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Book reviews for teens by library staff and guest contributors
I was late to The Guncle party and truthfully only got it read because I needed to read this sequel. So here I am having read both in quick succession which had pros and cons as a reading experience. Before I get into those pros and cons, let me set the scene.
I told you a bit ago about how I came to read the wildly popular Fourth Wing which had been on my radar for months. Not on my radar and coming in as a total surprise for me is a book I think is a great "next read" suggestion for fans of Fourth Wing, To Shape a Dragon's Breath. I was sorting through newly published books when I came across this novel. Like FW it has a young woman entering an academy to learn how to be a dragon rider.
With summer just over the horizon, who doesn’t love a good family road trip story? In this sequel to Huda F Are You?, the Fahmy family travels to Disney World, where hijinks and chaos ensue – including a fight between Huda and a boy who makes fun of her hijab. Huda F Cares is an easy-to-love graphic novel, every bit as hilarious, heartwarming, and thoughtful as its predecessor.
--reviewed by Ros
Chiamaka and Devon, two Black students at a prestigious high school, couldn't be more different from each other. Devon's goal is to keep his head down until he can get into Juilliard; Chiamaka, to claw her way up the social ladder and graduate as homecoming queen. That makes it all the more mysterious when they're targeted by an anonymous saboteur named Aces. Aces's meddling starts with rumors spread throughout the halls, but escalates into a dangerous game that could ruin the students' futures forever.
Makiia Lucier wowed me a few years ago with a book I've re-read many times. Her Year of the Reaper was set in a fully realized fantasy world and featured a flawed, but honorable, protagonist facing impossible choices with much grace and compassion. Since reading it, I've been eagerly waiting for Lucier's next. And here it is.
Winner of the 2024 Pura Belpré Author and Illustrator Awards, a 2024 Newbery Honor book, and a 2024 Odyssey Honor Audiobook. Also available in Spanish.
Sylvie Cathrall's debut is an epistolary novel - a novelistic style that sometimes works for me and sometimes does not. Here it mostly does. I was immediately drawn in by the dreamy, carefully anxious letter that E. is writing to Scholar Henerey Clel. E. (you'll learn her full name later) lives alone in an underwater abode called The Deep House. She writes to Henerey and her sister Sophy and an array of others to stay in contact with the world. This world is one that is about 99% covered in water and most abodes are on floating islands.
Locus Magazine has published their recommended reading list for 2023 titles and wow is there so much goodness to discover. They suggest best novels in science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but also have best in young adult and first novels (so happy to see To Shape a Dragon's Breath, which I loved).
The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, video and audio books for children and young adults, including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards at LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience in Baltimore today.
A list of 2024 award winners follows:
Lady Camembert has never wanted a husband. In fact, she flat-out refuses to ever have one. But when her father dies, she must confront an ugly law of the kingdom of Fromage: women cannot inherit wealth or property. Determined to take on the family wealth while avoiding marriage to a man, she burns the evidence of her life as Lady, moves to the kingdom’s capital, and reinvents herself as the dashing Count Camembert. In this new life, hiding her true identity is vital – but as Cam begins to fall for Princess Brie, she finds that her secret may not be so easily kept.
