Teens Review Books for Teens

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Welcome to the place where teens review books just for teens. Email teenunderground@ccpl.org if you want to review, too! Click on any title to put the book on hold at your favorite CCPL branch, and be sure to comment at the end.

Windblowne

Windblowne
By Stephen Messer

You Reviewed by Javari

This book has a really original story line. The main world is all based around kites. Oliver, the central character, is a boy who lives in a land where people are obsessed with flying kites. But when Oliver tries to fly them, they crash in horrible ways.

Every year, the town of Windblowne has a festival of kites. Oliver really wants to fly a kite with success, but his parents are not helpful. So, when he finds out that his great-uncle Gilbert was once a champion kite flier, Oliver gets his hopes up that he will now be able to fly a kite without being laughed at. But Oliver’s hopes are dashed when Gilbert refuses to help.


When Oliver returns to try to talk Gilbert in to teaching him the secrets of kite flying, Oliver sees a spectacle—his great-uncle fending off tons of unpiloted kites with nothing but two of his handmade fighting kites. Oliver steps out to help his great-uncle and is surprised to find himself face to face with his doppelganger. At that moment, there is a flash of light—and the kites, Gilbert and the doppelganger vanish.

Shocked and frightened, Oliver runs home only to find a strange red kite in his room. The red kite has a mind of its own and gets Oliver to follow it outside where it carries Oliver on the wind to a different world. In this other world, Oliver finds his lookalike and his evil lookalike great-uncle. The evil great-uncle has banished the good Gilbert and plans to control the paths between worlds for his own gainss. Oliver must travel the worlds searching for Gilbert—and a way to stop the evil uncle.

Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and the French Kiss
By Stephanie Perkins

You Reviewed By Chloe

Anna and the French Kiss tells the story of Anna Oliphant, a 17-year-old from Atlanta who is not very pleased to be spending her senior year at a boarding school in Paris when she would much rather stay home with her best friend and flirt with her movie theatre co-worker crush.

Adjusting to life in the City of Light has its share of problems, but Anna soon settles in and gains some great friends, including the handsome—and regrettably taken—Etienne St. Clair. As their friendship takes a turn to something more, Anna must face the problems that come with addressing jealous friends, discovering who she is, and falling in love.

While on the surface this book may seem like simply another light and uninteresting teenage romance, I really enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss because it's a smart, funny, and interesting novel with a cast of characters and a location you just can’t help but fall in love with.

(Check out the companion novel, Lola and the Boy Next Door.)

Virals

Virals
By Kathy Reichs

You Reviewed By Javari

If you like books like Maximum Ride that have science, history, and adventure, then you may want to try Virals. The main character is Tory Brennan, niece of the famous forensic anthropologist from the TV show Bones.

Tory is bummed about having to move in with her marine biologist father on Morris Island here in South Carolina. As the story settles in, she gets to know the children of her dad's colleagues, who turn out to be sci-philes just like her. The group become tight knit. They each have their own spot: the endlessly hungry Hiram as the joker, Shelton as the computer whiz, Ben as the Native American nature expert, and Tory as the self-appointed leader.

Their favorite past time is exploring the waterways and backwoods of the barrier islands. On one of these excursions, they find a secret lab and sneak in to find a half wolf-dog that is being subjected to experiments. The kids rescue the pup (now christened Coop after the Cooper River) and set him loose with his pack of wild wolf-dogs living on Loggerhead Island. Little does the group know that Coop was infected with a virus that doesn't affect dogs—but does affect humans.

The virus heightens the senses of the four kids. The team overhears a conversation and gets wrapped up in a murder case that involves the secret lab. With their newfound powers, they work to solve the case. They also keep their powers secret—and learn to live with them—and hope they don't go viral!

Sequel: Seizure

Reminder to click on any title to put the book on hold at your favorite CCPL branch!