Fairy Tail is a Manga or Graphic Novel series that has been written for teens ages 13 and up by author Hiro Masima.
Lucy is a seventeen year old wizard whose main goal in life is to join the wizard’s guild known as Fairy Tail, one of the most powerful wizard’s guilds in the country.
When Lucy becomes ensnared in a charm, she is inadvertently saved by a young wizard named Natsu and his talking cat Happy, who are on a quest to find the dragon known as Igneel. Natsu is a member of the Fairy Tail guild, and invites Lucy to join.
Little does Lucy know that Fairy Tail is not a normal wizard’s guild. It is filled with strange, interesting, and very powerful wizards. Now Lucy has joined up with Natsu on various jobs posted by the guild, but with his perchance for destroying property, would Lucy have been better off not being saved by Natsu?
I thought that this manga series has potential. There was enough action to keep a reader interested, as well as the start on some background information on the main characters. This series actually reminds me a bit of One Piece in its style. I would recommend this series for anyone who likes fantasy/adventure manga, and I believe that those who have read and enjoyed One Piece will also enjoy this series.
Lucy is a seventeen year old wizard whose main goal in life is to join the wizard’s guild known as Fairy Tail, one of the most powerful wizard’s guilds in the country.
When Lucy becomes ensnared in a charm, she is inadvertently saved by a young wizard named Natsu and his talking cat Happy, who are on a quest to find the dragon known as Igneel. Natsu is a member of the Fairy Tail guild, and invites Lucy to join.
Little does Lucy know that Fairy Tail is not a normal wizard’s guild. It is filled with strange, interesting, and very powerful wizards. Now Lucy has joined up with Natsu on various jobs posted by the guild, but with his perchance for destroying property, would Lucy have been better off not being saved by Natsu?
I thought that this manga series has potential. There was enough action to keep a reader interested, as well as the start on some background information on the main characters. This series actually reminds me a bit of One Piece in its style. I would recommend this series for anyone who likes fantasy/adventure manga, and I believe that those who have read and enjoyed One Piece will also enjoy this series.
Poetry for Young People is a series of short poems written by Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, and edited by Edward Mendelson.
This book is a collection of poems for children that have been written by Lewis Carroll. Some of the poems, such as How Doth the Little Crocodile, make fun of earlier poems written as serious poems instructing children how to behave. Other poems in this book, such as The White Rabbit’s Evidence, are taken from novels the author has written for children.
I thought that most of the poems themselves were quite entertaining. One poem in particular, Father William, made me laugh out loud.
Although I enjoyed the poems, I did not like how this book was edited. There are a few sentences at the beginning of each poem explaining what the poem is about, and I found that this detracted from the poem itself. I know for myself that if I like a poem, I like it for itself, and explaining what is going on in a particular poem takes away from the enjoyment I get at just reading and interpreting it myself.
I like Lewis Carroll’s poems, but I would not recommend this book of his poems in particular. I would find a book that has been not so heavily edited.
This book is a collection of poems for children that have been written by Lewis Carroll. Some of the poems, such as How Doth the Little Crocodile, make fun of earlier poems written as serious poems instructing children how to behave. Other poems in this book, such as The White Rabbit’s Evidence, are taken from novels the author has written for children.
I thought that most of the poems themselves were quite entertaining. One poem in particular, Father William, made me laugh out loud.
Although I enjoyed the poems, I did not like how this book was edited. There are a few sentences at the beginning of each poem explaining what the poem is about, and I found that this detracted from the poem itself. I know for myself that if I like a poem, I like it for itself, and explaining what is going on in a particular poem takes away from the enjoyment I get at just reading and interpreting it myself.
I like Lewis Carroll’s poems, but I would not recommend this book of his poems in particular. I would find a book that has been not so heavily edited.
The Curse of the Wendigo is a horror/supernatural thriller written by author Rick Yancy. This book has been award winners for the Booklist Editors' Choice - Books for Youth - Older Readers Category: 2010, and the YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2011.
The Curse of the Wendigo is based on journals three and four of a man named Will Henry that are found in senior citizen’s home after he has passed away. The first two journals are written in to the first book in this series – The Monstrumologist. Please note that the journals and stories are entirely fictional.
