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QJS Library Learning Commons

Book Reviews
by QJS Students and Teachers
Read something recently? Submit your own review!


The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Overall Rating: 6/10 "Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 15, 20231 min read


Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
Overall Rating: 7/10 In a small town beside a river in Old England, the townspeople have a mysterious stranger fall into the pub with a...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 15, 20231 min read


Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
Overall Rating: 7/10 "The clearest metaphor I had for my own gender identity in college was the image of a scale. A huge weight had been...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 15, 20231 min read


The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Overall Rating: 5/10 "Yes, the Fuhrer decided that he would rule the world with words. 'I will never fire a gun,' he devised. 'I will not...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 15, 20231 min read


Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Overall Rating: 9/10 Shadow and Bone is about a girl that discovers she has a special power that changes not only her life, but the...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 15, 20231 min read


Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Overall Rating: 10/10 1930's Mississippi is not a safe place to be Black - a lesson that Cassie Logan and her brothers are just beginning...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 15, 20231 min read


Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
Overall Rating: 9/10 In Monkey Beach, the main protagonist Lisa tells the story of her past and cultural heritage living in Kitimat, BC...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 15, 20231 min read


Cul-de-Sac by Joy Fielding
Overall Rating: 8/10 This book is about a little neighborhood cul-de-sac in Florida. It is a mystery novel told from the point of view of...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 15, 20231 min read


Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe
Overall Rating: 9/10 Saye has always lived a privileged and lavish life. But one car crash changes his life forever. One thing I liked...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 10, 20231 min read


The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Overall Rating: 8/10 This book is about a well-off student who doesn't do well in the fancy schools his parents put him in. He is a...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 8, 20231 min read


The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Overall Rating: 10/10 How does a caterpillar become a beautiful butterfly? Not by eating donuts! This is a great read for very young...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 8, 20231 min read


River's End by Nora Roberts
Overall Rating: 8/10 Hollywood comes with beautiful things...but also with devastation. A young girl grows up sheltered from the horror,...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 8, 20231 min read


The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney
Overall Rating: 9/10 As the seventh son of a seventh son, Tom can see things others can't. One day, a Spook comes to make him his...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 8, 20231 min read


Trigger by N. Griffin
Overall Rating: 8/10 All Didi wants to do is make her father happy. But all he wants is a prodigy. One thing I liked about this book is...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 8, 20231 min read


The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Overall Rating: 8/10 When a virus wipes out 98% of America's children, the ones left behind develop strange powers. Scared of their new...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 8, 20231 min read


The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
Overall Rating: 8/10 Nahri is a con-woman living in 18th Century Cairo. Ali, the second-born prince of a mythical djinn kingdom. The City...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 8, 20231 min read


Plank's Law by Lesley Choyce
Overall Rating: 6/10 The doctors say he's only got a year to live. But first he's made a list - one he wants to complete. Overall, I...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 3, 20231 min read


A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality by Molly Muldoon and Will Hernandez
Overall Rating: 7/10 This nonfiction book covers some of the ins and outs of asexuality and aromanticism. It has fun visuals and good...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 3, 20231 min read


Partials by Dan Wells
Overall Rating: 8/10 This novel presents a terrifying dystopian future in which nearly all Earth’s population has already been wiped out...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 3, 20232 min read


The Splendid City by Karen Heuler
Overall Rating: 1/10 A rebellious witch and a talking cat - no, I'm not talking about Sabrina. Eleanor and her reluctant roommate (who...
Britt Ratzburg
Feb 3, 20231 min read
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