Author: Ella

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir is a realistic fiction novel about Pakistani teenagers, Salahudin and Noor, and their families. Salahudin’s mother had been sick for a long time but she refused to get proper treatment for it. She thought it was too expensive and wouldn’t go to her appointments. Sadly she passed away, leaving Salahudin to deal with all their hefty debts and his alcoholic father. He used to be able to rely on his best friend Noor but after he cruelly rejected her moths ago, she no longer wants to speak to him. Noor lives with her uncle who saved her life when she was a child. Noor used to live in Pakistan but when she was sick, her home collapsed and she was the only one left. Her uncle pulled her from the rubble and she’s lived with him ever since. Noor’s uncle wants nothing to do with their Pakistani roots. He doesn’t even want Noor to go to leave their town and go to college, but that’s what she wants more than anything else. So she has to sneak around and apply without him finding anything.

Salahudin begins to struggle to make ends meet in order to keep their family motel. As he falls into even greater debt, he turns to something he swore he wouldn’t do. He finally takes his friend Art up on his offer and starts selling drugs. Soon enough, Salahudin pays off some of the family’s lesser debts. When Noor learns of what happened to Salahudin’s mother, she slowly starts to integrate her self back into his life. As Noor and Salahudin get closer, it gets harder for Salahudin to hide the drug dealing. It also becomes more and more apparent that Noor is hiding something. Can Salahudin escape the life he’s chosen and can Noor make it out of this rundown town?

I loved this story. I think that Sabaa Tahir did an amazing job capturing all of the characters’ emotions and created a heart wrenching story. Each of the characters’ had their own unique story that really felt like it added a lot to the main plot line. The pacing of the story was really smooth and it was partly what hooked me. If a story moves too fast or too slow, I will usually end up hating the book or not even finishing it. But with All My Rage, nothing felt rushed or dragging. While I may not have experienced most of what Salahudin or Noor did, I still felt like they were very relatable characters. They each had their flaws, as teenagers usually do, and it made for a story that I felt like I could understand really well.

I would recommend this for anyone who is looking for a meaningful, well written, and diverse story. All My Rage is an incredible realistic fiction that could be enjoyed by all. There are quite a few heavy topics in this story so I would advise readers to be careful. These range from drug use and over dose to death and child abuse. Because of this, I would recommend this book to a more mature audience. This book is also a good example of multiple points of view done well. It switches between Salahudin and Noor and occasionally Salahudin’s mother. The switches were not jarring at all and added hidden details to the story. Overall I thought this was an amazing book and it’s one that I recommend to all who can stomach its contents.

Realistic Fiction lovers will adore what All My Rage has to offer. For those looking for an impactful, deep story, this is the perfect book. This is such an important book for everyone to read. There’s representation for so many different kinds of people and Sabaa Tahir has managed to capture them all quite well.

I Rise by Marie Arnold is a realistic fiction novel, nominated for the North Star Award, about almost fifteen year old Ayomide Bosia. Ayomide, or Ayo, has been raised in her mother’s civil rights organization for her entire life. Her mother created See Us when Ayo was born and their mission has been to bring about equality of all Black people in Harlem, New York City. Ayo has spent her life helping with protests against racial injustice but now she wants out. She wants to live like all her friends do and do all the things her friends do. but her mother is a force to be reckoned with and will not let Ayo opt out. As Ayo gets more and more frustrated, she begins skipping out on See Us events to spend time with Devonte, who she has a crush on. Her mother is furious with her when she finds out and they get into a huge argument. But as they both hurl painful words at each other, Ayo’s mom begins to realize that Ayo has had enough and can’t take it anymore. So Ayo’s mom lets her free. Ayo no longer has to participate in See Us. As Ayo adjusts to more free time and no more working, she spends more time with Devonte. One evening at Devonte’s house, they tune into the news coverage of a See Us protest and they watch as Ayo’s mom gets shot in the head. Ayo begins to spiral as her mom doesn’t wake up and everyone gets more and more agitated. Ayo knows that something needs to be done but she can’t bring herself to do it. She’s nowhere near as strong or courageous as her mother. But when it doesn’t look like her mother is going to wakeup anytime soon, can Ayo bring herself to step up?

