Book Review: The Young World by Chris Weitz

Summary:

Welcome to New York, a city ruled by teens.

After a mysterious Sickness wipes out the rest of the population, the young survivors assemble into tightly run tribes. Jefferson, the reluctant leader of the Washington Square tribe, and Donna, the girl he's secretly in love with, have carved out a precarious existence among the chaos.

But when a fellow tribe member discovers a clue that may hold the cure for the Sickness, five teens set out on a life-altering road trip, exchanging gunfire with enemy gangs, escaping cults and militias, braving the wilds of the subway--all in order to save humankind.

Review:

The Young World by Chris Weitz may possibly be the first book to a series. The viewpoint switches each chapter between two teens; Jefferson and Donna, who live together at a camp they took part in establishing. When a friend finds a chance at curing the sickness that kills all the children and people over 18, a group of 5 set out. On their journey they face the challenges of a world run by teens and find out who they are.

            This was a different but good take on an end of the world scenario. With everything run by teens, it’s really cool how the author has set up the many scattered societies, and they are very realistic. What makes the whole story seem real is how it’s written; it’s similar to the way teens talk and text and think so teen readers really feel in touch with the characters. I would definitely recommend it to teens as it also has a love story to it and it’s a fun adventure.

Teen Reviewer: Ian

Avengers Teen Lock-In!

Last night the Orillia Public Library hosted another amazing teen lock-in for our Heroes VS Villains March Break!  We created a life sized Avengers Monopoly board where the teens each got to represent an Avenger Superhero.  Team Hulk and team Ironman were the last Superhero's standing and they had an epic Rock, Paper, Scissors battle to determine who got to pick prizes first.  Top prizes included brand new comic books, movie tickets donated by Orillia Galaxy Cinemas, Lord of the Rings gear, Doctor Who t shirts and more. We ended the night devouring pizza and a few teens stayed behind for a hilarious photo-shoot.  A special thanks to our AMAZING Georgian College CYW placement students and our dedicated teen volunteers!  We couldn't have done it without you!

Each team was given Avenger Hero wrist cuffs, a hero card and hero place markers! 

 Megan rockin her hero costume!

 Super Kassandra!

 Alex AKA, "The Neon Lord"

 Batman and Captain Sparkle!

 

Team Hulk

Team Iron Man

 Team Scarlet Witch

 Game in progress!

 Pizza time!

 The most intense game of, "Rock, Paper, Scissors" the library has ever experienced!

 Kaleigh ALWAYS wins!

 

 Photo shoot time!

 Blank faces..........

 Jazz hands!

 

 

Book Review: The Death of Us by Alice Kupiers

Summary:

Callie is shocked when her friend Ivy reappears after an unexplained three-year absence, but the girls pick up where they left off, and suddenly Callie’s summer is full of parties, boys and fun. Beneath the surface, things aren't what they seem, however, and when a handsome boy with a dark past gets tangled up with Ivy, the girls’ history threatens to destroy their future.

Review:

The Death of Us is fast paced and captivating.  Alice Kuipers brilliantly weaves 3 character viewpoints with a quick moving plot-line.  The story is filled with familiar teenage angst and drama, but settles into a deeper pit of emotions that the characters attempt to navigate through to the end.  The Love triangle evolves as you might anticipate but becomes much more complicated as the reader flips between present and recent events.

I thought this book was a great read.  The short chapters were easy to follow despite the multiple viewpoints and time jumping.  The brisk plot has some predictable moments but managed to surprise me in the end… and I highly recommend reading to the end.

Happy Reading,

Valerie

YA Readers Advisor