Skip to main content

Congratulations! Teen SRC Winners Final Week

Congratulations! Teen SRC Winners Final Week

This summer has officially come to an end! Thank you to every one of you who have participated in the Teen Summer Reading Club blog this summer! I’ve really enjoyed reading all of your reviews and thoughts about books this summer. We’ve got some great epic readers on this blog and some truly great writers. Thank you for making this blog a great read! i

Don’t forget to send in your Design Contest entries for the Teen SRC design next year!

This is the final week of the Teen SRC and, since it’s the final week, I’ve decided to have 3 winners this week: Kelsey C, Miriam T and Eileen X! Congratulations! We will send you an email to collect your prizes.

Teen SRC 2022 – The Score by Elle Kennedy

The Score by Elle Kennedy is the third book in the Off-Campus series. The third book in this series revolves around the college lives of Dean Heyward-Di Laurentis and Allie Hayes. Dean is someone who only does sex. He doesn’t disrespect anyone or make fake promises, but he explicitly clarifies his intentions when hooking up and clears everything out before making a move. He isn’t ashamed about talking about sex or how much he loves it in front of anyone. On the other hand, Allie is the opposite of Dean and doesn’t do casual sex. She loves every aspect of relationships. She loves cuddling, spending time, and all the cute and lovely things of being in a relationship. Allie and Dean cross paths due to their best friends (Hannah and Garret dating). When Allie comes over to Garret’s place (which all the boys share and live in) to avoid her ex-boyfriend Sean, the last thing she imagines doing is drinking tequila and having sex with Dean. Once this happens, they decide to keep it a secret as their friends would go crazy since Hannah specifically told Dean not to hook up with Allie. But after this one-night stand, Dean can no longer think sexually of any girl besides Allie and only wants her. This book shows how one goes from not being in love to being in love so unexpectedly. This book also shows how hard times can change a person and how it is

If I had to choose a favourite book from this entire series (which would be so hard for me to do as I enjoyed every one of these books, including the novella), it would be this one. I loved every small thing about Dean and Allie and how they got together and worked on their relationship. Out of all the hockey boys, Dean was the one that intrigued me the most, and I was so excited to find out how someone who doesn’t do relationships would fall in love. Another thing that I loved about this book was how it shows how hard times can change a person and how important it is to have a strong support group. Like the other two novels, this book also covers serious topics such as the grief of losing someone and excessive drinking. I loved this book!

Rating: 11/10 stars

Teen SRC 2022 – The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

The Mistake by Elle Kennedy is the second book in the Off-Campus series, which follows the life of Logan, short for John Logan and Grace Ivers. Logan is a junior in college who plays hockey. His life is full of hockey games, practices, parties, and girls lined up to hook up and even date him. But apart from this luxurious world, Logan is dreaded to graduate as his life after graduation is something he is not ready for. He’s also done having a thing for his best friend’s girl and tries to avoid being around them at all costs. On the other hand, Grace is a freshman in college and the literal meaning of the girl next door. She gets good grades, is the typical good girl, works hard, and avoids anything rebellious. One day while leaving his house to dodge a party, John accidentally ends up knocking on the wrong dorm door and meets Grace. They end up watching a movie together and essentially hooking up. They hook up regularly from here, although Logan wants nothing serious, and Grace is catching feelings. When Grace tells Logan, she’s a virgin, he ends up blowing her off and messing up big time. From here onwards, Logan realizes his mistake and spends the rest of the book winning Grace back and making it up to her.

This book was an exciting book that I read because how the author included Garret and Hannah from The Deal. This book also had characters from the rest of the books in the series, and it made me happy how there’s a book on each of the boys from the friend group, just like in the first book, serious topics such as alcohol addiction and forgiveness were included in this book. This book also alternated between the point of view of Logan and Grace. All in all, this book had the perfect amount of romance and comedy. I also loved how this book is similar but different from the first book. The hockey aspect of this book and series also kept me hooked.

Rating: 9/10 stars

Teen SRC 2022 – A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

The book that I recommend is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. Although I’ve read this book quite a while before, this novel is still very touching and shines in my childhood. The main character Meg Murry, Charles Wallace Murry, and Calvin O’Keefe goes on a journey through space and time, from galaxy to galaxy, as they try to save the Murrys’ father and the world. The novel offers a glimpse into the war between light and darkness, and good and evil, as the young characters mature and develop through their journey. Each of them has a unique ability and the adventurers gradually discover their ability and use it against the darkness (evil).  The book is written by Madeleine L’Engle and is a highly suggested piece of literature for teens who are into fantasy fiction. 

Read More

Teen SRC 2022 – Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe

Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe – 9/10

This book follows Henri Haltiwanger, a Haitian-American who is a senior at FATE Academy, which is a fancy private school in New York. He constantly juggles his dog-walking business, debate club, and complicated relationships as he stresses about university. He believes that he has it all under control, but throughout the book it is clear that he starts to lose grasp. Henri is a social butterfly, receiving invites to many parties and has a great reputation! Everything were normal until Corrine Troy, his neighbour and classmate, blackmails him into teaching her how to be more sociable and outgoing. As the end of the year approaches, Henri is torn between living up to his father’s dream by going to a prestigious university, or pursuing what he is truly passionate about.

