HPL
Teen Territory Blog

Looking for something new to read? Take a look at some of our Summer Reading Club Teen Book Reviews and see what your peers have say about books they've recently read.

Charles B. reviews Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham

This book about the adventures of a kid lawyer is great. Normally, law is a boring and complicated thing to master, especially in the courtroom. But Grisham puts a fun and mysterious twist on the usual theme, as Theodore tries to solve the mystery when a murderer is on the verge of being innocent. Now Theodore and his family must gather clues, solve puzzles, and overcome the odds to serve justice in the courtroom and put the murderer where he belongs in jail. Overall, an excellent book for teenagers interested in law and mystery.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 4.

Charles B. reviews The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

I've always love Rick Riordan's books, but this one is amazing. Coming in a close second to the Percy Jackson series, this might be one of my favorite books of his. This is the adventure of Carter and Sadie Kane as they realize their Egyptian god powers and try to save their father from the evil clutches of Set. As they discover their powers and meet friends along the way, they start to realize how their mother died years earlier and painstaking memories are revealed. Can the Kanes stop Set and his source of power, the Red Pyramid? Read this epic book and find out. Let's hope this book comes with a sequel because that would be a series no one would ever forget.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 5.

Helena C. reviews Out of the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst

This was a great, fantastic, interesting, intriguing and exciting book about what happens when the wild is released again by Linda from Beauty and the Beast. The girl's father, Rapunzel's Prince, was released from the Wild after 500 years. That is when all the problems start. This book is a great adventure that pulls you right into the story and makes you keep reading. I would definitely recommend "Out of the Wild" to anyone looking for a crazy ride.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 4.

Mikah F. reviews Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

This book was unbelievably good to say the least. Huxley's commentary on the tehcnological impacts that the future might hold was quite moving. A very interesting part of the book was the way Huxley ripped out the fictional society around which he based this book. In this society, all people were fertilized in a test tube, and mass production was key. This dehumanized the entire society. Also, the entire society was brainwashed into not experiencing free thought the people preferring to take a drug rather than experience a full range of emotion. Huxley's
apprehension towards technology and mass production came through quite effectively in this work. I would strongly recommend it.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 4.

Mikah F. reviews Animal Farm by George Orwell

In this novel, Orwell makes a rather blatant political metaphor in a degree of distaste towards communism. This metaphor, despite requiring little thought to understand, was still rather enticing and emotion inducing. As a reader, I cringed as I saw the pigs taking advantage of the other farm animals, was angered as Napoleon the pig took control, yet felt elation as the pigs
overthrew their human oppressors. The ability of Orwell to convey a message so clearly, while still drawing the reader in is what makes this book so effective. All in all, this book should be read by all as it is both an intellectual and enticing piece of literature.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 4.

Brendan H. reviews Boom! by Mark Haddon

This is a crazy and hilarious book that is so zany and weird that it barely makes sense. It all starts when Jimbo's sister tells him that she heard that he might get kicked out of school. To find out if this true, the boy and and his friend, Charlie, stay after school to listen to see if the teachers say and anything about it. But they are alarmed when they hear two teachers speak to each other in what seems to be an alien language!

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 4.

Brendan H. reviews Peak by Roland Smith

The novel Peak by Roland Smith, tells about the journey of a fourteen year old boy named Peak whose main interest is climbing. When he moves to the city with his mom and stepdad, he resorts to climbing skyscrapers which lands him in jail. Although his father bails him out of jail, Peak discovers his father has an ulterior motive. He wants his son to climb to the top of Mt. Everest, so that he will be the youngest person to summit the mountain. His father, a mountaineer and owner of his own climbing company, wants the publicity that this will bring
him. The journey to the top is long and hard, filled with difficulties and challenges that Peak must overcome. And, at the end of the climb, there is a daunting decision that Peak must find the right answer to.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 5.

Summer H. reviews A Ring of Endless Light by Madeline L'Engle

"A Ring of Endless Light" is about not-quite sixteen-year-old, Vicky Austin. After a year in New York, Vicky and her family are spending a summer on a beautiful Seven Bay Island. They came to help take care of Vicky's grandfather, since he is dying of leukemia. Watching her grandfather grow worse and worse, is almost too much for vicky to bear. Meanwhile, she's at the center of three very different boys. 1. Leo, an old friend from the Island, has feelings for Vicky, but she
doesn't feel the same for him. 2. Zachary, sophisticated but troubled, likes Vicky and she likes him, but she keeps pulling away from him. 3. Adam, Vicky's older brother's friend, who offers her a chance to help him in his experiments with dolphins, but keeps calling Vicky a child just as she's ready to feel like an as adult. Vicky likes him, but isn't sure if he feels the same way. But during her summer on the Island, she learns to get past the darkness of tragedy and death, and into the light of love and joy.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 5.

