After watching her parents’ relationship fall apart, Beth is determined to keep her five friends together no matter what. Nothing will separate them, not even college. But when tragedy strikes and one of her friends, Jason, almost dies, she realizes that she might not be holding on tight enough, or worse, she might not be enough. But a few weeks later, everyone else seems to want to forget that anything happened, and they are even considering attending different colleges! Beth can’t understand. Don’t they feel the crushing weight of keeping Jason alive?
Rory is thrilled to finally be a senior in high school. She’s the captain of the girls' soccer team and is coaching a middle school team. She and her friends are looking forward to all the benefits coming with senior year including the winter and spring dances. But on the first day of school, her world is tipped upside down when Cole Fielding walks through the school doors. A “bad boy,” Cole has a tough, rough around the edges look, not to mention his “I don’t care” attitude.
The Outside Intervention by Andrew Orange is set in a new world order world where there are no countries. There is a Leader over the whole world population while the world's population is divided into segments or castes. The Vors are the ruling class while the simples live to serve the whims of the Vors. But the Vors are actually not the highest in society. The "outs" are higher and have the special ability to read peoples' emotions and even manipulate them. Most of the "outs" are entirely self-serving, self-righteous, and self-absorbed. Except Keir.
Eleven-year-old Barclay Throne does not like adventure. Instead, he likes to follow the rules especially since he already sticks out in town. He was orphaned just seven years ago when a beast attacked Dullshire, the town he lives in. Luckily, Barclay was able to secure an apprenticeship with Master Pilzman, the mushroom farmer in town. Things are starting to look up for Barclay until Master Pilzman accepts a second apprentice, eight-year-old Selby. Selby is annoying, lazy, and hates mushrooms. Plus, unlike Barclay, Selby has a family waiting for him at home.
The Little Pink Book by Zahra Jons is an engrossing read about the troubles girls face during high school. It follows the main character Amelia (or Melle, as her friends call her) through her high school. In Amelia's school, there is a group of five girls called "THE FIVE". These girls are seemingly perfect in every way; their skin is flawless, hair is silky, and none of them seem to ever gain weight. One day at school, Amelia stumbles upon one of THE FIVE's diaries. But this isn't a regular diary; no, it's a magic diary.
Birdwatcher starts when eight-year-old Abigail Wincoff and her parents go to the Poconos region for a short vacation. However, their dream vacation quickly turns into a nightmare. One day into their vacation when Abby’s mother is asleep and her father is away at town, Abigail decides to do her favorite hobby, birdwatching. As she goes deeper and deeper into the forest, she quickly gets lost and wanders around. Little does she know she is being followed by a serial killer.
XL by Scott Brown is a book about how change can seem like the only thing that matters. Will Daughtry is turning sixteen and is just under five feet tall. His best friend, Monica (5’10”), and stepbrother, Drew (6’3”), are his only comforts. Then suddenly, things aren’t right anymore. His friendships with Monica and Drew start to change, and Will begins to feel alone again. On top of that, Will starts to grow, so fast it causes concerns in his family. Will is growing so rapidly at such an important time of his life t
Ever since Princess Bianca was born, she has been determined to be so frail and delicate that she needs to be diligently protected. Thus, she has never once been outside the castle where she lives, even at 13 years old. Every day, Princess Bianca wakes up and follows the same exact (very boring!) routine, but one thing always managed to cheer her up: reading her favorite fairy-tale books. However, things slowly start to get weird when Bianca starts to hear rumors that something very scary and very dangerous is coming to her village of Pacifico.
Harper is sick of being 12. It seems like everything she wants to do, such as post on Tik-Tok, she isn't allowed until she's 13. But things seem to be turning around on her 12 1/2 birthday celebration. Her parents let her start posting on Tik-Tok early, and the most popular girl in school, Celia, has invited Harper and her best friend Ava to her birthday party. At Celia's party, Harper learns that the only reason she was invited was that her mom helped out with the party.
Your Body Rocks is a well-written book. It educates children about our bodies, what it does or how it functions, what it needs to be healthy and to be protected, and why changes happen in our bodies, especially during the adolescent ages. Aside from being educational on anatomy, health, and protection, the book also touches on the topic of consent. The book is a very good companion for parents to teach children about our changing bodies. It is also good for independent learning for kids as the book thoroughly explains reproductive concepts.
