Tag Archives: young adult

Spintered by A. G. Howard

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splintered_aghowardIt all started with the rabbit hole.

Of course, Alice falls down it and finds herself in the bizarre world of Wonderland. But what would happened if when she came back, something wasn’t the same?

Skip two centuries to Alyssa Gardner, the descendant of Alice Liddell and inspiration for Lewis Carroll. She just wants to live a normal life with school, artistic desires, and Jeb, a cute artist. But the curse of the Liddell family that causes their girls to go crazy (including her mom) and the strange power to hear the voices of plants and insects keeps Alyssa’s life anything but normal.

That’s when she gets a call from the boy of her dreams (literally) to help save Wonderland and fix everything her ancestor messed up. If she does, she’ll be from her family’s curse, and her mother could be saved. But Wonderland is not how it seems through Lewis Carroll’s innocent perspective.

This book, along with the other two of its series, is amazing. It’s full of humor, including the comical fights between the two edges of the love triangle Alyssa somehow gets sucked into, a sarcastic characters, and the events Alyssa has to face in Wonderland.

I actually didn’t personally like Alice in Wonderland. However, when I read this book, I liked it way better than the original. And for those of you who like horror, all I’m going to say is that one of the author’s inspirations was Tim Burton. Additionally, there are small details that lead to very interesting and well thought out plans, which made the book even cooler. And of course, the classic secret keeping, in which secrets blew my mind and were ones I didn’t figure out before. Finally, the author puts the classic story into her own words, with characters the reader will recognize by name and be intrigued with.

All in all, this is one book that should be read!

-Megan V.

Greenglass House by Kate Milford

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greenglasshouse_katemilfordWinter vacation. An inn for criminals. Two maps.  One massive adventure. Milo and Meddy, together.  This story begins with a young boy named Milo, returning from his last day of school before Christmas break.  It has started to snow, and he has finished his homework so he can have some fun, but some strange things start to happen.  He and his family, the Pines, live and work at an inn called the Greenglass House.  For a long, long time, it has been the temporary home of several harmless thieves, smugglers, and other suspicious criminals.  Winter is a slow time for the hotel, and customers are rare near the holidays.  However, this year it’s different.  Just as Milo shuts his math book, he hears the distant ring of the bell.  He and his mother, Mrs. Pine, rush outside to see a man trudging up the snow covered front steps.  The man introduces himself, and throughout the course of the afternoon, so do ten other guests, as he is the first of many to stop by this night.  Eleven in total arrive at the Greenglass House, while Milo is thinking this could quite possibly be the worst Christmas vacation ever.  Milo was miserable until a certain girl named Meddy comes to stay as well.

After just one day, Meddy and Milo seem to become the best of friends. Milo shows Meddy a map he found suspiciously left in a rail car.  It is quite a unique map. The two aren’t sure what it is showing, but they believe it is some kind of waterway.  This creates a curiosity in young Meddy.  In her attempt to cheer Milo up, she has an idea for a fun game they could play together.  The basic objective is to find out what the map is and whether treasure exists.  And you have to play while adopting fake characters.  They decide Milo will be a blackjack, the leader, clever and athletic, while Meddy will be incognito.  Milo’s new name is Negret and Meddy’s, Sirin.

They begin their quest in the attic where they find materials such as clothes for Sirin and necessities for Negret.  The game gets pretty fun until one morning, some of the inn’s inhabitants wake up to find they have been robbed.  The two friends put aside the game to search for the missing items.  At this point in the book, I thought of the song, Smooth Criminal, by Michael Jackson.  The tune and lyrics struck me as the smooth criminal in the story left no leading clues from his theft.  As the storyline develops, things start to get intense, violent, and secrets are out in the open.  At this point, I’m questioning whether the situations will be resolved and whether I would be able to hum Happy by Pharell Williams by the last page.

This story twists and twists into a whole new plot.  It changed so much that I vaguely remembered the beginning!  Kudos to Kate Milford on Greenglass House.  This well-written and heartwarming novel deserves 10/10 stars.

-Maya S.

Greenglass House is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library. 

The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder

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daybefore_lisaschroederToday is different
For Amber,
Running away
To be alone.

She needs a day
For herself
That isn’t filled
With tears.
This is her last day

Of her before.