I thought this was such an interesting book. I cannot personally relate to the experiences of the characters so it was such a new look at other people’s lives for me. I thought that the story was very well written and the characters felt very three dimensional. I wasn’t the hugest fan of the ending. I understand why Ayo made the decisions she did at the end but it was a little heartbreaking considering how much she was struggling in the beginning of the story. I also felt like Ayo’s experiences with her father were a bit rushed at the end and I would’ve liked to see more or see it slower.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is passionate about civil rights. It’s a deep story full of Black history that I think is an amazing read for anyone. The romance plot in I Rise isn’t overwhelming but is also a vital part of Ayo’s choices. Because of this, I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who hates romance or to anyone whose main priority is romance. I Rise also feels suitable for most ages. It’s important for everyone to experience perspectives they cannot relate to and I Rise is one of them to me.

YA Realistic Fiction enjoyers will be delighted by what Marie Arnold has for them. I Rise is a wonderful story about how racism runs rampant even now and what it looks like for the youth. Anyone who is looking for a coming of age story about a young Black teen will love I Rise.

The Weight of Blood is a fictional horror novel, nominated for the North Star Award, about biracial a teen named Mandy Washington. Mandy is a strange girl who has been bullied her whole life. She joined public school at the age of twelve and is liked by nobody. Mandy dresses weird, smells weird, and acts weird. Not a single person knows her secret though, besides her father. Mandy has been forced to pretend that she is white her whole life. Mandy’s father is an extreme white supremacist and forbids her from ever letting anyone know that she isn’t fully white. But one day, Mandy gets caught in the rain and her hair’s reaction reveals that she is partially Black. The bullying gets so much worse but it also makes its way onto social media and attention is being brought to the racism that runs rampant at Mandy’s school. Wendy is a white girl in Mandy’s class who is dating Kenny, who is Black and the star of the football team. Wendy tries to fix the situation by having Kenny bring Mandy to the school’s prom. She believed that having Kenny take her would be a show of kindness and equality that could help erase the bad media exposure. However, majority of the white students hate this idea and many of them begin to act worse towards Mandy. But as Kenny and Mandy get to know each other before prom, Wendy has doubts on if she wants to follow though with her plans.

I loved The Weight of Blood. I loved Mandy’s character. I thought that she was really well constructed and multifaceted. I think that the pacing for the story made sense. None of the plot lines felt like they were too slow or rushed. I found this book really interesting because it reads as realistic fiction for the most part but then there is a couple of fantasy horror elements. The way the story is structured, lots of the relationships and feelings of the characters are often shrouded and I found that that hooked me in and it made me really excited to keep reading. The format is another interesting piece to me. Part of the story is actually 20 years later and is a podcast trying to uncover the mystery of what really happened in Mandy’s town all those years ago.

I would recommend this for any average horror enthusiasts. The Weight of Blood doesn’t really have any unusual elements or extreme gore that some readers look for. But it also doesn’t hold back on the messy details. I think this book works for slightly more mature audiences. There is a lot of sensitive topics brought up like racism and child abuse. This can be a bit triggering for some but it is also good representation of what these topics are like. Readers should also be warned that this isn’t a realistic fiction horror because there are a couple fantastical elements.

YA Horror fanatics will love what Tiffany D. Jackson has to offer. She has managed to capture not only the horrors of what teenagers can be like but also actual horror components in a way that blends for a wonderfully thrilling story. Anyone who loves a revenge story will love The Weight of Blood.

Sugaring Off is a realistic fiction novel, that has been nominated for the North Star Award, about a 17 year old partially deaf girl, who goes by the name Owl. Owl lives on her aunt and uncle’s maple farm after a tragic accident 10 years prior involving her father. Owl’s father was sent to jail after throwing Owl down the stairs and rendering her deaf in one ear. Owl’s uncle Seth is getting on in his years and needs another hand on the maple farm. So he hires a friend’s grandson named Cody, without telling Owl. Owl and Cody’s relationship is a tumultuous one, after a rough first encounter. As Owl begins getting used to Cody on the farm, she is dealing with a stubborn teacher at her school. In a K-12 school of 14 kids, they hire a private tutor who aids deaf students on a regular basis named Mrs. Z. Owl is not a very big fan of Mrs. Z and often tries to make things difficult for her. Owl and Mrs. Z often butt heads because Owl struggles with using sign language and Mrs. Z uses it constantly. As frustrations grow between the two of them, it becomes more and more apparent that a confrontation is near. As Cody and Owl grow closer, so does the potential threat of Owl’s father. Owl’s father is to be released and wants to get into contact with Owl. As Owl battles with the idea of interacting with her father, Cody’s secrets start piling up. Cody is hiding things from Owl and she gets suspicious about how bad these secrets could be.

