Book Reviews by Genre: Contemporary

Maggie and Rose are sisters with very different lives and personalities. The two common things they share are their mother's tragic death, a "car accident" when they were kids and the same shoe size. Rose is an attorney, practical, responsible and has her own apartment. Maggie, the younger of the two, is good looking (which she uses to her advantage), impetuous and manipulative. They live together for a short stint, until a major falling out causes them to go their own ways. Thus begins a journey of self discovery for each woman and the surprise of a grandmother who they thought was long gone. The love/hate relationship of sisters is well captured, along with humor and sharp observations.

Definitely an amazing book. It puts such a difficult topic into beautiful words that pull at the strings of the readers heart. The way the main characters conflicting situation throughout the story unfolds is very surprising. The author places the reader in the main characters shoes and makes it feel as if it is the reader who is going through it. I wish there was a second book that really grasps the life after.
Reviewer Grade: 11th

When books have awards on the cover it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll enjoy the book because the reviewers/critics are often adults and have a different perspective on teen/YA books. However “I’ll give you the Sun” actually lives up to the awards and reviews. This book has a complex plotthat weaves between the perspectives of Noah and Jude. Noah and Jude are twins who were always inseparable until high school and their mother’s death. Noah’s portions of the story are from before their mother’s death at age 13 and Jude’s perspective is from 16. Between the three years they both change dramatically, and you can see why they changed, and how everything became different. I really liked the title of the book, it fits the story without giving away too much. The characters are amazing, they all have depth, complexity, and a unique background, which drives the plot. This also made it easy to relate to the characters because they felt very real and human. Noah has a very clear way of seeing the world through color, and art. Jude sees the world through a very physical sense. It is pretty easy to get into this book and I found it hard to put down. This book has a great message of love and its complexities as well.

The concept is intriguing, and many reviewers tout this book as "romantic," but the experience was flat for me. Jennifer E. Smith is not a bad writer, and I've enjoyed many of her books, but this one could not captivate me. It's mostly because the characters were not extraordinary in any way. They were caricatures only existing with a goal and problem to serve the plot, and I barely knew them, cared nothing at all for them. This contributed to my total lack of emotional involvement. Smith did not create an emotional experience for me, even though the bones of the story and the lessons the characters grasp at the end are smart. I love romance, but this book was not romantic. I felt nothing except an impatience to finish the book so I could begin something else.

This book has a lot of problems between characters. Best friends, billionaire friend, and parents all have a part in the story more than you can think. Aza Holmes, the protagonist, knows shes crazy, but this is the world she lives in. A billionaire goes missing, and Aza reunites with her old friend. The issues between the family of the billionaire is heart breaking. In the end there is a happy ending. The story is a great mystery.

This charmer was a runaway international bestseller and it is easy to see why. The main character, Allan Karlsson, is memorable even as his stories from his wanderings around the world get more and more far-fetched. Karlsson has always done what he wanted and skipping his 100th birthday party at the start is the least surprising thing when looking back upon this Swedish novel. I read this for a book group (book club set available through PPLD) and one participant described Karlsson as Forest Gump with a dangerous affinity for vodka and explosives. This "intelligent, very stupid novel" as the author described it, is enjoyable if a tad long.

This is the first book of the Gallagher Girls series. It is about a girl who goes to a special school for girls. The only thing is that this school has a big secret. The main character Cammie is a student at the school and her mother is the Headmistress. She has many secrets throughout her Sophomore year. A new girl comes and there is a certain someone that she hasn't told the truth about.

The word mom means unconditional love. When I saw the title it seems a little awkward. The mom who had taken care of her family an given endless love was missing; the elderly woman, suffering from dementia vanished in the crowd in the train station. She came to Seoul to celebrate her birthday withmher children. After her disappearance, the story started with a view from each family members. Each of them followed her trace to find her from their memories. While they struggling to find her, they gradually realized that the mom was ignored and had been neglected, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Her name was Park, So-nye; like meaning (So-nye = little
girl) of her name. She was an ordinary girl like all of us who had many dreams for her future. As time passes by her name and her dreams were sacrificed for her to take the role of a mother without her children's knowledge. Through this book, we encounter question and explore true, universal meaning of family.

