STUDENT BOOK REVIEWS!
RATING GUIDE:
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Fair
Good
Very Good
Fantastic!
Scroll through the list below to enjoy insightful reviews written by Library Practice Students.
AUTHOR
Healy, Karen
TITLE
Guardian of the Dead
GENRE &
RATING
Supernatural
SUMMARY
REVIEW
Ellie is a young girl who attends a boarding school. She meets
a guy named Mark. Ellie also meets an eerie beautiful woman
who becomes obsessed with her best friend Kevin. Later in the
book they go off to a Hawaiian island and they fight off evil
warriors.
Overall, the book was “ok”, it needed to include more detail
about certain events and characters in the story. I liked the
setting of the book; it was very unique. I wish that the author
gave a little more background information about the characters
in the book. Some high school students who are interested in
Warcraft and warriors might be interested in this book.
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
I would recommend this book to adults and teenagers who are
interested in Warcraft and supernatural books.
Reviewed by: Cyana
AUTHOR
Leavitt, Martine
TITLE
Keturah and Lord Death
GENRE &
RATING
Fantasy
SUMMARY
Keturah is a 16 year old girl that lives in a poor village called
Tide-by-Rood. One day she goes into the forest lured by a
heart and she loses her way and is left there to die. After
three days Lord Death comes to claim her, but Keturah tells
him a story in which she does not tell the end unless he lets
her live another. In that day, before sunset, Keturah has to
find her soulmate. If she is not lucky, when Keturah goes
back to finish the story, Lord Death will take her as his bride.
I really enjoyed this book because it kept me curious on who
would be Keturah’s soulmate. The strength of this book is the
fact it was able to keep me interested and curious on what
was going to happen next. The weakness was that it was a
little too simple for me and at times it would get confusing
because the language was from a different era and hard at
times to understand. The book cover interested me because
it was a girl, Keturah, kissing someone and the curiosity of
who she was kissing got to me and I had to find out.
REVIEW
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
I recommend this book to females that like a simple book with a
love story involved because it is about Keturah finding her
soulmate.
Reviewed by: Kassi
AUTHOR
Strout, Elizabeth
TITLE
Olive Kitteridge
GENRE &
RATING
Realistic
SUMMARY
Olive Kitteridge is a retired woman living with her husband
Henry in Crosby, Maine. This book follows their journey,
as well as many others as they go through the struggle
that is everyday life. Olive’s strong opinions and
pessimistic view in life adds humor and a realistic view on
the progression of people’s lives.
The writing in this book is phenomenal and very deserving
of the Pulitzer prize it won. It starts off slow, but the
peoples individual stories suck you in. The interesting part
about this book is that it does not have a big dramatic
story arc, it just happens and progresses as the
character’s lives do. It made me realize that I have no idea
what is happening in other people’s lives and I shouldn’t
judge them until I fully understand why they do what they
do.
REVIEW
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
Very Good
I would recommend this book to any gender, but definitely an
older audience. It follows experiences that are relatable later on
in life and not necessarily for high school students.
Reviewed by: Kayla
AUTHOR
Gruen, Sarah
TITLE
Water For Elephants
GENRE &
RATING
Realistic/ Historical Fiction
SUMMARY
A young man, who feels lost in life, finds himself on an
adventure. When the circus comes to town one day, his life
goes from normal to unexpected. He finds work as,
ungraduated, a vet. Creating bonds with people he would
have never dreamed of even talking to. He discovers what
traveling all the time is like. He creates new memories and
refers back to them in his old age. Comfort is found in what
became Nick’s new love, The Circus.
REVIEW
The book was incredibly well written. The transition from
Nick’s past to his future is smooth. The main characters were
developed so that as a reader there was a bond. It was unique
how the author wrote as if Nick was looking into the past. The
perspective of how a circus runs behind the scenes gives a
different perspective. The story line itself created a whirl of
every possible emotion.
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
I recommend this book to males and females, 16 and up.
