Tag Archives: Jessica S.

Review: Genuine Fraud

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Genuine Fraud
by E. Lockhart
4 stars

Teen author E. Lockhart is known for her suspenseful twists, thrilling plots, and often unreliable narrators.  I still get the feels when I think about her best-selling 2014 novel, We Were Liars. It was fast-paced, unpredictable, and heartbreaking.  Her newest teen novel, Genuine Fraud, is most of these things. The novel starts out with an obviously unreliable narrator, Jule, lounging in a Mexican resort. Unobservant readers might not realize that the story starts out with Chapter 18 as the plot moves backwards in time. Step by step you discover more about Jule, her seemingly glamorous life, her perfect best friend, and the boy she regrets leaving behind.

I had a little trouble connecting with Jule. Her character was a little lacking, and I’m still left wondering about her motivation and upbringing. Because of this I didn’t feel the heartbreak and grief I experienced when reading We Were Liars. However, I was still captivated by the story, pulled along by Lockhart’s twists and turns, and of course blown away by the mystery’s big reveal. I totally didn’t see that coming!

Read-alikes

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

This is Where the World Ends by Amy Zhang

Back to School Books

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It’s that time of year! Though the warm summer weather is still raging on, school is back in session. The new Greenwood Middle School has officially opened, and we’re excited to see what the new school year will bring!

Here are ten awesome teen books with school settings that you might enjoy!

Introducing BTween Fiction

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Check out our new collection –  BTween Fiction books!

If you visit the Teen Room, you might notice that we’ve rearranged the books a bit. We’re always trying to find the best ways to serve the community, and we found that we were in need of a crossover collection for our middle grade readers. So, we sorted and shifted and created a new section of stories for those not quite kids, not quite teens, but right in BTween!

Check out a few of the titles in our new BTween collection!

Review: American Street

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American Street
by Ibi Zoboi
4 stars

When Fabiola’s mother is detained by immigration when they leave Haiti to visit family in the United States, Fabiola is forced to navigate Detroit with only her aunt and her gruff cousins to guide her. Her aunt has recently had a stroke, and her cousins are tough, gruff Detroit natives, known to everyone as the Three Bees (brains, beauty & brawn). There are hints of magical realism as Fabiola tries to hold on to her Haitian roots, continuing to pray to the Voodoo spirits to help her and seeing them in the people she meets – the homeless man across the street who sings through the night, the hairdresser that gives her an American makeover, the detective who asks her to spy on her family and friends in order to save her mother, and the cute boy who calls her Fabulous. This gritty story is definitely recommend for older teens or adults looking for a gripping diverse and emotional story about family, love, and the true meaning of “home.”

 

Read-alikes

Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat

Review: Spelled

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Spelled
by Betsy Schow
4 stars

I’m not always one to pick up books based on fairy tales. You’ve heard it once or twice, and it starts to get old. However, anything to do with the Wizard of Oz will get my attention. When Miss Emily told me about this adorable, silly, ridiculous book she was reading, I knew I had to give it a try.

Spelled is not the same old story told over again. Instead, the old tales are flipped on their heads. When Dorthea the Emerald Princess makes a wish and messes with everyone’s happily-ever-afters, she accidentally turns the world of Story into chaos. Really she just didn’t want to marry the unfashionable prince Kato (who could easily be mistaken for a gardener) that she was (without her consent or knowledge) betrothed to, and she’s tired or being stuck in a palace (due to an unfortunate curse on her family that foretells one of the Emerald Princesses will burn the world to the ground…Yikes!). But now Beauty is a hairy beast in a yellow dress, Rapunzel has lost all her hair, where Cinderella was once standing is now a pumpkin wearing glass slippers, and Dorthea’s only hope of fixing things is finding the spring over the rainbow accompanied by her betrothed (who is now a furball) and the servant girl Rexi (a kleptomaniac), while somehow managing to keep her heels on (because they’re limited edition silver Hans Christian Louboutin slippers with crushed rubies covering the sole and two-inch heels…duh). So off to see the Wizard she is.

A super fun read that’ll keep you laughing with its twists, turns, and puns.

Read-alikes

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Flunked by Jen Calonita

Entwined by Heather Dixon