The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan is a coming-of-age story that follows teenager Leigh Chen Sanders as she deals with the aftermath of her mother’s suicide. Shortly after her mother’s death, Leigh believes that she has been visited by her mother- in the form of a bird. She is convinced that she will be able to see her once again if she journeys to Taiwan to meet her grandparents.
All sixteen-year-old Siria has ever known is darkness. Years ago, the esteemed Queen Iyzabel veiled the kingdom of Terra-Volat in it because the light was too dangerous, becoming a hero to the people. Black hair and pale skin became the popular fashion, and even a slight curiosity in the old days of light is illegal. But Siria, with her flaming red hair and fascination with the sun, has always been considered an oddity, much to the dismay of her parents.
At 40 years old, Linus Baker is a quiet, simple man who lives a solitary, uneventful life. Every morning he goes to the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, where he works as a Case Worker writing report after report, either encouraging or discouraging the continuation of orphanages that serve as homes to children with magical abilities. In the evening, he returns to his tiny house, which is situated in the midst of hundreds of the same identically tiny houses. Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat.
The Cousins, by Karen M. McManus, is a Mystery/Thriller. A dark, suspicious family continues to hide their secrets. Everything comes to light when Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah's grandmother invite them to work at their grandmother's house. When they go to the island, they realize that their family is more mysterious than they assumed. Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah discover all the secrets.
At the beginning of Chainbreaker, Tara Sim’s sequel to Timekeeper, Danny and Colton’s story continues for a little while before it is interrupted by concerning news: clock towers in India are falling, but time somehow manages to keep running.
For centuries, time has been controlled by clock towers, but when a tower is broken, time upsets. When a tower is destroyed, time Stops. Clock mechanics are tasked with fixing broken towers, but Stopped cities are unable to be rescued. In Victorian England, Danny Hart, a 17-year-old prodigy mechanic with a traumatic past, fixes clock towers that are victims of mysterious bombings across England while trying to find a way to save his father from a Stopped town. But in the process, he meets someone that most people believe doesn’t even exist: a clock spirit, whose name is Colton.
This book is about an African American girl named Starr Carter who lives in two different worlds with her school being predominantly white and located in a suburb and where she lives which is understood to be the ghetto. When she tries and figures out her different worlds, there is suddenly a traumatic event where her childhood best friend is fatally shot by a police officer. In order to take revenge and bring justice for her friend, she starts to protest and advocate for justice about police brutality against African Americans.
The Hate U Give is a breathtaking piece of work that follows the story of a sixteen-year-old teenager named Starr Carter. Starr suddenly witnesses the murder of her childhood best friend, Khalil Harris, as he was shot three consecutive times by a cop...for holding a hairbrush. Khalil’s death makes national headlines and sparks outrage across the country. What will Starr do as she debates whether or not to let her voice be heard?
The Body in the Library, by Agatha Christie, is a Thriller/Mystery. The story starts off with the Bantrys waking up to a woman's dead body in the library. Nobody there identifies the woman, but later, they realize that she is a dancer from nearby. Miss Marple, a dear friend of Mrs. Bantry, investigates the crime scene. Miss Marple connects the death with other clues. No one is always speaking the truth.
It’s been a while since Lydia’s mother died, but Lydia still finds herself reeling from the impact of the life-changing event. Following the plan that she made with her mother, Lydia uproots to her Aunt Brat’s Connecticut farm, where she finds two more adults — Eileen (Aunt Brat’s good-humored wife) and Elloroy (their quirky live-in landlord) — waiting for her with open arms. Lydia struggles to become accustomed to her new family, and the big yellow dog that her aunt adopted just days after her arrival isn’t helping either.
