Are You Still There

by Sarah Lynn Scheerger

Gabi, a senior in high school, is an over-achiever.  She volunteers, gets straight As, and has already submitted early action applications to her colleges of choice. Things are going according to plan, until a bomb scare at her school turns her life upside down.  The cops are able to find the bomb in time, but they don’t find the bomber.

Shortly after the bomb scare, Gabi starts finding strange, threatening notes in her locker and around school campus. Could they be messages from the bomber, or someone else?  Why are so many of the notes left for Gabi?  

Meanwhile, school administrators set up an anonymous help line, and Gabi is one of the students asked to help staff the line. The students staffing the line are an unlikely group – representing all different cliques in the school, but Gabi realizes that she has more in common with some of her new workmates that she would’ve originally thought. Part mystery, part realistic fiction, this is a relatively quick read.

Things I Know About Love

Things I know about Love

By Kate Le Vann

I was looking to read a little something with some romance and this popped out at me from the shelf. I was intrigued because of the premise; a young woman travels half way across the world to visit her brother after she has won a battle with Leukaemia, this sounded inspiring and Things I Know About Love was just that. Livia is a strong young woman looking to get away and celebrate winning a battle with a serious illness. She travels from England to New Jersey to visit her brother over the summer and she ends up finding love.
Over the summer instead of creating a traditional travel journal, Livia decides to create a blog. She writes about all of her experiences in this private blog. The book is written as if the reader has been given access to this blog and the format of the writing style is fun to read. With lists and notes about love and life the reader is taken into this seventeen year old girls life and self-reflection. I especially enjoyed reading some of the British slang that Livia uses and found myself reading many portions with an English accent. One word of warning though; you might need a tissue for some points and you will definitely finish the book wanting to know more.
After finishing I was drawn to look at more YA fiction that had a blog feel and now I am reading Kiss & Blog. I'll let you know how it goes!

Saint Anything

By Sarah Dessen

Sydney has lived her whole life in the shadow of her older brother Peyton. Everyone in her life, especially her parents, dote on him despite his continued troubles with the law. Then one night, her brother gets in real trouble when he drives drunk and hits a boy on a bike. Now Sydney is known as the girl with the brother in jail, and all she wants to do is crawl under a rock. 

To allow her family to put her costly private school tuition toward lawyer bills - and to get away from the stares - Sydney decides to change schools for senior year. At her new school, Sydney meets the Chatham family, who have their own set of problems but are entirely more open than Sydney is used to. As Sydney navigates through new and old friendships, a new family dynamic, and confronting her crushing guilt about the accident, she starts to find herself after feeling invisible for a very long time.

This book started a bit slow for me, but by the halfway point I was in love with it. Sarah Dessen fans will not be disappointed. I really connected with the characters and loved the meaning behind the title "Saint Anything" (you get to it, eventually). Also, that beautiful carousel on the cover!

Alex as Well

Alex as Well

By Alyssa Brugman

This is the complicated story about a young teen who is trying to figure out who they are. Many teens are trying to figure themselves out but for Alex things are a little more complicated because Alex, our main character, was born a little different. Alex was born intersexed. What is this? You may be asking yourself. Well Alex was born with the sexual organs of both sexes. As a baby Alex's parents chose to raise Alex as a boy. Unfortunately Alex has always felt like a female. So after being raised as a boy for so long she decides to create a whole new identity as a female. The journey will be tough and long. Many questions and lessons about gender, acceptance, sexuality, belonging, and friendship are dealt with in this novel. Alyssa Brugman's Alex as Well answers the question; does it matter whether you're a boy or a girl?

Book of the Month: September - Emmy & Oliver

Emmy & Oliver

by Robin Benway

Emmy and Oliver are best friends up until grade 2 when the unthinkable happens, Oliver is kidnapped by his dad. Oliver's friends and family are all devastated when he disappears and for 10 years Oliver is always in everyone's minds - lost, but not forgotten. One day they receive the news they have all been waiting for - Oliver has been found! For Emmy this brings back fond memories of a boy that she felt an instant bond with, and a hope they can take up where they left off. However, when Oliver arrives back home it becomes clear that nothing is the same. The boy that was taken from them has grown up. Moreover, Oliver is struggling with reconciling the truth of his kidnapping by a man that he can't help but still love.

Will Emmy and Oliver find a way back to each other? Will Oliver be able to look forward to his future knowing that his past has been a lie?

A fantastic book that is funny, heart wrenching, and real. A great read!

Other books like Emmy & Oliver: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell,, Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkin, An abundance of Katherines by John Green

The Truth Commission

The Truth Commission

By Susan Juby

As the subtitle explains, this is the story of "how three intrepid art students got to the bottom of one unexpectedly dark secret." Normandy Pale is a student at a prestigious art high school in Nanaimo,  Everyone has secrets, and rumours are everywhere.  Normandy and her two best friends decide to find out the truths behind some of the rumours, to varying degrees of success. Along the way discover more than they bargained for. Told as a work of creative non-fiction (complete with footnotes), this is a quirky, funny yet serious story about family, friendship and the realities of dealing with secrets.  

Book of the Month - August - Red Queen

Red Queen

by Victoria Aveyard

For 17-year-old Mare, life is determined by the colour of your blood.  Silvers have money, prestige, and special abilities.  Reds have nothing, and are destined to a life of servitude and military service, fighting a war that never seems to end.  Mare is a Red, and spends her days pickpocketing to earn a living,  When her best friend is conscripted to fight in the on-going war, Mare is determined to find a way out. But a twist of fate leads her to discover an ability she never knew she had.  

A Red with abilities?  How can this be?  In order to hide the truth from everyone, the king disguises Mare as a long-lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his sons.  Of course things aren't simple - not everyone has Mare's best interests at heart.  Who can she trust?  And what about the family she left behind? What will become of them?  As she lives at court, secrets, lies and romance bloom.  

A nice mixture of fantasy, dystopia and romance. 

Other books like Red Queen:  Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo; Graceling by Kristin Cashore; Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi; The Selection by Kiera Cass