Category: book_reviews

book_reviews, Uncategorized, YA lit

CAS READS Sula by Toni Morrison

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Sometimes a book comes at you from all directions. This one certainly has some cosmic power to move across shelves and change people’s lives. If you ever had a best friend when you were young, or if you have survived violence in your immediate family, this book speaks.

Sula is a pariah, seen as evil, but is she?

Nel is a good girl.

Both were raised by outcasts, but with different approaches to life.

They are lifeblood friends. Until. Men.

And the men in the book? Set in the early and mid 20th century, in a southern mountain town, racism rife, what is truly holding the men down, and carrying them away?

This is a book that fills you with spiritual questions. Not easily resolved and never forgotten. We will discuss it on November 28th!

booktalks, book_reviews, YA lit

Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson

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This book will make you cry. First Hurricane Katrina, then death of her grandmother and mother. Then falls in love, falls hard for T-Boom, a meth addict. Who leaves her when she gets hooked. It is a downward spiral for Laurel, but her daddy loves her, she has a little baby brother Jesse Jr., a best friend Kaylee, and Moses, a friend that doesn’t try to come on to her as she sits begging for money, homeless.  The grip that meth has on people rises mysteriously to the surface in this poetic tale of struggle, of continually being pulled back to an addiction, and the people like Moses that don’t judge and don’t give up.

booktalks, book_reviews, bullying, YA lit

The Skin I’m In by Sharon Flake

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Maleeka is poor. Her mom sews to deal with the pain of losing her husband, Maleeka’s dad, but Maleeka can’t wear those hand sewn clothes to school. Sweet already teases her so much about her deep dark skin. So she borrows fancy clothes from Char, who has a lot of issues and bullies everyone around her. Then Miss Saunders shows up with her unique skin, her strong attitude, and changes the tone. She see Maleeka and, though caught in the middle of trying to be true to herself and following along doing what Char says, Maleeka will never be the same.

booktalks, book_reviews, YA lit

Always Running: La Vida Loca by Luis J. Rodriguez

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In his seering autobiography, Luis Rodriguez claims no glory. But he questions his place in world, and seeks to find an answer. You will bear witness to older ones teaching the younger ones to steal, senseless gang violence, abuse from teachers, misguided treatment from school nurses to Latino students, and an evolving consciousness of who he is and what is valuable in his life. Here is a chapter by chapter account.

 

booktalks, book_reviews, YA lit

Something Noble by William Kowalski

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Dre is in high school and needs a kidney transplant fast, and LeVon, his drug-dealing half-brother is the only one who has his same blood type and can save his life.  They have the same father.  Dre has been told that his half-brother is no good and to stay away from him all his life. Now they need LeVon. If you like emotional stories and stories that cut through stereotypes this is a book for you. On the outside, LeVon is a destroying his life and lives of those around him. But if you read this book, you will see who LeVon is on the inside.

book_reviews, YA lit

City of Darkness by Ben Bova

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Manhattan is under a dome. Ron is under the pressure of a controlling Dad. He is forcing Ron into a career he abhores. he decides to run, to have one last adventure in New york City. It is forbidden. It contains all the contamination. No one is let in, and no one there is allowed to leave. Ultimate act of redlining here because the only people remaining are poor, starving, fighting. Once there, his ID is stolen and he can’t get out. He gets robbed, trapped, and falls in love, all in a day, in a dark world full of gangs and misery and scarcity. #dystopia #futureisbleak #NYCteenlit

booktalks, book_reviews

Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan

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by Mary Ann

Vampires, vampires, and even more vampires! This enjoyable and imaginative story has so many twists and turns, you’ll be on the edge of your seat for the entire book. This first person narrative brings you to a world of adventure and gives you a whole new perspective on friendship. It all begins with seeing something no one was supposed to see. This book is such a page turner. It makes you want to read book after book in the series. I recommend this book for young adults with a taste for the unexpected.

book_reviews

Hit and Run by Lurlene McDaniel

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by Amara

Laurie Stark, a freshman high schooler is at the bottom of the chain, hoping to get noticed by people. A senior named Quentin Palmer invited her to a party. Nothing can get better than this but what happens if you were there at the day of the accident and never came forward about it? Could this be a crime? What if it involves a girl in a coma? If you love drama and intrigue, you won’t be able to put “Hit and Run” down.

book_reviews

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

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A boy and a baby sister lose their Dad and their Mom didn’t know either where he is. Years later, the baby and he fell into a hole and meet a four-foot-tall, backwards talking roach. On the boy’s way back to Overland, he encounters a shocking secret about his Dad. This book is definitely fantasy. If you are someone who enjoys mystery and fantasy books, I recommend this book.

– Emmanuel, age 12

booktalks, book_reviews

Demon in my View by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

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Jessica is 15. She has now written and published two books under the pen name or pseudonym Ash Night about the life of the powerful vampire of the Silver line, Aubrey.

When she gets to school, she meets Carlyn, who annoyingly wants to be her friend, and Alex, who each time she runs into him seems to be more and more like Aubrey. Could it really be him? Could fiction be true? Or is this guy just a crazy fan, messing with her mind? Witches who hunt and kill vampires will help her find out the truth of who she is. Meanwhile, the stories come to her and she writes them down…the suspenseful, romantic, and thrilling pace won’t let you out this book down!