Orion Library Teens

The Tom Clancy book Battle Ready written with General Tony Zinni and Tony Koltz is a documentary of Zinni’s experiences in his illustrious career in the Marines as he served for the United States.  The book starts as Zinni is deployed in Vietnam, and goes through his many experiences.  This book would be good for someone who wants a fresh perspective on the situations that the United States faced, from humanitarian efforts to new fighting techniques.  Altogether, this story is a read that can be interesting, and shows the effectiveness of Zinni as he climbs through the ranks of the Marines.

Review by Ron and Nick Ostezan

The Library Lock-In is on Friday, August 21st at 8:00. It's when we spend the whole night together playing games, watching movies, doing crafts and not sleeping! It's a blast! We'll also do the drawing for the $100 gift certificate, the grand prize for summer reading. If you haven't brought your Bingo cards in, now is the time!

Danny's dad is Mexican and his mom is white. Dad left the family a few years ago to return to Mexico. Danny, who is an awesome baseball player, goes to live with his dad's family for the summer. He chooses not to speak, but makes a friend who helps him cope with his memories or his dad and to perform well on the baseball field even in the face of adversity. It sounds simplistic, but was well written. I liked the characters in the book.

Well, that's the end of the teen top 20 for 2009. Vote for your favorite book by emailing me or stopping by the library to pick up a ballot. See you at the library!

Danielle grew up aiding and abetting her parents thievery. She knows no other life than moving around, casing rich homes, and stealing the silver. Then she and her mom go to a small community called Heaven. She is befriended by a rich girl and falls for a cop. Her mom has targeted the rich girl's home and Dani doesn't quite know what to do or how to be anyone other than who she has always been. Good story. A quick read.

Leon has a crush on the popular girl (so what else is new) but he finds he has a lot in common and lots of fun with a girl who was horribly burned when she was little. He likes her a lot but can't seem to get over her scarred face. Just when things start to heat up, the popular girl makes advances. What's Leon to do? What's more important, looks or personality?  Good book.

Locke has something inside him called the venom. When something upsets him, the venom comes up and expresses his anger in violent ways. Afterward,Locke is exhausted and remorseful. His only friend Randall accepts him as he is and introduces him to a group of people. He becomes friends with Casey, who understands him because he has "the black" which is a lot like the venom. And he meets Renee who he really likes. Will the venom allow him to have friends?

Mitch is a geek (all humorous books about high school boys are about geeks) whose best friend tells him he's gay and who inexplicable gets invited to the prom by the most popular girl in school. The most time he's spent around girls up to this point has been with his sister and her friend. He also decides to do a claymation project on The Grapes of Wrath instead of writing a paper, which gets him in all kinds of trouble. It was a quick read and enjoyable.

Addy lives with her mom who is divorced from her step-dad, Dwight. Dwight got custody of her half sisters in the divorce and Addy misses them terribly. Her mom is neglectful and self centered. Addy just wants a normal life but living in a trailer mostly alone is anything but normal. Well written book with a great father-daughter and step relationship. I listened to it on audio and really liked the telling, especially the voice used for the youngest sister.

This powerful book that takes place in a fictional, peaceful African country. The neighboring country is in the midst of a civil war however, and the rebel general infiltrates and seizes the children to make them soldiers. Chanda is guardian to her brother and sister who are taken and vows to rescue them because she promised her mother, who died of AIDS, that she would always care for them. I liked how the book depicted a peaceful African nation, since all we hear about is war in Africa. I also think its vitally important to know about the children soldiers and how they are "recruited". A very good, engaging book.

Honey and Agnes are born and grow up in a religious compound run by a "prophet" named Emmanuel. Honey is an orphan and fed up with life in the compound, but Agnes is practicing to be a saint. Agnes' grandmother, who has always treated Honey like her own, finds out about the abuse Emmanuel inflicts on the children to make them obedient and decides to take the girls and Agnes's brother away. Told in alternating chapters from each girl's point of view, it is well written and I thought, really interesting.