I am Alfonso Jones

I am Alfonso Jones
By Tony Medina
Illustrated by Stacey Robinson & John Jennings

I read this graphic novel for a book club--it is a powerful, intense story. This description is from Library Journal: 

Alfonso's playing Hamlet's ghost-father in his school's hip-hop version of the play while hoping for a second role as Danetta's boyfriend. But buying his first suit, he becomes a real ghost when a police officer mistakes a coat hanger for a weapon and shoots him. In the afterlife, he awakens in a subway train among other ghosts, who share their own experiences with police brutality. A gut-punching trip into a Black Lives Matter story, with black-and-white art.

(January 1, 2018)

Carry On

Carry On
By Rainbow Rowell

Simon Snow and Baz Pitch are pretty much opposites; Simon is the Chosen One, Baz is a vampire. Simon is full of magic but not a very controlled magician, Baz is super capable with a wand. Simon is an orphan, Baz is from a wealthy, old-school family of Mages. These two teens are sworn enemies, as well as long-time roommates Watford School of Magicks. They are also secretly in love with each other.
In Rainbow Rowell's silly, fun spin-off from Harry Potter, good and evil are not as black and white as they first appear. There are mysteries to be solved and secrets to be revealed! If you enjoyed Harry Potter, and like the genre of magic boarding school stories, you're in for a treat with this one.

Flying Lessons

Flying Lessons and Other Stories
Edited by Ellen Oh
(Cofounder of We Need Diverse Books)

This is a fabulous book of short stories, by a group of very diverse authors. One of the great things about reading short stories is that they can introduce you to a new author, someone who may have other books you'd want to check out; another thing about short story collections is that you don't have to read them all, or even read them in any particular order...and they may be different styles and genres. Some you may like more than others.

I love the variety of the stories in this collection. Basketball, crushes, dreams, new neighborhoods, family craziness, school stuff...a little something for everyone!

Turtles All the Way Down

Turtles All the Way Down
By John Green

From the author of A Fault in Our Stars, another heartbreaking story; this one about a teen with a mental health illness. But this book is both a romance and a mystery!
This review is from Publishers Weekly Annex:

Like many of Green's characters, Aza Holmes is whip smart, articulate, and tortured by worry. When she was eight, her father succumbed to a heart attack while mowing the lawn. Now 16, Aza takes meds (irregularly) to treat anxiety, which is manifesting in increasingly self-destructive ways. Her problems amplify when she reconnects with Davis, a boy she met years earlier at "Sad Camp," where both had gone to grieve their recently deceased parents. Now Davis's billionaire father is missing, running from a warrant for his arrest. Aza's best friend Daisy, in a classic sidekick role, pressures Aza to contact Davis, hoping they'll learn something about the disappearance-and maybe get a cut of the $100,000 reward. The reunion leads to romance, until Aza's anxiety won't allow it...

Far from the Tree

Far from the Tree
By Robin Benway

Oh, this book is so good!
There are three main teenage characters in this wonderful novel, and the chapters alternate between each of their stories: Grace, Maya and Joaquin are siblings who have just discovered each other because each was given up for adoption as a baby or small child. Now they are learning what it means to be reconnected, to be family. And each is stronger because of the connection.

• Grace has already had a baby of her own--at age 16--and chosen to give her baby to loving, adoptive parents. Her own adoptive parents have given her the love and support necessary to make such a hard decision.

• Maya, also adopted into a loving and supportive family, struggles to understand her mother's alcoholism. Her little sister and her supportive girlfriend provide help and support, especially when a bad accident happens at home.

• Joaquin was never adopted. He spent his whole childhood in foster homes, some better than others...But finally he lives with foster parents who want to adopt him--he just needs to figure out if he is brave enough to accept their love.  

*This novel just won the 2017 National Book Award!

Wolf by Wolf

Wolf by Wolf
by Ryan Graudin

Wolf by Wolf was hard to put down!
Set in an alternative historical time--Hitler has won World War II and is in power--a girl named Yael has survived brutal treatment and escaped from a Nazi death camp.
Now a teenager, Yael is part of the underground Resistance force, and she has a top secret, very dangerous mission: impersonate a famous German teenager (who happens to be the winner of a prestigious annual motorcycle race) so that she can win the next race, meet Hitler in person, and kill him.
Luckily Yael has some special powers that allow her to "skinshift", the result of horrible human experimentation she underwent as a little girl in the concentration camp.
She can make herself look like anyone.
But that is the easy part...winning the fiercely competitive motorcycle race across the continents, and then figuring out a plan to assassinate Hitler--and escape alive--are two unfathomable challenges she faces.
The sequel to Wolf by Wolf is Blood for Blood...you won't want to miss it!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
By Ransom Riggs