Reviewed by: Sam
AUTHOR
Haddon, Mark
TITLE
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
GENRE &
RATING
Realistic
SUMMARY
A young boy with autism and a very intelligent mind writes a
firsthand account as a detective. He stumbles upon his
neighbor’s dog who had been murdered. Later, he not only
finds the dog killer but much more. The Curious Incident of the
Dog in the Nighttime turns into The Curious Incident of the Life
of Christopher- The 15 Year Old Autistic Genius.
REVIEW
The writing style of this book is definitely unique. It’s written in
first person; therefore we see the world through the eyes of an
autistic boy who uses mathematical equations to figure out his
surroundings. I liked this book because of how uniquely it is
written. However, that was also a weakness. This book did
really open my eyes to how an autistic person may view the
world and how they react to things differs from people without a
mental illness.
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
I would recommend The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
to people 13+ who have an interest in mental disorders and would
like to learn more about it, or someone who likes mathematical
equations.
Good
Reviewed by: Seara
AUTHOR
Nafisi, Azar
TITLE
Reading Lolita in Tehran
GENRE &
RATING
Very Good
SUMMARY
The author, Azar Nafisi, is a teacher who meets with seven of
her best students every Tuesday morning to read banned
books from the west. In Tehran, Iran, the government is
overthrown by fundamentalists and freedom is taken away.
The girls read Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James
and Vladimir Nabokov- they risk their lives to seek freedom.
This book shows the bravery of women under the control of a
tyrannical government.
REVIEW
It was hard to establish a solid connection with this book
because of the changes in setting and the unclear descriptions
of the people in the book club and their emotions throughout
the book. The author gives off an aura of selfishness; she
didn’t portray sympathy for the other girls or the fear of getting
caught. The author made her book about her love of books.
Some of it was good, some of it was bad. The author seemed
biased in this book by her judgements about the Iranian
revolutionaries as inferior beings. The subjects they discussed
were good, it was overall an okay book- but in a lot of other
ways not so much. The book was okay even though it didn’t
really provoke emotion like I had expected.
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
High school students will probably find this book alright. Anyone
interested in Middle-East or women’s studies will be interested, this
book has a basic syntactical structure but background knowledge of
Iranian history would help.
Reviewed by: Jazzie
AUTHOR
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
TITLE
This Side of Paradise
GENRE &
RATING
Realistic Fiction
SUMMARY
REVIEW
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
Good
This Side of Paradise presents the story of Amory Blaine from
preschool to Princeton. Through times of success and failure
Amory faces; it flows with America in the early twentieth,
century setting. With snippets from the young wealthy college
student’s life, he embarks on a quest for self knowledge that is
only realized in the end.
Although I personally didn’t enjoy the book much, it is indeed
written beautifully. My overall view of the character Amory
Blaine made me wish he failed and when he did I felt no glory
when he received what he deserved. F. Scott Fitzgerald tells of
the protagonist’s life in an extravagant manner, but also
creates an almost melancholy tone throughout the novel and in
the end, leaves the reader feeling almost empty. Some may
prefer novels such as this, but I for one am not entirely a fan.
I would recommend this book to mature readers with an
advanced reading level. It simply should be a novel for
individuals who love depressing non-fulfilling endings.
Reviewed by: Vanessa
AUTHOR
McNeil, Gretchin
TITLE
TEN
GENRE &
RATING
Realistic Mystery;
SUMMARY
Very Good
TEN is about a group of teenagers who travel to an island for a
weekend to party. Two best friends are in love with the same
boy, but the boy only has eyes for one. Pretty quickly, more
and more people die in ways that make it seem like a freak
accident. Only two make it out alive.
REVIEW
This is a book with an attention getting story line. The mystery
really drags the reader into the book, and makes them want to
keep reading. It interested me because of how absurdly
realistic the plot is. All the murdering and crazy incidents made
me cringe. Other high school or middle school student will
enjoy this book as much as I did.
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
I recommend this book to kids and young adults 13 years of age or
older. If you’re someone who enjoys mysteries and books that make
you want to flip the page, I recommend this book!
