CLP Teens Blog

Following Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci

At the end of The Body of Christopher Creed, author Carol Plum-Ucci leaves readers wanting more. There are no answers to what happened to Christopher Creed, an unliked high school student who mysteriously went missing and left the town of Steepleton, New Jersey in a mess of accusations and bad blood. With Following Christopher Creed, readers revisit Steepleton where they get a second try at solving the mystery of what happened to Creed four years after his disappearance.

It’s a dark and stormy night when Steepleton police uncover a grave and an unidentified body in the Pine Barrens. Is this the final resting place of the missing Chris Creed? No one knows yet, but it’s the chance Mike Mavic, a legally-blind budding college reporter and avid follower of the Creed case, has been waiting for—a chance to go to Steepleton and stir up the answers to old questions. Mavic, who feels he’s a kindred spirit with Creed because of his own bullying and hellish childhood home-life, shows up in the middle of the night and begins interviewing townspeople.

What the young reporter sees is clear—the town hasn’t moved on since Creed’s disappearance. Steepleton’s dealing with eerie issues—a higher than normal cancer rate, unexplained, fatal car accidents, and a community with a mean-streak that goes beyond pettiness. Is this “bad frequency” an after effect of the town’s complicity in making Creed’s life miserable? Strange sightings out on the Lightning Field in the woods have some believing that Creed is dead and haunting high school students who hang out there. But at least one person, Justin Creed, Chris’s mentally unstable younger brother who’s just gotten out of rehab, is convinced that Creed is alive and communicating with him through strange psychic channels. Mavic soon finds himself overly invested in Justin’s well-being, feeling that Justin is just like his own younger brother whom he left behind when he ran away from home.

Though the manic pace of Justin and Mavic’s intense conversations is sometimes jolting, the irresistible chance to revisit the characters from the first book and finally solve the Christopher Creed mystery will have readers turning pages quickly!

Review by Erin, CLP-Allegheny

The Enemy by Charles Higson

What I like about a good zombie narrative is that you never quite know who’s gonna die. The Enemy by Charles Higson is no exception.

London has been over-run by infected adults who highly resemble zombies—flesh is melting off their faces, they move in seemingly unstoppable hordes, and they eat kids for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Why only kid’s meals? When the disease came, everyone under the age of 16 was unaffected, but now thousands of fresh-flesh youth are left to fight off the zombie-like abominations while finding food and running the new world. Where is the best place to rule in an over-run London? How about Buckingham palace? Our unfortunate heroes make their way across a post-apocalyptic cityscape to find other kids, but now they have to face factions of warring teenagers, which highlights the old zombie question: Who really is the enemy here?

I like The Enemy for all its traditional zombie elements and I think Higson did them well. There is significant suspense throughout multiple battles, though the most hair-raising storyline revolves around the exploits of a single character who gets separated from the group. He lands in a lair of “zombies”, left to desperately devise a way of escape alone, only to fall into a situation that I would consider much worse!

Speaking of escape, don’t get too attached to any character, you never know how long they’re going to last in this book. Though I whole heartedly respect an author willing to sacrifice main character immunity, this constant risk led to having a hard time connecting to characters, coupled with the struggle to learn the new ones along the way.

Overall I enjoyed The Enemy and recommend it with an anticipating eye on the following sequels: The Dead, The Fear, and The Sacrifice.

Review by Gigi, CLP-Brookline

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Why We Broke Up is a beautiful meeting of visual art and words.  Yes, this book is illustrated.  And no, it’s definitely not for kids.  Why We Broke Up is a letter from Min to her ex-boyfriend Ed.  She is writing to him to tell him exactly why they broke up.  In her letter, she revisits items she collected throughout their short, intense relationship.  A beer bottle cap, a ticket stub, a toy truck – Min puts them all in a box and tells their story to Ed, and to us.

By reading this book, these objects take on meaning.  The artistic representations of each object are slowly, one by one, attached to your heart strings by the words of Daniel Handler, until the otherwise emotionless paintings make you feel something.  Romantic meaning is made where there was previously just a rubber band, or a ripped poster.

Ed and Min are from opposite social worlds, and try as they might, this book lets the reader know that even in high school, some people don’t change.  Sometimes when reading Why We Broke Up, I felt truth hit me, like I was reading my own unfiltered diary from a miserable time.  There is something to this book that everyone who has had their heart broken can recognize.

Review by Annica, CLP-West End

A Certain October by Angela Johnson

Most teens look forward to the two biggest events in October—Halloween and Homecoming. Scotty’s high school is having Homecoming on Halloween. Scotty and her friends were excited about going to Homecoming and celebrating Halloween as a group, but then the unthinkable happened. A terrible accident injures Scotty and her seven-year-old autistic brother. Scotty’s injuries aren’t life threatening, but her brother is in a coma! At least they’re alive. Two kids from Scotty’s school were killed and Scotty blames herself for what has happened.  Most of the kids at school don’t know how to treat her. Thankfully, her true friends, Misha and Falcone, remain there for her.

