MADreads for Teens

Book reviews for teens by library staff and guest contributors

The distaff side

Cover of Our Woman in Moscow
A review of Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams

In 1951 two British government officials, Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess, left on a boat sailing from Southampton to France and then disappeared. Though there were suspicions that they had defected to the Soviet Union, this wasn't confirmed until five years later when they appeard at a press conference in Moscow. In the years after this it became clear that they were not the only two British "gentlemen" to have been recruited by the KGB, there were at least 3 others and they all became known as the Cambridge Five.

Posted by Jane J on Jun 25, 2024

Extreme discipline is what it takes

Cover of Promise Boys
A review of Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

The students at Urban Promise Prep School must follow the "Principal Moore Method" for conduct and behavior at all times. Principal Moore is strict, but his method saves lives, or so the boys are told time and time again. Infractions include not walking on a line painted on the school floor, talking in the hallway or having unauthorized food in a locker or backpack. The infractions result in demerits that never get recouped. After a certain number of demerits, the students find themselves in detention, or even worse, expelled.

Posted by Molly W on May 13, 2024

Finding your place

Cover of The Very Secret Society of
A review of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Mika Moon pretends to be a witch in her social media videos and enjoys the sense of community she has with her followers. But unbeknownst to those she's met online, Mika really is a witch. And no one can know. Primrose, the woman who raised Mika is very firm on the rules for witches. And rule number one is tell and show no one. That rule has led to a peripatetic life and no long-term connections for Mika. Until now. She’s received an email: Witch Wanted.

Posted by Jane J on May 6, 2024

Lessons in love

Cover of The Guncle Abroad
A review of The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley

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.

Posted by Jane J on Apr 30, 2024

Here be dragons too

Cover of To Shape a Dragon's Breath
A review of To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

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.

Posted by Jane J on Apr 22, 2024

Road trip fun?

Cover of Huda F Cares
A review of Huda F Cares by Huda Fahmy

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

Posted by on Apr 16, 2024

Secrets and lies

Cover of Ace of Spades
A review of Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

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.

Posted by on Apr 5, 2024

Wonderfully imagined

Cover of Dragonfruit
A review of Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

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.

Posted by Jane J on Mar 19, 2024

Wondrous world

Cover of A Letter to the Luminous D
A review of A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall

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.

Posted by Jane J on Feb 26, 2024

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