Wonder is a book that I would 100% recommend. The story is based off of a boy who struggles with a disease, altering his appearance. This book contains the point of view of his peers, as well as his struggles, friendships, pain, and
overcoming of Auggie. The book also tells the story of his family going through their own struggles or going through Auggie’s struggles with him. Out of the many books that I have read, this has to be one of the best and most emotional books that I have read, and would definitely be on my list of books I recommend.

The book 'My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen' by David Clawson is a funny LGBT version of Cinderella. The main character Chris lives with his step-mother, step-sister, and step-brother who have recently lost their family wealth. The family wants to keep up with their rich lifestyle, and the best way to do that is to try to find his step-sister a wealthy boyfriend to marry, which they will do by attending a fancy ball. Chris's family does not buy him a ticket to the ball, but he meets a drag queen who helps him get into the ball. What happens when Chris meets the richest boy in the state and falls head over heels for him?
I thought this book was absolutely amazing! I would definitely give it five stars. It is very funny and entertaining, I spent hours reading this book without even moving because it was so captivating.

This book 'The Upside of Unrequited' is by the popular author Becky Albertalli, who also wrote 'Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. This book follows Molly, a hopeless romantic who has never even had a boyfriend. When Molly introduces her twin sister, Cassie, to a new girl who Cassie may be developing a crush on, Molly realizes that she and her sister may be growing apart. This book goes through the journey where Molly struggles between her two new crushes, Will and Reid. The boys are very different... who will she end up with?
This book was absolutely amazing! A must-read for fans of 'Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda'. This book easily earns five stars.

The Hate U Give is about a 16 year old black girl raised in a fictional poor community of garden height who goes to a private school on the other side of town. The main problem in this book is when Starr the main character’s best friend Khalid, who gets pulled over from leaving a party and sadly gets shot by a white police officer. The book contains some sensitive topic about black oppression and police brutality. Although it does talk about cop brutality it isn’t a police- bashing book. The book's intention is to spread awareness on the deep conflict with in poor black communities in our nation. I highly recommend this book 10 out of 10.

The reason I chose this book is because of the many books I have read this one stood out the most. The story is about a girl and a boy meet one day in New York. The girl is trying to get her deportation reversed and the boy has a Yale interview. The meet during several events and become fast friends. What I enjoyed most about this book was the events that lead them to become friends, then more than friends. What I didn't like about the book was the ending. I didn't like how everything turned out.

One afternoon in a small town in Mississippi, a gunman comes through the doors of a reproductive clinic and shoots several employees and keeps everyone else hostage. Police hostage negotiator, Hugh McElroy, is distraught to discover that his 15 year old daughter, Wren, is one of several people caught inside. The story starts at the end of the day and winds its way backwards, unfolding the backstory of the hostages as well as the gunman.

Picoult once again takes on a tough and controversial subject and demonstrates there are many sides to every story, including a twist ending. A great read to consider, since we had such a situation happen here in Colorado Springs several years ago.

"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way", were the words of Martin Luther King. Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse with 20 years of experience and she is black. During her shift, when she goes to check the newborn child of white supremacist parents,she is immediately reassigned away from the baby. The next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while she is alone in the nursery. She hesitates before giving CPR and as a result is charged with a serious crime. Sadly, this novel takes place in current times and displays the discrepancy and inequality that still exists in our country. As with many of her other novels, Picoult does an incredible job of telling the story from several characters' point of view and shows us, that nothing is truly black or white.

Lets Get Lost is about a girl who somehow gets involved in strangers lives by chance, and ends up making them realize something or helps them. The book is very real on teen life, and learning things about yourself. The people in the stories are always facing some type of hardship which makes it easy for the reader to relate. While this book is good it is often frustrating when it switches to a new story without giving you what you wanted at the end. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys short stories that turn into one big one that is easy to follow.

When two abused teens who grew up together meet again their worlds collide. They both got out of the situation in very different ways, yet they both have issues that they work through together in one way or another. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is wanting a book that they will not be able to put down until you have read it all. While it is up and down on your emotions, it is very realistic on the topic of abuse and real-life hardship. This book is perfect for someone who wants a romantic heartwarming yet painful book.

I LOVE KATIE COTUGNO. If every reader had a written-in-the-stars author who wrote exactly her type of book, she would be mine.

This book has:
-the perfect amount of kissing
-major boyband vibes that will make you listen to Backstreet Boys' "Millennium" for 3 days straight
-a bile-inducing ending that you didn't want, but you actually need
-a dreamy, too-perfect boy that will raise your standard for romantic partners who may come your way

Cotugno's writing is smart and spot on 18-year-old. I would not mind a sequel to this book.

