Teen Book Reviews: January 2024 page 2
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Review by Aurora I
The Hate U Give is an amazing fiction novel written by Angie Thomas that represents a lot of the discrimination people of color face every day. It is very well written and brings out many emotions. The novel is about a 16 year old girl named Starr who lives in a neighborhood which is mostly inhabited by POCs (people of color). One night she witnesses her friend being shot to death by a police officer. Starr goes to a predominantly white private school and has a hard time being her true self there, especially after the shooting. The whole book focuses on how she copes with what happens and how she uses her voice to make a change. This book covers many serious topics and does a great job of making the reader understand what Starr was going through. This book covers topics that are very prevalent in today's society. I would recommend this book to people of all ages. Although, it does cover sensitive topics so it might not be the best for some readers. I think that anyone could learn something and grow as a person after reading this book.
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Review by OF
A classic is very rarely called a classic for no reason; there is something in each one that is unique, poetic, and creates a vision of the world told differently than you have seen before. In one of the many iconic Dickens works, Oliver Twist, this authenticity is emphatic and devastating in its originality, most especially considering the era of publication. This book meets the high expectations that were expected of thanks to the playful style of Dickens’s witty remarks and their way of coinciding with the grim backdrop of impoverished darkness. When a mistreated orphan in the harsh hovels of Victorian England ventures to seek more than what he is told he deserves, Oliver’s winding journey begins. In an interminable walk to London on foot, his travels are intercepted by the deft Artful Dodger, who guides his new acquaintance into a life of thievery with his gang of criminals, headed by the manipulative overseer Fagin. What follows is a well-informed depiction of harrowing destitution through the eyes of a great many intricately connected criminals that holds as much community as it does desolation, as much rhythmic humor as harsh, classist realities. Making enemies and friends in a colorful snapshot of London’s rich history, Oliver learns about his beliefs, his origins, and his future, surrounded by those who helped him through perilous, lone wanderings, and those who kept him there. Armed with the strength of abandoned children, he comes into his own as Dickens reaches out to grip the heart of readers.