As the story unfolds, Johnson allows readers to discover that Scotty is coping with loss, guilt and grief. Not knowing what she believes in (she hadn’t been to church since her mother passed away when Scotty was just a kid), Scotty searches for answers to the unexplainable.  Scotty’s friends (both old and new) are there by her side during this difficult time. This moving story of heartache, bereavement and woe leaves readers with an understanding of the reality of unexpected death.

Review by Barb, CLP-Allegheny

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

If you haven’t read The Maze Runner Trilogy yet, stop what you’re doing and go get the first book!

Thomas wakes up in an elevator shaft, not remembering anything about himself other than his first name.  As the elevator moves him higher and higher, a group of boys wait for him at the top.  They talk to each other in English, but Thomas doesn’t recognize many of the words they use.  “Look at that shank,” Thomas can hear one of them say.  As he makes it to the top, the boy who looks like the leader looks at Thomas and says, “Welcome to the Glade.”

Every 30 days a new boy shows up to the Glade.  No one knows why they are there, but they all have one common purpose – to escape.  Everyday a giant maze opens up surrounding the Glade and they send a group of runners out to map it and look for a way out.  Then every night the huge stone doors to the maze close and two terrible things happen.   The maze changes.  Every night.  And the grievers come out.  Part machine, part animal, and entirely deadly.  The boys have lost many to the grievers.

Every night, as soon as the runners get back into the Glade, they map every twist and turn.  They look for patterns and codes, any sign of an exit.  And they’ve never found anything.

The day after Thomas arrives, something so out of the ordinary happens that it throws the whole society on its head.  A girl shows up.  She arrives through the elevator half-conscious with a message.  She sits up and mutters, “Everything is going to change,” then passes out.  In her clenched hand is a note that reads, “She’s the last one.  Ever.”

The Maze Runner is so full of surprises that it keeps you on the edge of your seat, biting your nails as Thomas decides he wants to be a runner and tries to outmatch the grievers.  The end of this book will have you begging for the sequel, which luckily is out.  Currently being made into a movie, read The Maze Runner before the movie version is released!

Review by Annica, CLP -West End

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Alongside such classic dragon series as Anne McAffery’s Pern books, recent years have seen a rise in novels dealing with dragons, mostly thanks to Christopher Paolini’s Eragon series. While many books have dealt with dragons flying around and terrorizing humans with their fierce, fiery breath, literature has never seen any dragons quite like those depicted in Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman.

Humans are unable to enter the dragons’ country, and the dragons, for their part, are only allowed in human territories if they disguise themselves. In Seraphina’s world, dragons are shape shifters and have the ability to take on human shape. Though dragons may choose to appear human, they possess no human emotion, desire or feeling; they are cold, calculating, and scientific.

It’s been almost 40 years since a peace treaty was signed between humans and dragons. Since that time the two species have coexisted, although tensions are increasingly rising, and the peace now seems fragile. There is a secret group called the Sons of St. Ogdo that wants to get rid of dragonkind and hurt the people that sympathize with them. Dragons are assaulted in the streets, and demonstrations are becoming common. When the crown prince is discovered dead with his head bitten off—weeks before the Dragon King is to visit to commemorate the signing of the treaty—war seems imminent.

In the middle of this turmoil is our heroine Seraphina, a talented musician at the royal court. In a world of brewing tension between human and dragonkind, Seraphina is the unthinkable: her father is human, and her mother, who died giving birth to her, was a dragon. If anyone were to discover her secret, she would certainly be hurt or killed. Seraphina guards her identity closely, holds herself apart from society, and does little to draw attention to herself and her emerging talents. But as she becomes more and more involved in the investigation of Prince Rufus’ murder, some secrets are bound to come out. With a strong heroine, richly imagined creatures, and tension-filled plot, Seraphina is a book that readers are sure to enjoy.

Review by Ian, CLP-Homewood

Dare Me by Megan Abbott

Beth Cassidy, cheerleader captain, is not happy when the new cheer coach takes over. All the girls, including Addy, Beth’s lieutenant, are infatuated with Coach. Beth is losing control. And Beth must never lose control! But when Addy presents Coach with a hamsa bracelet; Beth can’t take it anymore! Some way somehow, this new coach has got to be stopped.

When Sarge commits suicide—or was he murdered? Things really start to spin out of control. With detectives getting closer to the truth, things start heating up for the cheer squad.

Abbott includes plenty of cheer action. If you ever wondered what it’s like behind the scenes at cheerleading practice, this book is for you. Even the dark side of cheerleading is exposed. Abbott weaves a tale of murder, mystery, friendship and competition.

Give me an R! Give me an E! Give me an A! Give me a D! Give me another D! Give me an A! Give me an R! Give me an E! Give me an M! Give me an E! What does it spell? Read Dare Me! Yay!!!!

Review by Barb, CLP-Allegheny

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

I must admit, I have been on something of a dystopian kick lately. I’ve been reading tons of fiction about the end of the world brought about by zombies, asteroids, war and my latest–the supervolcano. Many people, me included, don’t realize that the hot springs and geysers at Yellowstone National Park are caused by an underlying supervolcano that has erupted three times in the last 2.1 million years. A supervolcano eruption would be a world-wide catastrophe. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that Ashfall by Mike Mullin is so poignant. His dystopia feels real.

