The Project by Courtney Summers

February 3, 2021December 22, 2020 | Tasha

The Project by Courtney Summers (9781250105738)

Lo is a survivor. She was born premature but lived, and she survived the car crash that killed her parents. Her sister, Bea, was always there until after their parents died. Then she disappeared into The Unity Project, leaving Lo with their great-aunt. Now Lo works as an assistant at a magazine, determined to become a writer. She knows there is more happening at The Unity Project than their public face of good deeds for the local community shows. Recognized by a young man at the subway who then killed himself, Lo discovers that he was part of The Unity Project too and that his father believes the Project killed him. Now Lo may have the opportunity to finally uncover what is actually happening at the Project, but as she gets closer to the truth, it may be too much for her to withstand.

Summers follows up her bestseller Sadie with this twisting, mind-bending novel. It is a slow burn of a book, steadily building toward the terrible truth that the reader can only suspect and guess at. Lo, with her physical and mental scars from the accident, is tragically lonely in her life and literally alone. She makes the ideal protagonist for a psychological thriller and also the perfect victim for a cult.

Teens who have followed the NXIVM cult news will recognize elements of that cult in this one. The book steadily tightens the noose around Lo while revealing Bea’s personal experience in the cult years earlier. From idyllic love to control to brutality and abuse, the mental anguish is intense. It is a book full of turns and twists, lies and prophesies, love and survival.

Amazingly raw and gripping, this tense novel is dizzying. Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Wednesday Books.

Love Is a Revolution by Renee Watson

February 1, 2021January 2, 2021 | Tasha

Love Is a Revolution by Renee Watson (9781547600601)

Nala plans to spend her summer sampling new ice cream flavors and bingeing on Netflix. Since it’s her cousin’s birthday, she agrees to go to an open mic night for Inspire Harlem, a local teen activist group that her cousin is part of. The MC at the event is Tye Brown, who is handsome and funny, just the type of person that Nala wants to have as a boyfriend. Unfortunately, Nala starts off by telling him a few small lies, like that she is an activist too, that she works at a nursing home and that she’s a vegetarian too. As Nala and Tye spend their summer together, growing closer together, Nala’s lies become larger. Tye tries to help Nala with her nonexistent job at the nursing home her grandmother lives in. He also tries to change her even further, giving her gifts to help with her presentation skills and a water bottle so that she can be more green. Can lies turn into love? Can Nala find a way to be herself before she loses everything?

Watson once again writes a book that reads beautifully and easily while grappling with real issues. Here she focuses on what happens when a girl is willing to not be herself for a guy. While Nala’s lies are concrete, young women will also recognize how they may have disguised their true selves for a boy to like them more. The book is about liking yourself enough to stand in your own truth, not hide, and to be that person no matter who you are with. And if it doesn’t start that way, how to get back to that strong center and let it guide you.

Beautifully, Nala is a plus-sized girl who is not ashamed of her size, who likes cheese, meat and ice cream, and who is able to gain the attention of the cutest guy in the group. Time is spent thinking about her makeup and hair, but not her weight. It’s vital for Nala to be a strong person in this book, a girl you would not think would lie to get a boyfriend. She must find her way back to pride in herself, love for who she is, and a sense that she deserves the best.

Big-hearted, this novel tells the deep truth to young Black women through a series of lies. Appropriate for ages 13-17.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Bloomsbury.

Every Single Lie by Rachel Vincent

January 27, 2021December 14, 2020 | Tasha

Every Single Lie by Rachel Vincent (9781547605231)

Beckett is the girl that everyone looks at when she walks through the halls. She’s the girl with the addict of a father, who supposedly found him after he killed himself. There is some truth to the rumors, but Beckett also knows there are a lot of truths being hidden from her. After coming to school late, Beckett hides in the girls’ locker room that is undergoing remodeling until her class starts. That’s when she notices the trail of blood leading from the showers to a gym bag, a bag that holds a dead newborn baby. Soon rumors are swirling about Beckett again, this time insisting that she is the baby’s mother. While Beckett knows the truth about herself, she begins to think that those around her may be more involved than they might admit. With her mother the lead police investigator on the case, Beckett finds herself under lots of scrutiny, needing to prove the baby is not hers, but also realizing that due to other evidence that it must be someone close to her.