Set in the late 1800’s, Will Henry is a 12 year old orphaned apprentice of a doctor who studies monsters, Dr. Pellinore Warthrop. One day, Dr. Warthrop receives a letter informing him that his old mentor, Dr. von Helrung proposes to include the mythical creature, the Wendigo, as a real monster to the Monstrumologist Society in New York. The Wendigo is a creature that starves even as it consumes human flesh, and like a vampire, is created by turning a human into one of them.
While working on his rebuttal for this proposal one night, Muriel Chanler, the wife of Dr. Warthrop’s friend John shows up. John Chanler has disappeared in the Canadian wilderness while trying to find proof of the existence of the Wendigo.
Muriel Chanler begs for Dr. Warthrop to try and find her husband. Seeing this as a way to prove that the Wendigo does not exist, Dr. Warthrop agrees. Finding John Chanler being held captive by group of show more natives who believe that he is turning into a Wendigo, Dr. Warthrop rescues his friend. John is very sick, and must be carried out of the wilderness.
With John Chanler returning to New York to recover, Dr. Warthrop follows intending to give his rebuttal on the existence of the Wendigo, his main physical evidence being John Chanler himself. But instead, John Chanler might be proof of the existence of the Wendigo. John goes missing from his hospital room, and following his escape, there is a series of gruesome murders, where the victims have their hearts eaten.
Has John Chanler gone crazy from his time in the Canadian wilderness, or is it something much worse?
Although this is book two of the series The Monstrumologist, one does not have to read the first book to enjoy the second; each is written as its own stand alone story. I thought that this was a really good book. I think that older teens and adults will enjoy this book. The description of detail is amazing, which at times can work against it since the story is quite gory; so this might not be the best book to read before bedtime.
The settings in 19th century New York are believable, and the mix of truth and fiction in the settings themselves makes it hard for a reader to distinguish the difference between the two. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes horror or supernatural thrillers. show less
The Curse of the Wendigo is based on journals three and four of a man named Will Henry that are found in senior citizen’s home after he has passed away. The first two journals are written in to the first book in this series – The Monstrumologist. Please note that the journals and stories are entirely fictional.
Set in the late 1800’s, Will Henry is a 12 year old orphaned apprentice of a doctor who studies monsters, Dr. Pellinore Warthrop. One day, Dr. Warthrop receives a letter informing him that his old mentor, Dr. von Helrung proposes to include the mythical creature, the Wendigo, as a real monster to the Monstrumologist Society in New York. The Wendigo is a creature that starves even as it consumes human flesh, and like a vampire, is created by turning a human into one of them.
While working on his rebuttal for this proposal one night, Muriel Chanler, the wife of Dr. Warthrop’s friend John shows up. John Chanler has disappeared in the Canadian wilderness while trying to find proof of the existence of the Wendigo.
Muriel Chanler begs for Dr. Warthrop to try and find her husband. Seeing this as a way to prove that the Wendigo does not exist, Dr. Warthrop agrees. Finding John Chanler being held captive by group of show more natives who believe that he is turning into a Wendigo, Dr. Warthrop rescues his friend. John is very sick, and must be carried out of the wilderness.
With John Chanler returning to New York to recover, Dr. Warthrop follows intending to give his rebuttal on the existence of the Wendigo, his main physical evidence being John Chanler himself. But instead, John Chanler might be proof of the existence of the Wendigo. John goes missing from his hospital room, and following his escape, there is a series of gruesome murders, where the victims have their hearts eaten.
Has John Chanler gone crazy from his time in the Canadian wilderness, or is it something much worse?
Although this is book two of the series The Monstrumologist, one does not have to read the first book to enjoy the second; each is written as its own stand alone story. I thought that this was a really good book. I think that older teens and adults will enjoy this book. The description of detail is amazing, which at times can work against it since the story is quite gory; so this might not be the best book to read before bedtime.
The settings in 19th century New York are believable, and the mix of truth and fiction in the settings themselves makes it hard for a reader to distinguish the difference between the two. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes horror or supernatural thrillers. show less
How to be a Vampire is a horror/supernatural thriller written for grade school children by author R.L. Stine. This novel is also part of the Ghosts of Fear Street series.
Andrew Griffin is a twelve-year-old boy who is interested in all things paranormal – vampires, werewolves, monsters of all kinds.
