Finding Yvonne
by Brandy Colbert
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 7, 2018
Eighteen-year-old Yvonne is at a crossroads. A violin prodigy, she’s always known she wanted to be a musician. But lately she worries she’s falling out of love with the instrument. She has another decision to make: Her almost-boyfriend Warren is a safe and familiar option; Omar, his polar opposite, is exciting and dangerous and a musician, but Yvonne fears he isn’t telling her everything. To make matters worse, lately her dad’s been more interested in getting high than he’s been in spending time with her. Just when it seems like her life is spinning out of control, she falls pregnant.
FINDING YVONNE is a moving read. It’s a compassionate coming-of-age-story about teenage friendship, romance, and big decisions. Brandy Colbert deftly handles some of the weightier subject matter. She’s able to keep the book a relatively light-hearted read.
We'll Fly Away
by Bryan Bliss
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: May 8, 2018
WE'LL FLY AWAY by Bryan Bliss is the story of two best friends, Luke and Toby, and their senior year of high school. With the promise of a college wrestling scholarship for Luke, the two boys make their plans to leave their town, Toby’s abusive father, and Luke’s distant mother at the end of the school year. Carefully woven within the story of the boys’ year are Luke’s letters to Toby from death row.
These letters ultimately allow readers to piece together the events leading up to Luke’s incarceration and complimented the other aspects of the novel well. However, the best part of reading WE'LL FLY AWAY was the vulnerability of each of the two main characters. This, along with the strength of the boys’ friendship made reading the novel and their growth apart from one another especially heartbreaking.
Warnings: physical abuse
And She Was
by Jessica Verdi
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: March 27, 2018
AND SHE WAS is very much a traditional “go on life changing road trip with best friend who you may or may not have feelings for” book, but it is also so much more. Dara Baker is a very passionate tennis player who doesn’t have time for much other than being a very passionate tennis player, and spending time with her mom and apparently only friend, Sam. This is the guy who she goes on the life changing road trip with. Dara learns more about others than she does herself on this road trip, which is prompted by learning that her mom is transgender.
AND SHE WAS is one of the best books I’ve ever read – and for a good third of it, I hated the main character. This started on page 200 for me and didn’t really stop until Dara came all the way back home. When she was throwing up in the hotel… Serves you right. When she was thinking about how she couldn’t deal with her mother’s suicidal thoughts… Wow, someone else’s really hard time must be such a burden for you (sarcastic). Why am I such an unwavering critic of our adorable protagonist here? Because I agree with her friend Sam-- she is selfish, immature, and definitely unraveling.
Dara keeps saying her anger with her mother isn’t about “the trans thing,” oh, but it is. Contradictory to my dislike of the “hero,” I actually have extremely high levels of sympathy. I am a sensitive soul. I care. For Mellie, and Sam. (And Bob.) I am nonbinary. Trans issues are very important to me. Dysphoria, mental health, the will to sacrifice your money when you shouldn’t have to, parents and friends having varying levels of acceptance and otherwise, all of it. I don’t like Dara much because she seems unwilling to grasp true fear, to really understand, to listen, even just enough to actually care. When she says this herself in the last few chapters, I sigh with relief. Finally.
This book touched me so deeply, it made me cry. I love Mellie. There are too many Mellies in this world, and way too many Daras and Ruths. My mother is a wonderful, liberal, tries-really-hard-to-accept version of Ruth. “Honestly, we were thrilled,” Ruth says on page 235, “We thought Marcus was a lovely boy…” My mother, and Ruth, both have no problems with “the trans community” to its face, but will ask, “C’mon. Why is all that necessary?” Why? “Isn’t is better to accept yourself?” Isn’t it? “Aren’t you proud of being a boy/girl?” I’m not not proud! Imagine being the thing people constantly question. Jessica Verdi gets it. She gets it enough to write about it. I love this book. Read this book.
