The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley is a heartwarming historical fiction novel set during World War II. The story revolves around ten-year-old Ada Smith, who lives in London with her abusive mother and is confined to their small apartment due to a clubfoot deformity. When the government evacuates children from the city to protect them from bombings, Ada seizes the opportunity to escape her cruel mother and joins her younger brother, Jamie, on a journey to the countryside.
Deka, the Nuru, has released the Gilded Ones and is leading conquests to make Otera one again. She wants to reach Hemaira and get all the other alaki while defeating the Jatu to reclaim Otera. However, when they realize that the jatu are now able to become deathshrieks, her plans are changed. Then she decides to go kill the leader of the jatu and gain more order but she soon learns that the Gilded Ones are not the only gods but that there are others, the Merciless Ones, as well.
The Dark Assassin by Joseph Delaney is a captivating fantasy novel that follows the thrilling adventures of Tom Ward, a young Spook's apprentice. In this installment of the "Wardstone Chronicles" series, Tom faces a formidable new enemy as the malevolent assassins of the Fiend make their way into his world.
In The One by Kiera Cass, only four girls remain in The Selection. The competition must soon come to an end, as tensions between Illea and the neighboring rebels intensify. Maxon has a difficult time choosing between two girls, and America must decide whether she wants to really be a princess in the end.
All the Bright Places is a novel by Jennifer Niven. Theodore Finch is captivated by the idea of death, while Violet Markey yearns to graduate high school and begin college in order to get away from her sister’s death. Finch and Violet first cross each other’s paths on a bell tower at school. Finch saves Violet’s life, which sparks an unexpected friendship. The two become partners for their history project, which asks the students to explore their home state of Indiana.
In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of British schoolboys gets stranded on an island after a plane crash. These boys must learn how to survive in the wilderness without any adult supervision. Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Simon are the main characters in the novel. Ralph is the protagonist and the chief of the tribe they had managed to create. Piggy is the intelligent one but also gets bullied by the other boys. Jack, the antagonist, had made himself the group's hunter along with his choir boys.
In The Selection by Kiera Cass, a sixteen year old girl named America Singer lives in a dystopian United States. After going through a tragic war, the US emerged as the new nation of Illea, in which the caste system was enforced to keep order. America and her family are low in the system and struggle to live fulfilling lives. The Selection, in which 35 girls are chosen from the nation to compete for the prince’s hand, is right around the corner.
These Infinite Threadsby Taherah Mafi is a YA fantasy novel and is the second book in the series after This Woven Kingdom. I rated it four stars. The book follows Alizeh, who is the heir to the fallen Jinn kingdom. Jinn are mistreated in the kingdom where Alizeh lived in the first book, Ardunia, as a common servant who always wears a covering, or “nosta” over her special Jinn princess eyes.
Deka is a village girl in Irfut who just wants to live a normal life and be proven as pure and belonging in her village. She wants to be able to get married and live a happy life. However, on the day of the Ritual of Purity, it is discovered that she is impure and has the cursed blood of demons inside her. As she underwent the Death Mandate but yet didn’t die, she is taken from Irfut to the Warthu Beru to train in an army of girls like her, an alaki army.