This is a real page-turner...and pretty spooky, too!
Jacob, 16 years old, was always been enchanted by his grandfather's crazy stories of growing up in an orphanage on a wind-swept island off the coast of Wales--along with a number of children with strange powers and abilities. Jacob has even seen the photos. But as he got older, his grandfather's stories seemed too fantastic to be true. After a mysterious "accident", Jacob is suddenly inspired to investigate the island and track down anyone still connected with the orphanage.
Set against the backdrop of World War II, this novel is a mix of fantasy, reality, mystery and horror...it will keep you guessing!!

This book is part of a trilogy; Hollow City and Library of Souls are the next two books. And Tales of the Peculiar is a collection of short stories that relates to the trilogy. Check them out!

The Sun is Also a Star

The Sun is Also a Star
By Nicola Yoon

If you're in the mood for a love story, this may be it.
Told from many perspectives, about lives that intertwine in surprising ways, this story takes place all in one day in New York City.
Natasha, a teenager originally from Jamaica, loves facts and is determined to be a scientist. She is also living undocumented with her family in the U.S...and about to be deported. So when she meets Daniel on the street, it's not really a great time to start up a romance.
Daniel, however, is love-struck. He doesn't know the whole story about Natasha and even when he does, he won't give up. His own challenges with his Korean-American family and their expectations of him propel him to pursue a relationship with Natasha despite all odds...
Are Natasha and Daniel meant for each other? What is the Universe trying to do??!

Outrun the Moon

Outrun the Moon
By Stacey Lee

Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong will win you over with her spunky attitude, strength, sense of humor, and determination. And she will need all of that and more to survive San Francisco's 1906 earthquake; not only does Mercy face the destruction of her city and beloved Chinatown neighborhood, but she faces discrimination at being a girl AND as a Chinese American.
Against all odds, Mercy talks her way into a private, elite girls school because she's convinced it is her only ticket to becoming the businesswoman she wants to be...but the Great Quake shakes up her plans and brings many unexpected connections, along with devastation and tragedy.
I could not put this book down!

Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel

Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel
by Sara Farizan

From the publisher:
Leila has made it most of the way through Armstead Academy without having a crush on anyone, which is a relief. As an Iranian-American, she's different enough; if word got out that Leila liked girls, life would be twice as hard. But when beautiful new girl Saskia shows up, Leila starts to take risks she never thought she would. As she carefully confides in trusted friends about Saskia's confusing signals, Leila begins to figure out that all her classmates are more complicated than they first appear to be, and some are keeping surprising secrets of their own.

Tokyo Heist

Tokyo Heist
By Diana Renn

Nothing like a good mystery for summer reading!
I enjoyed the twists and turns in Tokyo Heist, and I liked the teenage characters a lot. Violet, especially, is creative and smart; I loved her ideas for her own super-hero manga story about Kimono Girl...
The plot in this novel is clever, and includes cool manga-related details and background, along with the art-theft-Japanese-mafia theme!
And since I spent a few hours in the Tokyo airport earlier this summer, I especially enjoyed the reference to some interesting, unusual toilets...
A fun story!

Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & Park
By Rainbow Rowell

For Valentine's Day I thought I'd treat myself to a love story; my librarian friend Chalida told me, "this one will tear you apart!" so I picked it up...and couldn't put it down! And she was so right.

The alternating voices of high school juniors Eleanor and Park tell a magnificent love story. Eleanor, proud and stoic, puts up with bullying at school and at home, while Park appears to have it all. Who would have thought they would fall in love with each other on the school bus--a true, deep love--and who would have thought there would be such a beautiful book that captures every single feeling?

Sigh....

Jepp, who defied the stars

Jepp, Who Defied the Stars
By Katherine Marsh

What a fascinating story! I had never thought about what life would be like for someone with dwarfism at the turn of the 15th century, and now I can't stop thinking about it!

The author, Katherine Marsh, in part was inspired to write this novel after seeing old European paintings depicting "court dwarfs"; basically jesters, or clowns, forced to work for the amusement of royalty. Another inspiration was the history of eccentric astronomer and inventor Tycho Brahe. He lived in a castle off the coast of Denmark, and is famous for many things including wearing a brass nose (he lost his nose in a duel)!

