Immigrant Issues: We Are All We Have, All My Rage, and Hollow Fires

 Immigration issues became even more complicated when the Zero Tolerance Policy was enacted in 2018. Asylum seekers now face criminal prosecution, regardless of their situation in the country they are fleeing.  Although the border issues with Mexico dominate the news, Muslim families who immigrate face the additional problem of being suspected of being terrorists by racists in their community.  Three terrific new books illustrate the traumas immigrants and their children face.  We Are All We Have by Marina Budhos follows the problems two Pakistani kids face after their widowed mother is arrested by ICE.  All My Rage, the 2022 National Book Award winner by Sabaa Tahir, finds two Pakistani American teens struggling to navigate grief, family abuse and poverty as the children of immigrants in Southern California.  Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed tackles the issues of Islamaphobia and white supremacy in a story about an aspiring journalist who is trying to solve the mystery of a Muslim boy's disappearance after he was accused of being a terrorist. 

We Are All We Have takes place in 2019 Brooklyn. It opens with  immigrant Rania Hassan looking forward to heading to Hunter College after a relaxing summer vacation.  But an overnight ICE raid leads to her mother's arrest, even though Rania, her 8-year-old brother Kamal and their mother applied for political asylum after her journalist father disappeared in Pakistan.  Rania and Kamal are moved to a shelter where they meet Carlos, an undocumented teen who escaped a gang threat in Mexico.  After the Zero Tolerance policy was implemented by the Department of Justice, these asylum seekers now face prosecution.  The three decide to hit the road to find Rania's estranged uncle who could become their guardian.  They end up in a temporary sanctuary synagogue, where they must decide the next step in their search for safe haven.  This poignant story effectively illustrates how US immigration policies separate families and leave vulnerable children to fend for themselves.  Ghazals, Indian poetry which aspiring literature major Rania pens, beautifully express her anguish, as she and the boys fight to stay in the US.

In All My Rage two Pakistani American teens living in the California desert town of Juniper struggle as family crises threaten to derail their dreams.  Salahudin finds himself head of his family when his mother dies and his father disappears into alcoholism, as Sal tries to save the rundown motel they own. For years Noor was his best friend, but Sal distances himself from Noor when she declares her love for him.  She lives with an abusive uncle who saved her and brought her to America, when her home was destroyed in a Pakistani earthquake. Although she feels beholden to him, she wants to go to college, but her uncle insists she will work in his liquor store after high school. She, too, is grieving Sal's mother's death, as she was Noor's defender. Once supportive of one another, Sal and Noor find their way back to each other only to be torn apart again when he makes a desperate choice to pay off family debts.  Through alternating perspectives, the story navigates a variety of themes, including Islamaphobia, found family, abuse and trauma.  Songs referenced throughout the book add to this emotional journey of two marginalized teens. ("Despite all my rage, I'm still just a rat in a cage."  Smashing Pumpkins) 

Hollow Fires, a dual exploration of Islamaphobia and white supremacy, introduces high school journalist Safira, who is investigating several hate crimes in search of a connection.  A cyber-attack substituting a racist rant for her column in the school newspaper, vandalism of her mosque and her parents' Indian food store, and the disappearance of Jawad Ali, a 14-year-old student falsely accused of being a suicide bomber, seem too coincidental to be unrelated.  Safira begins to suspect a fellow classmate when he makes a Nietzsche-inspired comment in class, which alerts her to the Nietzsche quotes appearing in the rant, as well as the graffiti.  Meanwhile, Jawad's ghost is attempting to lead Safira toward his corpse, at the same time reflecting on his unwarranted school suspension for making a cosplay costume with a jet pack that a teacher mistakes for a bomb.  Even though his name is cleared, Jawad, now known as "bomb boy," continues to be harassed.  Readers are introduced to statements at the beginning of each chapter in the form of facts, truth and lies about racism, "ghost skins" (a white supremacist who refrains from openly displaying their racist beliefs for the purpose of blending into wider society and surreptitiously furthering their agenda), the role social media plays in fostering extremists agendas and more.  This impassioned murder mystery based on a true story, will leave readers pondering the impact the media has on impressionable youth, as well as the struggles immigrant families and their children face in our country. 