I enjoyed this books. The pacing of the story was nice and the characters felt multifaceted, instead of flat. Much of the story details were hidden to the reader and you had to find things out at the same time as Owl. I really enjoyed the air of mystery around the intentions of all the different characters. I will say that by the end of the book I absolutely hated Cody. It went back and forth for a while but he lied so much that I couldn’t do anything but despise him. I do think that the ending of the book moved a little too fast considering how slow the rest of the book usually was.

I think that this book is suitable for those who are a bit more mature. There isn’t any explicit sexual content but there are parts that hint at it so I don’t think this is a book for everyone. There is also talk of child abuse and drug use. I recommend this for those who are looking for a realistic fiction book with a healthy dose of romance. Fantasy elements aren’t everyone’s cup of tea and Sugaring Off has none of that. The romance plot is a big component that moves the story along.

YA Realistic Fiction readers will be delighted by the story that Gillian French has crafted. The characters’ storylines will be sure to entertain readers of all kinds. For readers who are interested in romance, this is definitely the book for that. However, they should be warned that the relationships in the book are not always the healthiest.

I created a poster to best show the plotlines of this book. The book is made of several individual stories, so a regular plot summary was not the best choice to properly display this book’s content.

This book was so interesting. There isn’t quite one narrative. The book is split into several different stories that are all connected but also not at the same time. Each story is about someone in the family tree but will have nothing to do with the previous story. This made it hard to really understand the concept of the book as a whole, but I enjoyed it. The stories were all so uniquely enjoyable. I didn’t always understand what was going on, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book. All the stories were about indigenous characters. They were an interesting take on indigenous stories. The book is a collection of stories inspired by old Cherokee stories, but the stories are also horror fantasy stories.

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for really unique short horror stories. I haven’t read anything quite like it before. I think this book is also good for people looking to read Cherokee stories with a spin. These are not only inspired by Cherokee stories but also by classic horror stories and they range from vampires to zombies to werewolves. Some stories also focus on the monsters of humanity, like domestic violence and suicide, which are also very present. I would also be cautious to read this if you are not a fan of gore. There isn’t a whole lot, but the little bit that is present can be graphic.

YA Horror enjoyers will be delighted by what Andrea L. Rogers has to offer. From stories about vampires to sexual assault to fantastical sea creatures, Man Made Monsters is sure to wow any interested reader. Anyone who is looking for a well-written and wildly entertaining indigenous book will be well satisfied with this one, and I’m sure they would love it as much as I did.

Cold is a murder mystery novel, nominated for the North Star Book award, that focuses on teenagers Todd, who was murdered, and Georgia, who is trying to figure out what happened to Todd, even though she doesn’t know Todd. Todd’s dead body was discovered in the woods by the park, naked and frozen. Before the discovery, Todd’s ghost is awakened and gets attached to Detective Daniels and Greevey. When Georgia finds out about the murder, it continuously plagues her mind and she decides she must visit the park where Todd was found. Detectives Daniels and Greevey are in charge of Todd’s murder case. They stop by Todd’s old all-boys school but none of the other students would say much about him. The principal also didn’t have much information, although several students and the principal thought Todd had a rather odd relationship with a teacher named Mr. McVeeter. When looking through old files, they find out that Todd was part of a tutoring program with a couple of other kids but nobody wanted to participate. One of the students at Todd’s school in the program happened to be Georgia’s brother, Mark. Mark led her to believe he had never met Todd before but when she sees a picture of Todd, she realizes that Todd has been to her house before. As Georgia begins poking around into Todd’s murder, she begins snooping in Mark’s stuff where she finds several hundreds of dollars. Not knowing what to do and how this was connected to Todd, Georgia takes it and hides it in her locker at school. During the detectives’ investigation, the clues begin pointing more and more toward Mr. McVeeter as the murderer. Mr. McVeeter was gay, as was Todd, which explained his lack of friends. The clues suggested Mr. McVeeter had an inappropriate relationship with Todd, but is that the case?

