Courtney Bowers

• The Bookshelf, A Teen Review: Madapple by Christina Meldrum Published 08/08/2011 at 11:16 a.m.

  Aslaug is a teenage girl with no identity other than she is the daughter of her mother, Maren. Aslaug and her mother live hidden away in a small, decrepit house in the wilderness of Maine. They never leave, other than ...

• The Bookshelf, A Teen Review: Exposed by Kimberly Marcus Published 07/11/2011 at midnight

  Liz is a photographer, a young girl who sees her world through snapshots. And those pictures are clear, in focus, and happy most of the time. Her family is supportive, her art teacher praises her camera skills, and her best ...

• The Bookshelf, A Teen Review: Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan Published 06/13/2011 at 9:59 a.m.

  If you’ve read my book review column before, you know I’m a fan of juxtaposed story telling. And if you’ve read my column closely, you also know that when Rachel Cohn and David Levithan pair up as coauthors, I will ...

• The Booshelf, A Teen Review: Matched by Ally Condie Published 05/09/2011 at 10:44 a.m.

  It’s about time someone wrote a dystopian novel for our generation. Ally Condie’s first novel of her planned series, “Matched,” certainly fills that void. For you avid classic literature readers out there, this book is “Twilight” meets Ayn Rand’s “Anthem.” ...

• The Bookshelf, A Teen Review: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby Published 04/11/2011 at midnight

  Imagine being trapped inside your own body. You’re in complete paralysis; you cannot move nor speak; yet your mind is still fully functioning and desperate to communicate with the world. This may sound like the plotline for a horror movie ...

• The Bookshelf, A Teen Review: The Half-Life of Planets by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin Published 03/14/2011 at 10:01 a.m.

  Liana is a teenage science geek who has dedicated her summer vacation to studying space and the stars rather than kissing boys, her previous addictive hobby. After receiving a rather negative label from her peers for her incessant flings, Liana ...

• The Bookshelf, A Teen Review: Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber Published 02/14/2011 at 11:31 a.m. 1 Comment

  Most people have probably watched, or at the very least heard of, the 1976 movie “Sybil.” In fact, if you have a few mood swings, someone may actually refer to you as Sybil, the woman with sixteen personalities. This extreme ...

• The Bookshelf, A Teen Review: The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson Published 01/10/2011 at midnight

  Let me begin by saying that before you read “The Explosionist,” you must understand the context and the setting of the story. I spent a hundred-odd pages attempting to decipher exactly what era my imagination was venturing off to until ...

• The Bookshelf, A Teen Review: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Published 12/13/2010 at 11:23 a.m.

  “The Bluest Eye” is a book that has been banned from many schools and libraries due to its controversial nature. Yes, this book is graphic, and it contains a story that most authors would be too afraid to tell, but ...

• The Bookshelf, A Teen Review: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Published 11/29/2010 at midnight

  “The Great Gatsby” is one of those books that teachers start mentioning at the beginning of high school, one of those that you know you should probably read at some point in your life. So when I discovered that this ...

• Entrepreneurial enterprise Published 06/14/2010 at 6 a.m.

  At the ripe age of 24, when many are still trying to figure out what to do with their lives, Maryville native Brett Smuckler’s writing career has taken off. SynergEbooks published Smuckler’s first novel, “Under the Same Sky,” in April ...

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