Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts

 This is a story of an unlikely friendship.  While in the hospital after a bone marrow transplant, Zac hears the angst of his next door neighbor.  Beginning with a knock on the wall, Zac reaches out to Mia.  She doesn't want anyone's help and keeps her sickness a secret even from her closest friends.

After leaving the hospital, Zac finds his thoughts drifting back to Mia.  Then one day she appears - broken, lost, and looking for money to run away.  With a newly amputated leg, all Mia wants to do is escape.  Slowly Zac helps her find the things in life that are worth fighting for.

At the beginning of the book, I thought it was very similar to The Fault in Our Stars.  However, the similarities started to fade, and Zac and Mia took on a life of its own.  The Fault in Our Stars is probably one of my all-time favorite books, but I thought Zac & Mia's characters were more believable.  This novel is a story of friendship and how sometimes all you need is a little hope to get you through the toughest of days.  What could be a romantic component is not capitalized upon, and it makes the book work.  It is instead about two people who form a bond over a shared hurt, understanding how much one's life is altered by a disease as devastating as cancer.  It is through this bond that each is able to grasp onto hope that propels them through another day.

I will definitely be recommending this book to my students who loved The Fault in Our Stars and Eleanor & Park. 

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin





"Sometimes books don't find us until the right time."

I hope everyone finds this sweet story.  It is the story of how the power of books can bring people together as well as the way in which love can be found in the most unlikely packages.

A.J. Fikry is a bookstore owner who has become lonely and crotchety since his beloved wife died.  Just when he is losing his passion for the life that once excited him, an unexpected package arrives in his store and completely transforms his life.  Suddenly, his cold, hardened heart begins to open to the possibility of love and friendship.  People in his small town notice the change, and they are soon affected by it too.

Each chapter is prefaced with a description of a short story that Fikry is leaving to his daughter. It is definitely a book for book lovers.  Books are referenced throughout the novel, and one walks away with a deeper appreciation for books after reading this magical tale of loss, love, and hope.

Laughing at My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw

Shane Burcaw uses humor and candid realism to discuss what it is like to live with spinal muscular atrophy.  As a 21-year-old who has spent his entire life in a wheelchair, Burcaw tells stories from his childhood, teens, and young adult years that give readers a glimpse of what it would be like to live with a life-threatening, debilitating disease.  While it could be a story riddled with self-pity, Burcaw instead discusses topics such as using the bathroom, having a girlfriend, and going to school with such a humorous voice that readers can't help smiling.

Burcaw's voice as he recounts incidents in his life is similar to that of Jon Sciezka in Knucklehead.  It is with the same wit that he is able to communicate the ups, downs, and everything in between associated with his disease.  Startlingly real and incredibly honest, Laughing at My Nightmare will have readers smiling the whole way through.

While this book is too mature for my sixth graders, I would not hesitate to recommend it to high school readers or more mature readers with a parent's permission.  The message in the book is too important for students to miss out on.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

 

Very rarely do I finish a book and want to open it right back up and start again.  This was exactly how I felt upon the completion of I'll Give You the Sun. I wanted to dive right back into the pages so I could experience its beauty all over again.

 

Reading I'll Give You the Sun is like eating the most decadent piece of chocolate - you want to savor every morsel and never want it to end.  The language Nelson uses is lyrical.  I found myself frequently rereading sentences just so I could relish the way the words went together to create this beautiful piece of art. Because of the language Nelson used, I could feel every emotion the characters were feeling.

 

Within the story, there was an abundance of emotion.  It is the story of close twins Noah and Jude, told in alternating perspectives.  Noah's story takes place around when he's 13, and Jude's story picks up three years later, after an accident that has impacted their lives and left them not speaking to one another.  Noah is navigating his way through his teens with a secret of falling in love with the boy next door.  Jude has been accepted to an art school, where she is haunted by the ghosts of her mother and grandmother.  She realizes that she can make her dead mother proud if she can just create one piece of art for her.  This project leads her to her soul mate as well as a famous sculptor who becomes an influential mentor.  Jude and Noah discover and uncover secrets about themselves and their mother that shape the way they see the world.  As they tell their sides of the story, it is clear that each only has half.  It is not until they come together again that they can put the pieces together, where everything comes full circle and secrets are revealed.

 

This novel is surprising, breath-taking, and full of hope.  The passion on the pages will stay with readers long after the final word is read.  The characters and story are ones that will not easily be forgotten.

We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

I am a fan of Dana Reinhardt.  When I found out that she had a new book being published, I was very anxious to read it.  This book did not disappoint.

It seems as though I've been reading a lot of books lately with a theme of sisters.  So many have focused on the bonds between sisters and how they navigate their way through life with - or without - each other.  We Are the Goldens fit into this category.  

Nell has always looked up to her older sister Layla.  They've been close their whole lives; in fact, so close that Nell actually thought her name was Nellayla.  When Nell starts going to City Day, the same high school Layla already attends, Nell thinks it will be the time of her life.  She and Layla will be able to do everything together.

Layla begins to withdraw.  Nell can feel the divide between them growing, and she is sure that Layla is keeping a secret.  When she finds out the sheer magnitude of what it is, she is faced with quite an enormous decision.  Should she stay loyal to her sister, her other half, or should she tell someone and face losing her sister forever?  She sees how the secrets could ruin Layla's life, but she also knows that her life without her sister would be empty.