The day before it all changes.

Amber expected
To be alone
With her drumsticks,
Just because;
Her camera,
Just for fun;
And a box jelly beans,
Just like always.

She takes a limo
To the beach.
Today is not
About holding back.

She goes to the
Aquarium where
She meets
A boy
By the jellyfish tank.

They connect
Instantly
“Did you see that movie?” he asks,
And Amber knows
What he’s talking about.

They see the sharks
And the sea stars,
Not exchanging many words,
Not at first.

Cade, the boy,
Thought he
Was alone today, too,
But they decide to spend
Today together.

He has a condition for today,
Not to ask
Why the other is
At the beach, by themselves.

The have fun
Building sandcastle,
Climbing lighthouses,
Enjoying the day.

Both Amber and Cade
Are hiding a secret.

Tomorrow will
Never
Be the same again.

Cade.
Loves the ocean so much.
Writes songs everywhere he goes.
Lives today like its his last.

What secret is he hiding?

Cade told her
Not to ask.

Yet she wants
To know.

Written in verse
Amber’s day
Is told.

Th secrets
The style
The story.

It’s beautiful.

-Nicole G., 11th Grade

The Day Before is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Public Library.

Dreamdark: Silksinger by Laini Taylor

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silksinger_lainitaylorWarning: Contains spoilers if you haven’t read the first book.

In this sequel to Dreamdark: Blackbringer, Magpie, Talon, and the crows return. Magpie, now champion of the Magruwen, who is the Djinn King, sets out on a quest to find and wake the remaining five Djinn so that the Tapestry, which weaves the world and keeps it together, will not be lost forever. It also introduces the mysterious Hirik, and Whisper Silksinger, guardian of the Azazel, one of the very Djinn that Magpie is searching for. Together they must bring the Azazel to his temple before the demons catch them and destroy them all.

This sequel is just as good and maybe better than the first. It contains more action and many plot twists as well. To any who have read the first book, I would recommend this one. To those who have not, read the first book before considering this one, as much of the plot and characters contain elements from the first book and would confuse someone who did not have that information. This book contains slight violence, so I would not recommend this to anyone who is under the age of ten. I would rate this book a 10 out of 10, as it is just as good as the first. The only downside is that, for some reason the author left the series to start another and so even though this book leaves off at a point that implies that there will be other books, there aren’t any other books in the series. Dreamdark: Silksinger is a thrilling, enjoyable book that I would recommend to anyone in middle school or who likes fantasy.

Dreamdark: Silkbringer is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Public Library.

-Linna C.

Winterling by Sarah Prineas

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winterling_sarahprineasWinterling was written by the same author of The Magic Thief, and it really lived up to my expectations. Winterling centers around a girl named Jennifer, “Fer” for short. She discovers the Way between her world and another after saving a boy named Rook from a pack of wolves. When she crosses the Way to return Rook to where he belongs, she discovers a strange power corrupting the land. She then sets out to find the cause and heal the land, before the evil Mor, the one corrupting the land, can finally achieve her goal: to rule a land that is hers and hers alone.

Winterling is fantastic. Prineas did just as good of a job on this book as The Magic Thief. It is of the fantasy genre, also similar to The Magic Thief. However, there are no spells in Winterling, only charms and oaths that bind two people by a promise. And, thankfully, Winterling is not the only book in its series. There are two others, Summerkin and Moonkind, each as thrilling as the first. These books are suitable for those in 4th grade and up. It contains slight violence, but laughs and magic as well. I would give this book 10 out of 10 stars, because it is a wonderful book that I really enjoyed.

-Linna C.

Winterling is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

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aseparatepeace_johnknowlesHave you ever been jealous of your best friend? Wished you could be better than him/her?

Though I say this with regret, I have experienced such jealousy. And so has Gene Forrester. His best friend, Phineas, had everything. He was the best athlete at school, and he appeared perfect in every way. All Gene seemed to have going for him was his smarts. During the summer school session Phineas started a new club with new activities he became involved with. Phineas’ life seemed carefree while Gene struggled to study and became distracted. He believed that Phineas was intentionally leading him astray to appear better than Gene.

