The Teen Review from the Marathon County Public Library

"Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have)"by Sarah Mlynowski

Marissa H. — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 09:23:52 GMT

Rating: Excellent! (5)

In "Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have),"? April's dad wants her to move away from her hometown in the middle of her junior year. This means away from all of her friends and her boyfriend. However, she convinces her dad to let her stay with her friend Vi. What April's father doesn't know is that Vi's mom will be in a traveling theater production of Mary Poppins for the next six months. Lying to their parents is just the first thing April and Vi shouldn't have done. From buying a hot tub to spending three thousand dollars on a Donut, April and Vi do all sorts of things that should get them in trouble, but don't. This is a hilarious book that I would recommend.

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"Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have)"by Sarah Mlynowski

After Summer by Hailey Abbott

Haley F. — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 09:21:34 GMT

Rating: Excellent! (5)

If you are looking for an enticing fiction teen book, give this a chance. It was a page turner for me. It's mostly about teenage relationships and it puts some love but yet alot of lessons to be learned into this fictional masterpeice. Way to go Hailey Abbott!

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After Summer by Hailey Abbott

Crunch by Rick Bundschuh

Autumn H. — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:32:20 GMT

Rating: Excellent! (5)

You can't keep Bethany Hamilton out of the waves, or more importantly out of surf competitions. But when she discovers that she didn't make it for the state amateur surfing competition, it dawns on Bethany that she now has more time to spend on the mission trip to Mexico her Youth Group is doing. The Youth Group leaves to Mexico with willing hearts and prepared minds... Or so they think... When they get there, they're thrust into the relization that not everybody has a great home to live in, a paying job, and warm meals each day. Bethany and some of her other friends plan to go and help out at an orphanage. But when a tragidy smashes into Bethany's life, she'll have to choose between a chance of a lifetime, or the chance to keep her word. This book made me relize that not everybody has what I'm blessed with continuously every day. It was fast paced and made me want to help more in my community.

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Crunch by Rick Bundschuh

Strange Relations by Sonia Levitin

Helia G. — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:27:34 GMT

Rating: Excellent! (5)

Marne is a classic teen. She can't wait for summer break, but with her mom going to Paris and her dad never home she can't seem to find a place to stay. That is until she remembers her bff is going to Hawaii in July and she has an aunt there. Her aunt is thrilled to have her and everything is settled. Her parents start to warn her about her aunt and her strange procedures. Marne takes no heed until she gets there and things are super different. After a while she finds herself settling in to the lifestyle, until Kim shows up in July.

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Strange Relations by Sonia Levitin

Storm, A Novel by Rick Bundschuh

Autumn H. — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:55:40 GMT

Rating: Good (4)

Bethany Hamilton is in the waves again, only for a different reason. Her youth group plans to take a missions trip to Mexico, but raising money has been difficult for the small group. Car washes don't get an amount of money anywhere near what they need! Bethany is starting to question her faith in her prediciment. While all this is going on with Bethany... A girl struggles with many questions that pop into her head after a terrible accident that changed her family. When Bethany and her friend, Holly, are thrust into a dangerious situation, will they ask God to help or rely on their own earthly strength? This book was energetic and fun to read! It shed a good light on life and gave me something to be thankful for. A good read for those who like to look at things in a bright perspetive!

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Storm, A Novel by Rick Bundschuh

Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister

Cassidy M. — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:40:04 GMT

Rating: Excellent! (5)

*SPOILERS*

This book is based on a eleven-year-old. Philippa’s life is about to be turned upside down by the loss of her best friend.Which is moving a way to a farm. The exchange of daisy chains and the promises of letters do very little to ease Philippa’s pain. In Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister, healing and growth comes from quite an unexpected direction.

Philippa has grown up in a typical town in a typical home, with not-quite-typical parents. Her parents own a party company, so a bright yellow party van doubles as their family vehicle. Not only do her parents masquerade as clowns sometimes, actually love one another and dress as hippies - they hug her all the time and wave good-byes to her every morning at school from the obnoxiously loud yellow van.

Her escape from this constant embarrassment is her tree house in the backyard, the very same tree house she’s shared with Charlotte, her best friend, where they gossip, sing, and write stories together. Now, though, Charlotte’s family is moving to a country farm after having been neighbors forever. Even her tree house is sad and lonely now with no Charlotte.

While making their farewell daisy necklaces, Philippa finds a daisy that seems taller and brighter than all the other flowers. In a rare moment of whimsy, Philippa tucks the pretty daisy into a little box in the tree house, thinking it might turn into a fairy at midnight - like in the song her mom used to sing to her when she was little. Instead, later that night, Philippa berates herself for believing in such things and tosses the little flower out the window just before midnight.

When the new girl in school, Daisy, shows an immense amount of anger towards her, Philippa can’t figure out what she’s done to annoy Daisy so soon. Because it is Philippa’s job to show the new girl around school, she’s stuck beside someone who obviously doesn’t like her while mourning the loss of her best friend.

The narrative bounces from Philippa’s point of view to random chapters of Daisy’s world. Daisy was given the chance to be a fairy godmother to a sad, lonely human. Unfortunately, Daisy has a pretty big chip on her shoulder when it comes to humans and wants nothing at all to do with Philippa. Being thrown out the window hasn’t done anything to make her feel better about her assignment. Daisy just wants to give out her Three Wishes and move on to her next job.

Though simplistic to a fault - both in storytelling and in basic grammar - the story of Philippa and her fairy “godsister” is a sweet one. Both girls have important, life-changing lessons to learn that will shape their experiences and personalities for the better. The positive message, as well as the silliness involved, makes it a delight.

It might be more enjoyable to the eight to nine-year-old set, rather than middle-schoolers, however. (Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister is a half-step above the beloved Junie B. Jones stories, and reads something like the A-Z Mysteries or the Ivy Bean books.) The young to mid-elementary school set would definitely enjoy the simple, happy sketches sprinkled through out the pretty little purple novel.

Liz Kessler has created a sweet, simple story of emotional redemption and positive self-esteem, weaving in the mysterious world of the fairies, making it a sure joy for little girls. Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister is an afternoon’s pleasure. Sometimes, a little happy ending is what we all need.

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Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister by Liz Kessler

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Margaret M. — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:22:56 GMT

Rating: Excellent! (5)

Macy is ready to spend another boring summer at home. But this year, two things are different - her "perfect" boyfriend Jason is going away to Brain Camp- he's the type that is president of the student council and gets 4.0 and does everything to the level of perfection- and she has a job lined up at the library. As soon as her mother has another open house, her life begins to change. Wish, the catering company that catered the event, has the craziest crew of workers. One that drives an ambulance called the Bertmobile, a welder who built statues all over town, a girl who lost all of her hair at a young age then grew it all back, and her sister. The two girls convince her that she could do much better after Jason decided to spend some time apart from her. Read more to find out what happens on Macy's adventures with Wish.

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The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Almost Fabulous by Michelle Radford

Margaret M. — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:51:30 GMT

Rating: Excellent! (5)

Fiona is the daughter of a pop star that discovers her father, that has been missing almost all of her life, has this website. There she sees an image that jumps out of the computer screen and tells her that she is special. She has developed ESP and can make people do certain things with her brain power. Fiona eventually meets her father at a concert her mom is playing at.

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Almost Fabulous by Michelle Radford