Category Archives: Contemporary

Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

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Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Everything, Everything
Nicola Yoon
Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
Published September 1, 2015

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About Everything, Everything

My disease is as rare as it is famous. It’s a form of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, but basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in fifteen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives. New next door neighbors. I look out the window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and … Continue reading →

Review: Dream Things True by Marie Marquardt

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Dream Things True by Marie MarquardtDream Things True by Marie Marquardt
St. Martin’s Griffin

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Alma can’t wait to shake the dust off her small southern town from her shoes and make something of herself in college at a prestigious school. She has spent the last several years preparing and convincing her family. Now all she needs is a scholarship, and thanks to a dedicated guidance counselor, that goal is within reach. Then a handsome white boy turns Alma’s head the two begin a romance that jeopardizes everything Alma has worked towards.

Evan is the classic American rich boy. Alma isn’t sure he could ever understand her world – her strict father and large, close family. Her family’s … Continue reading →

Review: Scar Girl by Len Vlahos

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Scar Girl by Len VlahosScar Girl by Len Vlahos
Egmont USA

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In the aftermath of Johnny’s accident, the Scar Boys regroup and begin performing as a band again. But too many members carry secrets that become barriers between them.

Cheyenne hides her pregnancy from Johnny. Harry buries his love for Cheyenne in the lyrics of a song. Johnny withdraws into his own vision for the band. Richie walks the fine line between keeping peace and staying out of the conflict.

Through answers to interview questions, the band members relate their experiences as the Scar Boys face bigger problems and more pressure than ever before. What began as Harry’s story now becomes the story of four teens bound … Continue reading →

Review: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

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Challenger Deep by Neal ShustermanChallenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
HarperCollins

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Caden Bosch is caught between two worlds. In one, he is an ordinary teen who works on illustrations for a video game he and his friends develop. In the other, he is a passenger on a pirate ship en route to Challenger Deep, the lowest point of the Marianas Trench.

As his hold on reality slips, his friends and family begin to notice that something is wrong, but they are powerless to help him. Sometimes even Caden knows the impossibility of things he believes. But in the next moment, he may be powerless to doubt them.

Shusterman doesn’t disappoint in this complex, heartbreaking story of a boy … Continue reading →

Review: Escape from Sudan by Amanda DiCianni

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Escape from Sudan by Amanda DiCianniEscape from Sudan
Amanda DiCianni
CreateSpace Independent Platform
Published April 24, 2014

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When soldiers attack his village, fifteen year-old Elijah Bwoko and his best friend become separated from family members. They receive word that Elijah’s sisters have been taken as slaves to a village several days’ journey away. In order to reach the girls, the boys must sneak past the soldiers who enslaved them and find a way to set them free. Then the group will have to escape across the border of Uganda. If they can get to the refugee camp there, they can apply for passage to America for freedom and safety.

In straightforward prose, DiCianni relates the … Continue reading →

Review: Last Year’s Mistake by Gina Ciocca

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Last Year's Mistake by Gina CioccaLast Year’s Mistake by Gina Ciocca
Simon Pulse

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Kelsey and David were best friends the summer before freshman year. Then a misunderstanding turned the whole school against her, including David. A family move gave her a chance to start over in a new town at a new school, but just when Kelsey thinks she has rebuilt the perfect life, David sets her whole world spinning by transferring to her school. Committed to maintaining a casual peace, Kelsey keeps him at arms’ length… until she can’t. The fierce chemistry between them reemerges, and she finds herself faced with a terrible dilemma: the boy she’s dating isn’t the boy she loves. But is it … Continue reading →