Book Beat Reviews

Surviving Adam Meade by Shannon Klare

My name is Olivia. I like to read in my free time. I think books are a way for a person to escape into a whole different world.

Surviving Adam Meade by Shannon Klare is a complete page tuner and relevant to any highschooler. When Claire moves to a new town because of her father’s football coaching job she can only look on the negative side of things. No friends, new teachers, a whole new town and the worst one of all it’s her senior year. One of the football players named Adam only makes it worse. During their first interaction he calls her the ¨water girl¨ and demands that she gets him ice. They are both very strong willed people so Claire refuses. The first friend she makes the next day at school is also friends with Adam; to her it seems like he´ll never go away.  To make things even worse her brother decides to befriend Adam. Now Adam is always at her house. She gets very annoyed seeing him constantly. Whenever they see each other they are mean to one another, but under that  both of them are hiding feelings for each other.

When Claire finally tells Adam she likes him and he says football is important. He soon disregards that and they start dating. They are happy until they realize that they want to go to different colleges. So they break up. Claire then realizes that she can’t live without him and they get back together agreeing to figure this whole college thing out.

This book is a very good book and I would recommend it to anyone that likes a good page turner.

Find it in print here.

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow

My name is Rya. I am in middle school and I enjoy reading, writing, swimming, and backpacking.

The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend is an incredible introduction to the Nevermoor series. Every misfortune in the town of Jacklefax is blamed on Morrigan. This is because she is on the Cursed Child list. Her fate is to die on Eventide on her 12th birthday. When Eventide comes earlier than expected, Morrigan is going to die even sooner, until a strange man shows up at her door and gives her a second chance.

The man takes her to Nevermoor, which becomes her new home. She spends her days unlocking random doors in the Hotel Deucalion, spending time with her newfound friend, and of course, preparing for the upcoming trials. Children will be eliminated in each of the five trials. Only nine children will win and be promised a place at the Wunderous Society, a place where they are guaranteed to have a promising career, friends that are family, and an opportune future. But if Morrigan does not succeed in any of the trials, she will have to return to Jacklefax where the Hunt of Smoke and Shadow will be waiting for her to bring her to her doom, getting their revenge after she “cheated death.”

Even though this book is directed towards younger readers, ages 8-12, it was a clever and well-thought out story that used descriptive language. When reading books, I rarely give them five stars, but this one definitely deserves as much.

Find it in print and CD here.

The List by Patricia Forde

My name is Rya. I am in middle school and I enjoy reading, writing, swimming, and backpacking.

The List by Patricia Ford is a beautifully crafted adventure story about the shortage of something that most of us wouldn’t think would be possible to have too little of. But in the city of Ark, there is a shortage of words-only 500 to go around. John Noa, the leader of Ark, claims this protects the usually arrogant human species from redoing something like the Melting, a tragic event that left Ark as the only safe place left on Earth. There are, however, exceptions, such as the wordsmith and his apprentice who know many more words that were known to man before the Melting. Foreign words like “apples,” “ask,” and even “hello.” Non-list words.

Letta, the wordsmith’s apprentice, finds a strange boy in her home one day. He does not speak list, instead he knows the foreign tongue that speaks of a world long ago. She soon learns he is a Desecrator, an enemy of the New World. If anyone finds him Letta will certainly be banished. This is not the only pressing matter Letta has to be concerned about. When her beloved master, Benjamin, goes missing on a search for words, she finds out things she never knew before about Noa and the city of Ark, and a faint hope she has that something will still appear on the horizon after so long.

This story, which is a perfect combination between fantasy and science fiction, was an incredibly written story about hope, love, fear, and trust.

Find it in print and ebook here.

Exo by Fonda Lee

My name is Rya. I am in middle school and I enjoy reading, writing, swimming, and backpacking.

Exo by Fonda Lee is a thrilling and unique science fiction book about a futuristic time when there is peace on Earth, but not freedom. In this time, the Zhree alien species has won the infamous War Era, bringing their complicated technology to Earth. One of the Zhree’s technological gadgets is called an “exocell.” Zhree have this protective layer of armor naturally, while humans acquire it. Once anyone has an exocel, they automatically become part of an erze. Zhree and human alike know that erze is more important than kin. The son of someone that is a symbol of this mentality should especially know that.

When Donovan Reyes, the son of Prime Liaison Dominick Reyes, gets captured by the Sapience, a secretive organization that does not believe in the cooperation between the two species, he starts to question the unbreakable oaths he swore.

Donovan meets his capturers, people he expected to meet right before he met his maker. If he is ever able to escape the terrible grasp of the Sapience, he must dare to choose a side, dare to question the oaths he swore, dare to rethink everything he ever knew about himself, his family, the world, and the universe.

Matters become increasingly perilous and electrifying throughout the story, with lots of epic battle scenes, secretive stories, and unexpected turns. Although it took me a while to get into the story, once I was it was quite enjoyable. I would certainly recommend this book for people 11 and older.

Find it in print here.

Galaxy Zack: Hello Nebulon by Ray O’Ryan

My name is Slader. My favorite things to do is to play baseball, and watch my favorite movies. I am a 12 year old and in 7th grade.

I am going to be reviewing Galaxy Zack: Hello Nebulon. Overall, I thought this book was good. Hello Nebulon was very creative and fun to read. My favorite character in this text was 100% Drake. He’s my favorite mostly just because Drake is funny. Another reason is because Drake is an Alien. Personally, I am really into sci-fi so this book was a really good fit for me. My second favorite character was Zack. I know he is the main character, but he is a lot like me. We both like spaceships, we both like dogs, we both like baseball, and much, much more.

What I liked about the book the most was Nebulon itself. Nebulon was the planet that Zack moves to. I liked the green sky and the floating cars. Why I liked those things was because they are really creative to come up with. The book in General was creative. I liked everything about the book, everything was interesting to me. I really don’t have anything negative to say about Galaxy Zack. 

My favorite part about Nebulon was the people. The people interest me because they have blue skin, their arms are longer than us, they have more unique heads, and a really cool style. Galaxy Zack: Hello Nebulon is on the roster for the best books I’ve ever read.

Find it in print here.

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

My name is Elizabeth. I love reading, and my favorite book is My Sister’s Keeper. I am in the 8th grade and enjoy dance.

My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, is a wonderful book about family and emotions. Anna, a 13-year-old, is a donor for her sister, Kate, who has leukemia.  Anna has been giving Kate various cells and fluids throughout her whole life because Anna is a perfect match for her sister’s medical needs. Anna loves Kate but feels she receives more attention because she is sick.  Anna undergoes many surgeries and various procedures so that Kate might have a better chance to survive. Anna just wants to be a kid and do normal kid things, and resents all this medical stuff.

Anna decides to file for medical emancipation because it’s too much.  This book is about her heart wrenching journey of going to court so she can stop being a donor for her sister, Kate. Throughout the book, you see the different perspectives of everyone in Anna’s life.

One of the most important perspectives in the book is Anna’s mother, Sara. Sara has a lot of internal battles because she really wants Kate to survive, even if it means that Anna might be in pain. She thinks that two kids, even if not 100% healthy is still better than if one dies. Anna’s father is also very important to the story because he is Anna’s island of safety.  She can talk to him about how she really feels. Anna doesn’t want Kate to die, but she doesn’t want to be her donor anymore.

I loved this book; it’s touching, emotional, and kept me on the edge of my seat. It is truly a must-read.

Find it in print and DVD here.