November 2016
The Nightingale - Review by Jenna, Teen Blogger
Posted on 25-Nov-16 12:49
Think about a book or movie centered in World War II. Think about what the setting is, who the main characters are. I would guess that the story that popped into your mind was about a solider or nurse from an Allied country out on the front lines, or perhaps about someone in a concentration camp, because that’s the focus of most stories about World War II. However, in The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah looks at a different piece of the war that is often overlooked: the woman, particularly those in German-occupied France.
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The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton - Review by Emma, Teen Blogger
Posted on 08-Nov-16 10:07
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a book about underprivileged teens living in a city. The main character, Ponyboy, is a member of a gang called the Greasers. One day Ponyboy goes to a movie with his friends Dally and Johnny. While there, they pick up some girls, members of the opposite gang, the Socs. But it does not take long for the girls’ boyfriends to show up, and when they do, they are annoyed that their girls are hanging around with Greasers...
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Graceling by Kristin Cashore - Review by Jenna, teen blogger
Posted on 08-Nov-16 09:36
Graceling is a young adult fantasy novel by Kristin Cashore about a Graceling named Katsa. A Graceling is a rare and gifted person from the Seven Kingdoms that is born with an extreme skill, whether that is reading at a superhuman speed, seeing storms before they come, or simply cooking the most amazing dishes. Katsa is "Graced" with the ability to kill anyone, anywhere, in any way imaginable. She has been forced to work all her life as the thug of her uncle, who is the king of the Middluns, but she is also part of a secret council that helps to protect and serve the Seven Kingdoms. After a fateful night where she meets Po, a prince Graced with combat skills, she leaves the king’s services to join Po on a quest to figure out what is going on in the Seven Kingdoms.
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The Ocean at The End of The Lane - Review by Kyle, Teen Blogger
Posted on 08-Nov-16 09:23
“It all came back and even as it came back I knew it would not be for long: all the things I remembered, sitting on the green bench beside the little pond that Lettie Hempstock had once convinced me was an ocean.”
In The Ocean at the End of the Lane, author Neil Gaiman crafts a tale of weird fiction fit to stand with the classics of that genre. He expertly weaves a deeply personal story of childhood and memory within a sinister tale of evil not from our world. The decidedly stark prose gives it a pleasingly sincere quality, a stylistic choice that perfectly underlines the themes of the book. Though a relatively short read, it doesn’t feel stunted in the slightest, and its pacing is excellent. Particular praise should also be given to the characterization, as it has an unshakeably real quality, even amid the fantastical elements of the story.
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