Fiction

Suzanne Collins’ YA dystopian novel, The Hunger Games, is absolutely perfect. Panem, future ruins of North America, is ruled by the rich in the Capitol and split into twelve districts. Each year, two tributes of ages ranging from twelve to eighteen years old, from each district are forced to compete in a deadly competition known as the Hunger Games.

The main character, Katniss, was amazing; she was unique in a way that made her more tangible, but not unlikable. Collins’ whole world was utterly astounding, and the premise of the games and the points she made about society were phenomenal. I

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.

This story is super cute. Julia and Jason’s dysfunctional dynamic makes the whole book. The only negative thing that I have to say is I didn’t love Julia because of her superiority complex, but her self-righteousness makes her seem real

The Girl with the Louding Voice, by Abi Dare, is a powerfully unforgettable story about Adunni, a 14-year-old Nigerian girl who wants nothing more than to go to school and become a teacher. Her mother encourages her to continue with her education and find not just her voice but her “louding voice”. Adunni’s life becomes hard and arduous after her mother’s death when her father, who is in need of money for himself and her brothers to survive, “sells” her to a much older man to be his third wife. What follows is a life of abuse and misery and a discontinuation of her schooling. Throughout her

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. Do you think Raina will heal from this tragedy? Read Smile to find out!

I personally really enjoyed reading this

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. This book is wonderful, but you should read it after reading Wonder.

I loved this book; I read it multiple times. I really like seeing all the points of view and not just those points of view but in Wonder we see a lot of point of views

If you are a fan of The Time Traveler's Wife,  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and/or The Two Lives of Lydia Bird you should give Oona Out of Order a try.  (And if you haven't checked out any of the previously mentioned titles, you should!)  The novel was published in the early part of 2020 (in the Before Times) and may have slipped by unnoticed.  It's a hard book to explain because time travel but not in your typical sense and yet it was easy to fall in love with Oona and her story.

"By turns tragic and triumphant, heartbreakingly poignant and joyful, this is ultimately an

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. Throughout the entire book, the reader can see Malik and Karina grow together, while simultaneously trying to work up the nerve to kill the other.

I thought

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.

This book was by far the best book I have ever read. I love the storyline, and it makes me want to read the book again and again. This book is really interesting, and anyone who

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.

Scott Ferdowski has trouble sticking with his passions. He’s smart, but lacks commitment, despite the variety of activities his high-achieving parents sign him up for. So when they leave town at the start of his summer vacation, Scott spontaneously decides to ditch his internship and become a bit more “gritty.” As his summer progresses, Scott meets a crossword-obsessed college student, a brilliant professor, and a cast of other characters. Through it all, he explores his newfound freedom, ultimately gaining perspective about his own life.

Scott’s first-person perspective offers a humorous

Blade Morrison’s life seems perfect. He’s a skilled guitarist with a famous musician for a father, and he has plenty of money and girls to choose from. But despite this, Blade feels lost. The one girl he truly cares for can’t be seen with him. His father’s face covers the tabloids. And ever since his mother passed away, he doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of his family. Solo explores Blade’s search for identity through poetry, following his quest for love and belonging.

Solo illustrates a multilayered story in an incredibly bold, creative format. The book is told through the poetic

Logan, Shay, and Autumn are struggling. Each struck by the loss of someone they love, they’re unsure how to move forward. Music, the passion that once linked them, now brings back memories they’d rather forget. And they’ve turned to unhealthy coping mechanisms that leave them more and more alone. But while these characters seem buried by grief, they aren’t lost forever. As the story progresses, each comes to terms with the tragedy they’ve faced, building the courage to ask for help and slowly returning to music as an outlet for the hurt they feel.

