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Concrete Kids
León, Amyra
Reviewed: September 28, 2022
Concrete Kids by Amyra Leon is a fairly tiny book from the Penguin Workshop Pocket Change Collective series that tells a story like many books. Leon uses playful words and unique vocabulary to tell her story as a young girl, up to her teenage years, and what she has experienced growing up. In this small book, she depicts her trauma and struggles throughout her childhood as a Black girl. She talks about how she had been separated from her birth mother without knowing her birth father and was put into the foster care system. From there, she constantly moved from house to house,... Read Full Review
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Along for the Ride
Dessen, Sarah
Reviewed: September 21, 2022
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen is a heartwarming and incredibly adorable story that manages to show the readers how while things will not always be smooth-sailing, there will always be a hand reaching out when you need it. It is one of several teen romances written by Dessen, and it is about Auden, who has insomnia. After making a spontaneous decision that lands her somewhere she's never thought she would be, she meets Eli, who‘s an insomniac just like her. Together Eli leads Auden on a series of night tours around town, where they embark on a journey of excitement, love, and... Read Full Review
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Ikigai for Teens: Finding Your Reason for Being
García, Héctor
Reviewed: September 14, 2022
In life, everyone makes choices, from simply deciding what breakfast item they should have in the morning to deciding which college to attend. These choices could impact our lives greatly and decide if one would truly be happy.
Ikigai For Teens: Finding Your Reason for Being acts as a guidebook for young individuals who do not know what they are going to do in the future. The term “ikigai” is roughly translated as a “life goal” or literally “worthwhile life.” García and Miralles assist readers in how discovering what gets them out of bed every morning. They encourage their... Read Full Review
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The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts
Miller, Arthur
Reviewed: September 7, 2022
Set in seventeenth-century Salem, Massachusetts, Miller’s classic play regarding the witch-hunts and trials displays a town that was driven by fear and submerged in hysteria. A once united community crumbles over the rumors that women within the town are practicing witchcraft, violating Puritan standards and moral code. Within this strict theocracy, neighbors are accusing neighbors of unleashing their spirits and practicing this forbidden craft. When a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, religious leaders and townspeople demand that she be brought to trial. Realizing... Read Full Review
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The School for Good and Evil
Chainani, Soman
Reviewed: August 31, 2022
Enter a treacherous world where destiny, desire, and friendship meet two girls on their unexpected adventure to The School for Good and Evil, the place where all fairy tales start. Sophie is the classic princess on a book cover; blonde, fair, the beauty of her town, and seemingly benevolent at every turn. Agatha, the “Graveyard Girl,” constantly wearing black, has a witch mother, and a cat with a less-than-sunny disposition appears as the antithesis of Sophie, destined to be the villain. Yet, once kidnapped and taken to the School for Good and Evil, Agatha is plopped onto the... Read Full Review
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Circe: A Novel
Miller, Madeline
Reviewed: August 24, 2022
Circe by Madeline Miller recounts the story of the goddess Circe’s life. Spanning millennia, this book documents her early years in the palace of her father, Helios, and later into her life in exile on the remote island of Aiaia. As I read this book, I watched Circe’s character development from a simple and naive child grow into an empowered and defiant sorceress. As Circe comes from Greek mythology, Miller weaves together classic ancient Greek stories into the life story of Circe, with cameos from famous characters such as the Minotaur and Odysseus. I adored getting to live in... Read Full Review
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The Outsiders
Hinton, S. E.
Reviewed: August 17, 2022
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a story about Ponyboy, his brothers, his unexpected group of friends, and the cruel reality that they were forced into—all because of their circumstances and social class. Ponyboy is an outcast and a loner from his perspective, yet he prefers it to be that way since he already likes doing activities by himself. But when tragedy strikes, and he is forced into a life filled with violence with those he cares about, it is up to Ponyboy and the boys to survive.
This dramatically-paced story is one that manages to use its words to draw you into... Read Full Review
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That Was Then, This Is Now
Hinton, S. E.
Reviewed: August 10, 2022
Look, I love The Outsiders. It's a novel by S.E. Hinton that you've at least heard of if you haven't read (and loved). After I was assigned The Outsiders, I was left wanting more of Hinton's other works. I wanted to explore her writing style, which I quickly fell in love with after reading The Outsiders. That's when I picked up the book she wrote four years later, That Was Then, This Is Now.
The novel follows, once again, an engaging cast of characters set in a world that, a little way into the book, seems to be familiar to readers of The... Read Full Review
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The Great Gatsby
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Reviewed: August 3, 2022
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald takes place during the early 1920s. The novel is written in the first person, with the narrator (Nick Carraway) becoming friends with Jay Gatsby, a millionaire who throws lavish parties weekly. Gatsby has been in love with Daisy (Nick's cousin) for a long time, but now Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan. Jay Gatsby's ambition is not only to become opulent but also to be with Daisy. Gatsby and Daisy begin having an affair, leading to overwhelming conflicts between Gatsby and Buchanan's marriage.
As I read this novel, I enjoyed the turn... Read Full Review
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We Are Okay
LaCour, Nina
Reviewed: July 28, 2022
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour starts with the protagonist Marin living alone in the dorms of NYU over winter break. She sits here waiting for her former best friend Mabel to come from sunny L.A., to whom she hasn’t spoken in months. Told in a narrative of flipping back and forth between the past and the present, this novel tells the story of Marin's life in the before, in California with her grandfather, and why she ran away and ended up here in New York City alone. I have read this book multiple times, and each time I take away new meanings and messages from LaCour’s words, watching... Read Full Review
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Twilight
Meyer, Stephenie
Reviewed: July 20, 2022
Twilight is a popular Young adult fiction novella written by Stephenie Meyer that follows 17-year-old Bella Swan after she moves with her father to Forks, Washington. Shortly after moving to forks, Bella meets Edward Cullen, who is very handsome and mysterious. She then takes it upon herself to find out what he’s hiding, and when she does, she falls in love with him. Twilight takes us through the stages of their relationship and the obstacles they encounter. It is a very old novella series that is still read by many people today because the relationship between Edward and... Read Full Review
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House of Hollow
Sutherland, Krystal
Reviewed: July 13, 2022
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland follows Iris Hollow as she lives a seemingly normal teenage life, though strange events seem to follow her and her older sisters. Flashback to when Iris was young, she and her two sisters inexplicably disappear, coming back a month later with no memory of their time away and with changed appearances. The book starts when Iris’s mega-famous eldest sister Grey goes missing, with only perplexing clues in her wake. While reading this book, I went on a paranormal adventure with Iris as her normal life turned more and more supernatural. Intoxicating... Read Full Review