Little Women follows the four March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Set during the American Civil War, the four sisters struggle to fit in with society as girls were expected to all while living in poverty. Each sister has to overcome some sort of challenge as they grow up; Meg and Jo must work to help support their family, Beth stays at home to help with housework and Amy goes to school. Each girl also struggles with their own character.
Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, has finally finished fighting in the ten-year war in Troy, and now must begin his journey home. His family awaits his return, refusing to believe he is dead. His wife Penelope refuses to marry again, and his son Telemachus, who was only a baby when Odysseus left, is now an adult. At their palace, hundreds of suitors try to persuade Penelope to remarry so that they can gain the crown. Odysseus has been prevented from returning home by hosts of gods, monsters and other beasts.
Thanks for Listening is a realistic fiction young adult novel that follows the high school senior, Mia, through her last high school musical. She finally got the position of stage manager, but no one will listen to her! That is, until she finds her voice as an anonymous help channel on social media. Through this journey, she falls in love with the mysterious new girl, and has to navigate the challenges of dating someone with lots of rumors swirling around them.
June Hayward was supposed to be a successful author, just like her best friend, Athena Liu. While Athena publishes book after book, June can’t sign a successful deal with a publishing company. So when Athena tragically passes away, June steals Athena’s newest novel; the rough draft for a book about the unseen work of Chinese laborers in World War I. So even when June decides to publish the book as her own, and even allows her publisher to rename her so she seems more ethnically-ambiguous, she still can’t escape Athena.
This book follows narrator Richard Papen as he reflects on his time in college. Richard moves to Vermont to attend Hampden College, a small liberal arts college in New England. When he arrives, he finds himself entranced by the classics program led by a charismatic professor. He desperately wants to befriend the other students who are wealthy and educated, everything Richard feels he is not. Richard feels that he will do whatever it takes to fit in with the others, even as things become drastically more dark. I would highly recommend this book.
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon is a love story between a girl named Natasha and a boy named Daniel, except it’s an improbable one. Natasha is a girl who doesn’t believe in concepts like love or destiny, especially since her life at the moment consists of being deported to Jamaica. On the other side, Daniel is a Korean boy who deals with his parents’ high expectations for his future, clashing with his dream of becoming a poet.
Frank Li is a Korean-American teenager who is very aware of the cultural gap between him and his parents. At the same time, he wants to be in a relationship with a girl who isn’t Korean, which doesn’t mesh well with Frank’s family. So, Frank plots a plan in which he and one of his childhood friends, Joy, can both make their lives somewhat easier. It follows the fake-dating trope mixed with unexpected outcomes and a wonderful navigation of cultural differences in new generations of teens.
Alexis has been studying for this test for over a year, since a good score will secure her a spot in the most prestigious college in the post-apocalyptic world of gods and titans in which she resides. Her goal is to make a better life for her and her adopted younger brother, Charlie, the two of whom have been homeless since their abusive parents died when they were young. After the longest test of her life, Alexis is required to drip her blood on the page. Instead of only staining the page red, the paper begins to disintegrate, revealing her blood is not what she thought.
Tristan isn’t as smart or as perfect as his sister, Janine, and he is okay with it, for the most part. Janine can’t make a perfect chocolate chip cookie like Tristan, and she certainly can’t do more than simple baking. Tristan prides himself on his baking ability and his home in the greatest city in the world. His world turns upside down when his parents decide to move to rural New York, where no one knows him and there are barely any kids his age. While exploring the tiny town center, Tristan discovers an old doughnut shop and tries to enter.
