Summer Reading Wrap Up
The Orem Library 2021 summer reading program has come to an end. This summer we’ve read our way through countless fairy tale worlds, fought fearsome dragons on mystical quests, escaped the treacherous traps laid by fairy tale villains, and so much more. As we wrap up summer reading, we are so proud of our community that collectively read more than 17,000 books and earned more than 20,000 summer reading badges. We especially commend the summer reading teams that made it on our leaderboard and the teams that completed our summer reading escape room with the top times. Way to go!
Patron Book Reviews
As part of our summer reading program, we asked Orem Library patrons to send us reviews of books they read and enjoyed this summer. Here are a few of the responses we received.
Cinderella Skeleton
By Robert D. San Souci
Junior Folktale
We found this book to be very funny! Milan, the obvious critic, responded to the question, “what did you think of this book?” with “cool!” She isn’t easily pleased. The book is longer than an average children’s book but a fun retelling. It is a creepy crawly story, but also a silly retelling of the classic fairytale. It is a classic in our family. Every single kid in our family has read it several times. 11/10!
Snowball
By Ellen Miles
Intermediate Children’s Book
In this book, there is a puppy left at a gas station. It is sick and hungry. Lizzie and Charles find the puppy and they take it home because their family fosters puppies. They take it home and help the puppy heal. Then they find it a good home. I like this book because it is about families healing puppies. This book is good for anyone who loves animals.
Reviewed by team Wagstaff
The Borrowers
By Mary Norton
Junior Fiction
In The Borrowers, little people hide in houses, but as the book commences, most of the borrowers have disappeared. Living under a clock is the Clock Family. The father of the Clock Family is seen by a little boy, so the family considers relocating. However, Mrs. Clock doesn’t want to move. Rather than moving, the family becomes friends with the little boy. In the climax, the Clock Family is seen by an old lady who reacts by calling in the rat catcher and police and getting a cat. My favorite part of The Borrowers was the end when it got exciting, but there were some boring parts. It’s a shorter book, only 180 pages, so I think younger elementary age kids could read it, and adults would enjoy it too.
Reviewed by team The Insiders
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
By Hugh Lofting
Junior Fiction
I like this book. It has a dog named Jip, and it tells the story of how Doctor Dolittle meet Long Arrow, another Doctor. Doctor Dolittle can speak to animals because he has practiced, practiced, and practiced. However, he couldn’t learn the shellfish language because it was too hard. This book is full of exciting things. Doctor Dolittle becomes king over all the Indians, he helps build a new village on Spider Monkey Island, and more. I think others should read this book because I love it so much.
Reviewed by team Vandagriff
Click’d
By Tamara Ireland Stone
Junior Fiction
This book was very good. It features a girl who, over her summer break, creates a game for a competition. She shows her friends the game and then the entire school. But soon a glitch breaks her system and causes the game to leak the players personal photos. She tries to fix it, and when she cannot figure it out she ask for the help of her arch-nemesis who is also competing in the competition.
Reviewed by team Junior Readers
Emerge
By Tobie Easton
Teen Fiction
Emerge is the best retelling of the The Little Mermaid that I have ever read. I have always loved fairytales, but I never got into the Disney version of The Little Mermaid because it just didn’t seem very real.
Emerge is a wonderful and captivating retelling. Lia is determined yet lost while trying to navigate her way through the human world. Her family has taken refuge on land because of the war brewing in the sea. Lia must adapt and become “human.” Lia is a wonderful narrator and protagonist. She doesn’t have everything figured out. She is exploring what it means to be human. She is curious and thoughtful and wants to see the world through her own eyes. Her love and determination drives her throughout the book.
Reviewed by team Bugeyedcampers
The Fill-in Boyfriend
By Kasie West
Teen Fiction
This book was very interesting to me. It had everything from romance to break up and betrayal. I liked how in the book, Gia was eventually able to understand her feelings and tell people what she felt. I also really liked Hayden’s mom because she wouldn’t judge anyone for what they were doing, and if they needed to talk she would always listen. This book was about Gia growing as a person and also learning to love her self. I loved this book, it was really good and the story was interesting.
Reviewed by team Ortega
Part of your World
By Liz Braswell
Teen Fiction
This is the fractured fairytale of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. This book is VERY different from the story we are so used to. Ariel fails to defeat Ursula and she has to live with the consequences of that failure. I actually liked this book. It isn’t anything like the story I grew up with. It takes place after the events of the story. Ariel is back in Altantica, Eric marries Vanessa nee Ursula, and King Triton is still a polyp and Ursula’s captive. So far I am liking Liz Braswell’s revisions of classic Disney stories.
Reviewed by team 25Cents
The Way of Kings
By Brandon Sanderson
Adult Fiction
I love all of Brandon Sanderson works but this book is amazing! All the plot twists and foreshadowing really keep you on your feet. I love that the characters seem so real and the way you get to know them…. is amazing. I really like that there isn’t just one main character that fixes all the problems. There are at least four but all the good guy characters really work together to save the world. I would highly recommend this to anyone you loves adventure!
Reviewed by team Bridge 4
Blood of Elves
By Andrzej Sapkowski
Adult Fiction
Blood of Elves is an amazing start to The Witcher series. There are novels that take part pre-Witcher series, but I wanted to start with this one. First off, I listened to this book on audio and the narrator really brought these characters to life. The narrator does an excellent job of giving the male and female characters life and different accents, and you can’t help but see the story unfold in your minds eye. I listened to a big chuck of this book while decorating a cake till the wee hours and it really helped to keep my mind occupied and alert while I pieced tiny bits of fondant together. I am looking forward to listening to the rest of the series.
Reviewed by team 25Cents
My Name Used to be Muhammad
By Tito Momen
Adult Nonfiction
This book was a fascinating look into the life and culture of Muslim families in very strict/orthodox communities. It was/is quite a different lifestyle and I was fascinated by his rich descriptions of his family life and school experiences. This book taught me the value of the freedoms that I enjoy, especially the freedom of religion. It was shocking to see how dangerous it was for the author to question the Muslim beliefs and to convert to Christianity. I was also amazed at the fears and restrictions placed around gender roles, travel, music and arts. I highly recommend this book. It’s very well written and informative. It made me think.
Reviewed by team Keeley Family
Tales from the BYU Sidelines
By Brad Rock
Adult Nonfiction
This book is about amazing things told and done throughout BYU football and funny things that happened that could be found nowhere else but in this book. It’s a very great book for any BYU fan old or young.
Reviewed by team Sandfam
