As their house burns in a tragic house fire, twins Pat and Dom are forced to move into a cottage by the sea. Their family consists of their younger sister, their mom, dad, and grandmother who seems to be plagued with Alzheimer's. Night after night, the boys experience difficult and fearful dreams plagued with a boy who is so pale and unnerving he appears to be more like a goblin. Suddenly, the twins discover that this boy is not simply a bad dream, but a creature that takes over Dom. Pat is left with the knowledge that the boy who looks like his brother is not him at all.
The realistic fiction novel, Troublemaker, by John Cho is a wonderful coming-of-age story about a young Korean American boy as he attempts to keep his father safe and fix their troubled relationship. In Los Angeles during the spring of 1992, people are rioting in Koreatown over several recent cases of gun violence. Amidst this, Jordan, our main character, has just been suspended from school for cheating.
Isaac and Marco have been friends since they were little, Isaac the champion basketballer and Marco the champion mathlete, the two complement each other. However, when they start middle school things begin to change. Marco’s father has always wished he was sportier, while Isaac is sure that getting better grades will make his mom proud and fix his parents’ divorce. When a misunderstanding pushes Marco to try out for the basketball team the two dedicate themselves to their goals, but will they be able to achieve them?
The Fort is a superb piece of literature that tells the tale of four boys (soon to be five) who, after Hurricane Leo, go to check on the condition of their makeshift hideout. However, one of the boys, Evan, is forced by his grandmother to bring along Ricky, the new kid, who no one is very happy to hang out with. Nonetheless, Ricky is the one who finds a new hideout in an abandoned bomb shelter and so they are forced to keep hanging out with him.
Crown of Horns is a graphic novel, the ninth and final book of a 9-book series called Bone. At the end of the last book, Thorn gets arrested by the group of the Disciples of Venu who are loyal to the tyrant Tarsil. Right after, the Pawans and rat creatures’ approach Atheia in very large numbers to start battle.
All the Jingle Ladies is a realistic fiction teen romance novel that follows the fifteen-year-old, Molly, through the Christmas season. Her family is the Brussel Shouts, also known as the band, that infamously wrote the song “Love Your Elf”. As a little girl, Molly dressed up as the starring elf in her family’s music video, not knowing how much embarrassment this would cause later in life. To avoid anyone recognizing her, Molly stays far away from anything Christmas, that is, until she meets someone.
After her husband’s death, Tova Sullivan takes the night shift at Sowell Bay Aquarium, cleaning glass and mopping floors, to keep herself busy. The routine tasks help keep her distracted from her recent widowing and the disappearance of her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanishing at sea over thirty years ago. While working there, she manages to form an unlikely friendship with Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus. Marcellus is far more intelligent than any of his keepers would know but doesn’t let on to anything for anyone - except for Tova.
John Green's The Fault in Our Stars is a poignant contemporary romance that follows Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old cancer survivor, as she navigates love and loss. Hazel meets Augustus Waters, a charming and witty fellow cancer survivor, at a support group, and the two quickly form a deep bond. While Hazel struggles with her fear of being a "grenade" that will hurt those she loves, Augustus is determined to live life to the fullest.
Cloud Cuckoo Land connects five main characters using a fictional Ancient Greek codex called Cloud Cuckoo Land. This story is present and plays a significant role in all of the characters’ lives. Anna, a young girl who discovers Cloud Cuckoo Land, and Omeir, a boy conscripted into the Ottoman Empire, meet in 15th century Constantinople during the Ottoman Empire’s siege of the city.
The book Shoe Dog by Phil Knight is a memoir by the great Phil Knight, in which he describes his journey as an aspiring businessman who wishes to fulfill his “Crazy Dream” of starting his own startup footwear company. Shoe Dog depicts the uncertainty in the business world, which is shown in this memoir through the adversity and triumphs in his creation of Nike.
