The Program by Suzanne Young

Title: The Program

Author: Suzanne Young

Student reviewer: Olga Vargas

Teacher: Mrs. Daughtrey

About this book

The book is about a place where suicide is an epidemic and a girl called Sloane is just trying to survive without getting sent to the program. The Program is a facility where you get sent if you are showing signs of Depression and they erase all of your memories that caused your depression.

What I liked about the book most was that it was romantic. I didn't like that the story just ended and I wanted to hear more about it.

Sloane is my favorite character because she is very smart and tough. Smart because she was smart enough to not get caught crying. She's tough because when she got out of The Program she was very tough because she handled being lost and having one memory but no reason to it.

A line that meant a lot to me says, "It's a ring. A pink plastic heart similar to the one I'd found in my mattress." I loved this line because in the beginning of the book he gave her a purple ring and when I read this line I just thought it was sweet because her mom said to her when James got sent to The Program "If it's meant to be, you'll find each other again." Funny thing is that they did find each other again.  

I feel this book is different than any other I've read because I've never read about teenagers being sent to a facility and having their memories erased.

I think others should read this book because its just perfect and I feel like you'll just love it.

The thing I want to know most at the end is “What happens next...?”

I think the story was amazing and I don't want to spoil it for anyone so all I say is check it out.

(Librarian note:  there is a sequel to this book called The Treatment and we have it in the Saint Library!  The third book in the trilogy will be released in 2015.)

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Book:  Tricks
Author:  Ellen Hopkins

This book can be found in the Contemporary section of the Saint library.

Initial Reaction

Wow, What an amazing book.  

About this book          

Trick is a book about 5 teens, 3 girls and 2 boys, who are lacking love. They question themselves about love and sex when they come across it. They meet people who made them feel special and thought they were in love. They run away with them to Las Vegas. The teens then do things they never thought or expected they would do. The people who they met weren't the people who they thought they were, and they try to find a way out of these lives.    

About the characters   

"The first character I feel strongly about would be Ginger Cordell. She was a girl who lived with her siblings, and her mom and grandma. She gets home from school noticing that no one is home but some strange guy. One guy after another, they rape her and say that they paid her mom already to do that to her.

The second one is Seth Parnel. He lives with his father because his mom died of cancer. He had a girlfriend but broke up with her because he realized he was gay. When his father finds out, he kicks him out. He leaves and stays with a guy he met at the bar. They move to LA.

The third one is Eden Streit. She lives with her parents and her sister. Her dad is a preacher. She has a boyfriend named Andrew. She tries to keep it as a secret from her parents but they find out and believe that she has been controlled by the devil and they send her to Tears of Zion. She meets a guy name Jerome and knows that he is her key to escape. She has to trade sex for food. Later on they escape, they get to a gas station and she then runs away. She gives sex for money." 

My opinion    

I would recommend this book to other students because it tells you the struggle some teens have in life. They met people who weren't the people who they think they were.

I think the author chose "Tricks" for this book because it is about teens that are learning about love and come across the wrong people who they thought they "loved". These people who they met made them feel the love and want but really they trick them for their bodies.

Reviewed by a student from Mrs. Daughtrey's class.

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