High School Reads!

 by Jenny Ferguson Genre:  Realistic Fiction Lou has the summer to sort things out.  She has just broken up with her boyfriend, her best friend, King, has just moved back to town, her mom has left her with her uncles for the summer, and now she is getting threatening letters from her father who has recently been released from jail.  What is she supposed to do with the mess her life has become?  Lou is so busy trying to protect herself and her family that she doesn't know who she can trust.  She spends her days working in her family's ice cream shack, but finds out that they are in danger of losing that business as well. Lou realizes that she is going to have to face the truth about many of the relationships in her life if she is going to be able to move forward with her life.

 by FaridahAbike-Iyimide Genre:  Realistic Fiction Devon and Chiamaka are seniors at Niveus Private Academy and are looking forward to their final year at the school before they apply to attend prestigious universities.  They have both worked very hard to ensure that their college dreams will come true.  But all of a sudden, a mysterious person named Aces has begun texting the entire student body their deepest secrets.  Devon and Chiamaka are determined to work together to expose whoever is doing this so that they can finish out their senior year.  As they dig deeper into the Aces mystery, they uncover a disturbing past that has led to what is happening today.

 by Sharon G. Flake Genre:  Realistic Fiction Char has not had an easy life, and even though she's got people who are supporting her on her journey, it still just doesn't seem to be enough.  Her sister and former teacher have tried, but now the decision has been made for Char to head to Alabama to try living with her grandparents.  Juju puts Char on the bus, but along the way, Char decides to take control of her own life as she is tired of others always trying to make decisions for her.  But unfortunately, Char is not prepared for the dangers of living on her own and she becomes an easy target for a man who recruits young teens for his human trafficking business.  Char is in over her head and desperately wants to get back to her sister, if she can just figure out how to get out of her current nightmare.

 by Angeline Boulley Genre:  Realistic Fiction Dauntis Fontaine is trying to figure out where she fits in.  She has ties to both her hometown where her mother's family lives and the Ojibwe Reservation where her father's relatives live.  She is trying hard to honor both sets of her heritage, but when tragedy strikes, she doesn't know who to believe or where to turn.  Jamie Johnson, the new senior hockey player, seems too perfect to be true.  The more she finds out about him, the more she thinks he is hiding something from her.  When is true identity is revealed to her, Dauntis must make a choice that could help her friends and family or could bring further harm.  Teenagers on the reservation are continuing to die so Dauntis feels she has no choice but to join Jamie in an undercover investigation if she is to honor the lives of her friends who have been lost.   

 by Vitor Martins Genre:  Realistic Fiction Felipe can't wait for his summer vacation to start so that he can hide away from the world in his tiny apartment and basically do...nothing.  Felipe is tired of the name calling and teasing that he receives at school and from the world in general due to his extra large size.  When he comes home from his final day from school, his mom surprises him with the information that their neighbor, Caio, is going to be staying with them for the next 15 days.  Felipe is horrified.  Caio and he used to be friends when they were younger, but haven't spoken in many years.  Felipe has secretly had a crush on Caio and now he is going to have to deal with someone in his space.  Felipe is sure that the next 15 days will be the worst time of his life.

 by S.K. Ali Genre:  Realistic Fiction Zayneb is tired of feeling angry all of the time. She is usually the only Muslim in class and is tired of the attention it brings her, especially from one teacher who seems determined to destroy her confidence.  When she gets suspended for confronting him, her parents allow her to begin spring break early which means traveling to Doha, Qatar to visit her aunt.  On the plane ride, she has a quick exchange with a very cute boy who, as she finds out later, is the son of a friend of her aunt's!  As Zayneb and Adam begin a friendship, they both realize that holding on to anger and secrets is a tough and exhausting way to live.  Can they open up and help each other out?

 by Kim Johnson Tracy Beaumont writes a letter every week to Innocence X to try to get them to help her father who is on death row, accused of a crime he did not commit.  Tracy has dedicated hours to bringing awareness to her father's case and to help others in her community understand their rights.  She is hopeful that her dad might get help, but then one night when a classmate is murdered, her brother, Jamal is accused of the crime.  Jamal disappears, fearing that no one will believe he is innocent.  Tracy is now determined to help her dad and her brother, but the deeper she digs into the history of what happened to both of them, the more secrets she uncovers.  Can Tracy get justice for her dad and her brother?

 by Ibi Aanu Zoboi Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse Amal Shahid is an aspiring artist and a poet, even though he isn't getting a lot of encouragement from the teachers at his arts high school.  One night he is in the wrong place at the wrong time.  He gets into a fight that leaves one boy in a coma.  Amal is convicted and sent to prison, despite the fact that he is innocent.  It will take all that he has to survive his new reality.  A prison sentence is not hw he wants his story to end.  He will need to turn to his art and poetry to find hope for a better tomorrow.

 by Brandy Colbert Genre:  Realistic Fiction Marva Sheridan has worked tirelessly to get people registered to vote in the upcoming election and now election day is finally here!  But her boyfriend, Alec, has decided that he doesn't want to.  Marva can't understand how he can suddenly not care about making a difference in the world.  When Duke Crenshaw runs into Marva at the polls, he draws her attention because he is turned away due to not being registered.  Marva makes it her mission of the day to get him a ballot so that his voice can be heard.  Neither one of them is expecting the day to unfold as it does.  