This book’s shifting perspective offers

Iris is a twelve-year-old girl who was born deaf. She loves fixing radios and she loves her Grandma and Grandpa. Iris learned about a whale in school. Its name is Blue 55, and it sings songs but not one replies. Iris feels how hard it would be for no one to reply to what they say, because that is what happens to her, because she is deaf. Iris talks to a scientist who is studying about Blue 55 and trying to tag Blue 55. Iris talks with her and asks if Blue 55 is deaf. The scientist said that they already tested that and Blue 55 is not deaf. Then, Iris comes up with an idea to help Blue 55 know

Red, White and Royal Blue is a sweet, funny, and lighthearted romance between Alex, the First Son, and Henry, the Prince of Wales. As a result of their rivalry being photographed, a staged friendship follows which then leads to a secret between the two. When their secret relationship gets exposed, the Heads of Family and other handlers must find a way to fix the campaign. Will the damage be fixed? Will Alex and Henry’s love fix it?

I enjoyed this cute and light read and definitely enjoyed the slight enemies to lovers. I think it was a fluffy book with moments of funny, serious, touching

The Henna Wars has amazing characters, POC, and LGBTQ+ representation. This is about how Nishat doesn’t want to hide who she is, but she doesn’t want to lose her family. It only gets harder when a childhood friend, Flavia, comes back into her life and Nishat falls for her. When a competition invites students to create businesses, both Nishat and Flavia choose to do Henna. As the story progresses, Nishat deals with being outed, homophobia, racism and realizes she needs to choose whether she should follow her heart to Flavia or keep her family happy.

I think the most compelling part to me was

This book is realistic fiction. The main characters of this book are Maxine, London, Alice, and Rose (Maxine’s sister). The main characters want to get out of the place they are trapped in (The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded) because they are diagnosed as morons, imbeciles, and idiots because of something “bad” they did. Their parents dropped them off there because they didn’t want them, and the main characters know that they won’t come back. That is why they don’t see a reason to leave.  London tries to get out but she gets caught on a farm she ran to for food and water. London

Esperanza is a young girl who moves into a house on Mango Street with her family.  This house   is not what Esperanza dreams of though since it is in terrible condition and it is very small.  The house is in a Latino neighborhood in Chicago.  Esperanza matures during the year.  Esperanza makes friends, develops a crush, and is assaulted.  The novel also talks about some of the tragedies going on in some other people’s lives who live on Mango Street.  Esperanza learns a lot from her experiences and from her neighborhood.  Esperanza vows to exit Mango Street and give herself a better life.  Will

The book ​How to Make Friends with the Dark, by Kathleen Glasgow, is a realistic fiction novel. The main character, Tiger, has an unbreakable bond with her mother. Their mother-daughter relationship is deep and understanding, with a few quirks. Everything changes for Tiger when her mom unexpectedly dies. After Tiger loses the person she loves the most, her life goes into shambles. As the book narrates on, changing from first person point of view to second, we see how Tiger’s emotions play out. The best part of the book was the changing points of views, where the reader can understand the pain

Eliza Mirk is an unsociable and shy high school student who much prefers to spend her time in the online world, where she can have complete control over her identity and be as anonymous as she likes. When she is online, she is simply known as LadyConstellation, the author of the insanely popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. However, when Eliza meets a boy named Wallace Warland, who also happens to be a popular fanfiction writer for Monstrous Sea, she finds herself opening up for the very first time. Eliza even starts considering the unthinkable — that maybe she doesn’t have to live her whole life

15-year-old Liliana Cruz has a lot to deal with. From taking care of two chaotic younger brothers to dealing with an increasingly absent best friend to providing emotional support for her mother who, incidentally, won’t tell her where her missing father is, it seems like she’s just barely holding her life together. But one thing is for sure — Liliana is at home in her diverse inner-city high school, even if it’s underfunded and disorganized. Yet when she unknowingly lands a spot in the prestigious METCO program, a desegregation program meant to give non-white students more educational

The Teen YA book Our Chemical Hearts is a romance and coming-of-age novel that follows a high schooler named Henry. When a girl, who wears baggy clothing and walks with a cane transfers to his school, he doesn’t know how much of a mark she’ll leave. Due to circumstances, Henry and the new girl, Grace Town, become the co-editors of the school newspaper, their relationship blossoms. As days, weeks and months pass on, Henry goes through drastic changes. He realizes how complicated human emotions really are. Personally, what made me really appreciate this book was how the reader can see Henry

John Green’s ​The Fault in Our Stars​ is a young adult romance novel based around the love story of two teenagers with cancer. Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen-year-old with stage IV thyroid cancer, is forced to attend a cancer support group where she meets Augustus Waters. The two quickly grow close and fall in love amid their final adventures.

