Back to top

MADreads for Teens

Book reviews for teens by library staff and guest contributors

Free Access to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Cover of Harry Potter and the Sorce
A review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

Everyone’s favorite boy wizard is turning twenty this year! Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone first hit shelves in 1997, sparking a cultural phenomenon that’s still going strong. To celebrate, Overdrive is offering free access to the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ebook between August 27 and September 10.  Enjoy reconnecting with favorite characters or take the opportunity to introduce a new generation to the series.

Aug 23, 2018

Nurturing friendships and traditions

Cover of The Tea Dragon Society
A review of The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O'Neill

A young blacksmith's apprentice named Greta discovers a lost tea dragon at the market and uncovers the forgotten world of the Tea Dragon Society. The book follows a year of seasons starting with spring and the developing friendships between Greta, the tea dragon masters, Hesekiel and Erik, and a mysterious and shy girl named Minette.

Aug 21, 2018

A suggested arrangement

Cover of When Dimple Met Rishi
A review of When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
When Dimple Met Rishi was a fantastic book. It was very funny and will easily sweep you away into the lives of Dimple and Rishi. Both characters are amazing and the book shows their emotions really well. The book also includes a lot of culture, which helps to build the plot in a really nice way. The way that they build the romance is wonderful as it shows the progression of their feelings and how they change. This is a book I would definitely recommend.
 
Review by Victoria Lenius
Jul 26, 2018

In a perfect world...?

Cover of Scythe
A review of Scythe by Neal Shusterman

This book is an interesting view on immortality and complete harmony. Centuries into the future, anything that brought despair has been eliminated - government, war, illness, famine, etc. This leaves life almost limitless. The only people who can kill are in the Scythe Legion. Offending a Scythe leads to certain death. However, the main character, Citra, is taken to be an apprentice Scythe. This novel creates a very realistic world, if the world was a perfect, idealistic, utopia.

Jul 20, 2018

Pitch perfect

Cover of Five Flavors of Dumb
A review of Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

"For the record, I wasn't around the day they decided to become Dumb. If I'd been their manager back then I'd have pointed out that the name, while accurate, was not exactly smart. It just encouraged people to question the band's intelligence, maybe even their sanity. And the way I saw it, Dumb didn't have much of either."

May 1, 2018

Gloomies, like Goonies, but not exactly

Cover of Misfit City Vol. 1
A review of Misfit City Vol. 1 by Kirsten Smith

This graphic novel series is set in Cannon Cove, where a popular adventure movie called The Gloomies was filmed in the 1980s. Decades later, fans of the movie continue to visit and annoy the residents who cater to the tourism with mild resentment. Then a cool group of teen "misfits" who begrudgingly live in the sleepy coastal town discover something unexpected, mysterious and adventurous: a pirate map belonging to the legendary Black Mary!

Apr 23, 2018

The magic of the stage

Cover of The Backstagers
A review of The Backstagers by James Tynion IV, Rian Sygh, Walter Baiamonte, Jim Campbell, and Veronica Fish

Have you felt enchanted when experiencing live theater? I have! This new graphic novel series explores the weird and wild magic that happens behind the scenes of high school theater productions. Jory is a new student at St. Genesius looking for an after-school activity. He stumbles into the backstage crew on accident and immediately finds a place in their ranks. They are a welcoming and motley bunch working the lights, sound, sets and costumes and they have a secret.

Mar 5, 2018

Pages

Subscribe to MADreads