Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson
Bang by Barry Lyga
Don't Get Caught by Kurt Dinan
Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell
Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust
Gutless by Carl Deuker
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas ***GPBA WINNER***
How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather
Mars One by Jonathan Maberry
Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord
Orange: The Complete Collection Volume 1 by Ichigo Takano
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
Warcross by Marie Lu
What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
Bang by Barry Lyga - “Sebastian Cody did something horrible, something no one--not even Sebastian himself--can forgive. At the age of four, he accidentally shot and killed his infant sister with his father's gun.
Now, ten years later, Sebastian has lived with the guilt and horror for his entire life. [snip] But [he] cannot blunt the pain of his past. Because Sebastian knows exactly how to rectify his childhood crime and sanctify his past. It took a gun to get him into this.
Now he needs a gun to get out.”
Admittedly the first Lyga YA novel I read was “After the Red Rain” because it was co-written by an actor in a movie franchise I enjoyed. I found I loved that story but I really enjoyed his writing style. Bang is just as good, though with a much more powerful message and hard-hitting storyline. I found it difficult to read at times and was rooting hard for the main character. Nearing the story’s end, I wasn’t sure how it was going to end - but I’m glad I stuck with it to find out!
Don’t Get Caught by Kurt Dinan -
“10:00 tonight at the water tower. Tell no one. -Chaos Club
When Max receives a mysterious invite from the untraceable, epic prank-pulling Chaos Club, he has to ask: why him? After all, he's Mr. 2.5 GPA, Mr. No Social Life. He's Just Max. And his favorite heist movies have taught him this situation calls for Rule #4: Be suspicious. But it's also his one shot to leave Just Max in the dust...
Yeah, not so much. Max and four fellow students-who also received invites-are standing on the newly defaced water tower when campus security "catches" them. Definitely a setup. And this time, Max has had enough. It's time for Rule #7: Always get payback.
Let the prank war begin.“
This was a fun story and one I recommend to my YA readers! I usually can't figure out the "mystery" in stories and I picked the character I thought would be the culprit. The end of the book came and it wasn't who I picked .... until the next chapter revealed the twist and it was my pick - I was so excited! I thought this was a fun story to introduce readers to mysteries.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas ***GPBA WINNER*** -
“Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.”
What a fantastic read, I loved Starr! I found this book to be thought-provoking and pivotal in helping me understand the underlying problems some people face and how difficult it is for them to break free of the cycles of poverty, gang-banging, drug-dealing and the prejudices against them. Their choices are limited and we need societal change to alter this path. We desperately need peaceful, safe and fear-free interaction between the public and officers who do not have prejudices of criminal activity based on how a person looks. Very relevant and very now. A powerful read.
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon -
“Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?”
The thing I liked best about this book was reading about characters from different cultures and knowing under-represented kids can read books with characters who are like them. It is important for kids to see themselves in the stories they read. It is *just as important* for readers to read about characters who are NOT like them in looks, culture or behavior. This is how our world-view can grow. This story was a great blend of doing-your-own-thing balanced with familial responsibilities and cultural expectations. It was seriously laugh-out-loud funny and I highly recommend it! Heidi Y.