The boys had a fascination with climbing a certain tree and jumping into the river. One day, when climbing the tree, Gene shook the branch, causing Phineas to lose his balance and fall, shattering the bones in his leg, which forced Phineas to give up sports. Gene visited Phineas on one occasion to try to explain and apologize, but he never exactly got to the point.

When Phineas became strong enough to return to school, he decided to be Gene’s trainer. Phineas even came up with an idea that World War II was just made up by the politicians. Gene, though a part of him knew that this philosophy is not true, accepted this. The two of them were able to live together, in a sort of peace separated from the troubles of the world.

But this peace eventually shattered, as the life in front of Gene became more complicated and full of burdens. The carefree days of the summer session disappeared, and Gene was forced to wake up to the life of an adult, fraught with responsibilities and loss.

As a book required for English, I found the storyline lacking. Perhaps because the narrator was reflecting on childhood and presenting the coming-of-age themes through the lens of a much older person, I struggled a bit with connecting to the lessons. This may be a book that offers more meaning once you have more life experiences. However, from a simpler standpoint, I recognized the dangers of being too jealous.

– Leila S., 10th grade

A Separate Peace is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library. 

Nanatsu no Taizai (The Seven Deadly Sins) by Nakaba Suzuki

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7deadlysins_nabakaIn a far off land modeled after early England, humans coexist with fairies and giants. One of the kingdoms of this land is called Lioness where really powerful humans called holy knights protect the land and everyone in it.
Elizabeth is the third princess of this kingdom. She has run away because the holy knights secretly rebelled and took over the kingdom, putting the king and the rest of the royal family in prison. Her only hope are the Seven Deadly Sins: a group of seven very powerful people rumored to defeat holy knights. Problem is, they’re supposedly wanted criminals who haven’t been seen in public for ten years.
That’s when Elizabeth runs into a bartender who looks like a kid and a talking pig named Hawk. It turns out that the bartender is Meliodas, the dragon’s sin of wrath and the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, who is also looking for the other Sins after they got split up ten years ago. He offers to help her, and the journey starts a change in the country. But the biggest mystery is why Meliodas or any of the Seven Deadly Sins haven’t aged for the past ten years.
I really liked this series! It’s a still continuing manga of about 120 chapters and still has a long way to go, but I’m sure anyone would stay for the ride since it’s very good. Seven Deadly Sins is very comical with its humorous cast of characters and funny behavior. For example, there is a fairy who smells like flowers, a guy whose food looks good but tastes absolutely horrible, and a talking pig who is the chief of leftovers.
This series also has a very good plot. Plots twists and cliffhangers are always guaranteed and they put you on the edge of your seat and wanting more. For those who like romance, there are many heartfelt/comical couples in the series that many would totally support for. And finally, there is the understanding and compassion for the Sins when they are put down by others through the misunderstandings that are dramatic irony to us.
I encourage you to read this series!
-Megan V.

Looking For Alaska by John Green

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lookingforalaska_johngreenI was so excited to get my hands on this book! I had heard such great things about it for a couple of years now, so I couldn’t wait to start reading. However, I was not as thrilled with this book as I had hoped to be. I know this will be controversial because many people loved this book, but I really did not connect with the characters or the story in the way I thought I would.

So here’s a quick summary of the book: *WARNING THIS DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS* Miles, a high school junior, leaves Florida to attend a boarding school in Alabama. There he meets and befriends his roommate “The Colonel” and his friends Takumi and Alaska. As time goes on, Miles falls in love with the spontaneous, rebellious Alaska despite the fact that she has a boyfriend and that people tell him crazy stories about her. Miles becomes caught up in the Colonel’s pranks, games, drinking, and drugs and he realizes that this is the “Great Perhaps” he was searching for. One night towards the end of the book, Miles and Alaska kiss and fall asleep in her room. But a phone call in the middle of the night wakes Alaska and she goes hysterical screaming that she has to leave. So Miles (nicknamed Pudge by the Colonel) help her escape unnoticed by the deacon of the school. The next day they find out that Alaska was killed in a car accident on her way to wherever she was going the night before. Pudge and the Colonel are miserable blaming themselves for her death. Pudge decides to investigate the reason behind her leaving and whether or not her death was an accident or a suicide. The book ends with Pudge forgiving Alaska for dying-suicide or not- and writing a school paper about the “way out of the labyrinth” as Alaska had asked her classmates before her death.

