Category Archives: Contemporary

Review: Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling by Elise Bryant

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Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling by Elise Bryant

Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling
Elise Bryant
Balzer + Bray
Published January 31, 2023

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About Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling

Delilah always keeps her messy, gooey insides hidden behind a wall of shrugs and yeah, whatevers. She goes with the flow—which is how she ends up singing in her friends’ punk band as a favor, even though she’d prefer to hide at the merch table.

Reggie is a D&D Dungeon Master and self-declared Blerd. He spends his free time leading quests and writing essays critiquing the game under a pseudonym, keeping it all under wraps from his disapproving family.

These two, who have practically … Continue reading →

Review: Begin Again by Emma Lord

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Begin Again by Emma Lord

Begin Again
Emma Lord
Wednesday Books
Published January 24, 2023

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About Begin Again

As usual, Andie Rose has a plan: Transfer from community college to the hyper competitive Blue Ridge State, major in psychology, and maintain her lifelong goal of becoming an iconic self-help figure despite the nerves that have recently thrown her for a loop. All it will take is ruthless organization, hard work, and her trademark unrelenting enthusiasm to pull it all together.

But the moment Andie arrives, the rest of her plans go off the rails. Her rocky relationship with her boyfriend Connor only gets more complicated when she discovers he transferred out of Blue Ridge … Continue reading →

Review: Seven Percent of Ro Devereux

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Seven Percent of Ro Devereux by Ellen O'Clover

Seven Percent of Ro Devereux
Ellen O’Clover
HarperTeen
Published January 17, 2023

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About Seven Percent of Ro Devereux

A clever, charming, and poignant debut novel about a girl who must decide whether to pursue her dreams or preserve her relationships, including a budding romance with her ex-best friend, when an app she created goes viral.

Ro Devereux can predict your future. Or, at least, the app she built for her senior project can.

Working with her neighbor, a retired behavioral scientist, Ro created an app called MASH, designed around the classic game Mansion Apartment Shack House, that can predict a person’s future with 93% accuracy. The … Continue reading →

The Minus One Club by Kekla Magoon

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Minus One Club by Kekla Magoon

The Minus One Club
Kekla Magoon
MacMillan
Published January 17, 2023

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About The Minus One Club

From the Coretta Scott King and Printz Honor-winning author of HOW IT WENT DOWN, LIGHT IT UP, and REVOLUTION IN OUR TIME comes a moving contemporary YA novel about the bonds between a group of teens whose lives have been upended by tragedy.

Fifteen-year-old Kermit Sanders knows grief and its all-encompassing shadows. After losing his beloved older sister in a tragic car accident, nothing quite punctures through the feelings of loss. Everywhere Kermit goes, he is reminded of her.

But then Kermit finds a mysterious invitation in his locker, signed anonymously with “-1.” He has no idea … Continue reading →

Review: Heartstopper: Volume Four by Alice Oseman

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Heartstopper: Volume 4 by Alice Oseman

Heartstopper: Volume Four
Alice Oseman
Graphix
Published January 4, 2022

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About Heartstopper: Volume Four

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. The bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic novel about life, love, and everything that happens in between: this is the fourth volume of HEARTSTOPPER, for fans of THE ART OF BEING NORMAL, Holly Bourne and LOVE, SIMON.

Charlie didn’t think Nick could ever like him back, but now they’re officially boyfriends. Charlie’s beginning to feel ready to say those three little words: I love you.

Nick’s been feeling the same, but he’s got a lot on his mind – not least coming out to his dad, and the fact that Charlie might have an eating … Continue reading →

Review: The Science of Being Angry by Nicole Melleby

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The Science of Being Angry by Nicole Melleby

The Science of Being Angry
Nicole Melleby
Algonquin Young Readers
Published May 10, 2022

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About The Science of Being Angry

Eleven-year-old Joey is angry. All the time. And she doesn’t understand why. She has two loving moms, a supportive older half brother, and, as a triplet, she’s never without company. Her life is good. But sometimes she loses her temper and lashes out, like the time she threw a soccer ball—hard—at a boy in gym class and bruised his collarbone. Or when jealousy made her push her (former) best friend (and crush), Layla, a little bit too roughly.

After a meltdown at Joey’s apartment building leads to her family’s eviction, Joey is desperate to … Continue reading →