Clap When You Land by Elizabeth by Elizabeth Acevedo

 

(From Amazon)

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.

And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other. 

(My Review)

The lives of two girls, who have never met, are changed forever, when their shared father dies in a plane crash.  The girls, Camino and Ya Ya, who come from two different worlds, two different countries, didn't even know of each other until the death of their father, now have to face a new reality and deal with the grief of losing their father.  Now, both of their lives will be changed forever.  I found this book to be very thought-provoking.  I thought it dealt with grief very well.  I also thought it was interesting showing the contrast in cultures between the United States and the Dominican Republic.  Also, in reading the Author Notes at the end, I thought it was interesting to find that the plane crash in book was inspired by an actual event, and that the author was interested in the fact that a plane crash mostly affecting the Dominican Republic community, did not receive much attention by the media.  And that this book was a way to put a face on some of the people lost in that plane crash.  

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

(From Amazon)

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he’s not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin―and his world―forever.

(My Review)

Young beautiful human girl gets kidnapped by magical beast.  Sound familiar?  In this retelling of Beauty and the Beast, you are taken into a magical world with magical creatures, where the main character, Feyre, is not safe, and comes to depend (and fall in love with) her captor.  I thought this book was very good and and definitely look forward to the rest of the series.  I have also recently heard that Netflix is going to make series of this book series (don't wait on Netflix - read the books first!)

Series:

1.  A Court of Thorns and Roses

2.   A Court of Mist and Fury

3.  A Court of Wings and Ruin

4.  A Court of Frost and Starlight

5.  A Court of Silver Flames

They Went Left by Monica Hesse

 

(From Amazon)

Germany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp said the war was over, but nothing feels over to 18-year-old Zofia Lederman. Her body has barely begun to heal; her mind feels broken. And her life is completely shattered: Three years ago, she and her younger brother, Abek, were the only members of their family to be sent to the right, away from the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Everyone else - her parents, her grandmother, radiant Aunt Maja - they went left.

Zofia's last words to her brother were a promise: "Abek to Zofia, A to Z. When I find you again, we will fill our alphabet." Now her journey to fulfill that vow takes her through Poland and Germany and into a displaced persons camp where everyone she meets is trying to piece together a future from a painful past: Miriam, desperately searching for the twin she was separated from after they survived medical experimentation. Breine, a former heiress, who now longs only for a simple wedding with her new fiancé. And Josef, who guards his past behind a wall of secrets and is beautiful and strange and magnetic all at once.

But the deeper Zofia digs, the more impossible her search seems. How can she find one boy in a sea of the missing? In the rubble of a broken continent, Zofia must delve into a mystery whose answers could break her - or help her rebuild her world.

(My Review)

With the plethora of WWII books that seems to be about currently, They Went Left takes a different approach.  This book follows Zofia at the end of the war, as the camp she is in is liberated.  Her main concern is finding her sole surviving family - her brother.  I thought this book was so interesting on so many levels.  While it was historical fiction, it was a story of survival.  These survivors, after having lived through the horror of the concentration camps, found themselves on a  desperate quest to find their families after the war.  The author explored how the trauma of war effected many of the characters in many different ways, leading them to make unimaginable decisions.     

Circe by Madeline Miller

 

(From Amazon)

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child -- not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power -- the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world.

(My Review)

In this retelling of The Odyssey, as told from the character of Circe, you trace her life from neglected daughter of Helios, to the fierce mother of a son of Odysseus.  She goes from believing she has no powers to becoming a very powerful witch.  I really enjoyed this story about the power of women, about the fierceness of mothers, and about sacrifice.

Some Kind of Animal by Maria Romasco-Moore

(From Amazon)

Jo lives in the same Appalachian town where her mother disappeared fifteen years ago. Everyone knows what happened to Jo's mom. She was wild, and bad things happen to girls like that.

Now people are starting to talk about Jo. She's barely passing her classes and falls asleep at her desk every day. She's following in her mom's footsteps.

Jo does have a secret. It's not what people think, though. Not a boy or a drug habit. Jo has a twin sister.

Jo's sister is not like most people. She lives in the woods--catches rabbits with her bare hands and eats them raw. Night after night, Jo slips out of her bedroom window and meets her sister in the trees. And together they run, fearlessly.

