Legend by Marie Lu

Day is a 15-year-old criminal mastermind. All of his criminal efforts are focused on sabotaging the Republic, a country that he is not proud of. June is a 15-year-old prodigy well on her way to becoming one of the government's highest ranking officials. When she is put on Day's case, she will do anything to catch a ruthless criminal. But perhaps he is not so ruthless after all.

Rating: Awesome

- Kristen, Waterdown

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I loved this book I was not sure at the beginning and it was predictible but I thought it was great. Cinder a cyborg in futuristic New Beijing is the best mechanic there is but an outcast. As her world is struggling against a rapidly growing fatal disease she must help prince kai resist against the evil lunar queen and discover her own past and importance.

Rating: Awesome

- Elia, Saltfleet

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I think that Cinder is a great retelling of a classic fairy tale, for modern day children. The moon cleverly makes use of a dystopian world and outer space. This book is great for everyone of all ages with robots, a love story, and extraterrestrial life. 

Rating: Awesome

- Luke, Carlisle

Legend by Marie Lu

Legend is an amazing book! I have not read a book that is like Legend. It is unique, captivating and just plain awesome! I love all the characters in the book. Not only were the main characters June and Day well written, the supporting characters such as Tess, Metias, John and Thomas were also written extremely well. The plot of this book was different and kept me wanting to read more. I liked how June and Day were from two completely different worlds but they still came together despite their differences. This was a fantastic book and I highly recommend it.

Rating: Awesome

- Alainna, Terryberry

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

After breaking up with Ed, the dreamy, jocky, basketball star, Min begins to put her life back in order. Step one is getting rid of any and all mementos from her relationship with Ed, which she is accomplishing by dumping them in a box on his front porch. But not without explanation. One by one, each object is given a story, which becomes the tale of their romance, and ultimately explains why they broke up.

Rating: Okay

- Kristen, Waterdown

Death Cure by James Dashner

In the finale of the mazerunner trilogy, Thomas attempts to topple WICKED once and for all. However, in the process he finally learns what has happened to the world since the flare. This book does an admirable job of fleshing out the harsh realities of a post-apocylptic earth, despite only taking place in the American Midwest. The action scenes are also well-written and the novel runs along at a brisk pace. On the downside, there seem to be some editing errors, and the characters don`t really flesh out. I would`ve loved to learn more about them, but this novel is all about the broad story and toppling WICKED. Still, I found it an enjoyable read, and no worse than the first two books in the series. I would recommend it to fans of the Hunger Games or other dystopian series, but I don`t think it`s a must read.

Rating: Okay

- Tyler, Kenilworth

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

This book is about a sixteen year-old girl named Cinder. Cinder has a stepmother and two stepsisters, one of which is her best friend. Cinder is not a normal teenage girl, she is a cyborg. If that didn't already make her unwanted and an outcast, Cinder discovers something else that makes her more of an outcast than she already is, and puts her life at risk. In this book Cinder experiences many challenges and difficulties such as her stepsister contracting the deadly plague that is destroying Earth, trying not to reveal she is a cyborg to Prince Kai, and dealing with a huge secret that turns her whole life upside down. Cinder is a futuristic version of the story of Cinderella. I did not get a strong Cinderella feeling but I did see some charcteristics in this book that followed the original story. I really enjoyed Cinder's character. I felt she was a strong female character. I loved the plot of this book, the characters, and how the s tory developed. I highly recommend this book and cannot wait till the second book in the series is released.

Rating: Awesome

- Alainna, Terryberry

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

I saw that this book was one of the teen reads for the summer, so I picked it up. The general idea of the book sounded good, but I didn't expect much. I ended up finishig this book in a day. I LOVED it. It's the prequel to the Mortal Insteuments series, so now I want to read those! The story gets your attention form the beginning. I loved how Tessa was such a strong independant charchetr, yet Will was always saving her from the dangers of Downworlders. The love triangle was really good too, and the fact that Tessa can change into sombody else was also so cool. the book was a bit confusing at parts, and some minor plotlines were confusing. Ther fact that the book is set in a different century is really cool, because it gives you a new perspective. the end left me a bit confused; the conversation between Tessa and Will. But it left be hooked for more. Will Tessa and Will get together or will it be Jem? I'm SO glad I ended reading this book!!

~ Kirsten F, Valley Park

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

I loved this book! It was amazing. I was really eager to read it after finishing the Darkest Powers trilogy. I love how the author kind of tied in parts of the the plot from the Darkest Powers books, while still letting this book have a stand alone plot that anyone can enjoy. I am really looking forward to the next books, and I cannot wait to see how it all ends. I also loved how mysterious Rafe is, and how his character slowly unravels. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves paranormal books.

~ Kristen W, Waterdown

Matched by Ally Condie

This book was great!! I loved how it was set in the future. I also liked that it was not an ideal world, everything was planned for the citizens in this time. Another thing I appreciated about this book was that the author always left some things unsaid at the end of each chapter, causing you to want to read the next one. I loved how alot of the characters in the book were in rebellion. Some you didn't notice until the end, and some were always there but in small acts. I can't believe this book got voted out, since I LOVED it!!! Highly recommended.

~Alainna C, Ancaster

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

The Gathering, by Kelley Armstrong, was extremely boring. It's plot was boring and slow, and the characters were annoying, and there was nothing different about them. I would not recommend this.

~ Sydney G, Locke

Scorch Trials by James Dashner

This book was completely action packed. It took off right from where The Maze Runner ended and through in variables when you least expected them as Groups A and B make their way across the scorch and to a safe haven. I love how creative the groups were when trying to figure out how to make their way, like when Thomas got Brenda and Jorge to join and help them cross the city without too many run-ins with Gone cranks. I can’t wait for everything to finally play out with hopefully everyone left getting the cure.

~ Dana N, Carlisle

Scorch Trials by James Dashner

This book was AMAZING! After reading the first book (Maze Runner), I couldn't get enough. This book was about the second "trial" in the series: surviving the terrible disease that was beginning to take hold and hopefully find the cure to it. In order to do this, the remaining Gladers are sent out into the Scorch, a seemingly abandoned city surrounded by desert and mountains, and must stick together to survive. As they struggle to complete this task, the Gladers are also challenged with betrayal and mystery. Thomas still struggles with his romance from the maze.

The Scorch Trials is a very good book if you are into sci-fi/futuristic/struggling against society type things. Although there is some romance, it is mostly action-packed so I would recommend it to boys and girls. You should really read it ;)

~ Katy M, Saltfleet

Matched by Ally Condie

In Cassia's world (the future) the Society decides everything for her. What she will eat, what she will drink, when she will die and who she will marry. At her Matched Ceremony she is chosen to marry her best friend Xander, nothing more could be perfect. But when she goes home to learn more about Xander from a microchip, a different boys face pops up. One she has also known her whole life. This mistake causes Cassia to start questioning the world she lives in, to find out more about herself and discover the world of the past that is long forgotten.

Matched is a story with a very interesting idea but in the end is disappointing. I found Matched to be very similar in some ways to the story 1984 by George Orwell and was very upset to find the similarities. Dystopian novels are very difficult to write, I understand that. Trying to think of a new, creative way the future may turn out. But copying another author is not how you write a novel, you can use them for inspiration but you must make your own ideas.

The book was not terrible. Matched is a very interesting idea for the story, I just wish it was original.

~ Sarah O., Bookmobile

Matched by Ally Condie

This book was pretty good. The author, Ally Condie, was great at creating a dystopian, futuristic setting that was heavily controlled by the Government. I loved how Cassia, the main character, after being Matched with her best friend at her Matching ceremony, realizes that something is wrong when she sees the flash of another boy, Ky, on the screen, and tests the boundaries by questioning if Ky should be her Match, rather than the one chosen for her. The secret meetings, the forbidden love, and the rebellion kept me interested. This book didn't have as much action or suspense as I would have liked, but it was still a pretty good book.

~ Sydney, Locke

Dust City by Robert Paul Weston

It’s all about fairydust or some knockoff of it since the fairies disappeared, in this mixed up story of fairy tales and other parts entwined together. It includes elements from little red riding hood, jack and the bean stock, the frog prince, and Rumpelstitlskin, revolving around the character of Henry whelp, the son of the big bad wolf from little red riding hood. I really liked how it had all the animals evolved into more human-like figures with opposable thumbs and being able to stand and talk like us. It had all the magic you could hope for along with great adventure as the dust shows the path of the characters’ destinies.

~ Dana N, Carlisle

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Tessa Gray was once an average teenage girl and when her aunt dies she goes to England to meet her brother. But there to pick her up is two women that call themselves the dark sisters. They knew that tessa has powers so they would get tessa to work on her powers for hours and hours. Then one day a boy named will herondale came and saved Tessa and brought her to the institute. The magister doesnt like how Tessa escaped the dark sisters so comes after her but she has to figure out who the magister is. Tessa finds herself falling for two shadowhunter boys, Will and Jem/James. Tessa doesnt know who to choose because Will is charming, witty, dangerous and daring. But Jem is sweet, sensitive and would help her before himself. At the end someone unexpected is working for the magister and turns out her aunt was killed by someone trusted.

~ Jordyn W, Concession

Matched by Ally Condie

From a first glance at the cover the book (Matched by Ally Condie) it didn't seem like my kind of book, but after seeing it was on the Teen Summer Reading list I thought, 'Why not, it has to at least have some good elements to be put on that list' and so I read it. It reminded me of Lois Lowry's The Giver, which was a very entertaining book (in my opinion). I couldn't help but notice some similarities between both books. For one the Community (or Society ) controls everything that could have an impact on your life. For example: who you marry ( or are matched with ), your job, family, ect... They both have the same story line as in the main caracters; Jonah (The Giver) and Cassia (Matched) struggle when they uncover that the perfect little world that they live in isn't as perfect as they thought it was. By uncovering the truth about what is happening they realize they are soon alone, forced to bring back the old ways, the ways that were 'improv ed' or 'lost' by their Community/Society. By Matched ending the way it did (you'll see if you read it) I can only hope that there is a sequel because if not the whole struggle the main characters went through was for nothing. Compared to The Giver where Jona actually does something about it.

All in all it was a good read, though similar to other books there are parts that are equally unique because of Condie's imagination and creativity. Hopefully this review is helpful to someone.

~ Dylan C, Concession 

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

I fell in love with this book, the minute I started reading. The old age, historical setting drew me in, but the supernatural story line kept me interested. I love how the main character Tessa held her own, and refused to be pushed around by anyone. The author, Cassandra Clare, also wove an intricate, subtle romance between Tessa and her newfound ally, Will, that kept me rooting for them the whole way. This book was definitely packed with acion, mystery, suspense, and romance. I LOVED this book.

~ Sydney G, Locke

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

I had just finished reading the Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong, then saw she had a new book out so I had to read it. The beginning of the book was a bit slow, but still kept me interested, mostly because I thought Maya and Daniel were going to get together. After Mina Lee, the reporter was killed, things got really good. All the plot points started to unfold, and I couldn't stop reading. I was a bit dissapointed at the ending because it was so abrupt and such a cliffhanger; there are many questions you have left. I guess thats a good thing though, now I'm looking foward to the next book even more! I think that this is a great read for anybody who likes Stephenie Meyer or Kelley Armstrong books.

~ Kirsten F, Valley Park