Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

Dance of Thieves by Mary Pearson is the first book in the Dance of Thieves duology and a fantasy novel that follows Kazi of Brightmist and Jase Ballenger. Jase is the new leader of the Ballenger Empire after his dad dies and Kazi is a member of the Queen’s personal guard in another kingdom. Kazi is sent on a mission by the Queen, and she ends up in Ballenger territory. Through this mission, Kazi and Jase are somehow brought together and go through a series of events together. This book takes place after The Remnant Chronicles, also by Mary Pearson, but you don’t have to read that series in order to understand this book. I liked this book because it incorporated fantasy and romance well. There was enough action and also enough romance. I did find this book a little slow in the beginning and I found myself confused more than once throughout this book. However, once the book picks up, it moves pretty fast. I really enjoyed all of the characters in the book and they were all enticing. I suggest sticking through the first few chapters because after that, it becomes really good! Pearson also ended the book with a cliffhanger that had me aching to read the next book. This book does not live up to The Remnant Chronicles, but it was still a good read! If you’re someone who enjoys romance, action, powerful main characters, and doesn’t mind a slow start, this is definitely the book for you!

Tara Bhogaraju (Gum Spring Library)

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is a mystery book that follows Cadence, a rich girl who suffered a traumatic head injury. She got this head injury during the summer and she struggles to remember what happened that summer. In the summer, Cadence and her extended family live on a private island. Cadence and her three cousins form a group called The Liars. The Liars stick together and are a good group of friends. The
overarching question of this book is, “What happened the summer that Cadence received her head injury?”

This book takes place on the island and is about secrets, love, accidents, and wealth. I can’t tell you too much about the book because it is a mystery. I know it sounds confusing but that’s the way I recommend reading it. This book is a short read and a good book to get you out of a reading slump. However, this book is a little confusing and throughout the book I often wondered, “What is the plot of the book?” Also, a big portion of the story is written in innuendos that you have to decipher. If you’re the kind of person who wants the author to tell you flat-out what is happening, this is definitely not the book for you. If you’re a fan of The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han, and are looking for something similar, but with a twist, this is the book for you. I enjoyed this book because it was short and fast-paced. It’s not my favorite book ever but it’s still pretty good. We Were Liars is a quick, interesting book that I recommend you read!

Tara Bhogaraju (Gum Spring Library)

Spy School by Stuart Gibbs

Alexander Hale, one of the greatest spies in America and a CIA worker, shows up in 13 year old Benjamin Ripley’s house. Alexander offers Ben a chance to come to a CIA academy because Ben is a good candidate. He tells him that the CIA academy is a boarding school, and he has to keep it secret from everyone who is not there, even from his parents and best friend. Ben thinks that it will be “cool”, like James Bond movies, so he accepts the offer. Alexander tells Ben’s parents that he is going to a science boarding school. When he gets to the school, Teddy’s goal is to find a mole within the spy school. 

I would give this book a 10/10. First of all, the character of Teddy has many compelling character traits as well as interesting dynamics with the other characters throughout the story. The setting of a spy school and Teddy’s goal of him trying to find the mole gives the story a prevalent sense of tension because anybody in the story can be an imposter; you really don’t know who to and to not trust when you’re a spy. I also thought it was very interesting seeing all the different activities at the spy school. 

Siddharth Dale, Gum Spring Library

Restart by Gordon Kormon

This book is about a 13 year old kid named Chase Ambrose. He fell off his roof and lost all of his memory. In his “old life”, he was a bully. After he loses his memory, he has to resolve conflicts from people he does not know in his new life, and restart his life. The characters in this book are Shoshanna Webber, who hates Chase and is the sister of a kid named Joel Webber, who got relentlessly bullied by Chase, so he got sent to a boarding school, Brendan, who also despises Chase, Aaron, and Bear, who are both Chase’s bully friends from his “old life”, and Chase’s mom and dad. The main setting of this book is Hiawassee Middle School, which is where most of the characters of this book go to. 

I would rate this book a 5/5 stars because the conflicts of the characters are very interesting to read. The characters change throughout the story, and the book makes the reader root for the Chase, but the actions of antagonistic characters are still understandable. I would recommend it for reasons already stated and because even if you have not read a book about amnesia before, it’s not confusing. I would most recommend this book to people who enjoy books that have interesting character dynamics.

Siddharth Dale (Gum Spring Library)

Waste of Space by Stuart Gibbs

This book takes place on a base on the moon that humans made called Moon Base Alpha, which only has 25 people. There are very bad conditions there. Some of those are that food there is dehydrated, thermostabilized, and irradiated. Playing outside breaks many safety violations. There are meteorite showers, and the people there have to wear visors when going outside. The major characters are Dashiell (Dash) Gibson, who is the main character and narrator of the book, Nina Stack, who is the commander of Moon Base Alpha, Violet, who is Dash’s sister, Dash’s mom and dad, Chang Kolwalski, who is the smartest person at Moon Base Alpha and Dash’s dad’s closest friend, and Kira, who is the only girl at Moon Base Alpha who is Dash’s age. Someone at the base named Lars Sjoberg, who was the most hated person at MBA, got poisoned by cyanide in his lutefisk, and the people at the moon base have to figure out who poisoned him.. Dash is a major part of that investigation. 

I would rate this book a 5/5 stars because I think the concept of Moon Base Alpha is really good. The world building of this book is very good. It describes MBA to a point where you can easily envision it, and the book considers every aspect of living on the moon. I think the mystery creates a lot of suspense and makes it so there is a reason to keep on reading. The character interactions are really fun to read because they are not dull, and in general, this book is very entertaining. I would recommend this book mainly because the mystery makes the book suspenseful and gives the reader a reason to keep on reading. 

