Category Archives: Contemporary

Review: Friends Like These by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

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Friends Like These by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

Friends Like These
Jennifer Lynn Alvarez
Delacorte Press
Published November 1, 2022

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About Friends Like These

Twisted secrets that will have readers guessing with every flip of the page. Perfect for fans of GONE GIRL, WE WERE LIARS and Karen M. McManus.

An end-of-summer party. A prank gone wrong. A body on the beach. Who’s to blame?

Tegan Sheffield’s annual end-of-summer beach party is the only way to start their senior year. At least that’s what Jake Healy tells his girlfriend Jessica Sanchez.

But when a video prank from the party goes viral and a body is discovered at the beach, … Continue reading →

Review: The Trouble with Robots by Michelle Mohrweiss

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The Trouble with Robots by Michelle Mohrweis

The Trouble with Robots
Michelle Mohrweiss
Peachtree
Published September 27, 2022

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About The Trouble with Robots

Evelyn strives for excellence. Allie couldn’t care less. Together, these polar opposites must work together if they have any hope of saving their school’s robotics program.

Eighth-graders Evelyn and Allie are in trouble. Evelyn’s constant need for perfection has blown some fuses among her robotics teammates, and she’s worried nobody’s taking the upcoming competition seriously. Allie is new to school, and she’s had a history of short-circuiting on teachers and other kids.

So when Allie is assigned to the robotics team as a last resort, all Evelyn can see is … Continue reading →

Review: Salt and Sugar by Rebecca Carvalho

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Salt and Sugar Rebecca Carvalho

Salt and Sugar
Rebecca Carvalho
Inkyard Press
November 1, 2022

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About Salt and Sugar

The grandchildren of two rival Brazilian bakeries fall in love despite their families’ feud.

Trust neither thin-bottomed frying pans nor Molinas.

Lari Ramires has always known this to be true. In Olinda, Brazil, her family’s bakery, Salt, has been at war with the Molinas’ bakery across the street, Sugar, for generations. But Lari’s world turns upside down when her beloved grandmother passes away. On top of that, a big supermarket chain has moved to town, forcing many of the small businesses to close.

Determined to protect her home, Lari does the unthinkable—she … Continue reading →

Review: Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe

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Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe

Dark Room Etiquette
Robin Roe
HarperTeen
Published October 11, 2022

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About Dark Room Etiquette

Sixteen-year-old Sayers Wayte has everything—until he’s kidnapped by a man who tells him the privileged life he’s been living is based on a lie.

Trapped in a windowless room, without knowing why he’s been taken or how long the man plans to keep him shut away, Sayers faces a terrifying new reality. To survive, he must forget the world he once knew, and play the part his abductor has created for him.

But as time passes, the line between fact and fiction starts to blur, and Sayers begins to wonder if he can escape … Continue reading →

Review: Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado

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Fat Chance Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega
Crystal Maldonado
Holiday House
Published February 2, 2021

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About Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

Charlie Vega is a lot of things. Smart. Funny. Artistic. Ambitious. Fat.

People sometimes have a problem with that last one. Especially her mom. Charlie wants a good relationship with her body, but it’s hard, and her mom leaving a billion weight loss shakes on her dresser doesn’t help. The world and everyone in it have ideas about what she should look like: thinner, lighter, slimmer-faced, straighter-haired. Be smaller. Be whiter. And be quieter.

But there’s one person who’s always in Charlie’s corner: her best friend Amelia. Slim. … Continue reading →

Review: I’m the Girl by Courtney Summers

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I'm the Girl by Courtney Summers

I’m the Girl
Courtney Summers
Wednesday Books
Published September 13, 2022

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About I’m the Girl

The new groundbreaking queer thriller from New York Times bestselling and Edgar-award Winning author Courtney Summers.

When sixteen-year-old Georgia Avis discovers the dead body of thirteen-year-old Ashley James, she teams up with Ashley’s older sister, Nora, to find and bring the killer to justice before he strikes again. But their investigation throws Georgia into a world of unimaginable privilege and wealth, without conscience or consequence, and as Ashley’s killer closes in, Georgia will discover when money, power and beauty rule, it might not be a matter of who is guilty—but who is … Continue reading →