Cold was a mediocre book. The real murderer ended up being very predictable. It didn’t actually feel like a mystery to me because I had already thought of who the murderer probably was. Also, several of Georgia’s parts felt irrelevant to the story. I didn’t gain anything by reading about her going through her daily life at school. It only felt like there were a couple parts of hers that pertained to the main story. The rest of her story felt like it should’ve been in a different book. She had a lot of self discoveries but they weren’t crucial to the storyline and discovering what truly happened to Todd. For Todd’s parts of the book, it felt more like it was about the detectives than it was about Todd. It didn’t look like we were finding out what had happened to Todd. Instead, it was just Todd recounting how his life used to be.

I would recommend this to people who are just dipping their toes into the murder mystery genre. There really isn’t anything gorey or graphic and it was a pretty mellow book. I would also recommend this to anyone who isn’t a fan of huge plot twists. As I previously mentioned, this was a fairly predictable book. Cold is also a good book for those looking for LGBTQ+ characters. There are quite a few in the story and both of the main characters are.

YA Murder Mystery enthusiasts may be disappointed by what Mariko Tamikai has to offer. While it is a murder mystery with good LGBTQ+ characters, it is not a very good murder mystery. It’s lacking the plot twists that are so evident in many murder mystery stories. But for those who are just getting into the genre, it’s probably a good book to start out with.

Squire is about a teenage girl named Aiza who lives in Bayt-Saji. Aiza is of the Ornu people but she lives with her family amongst the rest of Bayt-Saji. Aiza isn’t fulfilled by her life in Bayt-Saji and hounds her parents to be able to enlist for Squiredom. When Aiza gets permission, she sets off to begin her training. There, she meets Husni and Sahar with whom she becomes fast friends. Aiza keeps working harder and harder up until the day of her first Squire exam. She goes into it confidently but somehow ends up failing. After failing, General Hende puts Aiza on armory night watch, where she begins night training with the groundskeeper, Doruk. She keeps training with him and improving so much that she gets sent out on a 24-hour patrol with 5 other cadets. While out there, they are attacked by an Ornu ambush and Husni gets badly injured. To save Husni, Aiza has to reveal that she is also Ornu. In a twisted turn of events, she gets immediately promoted to Squire. As a result, all of her friends no longer trust or like her. On her first day as a Squire, she patrols with a Knight in an Ornu village where she meets one of the boys from the ambush. When she gets too angry and attacks him in the woods, she learns some things about the General that make Aiza rethink whether or not she wants the Squire’s life.

I really enjoyed Squire. I don’t usually read graphic novels, but I found that having pictures to put with the names was really helpful. When reading, I come up with my own imagining of what characters look like and sometimes I get upset the author’s actual design is different than mine. The story itself was wonderful. When you look at the story from a baseline perspective, there is a narrative of racism that I think is an excellent focus for the plot. There should be more and more books like this that show it is possible to overcome racism and prove that kids should fight for what they believe in, even if the adults around them tell them otherwise. I appreciated the fact that there wasn’t any romance in this book. I’m not usually looking for it in what I read but it’s usually there anyways. I enjoy stories that are more about building strong positive friendships instead of about romance and sex.