Siddharth Dale (Gum Spring Library)

The Rise of Skywalker by Rae Carson

During the war between the oppressive dictatorship called The First Order and the rebellious faction called the Resistance, the sinister Emperor Palpatine, the leader of the previous Empire and who died over 30 years ago, has returned. On a planet called Exegol, which is in the unknown regions of the galaxy, he and his Sith cultists have been building a fleet of star destroyers in secret that are all equipped with weapons powerful enough to destroy an entire planet in. However, Rey, Finn, and Poe embark on the journey to find Exegol in order to thwart Palpatine’s plan and end the Sith once and for all. 

I really don’t like this book. First of all, the decision to bring back the Emperor was done. It undermines the victory of the original trilogy as well as Anakin’s sacrifice. The mission the heroes embark on isn’t compelling at all. They just conveniently found a super important dagger that has information about the whereabouts of Palpatine in a huge desert. The mission is also just a fetch quest where the heroes collect objects. It’s like a video game.

Siddharth Dale (Gum Spring Library)

Four Three Two One by Courtney Stevens

Four Three Two One is a novel that revolves around the four survivors of the bombing of Bus 21. Go Jenning and Chandler Payton, your cliche couple, been together since middle school, and next door neighbors. Rudy Gurthie, the one who invited Chandler and Go. And last but not least, Caroline Ascott the bombers girlfriend. Though it has been a year since the bombing, all of them are still burdened by the survivors guilt. When a monument of Bus 21 is going to open, Go decides she is going to be there, whether chandler wants to go or not. So she starts her way there in her old car with Becky, the only girl who can make an awkward moment more awkward. Go is determined to bring the four survivors with her. Will Go be able to step on the bus? Will Chandler decide to come with her? Will Rudy be able to convince Caroline, who has no intention of ever stepping foot near a bus ever again?

Courtney Stevens does an amazing job of making their situation seem so real. The little side plots going on between the characters make the story that much better. Not only are they all facing trauma but behind all of that is drama, tension, friendship, determination and more. This plot made it easy to connect with the characters and feel what they were feeling. It wasn’t overwhelming, but it definitely was not easy to get bored of. I would rate this book a 10/10 because it was an amazing read and it didn’t even take me 3 days to finish the book. I would say this book is perfect for anyone over the age of thirteen because it takes on some more mature issues that might not be suitable for anyone younger than that.

Nishika Y. – Rust Library

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

One of Us is Lying, follows the criminal investigation of the murder of the student, Simon Kelleher. Simon was the author of the blog “About That”, the school’s source of drama. Where Simon ratted out all the gossip, there was no escaping him. The story revolves around the four suspects, who were all in the room at the time of the murder and, all had a motive.

Bronwyn Rojas, straight A student, most likely to get into an Ivy League, never missed a day of school basically the perfect person but not even Bronwyn could pass AP Chemistry, it can’t be horrible to take a peek at the answer key that was accidentally left open, right? Cooper Clay, baseball pitcher and the school’s best running back. But, how did he get that amazing pitch over one summer? Addy Prentiss, basic blonde cheerleader and dating a jock. When her boyfriend goes out of town, she gets in some pretty bad drama. And finally, Nate Mcaully, the school’s bad boy. Now, Simon didn’t really have anything that unusual on Nate, but he’s the obvious scapegoat.

This book was hard for me to get away from, once I started I just couldn’t stop. Every word left me needing to know more. It’s a mystery that keeps you waiting for the next plot twist, and it is the most unpredictable book which made it so much better. I rate this book a 10/10, it is one of the best reads that I have had in a while and is definitely one of the books I would recommend for people in their middle school years and up only because it handles a few mature themes.

Nishika Y. – Rust Library

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

The Lost Hero is the first book in the Heroes of Olympus series that follows the Percy Jackson series. This story explores different characters, Jason, Piper, and Leo. With Percy missing from Camp Halfblood for 3 days 6 hours and 12 minutes, and new demigods. Chiron is in for a ride. With the Great Prophecy looming behind everyone, the camp is trying to figure out who the 7 half bloods are that are supposed to go on the quest. Could these new demi-gods be what the prophecy was talking about?

This first book does a good job of pulling the reader into the plot from the very beginning, leaving unanswered questions that would make the reader want to keep reading to find the answers. Rick Riordan did a great job of grasping the readers attention, the plot kept coming and coming.

This book is a great read for the Percy Jackson lovers out there. You may feel biased toward Percy, but loving these characters and their personality is just like reading Percy Jackson. I would recommend this book for people who loved the Percy Jackson series and it is suitable for all ages of readers. I would rate this book a 9/10 because it brought me into the series immediately and I loved every book after that.

Nishika Y. – Rust Library

Refugee by Alan Gratz

Refugee follows three stories, in different timelines, all at once. Josef Laundeu, a 12 year old Jewish boy trying to escape Germany after his father was taken away by the Nazis. Isabel Fernandez, 11 year old girl who lives in Cuba. She and her family try to get to Cuba on a little boat. Finally, Mahmoud Bishara a young boy whose family is trying to escape from Syria after their apartment complex got bombed.

All of these stories are about refugees trying to get to better lives. This book is heart-wrenching and brilliantly written on Alan Gratz’s part. This book tackles a concept that opened my eyes to many things around the world, that not every kid my age lives is easy. They can’t go to school, they have to run away from their home, their whole family is at risk. The three of these kids are in middle school, the same age as me.

This book is a real edge of the seat read, it was intriguing to follow 3 stories at once. All the same topics, but different settings, and different time periods. This topic is not discussed enough in school and most kids are unaware of things going on in the world like this. I would recommend this for all ages including elementary. The story itself is written in a way that would interest all ages of readers. I rate this book a 10/10 for its amazing writing that kept you wanting to read more.

Nishika Y. – Rust Library