Book Reviews from a Teacher's Perspective

Bridge of Clay Author:  Markus Zusak  Themes:  Grief Love and Family Genres:  Realistic Fiction Recommended Age for Reading:  The language and content are strong.  The F word is used a lot, which is understandable with five brothers raising each other without adults 🤷.  I'd say the content is up to parental discretion.  Personally, I wouldn't want my children reading this book until they were in high school.  Also, I'm not going to keep this book in my class library.  If I were a high school teacher, it'd be one that I would strongly recommend my students to read, though. So many kids that age have already dealt with the loss of a parent and have had to experience raising themselves, so many could relate to the plot of this story.   Synopsis:  The story is told from the perspective of Matthew Dunbar who is the eldest of five brothers, but the story is about his brother, Clay.  At the beginning of the story, all the reader knows is that

High Achiever Good Reads Link Author:  Tiffany Jenkins Themes:  Addiction Redemption Genres:  Memoir Recommended Age for Reading:  High School for sure.  The language very strong and there's a scene when the author describes a sexual favor in exchange for pills.  However, every high schooler needs to read this.  Addiction is killing so many people and this vicious cycle usually begins in high school.  The drug prevention programs schools often use just aren't working.  The opioid crisis continues to rise as well as the death toll for people who lose their lives to their addiction.  I think this would be a good one for parents to read with their kids and for high school teachers to have in their libraries.  Reading about how addiction almost ruined someone's life might be a wake-up call for a teenager who is already battling this unfortunate crisis.   Synopsis:  Tiffany Jenkins is a content creator of hilarious videos that she posts on t

Author:  Angie Thomas Themes:  Courage  Prejudice Power and Corruption Genres:  Realistic Fiction Recommended Age for Reading:  This is a bit tricky...the language is very strong.  The F word is used multiple times, but one of my middle school students recommended this book to me.  Coming from a mostly white school out in the middle of nowhere, I was so proud of her for reading and being inspired by this story.  Due to the language and sexually implied content, I would suggest parents and teachers read this story before having middle school age kids read it.  It could be a story that parents and teachers read with their kids.  There are several opportunities for teachable moments and much-needed discussions.   Plot: Starr Carter is a teenage girl who is caught between two worlds.  She attends a mostly white private school, but she also lives in what would be known to others as a rough part of town.  Her father used to be a leader in a powerful gang.  W

Author:  Charles Dickens Themes:  Coming of Age; Individual vs Society Genres:  Classic Literature Recommended Age for Reading:  The Lexile level for this book is 1230, which according to this chart  Lexile Level Chart  is in the high school range.  However, there's nothing in the content that would be inappropriate for a student in a grade below high school, although the student would need to have a strong reading ability.  I think this would be a great read for children who are gifted readers and looking for a challenge.  For struggling readers, the audio version is a great alternative:  Great Expectations Audio Version on Audible . Plot:  This story is told in first person from the main character, Pip.  Pip is an orphaned boy who is raised by his adult sister and her husband.  He dreams of rising from his social status to become a gentleman.  He doesn't have much hope in this happening until an anonymous benefactor provides the monetary mea

Author: Marissa Meyer  Themes: Love and Sacrifice; Tragedy Genre: Fantasy Recommended Age for Reading:  The reading level is 5.0, and I would say most of the content is appropriate for students in that age range, but there is an intimate scene between the protagonist and the male lead that is implied.  There's also a violent scene in which one of the characters gets decapitated.  In my opinion, it may be very difficult for kids to comprehend much of the book since the setting is actually in Wonderland.  If readers don't have a lot of background knowledge of "Alice in Wonderland" many aspects of this story will be difficult to understand.  I suggest reading "Alice in Wonderland" or watching one of the movies before reading this book. Plot: Every villain has a backstory, and this one tells the reader how the Queen of Hearts became so, well, "heartless."   The setting is actually in the same world Alice found herself in from the st

Author:  Victoria Aveyard Themes:  Individual vs Society Genre:  Science Fiction Recommended Age for Reading:   The AR reading level is 5.2, but in my opinion, the content level should be 9th grade an up.  Inappropriate language is not used too often, but the language used is fairly strong.  For instance, the b word is used a few times by some of the characters.    The book also has a few violent scenes. Plot:    The setting of this book takes place years into the future.  There are two types of humans at this time...those with mutated silver blood, and those with ordinary red blood.  The "silvers" rule the society, while the "reds" serve the silvers.   The "silvers" all have special abilities which gives them the power to rule over the "reds."  Mare is a red girl who lives in a very impoverished part of the kingdom.  She is about to turn 18 years old, which means she will be forced to serve in the military.  Mare prides herself i