The Poet X
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
Elizabeth Acevedo’s debut novel THE POET X tells the story of a young Dominican high-schooler living in Harlem, named Xiomara, who must tread the line of expectations and expression. Her mother expects her to obey the order of the church, but Xiomara has so much she yearns to say.
THE POET X is a fantastic verse novel that covers topics relevant to teens today, like how to live for yourself instead of others. For those who are a fan of poetry, Acevedo — an experienced slam poet — delivers on all fronts! The verse is beautiful, and anyone can see a bit of themself in Xiomara. It might not be the typical YA novel, but THE POET X is an unprecedented must-read!
Hooper
by Geoff Herbach
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: February 20, 2018
HOOPER by Geoff Herbach is about a Polish teen named Adam Reed. In Poland his mom died and his dad left him. He was adopted and moved to Minnesota. He loves playing basketball more than anything else in his life. When trouble arises he has to keep a level head or lose everything.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a real page turner, at times I couldn't put the book down. The plot was fast, moving, and interesting. There were many layers and I thought the writing style was interesting.
When Light Left Us
by Leah Thomas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: February 13, 2018
WHEN LIGHT LEFT US by Leah Thomas is a thrilling, contemporary novel that is incredibly hard to put down. When the father of Milo, Ana, and Hank Vasquez inexplicably deserted his family, the three siblings were suddenly left with a gaping hole in their lives. But in the darkness of their backyard one summer night, that hole was filled. A foreign, shimmering light entered into the three bodies of the Vasquez children and slowly took control of their actions. After doing irreversible damage on the three children, this light abandons them, much like their father. When the light left them, the children were forced them to embrace the things that made them human and learn to live again without the alien presence that they had become so familiar with.
WHEN LIGHT LEFT US took my breath away. Leah Thomas brilliantly captured the separate thoughts and personalities of three very different children while characterizing them in such a way that I forgot they weren’t actually real. The setting was designed in a way that made me feel like I too was in rural New Mexico. At its heart, WHEN LIGHT LEFT US is not an alien book, it is a coming-of-age story about how an alien presence forever changed the perspectives of a family. In the end, this is an utterly engrossing story that I never wanted to end.
American Panda
by Gloria Chao
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
AMERICAN PANDA is about Mei Lu and her family. Mei Lu should be in her senior year of high school, but is instead a freshman at MIT. Her family insists that she live by the set of Golden Lu Rules: be a Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, become a doctor, marry a Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, have Taiwanese future Ivy Leaguer children. (Sons are preferred.) Don’t date anyone from any other culture. Don’t fail classes or get bad grades. Don’t lie. Dance. But not too much. Mei breaks some rules and begins to understand others in her quest to define herself and find her own path.
I really loved this book. On behalf of all non-Taiwanese people who don’t go to MIT everywhere, I must say, this book is highly educational on the perspectives of both Taiwanese people and MIT students. I’m not joking. I now know more about MIT and its weird traditions than Mei did when she first got there. (Thanks, Gloria!) I know that this book doesn’t reflect every Taiwanese experience; the author said this herself in the Author’s Note. But it is the beginning of a necessary education on racial sympathy, which is highly timely in the age of Mr. Trump - and it will continue being timely after his reign ends. I felt the tone of this book very strongly. It was cinematic. Lots of twists and near misses and uncomfortable falls from grace (literally and figuratively). The romance did not feel tiring or cliched or anti-feminist in any way. It actually felt very open, empowering, realistic, and very fresh. Overall, even without thinking solely about the difference in racial experiences and refreshing romance, AMERICAN PANDA is quite simply a fine, well-written piece of teen-age literature.
The Last to Let Go
by Amber Smith
Publisher: Margaret K McElderry Books
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
When 16-year-old Brooke Winter arrives home from school one day to see her abusive father dead and her mother holding the murder weapon, she cannot begin to fathom all the ways her life is about to spiral out of control. Over the next year, she struggles to come to terms with her father’s death and her mother’s involvement in it. But she must also deal with all the problems, big and small, that characterize the life of your average 16-year-old: first kisses, first loves, breakups, schoolwork, friends. But she is not, and will never be, your average 16-year-old. For how long can she keep up the charade?