Green writes with such a meaningful eloquence that it’s difficult to feel disconnected from his characters. While the language and deeper meaning in this novel may be viewed as pretentious, I would argue it’s what makes the characterization of Hazel

The Help is a historical fiction novel set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s. It revolves around three main characters: Aibileen, Skeeter, and Minny. Skeeter has returned from college determined to become a writer. She causes a stir in her hometown by deciding to interview the black women who work for the white families in the town. At first, only Aibileen will help her, but eventually, more and more gather till there are over ten. The publication of her book causes everyone in her town to forever change the way they view the black women and the way they are treated in their town.

I

The Little Prince is a short poetic novella about an aviator whose plane crashes in the desert. There he meets the child known as the little prince, whose miniature home planet is so small that in order to see a new sunset, he simply has to move his chair a few steps. On his planet lives a vain rose, whom he loves and is loved by, although she refuses to tell him and requires endless attention. He relates his tale of wandering through the universe in search of the meaning of love and life. On his journey, he meets many foolish adults, such as a businessman. The businessman believes he owns the

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith is a young adult romance novel. This story centers on the complicated love story of two teenagers: Lucy and Owen. When a blackout hits New York City, Lucy and Owen, two very different strangers, get trapped in an elevator together. The two can’t get each other out of their heads, but things quickly become complicated when both teens move away.

My favorite thing about this story was how much more realistic it was than most cliché romances because there was no immediate or sure happy ending. There were definitely some novelty points, but there

Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel which focuses on a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on a remote island. They start off with rules and a form of government, but their situation quickly turns chaotic and savage. They split into two groups, one more civilized and attempting to follow a basic moral code under the leadership of Ralph, and the other wild hunters under the control of Jack. These two groups clash with each other and this results in more than one death. As the situation escalates, their humanity begins to deteriorate. At the climactic ending, a Naval ship rescues

Budge Wilson's Before Green Gables acts as a prequel to Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. This book opens with Anne's parents as they prepare to start a family and ends when Anne is selected to live with the Cuthberts. Throughout the novel, we see Anne's passion for learning and her love of words appear and grow, staples of her character. The most intriguing thing about this novel is getting to see how Anne lived before moving to Prince Edward Island and how her past shaped her into the person we see in Montgomery's books.

This book was well-written; however, it was slow in some

What a book. What a story. What a family. The Kurcs are a Polish family who will not let the cruelty and dehumanizing Nazi and Soviet rule crush their spirit.  

We see babies born, weddings, and a family desperately wishing they were all together again. They feel lucky just to be with one another.  We follow the lives of the Kurc families’ five children through the war.  

Addy moved to France to finish his studies and stayed after finding a job. Now, he cannot return to Poland because there is no safe way to get there and he doesn’t have the right paperwork. His one hopeful thought is

The Complete Father Brown Mysteries is a group of fictional short stories by G.K. Chesterton, a master of literature. The stories all feature the title character, Father Brown, who is a short, stout Roman Catholic priest from England. To others he appears simple and naive, but in reality he is a genius. Essentially, he is the quirky, unassuming, compassionate, and lovable version of Sherlock Holmes. He solves his mysteries by imagining himself in the place of the criminal, which he discusses in one of these short stories. Each mystery is complex and different, which is amazing to think about

The Westing Game is a fictional story about a group of individuals who all live in Sunset Towers. They are shocked to learn that all of them are heirs to the late Sam Westing, and they compete in a game he devised for his 200-million-dollar estate. The game has vague rules and is twisting and complex, with the final aim of finding his alleged murderer, who is said to be living among them. This creates paranoia and confusion, with different characters having varying goals and problems. Distrust runs rampant throughout the apartment complex, and unusual friendships are formed by those pre-chosen