Category Archives: Young Adult/Teen 12-18

Review: Breathing Underwater by Abbey Lee Nash

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

Breathing Underwater by Abbey Lee Nash

Breathing Underwater
Abbey Lee Nash
Holiday House
Published March 5, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Breathing Underwater

In this slice-of-life, sensitively written novel, a teen girl grapples with a sudden epilepsy diagnosis, all while figuring out a new crush and an uncertain future.

Seventeen-year-old Tess Cooper lives by three train hard, study hard, work hard. Swimming is her best chance at a college scholarship. It’s what her parents, her coaches, and even her best friend expect from her—and Tess can always deliver.

Until tragedy strikes. Tess has a seizure, and her world suddenly becomes one of doctor visits, missed practices, and … Continue reading →

Review: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

By | | , ,
2 Comments

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry cover shows a girl's face in the top left corner and silhouettes of trees across the bottom. Unspooled threads are scattered across the whole cover.

Gathering Blue (The Giver Quartet #2)
Lois Lowry
HMH Books for Young Readers
Published September 25, 2000

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Gathering Blue

Lois Lowry’s Gathering Blue continues the quartet beginning with the quintessential dystopian novel, The Giver, followed by Messenger and Son.

Kira, an orphan with a twisted leg, lives in a world where the weak are cast aside. She fears for her future until she is spared by the all-powerful Council of Guardians. Kira is a gifted weaver and is given a … Continue reading →

Review: Marked Man by John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro

By | | , , , ,
Leave a comment

Marked Man by John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro

Marked Man
John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro
Roaring Brook Press
Published March 19, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Marked Man

1971. Brooklyn, New York. Undercover cop Frank Serpico is knocking on a drug dealer’s door. His partners are there to back him up, but when the door opens, he’s staring down the barrel of a gun―and his partners are nowhere to be found.

For more than a century, the New York Police Department had been plagued by corruption, with cops openly taking bribes from gamblers and drug dealers. Not Serpico. He refused to take dirty money and fought to shed … Continue reading →

Review: The Kindling by Traci Chee

By | |
Leave a comment

Kindling by Traci Chee cover shows a battle scene in a field. One warrior stands with their back to the audience, one hand on the pommel of a sword that hangs down their back. Another stands with her back to the audience, her hair fanning out behind her. Others run toward them.

The Kindling
Traci Chee
HarperCollins
Published February 27, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Kindling

From bestselling and award-winning author Traci Chee comes a standalone fantasy set against a war-ravaged world where kindling warfare—the use of elite, magic-wielding teenage soldiers—has been outlawed. In this rich and evocative novel, seven kindlings search for purpose and identity as they … Continue reading →

Review: Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor

By | | , , , ,
Leave a comment

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor

Hotel Magnifique
Emily J. Taylor
Razorbill
Published April 22, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Hotel Magnifique

For fans of Caraval and The Night Circus, this decadent and darkly enchanting YA fantasy, set against the backdrop of a Belle Époque-inspired hotel, follows seventeen-year-old Jani as she uncovers the deeply disturbing secrets of the legendary Hotel Magnifique.

All her life, Jani has dreamed of Elsewhere. Just barely scraping by with her job at a tannery, she’s resigned to a dreary life in the port town of Durc, caring for her younger sister Zosa. That is, until the Hotel Magnifique comes to town.

The hotel is … Continue reading →

Review: Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw

Compass and Blade
Rachel Greenlaw
Inkyard Press
Published March 5, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Compass and Blade

This world of sea and storm runs deep with bargains and blood.

On the remote isle of Rosevear, Mira, like her mother before her, is a wrecker, one of the seven on the rope who swim out to shipwrecks to plunder them. Mira’s job is to rescue survivors, if there are any. After all, she never feels the cold of the frigid ocean waters and the waves seem to sing to her soul. But the people of Rosevear never admit the truth: that they set the beacons themselves to lure ships … Continue reading →