Teen Book Reviews

The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden is a witty book about a girl who has a hard life, many siblings, and a small house with a mom who has a terrible boyfriend. She is quite inspiring because she just plows through it and does what needs to be done to help her family. Then, she joins the debate club and learns a lot there.

I recommend this book because it just really shows you how much you have compared to some others and makes you open your eyes to people with a much worse situation than you. I think that girls would like this book more than boys because it is told from the point of view of a middle school girl and is not an adventure book, either. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic fiction. I hope that this review helps you choose to read this amazing book!

All her life, Adele has been told that her visions of the dead are just schizophrenia. This ability, however, doesn't benefit Adele when she discovers that her former best friend Tori is dead when she finds her at a thin burial in the forest. Because Adele has no plausible excuse, she is now the main suspect in Tori's killing. Her only hope of finding the true killer lies with Tori's ghost.

What a nail-biter! Henry never disappoints with keeping her readers on their toes until the very end of her stories. When I first picked this book up, I was in the middle of a terrible reading slump. Not only did this tale get me out of the slump, but also captivated me till the very end with its exquisite twists and turns. The book's dynamic themes add even more to the underlining psychological message about schizophrenia. However, I wish we could have seen the same dynamics within both the protagonist and the antagonist. Nonetheless, Henry truly knows how to cultivate her audience without revealing too much of the climactic ending. Overall, The Lonely Dead is an exhilarating, yet stellar book to devour in one sitting.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson is an enticing novel with witty, caring characters that the reader immediately loves. The book follows Poppa Fitz-Amobi as she attempts to discover what really happened in a seemingly simple murder case that rocked her idyllic town of Fairview five years before. Along the way, Pip will find new friends, encounter dangerous enemies, and discover hidden secrets that eat at the foundation of Fairview.

I would recommend this book to any reader searching for relatable, funny characters, for this book is stock-full of them. This book has the full package: drama, suspense, slight romance, tricks, and plot twists. This book is a wild ride that leaves the reader hungering to read the second book. Once I picked this book up, I could not put it back down. I could not recommend A Good Girl's Guide to Murder enough.

Stella Grant, a cystic fibrosis patient, has lived her whole life worrying about death. Her goal: avoid that fate, at all costs. Stella’s control-freak mind will be blown when she meets Will, a boy with B. Cepacia, the death warrant for cystic fibrosis patients. Unlike Stella, Will wants to live all the life he has left to the fullest. Two teens and five feet between them, what will Stella choose, Will or her life?

I’ve read this book a handful of times and it’s my first pick when I want to sit down and revisit some old friends. Although two very different people, Stella and Will make you contemplate aspects of your life that you don’t often have to face. The book addresses love, tragedy, and human mortality, but not in a way that makes you feel hopeless, but instead one that makes you grateful for all the wonderful things about life! This book would be appropriate for most preteens and young teenagers even with these more mature themes. The vivid characters and scenery descriptions allow you to immerse yourself in Stella’s world. It’s funny how what could be a silly little love story has so many hidden themes and valuable life lessons. Overall, I highly recommend this book!

Cinder follows an amnesiac teen cyborg in the fictional city of New Beijing who has been raised by an adopted family. But when one of her stepsisters falls ill to a dooming plague, Cinder decides that she must do whatever it takes to save her. Meanwhile, she meets Prince Kai, the son of the emperor who has also fallen ill, and who is also preparing to meet an upcoming envoy from the moon colony, Luna.

You should absolutely read this book. It’s Cinderella crossed with Star Wars, and the rest of the series follows the same themes, mixing classic fairytales with a super cool futuristic space-traveling setting. There are four main books in the series, and though I would say it really takes off in book three due to all the storylines properly coming together, the first two are still really fun. The characters are endearing and funny and you genuinely root for them. There is also good tension and action, as well as small mysteries peppered without. Having finished the whole series (and not being able to put it down), it feels like a saga. Everything is woven together and seeing it come together is chilling, in a good way. And all of it started with Cinder.