The Ultimate Teen Book Guide

Alicia Eames, Curriculum Connections -- School Library Journal, 5/15/2008

The Ultimate Teen Book Guide (Walker, 2008).
Sporting an eye-catching cover, packed with more than 700 reviews and suggestions, and written in a voice that speaks directly to teens, The Ultimate Teen Book Guide (Walker, 2008) offers young adults more than one summer’s worth of reading. Edited by Daniel Hahn, Leonie Flynn, and Susan Reuben, this is a great resource that will appeal to teenagers and the librarians and teachers who work with them. The recommended titles were selected by more than 200 enthusiastic reviewers—teens, authors, librarians, and teachers—avid readers all, and the resulting compilation is a just-right medley of classics, horror and romance stories, mysteries, fantasy, and other popular genres.

Arranged alphabetically by title, reviews are a mere half-page long, the perfect length for a brief description or an enticing hook; each is also paired with a list of books to read next, either by the same author or of a similar type. All reviews are signed, and brief but insightful biographies of the reviewers can be found at the back of the guide. In addition, there are several “Top Ten” lists scattered throughout, including, “Character You’d Most Like to Be,” “Book That Scared You the Most,” and “Best Book About Relationships.” An index of book authors and spreads that zero in on topics such as “Cult Books” and “Race in Young-Adult Fiction” afford additional entry points. The appealing layout, with varying font sizes and and pull quotes, is an added draw.

While the guide’s unintended strength as a readers’ advisory and collection development tool is apparent, it can also serve to encourage students (and staff) to write and compile their own reviews. Just be sure to keep a copy within easy reach (and a few for checking out) when teens hungry for a good book come through library and classroom doors.