Book Reviews by Young Adults
RSSBiddeford Book Ninjas
Although the Ninjas tend to focus on fiction for SLJTeen, this time we have an important nonfiction pick for young adults-Laurence Shatkin's Panicked Student's Guide to Choosing a College Major. Virtually every high school senior in my neighborhood is checking the mailbox every day, hoping to receive that fat envelope (acceptance!) rather than the skinny one (rejection). Then comes the big decision—what do I want to do when I grow up? Our reviewer found plenty of good advice in the guide, and she thinks your teens will, too. MACCULLOUGH, Carolyn. Always a Witch. August 2011. Clarion. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-547-22485-5. Tamsin soon discovers that none of the previous maids lasted very long. As she becomes increasingly entwined in a dangerous situation, the story gets more and more complex, until it concludes with an astonishing, unexpected twist. This book is a wonderful sequel to Once a Witch. It more fully explains Tamsin's powers, and her family's history as her terrible choice, predicted by her grandmother, is made clear. A captivating read that slightly older readers will enjoy.—Marissa H., age 14 CHALTAS, Thalia. Displacement. June 2011. Viking. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-670-01199-5. Gr 9 Up—After Vera runs away from home because of family problems, she finds herself in the midst of every geologist's dream—a mining town. But instead of learning mostly about rocks, she discovers that she's mostly learning about her neighbors and herself. I really liked the poem format of the book. It made everything much more meaningful. The poems give this story a beauty that it couldn't possibly have attained if it was written in prose. It also helps to emphasize particular words and emotions to help the reader to get a better sense of how Vera is feeling. At first, I really didn't like how the reader never really seemed to understand what the problem had been at home to make Vera run away. This bothered me until I realized why Chaltas did this—to let the reader develop an understanding of Vera at the same time that she was developing an understanding of herself. After I realized this, I came to appreciate the beauty of this book even more. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I liked it even more than I liked Chaltas's previous book, Because I Am Furniture. Plus, it wasn't as depressing as the other books I've read in this format. It was a refreshing change from the panoply of depressing young adult books that seem to be coming out lately. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic fiction. It's a quick, enjoyable read that's bound to appeal to a wide variety of people—even high school students who usually don't have time to read unassigned books.—Hilary L. age 17 MCNISH, Cliff. Savannah Grey. April 2011. Carolrhoda Books. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-0761370253. Gr 9 Up—Savannah Grey is no ordinary girl. She's nature's weapon, created through millions of years of evolution for one purpose—to destroy a monster. With her throat as her weapon, she alone must stop a monster before it destroys all life on Earth. The writing of Savannah Grey in itself is absolutely incredible. McNish uses entertaining verbs and phrases that pushed me to read on. The story definitely has an original plot and unique ideas. The third-person sections were very entertaining, and I anticipated reaching the pages colored black because of this. I don't really like the cover: it doesn't convey enough of the story's content. Although her neck is emphasized, the cover doesn't really capture the dark, horror aspect of the book or the small, intricate events that are woven into the story. Overall, I didn't really enjoy the plot, but the story has many interesting ideas and some great writing.—Katie D., age 16 SHATKIN, Laurence, Panicked Student's Guide to Choosing a College Major; How to Confidently Pick Your Ideal Path. May 2011. pap. $14.95. ISBN 978-159-357864-0. Gr 9 Up—This helpful guide offers a series of exercises to discover the college major and potential career that's best suited to your personality, strengths, and likings. Instead of choosing a major or a career first, Shatkin encourages students to choose the two simultaneously. I really liked how this book helped me discover the careers and majors that I'd be good at and enjoy. There was also some very helpful research—especially the part about predicted job openings and salaries. Shatkin takes into account all of the different reasons to choose a major and a career and helps readers understand themselves at the same time. Even if you already have a particular major or career in mind, Shatkin helps you see if you're suited for that career and if you'd be happy with your choice for years to come. In other words, he makes you think twice about whether the major you've chosen is really right for you! I really enjoyed this book because it make me think about whether chemical engineering would really be right for me. I'd thought that I was absolutely positive about the path that my life would follow, but now I realize there are actually many options that would be well-suited to my personality and that there are even some majors and careers that I'd enjoy that I hadn't heard of before. I'd recommend this book to anyone who's planning to go to college or is searching for a satisfying career.—Hilary L., age 17 This article originally appeared in School Library Journal's enewsletter SLJTeen. Subscribe here.
Gr 9 Up—A spellbinding sequel to Once a Witch, Carolyn MacCullough's latest novel continues the tale of Tamsin Greene after she and Gabriel rescue her sister from their family's enemy, Alistair Knight. When Tamsin discovers that Alistair went back in time to eradicate the Greene family before they could render the Knight family Talentless (without magic), she decides to follow him into the past and stop his evil plan. The only problem is, once there, she can't find him, and finds she can't return home. By a stroke of luck (arguably bad or good), she's hired by the Knight family as a maid.
I'm not quite sure if I liked how the story switched from first person to third person, but I wouldn't outright say it didn't work. I found the story of the monster to be interesting, but when I came to the first-person account of Savannah Grey, I became bored. I didn't find her to be a particularly interesting character; I feel like her story moved too slow, while the monster's perspective moved at a perfect, action-filled pace. When the story shifted back to Savannah's account, I became impatient and just wanted to read more action scenes.
