Book Beat Reviews

Ali Cross by James Patterson

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

Ali Cross is the first of three in the series, Ali Cross by James Patterson. This story is about a young boy named Ali Cross and his detective skills.

Ali Cross has always looked up to his father, former detective and FBI agent Alex Cross. When Ali’s best friend Gabe Qualls is reported missing, Ali is desperate to find him. At the same time, a string of burglaries targets his neighborhood, even his own house. Ali is suspicious that Gabe is a part of these robberies. When he tells his father, Alex Cross, he doesn’t rule out the possibility, but doesn’t think much of it. Ali visits Gabe’s house to find his shady dad. Gabe’s dad is really rude and acts very suspicious whenever Ali brings up the topic about Gabe. He is kicked out and told to never come back. Ali being Ali, he visits the Qualls once more. This time he is greeted by his mother, who is really kind. Ali is inside the house when Gabe’s shady dad walks in. He is infuriated by the sight of Ali in his home. He shoves him out of the house. Eventually Ali finds Gabe hiding out with his brother Ramon. He is robbing houses for his dad. He was forced to do this.

This book shows the importance of family and friends, trust and loyalty . The book is written in the fast-paced, short-chaptered style James Patterson is known for. The mystery is compelling; don’t think that just because this is a kid’s story that you’ll be able to solve the mystery easily. The plot is constructed brilliantly and will keep you guessing about what happened to Gabe until the very end of the book.

Find it through Inter Library loan here.

Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson

Hi, my name is Jasmine. I love ski racing, snow/winter, and many other fun things.

Nine Liars continues Stevie Bell’s journey as a teenage detective prodigy. As explored in the past four novels of the Truly Devious series Stevie gets famous for solving the Ellingham, and Box in the Woods cases. Her career starts when she is accepted into Ellingham Academy, “A famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists.” Founded in the twentieth century by Albert Ellingham, it’s a school where learning is a game.

Now as she returns for her senior year, all her friends are obsessed with finding a college. Stevie feels lost, without a case to work on, everything is losing its purpose. That is until she and her friends Janelle, Vi, and Nate get an invite to London from her boyfriend David. When they arrive in London David’s friend Izzy introduces Stevie to a 1990’s murder mystery, about a group of teenagers and a hide-and-seek game gone wrong. After only a couple of days, Stevie is totally engrossed in solving it. However, she only has a few more days and a very strict and watched-over schedule. The big question is: can Stevie do it again, solve a mystery? All the while, Stevie is trying to keep up her relationship with David, however, that’s starting to take a turn to the bad too. Nine Liars by Maureen Jhonson is a nice change from the rest of the series and while it continues Stevie’s journey it also dives deeper into her personal life. Maureen Jhonson has done it again, this book will keep you up at night fantasizing about who the murderer really is.

Find it in print and ebook here.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

My name is Jasmine. I love ski racing, snow/winter, and many other fun things.

A vampire novel titled Twilight tells the story of a teen girl named Bella Swan who moves from a warm, sunny Arizona, to a rainy, cold Forks, Washington. She visits her dad Charlie in Forks every year since her parents divorced when she was a child. However, now that Bella’s mom has a boyfriend that plays baseball and travels a lot during the school year, she has no choice but to leave and stay with her dad for the year. 

Bella’s first few weeks in Forks are boring and rainy, yet she meets a mysterious young man called Edward Cullen. Edward was always staring at her at lunchtime or in the hall, but in biology class when she sat next to him Edward’s fists were clenched and he looked like he couldn’t stand another second in the room with Bella. She is determined to find out why he has such a problem with her. After a close-to-death scenario happens, everything changes, and Bella finds the truth about him and his family’s biggest secret. She’s in love with a “vegetarian” vampire who has to resist the urge to kill her. Will Edward be strong enough to resist his natural temptations? 

