It’s 1986, and Eleanor just started 10th grade at her local public school. She met a boy, Park, on her bus and started sitting next to him every day because everyone else thought she was weird. She and Park start becoming closer and soon become lovers. In the end, they both lived happily although it might not have been the way they imagined it to be.
Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why is a Young Adult Fiction novel that tells the haunting story of Hannah Baker—a teenage girl who recently committed suicide and left behind thirteen self-recorded cassette tapes in the hands of the novel’s main character, Clay Jensen. Clay’s intense desire for closure drives him to seek out the truth regarding the events that contributed to her decision to take her own life.
One of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus is the third and final installment in the Bayview High YA mystery/thriller trilogy. Following the resolution of the previous book, One of Us Is Back opens with a reunion of all of our favorite characters.
Mall Goth is a Teen fiction graphic novel by Kate Leth. In this book, Liv Holme is a goth girl who loves the mall in her new town. She struggles with problems at home and being herself in her new setting. A teacher at school makes her feel welcome, but she faces some harsh realities. The mall is her escape from her problems. In her new town, Liv finds herself and true friendship.
Daughter of the Deep is a wonderful story that pays homage to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I did not read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea but I know I love the Daughter of the Deep. This story dives into action almost immediately with just the perfect shock. Like falling into water while dipping your toe in. Daughter of the Deep is a wonderful story about a girl thrust into a role after her world falls apart.
I have a confession to make. I first decided to read this because I thought it was going to be a story about the police’s neglect of the missing case of an African American girl and it was so different from that. That would have been wonderful but this was wonderful in a different way. Monday’s Not Coming is the fascinating story of a girl’s life after she loses her best friend, the person closest to her.
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone is a young adult fiction novel featuring the main character, Samantha McAllister. Samantha “Sam” is part of the popular girls’ group at her high school, dressing in fancy, cute outfits, eating the right types of lunches, and having crushes on the cutest and popular guys in the school. She has to do all this, or else, her “best friends” will turn toxic and exclude her from their group.
Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich focuses on the story of Evan Hansen. Evan is a socially awkward, introverted person. He looks for ways to be in the background, as he uses online media as a way of shielding himself from other people around him. After a classmate of his dies by suicide, the family of the student accidentally believed that Evan was his close friend. He feels responsible for doing something to uplift the family even though he had nothing to do with the classmate.