Author: Joseph Bruchac Themes: Coming of Age, Adventure, Family/Tradition Genre: Historical Fiction Recommended Age for Reading:  The reading level for this book is a 6.5, but the content is appropriate for students in lower grade levels.  For some of the gifted readers, students in grades 4-6 may enjoy this book.  There is some violence since the premise of the story is World War 2, but it isn't anything that isn't appropriate for students in the elementary grades. Plot:   This book tells the story of a young Navajo boy who begins his life on a Navajo reservation.  He speaks only Navajo until the age of 6 when he begins school.  His school is ran by white people who are trying to "educate" the Navajo.  Speaking Navajo is forbidden at this school because the white people think there is no purpose for Navajo boys and girls to keep their language.  The boy has a Navajo name, but when he starts school, the white people change his name to "Ned Begay

Author: Marissa Meyer Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy Themes: Coming of age, Freedom, Good vs. Evil, Unconditional Love, Don't judge a book by it's cover Recommended age for reading: Middle School, High school The reading level in the series ranges from 4th-6th grade, but a small portion of the content is for slightly older audiences.  Most of the book is appropriate for younger audiences, but there is mention of "escort" androids.  The story doesn't go into too much detail about these types of androids, but older readers can infer that their purpose is for romantic companionship.  I wish this detail wasn't included in the books, but it kind of plays a role later in the series.  It never gets too inappropriate, but the fact that is there is somewhat concerning.  There's also some mild language in a few of the books.   Cinder Plot:  The first book in the story is a futuristic version of the fairy tale, "Cinderella."  Cinder l

Author: Markus Zusak Genre: Historical Fiction/ Fantasy Themes: The Power of Words Recommended Age for Reading: Middle School and up. I'm not going to lie, it took me a while to finish this book.  I started it while on vacation with my husband this summer in June, and didn't finish it until sometime in October.  Usually I finish books at a much quicker pace, but I am a busy working mom, and it took me a while to really get into it.  Honestly, I don't think I really ever got "hooked" into this book, but that doesn't mean that it isn't worth reading.  It's actually a book that I think everyone needs to read.   The protagonist of the story is Liesel Meminger who is for some unknown reason is willingly orphaned by her mother.  She is taken in by her foster family during the Nazi Germany era.  The most interesting aspect of this book in my opinion is that it is told from the point of view of "Death."  We see the Nazi Germany and

Author: Pierce Brown Genre: Science Fiction Themes:Rebellion/Revolution; Family; Friendship; Leadership This is the second book in the Red Rising series, and it was even better than the first book.  That's saying a lot because I absolutely loved the first book, but it took me a while to get into it.  This book hooked me much sooner, but it's probably because I had much of the background knowledge needed to understand what was going on from the first book. The time frame of the story is a couple of years after the first book finished.  Darrow has been "adopted" essentially by the Arch Governor, and has taken the "Augustus" name.  In this book, Darrow's work for the Son's of Ares really begins. Some of the same characters introduced in the first book are also in the second book, such as Mustang, Servo, Cassius, Tactus, Fitchner, The Jackal, Harmony, and Evie. I strongly suggest re reading the first book it's been awhile since readin

Author: Pierce Brown Genre: Science Fiction Themes:Rebellion/Revolution; Family; Love; Leadership Recommended Age for Reading: Upper High School This book is probably one of the best books I've read in a long time.  It is kind of like Hunger Games meets Star Wars in some ways.  It definitely has the dystopian society with a super corrupt government plot, much like the "Hunger Games," but has the science fiction twist since the story takes place on Mars.    Also, the reader is rooting for the underdogs in the society...which are the people born red. The time period of this story is years into the future.  Humans have colonized many of the planets and moons of the solar system. The society in this book is a caste system based on the color one is born into.  The society builds on the backs of those who are born red, though the reds don't realize it.  The truth is kept from them to avoid an uprising.  The red people mine a substance called Helium 3 that the so