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Xavier Oak is the protagonist in Kenneth Oppel’s recent young adult novel, Best of All Worlds. Zay, as he is called in the book, loves gaming, especially playing Dungeons and Dragons with his older brother Sam and his friend Serena. When his dad and his pregnant wife Nia insist that Zay accompany them on their annual vacation to the cottage, Zay resists but eventually relents. Sometime in the night, their cottage is relocated and set down in the middle of a strange farm where there is no cell service. Soon, Zay and his father discover that they are all trapped inside a transparent dome. TryRead More →

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Written in verse, Under the Neon Lights is Arriel Vinson’s debut young adult novel. Set in a suburb of Indianapolis, the story follows Jaelyn Coleman, her bestie Noelle, and a new boy in town: Trey. Central to the plot is the WestSide Roll skating rink, a place to “shake sorrows loose.” But as the neighborhood changes and Mr. Mike ages, he decides to retire and sell the rink. Although sad about giving up “his baby, a place to get the community together, get young folk off the street [and] old folks out [of] a funk” (71), Mr. Mike accepts that change is inevitable. Sixteen-year-old JaelynRead More →

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Ann Liang writes an intriguing, genre-blending novel in Never Thought I’d End Up Here. Part romantic-comedy, part realistic fiction, and part self-help, this novel addresses multiple teen issues. These include topics such as self-acceptance, coming-of-age, and the power of choice. It also bumps up against matters of cultural diversity. Seventeen-year-old Leah Zhang has lived in Los Angeles all her life, and while she knows a small amount about her Chinese roots and a few words of Mandarin, she feels no need for greater cultural immersion until she embarrasses herself at her cousin’s wedding. After Leah mixes up the Mandarin blessing she attempts to deliver toRead More →

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Set in Massachusetts at Hancock High School, Kill the Lax Bro by Charlotte Lillie Balogh is a murder mystery complicated by relationship webs. Balogh invites her readers to sift through the details to determine why Troy Richards was killed, where he was killed, and who has motive. As Balogh shares details, readers learn that Troy Richards is a popular Lacrosse star whose father has high expectations for him. He seems to have a reputation as a heart breaker. However, we also see Troy’s aggressive, bullying side and his devil-may-care attitude. To Troy, everything is just one big game. Because many students believe that “Troy RichardsRead More →

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Shea Ernshaw pursues the fairly typical topic of love in her recent novel The Beautiful Maddening, but she does so with an unusual approach. To ask her questions about the strange and beautiful paradox of love, she creates the Goode family. Odd and unordinary, the Goodes are best avoided since they can supposedly bewitch someone into loving them with their magical tulips, which are “responsible for every bad thing that has ever happened in the [Goode] family” (26). Seventeen-year-old Archer is self-assured and lives loudly. His twin sister Lark prefers the shade of invisibility. A talented sketch artist who also believes that “music drowns outRead More →

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Kane Lynch’s debut graphic novel, Reel Life examines the complex emotions held by young people, especially when their parents are experiencing relationship difficulty. In April, three tweens: Kyle, Galen, and Luna are engaged with their movie production plan when Kyle has an emotional outburst, causing him to walk away from the project and his friend group. By May, Galen’s dad is moving out. As Galen navigates visits between his dad’s new place and his mom’s home base, he begins to understand what Kyle has been going through. This is a relevant book for young people who might need the guidance when parents are divorcing. AnRead More →

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In her nonfiction book Is It Real? The Loch Ness Monster, award-winning author Candace Fleming encourages readers to don their detective hats and gather their investigative tools in order to reach a verdict on one of the natural world’s greatest mysteries, whether the Loch Ness Monster is real or legend. To take readers on this sleuthing journey, Fleming invents a member of the Black Swan Scientific Investigation (BSSI) team who receives the job to unravel the mystery of what lurks in Scotland’s Loch Ness. Just as the scientific method typically has six steps, so too does the investigative method follow a systematic process: Review theRead More →

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Alice Oseman’s recent novel, I Was Born for This centers around the phenomenon of fandom. Jimmy Kaga-Ricci, Allister Bird (Lister), and Rowan Omondi are part of the boy band, The Ark. They are a musically talented group whose fame has sky-rocketed. From the outside looking in, the group has it all: fame, wealth, notoriety, and adoring fans. Fereshteh (Angel) Rahimi and Juliet Schwartz are two of those fans who met online. Initially attracted to one another because of their love for The Ark, they agree to meet up IRL and attend a concert together in London. All does not go as planned, and the pairRead More →

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Sabina Khan writes her novel Meet Me in Mumbai in two parts. Part I focuses on the life of Ayesha Hameed, a Muslim teen from India who is finishing high school in the United States so as to maximize her future potential. Here, she meets Suresh Khanna, a Hindu teen also from Mubai who is an exotic stranger but who totally “gets her.” As fellow Mubaiites, the pair share common rituals, foods, and similar backstories. Eventually, they fall in love, and after a glorious weekend together over the Thanksgiving holiday, Ayesha discovers she is pregnant. All of Ayesha’s lies and subterfuge have turned her intoRead More →