Samantha Kingston is just a normal teenage girl going to a normal high school and doing normal things, at least until she died. Samantha finds herself reliving the day she died over and over again until she makes the right decisions. This book goes over her days events in detail and changes that she makes every time she relives that day. The book, while pretty repetitive, goes into the importance of living a life full of integrity and living everyday like its your last because you don’t know when it will be. This book did teach me the importance of living everyday to its fullest and did think that it teaches important lessons.

Sethie has perfect grades, a boyfriend, and a new best friend. However, she has the constant struggle of losing weight to conform to the model society sets. She knows that by skipping a few more meals, and vomiting a few more meals away, she can achieve her goal. She has working on her body her number one priority, even when everything she loves is gone.

Personally, I don't recommend this book. While I appreciate the book's attempt to bring light to the issues of body image and anorexia, it's not well written. There are way too many time skips and not enough clear transitions between them and the present time in the book, which made the story way too complicated to follow. There were some scenes I could understand, and the chemistry between the characters is well done, but it's kind of hard to connect with a story when you have no clue what's going on. I couldn't even finish this book, it was that bad! This book is a solid skip for me.

Emily is an introverted teenage girl who is best friends with Sloane who is a huge extrovert. They have been best friends for a long time and they can't be separated. When it came time for summer break though, Sloane disappeared. There was no sign of her anywhere and every time Emily went to her house to check to see where she was; Sloane was nowhere to be found. Emily was confused and hurt that her best friend didn't tell her where she was, but then a letter showed up. It was in Sloane's handwriting and it was a summer checklist. They were things that Sloane knew Emily would have to get out of her comfort zone to do. Emily debated on whether or not she should even do the list, because why would Sloane give it to her with no context? But the thought that it might bring her to her best friend made Emily determined to check everything off the list. With the help of some unexpected new friends, and love interests, Emily started the list and the search for her best friend.
I loved this book because it was so interesting to read. There was something different in every chapter with unexpected events as well as flashbacks for the needed backstory and to develop Sloane as a character. The plot and development of the story is surprising and a fun representation of a teenage girls' life. It is also a pretty easy read and easy to follow, I would definitely recommend!

Evie has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and she's agreed to stop
treatment, prepared to face the bitter end. That is, until by sheer miracle,
her cancer completely heals and she can move on with her normal life again.
However, everyone still sees her as Cancer Girl, and she's unable to live the
life she thought she gained back. That is, until she meets Marcus. To her,
even with the danger involved, he is the light at the end of the
tunnel,making her feel invincible to all harm. However, she had no idea she'd
soon be on a winding path down the drain.

This is a story that gets more and more depressing as it goes on. Already
dealing with the depressing topic of cancer from the start, you'll soon find
yourself jumping into topics of death, loss, abuse, and drugs. Since this
comes right from the eyes of the main character, this book has an almost
unbearable pain leading up to a depressing and nerve-racking conclusion. This
book is beyond criticism.

After tragedy strikes a family, Tessa is left alone with her father who doesn’t know how to grieve the death of Tessa’s mom. Her dad's way to fix their grief is to embark on a last minute road trip which lands them in her grandmother's coastal town. While Tessa tries to grieve she also asks her grandmother about the numerous questions she has about the past, questions about her mother and questions about her dad. Her dad leaves her alone with her grandma but the longer she stays there the less she wants to leave, especially after she meets the very handsome Henry Lark. She can’t help but wonder if she goes home if she will be faced with crippling grief over her mother and forced to take care of her delusional dad. She does her best to live in the moment and enjoy the time she has left with Henry before she leaves. Although it wasn’t my favorite romantic novel it is an enjoyable book and was fun to read.

