The Giver by Lois Lowry (Fiction) is a tale of a dystopian world through the eyes of a boy, Jonas. In Jonas’s world, everyone is given a life chosen for them. They are given their career at a choosing ceremony, if they want a spouse they must file for one and then be assigned someone who is perfectly paired with them, they must file for children (which are birthed by specific women) and they can only have two children, one girl and one boy. Jonas is anxious for his job, and is surprised by the one chosen for him.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Fiction) is a story the world knows all too well. Starr is an African-American teenage girl from Garden Heights, what most would call the hood, yet she goes to Williamson High School, an expensive private school with not a lot of minorities. Starr and her brothers were put in Williamson because when Starr was a child she saw her friend die in a drive by, which made her parents question whether Garden Heights was safe for their children.
Adam Stillwater is a boy who’s attached to what’s left of his father and is willing to defend it with his life. He is determined to keep his old time-y pinball arcade even if gaming cafés are all the rage right now. It doesn’t help that the daughter of the founder of said café is his childhood best friend that he became enemies with. But one day a snowstorm hits. The two of them find that when they don’t care as much about the business and just see each other for who they are, there’s something there. But what about when the snowstorm is over?
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (Fiction) is a novel that describes the life of a teenage girl, Xiomara Batista. Xiomara lives in Harlem and can’t seem to be enough for her mother. Her mother is a devout Catholic who wants her children to be as well, which isn’t a problem for her brother Xavier, better known as Twin, or so Xiomara thinks. Twin has always been the better of the two, being confirmed first, and being ridiculously smart. Whereas, Xiomara doesn’t even know if the Catholic faith is right for her.
The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis is a historical fiction novel written about Beth Harmon, a young orphan with prodigious chess skills. Throughout the course of the story, she grows from that orphan to a young woman with barely any purpose in her life but chess and a crippling aptitude for self-destruction. The audience follows Beth as she matures, both as a person and at chess.
Agnes at the End of the World is an eye-opening and interesting dystopian fiction novel by Kelly McWilliams. This book is about an oppressed 16-year-old girl named Agnes. Agnes lives in Red Creek, the place of the faithful. Red Creek is a Christian based community, with a mad prophet who oppressed his people into believing in his lies. Agnes runs outside her home with her youngest brother and into a dangerous world with Petra, a virus that turns anyone infected into a smooth red stoned creature.
The Hawthorne Legacy is an interesting and suspenseful mystery novel by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. This book is about a girl named Avery and she inherits billions of dollars from the late Tobias Hawthorne. The story takes off where the first book left off, The Inheritance Games, where Avery and the four Hawthorne brothers found a secret passageway that led to a box with letters for all of them.
Glitch is an enemies to friends and a kind of boring historical fiction novel by Laura Martin. This book is about two enemies, Elliot and Regan. They both live at a glitching academy on a remote island in the USA. The glitch academy produces glitchers who go back into time to keep history on its right tracks. Elliot and Regan are put into a different part of the academy and are taught how to glitch in unexpected times and how to capture the butterfly or the person trying to change history.
Fighting Words is an inspiring and eye-opening realistic fiction novel by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. This book is about a 10-year-old girl named Della, and her sister Suki. Della and Suki’s mom had been sent to prison for blowing up a motel bathroom while cooking meth. Della and Suki go into foster care, where they meet Francine. Suki hurts herself, Della fights for what’s right, and both siblings decide to testify against their childhood abuser.
Need an engaging, compelling novel to help pass the time on a plane trip, or to take on vacation? The Adventurers Guild is a quick and fun read for fantasy lovers, and even for those who think they may not enjoy the fantasy genre! The plot follows best friends Zed and Brock at the moment of adolescence, as they expect to do one thing and then are forced to do another, becoming members of the very dangerous Adventurers Guild.
