Troy High by Shana Norris (reviewed by Vickie Wang)

Troy High by Shana Norris is a novel that retells the classic tale of Homer's Illiad to be a modern high school drama, complete with cheerleaders, football players, band geeks, the like. When former Spartan High cheerleader, Elena, falls in love with Troy High's football hunk Perry, it sparks a rivalry of practical jokes and pranks that get more and more out of hand... And poor Cassie, Perry's little band major sister, is stuck in the middle of it, having to choose between loyalty to her school and the her best friend, and love of her life, who is a Spartan.

I personally did not like the novel that much. The characters were kind of FORCED into being their Illiad counterparts. For example, Perry was supposed to be like Paris from the Illiad in the aspect that both were very vain and did not want to be forced into battle; however, Perry not wanting to go play football is not like Paris not wanting to go to war. The book just seemed to water down the excitement of the Illiad. However, the author did a really good job making parallel characters; I just wish the Troy High characters also had some more personality of their own as well.

Troy High seemed to downplay the drama of the Illiad to make it fit into a novel that high schoolers could relate to. I really liked the idea of modernizing the Illiad. I just wish that Norris did so in a way with a twist so that it was both relateable but not completely predictable for those who know the Illiad (such as adding a flaw to the hero, or getting into the head of Helen/Elena).

--
Vickie reviewed an ADVANCE READER'S COPY (ARC) of this book, meaning she got a chance to read it before it was published and she had a chance to let the library know if it she thought we should purchase it for our shelves or not.

Do YOU want a chance to read and review books before they're published? Do YOU think you could give your opinion on if the library/other people should buy these books? If so, you can ask at youth services or send us an e-mail for more information on how you can get a chance to be an advance reviewer.

Extra big thanks to Vickie for her great review and her hard work being one of our advance reviewers!

Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli (reviewed by Bear Schacht)

I have been a fan of Harry Potter for about half my life, but when I was first introduced to it I was too young to do anything except enjoy the books. The biggest Harry Potter related event I ever attended was the midnight release of the seventh book, which only had about 200 people and was over at 3 AM. Reading Harry, A History was a different perspective entirely. It told all the stories, from the original idea through the early days of the series, the birth of the online fandom, the origins of wizard rock, the controversy over and the banning of the books, interviews with J.K. Rowling, and the 'shipping wars at conferences to the Harry and the Potters concert in Boston's Harvard Square that was attended by 15,000 people. If you are a fan of Harry Potter and curious about the phenomenon, you should read this book.

--
Big thanks to Bear for our VERY FIRST EVER non-fiction review. Whooo! Yes, you can review non-fiction books too. So find a book about something too amazing/gross/cool too be made up and write a review!

Click here to check our catalog to see if Harry, A History is on the shelves.

A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer (reviewed by Anna Wermer)

This book was great. The story is simple but broke down into more complicated parts. It's a story of a 12 year old that is working her way into womanhood, so every preteen can relate. It's a foreign book about tribes and old beliefs that put you into someone else's shoes. A Girl Named Disaster is full of adventure and laughs. There were intense parts that kept me reading. I didn't want to put the book down. I liked the book because it was an interesting topic that I could somewhat relate to, but there were boring parts that went on and on. Also, since it was about being in a tribe and there were different beliefs, it was confusing and sometimes hard to relate to how the characters are feeling or thinking. I would still recommend the book to preteen girls.

--
Thanks, Anna for another great review!

Click here to check our catalog to see if A Girl Named Disaster is on the shelves.

Thud! by Terry Pratchett (reviewed by Adam Sayre)

In Thud! by Terry Pratchett, city watch commander Sam Vimes is confronted with some dire problems. The Trolls and the Dwarves are fighting. Again. It's the anniversary of the Toom Valley Battle, where the Trolls attacked the Dwarves or the Dwarves attacked the Trolls. The conflict is splitting the city and Sam's watch. Now it's up to him to find out, once and for all, who started it.

Oh yes, at six o'clock every day, Sam must go home and read Where's My Cow? with all the right barnyard noises. There are some things you have to do!

--

Good review of a classic, Adam!

Click here to check our catalog to see if Thud! is on the shelves.

Swoon by Nina Malkin (reviewed by Lindy Jacobs)

"Swoon" by Nina Malkin, has one of those titles that usually scares me off right from the get-go. I mean, with a name like that it's practically guaranteed to be a typical teen romance, right? Well, this book is a romance, but it's not completely typical. The main character, instead of falling in love with the top jock, is in love with a ghost. And instead of becoming a happy twosome with a long future ahead, they go their separate ways in the end (though with the conclusion that she “doesn't need Sin here to be with him”). The basic plot is reasonable and goes at a good pace—it doesn't randomly skip years for no good reason or drag over scenes that should be short—and it introduces characters well. My main complaint is that this book seems really into discussing sexual relationships, including one rather creepy spanking session, using sentences of a length usually expected only in elementary school. The diction is fine for the most part. However, the number of times the book takes a break from the plot to start talking about the sexual positions everyone happens to be in at that particular moment in time, as well as the detours it seems to make simply to encompass more sexual comments, is a little scary. I'd actually say that this book is perfect for middle schoolers: it talks frequently about sex and relationships using short sentences combined with somewhat high diction, which seems to be a mixture most people that age enjoy.

--
Thanks for the totally honest opinion, Lindy, that's the kind we like the best! ^__^

Click here to check our catalog to see if Swoon is on the shelf so you can try it out for yourself and see if you agree with Lindy!!