Zorie, a young girl who lives with her mother and father who are happily married; or so she thought they were happy. Zorie is suddenly struck with life altering information when her neighbor/ ex-best friend, Lennon hands her a manila envelope that had accidentally been delivered to the wrong house. Zorie is mortified when she opens it only to see photos of her dad with another woman, and is even more mortified that there was a possibility Lennon and his family had seen the photos too. Struggling to figure out what to do with the photos while juggling work and drama with friends, Zorie is all too happy to say yes when her best friend Reagan asks her to come on a camp trip. However, Zorie forgot about a previous commitment she made to go to the astronomy clubs stargazing party just one peak over from where Reagan's camp trip was. Wanting so badly to leave home for as long as possible and put her worries behind her Zorie decides she can do both, she will go on the camp trip and from there take a bus to Condor Peak for the star party. Zorie’s plans are turned a little upside down when Reagan picks her up for camping and Lennon is with her and some other familiar faces from school sitting in the back seat. Once they reach the campsite things take a turn for the worst when a fight between Reagan and Zorie ends up with Reagan and her other friends abandoning Zorie and Lennon in the middle of the night. Zorie and Lennon are then forced to talk about the past and all of the miscommunications that led them to hate each other as they hike their way to Condor Peak. This novel had a very intriguing plot, I loved the unpredictability of every page turn.

A short history of tractors in Ukrainian is a very entertaining tale of the vastly different experiences and perspectives of Ukrainian immigrants post-WWII to post-Cold War in Great Britain. It's a story that also explores the challenges of caring for aging family members. Well worth the read - it'll completely broaden your horizons. Also, it's very funny.

The Future of Us follows Josh and Emma, two teens in the year 1996, who log in to Emma's computer, and are automatically logged in to an unfamiliar site called Facebook. Throughout the story, they work to alter their future, seeing it change every time they login to Facebook. At first, they are estranged friends, but we see them grow closer the more they encounter. This book, while it has an interesting premise, was not particularly fun to read. It was not particularly immersive, and the events just seemed to happen, not really dragging the reader into the story the way I prefer. Recommended for ages 12+

Written creatively through letters, emails, and memos to and from characters, Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple is the story of a woman struggling with her past. Bernadette Fox is a former architect whose claim to fame was also her downfall. Now vanished from the architecture world, she lives in Seattle with her successful husband and tenacious daughter, Bee, and does all she can to avoid social interaction. While Bernadette is preparing for the family trip to Antarctica that Bee has been anxiously awaiting, a confrontation with another parent sends her spiraling out of control, resulting in Bernadette’s sudden disappearance. This book explores the difficulties of mental illness and how our actions affect one another, told through many different perspectives. Bernadette’s opinionated personality will have readers laughing, and her insights are truly relatable. A rollercoaster ride of emotions, this novel is beautifully and creatively written to portray a woman’s imperfections and a daughter’s determination to find her mother. Teen and adult readers alike will connect with Semple’s characters and appreciate her sense of humor in Where’d You Go, Bernadette.

After reading the critically-acclaimed book WONDER by R.J. Palacio, a family member bought me this book for Christmas. It technically has no plot but instead gives you a positive quote for every day of the year. Each quote and the book included is displayed creatively and colorfully to really amp you up all day every day. This book is called "Mr. Browne's Book of Precepts"
so, at the end of each month, there is a short story told by Mr. Browne teaching the audience lessons. I would recommend this book to any age group, if you're into life-lessons and positive quotes, then surely you should barrow this book (or buy it for year-round use). Reviewer Grade: 8

Garth Steins creates a beautiful image of the friendship between a man and his dog in The Art of Racing in the Rain. The narrative follows a dog named Enzo and his owner, Denny Swift, as they navigate the ups and downs of life.
The story is told from Enzo’s point of view as Denny leads his life as a professional race car driver.
I didn’t really enjoy this book. Enzo’s character felt a little bit forced and annoying. The writing style is somewhat similar to John Green’s in that it has this “fake deep” tone. I also thought the book was too depressing. Most of the time I like reading sad books, but with this one, it felt like there was always one bad thing after another. I probably wasn’t in the right mood to read this book, but I still wouldn’t recommend it.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng poetically depicts the social intricacies and injustices of American suburban life. The narrative follows Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl as they move to a new town called Shaker Heights. The two become involved with the Richardson family, and Mia clashes with the head of the household, Elena. Meanwhile, a scandal arises when there is a dispute over the adoption of a Chinese-American baby.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing style was perfect for the story, and it reeled me in every time I picked up the book. This style also added to its provocative depictions of social injustices. I adored how Ng wrote both sides of the debate (about the adoption) equally, letting the readers decide who to side with. She didn’t dehumanize any of the characters. My only problem with the book was Pearl’s arc. There was a lot of focus on her character, and I personally thought she was a little bit boring. Her storyline was very predictable and flat. Besides that, it was a great book that was simultaneously lyrical and thought provoking. I highly recommend it.