Tom Reiss’s childhood fascination with the novels of Alexandre Dumas led him to read Dumas’s memoirs. He was blown away by the superhero-like adventures of Dumas’s father and determined to uncover his larger-than-life story. In an interview with CBS News, Reiss states, “As an equal fan of history, superheroes, and adventure stories, I was enthralled.” Why […]
Pauline Chen’s new novel is a great recommendation for historical fiction or romance-loving teens wishing to expand their horizons. Chen retells and dramatically shortens the Chinese novel Hong Lou Meng, often translated as Dream of the Red Chamber, which includes the most famous love triangle in Chinese literature. (For more about the original, see this […]
“Full Body Burden” refers to the amount of radioactivity which can be safely tolerated by a human body through its lifetime. Kristen Iversen‘s memoir combines life within a dysfunctional family and the investigation of a nuclear weapons program cover-up that took place in her own backyard. Teens will be outraged by the government’s willingness to hide […]
An incredible amount of hype surrounds this slim, intimate tale of a possible end of the world scenario. My hope is that readers will be able to put that aside and enjoy this lovely coming of age novel without too many preconceived notions. That said, when a New York Times review compares a book to […]
Ted Kosmatka‘s first novel receives our latest starred review. The Games has nothing to do with The Hunger Games, although it is a dystopian thriller that deals with a gladiatorial fight to the death (or rather, destruction), in a great blend of horror and science fiction. Library Journal named The Games a science fiction/fantasy debut […]
Last year’s Robopocalypse was an AB4T 2011 Best of the Year and a 2011 Alex Award winner. With Amped, Daniel H. Wilson has created another dystopian world and another thriller that will have readers racing through the pages. Part of the marketing for the novel includes a blog on Facebook — Samantha Blex is a teenager […]
Carolina De Robertis has written a beautiful novel about a horrifying time in South American history. Perla is a young woman who comes of age following Argentina’s Dirty War (1976-1983). As a young adult, Perla learns that her family was involved in the fates of “the disappeared,” and must contend with that legacy. The novel […]
At its center, Anouk Markovits’ novel is about two young girls growing up in the same household, members of the Satmar, an Hasidic Jewish sect. When they reach their teens, one sister embraces her faith, the other rebels. The author herself was raised as an Hasidic Jew. She knows her subject and is able to […]
In Cheryl Strayed’s memoir she tells the story of her eleven hundred-mile solo hike along the Pacific Coast Trail, trying to find herself again in the aftermath of her mother’s early death. Strayed started in the Mojave Desert, making her way through California and Oregon to Washington State, with little experience camping and no experience […]
As we all know by now, it’s the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Here is the first (surely not the last!) AB4T review of a book based on those events. Kate Alcott’s historical novel encompasses both the tragedy itself and the subsequent Senate hearings, about which teens are likely much less familiar. […]
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