The book follows the life of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in poverty in a dystopian country called Panem, governed by the rich and cruel Capitol. She, along with a boy Peeta whom she kind of knows, is selected to compete in the Hunger Games, a life-or-death battle between twenty-three other teenagers where only one can survive. Katniss must balance surviving the Games and determining the seemingly endless limits of the Capitol’s cruelty, all while maintaining a relationship with Peeta that may or may not even exist.
Always and Forever, Lara Jean, Jenny Han’s final novel in her To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy, provided the perfect ending to the series; however, it still lacked compared to the first book. In this book, Lara Jean and Peter deal with the prospect of college and all that comes with it, especially being in a long-distance relationship and having different schedules.
Elizabeth Berg’s The Story of Arthur Truluv (2017) is a realistic fiction novel telling the interweaving stories of Maddy Harris, Arthur “Truluv” Moses, and Lucille Howard. One day, while Maddy is visiting the cemetery to escape her school lunchroom, she runs into Arthur, who is visiting his wife’s grave; they become fast friends and join forces to combat their loneliness –Maddy’s from the estrangement of her father and boyfriend and Arthur’s from the death of his wife.
P.S. I Still Love You is the second book in Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series. Lara Jean and Peter are officially together, for real this time, but things get complicated when one of Lara Jean’s past loves shows up, and Peter can’t stay away from his ex-girlfriend, Genevieve. John Ambrose, Peter’s childhood best friend and one of Lara Jean’s past loves, finally got her letter. John and Lara Jean start to talk and begin to become close.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a contemporary YA romance written by Jenny Han. The story follows Lara Jean, a girl who hasn’t had much experience with romance but suddenly winds up in a fake relationship. Lara Jean wrote letters for every boy she had ever loved; they were meant just for her, but one day, they were mailed out.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a wonderful futuristic sci-fi story about a fascist world full of censorship and where happiness is valued over thinking and free will. The book offers an insight on what our world might become, and even though the book was published in 1953, the problems that it presents are even more present today.
Marvel Fairy Tales is a graphic novel compilation of several different stories written and illustrated by C.B. Cebulski, Claire Wendling, and many others. I loved the idea of this book and was excited to see my favorite Marvel characters transported into some of my favorite fantasy worlds, but I was disappointed by the execution. There is no character or plot development; the stories all have a great beginning, but there’s no build-up to their climaxes; all of the stories suddenly end and feel almost incomplete.
Anne of Avonlea is the second installment of L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series. In this book, we see Anne grow into her late teens while managing two young twins, taking on more responsibility at Green Gables, and experiencing her first year as a teacher. Though Anne maintains her childhood wonder, throughout this book we get to see her mature.
Jacky Ha-Ha is a realistic fiction book by James Patterson. This is a book about a girl who stutters and her name is Jacky Ha-Ha. Jacky is a prankster; she pranks teachers and friends and is very naughty. When she gets 20 detentions in four days, she chooses to use her detentions in the school musical. There, she meets her true love and she learns her best friend has the voice of an angel. She also gets in trouble and she makes everyone laugh to cover her stutter.
Donovan Curtis is not what you call “gifted.” However, his genius friend, Noah Youkilis, is Supergifted, with one of the highest IQs. After spending many years at the Academy for Scholastic Distinction, Noah looks for the chance to fail and to become normal. He lands at Donovan’s school and finds himself in trouble with cheerleading captain Megan Mercury and jock Hash “Hashtag” Taggart. Donovan sticks up for Noah but gets caught in his own feud and has to stay away from Hashtag. Noah believes that Donovan was mistreated and goes to Hashtag’s house to give Hashtag a piece of his mind.
