The Program, by Suzanne Young

TW: Suicide. The Program, by Suzanne Young is about a dystopian world. Teenagers are killing themselves in higher numbers than ever before, and everyone knows someone who has been lost to the epidemic. Parents get frantic and the government decides to act. Their solution: The Program. Teenagers enter depressed and they leave without suicidal thoughts. However, their entire personality has changed and they act like “blank slates”. Sloane, the main character, has lost many people due to the epidemic. She and her boyfriend decide that they are never going to enter the Program and that they will stay together to get through it. They make sure that neither of them gives off warning signs so they can avoid it altogether. The story follows them through this dystopian world and engages with love, relationships, and suicide.

TW: Suicide. The Program is one of my favorite books of all time. It is a captivating dystopian romance that goes through the motions of teenage love and teenage feelings. If you are in high school, you will be able to relate to the characters and everything they have to deal with. The Program is a government solution to a suicide epidemic that breaks out in teenagers. With such a high rate of suicide, drastic action is taken to fix the issue. However, the Program has debatable results. While the kids who come out of it are no longer suicidal, they also don’t come back as themselves. In fact, kids get scared to go to the program so much that they kill themselves. Sloane, the main character, has had to deal with multiple losses both from the epidemic and the Program. I absolutely loved the series and immediately grabbed the next book. I enjoyed the relationships, the plot twists, and the characters that I met throughout the book. If you enjoy dystopian or romance books, you will fall in love with this series.

Reviewed by Catalina, Grade 11

Chevy Chase Library 

IT, by Stephen King

IT, by Stephen King tells as very breathtaking story about the group of teenagers who live in the town captured by the monster. Teenagers unite to go through all the difficulties, which are not only monsters, but also people who live in the town and unbelieve into any word teenagers say through those difficulties teenagers are going to change their thinking about everything they see in this town.

I don't think that "IT" is the best book to read as a person who was reading it for more than six months I can say that this book is very hard to read and also this book is too long for most of the readers and also many of those people who will read this book won't like that "IT" has too much scary moments and too many unpleasant moments. But if you are this kind of person who likes horror and also this kind of person who really, really likes reading and of course has many free time I am recommending this book for you, because it is very interesting to read. 

Reviewed by George, Grade 9

Glendale Central Library