Despite the dark subject matter, THE LAST TO LET GO is not a depressing read. It is funny, sweet, and ultimately hopeful. The author, Amber Smith, ensures the plot is not overshadowed by violence and despair. Brooke is a well-drawn character, complicated and multidimensional. She makes decisions that are so frustrating you will find it hard to keep reading, but you’ll also be so invested in her that you’ll force yourself to turn the pages. Smith’s prose flows easily. THE LAST TO LET GO is a completely worthwhile read.
When My Heart Joins the Thousand
by A.J. Steiger
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
WHEN MY HEART JOINS THE THOUSAND by A.J. Steiger is a beautiful story following Alvie on her journey to finding herself and honestly trying to just make it to her 18th birthday in one piece. She’s never fit in, and she really doesn’t care. She’s scared to care. Her only friend is a bird at the zoo she works at, Chance. But, when she meets a boy, her world is different. HE is different.
As she gets closer to him and hears about his estranged past, she must decide if it's worth it to her to have him in her life. I thought this was beautifully written and although it was sad, it was easy to relate to and truly feel like you are in the story with these heart wrenching positions they find themselves in.
Calling My Name
by Liara Tamani
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: October 24, 2017
Taja Brown, an African American girl living in Houston, Texas, narrates CALLING MY NAME by Liara Tamani. Throughout this coming of age novel, Taja grapples with the expectations of her parents, her relationship with God, her sexuality, and her own personal aspirations.
Because the novel begins when Taja is in middle school and ends after she finishes high school, it felt as though I was growing up alongside her, instead of reading her stories as an outsider. Taja beautifully develops her narrative voice over the course of the story, which was a rewarding process for me to experience as a reader. This immediately personal relationship with the main character, along with Tamani’s subdued (while still powerful) writing style, makes CALLING MY NAME easy to connect to for any teenager.
Readers who enjoyed the vignette-like structure and poetic language of Sandra Cisneros’s THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET will want to give CALLING MY NAME a try.
Turtles All the Way Down
by John Green
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young People
Publication Date: October 10, 2017
John Green has done what I thought was impossible: he has out-John Greened himself. This is TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN in a nutshell: an emotional tale riddled with obscure literary references that only someone who has read an entire library would understand, the quirky best friend(TM), and too many internal monologues to count ...and I loved every second of it. More than just a romance, or a look at teenage friendship, or a coming of age adventure, TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN is about personal struggles with mental health and the inescapability of one's own mind. Aza, the main character, tries to live her life and not be controlled by her "thought spirals", but is held back by the very thing only she has control of: herself.
This book was a bit different from some of Green's other books, in that it was less plot based and more based on the internal emotions of the main character, but I think that he was really able to convey true and raw depth of the characters, especially Aza. His own personal experiences with mental health are visible through Aza; her struggles don't seem fake or exaggerated and are grounded in the roots of John Green's own fight. This is not a book to read passively; it demands a deep connection from the reader to actively root for and against the characters, often at the same time. Following the publication of this book, there is likely to be a trend in YA focusing on mental health, as seen in the effect of Green's other books after their releases, yet I doubt any of them will be able to match the caliber and power of TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN. There were definitely some problems, don't get me wrong. The freedom of these 16 to 17 year olds to do whatever they wanted is highly implausible, and the lack of any actively responsible parental figures is a bit strange, but these are commonly overlooked in YA fiction, whether it be a misunderstanding of the lives of modern teens or the need to further the plot, but it doesn't have too much of a negative effect on the novel as a whole. I was really impressed at this book overall, and hope that John Green doesn't take as long to write his next one.