I loved some characters, but I also hated others. I really liked Husni. I thought he was funny and there was more to him than his first impressions. However, I hated Husni’s friend Basem, who operated on blind faith even after being proven wrong. There wasn’t anything wrong with how the characters were written but there are always heroes and villains in the story and quite often I find myself hating the villains. General Hende was another character I didn’t like because she messed with the kids’ perceptions of each other and manipulated all of them, Doruk included. I also loved the pacing of the book. A lot of time passed by the end of the story but with the way the scenes were created, there weren’t boring details dragging down the story. I genuinely felt like I didn’t have any problems with the writing in this book. Every character felt like they had their own reason for existing within the story and there were no unnecessary details that were wasting time.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes coming-of-age stories. The story felt like it was Aiza’s time of maturing and realizing what was actually going on in the world around her. I think that this book is pretty suited for anybody to read. There isn’t any gore, sexual activity, or heavy topics unsuited for younger readers. This isn’t really a fantasy novel but rather more of a historical fiction, so this isn’t the book for anyone who is a fantasy enthusiast. This is also not the book to read if you are looking for romance. The book is solely about Aiza and her friends taking control of the oppression that they are facing.

Young Adult Historical Fiction readers will enjoy a fast-paced graphic novel by Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas. Those who often are disappointed by the overwhelming amount of romance in most YA literature will be delighted by Squire, which has absolutely none. Anyone looking for a coming-of-age story based around dealing with racism and making it better will love this one.

Our Crooked Hearts is a fantasy book about seventeen year old Ivy and the mystery surrounding her life. The book is a split POV between Ivy and her mother, Dana, when Dana was Ivy’s age. After almost being in a car accident and meeting a strange naked girl in the woods, Ivy starts to notice more and more strange occurrences. She finds a dead rabbit in her yard and starts seeing and hearing things that Ivy thinks are connected to the naked girl from the woods. As Ivy tries to figure out what is going on, she starts asking her mom questions. But Dana is acting very dodgy and refuses to give Ivy the answers that she wants. The more Ivy searches, the more she finds that she doesn’t understand.

In the back of her parents closet, she finds and opens a safe that holds some of her old belongings, one of which being an old cigar box. Inside the box she finds a picture of the boy next door, Billy. But she doesn’t ever remember drawing it. She hardly even knows much about Billy. Ivy is now hit more and more with the urge to know what’s going on but suddenly her mother and Aunt Fee are nowhere to be found and are unreachable by phone. Soon, she is approached by the mystery girl from the woods. This mystery girl claims to be able to find her mother and help Ivy uncover what exactly has been going on. But can Ivy truly trust her?

I loved this book. It was a really interesting mix between fantasy and mystery. Each chapter brought you closer to finding out the truth and it was done in such a way that I couldn’t wait to finish it just so I could find out. A huge part of the book is about the magic and I found that the magic was incorporated really well. Sometimes books don’t always explain how magic comes to be but I found that Melissa Albert did that really nicely. I also really enjoyed how the magic was presented. It wasn’t like a high fantasy book with dragons and wizards shooting magic off like nothing. It was treated with a reverence and an understanding of its danger. I was also a big fan of how romance was not a focus in this story. I’ve picked up many fantasy books that seem like they’re going to be about an adventure but then a romantic subplot pops up and is suddenly a huge focus of the story.

I really enjoyed how the book moved. I didn’t always enjoy when the POVs shifted to Dana but I found after a little while that the shifted POV helped reveal more to the story that contextualized certain things that were happening with Ivy. I found that Dana’s POV really just provided backstory to Ivy’s life. Some of the side characters felt really flat and didn’t totally add much to the story except for a reason for other characters to interact. For example, Nate, Ivy’s ex, had very little to his character and I really think he just served as a way for Billy and Ivy to start meeting more. I also thought that the dad was not portrayed very well. He isn’t important to the story until towards the end and even then his scenes just felt like stalling a little bit.

I would recommend this for anyone 12 or 13 and up. I feel as though some of the elements in the story, like the several dead rabbits, aren’t fully appropriate for anyone younger. I would also recommend this to people who are looking for a little bit of a dark fantasy. It’s on the creepier side when it comes to fantasy and is not for anyone who’s looking for a light adventure story like many other fantasy books. This is also a good book for anyone who is looking for a story without romance. There is one kiss in the story and it does not go anywhere after that.

