Book Beat Reviews

I Must Betray You by Ruth Sepetys

I am Thijs. I enjoy reading (maybe a little too much) and being outdoors. I have a younger brother and my favorite dessert is root beer floats.

The book I Must Betray You really opened up a lot for me. It brought a ton of awareness to a country I knew so little about.  I never knew so much intriguing history about an Eastern European Country that many people pass by for the famous Western Europe.

Romania, in some of its darkest moments, is where a boy named Christiano grows up, under the watch of the ruthless dictator. Christiano writes in his journal wondering, “Why is communism so great but, we are not permitted to leave?” and “Does everybody have to wait for hours for food but, maybe not get anything at all?”,  as well as, “In America do they live in fear of being reported because they live in fear of being reported because they are making a joke about their leader and then be executed?” and “Do they send kids eight years old to prison for the worst crimes just because they thought they were being treated wrongfully?” If not then why does Romania? Christiano has to navigate this world while not even being allowed to trust his own family! 

The book follows Christiano through the worst of the 1980s to the Romanian Revolution as he struggles to find hope of a better life.  This non-fiction memoir made a big impact on me.  How ruthless their leader was, but not only that he was so cunning that he made every country believe that conditions were great. He made his citizens fear each other preventing them to band together and trigger an uprising.  He would take his family on trips to Disneyland while most people in his country did not even have fresh fruit.  It surprised me how greedy people can become.  I would recommend this book to anyone.  I think you would learn a lot and really enjoy it.

Find it in print, eBook, and CD here.

Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander

I am Thijs. I enjoy reading (maybe a little too much) and being outdoors. I have a younger brother and my favorite dessert is root beer floats.

The Book “Door of No Return” is a wonderful book that really dives deep into African culture and lifestyle before the Europeans. This book informs you about African culture we did not know about influence. It is a book that is more about who the people were before their world was invaded. At the same time as it informs you about the Africans who lived in Upper Kawate. I was so bewildered that these people had to go through all these things that the Europeans brought.

The book followed the life of a young African boy who lived in Upper Kawate. The rivalry that the Europeans had formed between the two Kawates was getting bad. The Lower was trading goods and slaves from the Upper for Europe’s advanced technology. As the Kawates weakened themselves. The Europeans just sat and watched for a time to conquer all of Kawate. Meanwhile, the main character must struggle with being bullied by his cousin who has been better than him at everything. Amidst all this struggle how could this lonesome boy come through? This eventful action-packed book is short and sweet and gives you an insider’s view of how Europe changed Africa forever in the span of just a few years.

This book holds some very heavy and important lessons of life. I would not recommend it for a kid who has not fully developed yet. Preferably 11+ due to violence and slavery. You should most likely anticipate yourself for some things that are deep and have a lot of meaning in them. This is a historical fiction novel with made-up characters but the ways of the people are all true as well as the violence that was happening at the time.

Find it in print here.

It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

Hello! My name is Tess. I love to ski, bike, fish, and get lost in my books.

After a tragedy that rocks both the Conklin and Fisher families, there will never be a complete summer for them. For the first time since Belly can remember she can’t go to the beach house. It seems that everything has gone wrong for her in such a short period of time. She doesn’t know what to do with herself anymore and is feeling less complete every day as she is reminded of what she has lost. Belly never thought she would have a normal summer because if she was having one that meant something had gone wrong, terribly wrong. Belly thinks she can’t live without what is gone but she soon learns that that part of her heart can never be replaced but it can be given love by another being struggling just like her.

Just when she thinks nothing can get worse, Conrad disappears. She follows trails that lead her to the beach house where she finds Conrad. Although he acts as if he’s been fine Belly convinces him to acknowledge that it is time to let go being the tough guy, even if that means shedding a tear. Once you open this book it will be hard to set it down until the end. Will Belly be able to give up yet another part of her heart or will that leave her even more broken?

Find it here in print, ebook and eaudiobook.

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

My name is Madeline. I enjoy playing the violin, ice skating and reading good books!

