Valerie's books

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Posted on Tuesday, October 30, 2012 by Rebecca in Valerie's books
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Title: The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Author: Mary E. Pearson

A Guest Review by Teen Room Staff Valerie...

"The accident was over a year ago. I've been awake for two weeks. Over a year has vanished. I've gone from sixteen to seventeen. A second woman has been elected president. A twelfth planet has been named in the solar system. The last wild polar bear has died. Headline news that couldn't stir me. I slept through it all."

Jenna Fox has just woken up from a coma. She can’t remember where she is, who her family is, or even who she used to be. While her personal memories are blank, she can remember the facts of the world she left behind. From the moment she woke up, she has been given disks to watch. These are disks of her past life containing moments from birth to the year she entered her coma.  As she watches the disks, she learns so much about a girl she is supposed to be. In reality, she is just trying to figure herself out in a world that may not be what it seems. Can she trust these people she calls Mom and Dad? Can she even believe in herself?

The story of Jenna Fox is unlike anything I have ever read. It doesn’t fit into any genre. This is actually one of the great things about this book. It has aspects of so many genres put into the story that is can interest many different teens. It brings in traits of science fiction, coming of age, teen love, and most importantly taking each moment and appreciating all that it can give you. Another great thing about this book is that none of the characters are perfect. A reader won’t automatically love them. This is because they are realistic. Pearson takes her time to make the characters and their actions believable.  

I would recommend this book to a younger reader who isn’t exactly sure of what they like to read. This book is a good opener of many different genres without being overwhelming. I would give this book a 3 ½ out of 5 stars.

--Valerie

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Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 by Melissa in Valerie's books
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Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Valerie!

I have to get a few things out of the way before I start this book review. 1. While I adore fairy tale retellings, I have never enjoyed the story of Cinderella. I didn’t love the idea of a girl just hoping and waiting for outside influences to change her life. Before this book, that’s all I felt about Cinderella. 2. This book has completely changed my mind.


The story of Cinderella is many of centuries old. Yet, Marissa Meyer found a way to reinvent this story into something new and exciting. In this version, Cinder is a cyborg in futuristic New Beijing. Cyborgs in this world have metal infused into their bodies for medical reasons. Instead of organic transplants, the lower classes have to take metal ones for nerve and muscle replacements. Once a person has one of these transplants, they are seen as part of an even lower class. They are treated as something to be avoided in society. Cinder has been a cyborg for as long as she can remember. She was brought to live with her “family” at the age of 11 and has no memory before then. Her mechanic “Father” traveled to England for work and returned with her to become a part of his family. He is one of the men who worked on her to save her life.


Cinder, now 16, works as a mechanic downtown to support her new family after her Father has died from the plague cursing the country. This could be enough to fuel this first book in the Lunar Chronicles. However, there is so much more. The Emperor has the plague, the (very handsome)prince shows up at Cinder’s shop to have his android repaired, the colony on the Moon is prepared to wage war on the Earth, and Cinder is on a path that will lead her to find out the secrets of her past.

--Valerie

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Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Posted on Friday, March 30, 2012 by Melissa in Summer Reading Lists, Valerie's books
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Title: Along for the Ride
Author: Sarah Dessen

A guest review from Teen Room staff Valerie!

I have always appreciated Sarah Dessen for her great character development. I fall in love with the characters and wish they really existed. This book is no exception. Dessen really knows how to make her creations believable, but with just a little extra romanticism thrown in.
      This book is focused on a girl named Auden. Her parents are both professors who bring an intellectual, if not abnormally social tone to her life. Auden didn’t have a normal childhood. She spent her evenings at her mother’s grad student dinners and her days waiting for her father to take a break from writing his never ending book. Her parents are now divorced and Auden lives with her mother while her father has a new family in a beach town a couple of hours away. It’s the summer before she leaves for college and she decides to take a break from her routine life to spend the next couple of months with her new step family.
      During the summer, Auden meets Eli. An insomniac like herself, they spend their nights exploring the town and trying to recreate the childhood she never had. Eli opens up about his past as he helps Auden try to make new memories. Auden learns to give people chances, even her family, and ends up making true friends along the way.
      This is a book about self discovery, love, patience, and the ability to change your life. Dessen will not disappoint with this. You will find yourself rooting for your favorite characters and yelling at the ones who just don’t get it. You won’t want the book to end. Definitely 4/5 stars.

