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)