Escondido Public Library

Death-cast is an organization of sorts that alerts people that they are going to die in the next 24 hours. Mateo and Rufus are given the call. They are total strangers.

I loved it! Even though the title may seem like a big spoiler, I really enjoyed reading this futuristic novel. I really loved how in the book you read about different perspectives of people who have received the call.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good heart-wrenching novel.

Victoria, 17

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Economix is a comic that explains the big picture (mostly in Europe and U.S.) how the economy works, the downfalls, principles, and its impacts on society. Instead of starting from the principles and building onto the foundation, the book starts with history and examines how it affects the economy in present day.

I find Economix an intuitive read and easy to digest because the visuals has funky caricatures such as the companies being represented as giant robots. It's also pretty entertaining and informative because I learned about things like free market, socialism, and marxism.

I would recommend the book if you are interested in learning about the economy. It can really give you the understanding you need to dive deeper to other topics that might not be mentioned in the book.

Anna, 15

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Jane is a high school girl struggling with the ins and outs of family, her sister's abusive relationship with Er-ick, and the greatest hardship of all-her eating disorder. Over the course of the story, her binge eating isn't taken serious by Toby, the guy next door, her classmates, and even her mother, who all either mock at it or misinterpret it as a strict diet. As she goes about her everyday life, readers get an insight to her thoughts surrounding her, her body image, and just how strong of a bond she has with her sister.

I don't normally read books with a poem structure, but I found this one pleasant and I interpreted the wild structure of the story like how June's thoughts are-dark. However, I do believe there was more room for exploration in June's character like how other issues besides her disorder had impacted her (like the mockery her or her sister Mae faced). Overall though, I enjoyed reading this book, as well as the moments she shared with her sister.

I'm not sure I would recommend this book to others. As mentioned previously, it discusses June's eating disorder as well as her self depreciating mindset so it can definitely be a heavy read at times.

Lucia, 14

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Atomic Habits is a self-help book that explains the process of forming habits and how to break bad habits. Pretty much, the small, incremental things you do in life, whether it be good or bad, will compound to make a big impact on your life (aka. habits).

I appreciate the way the book organizes the information of forming habits into four distinct steps. Some of the advice kinda strikes me as something really obvious such as making a good habit more convenient to do.

It is an epic poem about Achilleus' anger. His anger was caused by Agamemnon, an Achaian leader, who dishonored Achilleus. Achilleus, the best Achaian warrior, got Zeus to help him to punish all the Achaians for dishonoring him by getting lots of casualties against the war with Trojans. Achilleus' godlike anger only ended when he shared grief with Priam, the Trojan king, over how the loss of his life would affect his father.

I find the Iliad interesting in that although Homer is Greek, he did not glorify one side over another, so he ended up telling a complete story of the humanity of characters. I do not like Achilleus since he just strikes me as someone who is egocentric and has anger issues. The rest of the character cast have not really changed, so their personalities are stagnant.

I would recommend it if you want something a little more challenging to read. You might also find media references of the Iliad since it very much affected Western literature.

Anna, 15

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Regretting You goes back and forth between the mother’s point of view and the daughter’s point of view. It shows them going through love and loss.

Regretting You is a good book because it shows that no matter at what age or how much time has passed you can still relate to your parents or a parent figure. The book has many sad moments but also caring loving moments.

I recommend people that are close to a parent figures and share things with them. The book also explains how it feels to deal with grief for someone you’ve loved so much but has betrayed you.

Nadia, 16

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A girl trying to escape one chapter of her life and trying to start another. This book definitely talks about dark stuff and traumatic experiences. The book portrays the effects of going through something traumatic and how it effects someone long term.

Girl in pieces is such a good book even though it’s heartbreaking, by the end of it you’re sobbing. The book is eye opening of how much someone would struggle with many things.

I would recommend this book but I think people should read the warnings and what the book discusses before reading the book. It’s an 15 or older book with mature topics.

Nadia, 16

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Foer, a journalist, had set out to find out the capacity to improve human memory by working with other memory athletes. He used memory techniques that take advantage of how the brain works biologically and honed those skills. Eventually, all his practice to improve his memory would be put into motion in the United States Memory Competition, which paid off.

Moonwalking With Einstein is an interesting book because along with his journey of becoming a memory athlete himself, there is some cultural, historical parts on memory techniques and the competition, which dates back to the Romans and Greeks. It gives context and showed the prominence of memory in cultures. The approaches shown are backed with scientific findings, and the topics that seemed unrelated to memory are well explained in how they connected back to the main topic.