Revelle is a story about a young girl named Luxe Revelle and her family set in the 1920’s. They live on the magical island of Charmant where several families along with hers have their own magic. The Revelles can twists your emotions using jewels. The Chronoses are time travelers, but when they travel they age. The Chronoses are also the politicians on the island and control the Day District, but not the Night District, where the Revelles live. The Edwardians can hear everyones thoughts but they are physically incapable of telling a lie. The Effigans can make magical drinks and brews of that sort. Luxe’s family has been putting on shows for tourists since before she was born. But now, they’re running out booze and the Big Tent is in very poor condition. Using a special magic that only Luxe has, she’s got to charm Dewy Chronos, the only bootlegger still left on the island.

On the night that she is to meet him for the first time, she mistakes someone else as Dewy. Jamison Port comes to Charamant with his friends Roger Revelle and Trysta Chronos, both of which are estranged from their families. When Luxe thinks he is Dewy, she leads him to a backroom to try and seduce him for a jewel, the source of her families powers and their form of currency. She kisses him but immediatley discovers he isn’t Dewy. She kicks him out and strikes a deal with the actual Dewy. The deal has her pretend to be romantically involved with Dewy and she will get all the booze she needs and a place to perform. There’s only one problem, she’s developed feelings for Jamison that she doesn’t have for Dewy. As Luxe realizes that Dewy isn’t what she thought he was, she has to figure out a way to not only save herself but also save her family.

I thought that Revelle was fantastic. The book switched the point of view several times but it did so in a way that made sense and created a sense of mystery to the story. The characters each had their own backgrounds that correlated to the storyline in a way that flowed really well. The storyline moved at a really nice pace and it didn’t feel rushed or too slow. It incorparated a lot of 1920’s elements well without the story feeling super old or boring. The magic elements also meshed really well with them.

I recommend this to anyone who likes romance books that aren’t too incredibly dependent on the romance. Whilst a lot of Revelle is about how Luxe needs to get away from Dewy who loves her obsessivley and how she actually loves Jamison, the story also focuses a lot on family. Luxe’s family is very big and family is incredibly important to them all. Jamison also is on a journey to find out who his parents are, which is a big focus of his story as well.

Bone Gap is a twisting story that keeps you coming back for more. Fin O’Sullivan and his brother Sean can’t seem to keep the women in their lives around. First abandoned by their mother and second by a girl everyone thought Sean would marry, Roza. Roza was a Polish girl who had shown up in their barn and was bruised all over. Roza had lots of past trauma and she was healing. Until she was gone. At least, everyone but Fin thought she abandoned them. Fin thought that she was taken. Taken by a man who was average, but his body moved like the corn in the fields of their town of Bone Gap. No matter how many times he was asked to describe the man, Fin couldn’t seem to give a firm description. No one believed him and so he got nicknames like Moonface, Spaceman, and Sidetrack. Not even Sean would believe him and their relationship became very strained. Fin started falling for a girl, Priscilla Willis, though she liked to be called Petey. When someone left a horse in Fin’s barn, he started riding it every night and let the horse go wherever she wanted. But she always took him to Petey’s house. Petey and Fin started spending more time together and Fin told her about his’s thoughts on Roza going missing. She told him she believed him, but did she really? One day whilst bringing a chicken back to the man acrossed the road, he met the man again. Still average, still moving like the corn, still unidentifiable for Fin. And yet again, no one believed him. As time goes by, Priscilla began to notice odd things about Fin. How he couldn’t look people in the eye, he didn’t always recognize people he knew, and a couple other odd instances. When Fin got hurt and was in the hospital, Petey snooped around his house and began putting together the pieces of the puzzle she had. With what she learned about Fin, things started to come together and she began understanding him far more.

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the writing style and I especially enjoyed how Laura Ruby presented the story. On occasion it got a little confusing because it switched points of view between Fin and Roza. Sometimes I wouldn’t quite get Roza’s part but after reading more, I would see what had happened then and how it contributed to the storyline. I think that quite a few different people would enjoy this. There is no overpowering magical element that makes this a fantasy book nor is it a realistic fiction. I would say that this would probably be better for an older/more mature teenage audience but other than that I think lots of people could like this book.

Bone Gap won the Printz Award in 2016. The Michael L. Printz Award annually honors the best books for teens, entirely based upon it’s literary merit each year. I genuinely believe that Bone Gap deserved this award. I think that the book was really eloquently written and the vocabulary used made for an incredibly enjoyable reading experience.