by Justin Reynolds Genre:  Science Fiction Jamal's best friend, Q, died in a drowning accident, moments after the two of them had a big fight.  Jamal has ignored Q for the last two years while he was dealing with the loss of his parents.  Jamal was so busy blaming Q for their deaths, that he couldn't even reach out to Q when his own father died.  Now Q is gone and Jamal will never get to tell him how sorry he is.  Or will he?  At the hospital, Jamal and Q's mom are offered the opportunity to reanimate Q for a small window of time so that they can have a proper goodbye.  It is a highly experimental procedure with no guarantees on how much time they would get with Q.  Is it worth the risk of having to say goodbye again?

 by Jennifer Longo Genre:  Realistic Fiction Muir has lived in so many different foster homes that she has never really learned how to unpack her suitcase.  She has been content to move from place to place and not have to build relationships that might leave her heartbroken and alone.  But now that she is nearly 18 and ready to graduate from high school, she is unsure of what the future will bring.  Her final foster placement is with Francine, an older woman who lives alone and who seems to good to be true.  Shortly after moving in with Francine, Muir meets Kira and Sean and everything changes.  Muir has never had real friends and suddenly she finds herself in a place where she could see herself wanting to stay.

 by George Takei Genre:  Memoir, Graphic Novel They Called Us Enemy is the first hand retelling of George Takei's childhood in Japanese Internment Camps.  He and his family were living a comfortable life in Los Angeles until the day that Pearl Harbor was bombed.  They were giving only 10 minutes to pack up their things before they were transported to the first of 3 internment camps.  George retells the story of this "adventure" from the perspective of a child, but as an adult, he now understands the toll that this experience took on his parents and on the life they planned for their children.

 by Angie Thomas Genre:  Realistic Fiction 17 year old Maverick Carter is trying to be a man and take responsibility for his family.  His dad is in jail, his mom works two jobs to make ends meet and Maverick has recently learned that he is now a father.  When his son's mother abandons the infant, Mav has to step up and figure out a way to work and earn money for his family and try to finish school.  His friends don't understand why he suddenly isn't available to hang out with them all day long.  When his cousin is murdered, Mav has to take a long hard look at the people in his life and the choices they make and decide which path he wants to follow.

 by Karen M. McManus Genre:  Realistic Fiction The small town of Echo Ridge has been in the news too many times.  3 young girls have gone missing and all 3 murders have gone unsolved.  Ellery and Ezra have moved to Echo Ridge to live with their grandmother while their mother goes through rehab.  Their mother's twin sister, Sarah, was the first Echo Ridge girl to disappear and their mother has always refused to talk about her past.  Now that Ellery and Ezra are back, more questions emerge about who is keeping secrets from them.  They are determined to get some answers to what has happened in the past so that they can move on to a better future.

 by Julie Murphy Genre:  Realistic Fiction Millie has gone to fat camp every summer because that is what her mom wanted her to do.  Her mom is convinced that her goal of becoming a broadcast journalist would only be attainable if she looks a certain way.  Millie has tried all kinds of diets, but at this point, she is learning to be happy with who she is and how she looks.  She just wishes that her mom would be too.  When Millie unexpectedly becomes friends with Callie, another junior with a whole bunch of problems of her own, the two become determined not to just break the rules, but to change them.  

 by Jandy Nelson Genre:  Realistic Fiction Lennon and her sister Bailey were as close as sisters can be.  So when Bailey dies unexpectedly, Lennon feels like her life is over.  The girls were abandoned by a mother they can't remember and have been lovingly raised by their Grandma and Uncle, but their Grandma has never told them much about their mother.  Now that Bailey is gone, Lennon doesn't know what to do.  Hanging out with Bailey's boyfriend, Toby, seems to help, at first.  But then Lennon meets the new kid at school, Joe, and as she gets to know him her feelings seem to grow.  Just when Lennon thinks she is finally getting things figured out, Joe misinterprets something he sees between Toby and Lennon and decides that he and Lennon are through.  Will Lennon be able to survive this latest round of heartbreak?

 by Tyler Feder Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Graphic Novel Tyler had just finished her first year of college when she found out that her mom had stage 4 ovarian cancer.  Her super cool, super invincible mom was now sick and becoming increasing dependent upon her family.  Tyler's 2 sisters and her dad have to adjust to the new reality that their lives are going to have to go on without Rhonda.  But Tyler's mom is such a huge part of her life...how can she even begin to imagine a life without her?

 by Kelly Yang Genre:  Realistic Fiction When wealthy Asian parents send their children to study in the US, they are know as "parachutes".  Claire Wang never thought she would be one, but unexpectedly her parents have decided to ship her off to LA so that she can go to high school there.  Claire is used to her privileged life...she has never cleaned up after herself or done the laundry.  So when she is parachuted in her host family's life, she is unprepared for the small room and the chores she is suddenly responsible for while living with Dani and her mom.  At first, Dani and Claire seem to have nothing in common, but as the school year progresses, they find their separate lives converging in several places.  Will these experiences bring them together or farther apart?

 by Elizabeth Acevedo Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse Camino Rios lives in the Dominican Republic.  Yahaira Rios lives in New York City.  Neither one knows of the others existence, but they both learn on the same day that their father has died in a plane crash.  Their lives have no changed forever and as they begin to learn more about their father, it becomes clear that the two will have to meet even if they aren't sure they want to.  Their father's wish was to be buried in the Dominican Republic and even though Yahaira's mother has said they will never go there, Yahaira decides that she has to see her father home and meet the sister she never knew she had.

by Kekla Magoon Genre:  Realistic Fiction Thirteen year old Shae is walking home at dusk.  She's wearing her winter coat and has her headphones on.  A police officer tells her to stop and when he doesn't, he pulls out his gun and shoots her, and Shae never makes it home that night.  The rest of the story is told from multiple perspectives...people who knew Shae, people who new the officer.  There are always two sides to every story, but some stories never get to be told.