Martha_TheLibrarian

By: Grace S., Grade 11 Do you ever have times where you don’t feel your age? I don’t know about you, but the last time I truly felt my age was when I was 14. After that, it felt like time just kind of stopped, and I’ve been living in an extended moment where I…

Caraval by Stephanie Garber Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Fantasy YA  Length: 407 pages Stars: 5/5 The Book of Caraval will transport you to a dark, romantic, wonderland-like world where the Mad Hatter is calling the shots. The book follows 17-year-old Scarlett, who has dreamed of taking her sister Donatella to the magical game of Caraval…

By: Zhendi C., Grade 10 Overall rating 4.5/5. A cursed dragon lord bound to love with an artist that paints the future… It was not the background setting that amazed me first, but the book. I literally mean the physical book itself—the pages were covered with gold paints that shine whenever you flip it. Although…

By: Stella Y., Grade 8 Genre: YA fantasy  Length: 416 pages Stars: 5/5 Cruel Prince is a real page-turner, quickly rising in the ranks to become my new favorite series.   The story follows Jude, a 17-year-old girl whisked away to the Fairre world after her parents are brutally murdered. For 10 years, she has been…

By: Yunhan L., Grade 8   The experience of discovering one’s roots, as anyone who has done so can attest, is deeply grounding and often offers a change in perspective. Mai, who is known as Mia to her friends, has a name that captures the duality of life as a native of the California sand…

By: Erin M., Grade 10 Passing by one of the Palo Alto libraries, you may have seen a bright wall covered in sticky notes. At a glance, the walls might just seem like an array of squares, a cheerful display, something pretty to look at, but it is so much more than that. It is…

By:  Stella Y., Grade 8 Age Rating: 12+ Genre: Mystery  Length: 348 pages Stars: 5/5 A compelling read and one of my favorite series, The Inheritance Games, is out of this world. The story follows a 17-year-old girl who unexpectedly inherits a fortune from billionaire Tobis Hawthorn. To claim the money, she must live at…

By: Zhendi C., Grade 10 Overall rating 4/5. Is what you’ve seen really what it is? Or isn’t? Or is it? Or…isn’t? In the book, the protagonist Blake accepted a tenant called Whitney into his house. She looked pretty, kind, and harmless until Blake found out emptied shampoo and toothpaste, rotten apples gathered on the…

By: Aarya P.,  Grade 7 A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Realistic Fiction, Mystery Length: 400 pages Stars: 5/5     Pip, a high school senior, investigates the missing persons case of Andie Bell, who is now presumed dead. All the evidence points to Sal Singh, Andie’s boyfriend, but he…

By Aditya D., Grade 10 I’ve always loved amusement parks, the kind of love where you can’t help but get a little giddy when you hear the clack of a chain lift or the screams echoing from a distant drop tower. For me, California’s Great America has always been more than just a collection of…