New YA Fantasy - Princess of Souls, A Thousand Heartbeats, and Crossed

 Young adult fantasy frequently includes an element of romance where the heroine is aided by her true love to overcome adversity. Together they defeat the evil entities that threaten them.  Princess of Souls by Alexandra Christo finds Selestra, a witch who prophesies peoples' deaths, rescued from imprisonment in a tower by Nox whose death in inextricably tied to her own. A Thousand Heartbeats by Kiera Cass is a star crossed love story where the princess is abducted by a soldier from an enemy kingdom, who ultimately falls in love with her. They join forces to bring a peaceful solution to the conflict between the two kingdoms.  Crossed by Lynn Rush is the first in a trilogy about an angel who falls to earth and the reclusive artist who comes to her aid to help her escape people who are pursuing her. 

In Princess of Souls, a reimagining of the fairytale Rapunzel, Selestra Somniatis spends her days imprisoned in a tower on Floating Mountain.  She is destined to replace her mother as the king's witch, who prophesies deaths in the Festival of Predictions.  Participants must survive three threats to their lives during a fortnight.  The first threat is predicted by the king's witch, giving the person a chance to avoid death.  If they die, which most do, their soul will be consumed by King Seryth to extend his immortality.  If they live, a wish will be granted, and they are given the opportunity to attempt to survive the remaining fatal encounters.  Seryth will cede his immortality to anyone who succeeds, which, of course, no one does.  Enter Nox Laederic, a Last Army soldier who hopes to kill Seryth in revenge for his father's murder.  Selestra, who can prophesy a person's death by merely touching them, is allowed to practice on Nox.  She foresees that Nox's death is intertwined with her own.  She convinces him to help her escape to an island safe from Seryth's rule, where a fabled sword is hidden that must be used to end Seryth's life.  Needless-to-say the escape is fraught with danger and adventure. Nox and Selestra's witty banter adds to this slow-burning romance. 

A Thousand Heartbeats, a Romeo and Juliet-esque romance, finds Annika, the princess of Kadier betrothed to her scheming cousin Nicholas for political gain.  When they leave the castle to tour the kingdom celebrating their engagement, she is kidnapped by Lennox, a Dahrainian soldier who believes that the Kaderian throne belongs to his family. Annika is dismayed to find that the stories of her family being chosen by the six clans to rule is a myth. Lennox tells her that when his father was executed for attempting to reclaim the throne, her mother was abducted and murdered in retaliation. Annika escapes her imprisonment in a dungeon only to be recaptured by Lennox, who then lets her go. Her father King Theron arranges a meeting on a nearby island with the Dahrainian leader Kawan to negotiate a truce. Annika is appalled to find out he is actually planning an ambush. In the ensuing battle Annika and Lennox face off in a sword fight that ends when a hurricane hits land and they end up sheltering together in a cave where they share their secrets and fall in love. When the storm subsides, they leave the cave and find that the survivors have retreated, and Annika's father and brother have been gravely injured.  Annika, who has been declared acting regent, wants to pursue peace and find out the truth about who should actually be King of Kadier.  In alternating chapters from Annka and Lennox's points of view, the action-packed story unfolds, filled with palace intrigue, conflicting histories and steamy romance.

Crossed, the first book in a new paranormal/fantasy trilogy, introduces Trinity Dawkins, who crosses between two parallel realms and lands in Berg, Minnesota, where she is rescued by reclusive artist Jayden Brown.  At first Trinity is blind and has amnesia, but she slowly regains her sight and memory. Jayden is amused by her unfamiliarity with life on earth and voracious appetite, but when she sprouts wings, he is mystified. Their mutual attraction becomes an unbreakable bond, when Jayden touches a gold bracelet she wears and a brand is transferred onto his wrist.  Then enemies from her world back home appear on Earth.  Jayden does everything he can to protect the mysterious angel who has become his muse. Ultimately, they find other angels on Earth who help them in their quest to defeat Trinity's enemies and seal the opening between realms. The sequels Winged (January 23) and Clipped (May 17) will be released in 2023.