One day, Andrew wakes up from a strange dream, a dream about letting a vampire into his room. But the strangest thing of all is the bite marks on his neck. Andrew believes that his best friend T.J. must be playing a prank on him, especially when he finds a book under his bed titled How to be a Vampire.
Now Andrew is developing the strangest symptoms: He can’t stand to eat garlic, he has become allergic to sunlight, and he cannot bring himself to cross flowing water. Andrew begins to believe he might actually be turning into a vampire; and now that it is really happening, he decides he doesn’t want to be one of the undead. Can Andrew find a way to reverse the effects of the vampire bite before he becomes a vampire himself?
I really didn’t like this book. I thought that the plot was too simple. There was almost no back story. By the second chapter, Andrew had already been bitten by the vampire. The story also moved along so quickly that there was very little detail. There was also very little character development. The characters seemed very one-dimensional and because of this, I didn’t really care one way or the other what happened in the end to the main character, show more Andrew.
When I was in elementary school, I was a big fan of books written by R.L. Stine, but I don’t think this is one of his better ones. I wouldn’t recommend reading this book in particular; R.L. Stine has written better ones that I believe would be more enjoyable for young readers. show less
Andrew Griffin is a twelve-year-old boy who is interested in all things paranormal – vampires, werewolves, monsters of all kinds.
One day, Andrew wakes up from a strange dream, a dream about letting a vampire into his room. But the strangest thing of all is the bite marks on his neck. Andrew believes that his best friend T.J. must be playing a prank on him, especially when he finds a book under his bed titled How to be a Vampire.
Now Andrew is developing the strangest symptoms: He can’t stand to eat garlic, he has become allergic to sunlight, and he cannot bring himself to cross flowing water. Andrew begins to believe he might actually be turning into a vampire; and now that it is really happening, he decides he doesn’t want to be one of the undead. Can Andrew find a way to reverse the effects of the vampire bite before he becomes a vampire himself?
I really didn’t like this book. I thought that the plot was too simple. There was almost no back story. By the second chapter, Andrew had already been bitten by the vampire. The story also moved along so quickly that there was very little detail. There was also very little character development. The characters seemed very one-dimensional and because of this, I didn’t really care one way or the other what happened in the end to the main character, show more Andrew.
When I was in elementary school, I was a big fan of books written by R.L. Stine, but I don’t think this is one of his better ones. I wouldn’t recommend reading this book in particular; R.L. Stine has written better ones that I believe would be more enjoyable for young readers. show less
Millennium Snow is a Manga or Graphic Novel series written for teens and drawn by author/illustrator Bisco Hatori.
Chiyuki is a teenager living with a heart condition that can take her life at any time. One day, while taking a walk around hospital grounds, she notices a boy fall from the roof of one of the hospital buildings. Hoping that he is all right, Chiyuki finds Toya, an eighteen year-old vampire who refuses to drink human blood.
Because he refuses to drink blood, Toya declines to enter into a traditional partnership with a human – one in which the vampire feeds off of his human partner and in return, the human shares the vampire’s long life span.
Because Chiyuki knows that she will not live much longer, she offers to be his partner, but Toya refuses. And yet, he is strangely drawn to her, even going so far as to become enrolled in her high school to make sure that she is alright.
I read the first book in this series. Although I tend to read a lot of Manga, I thought that this one was just OK. It seems that half of the romance novels out there for teens or for adults either contain vampires or werewolves, and this book has both. When I picked this book up, I didn’t realize that it was another human/vampire romance, or else I don’t think I would have read it.
Although I didn’t really care for this Manga, I believe that girls in their early to late teens who liked the Twilight novels will enjoy this series.
Chiyuki is a teenager living with a heart condition that can take her life at any time. One day, while taking a walk around hospital grounds, she notices a boy fall from the roof of one of the hospital buildings. Hoping that he is all right, Chiyuki finds Toya, an eighteen year-old vampire who refuses to drink human blood.
Because he refuses to drink blood, Toya declines to enter into a traditional partnership with a human – one in which the vampire feeds off of his human partner and in return, the human shares the vampire’s long life span.
Because Chiyuki knows that she will not live much longer, she offers to be his partner, but Toya refuses. And yet, he is strangely drawn to her, even going so far as to become enrolled in her high school to make sure that she is alright.