Sophie Foster is not your average girl. Though her freakish intelligence has caused her to gain the public eye as the only twelve-year-old in her senior class, it has left her feeling ostracized from her family and the rest of the world. Along with her brains comes a secret she doesn’t dare tell even those closest to her. She can read minds. At first, she considers it a curse, as she can hear every degrading thought anyone has towards her. This all changes when she is confronted by a mysterious boy who has the same ability. He helps her understand the blessing it is to be able to read minds.

He tells her that she is an elf like himself–a race believed to be fictional by humans. He then takes her to the Lost Cites, the elves’ hidden homeland. There, Sophie finally feels like she belongs, meeting others who have miraculous talents like herself. Not everyone is pleased with her arrival however, as it raises a number of uncomfortable questions. Why was Sophie raised secretly by humans, and what purpose could her existence serve? Along with a newfound team of friends, Sophie tries to navigate her new life, and discover an elusive order that might hold the answers her world needs.

This first installment of the Keeper of the Lost Cities series is a fast-paced journey of friendship and self-discovery, with mysteries waiting to be uncovered on each page. I recommend this book for fantasy lovers ages nine and up.

Find it in print here.

Ali Cross: The Secret Detective by James Patterson

Hi, I am Advik. I love to read and bike.

Ali has already solved two big cases, with the help of his friends. Anxious to keep solving crimes, Ali and his friend, Gabriel Qualls (Gabe) hack into police calls and go to crime scenes to watch the detectives at work. The first time Ali gets a notification about a missing child at Anacostia Park. Ali and the rest of his team (friends) are there in a heartbeat. Ali later finds the child in a strange, confused, man’s bag. Ali keeps going to these crime scenes early in the morning. Ali later discovers his father, famous detective Alex Cross, saw him at one of these crime scenes.
Nonetheless, Ali keeps visiting them. The next day, Detective Sampson, one of Alex’s best friends, visits Cross’s house. He says he is here to interview Ali about his bravery at Anacostia Park in helping find that lost child, Yo-Yo. Detective Sampson interviews him and later reveals that he is here for a different reason. Detective Sampson says that the FBI is guessing there is someone that is intercepting their police calls and the IP address tracks Gabe and his phone number. Ali promises to shut the police calls down as he could get in a lot of trouble. On the side, in school, Ali is going to debate against his crush Sienna Williams. No one wins but both sides feel great about the debate.

I really enjoyed this book. Patterson really makes the book flow so it feels as if I am watching the book not reading it. The plot is constructed in a way so you want to keep reading and never stop.

Find it through Inter Library loan here.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Hi, I am Sarah. I am fourteen years old and an avid reader; it is one of my favorite things to do. Inspired by authors’ creations of magnificent places and surprising havens built by simple letters, I aspire to be an author and, meanwhile, nurture the love to write.

Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza is fifteen and he begins his summer like any other, alone and sort-of-maybe-lonely, not quite knowing how to read the world. He meets Dante at the pool, learns to swim, and makes a steadfast friend. Dante is alone but not lonely, a dreamer and a thinker. And with Dante, Ari starts to ask questions, look further, than he has before.

Because the two know this: life is hard and complicated and people are difficult to figure out. Sometimes it’s impossible to battle the loneliness inside. Sometimes, who knows what your purpose is on this planet. But sometimes you do know it: It’s watching the stars in the bed of your truck in the dessert. It’s naming your dog Legs and waking up every morning and going for a run. It’s reading poetry with your best friend, it’s mustering the courage to write back to him even though you’re not much of a writer, it is standing up for your friend when you need to. The real secrets of the universe is finding a best friend and not letting them go, and learning to live and love and be brave in the vastness of this world, of this universe.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s staccato, lyrical prose captures the contradiction of belonging, the turmoil of teenage hood, and the brilliant spark of love and friendship. This book is vulnerable and poignant and true, and inspires us to discover our own secrets of the universe, in our own little section of it.

Find it in print, ebook, eaudiobook and here.