Lots of people don’t like Twilight, however, I loved it. It is a perfect rainy day story and one you will definitely remember. The story has a light romance that is action-packed with lots of fantasy. It definitely starts off slow but if you give it some time it picks up the pace and by the end of the book there is a huge turn in events.

Find it in print, ebook, eaudiobook and DVD here.

Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

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.

What makes a story? The characters? The setting? The writing? The plot? Of course, it is a combination of all of this and more, but never has it been more apparent and worked so well together than in Sabrina & Corina, a collection of short stories by Kali Fajardo Anstine.

Each of these stories reaches a certain level of vibrancy in only twenty or so pages and strikes so deeply. Most are set in Denver, Colorado, and explore often-buried themes of heritage and identity. ‘Sugar Babies’ is about an eighth grader, Sierra, dealing with the absence of her mother through both a school project and an archeological dig site that connects to her roots. ‘Sisters’ explores social norms of relationships, and grapples with the violence within them. ‘Galapago’ brings forth a sense of place and belonging in the face of time and gentrification.

But really, that’s just the bare bones. Summaries don’t do justice to the beautiful and conjuring descriptions, the structure and subtle pauses somehow woven in that tell more of the story. It does not illustrate how it feels to read each story, to have connected with these characters and their unique experiences, and to feel a sense of completion, but somehow know that, much like us, their lives go on—because their stories do.

Find it in print, ebook, and eaudiobook here.

Headstrong by Rachel Swaby

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.

When you think of the word genius, who do you think of? Undoubtedly Albert Einstein comes to mind. If you think of genius scientist, maybe it’s Thomas Edison or Charles Darwin.

What do these popular geniuses have in common? They were men with the privilege of education, unharmed by societal norms that told them that they were incapable of learning. And because of this, it is these figures that hold the spotlight in the STEM field and our collective view of history.

Headstrong begins to change that.

This is a book about scientists who made major contributions to their field and entirely changed the world yet were buried under prejudice and patriarchal ideas of who is a scientist and who isn’t over something as simple as gender. As Hertha Ayrton, inventor, and physicist, put it, “Either a woman is a good scientist or not; in any case she should be given opportunities and her work should be studied from the scientific, not the sex, point of view.”

In Headstrong, Rachel Swaby celebrates the groundbreaking accomplishments of women in science, to even out the playing field and provide role models for girls aspiring to STEM fields. Now the next time you think about the word ITALIC genius, you’ll think about Jane Wright, the “mother” of chemotherapy, Mary Anning, a groundbreaking paleontologist, or Maria Agnesi, the unifier of algebra, geometry, and calculus. Undoubtedly, you will be inspired by all these women who beat the odds and impacted our world. I know I was.

Find it in print here.

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

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.

El Reino del Sol is a shining isle of light in the looming threat of the evil obsidian gods. In order to protect this haven, ten semidioses are selected to compete in The Sunbearer Trials. The winner will replenish Sol’s light to the cities within the kingdom, but the loser has the greatest honor of all—to be sacrificed to Sol himself and continue their light for generations to come.

Seventeen-year-old Teo has always been dubious of this centuries-old tradition. As a Jade semidios, he is looked down upon: for his status as the son of a lesser dios, for a lack of powers and formal training, and for the very nature of not being a lustrous Gold semidios. In terms of the Trials, he’s not very concerned for his own safety, comfortably assuming that, as always, no Jade semidioses will be selected to compete.

But this year, Sol chooses him.

And suddenly the nature of this tradition comes into deeper focus. Teo is not only trying to keep himself alive, but also his friends. He hasn’t been trained for this and he’s never been ready to accept everything his society is throwing at him—and certainly doesn’t plan on starting now.

The Sunbearer Trials is an amazing read, with fantastic world-building dripped in Mexican culture and a well-developed, relatable cast of characters. It dares to challenge societal norms and redefines what bravery is: daring to stay true to what’s right and what you believe in against all odds.

Find it in print here.