John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars is a young adult romance novel based around the love story of two teenagers with cancer. Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen-year-old with stage IV thyroid cancer, is forced to attend a cancer support group where she meets Augustus Waters. The two quickly grow close and fall in love amid their final adventures.
The Help is a historical fiction novel set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s. It revolves around three main characters: Aibileen, Skeeter, and Minny. Skeeter has returned from college determined to become a writer. She causes a stir in her hometown by deciding to interview the black women who work for the white families in the town. At first, only Aibileen will help her, but eventually, more and more gather till there are over ten.
The Little Prince is a short poetic novella about an aviator whose plane crashes in the desert. There he meets the child known as the little prince, whose miniature home planet is so small that in order to see a new sunset, he simply has to move his chair a few steps. On his planet lives a vain rose, whom he loves and is loved by, although she refuses to tell him and requires endless attention. He relates his tale of wandering through the universe in search of the meaning of love and life.
The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith is a young adult romance novel. This story centers on the complicated love story of two teenagers: Lucy and Owen. When a blackout hits New York City, Lucy and Owen, two very different strangers, get trapped in an elevator together. The two can’t get each other out of their heads, but things quickly become complicated when both teens move away.
Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel which focuses on a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on a remote island. They start off with rules and a form of government, but their situation quickly turns chaotic and savage. They split into two groups, one more civilized and attempting to follow a basic moral code under the leadership of Ralph, and the other wild hunters under the control of Jack. These two groups clash with each other and this results in more than one death.
Budge Wilson's Before Green Gables acts as a prequel to Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. This book opens with Anne's parents as they prepare to start a family and ends when Anne is selected to live with the Cuthberts. Throughout the novel, we see Anne's passion for learning and her love of words appear and grow, staples of her character.
The Complete Father Brown Mysteries is a group of fictional short stories by G.K. Chesterton, a master of literature. The stories all feature the title character, Father Brown, who is a short, stout Roman Catholic priest from England. To others he appears simple and naive, but in reality he is a genius. Essentially, he is the quirky, unassuming, compassionate, and lovable version of Sherlock Holmes.
The Westing Game is a fictional story about a group of individuals who all live in Sunset Towers. They are shocked to learn that all of them are heirs to the late Sam Westing, and they compete in a game he devised for his 200-million-dollar estate. The game has vague rules and is twisting and complex, with the final aim of finding his alleged murderer, who is said to be living among them. This creates paranoia and confusion, with different characters having varying goals and problems.
The story starts in Redmont Fief where Will and his wardmates prepare for choosing day, the day where their future is determined. They can be evaluated and chosen by masters to become apprentices or work in the local farms. Hearing stories of how courageous his deceased father was, Will wants to follow in his footsteps and plans to become an apprentice in the fiefs battle school. After being rejected, Baron Arald gives him the option to become apprenticed to the mysterious ranger, Halt.
Family, food, and friends are the heart of Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet by Laekan Zea Kemp. The story alternates narrators starting with Pen who struggles with telling her parents that she would rather run her father’s restaurant, Nacho’s, than live out the dreams her parents have for her future. At Nacho’s, everyone is family, including newcomer Xander who wants to discover the secret of his father’s disappearance while keeping his immigrant status under cover.
