A Raisin in the Sun is a 1959 play by Lorraine Hansberry that focuses on an embattled family in south Chicago as they attempt and discuss ways to improve their lives financially after an insurance payout following the death of the patriarch in the family. In this quick but compelling play, Hansberry thoughtfully focuses heavily on racism, housing discrimination, and assimilation.
Tangerine by Edward Bloor centers on Paul Fisher, an eighth-grader with impaired eyes who moves to Tangerine County, Florida, with his whole family. In the novel, Paul juggles making new friends, dealing with the constant harassment from his football-star brother, joining his middle school’s soccer team, and uncovering strange occurrences that keep happening in Tangerine. Overall the book is a gripping story with many twists and turns from beginning to end.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a dystopian science-fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. The story takes place in 2021 in post-apocalyptic San Francisco. The world has become dramatically destroyed by nuclear war, and the reader follows Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter tasked with killing escaped androids. This novel is more mature than other dystopian novels, and, that being said, it does include a lot of adult topics and themes.
Catch Me if You Can is a semi-autobiographical novel based on the novel’s author, Frank W. Abagnale, criminal venture into being a con-man and exploiting multiple companies and the FBI. In this partly fictionalized yet riveting story, the reader follows Abagnale’s criminal beginnings as a teenager to his attempts to become a law-abiding citizen in adulthood.
One year has passed since the destruction of These Violent Delights, and Shanghai is on the brink of upheaval. Whispers of civil war hang in a mist over the streets, and the Scarlet Gang is stretched thin between the leadership of Juliette and her ruthless cousin Tyler, who threatens to usurp her.
Axie Oh’s XOXO is an adorable contemporary romance novel. All Jenny wants is to be accepted into a prestigious music conservatory, but when she meets Jaewoo at her uncle’s karaoke bar in Los Angeles, her life will change drastically. Suddenly, Jenny finds herself moving to South Korea to take care of her sick grandmother. Unbeknownst to her, the boy she met in the karaoke bar is a famous K-pop idol.
The Cruel Prince is the first novel in The Folk of the Air trilogy, a young adult fantasy series by Holly Black. Jude Duarte is a mortal raised in the realm of the fey. Trained by her adopted father, a formidable fey general, Jude becomes vicious and cunning. She wants nothing more to belong among the people that hate her for being mortal, and when a great betrayal threatens the existence of Fairie, Jude must form an alliance with the person she hates the most to save the realm.
Both Sides Now by Peyton Thomas is a contemporary young adult novel that focuses on LGBTQ+ issues. Finch is about to go to the debate National Championships in Washington D.C., but the debate topic is transgender rights. Finch is a trans man that dreams of becoming the first transgender member of Congress, but his financial and emotional turmoil may keep him from his dream of Washington D.C.
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo is the second book in the Shadow and Bone series. It’s a young adult/fantasy novel that was recently made into a Netflix show. The reader continues to follow Alina Starkov, a powerful summoner of light as she tries to evade the Darkling. The Darkling, a nearly immortal summoner of shadows, wants to use her to aid in his goal of ruling their country, Ravka.
This is the first book of the series Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. In The Sword of Summer, 16-year-old Magnus Chase lives on the streets of Boston when he discovers that he is the son of Norse god Frey. His uncle tasks him with finding a sword to protect him from a fire giant named Surt. Magnus attacks the fire giant but dies saving the civilians on the bridge. Magnus wakes up in Hotel Valhalla, the place where einherjars go for their bravery.
