Review originally appeared in School Library Journal, June 2020. Gr. 9 & Up: Seventeen year old Alexa (Lex), known as Poppy by her pimp, Mitch, is forced into sex trafficking and drug use, living in a motel with other young victims. After a police bust, she recovers at Sparrow Brook where she enjoys the horses… Continue reading What Unbreakable Looks Like by Kate McLaughlin
Tag: YA book review
Dear Universe by Florence Gonsalves
Originally published in School Library Journal, March 2020. Gr 9 & Up: After being kicked out of public school for a violent outburst and sent to anger management, high school senior Chamomile Myles enrolls at Gill School, a place of uniforms and typical teenage anxiety. Cham struggles to balance her two-sided universe: school with worries about prom,… Continue reading Dear Universe by Florence Gonsalves
We Didn’t Ask For This by Adi Alsaid
Originally published in School Library Journal, February, 2020. Gr. 9 & Up: The annual lock-in night at Central International School is highly anticipated and heavily attended by the diverse, well-to-do student body for both the wide range of activities and the traditional secret party. Marisa Cuevos plans for months, removing tools from the school property and… Continue reading We Didn’t Ask For This by Adi Alsaid
The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron
Originally published in School Library Journal, January 2020. Gr 9 & Up: One of nine children, 16-year-old Stefania Podgorska, “Fusia,” leaves the farm in Bircza and moves to Przemysl to work for the Jewish Diamant family. Fusia, a Catholic, joins the Diamant household, but they are forcibly moved to the ghetto by Germans, leaving her… Continue reading The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron
Opiate Jane by Jessica K. Baker
Originally published in School Library Journal, October, 2019. Gr 9 & up: In and out of foster homes and unable to trust anyone, Jane, 15, is thick-skinned and wise beyond her years. Not a typical teenager, Jane takes care of her 4 year old sister and heroin-addicted, single mother each time she relapses. After switching schools… Continue reading Opiate Jane by Jessica K. Baker
Have a Little Faith in Me by Sonia Hartl
Originally published in School Library Journal, September 2019. Gr. 9 & up: Francine "CeCe" Wells plans to spend three weeks in the summer before her senior year of high school at Camp Three SixTeen, a Christian camp for teens. As a nonChristian, CeCe is spending her parents budgeted funds to try to win back Ethan,… Continue reading Have a Little Faith in Me by Sonia Hartl
Stealing Home by Becky Wallace
Originally published in School Library Journal, June 2019. Gr. 6 & Up: Seventeen year old Texas teen Ryan Russell knows baseball. Her parents, though divorced, share ownership of the Buckley Beavers minor league team, keeping her busy with a goal to become general manager. Ryan’s assisted with new players before, but Sawyer Campbell is refreshingly… Continue reading Stealing Home by Becky Wallace
The Voice in My Head by Dana L. Davis
Originally published in School Library Journal, May 2019. Gr. 9 & Up: Davis’s second YA novel set in Seattle, follows 18 year old black twins Indigo and Violet and their chaotic family on an unlikely road trip. While attempting suicide, Indigo hears a voice say that her terminally ill twin Violet will live if she… Continue reading The Voice in My Head by Dana L. Davis
Waiting for Fitz by Spencer Hyde
Originally published in School Library Journal, March 2019. Gr 9 & Up - Midway through her senior year, 17-year-old Addie Foster is sent for inpatient psychiatric therapy at Seattle Regional Hospital for OCD. Quick-witted and literary-minded, she dreams of being a playwright. Making some unlikely, but unique friends from the first day of group therapy,… Continue reading Waiting for Fitz by Spencer Hyde
Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss by Kasie West
Originally appeared in School Library Journal, February 2019. Grade 9 & up - The second in a three book companion series, this realistic fiction, set in Los Angeles, is written as a standalone novel with crossover characters. High school senior, Lacey spends her days covered in elaborate zombie makeup on set, playing the love interest… Continue reading Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss by Kasie West
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