Category Archives: Contemporary

Review: Breakout by Kate Messner

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Breakout by Kate Messner

Breakout
Kate Messner
Bloomsbury
Published on June 5, 2018

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About Breakout

Nora Tucker is looking forward to summer vacation in Wolf Creek–two months of swimming, popsicles, and brushing up on her journalism skills for the school paper. But when two inmates break out of the town’s maximum security prison, everything changes. Doors are locked, helicopters fly over the woods, and police patrol the school grounds. Worst of all, everyone is on edge, and fear brings out the worst in some people Nora has known her whole life. Even if police catch the inmates, she worries that home might never feel the same.

Told … Continue reading →

Review: The Opposite of Here by Tara Altebrando

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The Opposite of Here by Tara AltebrandoThe Opposite of Here
Tara Altebrando
Bloomsbury
Published on June 5, 2018

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About The Opposite of Here
Natalie’s parents are taking her and her three best friends on a cruise for her seventeenth birthday. A sail-a-bration, they call it. But it’s only been a few short months since Natalie’s boyfriend died in a tragic accident, and she wants to be anywhere but here.
Then she meets a guy on the first night and sparks fly. After a moonlit conversation on a secluded deck of the ship, Natalie pops down to her cabin to get her swimsuit so they can go for … Continue reading →

Review: The Universe is Expanding and So Am I by Carolyn Mackler

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The Universe is Expanding and So Am I by Carolyn MacklerThe Universe is Expanding and So Am I
Carolyn Mackler
Bloomsbury
Published on June 5, 2018

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About The Universe is Expanding and So Am I
Virginia Shreves’ world implodes again in this long-awaited follow-up to Printz Honoree The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things.

Sixteen-year-old Virginia Shreves’ life is finally back on course: she’s accepted who she is inside and out and is rebuilding her relationship with brother Byron, whose date-rape charge shattered everything.

But just as she adjusts to her new normal, her world turns upside down again. Sparks with boyfriend Froggy fade, her best friend bombshells … Continue reading →

Review: Moonrise by Sarah Crossan

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Moonrise by Sarah CrossanMoonrise
Sarah Crossan
Bloomsbury Children’s
Published on May 8, 2018

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About Moonrise
‘They think I hurt someone.
But I didn’t. You hear?
Coz people are gonna be telling you
all kinds of lies.
I need you to know the truth.’

As Joe’s older brother nears his execution date, Joe journeys to visit him before the end. He struggles to understand what happened from the night Ed’s accused of murder through the twists and turns in the justice system. Now, barely able to provide for himself, Joe tries his best to support his brother and hold onto the hope that his brother … Continue reading →

Review: Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett

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Starry Eyes by Jenn BennettStarry Eyes
Jenn Bennett
SimonPulse
Published on April 3, 2018

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About Starry Eyes
Ever since last year’s homecoming dance, best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn’t hurt that their families are the modern day, Californian version of the Montagues and Capulets.

But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together.

What could go wrong?

With no one but each other for company, Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to hash out their issues via witty jabs and insults as they try to make their … Continue reading →

Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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The Hate U Give by Angie ThomasThe Hate U Give
Angie Thomas
Balzer + Bray
Published on February 28, 2017

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About The Hate U Give

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some … Continue reading →