The thing is, no one's ever seen Jo's sister. So when her twin attacks a boy from town, everyone assumes that it was Jo. Which means Jo has to decide--does she tell the world about her sister, or does she run?

(My Review)

Family secrets, complex family relationships, friendships come together into this story of Jo and her twin sister.  It's a complex story that tests the ties of family and friendship, and the power of nature and nurture.  I thought it was a riveting story where a young girl is thrust into a position where she is questioning everything she thought to be true (some of which was already a mystery), and her only thought is to protect her sister.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as Told to His Brother) by David Levithan

 

(From Amazon)

Aidan disappeared for six days. Six agonizing days of searches and police and questions and constant vigils. Then, just as suddenly as he vanished, Aidan reappears. Where has he been? The story he tells is simply...impossible. But it's the story Aidan is sticking to.

His brother, Lucas, wants to believe him. But Lucas is aware of what other people, including their parents, are saying: that Aidan is making it all up to disguise the fact that he ran away.

When the kids in school hear Aidan's story, they taunt him. But still Aidan clings to his story. And as he becomes more of an outcast, Lucas becomes more and more concerned. Being on Aidan's side would mean believing in the impossible. But how can you believe in the impossible when everything and everybody is telling you not to? 

(My Review)

He had disappeared into a Narnia closet, and reappeared as mysteriously as he disappeared.  His story was met with confusion and disbelief.  I really enjoyed this book.  It was a short read, and I thought Levithan did a good job exploring the relationships in family, friends and community, and how they come together, and how they tear at each other.

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

 

(From Amazon)

One by one, the students of Osborne High are dying in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and the hunt intensifies for the killer, the dark secrets among them must finally be confronted.

(My Review)

This book grabs you right from the very first chapter.  And it is not for the faint of heart - it is a high school book, but it is a bit graphic.  It was definitely a creepy story that kept me reading, and kept the suspense until the very end of of the book.

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie

 

(From Amazon)

Shortly after her sixteenth birthday, Sunshine Griffith and her mother Kat move from sunny Austin, Texas, to the rain-drenched town of Ridgemont, Washington. Though Sunshine is adopted, she and her mother have always been close, sharing a special bond filled with laughter and inside jokes. But from the moment they arrive, Sunshine feels her world darken with an eeriness she cannot place. And even if Kat doesn’t recognize it, Sunshine knows that something about their new house is just ... creepy.

(My Review)

I stumbled upon this book and liked it very much.  It's a short read and scary, but not too scary.  I like the relationship between Sunshine and her mother, and find Sunshine's experience/reaction to the ghost maybe having something to do with her feelings about her moving to Washington.  This is the first book in a series.  I also discovered that the book is also loosely based on the authors youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/hauntedsunshinegirl).

Series:

1.  The Haunting of Sunshine Girl

2.  The Awakening of Sunshine Girl

3.  The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

 

(From Amazon)

The #1 New York Times bestseller and feel-good YA of the year—about Willowdean Dixon, the fearless, funny, and totally unforgettable heroine who takes on her small town’s beauty pageant.

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body.

With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any girl does.

Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

(My Review)

This is one of my favorite YA books!  Who else doesn't feel self-conscious?  There is so much truth and humor in this feel-good book.  And come on, who doesn't love Dolly, and drag queens??

Series:

1.  Dumplin"

2.  Puddin'

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

 

(From Amazon)

In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life - and she's really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow Series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.

Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words...And she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? Open her heart to someone? Or will she just go on living inside somebody else's fiction?

(My Review)

I thought this was a sweet YA book.  I thought it did a great job dealing with the struggles of leaving home from school, and the struggle of finding an identity separate from your twin.  I also thought that the relationship between Cath and her dad was interesting.  I felt like the book was looking at the topic of co-dependency, and making sure you live your life.

There is also a graphic novel of this book.

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

 

(From Amazon)

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early 20th century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. "A place", he said, "where learning is a game." 

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym "Truly, Devious". It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history. 

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.

(My Review)

I love this series!  A mystery at a secluded boarding school which is tied to a mystery from the past!  Great characters, with an intriguing story.

Series:

1.  Truly Devious

2.  The Vanishing Stair

3.  The Hand on the Wall

4.  The Box in the Woods (coming June 2021)