Vincent has created a riveting book that show the power of rumors in a small town, escalated and empowered by social media. Beckett stands no chance at staunching the wild rumors, with people in town even willing to say the most vile things directly to her face. She becomes more and more isolated, even as her own investigation into the baby’s death becomes more intense. The writing of this novel is particularly skilled, the tension so tight at times that it almost hurts. The final reveal of the truth is satisfying, since all the pieces click in place nicely.

At times, Beckett seems to be the lone truth teller in her family and in the entire town, standing against the rumors that almost drown her. She is profoundly strong, someone not only unwilling to bow before the social pressure but also someone who must know the truth, no matter how shattering it might be. Her relationships with her family members and her boyfriend are well drawn and show the impact of the loss of a father only a few months earlier.

Gripping and tense, this rumor-filled novel calls for us all to do better by one another. Appropriate for ages 13-18.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Bloomsbury.

YALSA 2021 Quick Picks for Reluctant YA Readers

January 26, 2021January 18, 2021 | Tasha

YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, has released their 2021 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list. The list has 64 titles on it selected from 81 nominations. The list is specifically aimed at titles that encourage reading among teens who dislike reading for any reason. I find that this list contains titles you won’t see on other award lists that teens will love and read. Here is the selected Top Ten:

Be Not Far from Me by Mindy McGinnis

Found by Joseph Bruchac

Golden Arm by Carl Deuker

Heartstopper Vol. 1 by Alice Oseman

Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Danica Novgorodoff

The Loop by Ben Oliver

#NoEscape by Gretchen McNeil

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yuself Salaam

Snapdragon by Kat Leyh

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Printz Award

January 25, 2021January 25, 2021 | Tasha

The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.

HONOR BOOKS

Apple (Skin to the Core) by Eric Gansworth

Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang

Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee

WINNER

Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story) by Daniel Nayeri

YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction

January 25, 2021January 25, 2021 | Tasha

YALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year.

FINALISTS

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team Cover

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat

The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess and Laura L. Sullivan

How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure by John Rocco

The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh by Candace Fleming

You Call This Democracy?: How to Fix Our Government and Deliver Power to the People by Elizabeth Rusch

WINNER

The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh by Candace Fleming

William C. Morris Award

January 25, 2021January 25, 2021 | Tasha

The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first given in 2009, honors a book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.

FINALISTS

Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

If These Wings Could Fly by Kyrie McCauley

It Sounded Better in My Head by Nina Kenwood

Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez

WINNER

If These Wings Could Fly by Kyrie McCauley

Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel by Jason Reynolds

January 22, 2021January 17, 2021 | Tasha

Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel by Jason Reynolds, art by Danica Novgorodoff (9781534444959)

The original verse novel by Reynolds won many awards, including a Newbery Honor, Printz Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor. I was hesitant to take a look at the graphic novel version of the book, wondering how it could work. While the graphic novel does not improve the book (because how could it), instead it is like a new jazz version of the original, taking the story and transforming it into something similar but altogether different. This new graphic version is incredible, just as moving, tense and personal as the original.

Readers who may hesitate at picking up a verse novel will find this new version more approachable. Beautifully, Reynold’s wring is intact here, so many of his important lines and statements left to speak directly to the reader. Novgorodoff manages to transform the work with her art. She sweeps the pages with watercolor blues, fills violent parts with blood spattering red, highlights Will on his elevator journey through death and hope using color and light.

Amazing, transformative and fully in honor of the original work. Appropriate for ages 12-16.

Reviewed from copy provided by Atheneum.

YALSA 2021 Great Graphic Novels for Teens

January 21, 2021January 18, 2021 | Tasha

YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, has announced the titles included in their 2021 Great Graphic Novels for Teens list. The list includes 126 titles selected from 145 official nominations. It’s one of the best library collection development tools for YA graphic novels. The committee also selected a Top Ten, which follows: