Teen & Young Adult Zone

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus Book #4) - Teen Book Review

Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus, so they cross the underworld to get to the Doors of Death. While they are there, Piper, Hazel, Leo, Jason and Frank are also trying to get to the doors of death on their side, to try and get them out. Piper gets information from a god to follow her path to the Doors of Death. Annabeth and Percy have no food and water and are traveling through the underworld fighting off monsters. They find the Titan Bob and he helps them to the Doors. While that's happening, Leo and his friends have to fight off monsters on their side to reach the Doors. Down in the Underworld, Bob fights off the monsters while he holds the up arrow on the elevator to get Percy and Annebeth up. After they get to the top they give the Romans the statue they found to stop the fighting between the camps.

I rated the book a 4 out of 5 stars because I love Rick Riordan's series. He also went into very good detail about the situations that happened. I also picked to rate it a 4 because I love Greek mythology and would like to learn more about it. Rick Riordan is also one of my favorite authors. Finally, I picked 4 out of 5 stars because I wanted to show that his series is really good and that other people should read his books.

- Zachary W.

Tangerine - Teen Book Review

In this book Paul (the main character) and his family move from Texas to Florida because of a job switch. In Paul's new school, Lake Windsor Middle School, he joins the soccer team. But when his team finds out he has an IEP he gets kicked off the team. After that a sinkhole occurs and destroys part of their school so the students have a choice to switch schools from Lake Windsor to Tangerine or a private school. Paul takes the choice of switching to Tangerine so he can play on their soccer team, and then there is a murder and Paul's brother is really mean to him. In the end they almost leave you hanging.

I rated it a 4 out of 5 stars because the story had really good foreshadowing and good flash-backs, like when Paul remembered a time where he almost got hit with a car. Also I enjoyed reading about the difficulties Paul faced with his vision impairment. Overall it was a decent book.
- Marielle B.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

The Testing - Teen Book Review

Malencia wanted to go to University to get a job, but she had to go through the Testing first. So, she tried very hard in school and got chosen for the Testing. When she found out that the Testing included extremely long and grueling tests, she wasn't scared. But when her father informed her that her life was at risk, and that a wrong or misjudged answer could lead to death, she started to look at things in a new way. Will she survive the Testing? Read the book to find out.

I rated this book a 4 out of 5 because of many things. I rated it a 4 because, for one, the book itself is very interesting and intriguing, as is the concept of the book. I also rated the book this way because throughout the book there is constant suspense. The reason i did not give this book a 5, though, was because in the beginning the book takes a while to get started or interesting.

- Jerred G. (7th grade)

SYNC Free Audio Downloads - June 12 - 18

Check out these free downloadable audio books!

CODE NAME VERITY

by Elizabeth Wein

Narrated by Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskell

(Bolinda Audio)

THE HIDING PLACE

by Corrie Ten Boom, John Sherrill, Elizabeth Sherrill

Narrated by Bernadette Dunne

(christianaudio)

Friday, June 6, 2014

1984 - Teen Book Review

Winston Smith is a man living in Oceania, a country controlled by the Party and Big Brother. He questions the Party and thinks against it, committing thoughtcrime. When he has a love affair with Julia, he is caught by the Party. He is brought before O'Brian, a Party member, and is cured of his internal rebellion. He comes to love Big Brother.

This book is a prime example of a dystopian novel. It makes you think about Man's lust for power, and what that may cause. It shows you how a government can go to great lengths to achieve ultimate power. Concepts like doublethink and thoughtcrime are creative ways of displaying how people can be controlled by government. Overall, the novel gets you thinking about government, and does this in a way that engages you and makes you not want to put the book down.

- Ben C.