I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in improving their memory since this book offers helpful tips and approaches to memorizing typical things like grocery lists. This book does have quite a bit of filler content, as it could have been written to be shorter. For a casual reader who wants to learn something new and dig into something entertaining, I would recommend this book.

Anna, 15

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Ever since mortals have appeared in this immortal world, it's caused chaos. To combat this problem, two major organizations are there to do what they think is right: protect or destroy them. In the 2nd volume, one of these protectors called Fuurin is trying to get the upper hand from Detective Kenzaki (who believes all mortals deserve to be eradicated). Whilst this occurs, Kiriko tries to make her debut in the organization, more specifically the role as a protector (also known as Vectors).

I couldn't put this manga down. Readers get to see contrasting perspectives of Vectors along with the detectives and the police. This unique plot doesn't go unnoticed, and reading about minorities and how they're seen in this immortal world is very intriguing!!

Although there is some slight gore in the manga, I would absolutely recommend it! It's clear the author doesn't shy away from showing what immortals consider to be norms, and an example of this is beautifully shown in the opening of volume 1. Highly recommend reading volume 1 first to learn about the characters more!! Overall, amazing read!

Lucia, 14

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Verity is a thriller book that keeps you on the edge of your seat, waiting for the next thing to happen. The book is about a man that lost everything and is trying to fix it. The ghost writer comes to visit his house to learn about his wife. While she’s visiting she finds something not related to the book at all but will change everything.

Verity is a intense book that’s amazing. Once you start reading you can’t stop because you want to know what happens next. Verity has lots of jump scares in book version. It’s a great thriller book.

I would recommend the book to anyone that likes to solve the mystery before the book ends, that’s very passionate about things and tries to find evidence to back it up. This is definitely for horror and thriller lovers. I’d recommend if you want to be scared a little and have a debate with others that read it.

Nadia, 15

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House on Mango Street is a coming-of-age story that shares one year in the life of Esperanza Cordero, a young Chicana struggling with questions of identity. Living in a Latinx neighborhood, Esperanza attempts to come to terms with her surroundings.

It was okay, some of the chapters were a bit weird and some were sad. Each chapter talked about a certain person in Esperanza's neighborhood struggling with different problems. Overall it was great not a bad book.

If you like reading, this book uses simple wording to convey powerful feelings and emotions, all of which I felt as I read it for myself both the first and second times through. This book teaches you that you always belong even if you don't feel like you do.

Jacqueline, 15

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In this dystopian novel, one girl decides to break away from her family's faction when she comes of age. She enters into a world of secrets and bravery as she tries to hide the fact that she's different from society.

I loved the novel Divergent. It was a real page-turner. This book makes you think of the true characteristics that people have and that message is given in such a creative way in which is easy to understand.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that loves dystopian stories. Readers of The Hunger Games would definitely love this book because of the style and concepts that are written.

Gavin, 15

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After a plane crashes, a group of young schoolboys are left stranded on an uncharted island. There are no adults that survived. The group of boys enjoy the liberating feeling of no supervision. Without an adult to tell them what to do, they can do anything they desire. However, everything is not as great as they imagined once arguments break out and order starts to crumble. Fear starts to creep into the minds of each boy as their hopes of being saved diminish.

Personally, I thought that Lord of the Flies was an excellent novel, even if it's assigned to you by your English teacher. The story gives off a message about how children act and how they try to survive with no adult to guide them. Their independence can be related to children this day in age. The story conveys an important message while at the same time, it also delivers a great story about adventure and persistence.

I would encourage all readers to try this novel, even if it hasn't been assigned to you by your English teacher. This book will relate to teen readers and it will be engaging for them. The author helps you create such a deep connection with his characters. This coming of age novel teaches you the values of trust, true friendship, and sanity.

Gavin, 15

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Young Vega Jane lives in a confined world called Wormwood. Past its boarders lies a great unknown filled with horrors and nightmares. After one of her colleagues vanishes into the unknown, Vega is left with hints of where he might of gone and of the mysteries that lie outside of Wormwood.

I was a bit hesitant about this book at first but after I got past the first couple of chapters, I was hooked. The plot is similar to some novels but it is delivered in a unique way that doesn't make it sound repetitive.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone that loves stories with rebellion and mystery. I would recommend it to those who are fans of The Maze Runner by James Dashner because it reminds me so much of it.

Gavin, 15

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Hazel Grace Lancaster is sixteen years old and slowly dying of thyroid cancer. Because of her circumstances and actions she has effectively isolated herself from her peers and spends a great deal of her time contemplating existence and its end. But then she meets with Augustus Waters who genuinely wants to be friends with her, and is extremely persistent. At first she is wary of investing herself in a relationship when she knows it will be short lived, but Augustus continues to tell her that he appreciates her for who she is and doesn't want to miss his chance to spend time with her.

