Teen Reads

Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

When the carnivorous capaill uisce, or water horses, rise from the sea each year, the island men prepare to prove their brawn and courage by outrunning the deadly beasts. And now, Kate, the first girl to enter the race, is determined to win it, facing fierce competition from Sean, to whom she is strangely attracted. Intense action, riveting suspense, and two determined protagonists make this a competition to remember.

April 27th, 2012 at 10am
Posted under Teen Reads

Bunheads: A Novel by Sophie Flack

On-stage beauty. Backstage drama. As a dancer with the ultra-prestigious Manhattan Ballet Company, nineteen-year-old Hannah Ward juggles intense rehearsals, dazzling performances and complicated backstage relationships. Up until now, Hannah has happily devoted her entire life to ballet. But when she meets a handsome musician named Jacob, Hannah’s universe begins to change, and she must decide if she wants to compete against the other “bunheads” in the company for a star soloist spot or strike out on her own in the real world. Does she dare give up the gilded confines of the ballet for the freedoms of everyday life?

February 22nd, 2012 at 9am
Posted under Teen Reads

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Hudson Avery gave up a promising competitive ice skating career after her parents divorced when she was fourteen years old and now spends her time baking cupcakes and helping out in her mother’s upstate New York diner, but when she gets a chance at a scholarship and starts coaching the boys’ hockey team, she realizes that she is not through with ice skating after all.

February 5th, 2012 at 1pm
Posted under Teen Reads

The Berlin Boxing Club by Rob Sharenow

Berlin in the 1930s, during the rise of Nazism, is the dramatic setting for this novel told from the perspective of teenager Karl Stern. Growing up in a secular middle-class home, he has always ignored his Jewish identity until he is expelled from school, the Hitler Youth harass him, and his father arranges for Karl to have lessons with the famous German boxer Max Schmeling.  Boxing has never been one of Karl’s interests, but it quickly becomes his main focus. Prior to his humiliation at school, drawing cartoons was his passion and they are cleverly interspersed in the story.

This compelling book offers a unique perspective on the Holocaust with complex characters, gripping history, and intense emotion.

November 15th, 2011 at 1pm
Posted under Good Reads, Teen Reads

Jersey Tomatoes Are the Best by Maria Padian

This tale of friendship is told in alternating chapters by two Jersey girls – Henry, a tennis dynamo, and Eva, and ultrafocused ballerina.  When they each leave for summer camps in different states in their chosen fields, their friendship must survive the long distance, hard-core helicoptering parents, and, in Eva’s case, an extreme personal meltdown.

July 1st, 2011 at 10am
Posted under Teen Reads