I enjoyed this book as it shows how family expectations can overwhelm and prevent a person from striving for their dreams. The characters are easy to get attached to and I was sad when the book ended. Would recommend!


Teen SRC 2022 – Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Lord of the Flies by William Golding, 7/10

This book is about a group of boys (young, around 7 – 12) that get stranded on a desert after suffering a plane crash. Due to the lack of adult supervision or rules, the group falls apart and results to anarchy.

I think this book is great, although some scenes were a bit confusing, which could be a bit on my part. I enjoyed the second half more mostly because there was more action. Good book that makes you really think about the importance of rules, boundaries, and order.

Congratulations! Teen SRC Winners Week #8

Summer is coming to a close with a lot of good books and great book reviews! It’s been so good this summer, I’ve decided to CONTINUE THE TEEN SUMMER READING CLUB FOR 1 MORE WEEK!! Yay!!! Thank you to everyone who has been participating this summer! Keep them coming because even if you’ve already won this summer, you could win again

We will be awarding prizes all summer long, so keep those reviews coming! Every winner will get their choice of a teen book, a gift certificate for a free smoothie from Booster Juice, a pass for the Richmond Oval, a swim pass for the Aquatic Centre at Minoru pool, and some swag like a water bottle and other fun things.

Also this year, EVERY PERSON who posts a teen book review on the blog (not just the weekly winners) will get a $10 gift certificate that can be redeemed at Exit Richmond There is 1 certificate per person and it will be given for the first Teen book review you post. I’m very excited that the Teen SRC has a partnership with Exit this year, so start posting!!!

This week’s winner have been writing some great reviews this week. The 2 winners for this week are: Erin S and Kayla S! Congratulations! We will send you an email to collect your prizes. And don’t forget! There’s ONE MORE WEEK TO WRITE REVIEWS AND WIN!

Teen SRC 2022 – Positively Teen: A Practical Guide to a More Positive, More Confident You by Nicola Morgan

This is a non-fiction book, Positively Teen: A Practical Guide to a More Positive, More Confident You by Nicola Morgan, provides basic tips and information on living a healthy life. It includes both physical and mental aspects such as exercise, eating, sleep, attitudes, and mentality. There are graphics and drawings on every page to engage the teen reader instead of a regular, all-words type of book. I think it is a decent introductory guide to begin learning about our mental and physical health. It is simple, straight-forward, and easy to comprehend.

Personally, this book was too easy for me because I have already learned most of the concepts through other sources. School, Ted-Ed, YouTube, Internet, family and other social media platforms have given me a lot of advice even though some are misleading. However, reading non-fiction tends to be a boring activity, so this was a small challenge for me to get through the whole book. I would use it as a brief summary of how to live healthier and survive the turbulent teenage years. I think if I had read this a few years prior, I would have found it more helpful because I was inexperienced and naïve back then.

Overall, I would recommend this book because it is practical and beneficial for those who are in their early teenage years. No one taught me how to deal with negative events and feelings when I was younger, so I struggled. But this book and other similar self-help books will support youths’ lack of inexperience in the world and help them adjust. Please learn to be happy and healthy everyone! It’s actually really important!

Teen SRC 2022 – People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry

I’d like to say first off I read this book (People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry) only because I saw it in a neighbourhood tiny library, like the ones that look like birdhouses. I don’t usually see anything not ancient in those so I swapped it, this book is a modern day rom-com book with minimal colours and cartoon-like covers, it’s generic at this point. I have seen too many. So about the book, Poppy and Alex who used to be best friends who took vacations to new places every summer but then something happened and now they don’t speak at all. It features a lot of time skipping, one chapter will be set five years ago, and the next is “present” day, it was annoying to keep up with but fun, the time skips slowly move towards the big happening that split up the best friends. Poppy is loud, straightforward, and friendly, but I found her somewhat annoying, Alex is quiet but different around Poppy, more extroverted, the book makes his entire personality khakis at the start, so he’s reduced to a pair of trousers that had a falling out with Poppy. It all changes though when they take a trip for the first time in years together so Poppy can write for her travel career. The rest is history, I liked this book because of the quick pacing, and I disliked this book because it’s generic and some parts made me shrivel up inside, I would rate this a 4.5/10, I do know some people that like this book, but it’s just not for me.

Teen SRC 2022 – The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

“I do not believe ambitious men who say the only route to peace and prosperity lies in giving them more power—particularly when they do it with lands and people who are not theirs.”

A behemoth compared to the first two installments in the City of Brass trilogy, The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty is divided into three POVs, in which readers trace the experiences of Nahri and Ali as they gather allies to conquer Daevabad, and Dara, who is now the infamous general of the Banu Manizheh after seizing Daevabad. With most of the emphasis placed on these three characters, particularly Nahri and Ali, I can’t help but notice the inconsistencies of Ali’s character development over the course of the trilogy. Drifting in the boat along the Nile with Nahri, he is hit hard with guilt and grief over his inability to save Mutandhir, who Ali believes is dead.

Read More