Young Heroines Searching for Identity

 Introducing quirky young heroines with overprotective parents is a popular way for authors to set up conflict as the girls try to break free and find their own identity. In Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanta a southern California teen's mother disapproves of her social life and whisks her away to Indonesia to find her a suitable boyfriend. The Epic Story of Every Living Thing by Deb Caletti  explores the world of kids with sperm donor dads, as a teen connects with half-siblings through social media. Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor finds a home-schooled genius sent off to Shakespeare Camp to prove her readiness for independence. 

In Well, That Was Unexpected Sharlot Citra's Chinese Indonesian mother catches her in a compromising position with her boyfriend and immediately takes her to Jakarta for the summer to get her away from him. To ensure Sharlot finds a suitable romantic partner, Mom starts an online conversation with George Clooney Tanuwijaya's father. George's dad is equally worried about his son's romantic endeavors.  Online each parent is pretending to be their teenage offspring.  Sharlot and George reluctantly meet for coffee and immediately butt heads. Neither resemble the online version of themselves that their parents created. However, George is the public face of an etiquette app for teen boys that is being launched by his family's wealthy business empire and he agrees to a fake dating situation. As they spend time together, Sharlot begins to warm to  Jakarta and George himself. This charming romcom is filled with humor and romance and an intriguing insight into the Chinese Indonesian culture. 

The Epic Story of Every Living Thing introduces Harper Proulx, who is pressured by her single mother to be an academic achiever who is always thinking about the future. She is addicted to Instagram and is constantly creating posts that are tweaked to perfection. Her boyfriend Ezra is so tired of being an extra in her Instagram life, that he breaks up with her.  Harper has always wondered about her sperm donor dad and when a chance comment online connects her with four half-siblings, she steps out of her comfort zone and embarks with them on a journey to find their biological dad. Beau Zane is a deep-sea diver who lives in Hawaii and is obsessed with solving the mystery of a sunken shipwreck.  At the beginning of each present-day chapter there are excerpts from 19th century letters, journals and newspapers about a seafaring expedition related to the shipwreck. Beau teaches the kids to dive and enlists their help with his project. As Harper puts down her phone and begins to connect with the real world, she is amazed at the beauty of everything living thing.   

In Long Story Short 16-year-old home-schooled math genius Beatrice Quinn has just been accepted at her dream college Oxford University.  Her parents, however, don't think their anxious socially awkward daughter is ready to live abroad alone.  Bea strikes a deal with them.  If she can spend the summer at a Connecticut Shakespearean Camp and come out of her shell, they'll let her attend Oxford.  They assign her tasks including making a friend, engaging in small talk, pulling a prank, among others.  When she meets her Black bi-sexual extroverted roommate Mia, she is one step closer to success.  Mia and Nolan, her gay best friend, help Bea achieve her goals and more.  She gets a part in a play, attends parties, and even enters into a Shakespeare-off with her crush/nemesis Nikhil Shah.  Bea's evolution from awkward math nerd to self-confident actor is handled realistically, and the enemies-to-lovers romance is predictable, yet charming, as the two wittily spar, using the Bard's works as fodder. 

Young Adult Influencers

 The word influencer, meaning "a person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media," is new to my vocabulary.  Little did I know that teens can make a lot of money in this endeavor, but it seems to take a toll on them. The perfect imagine they project on their Instagram feed is hard to live up to, and the notoriety makes them vulnerable to jealous or obsessed fans trying to expose their secrets and jeopardize their sponsorships. Four new young adult novels focus on teen influencers, and interestingly they are all mystery thrillers. Never Coming Home by Kate Williams is a retelling of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, with ten young influencers being lured to Unknown Island where they are killed off one by one. Influence by Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars) and Lilia Buckingham is a behind-the-scenes look at the seemingly glamourous world of teen influencers, which evolves into a murder mystery. Lord of the Fly Fest by Goldy Moldavsky (The Mary Shelley Club) is  a reimagining of Lord of the Flies if it took place at the Fyre Festival. Live Your Best Lie by Jessica Weaver finds a popular teen influencer, who is publishing a tell-all memoir, dead with her best friends being the most logical murder suspects. 

