I've been a Jennifer Niven fan since reading All the Bright Places. If you haven't read that one yet, please read it! But don't watch the Netflix film first...trust me, the book is better. ALWAYS. Anyhow, I've read all of her other books, and this new one is now my favorite! I listened to it… Continue reading Breathless by Jennifer Niven
Tag: YA Fiction
What Unbreakable Looks Like by Kate McLaughlin
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
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
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
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
The Competition by Cecily Wolfe
Originally appeared in School Library Journal, November 2018. Grade 7 & Up: A diverse cast of characters take part in the Penultimate, an Ohio state writing competition, where 100 teens battle for a full college scholarship. Mary Sofia (a Latina) lives in a shelter. Her mother blames her for the unforgettable, tragic night her abusive… Continue reading The Competition by Cecily Wolfe
Purple Hearts by Michael Grant
Purple Hearts is the final book in the Front Lines trilogy by Michael Grant. This young adult historical fiction story takes place in 1944. Though the Battle of D-Day at Omaha Beach, the Battle of the Bulge, and the depiction of German death camps is written with historical accuracy, the one twist in the story… Continue reading Purple Hearts by Michael Grant
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