Omotayo I. reviews L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad

This is a book about a girl named Jane Roberts and her friend, Scarlett Harp, who move to Los Angeles to find out who they really want to be. Jane interns for a notorious wedding planner and Scarlett goes to University of Southern California. While at a club, a producer approaches them and asks them to be in his new hit reality show, LA Candy. They accept and end up having their lives filmed and shown to millions of people in the United States. Jane gets into trouble and Scarlett feels that Jane is drifting away from her. LA Candy is a funny, exciting and interesting novel.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 5.

Andreas K. reviews The Reality Bug by D.J. MacHale

This book was very interesting. It involved much technology that could potentially be developed on Earth. In this book, Bobby goes to Veelox, where he discovers that the territory appears uninhabited. When he goes inside a pyramid, he learns about a virtual reality progaram that lets people live their perfect lives. He then learns that people stay in tubes where they can experience this perfection for a very long time - sometimes years. But a traveller named Aja, plans to make the system less than perfect with a virus and it soon gets out of control.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 4.

Julian M. reviews If You're Reading This It's Too Late by Pseudonymous Bosch

This book is part of the intense and suspenseful "Secret Series." In this book, Cass and Max- Earnest await their first assignment in the Terces Society. They learn that they must find the homunculus using the Sound Prism, a magical orb that can allow you to hear things from a distance. Also, when thrown into the air, it makes a noise that calls the homunculus to you. This book is an action-filled mysterious sequel.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 5.

Robert P. reviews Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

This is the fourth book in the Percy Jackson series. It is a good book, but my least favorite Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson starts freshmen orientation with demon cheerleaders attacking him. He escapes to Camp-Half Blood with a mortal friend that helped him escape. While they are running to camp, they run into Percy's friend, Annabeth. When they go back to camp they are sent on a quest to find Daedalus to tell him not to give info to Luke, a traitor. When they get to Daedalus, he tells them it is to late. So they go back to camp and they get ready to fight a battle.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 5.

Spencer P. reviews Charlie Bone and the Red Knight by Jenny Nimmo

Dark forces are gathering at Bloors Academy as the Bloors search for a lost box containing a hidden will- a will that reveals the true destiny of the Red King's heirs. And the Bloors are determined to keep Charlie from finding it first. But Charlie is also facing the Lord of the Seas and an expert swordsman from a painting. The Red Knight may be the only hope, but who is the Knight? And can he help Charlie and his friends defeat evil magic for good?

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 5.

Ruhi S. reviews TTYL Lauren Myracle

This book was about three girls names Angela, Zoe, and Maddir who attempt to survive high school and remain friends. The entire book is made up of multiple IM conversations between these three girls. This book was very good, however each event in this book was hard to
remember because of the format of it. Overall, this was a good bok and I do recommend
reading it

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 4.

Victoria S. reviews A Separate Peace by John Knowles

This is a very good book about a group of boys in a boarding school in New England called the Devon School. The book takes place during World War Two. A Separate Peace was written in the past tense in the point of view of Gene Forrester. Gene revisits his high school and recalls events that happened 15 years ago. The main conflict in the book is that Gene feels both hate and love towards his best friend Finny, resenting and worshipping his athleticism and morals.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 4.

Sofia S. reviews Legacy: A Private Novel by Kate Brian

Legacy is about a girl named Reed whose friend Chennaye dies. The police say it was a suicide, but Chennaye's parents won't believe it. Reed and Chennaye had a fight right before she died. Chennaye's last email was to Reed. It said, "You did this to me." After Chennaye's death, Reed keeps getting the same email and keeps seeing her over and over.

Veronica T. reviews Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

This book was very good but I didn't love it. I think the book dragged on too much and the characters took too long to reach their goal. On the other hand, I really enjoyed all the surprises and twists in 'Incarceron'. I liked the way the prison was alive and governed itself because it gave an eerie feel to the book. Another thing I liked about this book was how most of the people the main characters met were mean and ready to harm them if need be but some of the characters, like the warden of Incarceron had a reason for his unkindness and tried to redeem himself. This book was well written but dragged on for too long for my taste but some parts where very good.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 2.

Veronica T. reviews Intertwined by Gena Showalter

This book was very good and fun to read. 'Intertwined' blended all types of supernatural beings into one exciting book. This book had vampires, werewolves, a time traveler, faeries, goblins, witches and so many more. I liked this book because it also brought friendship and forgiveness into it too. This book had many surprises and problems the main characters had to work out.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 4.

Kathryn Z. reviews The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was a very, very interesting and sad book about the Holocaust. It's about a boy named Bruno and his Dad is German. He was a Nazi. In their backyard there's a fence. And one day when Bruno went on one of his "adventures" he met a boy at the fence. He was dressed in striped pajamas just like all of the other people on his side of the fence. His name was Schmuel and he was a Jew.

From 1-5, how many shells would you give this book? 5.