In Never Coming Home ten young influencers are invited to Unknown Island for a luxurious all-expense-paid vacation.  They eagerly accept, hoping to increase their following and monetize their fame. However, when they arrive, all they find is a rundown hotel with few amenities, no staff and no Wi-Fi. They soon discover they were invited for reasons other than their influencer fame.  Each one has caused a person's death with no consequences and someone wants revenge.  As they begin dying off one by one, they struggle to decide who to trust and how to stay alive.  How each influencer rose to fame and the secret they are hiding creates interest and suspense.  With unexpected twists this page-turner will thrill readers until the final reveal. 

Influence sheds light on the dark side of the highly competitive teen influencer world, when Scarlett Leigh, a highly successful, but vicious, social media maven is murdered. There are a variety of suspects including Delilah or Lila D, who has just moved to LA, becoming famous after a video of her rescuing a puppy from a burning building goes viral. Lila has unwittingly struck up a romance with Scarlett's boyfriend, You Tube Star Jack Dono. When mega media star Jasmine Walters-Diaz invites Lila to an influencer event she is thrilled. There she meets Fiona Jacobs, an actress with a dark secret that is aggravating her OCD. Fiona suspects that Scarlett, who is competing with her for an acting job, knows the secret and is threatening to expose her. Jasmine has a secret as well.  She shared a kiss with a masked female influencer and begins worrying about how her attraction to girls will affect her fanbase. Mystery writer Sara Shephard has teamed up with real-life actress and teen influencer Lilia Buckingham to explore the pressures put on young social media stars to be what their fans expect and how far they will go to get ahead. 

Lord of the Fly Fest is a satirical thriller that introduces True Crime Podcaster Rafi Francisco, who is hoping to out musician River Stone as a murderer on her podcast Musical Mysteries. She follows him to the Fly Festival, which, like the real-life Fyre festival, promises to be a luxurious festival filled with music and opportunities to increase one's social media following.  The attendees arrive on the Caribbean Island and realize the advertising has been all smoke and mirrors.  There's is no staff to greet them and accommodations are FEMA tents left over from the last disaster.  Most of the guests are wealthy social media influencers and Rafi feels out of place.  But River Stone shows up and she is determined to get an interview with him and prove he murdered his girlfriend Tracy who disappeared.  When another girl goes missing after hiking with River, Rafi is sure she is right.  Meanwhile, rumors of the appearance of River's latest girlfriend Hella Badid keep festival goers from fleeing. The absurdities in the social media world are showcased by the cast of influencers who are with Rafi on the island.   Waiting for Hella to appear, they are monetizing everything from Wi-Fi access, which is fairly non-existent to poop beauty masks, for those stuck without their usual makeup and beauty supplies.  While the central mystery is suspenseful, it is really the silly influencers and their Lord of the Flies inspired antics that make the book an entertaining read. 

Although it doesn't come out until January, I wanted to include Live Your Best Lie, which much like Influence focuses on the murder of social media influencer.  Summer Cartwright goes missing during her Halloween party and her closest friends fear for her life.  Grace, her best friend, Adam, her gamer ex-boyfriend, Laney, her roommate from a recent influencer camp and Cora, her worshipful assistant, all decide to investigate.  Summer is planning a tell-all memoir which will reveal their secrets. Told from multiple points of view, the story reveals all are suspects, when Summer's body is found. She had been killed by an overdose of nicotine, which they had been talking about before her murder. Summer had already scheduled social media posts with excerpts from the book as teasers before the book's publication, which give hints as to why each would want to kill her. Once again the pressures that bring out the worst in teen influencers are explored in the form of a murder mystery.

Young Adult Intrusion Fantasy

 Intrusion fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy fiction in which magical events intrude on an otherwise-normal world.  High fantasy stories take place in fictional worlds that have their own sets of rules and physical laws.  Three intrusion fantasy novels caught my attention this month.  The Charmed List by Julie Abe adds a secret magical community that sells charms and enchantments in an otherwise realistic Palo Alto, California.  The Stars Between Us by Cristin Terrill sets a rags to riches romance on two different planets, but the space setting does little to impact the basic story. When the Stars Come Out by Scarlett St. Clair is set in a high school in Oklahoma where several of the students have the ability to see dead people.

