Unter der Leitung unserer Englisch-Kollegin, Frau Wöltgen, haben einige Schülerinnen Rezensionen zu englisch-sprachigen Jugendbüchern geschrieben. Was sie empfehlen? Lesen Sie selbst:
Stephen Chbosky: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
My favorite of the year is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. It’s about a boy named Charlie who starts his first year of high school and is faced with various problems. I liked that the entire book is written like letters, which was a refreshing change in writing style for me. What I particularly liked was how easy it was to relate to the characters. Sometimes there maybe were a few too many problems that Charlie had to deal with, but it didn’t bother me too much. The book is emotional and makes you reflect on various topics that are discussed in our society. I would recommend this book for readers aged 13-14, depending on their maturity level. All in all, you can say that The Perks of Being a Wallflower truly deserves the title of „Modern Classic.“
(Mirja Schillings, 10c)
M.L. Rio: If We Were Villains
I read If We Were Villains a long time ago, but somehow, I’ve never really left it behind. It’s the kind of book that lingers; certain lines, certain moments, certain feelings stay etched in your mind long after you’ve turned the last page. I don’t even have to try to remember details because they never really faded. It’s one of my favorite books we’ve read in book club so far, and honestly, I’d recommend it to anyone.
From the very first page, there’s this slow, creeping tension, like something terrible is waiting just beyond the edges of the story. You don’t know what’s going to happen, but you feel it. The atmosphere is intoxicating: dark, obsessive, almost claustrophobic. The characters are swallowed by their own world and are completely consumed by Shakespeare, until the lines between fiction and reality blur in ways that feels dangerous. It’s not just a book about a murder; it’s a book about people who lose themselves, and about playing a role for so long that you don’t know where the performance ends and where you begin.
The writing is absolutely breathtaking. There are sentences so sharp they cut, and others so beautiful they make you pause just to take them in. It’s poetic without being overdone, and every scene drips with meaning, with something unsaid lurking beneath the surface. There are moments in this book that hit in a way I can’t explain; lines that stay with you because they carry a weight you don’t fully understand until later. And the relationships, especially that one, are so painfully well-written. It’s all about restraint, about things left unsaid, about the space between people that speaks louder than words ever could. The tension is unbearable in the best way, and when things finally crack, it feels inevitable, like it was always going to happen, like there was no way it wouldn’t happen.
That being said, the book moves at its own pace. Some parts unfold slowly, and sometimes the characters feel so deep in their world that it’s almost isolating. But to be honest that’s what makes it work. It’s supposed to feel this way; like you’ve stepped into something untouchable, something tragic, something that was never meant to end well. Every moment is laced with a sense of fate, as if the characters are simply playing out the ending that was written for them long before they realized it themselves.
And the ending… I don’t even know how to describe the feeling it left me with. There’s this aching finality to it, like closing a door you know you can’t open again. It’s devastating, but in the kind of way that makes you grateful for the heartbreak. I just sat there after finishing, staring at the last page, completely overwhelmed. It’s rare for a book to do that, to make you feel everything all at once, but this one does.
If We Were Villains isn’t just a story. It’s an experience, a tragedy, a masterpiece wrapped in obsession and longing. It’s one of those books that takes something from you, a little piece of yourself, and never quite gives it back.
(Ala Nasiri, 10a)
JK Rowling: Harry Potter
Going into Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (in British English: …and the Philosopher’s Stone), I had my doubts. My book club had always encouraged me to read it, but I dismissed it as something too childish or simply not for me. When they finally picked it as our next read, I decided to give it a chance—more out of obligation than excitement.
At first, I wasn’t immediately drawn in. While the story was imaginative, I didn’t feel that instant connection that so many others seem to have with the book. However, as I kept reading, I found myself curious about what would happen next. Instead of thinking, So what?, I started asking, What’s next? That shift in perspective kept me going.
What surprised me most was how the book unlocked a sense of childhood nostalgia—even though I had never read it before. By the end, I appreciated the effort and detail that went into the story, but I still wasn’t completely hooked. That changed with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Unlike the first book, the second one truly pulled me in. I enjoyed it more and, for the first time, felt a real urge to continue the series.
Looking back, I’m grateful to my book club for pushing me to finally read Harry Potter. It might not have been love at first page, but the series is slowly growing on me, and I’m excited to see where it takes me next.
(Nika Nouri, 10a)
Erin Morgenstern: The Night Circus
The Night Circus is one of those rare books that completely pulls you in from the first page. The writing is so immersive that you feel like you’re actually there, walking through the black and white tents, smelling the caramel popcorn, hearing the gas lamps flicker in the dark. The story follows a mysterious traveling circus that only opens at night, and at the heart of it is a magical competition between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been bound to this challenge since childhood. The circus itself is the battlefield for their duel, though neither of them fully understands the rules or the consequences of their actions. As the competition intensifies, they begin to fall in love, complicating everything.
The world-building in this book is incredible. The circus isn’t just a setting; it feels like a living, breathing entity, filled with impossible wonders. Every tent holds a new kind of magic, and the descriptions are so vivid that I found myself wanting to be part of it. The idea of the rêveurs, fans who follow the circus from place to place, dressing in black with a single red scarf as a sign of their devotion, is so enchanting that I kind of wish it was real. The side characters, like the twins Poppet and Widget, and Bailey, a farm boy whose fate becomes tied to the circus, add depth to the story and making it feel even more immersive and interesting.
That being said, the pacing of the novel is… strange. It jumps back and forth through different timelines and perspectives, which to be honest sometimes makes it a bit confusing. I’d be completely invested in a scene, only for the next chapter to suddenly shift to a different time or character and completely pulling me out of the moment. While I usually love nonlinear storytelling, here it felt like it distanced me from the characters at times. There were moments when I wanted the plot to move a little faster, to give me something more solid to hold onto, but instead, it meandered and focused more on the atmosphere than the actual events.
And as much as I loved the romance between Celia and Marco, I also felt like it was missing something. The way they interact through their magic is beautiful and almost poetic, but I never fully felt the urgency of their love. It’s subtle, fragile and delicate, but maybe too delicate. I wanted more moments of raw emotion between them, something to really make me root for them beyond just the idea that they were destined to be together. Also, the stakes of their competition never felt entirely clear. The novel keeps reminding us that it’s a game, but the rules are vague, and I wasn’t always sure what was actually at risk.
Still, despite these flaws, I loved this book. It’s not about rushing to the end, it’s about experiencing it. The writing is stunning, the magic feels real, and even when I was frustrated with the pacing, I couldn’t stop reading. It’s definitely not a book for everyone. If you need a fast-moving plot or deeply complex character arcs, I’d say it might not be your thing. But if you love atmospheric stories that transport you into another world, this book is pure magic. It’s probably my favorite book of 2024, even though there were times I wished it would just get to the point already. But honestly? I’d still reread it in a heartbeat.
(Ala Nasiri, 10a)