Grieshaber
- Sep 28, 2017
Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
Moxie girls fight back! Inspired by her mother (a Riot Grrrl from the 90s), quiet, “good girl”, Viv, decides to take matters into her own hands when she can no longer stand the way the football guys are worshipped and allowed to grope girls and wear shirts that say things like, “Shut up and make me a sandwich” while girls are shamed at her Texas high school. This book is full of grrrrl power - girl friendships (girls choose friends over boys!), girl partnerships (even with
Grieshaber
- Sep 27, 2017
A List of Cages
So far, Adam Blake is winning the contest of My Favorite Male YA character of 2017. He is adorable, friendly to all, smiley, funny, popular with all, loves his momma, bumbling, clumsy, sweet, and has the cutest case of ADHD I have ever read. Dude cannot sit still, constantly fidgets, gets bored quickly, is impulsive, and knows and owns all of this about himself. He has found a way to turn all of these qualities (which are most often viewed negatively) into downright charm
O'Daniels
- Sep 27, 2017
City of Angels by Kristi Belcamino
Set in the summer of 1992, just a few short months before the Rodney King verdict and LA Riots, in the seedy underbelly of LA’s streets, City of Angels paints a not so pretty picture of the town where dreams are made. Nikki, a runaway from Chicago at age seventeen, is quickly learning that picking up a guy at the bus station probably wasn’t the best idea she’s had. But, she followed Chad to LA and finds herself in the middle of some serious trouble. The kind that can get you
Grieshaber
- Sep 26, 2017
The Wendy Project by Melissa Jane Osborne *art by Veronica Fish
When a book is as beautiful as this one, you’ve got to read it twice. I read it on Wednesday in a series of short bursts, being interrupted constantly (that’s what I get for reading in my library!). Even still, I was moved to tears. The next 24 hours had me thinking of the book and doing a little digging into J.M. Barrie, critical essays on Peter Pan, and quotes from the classic. I had to read The Wendy Project again. This time, in a quiet setting for an uninterrupted ho
O'Daniels
- Sep 21, 2017
Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass #6) by Sarah J. Maas
Can I tell you a secret? I was thinking that Maas was crazy for dedicating an entire book to a character we didn’t even hear a peep from in the last one. And Chaol? Let’s be honest; he’s not the most exciting of her characters. BUT, wholly Swoony McSwoonersen, Batman. If there is anything I love in a book (fantasy or otherwise), it’s a slow burn of a romance and an Alpha male. Was that my expectation going into this? Absolutely not, but that’s exactly what it was. Truth be t
Grieshaber
- Sep 19, 2017
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
First of all, how cute is this cover?! I have two words for this book: TOTES ADORBS. From the beginning when we meet Dimple and her traditional Indian family and witness her mom’s obsession with Dimple finding an I.I.H. (Ideal Indian Husband) to her meet-cute with Rishi to the too-good-to-be-true-ness of the nerdy but gorgeous Rishi and his worshipfulness of Dimple to the perfect happily ever after, I loved everything about this precious book. It’s simple, sweet, DIVERSE, an
Grieshaber
- Sep 19, 2017
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
Sigh. THIS BOOK. This beautiful, beautiful, little book. I absolutely adored it. My only complaint is that I wish I would have saved it for a snow day where I would have read it in front of a roaring fire.
Marin is alone. Her grandfather, her only family, is dead. He died two weeks before she was scheduled to leave for college. Immediately after his death, Marin left town. No word to her best friend, Mabel, or Mabel’s mom and dad (who have always been like surrogate parent
Grieshaber
- Sep 13, 2017
Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis
I am a Mindy McGinnis fan. I’ve read two of her five books, A Madness So Discreet (a current Gateway nominee) and Female of the Species (in my top ten reads of 2016), and both are absolutely fantastic and are both so different from each other. When I saw she was writing a fantasy series, I was immediately intrigued. Another book very different in style from her previous releases. I’ve read a lot of fantasy books but this one is unique. Actually, it reads more like a dark fair
O'Daniels
- Sep 12, 2017
The Duke of Bannerman Prep by Katie A. Nelson
Goals and dreams get you places. Determination, grit, perseverance, intelligence, and sometimes a few bribes, shady deals with shady characters, and a debate partner involved in computer hacking, gambling, and other petty crimes help move along those goals. Tanner McKay didn’t plan for any of this to happen; he just wants to win Nationals, so the coaches at Stanford notice him and pave the way for a scholarship. It’s just him, his mom, and his younger special needs brother, S
Grieshaber
- Sep 11, 2017
Vicarious by Paula Stokes
Look! There’s an arch on the cover! It’s not very often that our own STL gets to be the setting of a YA novel so it was a no brainer for me to choose this book to read. Although the title seems a bit bland and nondescript (so many YA books sport one-word titles), it’s actually perfect. In this near future world, the tech exists for someone to be able to put on VR type goggles and live vicariously (get it? vicariously? Vicarious?) through someone else’s actual life experi
O'Daniels
- Sep 8, 2017
Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer
This book was emotional and raw and unfortunately, doesn’t offer a new premise to YA readers. BUT you should still read this, preferably when you are in a melancholy sort of mood because there isn’t a lot of happy in this book and the payoff is at the very end. Get sad, invest some time, grab a blanket and start reading. Why, if this isn’t anything new, should you read this anyway? Because it is exceptional in its portrayal of grief. The writing and emotional growth these two
Grieshaber
- Sep 8, 2017
Bull by David Elliott
Impressive verse retelling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Author, David Elliott, writes the POVs of each of the seven characters involved in his version of the story and gives each one his own form of poetry to help distinguish the characters. This differentiation gives the book a super cool vibe. Dare I make a Hamilton connection? Elliott's use of modern, poetic words to convey an old story made me think of how Lin Manuel Miranda did the same. Poseidon's voice even
Grieshaber
- Sep 7, 2017
And Then There Were Four by Nancy Werlin
The title of this book instantly appealed to me as it is obviously reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s classic, And Then There Were None. As this book is popular year after year in the library (a classic will do that), I’m always looking for books with similar themes and situations. I was hoping this would be one. It is somewhat similar in that characters are killed off one by one. The twist is that the victims aren’t who you expect to be killed. And Then There Were Four is
O'Daniels
- Sep 6, 2017
Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett
Alex, Approximately is the perfect antidote to a heavy read. Summer-loving, resort beach town, adorable boys. Perfection.
Bailey is making a major change in her life, leaving her mother in Washington DC to move across the country to live with her father in California. Her parents haven’t been divorced for that long but her relationship with her mother is becoming strained and she is hoping the move will help with some of her own anxiety. See, Bailey is one of those non-conf
Grieshaber
- Sep 5, 2017
Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy
Ramona Blue, you guys. Wow. This book blew me away. Julie Murphy navigates her fully developed characters through many, many issues and completely fleshes them out (the characters and the issues). You know. Kind of like life. Amazing. In addition to the incredible, perfectly packed storyline and winsome characters, Murphy’s turn of phrase had me highlighting my eBook right and left. Here are a few of my faves:
“You were like my own Peter Pan,” says Freddie. “I thought you w