The Charmed List introduces shy loner Ellie Kobata, who is part of a secret magical community in Palo Alto, California.  Even her only friend Lia is unaware of her powers.  Jack Yasuda, her estranged childhood buddy whose parents also run a magic shop, shares the knowledge, but for reasons unknown he ghosted her several years ago.  Prior to a summer road trip with Lia, Ellie decides to come out of her shell, starting with an Anti-Wallflower list of 13 challenges.  When #4, "revenge against Jack," goes terribly wrong, she finds herself at odds with Lia, who is angry about the magic, and going on the road trip with Jack instead.  Their parents are sending them to a magical convention to set up and man each family's magical display.  As they travel down the coast, Ellie finds herself completing many of the challenges, including falling in love.  The magical elements like an enchanted summer cottage and joy infused tea make this an unusual second chance romance. 

The Stars Between Us  is a space opera that involves Vika Hale, who lives on the poverty-stricken planet of Philomenus. A mysterious benefactor, Rigel Chapin, provides her with money for an education, and when Chapin dies, a young solicitor, Archie Sheratan, appears and tells her she is heir to Chapin's fortune, provided she marry his grandson Leo. She is flown to the neighboring wealthy planet Ploutos to meet Leo, where she learns that his rocket blew up on the way to meet her. A married couple, who were Chapin's servants, are revealed as the next in line to inherit, and they take her in and treat her as a daughter.  Meanwhile threats on Chapin's heirs  continue.  Her guardians hire an assistant, Sky Foster, who lives in her family's building on Philomenus and commutes each day.  Although Vika finds herself suspicious of him, he is helping her uncover the bomber's identity before she becomes his next victim. But Sky is hiding secrets, which if discovered, will change everything. The futuristic space setting impacts very little of the story and the mystery's resolution. 

When the Stars Come Out opens with Anora Silby moving from New York to Oklahoma to take on a new identity, hiding her ability to see the dead and capture their souls in a resurrection coin.  However, on her first day she both captures a soul and loses the resurrection coin, which gives others the ability to steal souls.  When a classmate is murdered, Anora is sure the coin is the weapon.  The Order, an organization that governs the dead on Earth, is looking for a mortal called the Eurydice to help them stop the loss of more lives.  Anora is befriended by Lennon, seemingly a mortal, Shy Savior, a classmate who is secretly a member of the Order and Thane, his former best friend.  Shy suspects that Anora is the Eurydice and is determined to protect her.  Shapeshifting as a raven, he patrols her house, but is unsure who is threatening her, which is the conflict that must be resolved.  This is the first book of a proposed four book series.  Although written in 2018, it was rereleased in July 2022 with the book When the Sky Falls listed as the sequel by Goodreads.  As of now, the sequel has not been released.  In the sequel Anora is cooperating with the Order, but when an Elite member is murdered, she is the prime suspect. 

Teens who are creative in the arts

 Having served on the board of the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, Colorado for a decade and continuing to chair the programming committee for the art cinema there, I have always been drawn to young adult literature that involves teens who are creative in the arts.  This month I am recommending books about songwriters, photographers, and narrative and documentary filmmakers. The Songs You've Never Heard by K-Pop singer/songwriter Becky Jerams and BAFTA award winning songwriter Ellie Wyatt introduces Meg whose popstar brother dominates the family, who all ignore her songwriting talents.  A Show for Two by Tashie Buiyan (Counting Down with You) focuses on Mina Rahman, who loves film and hopes to win the Golden Ivy short film award which will increase her chances of getting into USC film school In Disaster in Three Acts by Kelsey Rodkey (Last Chance Books) Saine Sinclair hopes to be accepted into a documentary pilot program at Temple University by submitting a short doc about a video game competition, but, of course, things don't go as planned. 

In The Songs You've Never Heard 17-year-old Meg is overshadowed by her world-famous popstar brother Casper.  Her parents, who are obsessed with his career, force her to take a job at the local ice cream shop where she meets Alana, a singer/songwriter who encourages Meg to sing with her at open mic nights.  Together they beginning writing and singing songs and develop a following, including Matty, a boy Meg has a secret crush on.  Unbeknownst to him, they have an online relationship using pseudonyms.  In person, for reasons unknown even to Meg they are constantly at odds. When Casper is in the throes of writers' block, his sister may just be the one to save him.  The power of music to provide solace and purpose is explored, as well as finding and using your own voice.  The book is being released with a companion album that features songs included in the book. 

