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.
Not if I Save You First
by Ally Carter
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: March 27, 2018
NOT IF I SAVE YOU FIRST by Ally Carter is about a 16 year old named Maddie, who was friends the President's son, Logan. Maddie moves suddenly to Alaska after an incident involving her dad at the White House. For 6 years she has been writing letters to Logan but he never responds. Then Logan's dad decides to send him to Alaska, where he is kidnapped and Maddie has to find him. I really enjoyed this book! It was well written and the plot never faltered; I couldn't stop reading! I highly recommend it.
Emergency Contact
by Mary H.K. Choi
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: March 27, 2018
EMERGENCY CONTACT by Mary H.K. Choi follows Penny Lee’s first year of college in Austin, Texas. An aspiring writer, Penny is excited to finally leave behind her high school years and start fresh in a new environment. Meanwhile, Sam works at a coffee shop and is struggling to get by, much less work towards his dreams of directing movies. Through texts and the dual-perspective aspect of the novel, readers follow the timeline of Penny and Sam’s relationship throughout the novel.
We found this to be a good, if a tad cluttered, first novel from the author. While Choi’s ambitious attempts to tackle many subject matters were generally successful, they fell flat at others. We would have liked to have see some aspects of the novel developed more, such as Sam’s relationship with his mother and some of Penny’s pre-college experiences. However, Choi did a good job of addressing diversity and it was easy to connect with the two main characters and their natural-feeling relationship. Overall, this was an enjoyable read and we recommend this for people looking for an uplifting story told in a unique way!
*Trigger warning for sexual assault.
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Ginger Kid: Mostly True Tales from a Former Nerd
by Steve Hofstetter
Publisher: Amulet Books
Publication Date: March 20, 2018
GINGER KID by Steve Hofstetter is a memoir about the author growing up as a kid in New York. He is a quirky kid with tons of wit. He gets bullied in high school. It's really about him grappling with fears as he grows up. I enjoyed this book. It was a funny light read. From the very first page it was witty and interesting. I liked the fact that the author wrote about himself. I feel that takes a lot of guts and is probably extremely difficult. The writing style was easy to comprehend and fit perfectly with the subject. Since I'm also in high school it's cool to hear about another person's experience.
Finding Felicity
by Stacey Kade
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: March 20, 2018
Caroline Sands has never had a friend. She’s had people she could chat with and people she was friendly with, but has yet to find anyone who could register higher than a distant acquaintance. When her stressed-out single mother began to worry for the state of her social life, Caroline made up friends for herself, stealing their names from characters out of the old 90s T.V. show Felicity. Now she’s moving halfway across the country to college. It’s an opportunity to transform herself into the outgoing, popular person she’s always wished she could be.
FINDING FELICITY is a refreshing take on the coming of age trope. Like most YA novels, there’s angst, interfering parents, and A Boy, but the book doesn’t quite follow the predictable course I figured it would at the beginning. It’s an interesting look at loneliness and isolation in the two places where friends are a hugely important part of your life—high school and college. Introverts will relate to Caroline’s struggle to navigate social dynamics. Ultimately, FINDING FELICITY is a sweet, mostly light-hearted book on friendship and belonging.
Here So Far Away
by Hadley Dyer
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: March 20, 2018
Meet George. Her real name is Frances, but no one calls her that. George is your typical high school senior; she drinks, she parties, she stresses out about college. However, when George gets isolated from her best friends after a sudden falling out, her life is dramatically changed. After being estranged from her friends, George goes to work for a benign 82-year-old and his messy house, farm, and pet pig. Through this work, George becomes closer to the town’s newcomer, Francis. Their bond grows past their shared name, which eventually raises many issues, such as a large age gap and the fact that Francis works for George’s father. With a second half full of twists and turns, HERE SO FAR AWAY by Hadley Dyer is a very enjoyable and exciting book.
Despite her reliance on young adult book cliches, Dyer manages to turn a somewhat plain storyline into something that rises above similar books. Through strong writing, addictive subplots, and down to earth characters, HERE SO FAR AWAY is a book that would definitely be enjoyed by most. With a strong sense of nostalgia throughout, Dyer roped me in from the get-go. Despite originally being hesitant about its less-than-original premise, I was thoroughly surprised and even impressed by this roller coaster tale of redemption, unrequited love, grief, and ultimately, the power of friendship.
The Astonishing Color of After
by Emily X.R. Pan
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 20, 2018
THE ASTONISHING COLOR OF AFTER by Emily X.R. Pan is a story of a girl desperate to hold on to her mother’s past. After committing suicide, Leigh’s mother has turned into a bird. When Leigh finds a note from her mom with the words, “I want you to remember” scratched out, she sets her sights on discovering her mom’s past and figuring out what it is she needs to remember. Her dad surprises her with a plane ride to Taiwan to meet her mother’s parents, whom she had never met before. Multiple visits from the bird and memories of times before her mother's death haunt her as she increasingly loses grip on reality. Frantic to hold on to her mother, she nearly destroys relationships, the most important being that with her best friend and true love, Axel. As the reader progresses through the story they follow Leigh as she discovers her grandparents’ past, learns about her culture and, while sifting through her own memories, finds herself. In the end, Leigh learns that all she can do is let her mother be free and embrace the present rather than the past.
This book is fascinating. It mixes reality with fantastic magical elements, so that the reader can’t predict whether something is real or just a figment of Leigh’s imagination. Pan incorporates compelling stories, spanning multiple generations of Leigh's family, that fit together in ways the reader might not expect. The language Pan uses is beautiful and expressive. While Leigh experiences things like the ghost festival, and eating pig's blood cake, the reader also gets to learn about the traditions of her family and heritage. Emily X.R. Pan’s debut novel is stunning.
Twelve Steps to Normal
by Farrah Penn
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Publication Date: March 13, 2018
In TWELVE STEPS TO NORMAL by Farrah Penn, the story is told from the perspective of Kira as she tries to recover her old life. After having to leave her whole life behind for for a year because of her dad’s alcohol addiction, she returns to her town as a junior in high school and must figure out what friendships and relationships are worth saving after so much time has passed. She comes home to many surprises (some good and some not so good) that she must face head on and fix before she loses everything… But will she really? I thought this book was very well written and it was very easy to relate to her attitude as a teenager and some of the struggles she faced with relationships, freedom, and parents.
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!
The Place Between Breaths
by An Na
Publisher: Atheneum
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
The PLACE BETWEEN BREATHS by An Na explores the impact of schizophrenia on a family. After her schizophrenic mother disappears and likely dies, Grace's father devotes himself to finding a cure for the disease. As an intern in her dad's lab, Grace works at her own personal dream of becoming a scientist, while juggling high school and her best friend's personal dilemma. Without the attention of her father and an absent mother, Grace slowly slips into her own world, succumbing to the disease herself.
I really wanted to like this book, and although it was beautifully written, I was definitely confused for most of it. There were abrupt time shifts back and forth without much explanation or background, and it took me a while to figure out what was happening. Plot lines were started and never finished, and big details were left out. However, the flashback scenes of Grace's childhood with her mother were incredible and raw, provoking real emotion. The book ended a bit abruptly, but it almost felt like all of the faults I found within the book were intentional, invoking the effects of schizophrenia itself. Still, this was a wonderful and quick read and I would highly recommend it!