We Are The Goldens reminded me of Anatomy of Wings.  In both, the sister has a secret and begins acting strange, while the younger sister sits back and watches the demise.  While they had different issues and endings, both books discussed the power of sisterhood and how one decision can change a life.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

While I anxiously awaited its publication, I was a little disappointed by this book.  I wanted to find out what happened, but I felt as though some of the plot was underdeveloped.  Parts toward the end even felt rushed.

Prenna and her mother belong to a group of people that come from the future.  They come from a time when a plague and environmental destruction have devastated the earth.  When they arrive in present day, Ethan sees Prenna and instantly falls in love.  However, Prenna is forbidden from forming a relationship with anyone as part of a set of rules set forth by her community. 

Prenna finds out that she is supposed to help reverse an event that is going to occur on May 17, 2014. She and Ethan set out to change the outcome so they can save society.  They go against the rules set forth by Prenna's people.

The end of the book felt rushed, as it could have been developed to a greater degree.  It left me wanting to know more - parts that I thought should have been discussed more.  That being said, it was interesting to read and try to wrap my mind around time travel.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

There are so many great things about this book.  It is a story about the bond between sisters, the importance of family, and the pain - and joy - of being in love.

Lara Jean writes a letter to every boy she has ever loved.  She puts her feelings on paper, addresses the envelope, and then never mails the letter.  One day after her oldest sister Margot leaves to go to school in Scotland, Lara Jean's letters somehow get mailed.  Suddenly Lara Jean has a lot more to worry about than what she's going to make for dinner.

While navigating her way through life without her sister, who always took care of things after their mother died, Lara Jean now has to figure out her love life as well.

This book is so much more than the typical chick lit. It explores the relationships between three sisters who have formed a stronger bond since their mother died.  It touches on the Korean heritage their mother left behind.  It also centers on what it's like to be a teenager figuring out feelings that don't always make sense, especially when those feelings result in love.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

I have heard a lot of buzz about this book, and I could not wait to get my hands on a copy. I read one review that said it was better to go into it blindly without knowing too much, so I refrained from reading any more reviews.  I'm so glad I did.

 

Because of that, I will not give away much in my review, because it is the type of book that you really do just have to read without any preconceived expectations. Just know that the book you are about to read will BLOW. YOUR. MIND.

 

We Were Liars takes place on an island, where the prestigious Sinclair family goes every summer.  The cousins look forward to seeing each other every year, as they are the best of friends bound by blood.  Then something happens during their 15th summer that leaves Cadence yearning for answers.  She feels like her whole family is keeping something from her, so she begins trying to put the missing pieces of her puzzle together.  The island is filled with secrets, lies, familial ties, love, and bonds that cannot be broken.

As I was reading this book, I couldn't understand at first what all the hype was about.  I was enjoying it, but it wasn't the "amazing" read I had been expecting.  Then I read further.  All of a sudden, the plot moved along at break-neck speed, and I couldn't put it down.  I had to find out what happened.  E. Lockhart does a wonderful job of building suspense, foreshadowing events to come, and then completely shocking readers with the outcome.  I was blindsided by the final pages.  Usually, I am good at collecting clues and figuring out the endings, but this ending is one that I never saw coming.  I loved it!

At the beginning of the ARC of We Were Liars, the publisher wrote a note saying that it was a book that you would want to discuss with others that had also read it.  A truer statement could not have been made.  I cannot wait for my students and my friends to devour this book the way that I did so we can talk about it.  There is so much to be said, yet mentioning any of it before someone has read the book would ruin it.  I will be buying several copies of this masterpiece for my classroom and book-talking it every chance I get.

The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner

Four years ago, Frankie's little brother Simon drowned while she was supposed to be watching him.  Her mother barely speaks to her, and Frankie blames herself for Simon's death.  Now it is summer.  Frankie's best friend Lisette is preoccupied with her boyfriend, who Frankie secretly longs to kiss.  Frankie is feeling left out and finds herself with plenty of time to miss Simon. 

One day while following her neighbor to the country club because of a hunch she has, Frankie meets four-year-old Frankie Sky who steps in and turns her world upside down.  Frankie Sky seems to have a striking resemblance to Simon, and he seems to know more about Simon than Frankie ever thought possible.  She lands a summer job as a mother's helper to Frankie's mom.  The more she is around the little boy and the more coincidences that pile up, the more Frankie becomes convinced that he is some how a reincarnation of her little brother.

This book is about loss, family, friendship, and the power of hope.  In the midst of a tragedy that changed her world forever, sixteen-year-old Frankie is able to find something to believe in.  She starts to think that some things are just bigger than she is.  This summer, she is finally able to start letting go.

Readers will be able to identify with the believable characters in this exceptional realistic fiction book.  There is sadness that abounds with the loss that resonates throughout the book, but there is also a strong feeling of hope.  Frankie's change throughout the story is so profound, readers will be cheering for her at the end.  Reading The Summer of Letting Go will make readers think about the power of relationships, and how one person can change your perspective - and your life.

I will be highly recommending this book to my students immediately.  I already have readers in mind that I know will devour it.