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'