Books help people connect through words and tell stories across the ages.
I have read many books and have developed many personal opinions on them. I’ve also developed strict criteria for what makes a good book. It needs to be engaging throughout, have a well-organized story, and be a book I think back on fondly. The following books are my personal favorites.
The books featured in this review are not sponsored by the school and are presented solely for entertainment, not educational, purposes.
3 – Lemonade Wars by Jacqueline Davies
I first read this in third grade, and I’m not sure why, but it has always stuck with me. It may be how, as a kid, making a lemonade stand to get rich was always the dream. The story is simple: Two siblings fighting to see who can raise the most money through lemonade stands in one summer. The winner gets all the losers’ earnings.
While being very simple, and well below most high school students’ reading level, it still holds a really special place in my heart. I never wanted to put it down when I was reading it, and I’ve re-read it multiple times since. It’s a quick, fun read that’s engaging and silly.
2 – Far From The Tree by Robin Benway
This was and currently is the only book that I have finished in one day. I pulled an all-nighter during the summer and read the whole thing. It’s about three siblings, who have been adopted/placed in the foster care system. It follows each person’s story, and how they get to know each other while simultaneously struggling with things in their personal lives.
The chapters rotate perspectives, following middle, youngest, and oldest. I loved this book. It covers so many interesting and confusing topics really well, all while making the characters feel like more than characters; they feel real. I think about this book a lot, and it’s one of my go-to reread books.
1 – Dance of Thieves duology by Mary E. Pearson
These books are the two most engaging books I’ve ever read. I stayed up multiple nights reading these books. It’s the story of two characters: Kazi sent on a mission to return a wanted criminal, and Jase, the new leader of the oldest kingdom on the land. The duology is a sequel to a trilogy set in the same world.
Though I never read the trilogy the books are based on, I still understood what was happening. The foreshadowing was amazing, and the way the world was built was beautiful.
While readers tend to have their personal favorites set in stone, I highly suggest giving these books a try. Books are easy to come by, but great books are much harder to find. And while none of the books listed above are “classics,” they are well worth a read. Who knows, maybe your next favorite book is one of them.