I liked how Green portrayed raw qualities of teenagers rather than the perfect good students in most books. The main character falls in love with an emotionally unstable girl-that’s not something every book does. I still thought it was a good book; there were just some things that bothered me. For instance, I did not like the actual plot of the story because it felt like there was no purpose to the events. Prank after prank you feel, as the reader, that something big is going to happen, but when it happens it doesn’t bring closure, instead it brought disappointment. I also really did not like how the entire second half of the book is Pudge’s depression over losing Alaska and his inability to do anything about it. Only the very end of the book brings closure to the story. And yet still, after finishing the book I felt as though Pudge’s story was insignificant. And maybe that was the point, I can see how Green might have had a greater point that I missed. Regardless I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book. There could have been more to it-more characters, major events, something pleasing to the reader.

I still praise John Green as an author because I loved Paper Towns and The Fault in Our Stars but this is not on my top ten books list unfortunately. Feel free to leave a comment about what you thought of this book!

-Kelsey H

Looking for Alaska is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library, Overdrive, and Axis360. 

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

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lookingglasswars_frankbeddorHave you ever wondered if Wonderland in Lewis Carroll’s book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass was real? In Frank Beddor’s book, The Looking Glass Wars, it is. Alyss Heart is the princess of Wonderland with her mother, Queen Genevieve, and her father, King Nolan. Queen Genevieve is the supporter of White Imagination and has a bodyguard by the name of Hatter Madigan. This story begins with the royal family and the Wonderlanders celebrating Alyss’ seventh birthday. The Queen foretells that Alyss will be the strongest queen of Wonderland because of her powerful imagination. During the party Alyss’ friend, Dodge Anders, takes her out of the palace and takes her to a lake called “The Pool of Tears.” Dodge says that if a person jumps into the pool, he will go into another world, which is our world, but no one has ever returned.

After arriving back to the party, Alyss sees a cat running into the main hall where everyone was. It suddenly turns into a ferocious Cat and heralds the arrival of Redd Hearts, Queen Genevieve’s sister and Alyss’ aunt. An army of her card soldiers destroys Alyss’ home and the Queen’s general Doppelgänger and Hatter jump into action to fight against the enemy. In all the fighting Alyss sees her mother imagining weapons to battle the card soldiers around her. Her mother gives an order to Hatter to get Alyss away from the horrid battle. Hatter takes Alyss to the Pool of Tears and jump into the lake before Redd’s assassins can reach them. In the water Alyss loses Hatter’s hand before arriving to our world, leaving him to search for the princess and find a way back to Wonderland. Will she be able to ever get back? Also, will Hatter be able to find Alyss? To find out, read this wonderful story.

I truly loved this book. It was a page turner and I couldn’t stop reading. Everything about the book was amazing, the plot, the characters, ans the suspense. This is a trilogy and the next book is Seeing Redd. I really hope you will read this book!

-Samantha S.

The Looking Glass Wars is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library and Overdrive. 

I am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak

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iamthemessenger_markuszusakHave any of you read The Book Thief? Marcus Zusak’s novel about World War II? I recently found that Zusak had written another novel, by the name of I am the Messenger. Having enjoyed The Book Thief, I decided to try this new book out.

I was not disappointed.

This novel follows Ed Kennedy and the mysterious cards he receives in the mail. Sent all over town to help various people, Ed must help each person with whatever is ailing them, whether it be loneliness, preaching to an empty church, sibling rivalries, etc. The list goes on and on.

What I liked best about this book was the end, of course. On the surface, this is a very simple novel, with each new card like its own short story. Readers get to know Ed and his town in more detail. But not until the end does there really seem to be a point to the whole story. I was not even reading this book for an English class, but for once, the theme of a novel was staring me in the face.

I think this novel would make a great movie. There are so many scenes that I would just love to see in a movie. I do not normally like the movies better than their novels, but I feel that in this case I just might.

I would recommend this book for anyone over 13. However, I would caution that some scenes in the book are not ‘G’ rated because of their mature content. I feel that The Book Thief was a better novel, but I am the Messenger gives the reader a lot of food for thought about the type of life one chooses to lead.

– Leila S., 9th Grade

I Am the Messenger is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library.