Biddeford Book Ninjas: Book Reviews by Young Adults
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The Ninjas present cool reads for steamy summer days--it's even hot in Biddeford, ME, where temps are expected to be in the mid-80s for the next couple of weeks. The titles reviewed this month all feature cool characters (a bad boy, a lady-in-waiting, an evil genius) and just a few rats.
Boyd, Maria. Will. Knopf. July 2010. ISBN 978-0-375-86209-0. Gr 9 and up.
At first glance, Will seems like a typical book about high school kids who have a great time putting on a musical. But Will, the title character, isn't your typical teenage drama student. He's a normal trouble-making teen who attends a boys' school in Australia. After Will moons a girls' school bus, his punishment is to participate in the school musical, where he unexpectedly makes new friends and develops into a different, more responsible, person.
I liked this book because I really connected with its characters. They were well-crafted and matched the stereotypes of certain types of people in a normal high school. Each character had a complete personality, which made reading the book even more enjoyable.
I have only two real complaints about this book. First, the fact that all of the dialogue is bolded instead of appearing in quotes, and second, the cover, which is bright pink. Will isn't strictly a "girl" book, and it should have had a more neutral colored cover. I could also complain about the book's abrupt ending, but I won't, because I still enjoyed the story.
Will is an enjoyable summer read. It's at times light and fluffy, but it also has a message and a moral. I would recommend it to anyone in high school that's embarrassed or afraid to be the person who they really are inside. Will encourages readers to let their inner selves shine through, no matter how much crap they might potentially take.- Hilary L., age 17
Wagner, Hilary. Nightshade City. Holiday House. August 2010. ISBN 978-0-823-42285-2. Gr 6-10.
After being ravaged by the Bloody Coup, the underground rat city of the Catacombs has gone downhill. With new dictators replacing old peacemakers, a group of rats who remember the good old days, decides to take matters into their own hands. They create a new, secret city-Nightshade City, free from the greedy hands of the Catacomb Ministry.
Though the book Nightshade City might be compared to Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (S & S, 1986), it doesn't take away from the plot at all. I was constantly intrigued by every detail and had no trouble finishing the book. The writing was very strong as well, which made it easy to form images while reading the book. I did find that at times the dialogue was repetitive. Many of the details told to another character were already known and were written in such a way that it sounded too "summary-ish." Even so, I couldn't imagine myself not finishing Nightshade City. It's a great read for any teen.-Elyse O., age 15
Jinks, Catherine. The Genius Wars. Harcourt. September 2010. ISBN 978-0-152-06619-2. Gr 7-11.
Confession: I have been a huge fan of Catherine Jinks's "Evil Genius" series since I picked up the first book when it came out a few years ago. For those of you who haven't read the trilogy, Cadel Piggot is a boy genius who has been brought up with conflicting ideas of what is right and wrong. In this final installment, Cadel's finally peaceful life is disrupted yet again by the man who originally shaped him for evil. Cadel is an intriguing protagonist, with the brainpower of Artemis Fowl, the tendency for thrill and suspense of a good heist movie, and the looks of Frodo.
The Genius Wars, third in the series, provides a darker yet ultimately more satisfying ending to Cadel's journey. While advancing the story at a breathtaking pace, Jinks still manages to work in many of the forgotten characters from the first two books perfectly. Rarely predictable, the sudden twists and jumps in the story make perfect sense to the reader and still manage to show off Cadel's brainpower.
The one thing I might have changed was the story's length. By no means is it too long, but somewhere in the middle, I started wondering how many more plot twists I could take before my mind would be completely blown. However, the complicated plot isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially if you like trying (and generally failing) to figure things out.
Overall, The Genius Wars provides a very satisfying ending to one of my favorite trilogies. Read Evil Genius first, but definitely try the trilogy if you like technology, solving problems, complications, theoretical math, and moral ambiguity. Or just a good story.-Emily L., age 17
Klein, Lisa. Cate of the Lost Colony. Bloomsbury. October 2010. ISBN: 978-1-599-90507-5. Gr 10 and up.
Lady Catherine is in love with Sir Walter Raleigh and he with her. However, Catherine serves Queen Elizabeth, and when the Queen learns of their romance, she exiles Catherine to the island of Roanoke, in the New World. There she meets the intriguing Indian, Manteo, and begins to forget Sir Walter.
This book is an absolutely amazing read. I would recommend it to anybody and everybody. It's a fascinating take on the mysterious fate of the lost colony of Roanoke. It has a very well-executed love triangle. I really enjoyed the different chapter formats. The way that one chapter was Catherine, one was Manteo, and one was Sir Walter really made the story flow smoothly, and the different views added a lot of perspective to the story.-Marissa H., age 13
Reader Comments (1)
Cate of the Lost Colony was such an amazing book! I could not put the book down. The main character, Cate, had such an interesting view of things for a woman of her time. Also, to be able to see the points of view of the men she loved, was a great characteristic this book had, beacuse you were able to see their views of things. To be able to let your imagination run on what happened to the colonists of Roanoke, is what truely made this book unique. I would recomend this story to a wide variety of ages, for anyone will enjoy this!!
Posted by Abigale Shields on November 27, 2011 04:24:51PM
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