In this remarkable story, a teenage boy--a dwarf--learns to trust himself more than the astrology chart that spells out his uncertain fate. With incredible determination, especially after enduring countless humiliations as a court dwarf, he finds love, community, education, and ultimately happiness on Tycho's island.

Eighth Grade is Making me Sick

Eighth Grade is Making Me Sick:
 Ginny Davis's Year in Stuff

By Jennifer L. Holm
Illustrated by Elicia Castaldi

This book is super cool; it's not exactly a standard graphic novel, but it is a story told through pictures of stuff (IMs, emails, doctor's reports, lists, notes, drawings, poems, invitations, report cards)...sort of a collage-diary-doodle-scrapbook--hard to explain, but come check it out!
Ginny Davis, entering 8th grade, has some major ups and downs as she tries out for cheerleading, dissects a worm and fetal pig, falls in love and joins a social network site. She also deals with some serious family drama like her mom having a new baby, stepdad losing his job, annoying little brother and always-in-trouble older brother, and a couple of moves.
Funny and clever!

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
By Benjamin Alire Sáenz
 

This is the story of two teenage Mexican-American boys growing up in El Paso, Texas.
One of the boys, Ari, is angry at his parents for never talking about his older brother who is in prison. He has few friends until the summer day he meets Dante at the swimming pool, and everything changes.
Dante--full of life and happiness--gives Ari the opportunity to experience real friendship for the first time.
Over the course of the novel, there are some misunderstandings, dangerous accidents, and ultimately the discovery that it is OK to fall in love, even if it's with another boy.

Uglies

Uglies
By Scott Westerfield

Loved the premise of this dystopian series! Uglies is the first of four books.

As Tally is about to turn 16, she anticipates the operation every person in her city gets to turn them "pretty"; after that, teenagers lead a carefree and beautiful life full of parties in New Pretty Town, as Tally has observed  from across the river.

However, one evening Tally meets Shay, who is also about to turn 16 and has a different--and rebelious--personality, and a dark outlook on what it means to be turned "pretty".

When Shay runs away from the city in search of a mythical community of outlaws in a place called the Smoke, Tally must decide how important it is to be "pretty", and what kind of friend she will be to Shay.

The True Adventures of Nicoló Zen

The True Adventures of Nicoló Zen
By Nicholas Christopher


"Magic, danger, and an unstoppable hero..."

Taking place in 18th-century Italy, and including the composer  Antonio Vivaldi as one of the characters, this fun novel is full of intrigue and romance.

I especially enjoyed the beginning, when 14-year-old Nicoló dresses up as a girl in order to get into a an all-girls orphanage, where he can play his enchanted clarinet in a prestigious orchestra.

With magicians, gangsters, lovers, fame and fortune--this story has a lot of twists and turns!

Downsiders

Downsiders

By Neal Shusterman

An intriguing tale of an alternate, secret world below New York City streets by the masterful Neal Shusterman--but unlike in Gregor the Overlander, this Downside world is inhabited by humans.

14-year-old Talon is a curious Downsider youth, drawn to the surface (the Topside) and interested in the snowy, sunny world above. Seeking out medicine for his ill little sister, Talon meets a Topsider girl named Lindsay. They strike up an important friendship/romance, but ultimately must make difficult decisions about which world they will choose.

Loved it!

Savvy

Savvy
By Ingrid Law

This is a rollicking adventure--a bunch of kids, including a few siblings from a family with special superpowers ("savvies"), stowaway on a big old pink bus delivering bibles to small-town churches in Kansas and Nebraska. Along the way, surprising friendships are made, trouble is gotten into, and even a little romance blooms, making the journey quite memorable!

So Hard to Say

So Hard to Say
By Alex Sanchez

Like in Wendelin Van Draanen's book Flipped (see post from April 2011), this novel is told by alternating voices in each chapter:
Xio (short for María Xiomara Iris Juárez Hidalgo) is funny and super social, and has a major crush on a new boy in 8th grade...
Blue-eyed Frederick has just moved to southern California from Minnesota with his parents, and really likes Xio--as a friend...
They each tell their side of the story chapter by chapter. Xio confers with her group of friends, Las Sexy Seis, as Frederick begins to make friends with some of the soccer-players, especially Victor.
Things are going along fine until Frederick begins to wonder why he's not as attracted to Xio as she is to him--and he wonders why it feels like his crush is on Victor, instead.
Frederick finally realizes he is gay, and he secretly seeks out the school bully-victim, Iggy (who is thought to be gay) to talk to.
Alex Sanchez has written a very believable story of middle school, crushes, friends, and one boy's first awareness of being gay.