Beatrice Prior lives in a futuristic Chicago where society is divided into five factions: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. When each child turns sixteen, they get to choose whether to stay in the same faction, or choose their own path in a different one. Growing up in Abnegation, Beatrice was always taught to put others before herself, but her heart wants something different for herself. Tris decides to leave her family in Abnegation and join the Dauntless, a faction nothing like her previous one.
Jonas lives in a society without colors, choice, memories, and the concept of death. He is different from everyone else in his society because of his unnatural eyes, empathy, and ability to see color. Everyone has a vital role to play depending on their stage in life. At the Ceremony of Twelve, where all the 12-year-olds get assigned jobs, Jonas gets assigned Receiver of Memories. The Receiver of Memories is the most respected and painful job, for Jonas will experience all the memories of previous generations.
Finny has always loved Autumn. He thinks she knows of his adoration, but she does not. When the boundaries holding them back finally break, they only have one night together before tragedy strikes. After a car accident that leaves Finny dead, Autumn is left to grieve her lover and navigate pregnancy without the one person that got her through anything. As Finny’s baby continues to grow, Autumn learns to reach out and surround herself with people that carry pieces of Finny within their stories.
Wonder is a realistic fiction novel by R.J. Palacio. August, or Auggie, is a young boy who was born with facial abnormalities. Auggie has been homeschooled entire life but is going to school as he starts a new chapter of life that is middle school. He struggles with bullying but also forms strong friendships, and readers follow the lives of August and those around him.
Dog Man by Dav Piley is a graphic novel featuring George and Harold(main characters in the well-known Captain Underpants) and a comic they wrote when they were “younger”. This book starts out with a policeman who wasn’t intelligent but was strong, and his dog who wasn’t strong but was very intelligent. An explosion occured, and conveniently the police’s body survived and the dog’s head survived. They got sewn together, and Dog Man was created.
Stick Dog Chases a Pizza is the third book of the Stick Dog book series, by Tom Watson. This book starts out with the dogs watching Karen spin around in a circle trying to catch her tail, which she loves doing, causing Stripes, Poo-Poo, and Mutt to tease her. Stick Dog changes the topic and Karen decides that she wants to play frisbee. Karen finds a box with a cardboard circle in it which they plan to use as a frisbee, but before they start playing Stick Dog realizes that it has flavors so all the dogs lick it clean.
Autumn Davis and Phineas Smith are best friends, and have been for as long as they can remember. As they grow up and apart, different interests and different people pull them away from each other. Since their mothers are best friends, they see each other occasionally during high school, but Autumn’s new boyfriend and Finny’s new girlfriend get in the way of any other interaction. Autumn has only just begun to realize the depth of her feelings for Finny, and by the time the two realize what they feel is reciprocated, the clock has been running out for too long.
Summary: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen follows the lives of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, as they navigate love, heartbreak, and societal expectations in late 18th-century England. After their father's death, the sisters and their mother are left in reduced financial circumstances and must rely on the kindness of relatives and friends. Elinor, representing sense, embodies reason and restraint, while Marianne, embodying sensibility, is passionate and impulsive.
Stick Dog Dreams of Ice Cream, by Tom Watson, is the fourth book of the Stick Dog series. The book starts with the dogs lazing around on a burning hot summer day, trying to figure out ways to cool down. They find some human kids playing around in a sprinkler, and once they move away, they play themselves. But this method of cooling is only temporary and not very satisfying. Suddenly, they hear some horrible music, and see a weird-shaped truck with a man inside giving humans cylinders with spheres on it.
This book is about Yumi Chung, an ambitious comedian. Growing up in a strict Asian household, her parents want her to focus more on helping with the struggling family restaurant and studying for the SSAT. Amid a hard time, Yumi feels her parents can’t relate to her interest in being a comedian. Her sister, Yuri, had dropped out of med school recently to try to find her interests, upsetting their parents. With a twist of fate, however, Yumi mistakenly winds up at a comedy camp.