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Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson

Posted on Monday, October 3, 2011 by Melissa in Valerie's books
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Title: Scarlett Fever
Author: Maureen Johnson

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Valerie!

Scarlett Fever is the second installment to the Suite Scarlett Series. It takes place in modern New York at the Hopewell Hotel run by Scarlett’s family. The book begins as Scarlett’s friends are returning from lavish vacations while she has spent her summer working for the eccentric Mrs. Amberson. Together, they have opened the Amy Amberson Agency, or AAA for short. At the moment, they have only one client. That client also happens to be Scarlett’s brother, Spencer. Scarlett is still pining away after Eric, Marlene is all of a sudden being nice, Lola is being oddly mysterious, and Spencer is still waiting for his big break. All of the best characters are back (plus some new ones you won’t want to miss) from the first book to make you laugh out loud and maybe even shed a tear or two. This book will capture your attention with beautiful writing and characters you wish were real. You won’t want the book to end.

-- Valerie

P.S. Maureen Johnson's new book The Name of the Star just came out last week. It's the first book in a new series about Jack the Ripper. Place your hold now, you don't want to miss this one!!

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Belle : a retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" by Cameron Dokey

Posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 by Melissa in Valerie's books

A guest review from Teen Room Staff Valerie!

There was always more to the story of Beauty and the Beast than Disney® decided to show us. Annabelle grew up in a wealthy family where her siblings are what her Mother always wanted in her children, and she can’t ever live up to her standards. Her father is the only one who understands her. Her name means beauty, but with her gorgeous sisters around to cast their shadow over her, her name only ridicules her further. Even though there is enough trouble in her life already, storms churn over the oceans making it impossible for her father’s merchant ships to return home. Annabelle’s wealthy family is pushed into a life of poverty. Traveling through the deep forest, she travels to her new home, where her world is flipped upside down. A few months later, her father hears word from the city that one of his ships made it safely home from the storms, and begins the three day journey back. When Annabelle’s father returns home, he’s holding a secret that not even he’s sure is real. An adventure is in store for Annabelle and her family, one that will change everything forever.

Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale. I have read at least seven versions of the story, but this version is one of my favorites. Cameron Dokey added more magic and love to the original story, and even though this is a short book, it captures your attention and your heart.

--Valerie

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

Posted on Friday, May 15, 2009 by Melissa in Valerie's books


A guest review from Teen Room Staff Valerie!

Scarlett grew up in inter-city New York in a hotel run by her middle class family. She has an older sister who is dating a wealthy man from the close knit circle of New York’s businessmen, a young sister who has recently battled cancer, and an older brother trying to find work as a stunt actor on Broadway. On Scarlett’s fifteenth birthday, her world takes a sudden twist. She is assigned a room of the hotel to take care of, and a woman shows up to occupy it for the entire summer. This new guest changes the entire family, and teaches them about Broadway, family, love, revenge, and caring about each other. Suite Scarlett is a book you won’t want to put down. Maureen Johnson lets you connect fully with the different characters, and has created the perfect read for summer.

I loved this book because I experienced so many emotions while reading this book. I felt sorrow, anger, joy, and laughter. This book was a story of a girl who gets to see what life is like outside of her small hotel. I caught a glimpse of New York from an insider’s view, and I connected with every character of this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun summer read. In this book, you can experience so many stories in one.

--Valerie

P.S. Check out both cool covers!!