1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
Why I Want To Read This Book: I was browsing through Barnes & Nobles a few weeks back, and saw this book. By the name alone, I knew that this book was written recently. The United States is filled with so much hate right now, and I am sure this book touches upon it. I feel it will be interesting to read a realistic fictional story about a similar event that's happening currently. I am excited to read this book because all the reviews are very good, and the book is hard-hitting and relevant.
2. The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle
Quinn Roberts is a sixteen-year-old smart aleck and Hollywood hopeful whose only worry used to be writing convincing dialogue for the movies he made with his sister Annabeth. Of course, that was all before—before Quinn stopped going to school, before his mom started sleeping on the sofa…and before the car accident that changed everything.
Enter: Geoff, Quinn’s best friend who insists it’s time that Quinn came out—at least from hibernation. One haircut later, Geoff drags Quinn to his first college party, where instead of nursing his pain, he meets a guy—okay, a hot guy—and falls, hard. What follows is an upside-down week in which Quinn begins imagining his future as a screenplay that might actually have a happily-ever-after ending—if, that is, he can finally step back into the starring role of his own life story.
Why I Want To Read This Book: The cover of this book definitely drew me in. I like movies and books about films. I don't believe that I've read a book in awhile (if at all) which entails a LGBT relationship. Most of the young adult books I've read are usually a girl likes boy situation. My only worry about this book is that it's been compared to Me and Early and The Dying Girl, which if you haven't seen my Twitter, is one of my least favorite books. I have high hopes for this book though.
3. Maybe In Paris by Rebecca Christiansen
Keira Braidwood lands in Paris with her autistic brother, Levi, and high hopes. Levi has just survived a suicide attempt and months in the psych ward—he’s ready for a dose of the wider world. Unlike their helicopter mom and the doctors who hover over Levi, Keira doesn’t think Levi’s certifiable. He’s just . . . quirky. Always has been.
Those quirks quickly begin to spoil the trip. Keira wants to traipse all over Europe; Levi barely wants to leave their grubby hotel room. She wants to dine on the world’s cuisine; he only wants fast food. Levi is one giant temper tantrum, and Keira’s ready to pull out her own hair.
She finally finds the adventure she craves in Gable, a hot Scottish bass player, but while Keira flirts in the Paris Catacombs, Levi’s mental health breaks. He disappears from their hotel room and Keira realizes, too late, that her brother is sicker than she was willing to believe. To bring him home safe, Keira must tear down the wall that Levi’s sickness and her own guilt have built between them.
Why I Want To Read This Book: To be honest, the name of the book (Maybe in Paris) drew me to want to read this book. The cover is also very beautiful, even though you aren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover. The book seems to have potential because it does deal with mental health (which is a very relevant topic), and takes place as a traveling story. My concern is the mixed reviews of this book. Either people give this book one star or five stars, so I want to take it upon myself to actually see what's up with this book.
4. Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You by Todd Hasak-Lowy
A heartfelt, humorous story of a teen boy’s impulsive road trip after the shock of his lifetime—told entirely in lists!
Darren hasn’t had an easy year.
There was his parents’ divorce, which just so happened to come at the same time his older brother Nate left for college and his longtime best friend moved away. And of course there’s the whole not having a girlfriend thing.
Then one Thursday morning Darren’s dad shows up at his house at 6 a.m. with a glazed chocolate doughnut and a revelation that turns Darren’s world inside out. In full freakout mode, Darren, in a totally un-Darren move, ditches school to go visit Nate. Barely twenty-four hours at Nate’s school makes everything much better or much worse—Darren has no idea. It might somehow be both. All he knows for sure is that in addition to trying to figure out why none of his family members are who they used to be, he’s now obsessed with a strangely amazing girl who showed up out of nowhere but then totally disappeared.
Told entirely in lists, Todd Hasak-Lowy’s debut YA novel perfectly captures why having anything to do with anyone, including yourself, is:
1. painful
2. unavoidable
3. ridiculously complicated
4. possibly, hopefully the right thing after all.
Why I Want To Read This Book: The synopsis of the book doesn't make entirely much sense. I understand that the main character wants a girlfriend and it seems that all his family members are leaving him in someway. It's the typical coming of age novel, right? I like the idea of road trip books, one of my favorites was Mosquitoland (which you can read my review of here ). The thing that's interesting about this book (besides it's incredibly long title) is that the whole book is written in list form, and I've never read a book like that. Despite the relatively okay reviews, I am going to try this book out.
5. Two Summers by Aimee Friedman
ONE SUMMER in the French countryside, among sun-kissed fields of lavender . . .
ANOTHER SUMMER in upstate New York, along familiar roads that lead to surprises . . .
When Summer Everett makes a split-second decision, her summer divides into two parallel worlds. In one, she travels to France, where she’s dreamed of going: a land of chocolate croissants, handsome boys, and art museums. In the other, she remains home, in her ordinary suburb, where she expects her ordinary life to continue — but nothing is as it seems.
In both summers, she will fall in love and discover new sides of herself. What may break her, though, is a terrible family secret, one she can't hide from anywhere. In the end, it may just be the truth she needs the most.
From New York Times bestselling author Aimee Friedman comes an irresistible, inventive novel that takes readers around the world and back again, and asks us what matters more: the journey or the destination.
Why I Want To Read This Book: I love the idea of this book. At first glance, I thought that the book was about a girl who is talking about her two summer vacations, but if you look closely...the main character's name is Summer. The book has two stories going on at the same time in parallel universes, one where Summer is in France, and the other where she is Upstate New York. Overall, the reviews are pretty good for this book, and I am excited to read it.
6. To All The Boys I've Every Loved Before by Jenny Han
What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them… all at once?
Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.
Why I Want To Read This Book: I have seen this book everywhere. I believe that it's even being made into a movie, and that Janel Parrish from Pretty Little Liars is going to be in it. This book usually gets around 4 stars, which is pretty good to me. The synopsis seems interesting enough, but makes me cringe a bit- because imagine everyone finding out how you felt about them. It kind of reminds me of the movie Read it and Weep which was a Disney Channel movie. I want to read the book because I want to see what the hype is all about, and I've heard that Jenny Han's other books are very well written.
7. Girl Out of Water by Laura Silverman
Synopsis from GoodReads:
Anise Sawyer plans to spend every minute of summer with her friends: surfing, chowing down on fish tacos drizzled with wasabi balsamic vinegar, and throwing bonfires that blaze until dawn. But when a serious car wreck leaves her aunt, a single mother of three, with two broken legs, it forces Anise to say goodbye for the first time to Santa Cruz, the waves, her friends, and even a kindling romance, and fly with her dad to Nebraska for the entire summer. Living in Nebraska isn’t easy. Anise spends her days caring for her three younger cousins in the childhood home of her runaway mom, a wild figure who’s been flickering in and out of her life since birth, appearing for weeks at a time and then disappearing again for months, or even years, without a word.
Complicating matters is Lincoln, a one-armed, charismatic skater who pushes Anise to trade her surfboard for a skateboard. As Anise draws closer to Lincoln and takes on the full burden and joy of her cousins, she loses touch with her friends back home – leading her to one terrifying question: will she turn out just like her mom and spend her life leaving behind the ones she loves
Why I Want To Read This Book: I found this book when I was (once again) browsing through Barnes & Nobles. I like the concept of this book because it brings together a variety of characters that seem to not have much in common. Also, the only book I've read that takes place in Nebraska is My Antonia, so I think it'll be cool to read another book whose setting is there.
Questions: Have you read any of these books? What are books on your reading list?
Leave a comment telling me what books you recommend or want to read.
xx
Christina Madeleine
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