Ashfall begins with 15-year-old Alex opting out of a weekend trip with his family to his uncle’s farm in rural Illinois. What begins as a typical weekend in the suburbs quickly turns into a nightmare, when a mysterious explosion rips the roof off of Alex’s house. Alex escapes unharmed and is taken in by his next-door neighbors where they spend a terrifying night huddled in the bathroom trying to figure out what is happening outside. The next morning Alex and his neighbors discover that a supervolcano has erupted, cutting off all forms of communication and plunging the world into ash. Determined to find his parents and sister, Alex begins a treacherous journey across the state and that’s when things start to get really intense.

The first few chapters of Ashfall are some of the most gripping that I have read in any dystopian novel, including The Hunger Games. Alex’s struggle to reach his family is harrowing as he faces starvation, extreme weather and bandits. This is certainly not a book for the faint of heart. I’m very much looking forward to the sequel Ashen Winter, coming out this month!

Review by Maddie, CLP-Squirrel Hill

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie

This novel leaves readers with a wide range of emotions after reading it. I was shocked. I cried, I laughed and I empathized with Junior and his stories of love, loss, high school, and basketball. Arnold Spirit aka Junior candidly tells the story of his birth with hydroceles (water on the brain), the murder of his beloved dog because they were too poor to take it to the vet and his decision to attend a white high school 22 miles away from his reservation, and the impact the decision has on his relationships with his friends and family. Cartoons also help tell the story as Arnold uses his drawings to show his emotions and support the humor used to combat bullying by both the white kids and even the reserve residents.

“It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be poor. You start believing that you’re poor because you’re stupid and ugly. And then you start believing that you’re stupid and ugly because you’re Indian. And because you’re Indian you start believing you’re destined to be poor. It’s an ugly circle and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Sherman Alexie admitted in an interview that Junior’s life is a whole lot like his own life, which included his decision to attend a high school off his reserve. Alexie does not hold back on things like racism, sex, or poverty, alcoholism and other stereotypes. The novel does not hold back on language, racist comments or other things that might seem too gritty and it has lead to challenges and outright bans in school around the US. But, he tells it like it is in his view. His reaction to a library banning his book? He sent a box of books to the same place.

Review by Andrea, CLP-Hill District

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

In a future New York City, though 16-year-old Anya Balanchine hangs out with her best friend Scarlet and does most of the things regular teenagers do, Anya’s real focus is on caring for her family. Her Nana (and legal guardian) slips in and out of lucidity and is confined to her bed. Her older brother Leo, now an adult, should be the one worrying about dinner and keeping tabs on his sisters, but in the shooting that killed their mother, Leo was hurt. After suffering brain-damage, Leo now acts like a child, and Anya must protect him, not the other way around. Anya also worries about her younger sister Nataliya (Natty). Natty’s not street-smart like Anya. And even at fourteen, Natty still has horrible nightmares about their father’s murder. Anya and Natty were under his desk playing when a gunman entered his study and shot him. The murder was never solved.

And then there’s the other family Anya must worry about— her semya—or the Balanchine Family crime syndicate. As the daughter of the late Leonyd Balanchine, Sr., Anya is the true heir to her family’s international chocolate business. But as chocolate is illegal in the US, and Anya has no desire to enter the life that killed her parents and injured her brother, she’s mostly steering clear of her Uncle Yuri who runs the Family in her father’s place. A trip or two to her Family’s coffee speakeasy and the chocolate shipments they receive at home are Anya’s only regular connection to the illegal chocolate business.

Anya has everything under control. Her brother has a steady job that he loves. Her sister does well in school and stays out of trouble. And they have everything set up for Leo to take over as guardian to his sisters if her grandmother should die before Anya turns 18.

Then, of course, things fall apart. A break-up with her boyfriend turns sour and Anya realizes her choice of boyfriends was less-than poor. Leo loses his job and begins spending time at the Pool—the Family’s headquarters—against Anya’s wishes. And then worst of all, two chocolate bars she gives her ex turn out to be poisoned. Anya is arrested for his attempted murder and sent to a juvenile correctional facility. Who will take care of her brother and sister if she’s in prison? Add to her problems a romance with the ambitious district attorney’s son, and Anya quickly finds herself desperate to maintain the peace she’s struggled to win for her family.

In this first book in her Birthright series, author Gabrielle Zevin introduces a not-too-future New York City where crime is rampant, cars are scarce, paper requires a permit, and alcohol is not restricted, but chocolate and coffee are illegal. Unlike other books set in the future, this New York is easy to imagine and place yourself in. It’s a world we recognize as our own, with only a few quirks thrown in to paint a new reality. Anya’s grit and determination make her a likeable character. Her life experiences give her a maturity beyond her years. But it’s easy to see her teenage passion shining through the armor she’s had to acquire. In the end, you be the judge. Should Anya be forgiven for her choices and—as she puts it—“all these things I’ve done?”

Once you’re finished with All These Things I’ve Done, you’ll be clamoring for the second installment in the Birthright series. And you’re in luck. Because It Is My Blood comes out on September 18, 2012.

Review by Erin, CLP-Allegheny