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MADreads for Teens

Book reviews for teens by library staff and guest contributors

Graphic is good

Cover of Sapiens: A Graphic History
A review of Sapiens: A Graphic History: The Birth of Humankind, Volume 1 by Yuval Noah Harari, David Vandermeulen and Daniel Casanave

We've all got them. Books we think will make us smarter but that are just a bit too daunting every time you go to pick them up and read. Mine in recent times has been Yuval Harari's Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. I placed it on hold, had the hold come in, checked it out and then returned it unread. I think that probably happened a couple of times.

Aug 22, 2022

Eye of the beholder

Cover of Little Dancer Aged Fourtee
A review of Little Dancer Aged Fourteen: The True Story Behind Degas's Masterpiece by Camille Laurens

What is art? What attracts or repulses the viewer? The colors, setting, images, tactile feel of textiles/sculpture? Does knowledge of the artist or the subject influence the viewer? All these questions and more are addressed in this surprisingly slim and amazing new book by the French novelist Camille Laurens detailing her fascination of one artist, Edgar Degas, and one work, his now iconic sculpture of a young dancer. 

Aug 18, 2022

Kingfisher's cure-all

Cover of Paladin's Grace
A review of Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher

I've mentioned in a few other posts how my reading tastes lately have leaned to stories that take me to other worlds and center on honorable characters. And with that reading quest in mind, a co-worker (thank you Amy S!) suggested T. Kingfisher. And a better balm to the soul, it would be harder to find. In this, the first in the Saint of Steel trilogy, we meet a paladin whose god has died and a perfumer who has escaped an abusive past.

Aug 2, 2022

Loyalties will be tested

Cover of The Silence of Bones
A review of The Silence of Bones by June Hur

June Hur's debut novel is a police procedural set in 1800 Joseon, Korea. Seol grew up in rural Korea but because of the family's poverty was sent by her sister to serve an indenture for the police bureau in Joseon. As an indentured servant she's to keep her mouth shut and her thoughts to herself as she cleans and runs errands. The monotony of that work occasionally broken when she's asked to help when a crime involves another woman. Males in 19th century Korea aren't allowed to touch non-familial women, thus Seol is called upon.

Jul 20, 2022

Star Child

Cover of Star Child
A review of Star Child by Ibi Zoboi

“What if on the day she was born there was a quiet storm of tiny shimmering dust that settled on tree leaves, on flower petals, on rooftops, on the ground, on the shiny work shoes, and glided through open windows to settle on hardwood floors?” 

Jun 24, 2022

Crazy Rich Asians meets Princess Diaries

Cover of Tokyo Ever After
A review of Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean

Izumi lives in northern California with her single mother and behaves the same way so many high school seniors do: she hangs out with friends, they obsess over love interests, pancakes, style, and their present and future potential. Izzy, as she's known to her friends, has never met her father and doesn't even know his full name. She knows he's Japanese and went to Harvard with her mother but not much more. After some internet sleuthing to find likely candidates an exciting truth is uncovered: Izzy's dad is the Crown Prince of Japan.  

Jun 8, 2022

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