The main characters of The Drowning Summer are Mina and Evelyn. Mina’s family can speak to spirits and they later find out that Evelyn can too. Mina wants to break her curse so that she can learn to do magic herself. She can’t do this yet, because she has to make a deal with the spirit that is cursing her. So, Mina and Evelyn banish the spirit altogether so that Mina can start practicing her magic. Then, they both go back to living their normal lives and Mina gets to do magic.
There’s a certain stage in life where an individual starts to experience things that they’ve never seen before. Bodies change, brains develop, passions emerge, and new friendships are made. At the edge of all the chaos is Charlie, a boy who has just entered the strange world of high school. The Perks of Being a Wallflower follows Charlie’s expedition through the awkward teenage years, as he battles the fight between living his life and running away from it.
What would you do if you were suddenly given billions of dollars from a total stranger you have never met before? Is it an accident? Do they have the wrong person? No, everything Tobias is planned perfectly. So why Avery? What caused Tobias to choose her to solve the greatest mysteries in a life-threatening situation tied up with the Hawthrone family when she has absolutely no relation?
Lia and Beckett's Abracadabra is a fictional novel written by Amy Noelle Parks. Lia Sawyer is a 17-year-old that loves magic. She struggles to get approval from her parents, who would prefer for her to go into environmental science, or at least something more sophisticated like playing piano (as her sister does). On top of all that, Lia needs to find a way to prove to society that girls can be more than just pretty assistants.
A valuable, necessary, and accessible book. Kiely has an easy-going manner and presents ideas that could be abstract, academic theory through relatable anecdotes and stories, more often than not about himself when he was a teenager. It reads quickly and directly addresses young white readers without confrontation or shaming, encouraging listening, empathy, and a sense of responsibility (instead of guilt). Highly recommended.
This book kept me on my toes till the very end. I wouldn’t say it was predictable at all, and was overall very creative and interesting to keep up with Pip as she uncovers the truth of a murder accusation case. It was intriguing to see the way she worked through the case, with limited resources and being a teenager investigating such a taboo topic in her town, along with the mental toll it took on her. This is overall fast paced and also has a slight romance. I feel like the book could have been a little shorter, however, the writing is still very interesting.
The Giver is a science-fiction book by Lois Lowry and is set in a futuristic society free of crime and sadness. At the age of 12, the young children of this society will be assigned jobs that they will train for and perform for the rest of their lives. One of these children is a boy named Jonas, who is assigned the isolated job of training under the Giver, a respected yet mysterious man.
To Belly, everything good and magical happens during the summer. During the summer she stays in a beach house in the town of Cousins with her mom, brother, Susannah, and most importantly Jeremiah and Conrad. They’re the boys Belly has known since her very first summer in Cousins and she’s experienced almost everything with them. However, this summer everything keeps changing, and the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should’ve been all along.
Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," is the son of sea goddess Thetis and king Peleus. He is strong, fast, agile, beautiful, and charming to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince who has been exiled from his homeland after a violent accident. They were brought together by chance but they forge an inseparable bond and incredible friendship. When the word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the Greek heroes are sent for to attack Troy and get Helen of Sparta back.
16-year-old Deka lives in fear of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she’s “pure” and able to stay in her village or not. However, on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold showing that she’s impure. Soon after, a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice to either stay in her village and face a punishment worse than death or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls like her called alaki. Deka decides to leave her old life behind and journeys to the capital to train.
