcerer, sorceress. On Lena's 16th birthday, she will find out if she's Dark or Light, bad or good.

Hayley is a teenager living in Santa Monica, California. She's close to the beach, has excellent weather, and has a good best friend; what could be wrong? Well, Hayley happens to be fat in body image- obsessed, Southern Californian girls who have plastic surgeons numbers in their back pocket. So you can bet that the only complements Hayley hears is that she's smart, funny, and (the dreaded) has a pretty face.

5 Centimeters Per Second was actually first released as a Japanese animated feature film, with the manga novel being released at a later date. There is no science fiction or fantasy element in this novel, instead it gives a realistic view of the struggles many face in their life: time, space, people, and love. The two main characters become close friends in elementary school and then have to move away from each other. They remain close at first, even making a trip to visit each other in middle school, but soon realize that they have begun to drift their separate ways.

Grab the tissue box! This is one of those teen books where you have already guessed the ending, but you keep hoping for a "miracle".  When a book starts with "She hoped this is what it would  feel like in heaven", you know it can't end well. Cam is a sixteen year old that has spent the last seven years in and out of hospitals. She is crossing things off her "flamingo list" and the last thing she wants to do is move 1600 miles away to a town called Promise, Maine, a place known for miraculous events.

Alex Flinn is a master of retelling fairy tales and Cloaked is like a fairy tale "mash up"!  The Frog Prince, The Six Swans and The Elves and the Shoemaker, just to name a few. Johnny is just an average guy working at a hotel shoe repair counter when a famous party princess comes to town. Add a talking fox, hungry giants, six enchanted swans and a magical best friend that has loved him forever and you have a  fun "once upon a time" novel.

Kenzie and her friends are seniors, all with plans of doing big and wonderful things and having fun for the summer.  Kenzie has recently lost her father, she's fighting with her mother, trying to deal with her losses and  she discovers that she is pregnant. Kenzie's boyfriend, Kevin who has been supportive and loving since her father's death, suddenly becomes distant and doesn't want to deal with the problem. Her mom decides to send her off to Spain to live with a family that has found a couple to adopt her baby.

"When Louisiana-born Rory moves miles away to a London Boarding school, she's prepared for the homesickness, the uniforms, the mandatory sports, and the loads of homework. What she's not prepared for are the brutal Jack the Ripper style killings that rock the city upon her arrival. The new victims match descriptions of the originals and are killed on the same day at the same time. Since the crimes can be predicted, the entirety of London waits in suspense for the next death.