Reviewed by: Rachel
AUTHOR
Westerfield, Scott
TITLE
Uglies
GENRE &
RATING
Science Fiction
SUMMARY
REVIEW
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
In a futuristic “utopian” society where everyone is born ugly
and receives a special operation to turn them pretty at age
16, Tally Youngblood has been waiting to be pretty her whole
life. One night Tally meets a girl named Shay. As she and
Shay become practically inseparable, Shay reveals a secret
“old fashioned” world beyond theirs where being pretty is
undesired. When Shay runs away, the authorities give Tally
an ultimatum, to go after Shay and undermine the whole
secret city or to give up her dream of being pretty and remain
ugly forever.
Overall, I enjoyed reading the book and thought the story
was very interesting. The story was different than most other
“utopian” society series that I’ve read and had a surprise
ending. The pace of the book changes often, being more
boring or interesting at certain times. After reading this book,
I’ve realized how big of a role appearances play in our
society, and I think other high schoolers may have this
realization after reading “Uglies” too.
I would recommend the book to teenage girls. The plot and central
conflicts of the book mainly appeal to this demographic.
Reviewed by: Lena
AUTHOR
Hazlitt, Henry
TITLE
The Failure of the New Economics: An analysis of Keynesian
Fallacies.
GENRE &
RATING
SUMMARY
REVIEW
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
Non-Fiction
The book gives a detailed refutation of Keynes’ General
Theory. It takes you step by step through the invigorating
process of debunking the false theories of John Maynard
Keynes and his economic principles. All throughout the book
are lessons to be learned and things to be taught. From
income tax to mercantilism, the book will take you on a
challenging path through the maze that is economics.
The book is guaranteed to teach most people a thing or two
about economics, and if not, at the very least it will make you
think. The book isn’t your conventional story of castles and
knights and heroes and villains. It’s really much better. It gives
you a peek into what real life is and opens your eyes to the
things that are going on around you.
People interested in economics that already have a fairly solid base
amount of knowledge in the topic.
Reviewed by: Ian
AUTHOR
Lupica, Mike
TITLE
Million Dollar Throw
GENRE &
RATING
Realistic
REVIEW
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
Very Good
I really enjoyed this book because the idea and all around
story was exciting. The author did a good job getting an
image in my head the whole time. The only thing I would
change would be the flow of the story. In my opinion the
author kind of rushed the ending. I think It could have
been a little better spaced.
I would recommend this book to both males and females
from 8th to 10th grade. Also to any athletes and to readers
who are interested in exciting books. Or even if some
readers were going through financial issues with parents
or family and got a lucky break and got over it.
Reviewed by:
Hunter
AUTHOR
Derting, Kimberly
TITLE
The Pledge
GENRE &
RATING
Science Fiction.
Very Good
SUMMARY
In a world where class is determined by the language you
speak, one girl can understand all of them. This could get her
killed, as deference to those who speak “higher” languages
than yours is law. Her secret is found out by the Queen’s son,
and she must fight for her life.
REVIEW
I thought this book was intriguing because the idea of a class
system such as this raises many questions. It tackles the issue
of oppression based on birth status. I think high school
students will enjoy this novel, because it also has a juicy love
triangle
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
Females or those interested in Romance
Reviewed by: Aspen
AUTHOR
Diana Wynne Jones
TITLE
House of Many Ways
GENRE &
RATING
Adventure
SUMMARY
REVIEW
RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE
Very Good
In this story, magic has become a common tool to all citizens
of Great Britain. Charmain Baker a young girl with red hair,
who has never had any experience with magic, received an
opportunity to house sit. The house is no ordinary house, but a
house full of spells and magic. This house also leads to various
places, just by a tip of a switch. Charmain Baker has begun her
new life with a couple of friends. The king and her daughter,
desperate to find the gift, have gone to summon old
characters of the previous book, Howl`s Moving Castle. Will
Charmain be able to solve the mystery?
Diana Wynne Jones, author of Howl Moving, has created a
sequel called The House of Many Ways. Instead of a typical
romantic story, this book has a much lighter tone to it. This
book contains a wonderful adventure. Most students can
relate to the story`s protagonist Charmain. This book leaves
you curious and excited, waiting to see what`s on the next
page. This book brings new life into the prequel of the
story/movie adaptation Howl’s Moving Castle.
The reading level is for ages 13 and up, appealing to both
genders. Even though this book has a lot of pages, the
font and spacing is big.
Reviewed by: William