Teen Book Reviews

Vinyl Moon is about a girl from Northern California who moves to stay with her uncle in New York after experiencing a domestic violence situation. It is a realistic novel with a vignette style like The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Angel (the main character) joins a H.E.R group to build her self-esteem and make friends.

I would recommend if you like books that focus on women's issues. The author brings you into the mind of Angel without describing graphic violence. It's an emotion-based slice of life story. I like that the story focuses on Angel's life after the situation. She gradually starts to open her wings in this new city and meet new people. Her new friends and family teach her the value of healthy relationships, success, and happiness. Laden with black culture references, this story is effortlessly told from a modern perspective.

The book I am Malala is the memoir of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani proponent for girls’ education. Growing up in Swat Valley of Pakistan, Malala was inspired by her father's passion for learning. The book details her fight for girls’ education under Taliban rule, from writing a BBC blog to surviving an assassination attempt. At seventeen, she became the youngest Nobel Prize Laureate, continuing her advocacy for girls’ education and empowerment worldwide.

This book is definitely a must-read! The book’s writing helps form a connection and a sense of relatability since Malala herself was a teenager and the readers can “go through” her experiences and understand for themselves the emotions and passion she felt. Parts of the book touch on the themes of education, resilience, and standing up for your rights, which helps instill a great example for facing adversity in a positive manner. To add to all this is the touch of Pakistan as the book explores culture, politics, and the situation in Pakistan.

La Belle Sauvage follows Malcolm Polstead, an innkeeper’s son in Oxford, and his daemon Asta as they get caught up in a spy organization, Oakley Street. When a great flood devastates England, Malcolm and the cleaner Alice race through the lawless and fantastic floodscape to deliver a special baby to her father. Throughout their journey, they encounter whimsical, horrifying, and peculiar scenes that help them gain a better understanding of the mysterious nature of Dust.

I highly recommend this book for those who are fans of the first trilogy, His Dark Materials, as it expands on the world established in them. It is always a wonderful experience to escape into the magic and intrigue of Pullman’s landscapes, and this novel excels in its depiction of that. Therefore, it works as a great introduction to the series because of its aforementioned description, introduction, and elaboration upon Pullman’s central themes, and its position as being first chronologically. I particularly enjoyed the fairy tale aspects and the whimsy and comfort that develop from that. Pullman paints a scene that builds up the adventure and majesty within the story. The characters are well-developed, each having an excellent arc throughout to keep readers engaged in the sometimes meandering plot. Ultimately, the novel acts as a true fantasy that makes us question and wonder at the world constructed in its pages.

This story is about the internal struggles of a young woman named Nima and how a character named Omid plays a significant role in contributing to her well-being throughout difficult times. Also, this story illustrates the great difficulty in expressing certain feelings. Additionally, Nima feels left out in the world that she lives in, but at the end of the story she experiences significant growth in her personality and in handling her emotions.

I recommend this book to others because of the overall emotional relatability displayed in the text. In addition, Nima’s overall character transformation is one that is worth reading because of the significant positive change she’s made. This can motivate others reading her story to learn how it’s possible to overcome internal struggles including emotions and overcoming relationships. Similarly, this book communicates hidden struggles in relationships and how the character of a person dealing with such problems can grow positively. Also, a crucial theme in the text is self-acceptance and this is one that many people reading the text might find motivating to feel that way. Furthermore, this story is written with great underlying meaning. In other words, there is depth to this story in what is being told which makes it a fun and interesting story to read.

Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who lives in Hobbiton, is interrupted by a wizard named Gandalf, who wants to take him to gather treasure from a dragon, Smaug, with 13 dwarves. On their adventure, they encounter many threats: trolls, Gollum, wolves, spiders, elves, and Smaug. Bilbo helps to finally bring Gandalf and the dwarves to the treasure safely, but they get into a war with goblins and wargs. All Bilbo wants to do is return home.

I would recommend this book for many reasons. First, I think this book is a very interesting read. There are a lot of plot twists and challenges faced that make the book very interesting. Bilbo overcomes these hard times through his bravery, courage, and cleverness. There is also a lot of action in the book, which makes you always intrigued and ready for the next challenge Bilbo faces. The book also includes some good laughs, so you do not get bored while reading. I think this book teaches kids valuable life lessons about how to overcome challenging times in life. This book is also a great introduction to how J.R.R. Tolkien writes his other books. If you are interested in reading books by him, this is a good book to start with.