Category Archives: Contemporary

Review: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

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The Fault in Our Stars
John Green
Dutton Books
Published January 10, 2012

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Sixteen-year-old Hazel has lived the roller coaster ride of a terminal cancer diagnosis for the last three years. Now, each breath comes with a price, and she cannot go anywhere without a small portable oxygen tank in tow. Meds prevent the tumors from growing, for now.

At a weekly support group, she listens to tales of other teens fiercely battling cancer. Listens but remains apart, until the unexpected entrance of Augustus Waters.

Augustus draws Hazel out of her self-imposed seclusion with his unflappable visionary nature. He is in many ways the opposite of the quiet, … Continue reading →

Review: Glass Girl by Laura Anderson Kurk

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Glass Girl by Laura Anderson Kurk

Glass Girl
Laura Anderson Kurk
Playlist Young Adult Fiction
Published December 5, 2013

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About Glass Girl

On a day that began like any other, Meg’s brother Wyatt dies. Suddenly. Violently. Leaving Meg and her parents to creep around the shrapnel and gaping wounds of their grief. In a pitch to create some space for healing, Meg’s dad moves them all from their Pittsburgh home to the wilds of Chapin, Wyoming. In a new home scrubbed of memories, Meg tries to create a new life, one that does not include the story of her brother’s death and the pity which must come as a response. She lands a new … Continue reading →

Review: Victoria and the Ghost by Janet K. Brown

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Victoria and the Ghost
Janet K. Brown
4RV Publishing
Published June 28, 2012

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As if her parents’ ugly divorce wasn’t bad enough, fifteen-year-old Victoria Peterson is yanked away from her whole world in Dallas and plopped down on a rundown farm in a teeny tiny north Texas town. No more good friends a few minutes away, no more fancy city life, and no more Mom nearby to dry her tears. Her older sister Marcy seems to be settling in fine, but the only friend Victoria has been able to find is as fickle as the Texas wind. Victoria retreats to the beautiful cemetery garden for solitude, but even there her peace is disturbed … Continue reading →

Review: The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill

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The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet
Stephanie Morrill
Playlist Fiction
Published May 1, 2013

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Some girls have it all in high school: great friends, perfect hair, the hottest boyfriend. Not sixteen-year-old Ellie Sweet. Next to her gorgeous long-time friend Lucy, Ellie is practically invisible. Everything about Ellie is hidden, from the frizzy hair she tries desperately to control in a knot to her secret passion to finish her novel set in medieval Italy. By day she may be invisible, but by night, all her frustrations and hurts are rewritten into a world where she, Lady Gabrielle, is the star. Only there does the handsome boy of her dreams (Palmer by day, Rafe by night) see her for who she … Continue reading →

Review: Miracle by Phillipa Vincent-Connolly

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Miracle
Phillipa Vincent-Connolly
Pen Press
Published April 5, 2013

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Despite her mother’s fierce hope for her romantic life, seventeen year-old Orianna is certain she’ll never have a boyfriend. She can barely walk normally thanks to the pain caused by her cerebral palsy. Still, she enjoys the company of good friends and a loving (if romance-obsessed) mother and younger sister.

After seeing the latest movie in the Twilight series, Orianna and her friends gush about handsome Edward Cullen. If only there were men like that in real life, they tell each other. Then, as if he fell right off the silver screen, a rich and handsome new boy named Ashley Mason arrives at school. … Continue reading →

Review: Sweet Dreams by Carla Stewart

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Sweet Dreams
Carla Stewart
FaithWords
Published May 14, 2013

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When Dusty’s father sends her off to a fancy finishing school instead of the geology program at Miller College, the only consolation for Dusty is the fact that her fun-loving cousin will also be joining her. Paisley was raised on the road by her unmarried mother who still chases dreams of stardom. She’s not exactly any town’s debutante. Though fitting in won’t be easy, Paisley is determined to stick it out for her cousin’s sake.

As the year progresses, Paisley finds making friends easier than she imagined. Things seem to be going well until her mother returns for a surprise visit with a new … Continue reading →