I tend to find teenage romance novels thoroughly unconvincing. But The Fault In Our Stars didn't fall into any of the traps that the genre seems to be full of. Not only was there a plot, it was engaging and brilliantly resolved. The characters were endearing, and easy to relate to despite my having nearly nothing in common with them. Perhaps best of all, the book answered larger questions than just, "Will she go to prom with her crush?" and actually faced up to some painful ideas about life and how life is just slow death.

I recommend this to anyone who likes thinking and is able to take interesting perspectives and questions from the guise of a teenage romance novel without losing it. You really cannot judge this book by its cover. The Fault In Our Stars might make you cry, but it isn't a shameless tearjerker. It will, I guarantee you, make you think. Probably about death. But in a hopeful way.

Clara, 15

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In this book, Celaena is sent to a far away land where she will learn to harness and control her powers that she has tried so hard to cover up for years. As Celaena learns the depth of her power, she also realizes that she has made a lifelong friend, and together, they could become unstoppable.

This book was so good! It was really interesting to read about Celaena discovering how much power she has and how to control it. Sarah J. Maas does a really good job of writing the story and it feels like you are almost in the story! I loved this book.

I would definitely recommend this book to others! For anyone who loves a good fantasy/action series, this series is a must! I would say this series is at least for people ages 14+ because it can be intense at some parts.

Avery, 16

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King's Cage is the third book in the Red Queen series. It continues Mare Barrow's story of how she strives for equality between people of red and silver blood. At first all seems lost for Mare because despite her attempts to break free, she is stuck in a palace full of silvers, and is being tortured. As the book continues Mare eventually escapes the palace in an unexpected battle. She and her allies strategize new ways to take down the silver blooded king in order to create a world of equality.

This book was a little more slow moving than the previous book in this series because for about half of the book Mare is captured and not many interesting things happen. However, as the book goes on, Mare grows from her time that she spent captured and is more determined than ever— which makes the book more interesting.

I would definitely recommend this whole book series to others because it has a very well written and well thought out story. If you like dramatic books with lots of action and plot twists, I recommend that you read the Red Queen series.

Avery, 16

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This is the next book in the Thrown of Glass series. In this book, Celaena Sardothien is still trying to discover the darkness that could destroy their world. After an unspeakable tragedy, Celaena has to decide where her loyalties lay and who she really trusts in finding and defeating this darkness.

I really enjoyed reading this book! After getting hooked on the first book, I quickly read this one, and it only deepened my interest in this series. The character development in this series is amazing and I love to see how the characters grow throughout the book.

Yes, I would recommend this book to others! This series is fantasy fiction and is very intriguing! If your debating on reading this series, do it!

Avery, 16

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Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard is the sequel to her book Red Queen. Glass Sword tells the story of Mare Barrow, a 17 year old girl who lives in a society that is divided by blood color. However, Mare has the ability of a person with silver blood, but she is red blooded. After escaping her former life at a silver palace, Mare Barrow and her allies try to recruit people like her to join her side and fight against the silver king and her former fiancé, Maven.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book, despite some of the slow moving parts. As I read further into the book, I became more intrigued and interested in it. It felt like I was traveling along with Mare and her allies while she was on her journey when I reading this book.

I would recommend this book to people who liked Victoria Aveyard's first book Red Queen because this book continues the story of Mare Barrow. If you like action or fantasy books, you will most likely like Glass Sword. If you are looking for a new book series to get into, I recommend this one.

Avery, 16

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Arnold Spirit, Jr. wants more than his sad Native American reservation life. He wants to pursue a higher education, which lands him at an all-white school and pronounced a traitor to his people. He must now learn how to navigate his new life and learns to uncover a strength he never new he had.

I loved this book! It really reflects how racism is an ongoing issue in our society. The book was very fast-paced and had a captivating plot. The conflict and tragedies in the novel keep you captivated the whole way through.

I would totally, 100% recommend it!! The characters are so relatable and you're bound to have a connection to at least one of them. The only thing that might be concerning is the amount of profanity. There is frequent swearing throughout the novel and some sexual themes. There are also homophobic slurs occasionally tossed around, as well. I'd say the book is for more mature readers, around 13 and up. If you are sensitive to these kinds of topics or make you overly uncomfortable, I strongly suggest you do not read it. But, if you're a more mature person and can handle such themes, then by all means, read it!

Ofel, 13

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