By:
On:
In: General Book Reviews, Multicultural (YA), Realistic Fiction (YA), Romance (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

A novel in verse, Wild Dreamers by Margarita Engle is dedicated to scientists and future scientists. It features two Cuban American youth: Leandro and Ana Tanamá, who take inspiration from Jane Goodall and other conservationists to protect the planet by rewilding. Rewilding efforts attempt to restore biodiversity. Seventeen-year-old Leandro fled Cuba at the age of seven with his family. His father drowned saving his son, so Leandro blames himself and has suffered from  uncontrollable attacks of dizzy panic ever since. His service animal, Cielo is a blue merle dog who shares her perspective intermittently in the novel. After living in Florida for a time, theRead More →

By:
On:
In: General Book Reviews, Multicultural (YA), Realistic Fiction (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Enrolled at Riverstone High School (RHS) in Ohio, Jasmine and Jackson Ghasnavi are the mixed race (half White, half Iranian) children of doctors. Jasmine is a senior who loves pottery, and Jackson’s passion is theatre. When their parents divorce, Jackson develops abandonment issues and Jasmine struggles to find a lasting relationship. Jackson helps his sister cope with her breakups by constructing breakup lists. At the recommendation of his therapist, Jackson also uses lists to cope with his own anxiety. These lists and teen relationship drama form the plot for Adib Khorram’s novel The Breakup Lists. As a former “theatre kid” himself, Khorram infuses his novelRead More →

By:
On:
In: General Book Reviews, Realistic Fiction (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Because Where Was Goodbye? is a story about navigating grief, loss, and the search for answers about suicide, Janice Lynn Mather provides a trigger warning at the beginning of her novel. Although suicide is central to Mather’s writing, Where Was Goodbye? also indicates the importance of support systems, coping mechanisms, friendship, and unconditional love. Having an eye for color and creation, Karmen Wallace is a maker of soft things. Despite her ability to knit, her family is broken, and Karmen is struggling to make sense of the tragic loss of her brother Julian who takes his life by suicide. Although Karmen’s best friend, Layla, isRead More →

By:
On:
In: General Book Reviews, Realistic Fiction (YA), Romance (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

For her debut young adult novel, former stand-up comedian Kate Weston writes Diary of a Confused Feminist to serve several purposes: to create humor, to profile the feminist adventure from the perspective of fifteen-year-old Katarina Evans (a.k.a. Kat), and to shine a light on mental health, especially for those who endure anxiety and depression. If it can be said of humor, some of the lines spoken and thoughts pondered by the novel’s protagonist seemed a bit outside the realm of normal. But Weston herself admits that normal might not exist, given that every individual varies in that regard. In any case, the focus on sex,Read More →

By:
On:
In: General Book Reviews, Multicultural (YA), Realistic Fiction (YA), Romance (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Set in Melbourne, Australia, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang features Sadie Wen and Julius Gong, two teens who are on a trajectory to future success. Having researched the highest-paying job and the most in-demand degrees, Julius plans to be a lawyer and Sadie a data analyst. Both young people attend Woodvale Academy, a selective high school for gifted students and populated predominantly by other young Asians. At Woodvale, “dreams, [like astronaut, playwright, and artist] are shattered and hobbies are traded for more stable, lucrative, practical careers” (130). Sadie has perfect grades and is the MVP in every sports team she isRead More →

By:
On:
In: General Book Reviews, Realistic Fiction (YA), Romance (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

In much the same way that Laurie Halse Anderson with Speak in 1999 aimed to shed light on the subjects of sexual assault, mental health, and forming an identity throughout one’s teenage years, Amber Smith chronicles the challenges of Eden McCrorey in her book The Way I Am Now (2023). Raped when she was barely fourteen, Eden struggles to acknowledge compliments and accepts only the love she things she deserves. Eden is afraid she will need depression, anti-anxiety, and sleeping medication forever. Although she feels things deeply and completely, Eden disconnects herself from most of what she loves: playing the clarinet and connecting at aRead More →

By:
On:
In: General Book Reviews, Multicultural (YA), Realistic Fiction (YA), Romance (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Guilt is the glue that keeps Rana’s immigrant family together. In the Muslim world that Rana is from, the goal is to become a dutiful wife. However, that is a version of womanhood that Rana can’t live up to. She’s gay but keeps her sexual identity secret. Because she’s suffering from the loss of one of her best friends, Louie who died a mysterious death, Rana quits basketball and carbo loads her pain. As she shrinks into herself, her teacher Ms. Murillo tries to draw her out, telling her that her opinion matters and offering her meditation as a way to open up to possibility:Read More →

By:
On:
In: General Book Reviews, Realistic Fiction (YA), Romance (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

If You’ll Have Me is a graphic novel by Eunnie. The story’s protagonist is college freshman Momo Garnder. Sensitive and somewhat withdrawn, Momo is awkward with dating and friendships. Being single, she escapes the relationship drama she sees all-around her, but she also realizes she’s missing out on the fun. Caring about others gives Momo pleasure, so she’s always doing favors for others: sharing notes, loaning money, and serving as a designated driver.  However, in the process, she forgets the value of self-care. When one of Momo’s college friends tells her to “live a little,” Momo dares to open up to others. Soon, she findsRead More →

By:
On:
In: Realistic Fiction (YA), Romance (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

With Plan A, Deb Caletti has written a story that conveys the power of choice. To develop this theme, Caletti creates sixteen-year-old Ivy Devries who lives in Paris, Texas, a place populated by conservative people with strict opinions. From a long line of fierce women, Ivy finds herself in a predicament: She’s pregnant. But how could that be when she hasn’t actually had sex? Although Ivy aligns herself with Thomas Hardy’s protagonist in Tess of the D’Urbervilles, “ruined forever. More of a problem than a person, already broken, her future sealed” (40), Ivy realizes she’s just a regular girl, who never imagined this would happenRead More →