2024 the best books for teens review

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When Jessica is told she’ll never run again, she puts herself back together—and learns to dream bigger than ever before. The acclaimed author of Flipped delivers a powerful and healing story.
 
Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She’s not comforted by the news that she’ll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run?
 
As she struggles to cope, Jessica feels that she’s both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don’t know what to say act like she’s not there. Jessica’s embarrassed to realize that she’s done the same to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she’s missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her.
 
With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that’s not enough for her now. She doesn’t just want to cross finish lines herself—she wants to take Rosa with her.
 
“Inspirational. The pace of Van Draanen’s prose matches Jessica’s at her swiftest. Readers will zoom through the book just as Jessica blazes around the track. A lively and lovely story.” —Kirkus Reviews

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ember; 1st edition (January 10, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0375866280
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0375866289
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 11 - 13 years, from customers
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ HL650L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 - 12
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
Reviewer: Beth Settje
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent and Multifaceted
Review: We were introduced to the book this year as it is on a list of suggested summer reading choices for my soon to be 7th grader. A friend read and recommended it to my daughter, who then bought it. Three days later, she came to me and insisted I read it too. I am very glad I did, as it is a well written story about facing adversity, understanding matters bigger than oneself, and overcoming obstacles.Jessica, the main character, loses part of her leg after a car accident. At sixteen, that alone would be very difficult to cope with; however, Jessica is a fast runner on the track team, and to lose her leg makes her feel like she has lost her freedom. The book is in five parts, with very short chapters in each section, so it moves along at a very quick pace. The story opens with Jessica facing the reality of not having a leg and continues with her going through different stages of denial, anger, acceptance, and ultimately resolve. She has some supportive friends, a realistic family, and doctors who care but don't always know how to express themselves well to a teenage girl. Along the way to her recovery, Jessica learns more about herself, her fortitude, and her character than she ever expected. The author does an excellent job taking the reader along on the journey.This review is vague, because I don't want to share too much about the plot and inadvertently give away a spoiler. Suffice it to say, the book is great for middle school and high school students. There is no inappropriate language or behaviors, and the lessons learned will be relevant to the 11-17 year old age group. As an adult, I also found it meaningful and am glad my daughter suggested I read it.

Reviewer: Margo
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Such an inspirational story!
Review: I really loved this book! Very well written with amazing detail about this young woman's journey from tragedy to triumph. It should be required reading for all teens.

Reviewer: ASGIRL
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great book!narrative.
Review: My 6th grader read it and really liked it. Good story and inspiring natravtive.

Reviewer: Jennifer Dodson
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The Running Dream, a book with every emotion.
Review: Saying that The Running Dream is an amazing book is an understatement. The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen is full of passion, tragedy, hard work, friendships, and love. When a teenage girl, with a passion of doing track gets her leg amputated she is forced to learn the way of the world with one leg and without her true love of track. Throughout this story you will hear about her journey as she goes through it.This story is about Jessica, a girl in her junior year of high school. She has a strong love for track and has created a close bond with her teammates. One day she gets injured and her leg ends up having to get amputated. Jessica doesn’t know how to handle this news, she is heartbroken. She first has to get through the struggles of her friends and family coming into her hospital room and reminding her that she only has one leg. Then, she has to get used to standing up on one leg, using the bathroom, bathing, all the basic necessities of living. She doesn’t like using a wheelchair when she gets home so she is challenged to learn how to use crutches around the house and eventually up and down the stairs. But the biggest struggle for her is understanding that she can’t do track.The Running Dream may not appeal to everyone but any athlete with a love for their sport especially, will definitely be drawn into this book immediately. This book is not only passionate but relatable. As you continue to read the book you hear how Jessica gets through such a life changing struggle. It explains all of her thoughts and how she deals with this process. The highs and the lows and dedication to get back to her normal life. It is an inspiring book to read, the author did very well. The writing is very mature and well written. However, Jessica’s feelings are very repetitive about the same things. It feels as if you are hearing the same sad emotions she is feeling repeatedly, but it definitely is not a big enough issue to change my opinion on the book.Overall, I have really enjoyed reading this book. It is full of emotion, dedication, passion, love, and laughs. It can be a little sad a times, but this book is great for any type of reading you are interested in. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. The Running Dream is not disappointing book.

Reviewer: Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This book was amazing! I loved Jessica’s story with all her supportive friends! Quality was amazing! 🧡

Reviewer: alison murphy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This is a fab story. It’s full of heart. I’t probably does gloss over the struggles of being a teen amputee but it was an uplifting read.

Reviewer: Anon_Review
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: If you are a runner, you gonna love it whatsoever.

Reviewer: JAM
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: 人のあたたかみにあふれたお話でとても良かったです！あっという間に読んでしましました！日本の中学生にはまだ難しいかな・・・高校、大学生にはおすすめできます！

Reviewer: Amazon Kunde
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I read this book because I was looking for a young adult novel (topic: sports) which I could read with my students (ESL, year 5) and found my winner! Simple language style, great and touching story and relatable characters. Thumbs up, great book! I enjoyed it very much and hope so will my students 🙂