I read the first book in this series. Although I tend to read a lot of Manga, I thought that this one was just OK. It seems that half of the romance novels out there for teens or for adults either contain vampires or werewolves, and this book has both. When I picked this book up, I didn’t realize that it was another human/vampire romance, or else I don’t think I would have read it.
Although I didn’t really care for this Manga, I believe that girls in their early to late teens who liked the Twilight novels will enjoy this series.
Alienated is a science fiction novel for older children/teens written by author Andrew Auseon.
Gene and Vince are best friends who are reporters for the Globe, a weekly tabloid that the boys publish out of their junior high. Every week, the Globe publishes stories about strange aliens living among the humans in their community.
What most people believe is that these stories are made up, but everything they write about is true. When Gene and Vince discover that a local teacher has a dark secret, Gene believes that this is his ticket to fame and acceptance among his peers.
Vince is not convinced, but Gene goes behind Vince’s back and publishes the story in a special edition of the Globe. Instead of popularity, Gene and Vince are suddenly in the middle of an intergalactic conflict that has been waging for centuries, and now because of their story, the battle has come to Earth.
I thought that this was a pretty good book. There was plenty of action, and the different aliens had interesting powers and were very imaginative. I wouldn’t say that there was much character development, but plenty of action to keep a person entertained as well as a few twists to the plot.
Although this book is recommended for children age’s eight to twelve, the book is pretty thick, and I believe that teenagers interested in this genre will also find this book to be interesting.
Gene and Vince are best friends who are reporters for the Globe, a weekly tabloid that the boys publish out of their junior high. Every week, the Globe publishes stories about strange aliens living among the humans in their community.
What most people believe is that these stories are made up, but everything they write about is true. When Gene and Vince discover that a local teacher has a dark secret, Gene believes that this is his ticket to fame and acceptance among his peers.
Vince is not convinced, but Gene goes behind Vince’s back and publishes the story in a special edition of the Globe. Instead of popularity, Gene and Vince are suddenly in the middle of an intergalactic conflict that has been waging for centuries, and now because of their story, the battle has come to Earth.
I thought that this was a pretty good book. There was plenty of action, and the different aliens had interesting powers and were very imaginative. I wouldn’t say that there was much character development, but plenty of action to keep a person entertained as well as a few twists to the plot.
Although this book is recommended for children age’s eight to twelve, the book is pretty thick, and I believe that teenagers interested in this genre will also find this book to be interesting.
The Hound from the pound is a picture storybook written by author Jessica Swaim, and illustrated by Jill McElmurry.
When lonely Mary Lynn MacIntosh decides that she wants to adopt a dog, she ends up at the local pound where she falls in love with Blue, an untrained Bassett Hound.
Blue turns out to be the leader of the dogs at the pound, and summoning them with a loud howl, Mary Lynn’s home is suddenly filled with dogs!
Having a soft heart, Mary Lynn can’t stand the thought of taking the dogs back to pound. With the help of Sam, the pound’s dog trainer, Mary finds that even old dogs can learn new tricks, and that they can all live happily ever after.
I thought that this picture book was just wonderful. The pictures were entertaining and adorable, and the story itself, laid out in rhyme, was captivating and funny. This book keeps a person interested with its simple yet well thought out story and its excellent pictures, where there is always something going on in the background. I can definitely recommend this book to children (and adults) of all ages.
When lonely Mary Lynn MacIntosh decides that she wants to adopt a dog, she ends up at the local pound where she falls in love with Blue, an untrained Bassett Hound.
Blue turns out to be the leader of the dogs at the pound, and summoning them with a loud howl, Mary Lynn’s home is suddenly filled with dogs!
Having a soft heart, Mary Lynn can’t stand the thought of taking the dogs back to pound. With the help of Sam, the pound’s dog trainer, Mary finds that even old dogs can learn new tricks, and that they can all live happily ever after.
I thought that this picture book was just wonderful. The pictures were entertaining and adorable, and the story itself, laid out in rhyme, was captivating and funny. This book keeps a person interested with its simple yet well thought out story and its excellent pictures, where there is always something going on in the background. I can definitely recommend this book to children (and adults) of all ages.
Department 19 is a supernatural thriller written by author Will Hill.
After watching his father shot down as a child and the kidnapping of his mother, sixteen year old Jamie Carpenter finds himself under the protection of a top secret organization called Department 19, or “Blacklight”- a secret British organization charged with hunting vampires.
