Girl, Stolen by April Henry

Girl, Stolen by April Henry was a very good novel about a kidnapping of a young girl. Sixteen-year-old Cheyenne Wilder was diagnosed with pneumonia and left in the car with the keys while her stepmom went to fill her prescription for antibiotics. While waiting in the car, a stranger suddenly jumps in and begins speeding away, not realizing there is a sickly being in the backseat. Cheyenne has no idea what’s going on because not only is she disoriented by the change of events—she’s blind.

Cheyenne wasn’t ever meant to be kidnapped-they just wanted the new car. But when the four kidnappers find out Cheyenne’s dad is the president of Nike, they find a new reason to keep Cheyenne. One of the accidental kidnappers, Griffin, is actually kind to Cheyenne and protects her from the wrath of the other three kidnappers. Cheyenne’s kidnappers realize they could get big money for holding Cheyenne. But when a trade is made for money in exchange for Cheyenne, Griffin overhears the others discussing taking the money and simply killing Cheyenne off. Griffin then tells Cheyenne of this, proving his loyalty towards her. Cheyenne decides it’s time to get out of here herself. All odds are against her, so will Cheyenne make it home alive?

Girl, stolen was a quick, easy read that was hard to put down. I recommend it to young teens that enjoy a bit of drama.

~Morgan, Teen Book Reviewer

The White Horse Trick by Kate Thompson

I think that the book The White Horse Trick is imaginative and creative. I would recommend this book to kids who like to read fairy and fictional stories. In this story, kids can create the feeling of two different worlds which causes suspense for the reader. This story is about a kid who travels between two existing worlds of the fairy and human world. The story is set up in a place called tir’an’og and is about a boy named pup, who is set out to find his kidnapped brother. He travels to the human world and meets fairies and begins to understand the differences between fairies and humans. This book is filled with suspense and you should read the book to find out more.

~Erem, Teen Book Reviewer

Wanted A Pretty Little Liars novel by Sara Shepard

Wanted is the last book in the Pretty Little Liars Series. It is about what really happened to Ali, and who A really is. In this fantastic and spine tingling book, the police find someone who might be Ali’s true killer. Billy has no alibi and a recent picture found from the crime scene shows a blurry photo of the killer. The killer has blond hair, just like Billy. The problem is he didn’t do it. And the girls know this. As secrets come out, the final book in the Pretty Little Liars series has twists that you could never imagine.

This book is a good book if you liked the other Pretty Little Liars books. It is a spine tingling book that you couldn’t put down if you tried. I give this book 5 stars!

~Katie, Teen Book Reviewer

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver revolves around eighteen year old Samantha Kinston and the last day of her life – over and over again. Cupid’s Day should have been just another day for Sam. She’d go to school with her best friends, park in the best parking spot, and get a rose from her gorgeous boyfriend as well as every other admirer in the school. Then she dies. Seven times, actually. Over and over again Sam relives the very last day of her life changing everything to save herself. Seven chances, seven tries, and only one way to get it right.

First impressions lead you to think that Sam is just another popular girl who has everything she could have ever wanted – and she is, at first. She makes judgments upon association and what it takes to stay at the top. After she dies, though, everything changes. Getting the opportunity to repeat the same day gives Sam a chance to make good on some of the mistakes she has made. She takes the opportunity to see people for who they really are and realizes that saving herself had nothing to do with what she thought it had.

I would recommend this book to everyone. Reading about the same day seven times
may seem boring, but the way she lives it makes all the difference. The emotions are raw and the characters three-dimensional. Towards the end, when everything starts to fall into place, you’ll want to finish reading it, every period and comma.

~Joanna, Teen Book Reviewer

Shapeshifter by Holly Bennett

I have recently read the book Shapeshifter, which was written by Holly Bennett. It takes place in a fantasy land called Tir na nog. The book is about a young woman, named Sive, who has shapeshifting powers. Sive was able to shapeshift into a deer. Being a famous singer at the time, she rarely shapeshifted after her childhood. One day when she did a good deed to a poor kid, she met a dark sorcerer. Sive had forgotten about that memory, but years later, the sorcerer returned. The sorcerer wanted to capture her, and use her powers for himself. Even though Sive ran away him, the sorcerer followed anyway. So the sorcerer wouldn’t find her so easily, it is during this part of the story that Sive shapeshifted, and had to stay in her deer form for many years. Sive took a portal to the mortal world, so she could be safe from the dark sorcerer. She met a brave warrior (Finn), whom she loved and married. The sorcerer eventually captured her in the mortal world after many years. While she was captured, her son Oisin was born. Oisin was left on a mountain, but he eventually found his father, Finn. After Oisin grew up, he was determined to find his mother. Will Oisin find his mother? Find out this answer, and many more, in Shapeshifter.

I didn’t like this book that much. While it was very interesting at some points, it was a lot less interesting at others. The overall pace of this book was slow. There were only short bursts late in the book where it was interesting and had some action. I wished that there were more burst like that; it would make this book much better. On the positive side, the characters were full of personality, which made the book a little better. Unlike a lot of fantasy books, Shapeshifter barely had any action. If you expected this book to be full of battles, then you will be disappointed. Overall, Shapeshifter was a fair fantasy book, and should only be enjoyed by 9-14 year old children who have a deep interest in fantasy.

~Matthew, Teen Book Reviewer