Lauren Morrill’s Meant to Be is a contemporary young adult romance. In this book, Julia, a stereotypical nerd, lives out her dream of going to London when her class takes a school trip. Instead of following her carefully planned itinerary, Julia is forced to pair up with Jason, whose main goal in life is to have fun and break all of the rules while doing so.
One of Using Is Lying, by Karen M. McManus, is a Mystery/Thriller novel. The story unfolds around four teens after their classmate, Simon Kellhelro, dies. Brownyn, Nate, Addy, and Cooper become suspects in the murder. The four suspects each had a motive to kill Simon. Slowly by slowly, the supposed murder reveals the secrets of the four students. The four suspects become closer and vouch for each other.
In the graphic novel Smile, Raina finds out that she needs braces, and she is scared. She does not want braces, but her friend, who has braces, comforts her and tells her everything will be fine. Well, turns out everything was fine until that night at the Girls Scout meeting. Raina raced to the car, but fell and broke her two front teeth. I guess she will be needing braces after all. Raina goes through a lot in this book and it is filled with twists and turns and ups and downs.
We all know about Auggie in the book Wonder, but R.J. Palacio made another book about other people’s point of view from Auggie’s time. Auggie and Me features Charlotte, Julian and Auggie’s friend Christopher’s view during Auggie’s time and a little after as well. This book is a good book if you want to see the bullying of Auggie from Julian’s point of view.
10-year-old Alanna of Trebond wants to be a knight. Unfortunately, in the land of Tortall, girls of noble birth are sent to the convent to learn the skills they will need as the wives of knights and lords. Her twin brother, Thom, wants to learn to use the powerful magic that they were both born with, but as the only son of the fief of Trebond, Thom must become a knight of the realm. Alanna and Thom trade places, so that Alanna, disguised as a boy, can travel to Corus to become a great knight and Thom can travel to the City of the Gods to study magic.
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin is about two main characters, Malik and Karina. This book is fantasy fiction with a little bit of West African culture as inspiration for key parts of the book. The point of view shifts from Malik and Karina throughout the book to show two very different perspectives, one a poor refugee, and the other a princess. Unfortunately, both Malik and Karina need the other to die in order to save someone they love.
After being invited to the most fun party ever, Meg and Minnie both decide to sneak out of their houses and go to the party. What they do not know is that their night is about to become terrifying. One by one, people start to die. Meg and her crush, TJ, investigate the area. The killer will go to any extent to kill off the teens. But, at the end, Meg is shocked. She did not expect the killer to be who they are.
Alianne of Pirate’s Swoop wants nothing more than to have fun and be a spy like her father, the spymaster of the kingdom of Tortall. After an argument with her mother, the famed Lioness and King’s Champion, Aly decides to leave home for a brief taste of independence. When she is captured by slavers and taken to the Copper Isles, she finds that her knowledge in the art of spying is about to be put to the ultimate test.
Zahra, a Jinni, has been imprisoned in her lamp ever since her last master and best friend, Queen Roshana, was killed by a Jinn. She has just resigned herself to an eternity alone when a boy, Aladdin, stumbles across her lamp—and picks it up. Now Aladdin, the son of long-dead revolutionaries, has the power to finally create the change he had believed impossible—and to get revenge on the monarchy that killed his parents.
Jamie Watson and Charlotte Homes, the teenage descendants of Sherlock and John, get off to a rocky start when they first meet at boarding school. But when they’re both accused of the same crime, they must team up to investigate a murder, clear their names, and, perhaps, become friends.
Fans of mystery interspersed with humor will enjoy this book, the first installment of Brittany Cavallaro’s series. The central case takes time to develop, but the fast-paced story will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