Jamie’s only goal is to get his mother back alive from Alexandru Rusmanov, an ancient vampire bent on luring Jamie out into the open. He joins Department 19, and with the help of Frankenstein, the immortal monster from Mary Shelly’s novel, and a vampire girl whose trustworthiness is questionable and yet to whom Jamie is attracted to, Jamie sets out to rescue his mother and to exact his revenge on the creature who ruined his life.
The one thing I did not like about this book was the side story/romance between Jamie and the vampire girl. I didn’t think that it belonged in this type of action book, and I thought it was playing a bit off of the popularity of Twilight. I for one am getting tired of all vampire books having a romance angle in them.
But this was a fast-paced, action packed book. This would be a good book for readers who like action packed novels, and would be suitable for older teens.
After watching his father shot down as a child and the kidnapping of his mother, sixteen year old Jamie Carpenter finds himself under the protection of a top secret organization called Department 19, or “Blacklight”- a secret British organization charged with hunting vampires.
Jamie’s only goal is to get his mother back alive from Alexandru Rusmanov, an ancient vampire bent on luring Jamie out into the open. He joins Department 19, and with the help of Frankenstein, the immortal monster from Mary Shelly’s novel, and a vampire girl whose trustworthiness is questionable and yet to whom Jamie is attracted to, Jamie sets out to rescue his mother and to exact his revenge on the creature who ruined his life.
The one thing I did not like about this book was the side story/romance between Jamie and the vampire girl. I didn’t think that it belonged in this type of action book, and I thought it was playing a bit off of the popularity of Twilight. I for one am getting tired of all vampire books having a romance angle in them.
But this was a fast-paced, action packed book. This would be a good book for readers who like action packed novels, and would be suitable for older teens.
Beauty is a retelling of the well-known fairy tale Beauty and the Beast written by author Robin McKinley.
This book has made it on to the American Library Association’s Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) list of Outstanding Books for the College Bound – Fiction for 1999, the 2002 YASLA list of the 100 titles considered to be the best books for young adults published between 1950 and 2000, and the 2010 YASLA list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Twists on the Tale.
Beauty is a girl with an unfortunate nickname. Not beautiful at all, but instead very plain, Beauty engrosses herself in scholarly pursuits. When her merchant father loses his fortune, Beauty’s family is forced to move to simpler accommodations in the country.
When Beauty’s father gets a letter from former business colleagues in the city, he sets out to see if his family’s fortune might change for the better. On his way home, he becomes lost in a snowstorm and stumbles upon a magical, seemingly empty castle. After spending the night, he heads for home, stopping to pick a rose from the gardens for his daughter Beauty along the way.
What the merchant finds out is that the magic castle is not as empty as it seems. A monstrous Beast appears, and is angered that the merchant has picked his roses. When he begs for his life, the Beast says that he has two choices: either one of his daughters comes to stay at his castle within the month, or the merchant must come back alone to meet his show more fate.
When his family hears his tale, Beauty decides that she cannot let her father go back to the Beast alone, and offers to take her father’s place. Arriving at the magical castle, Beauty must face living apart from her family, and the Beast.
This book fleshes out the original fairy tale version of Beauty and the Beast. I enjoyed the descriptive imagery of the various places that Beauty moves through in this book – from her home in the city, to her simple life in a small town, to the wondrous castle she finds herself living in.
Although I enjoyed the book quite a bit since the author fleshes out the original story, but I found that she does not add much in the way of original character development. Beauty feels like a very simple character, and I found that although I was interested in the story as a whole, I did not really care about Beauty as a person and her predicament.
I would recommend this book to any reader who enjoys fairy tales or fantasy books just for it descriptive imagery alone. show less
This book has made it on to the American Library Association’s Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) list of Outstanding Books for the College Bound – Fiction for 1999, the 2002 YASLA list of the 100 titles considered to be the best books for young adults published between 1950 and 2000, and the 2010 YASLA list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Twists on the Tale.
Beauty is a girl with an unfortunate nickname. Not beautiful at all, but instead very plain, Beauty engrosses herself in scholarly pursuits. When her merchant father loses his fortune, Beauty’s family is forced to move to simpler accommodations in the country.
When Beauty’s father gets a letter from former business colleagues in the city, he sets out to see if his family’s fortune might change for the better. On his way home, he becomes lost in a snowstorm and stumbles upon a magical, seemingly empty castle. After spending the night, he heads for home, stopping to pick a rose from the gardens for his daughter Beauty along the way.
What the merchant finds out is that the magic castle is not as empty as it seems. A monstrous Beast appears, and is angered that the merchant has picked his roses. When he begs for his life, the Beast says that he has two choices: either one of his daughters comes to stay at his castle within the month, or the merchant must come back alone to meet his show more fate.
When his family hears his tale, Beauty decides that she cannot let her father go back to the Beast alone, and offers to take her father’s place. Arriving at the magical castle, Beauty must face living apart from her family, and the Beast.
This book fleshes out the original fairy tale version of Beauty and the Beast. I enjoyed the descriptive imagery of the various places that Beauty moves through in this book – from her home in the city, to her simple life in a small town, to the wondrous castle she finds herself living in.
Although I enjoyed the book quite a bit since the author fleshes out the original story, but I found that she does not add much in the way of original character development. Beauty feels like a very simple character, and I found that although I was interested in the story as a whole, I did not really care about Beauty as a person and her predicament.
I would recommend this book to any reader who enjoys fairy tales or fantasy books just for it descriptive imagery alone. show less
The Billion Dollar Boy is a science fiction novel written for teens by author and physicist Charles Sheffield.
Set a few hundred years in the future, Shelby Jerome Prescott Cheever is the son of the wealthiest man on the Earth. Spoiled and used to getting his way, he convinces his mother to take him on a space cruise of the mined out asteroid belt. Bored and in a drunken stupor, Shelby Cheever dons a space suit and heads for a nearby node, a type of man-made wormhole that allows people and ships to travel instantaneously to other regions of space.
Too drunk to think straight, Shelby ends up in the Messina Dust Cloud 27 light years from Earth instead of the Kuiper Belt at the edge of the solar system, where he was aiming on going. Picked up by a ship harvesting heavy elements of the dust cloud, and heading away from the nearest node, no one believes that Shelby is rich (since most of the people on Earth are poor). To earn his keep, Shelby must work alongside the crew of the harvester.
When Shelby and the crew of the harvester meet up at Confluence to trade and socialize with other harvester crews during midseason, the only two people who believe Shelby about his wealth on Earth plot to kidnap him and hold him for ransom.
The Billion Dollar Boy is an exciting read. Although spoiled and rich, the reader learns to like Shelby Cheever as he learns how to be a productive member of the harvester crew. The setting, in a colorful and dangerous dust cloud light-years from the Earth show more stimulates the imagination, and the supporting characters are quirky and believable. The science behind the technology described is solid, as the writer is a physicist, and I believe that this would be a good book for teens who are interested in space and technology, as there is an abundance of both. show less
Set a few hundred years in the future, Shelby Jerome Prescott Cheever is the son of the wealthiest man on the Earth. Spoiled and used to getting his way, he convinces his mother to take him on a space cruise of the mined out asteroid belt. Bored and in a drunken stupor, Shelby Cheever dons a space suit and heads for a nearby node, a type of man-made wormhole that allows people and ships to travel instantaneously to other regions of space.
Too drunk to think straight, Shelby ends up in the Messina Dust Cloud 27 light years from Earth instead of the Kuiper Belt at the edge of the solar system, where he was aiming on going. Picked up by a ship harvesting heavy elements of the dust cloud, and heading away from the nearest node, no one believes that Shelby is rich (since most of the people on Earth are poor). To earn his keep, Shelby must work alongside the crew of the harvester.
When Shelby and the crew of the harvester meet up at Confluence to trade and socialize with other harvester crews during midseason, the only two people who believe Shelby about his wealth on Earth plot to kidnap him and hold him for ransom.
The Billion Dollar Boy is an exciting read. Although spoiled and rich, the reader learns to like Shelby Cheever as he learns how to be a productive member of the harvester crew. The setting, in a colorful and dangerous dust cloud light-years from the Earth show more stimulates the imagination, and the supporting characters are quirky and believable. The science behind the technology described is solid, as the writer is a physicist, and I believe that this would be a good book for teens who are interested in space and technology, as there is an abundance of both. show less