A Show for Two introduces Bangladeshi teen Mina Rahman, who loves films and hopes to leave NYC and attend USC film school by winning the Golden Ivy Student Film Award. Although her parents oppose her plans, her hopes of realizing her dream are aided when she convinces Emmitt Ramos, a popular teen film star, who is doing undercover research at her high school, to make a cameo appearance in her film.  In exchange she must show him around the city, helping him choose subject matter for a photography competition he hopes to win.  Seeing the city through less critical eyes, Mina begins to rethink her future, which may just include Emmitt.  The author has loosely based the story on actor Tom Holland's undercover enrollment at her high school. This enemies to lovers romance is a love letter to NYC.

Disaster in Three Acts focuses on documentarian Saine Sinclair, who hopes to be accepted into a documentary pilot program at Temple University. She plans to submit a documentary short about a woman competing in the Vice and Virtual video game competition.  When she drops out, Saine, in desperation, asks another competitor, Holden Michaels, her childhood best friend and now nemesis to take her place. Complicating matters, Holden is her best friend Corrine Baker's ex.  As Saine and Holden spend hours togerther filming his every move, they rekindle their friendship.  Saine's focus on filmmaking leads her to make some questionable decisions about manipulating the truth for a better movie and learning some valuable lessons in the process.  Although the reader knows where the story is going, getting there is a delightful ride. 

Classic Connections

 Classic Connections is one of my favorite chapters in my book, and I find myself gravitating to modern re-imaginings of stories I know and love, so I can add them to the unit.  This month I am recommending Being Mary Bennet by JC Peterson, which of course references Pride and Prejudice, Great or Nothing, a retelling of Little Women written by Joy McCullough, Tess Sharp, Jessica Spotwood, and Caroline Tung Richmond, and Love and Other Great Expectations by Becky Dean, which involves a scavenger hunt in England to the sites of many British classics. 

Being Mary Bennet, a contemporary homage to Pride and Prejudice, introduces bookish Marnie Barnes, a typical middle child, who feels unseen in light of her older and younger sisters' accomplishments.  She decides to design a program for children to read to shelter dogs, in the hope of winning the Hunt Prize, which is given for innovation to a senior at her prep school.  When her roommate Adhira accuses her of being a Mary Bennet (nerdy and annoying), she goes on a quest to prove herself otherwise.  Adhira introduces her to Whit, a volunteer at the animal shelter, who helps her get her project off the ground, But despite his interest in her, Mary keeps coming back to her childhood crush on the odious Hayes Wellesley, who is wooing her to get her father to invest in his new company.  As Marnie struggles to come out of her shell and be generous to others and more understanding of her family, she realizes that she needs to embrace the positive qualities of Mary Bennet and become the heroine of her own story.

Great or Nothing, a reimagining of Little Women set in 1942, finds Meg at home with Marmee, as her boyfriend John, her father, and their family friend Laurie are off at war.  The family is struggling with Beth's death and grieves in a variety of ways.  The sisters have a falling out and Jo heads off to work as a riveter at an airplane factory, Amy lies about her age and joins the Red Cross in London, and Marmee buries herself in charity work.  Meg resents her sisters leaving and flirts with dating another man, Jo finds herself attracted to a female journalist, and Amy runs into Laurie in London, where they fall in love.  The stories, penned by four different authors, are told by Jo, Meg, and Amy, with Beth adding free verse observations between chapters. More than distance separates the girls, as they struggle toward adulthood and rediscovering their sisterhood. 

In Love and Other Great Expectations, Britt Hansen, whose soccer career has been ended by a knee injury, receives a mysterious invitation to go on a literary scavenger hunt through England. The $100,000 prize will keep her UCLA dreams alive after she loses her athletic scholarship.  Her English teacher has arranged an all-expense-paid trip for a scavenger hunt based on Canterbury Tales. The four student competitors must solve riddles that lead them to the sites of literary masterpieces, where another riddle awaits. Each student must complete a journal for the competition.  Britt is accompanied by Alexis, a snarky chaperone, as well as Al's cousin Luke who is avoiding problems of his own.  He is a literature major who helps her become acquainted with the books referenced on the hunt. As the outgoing Britt follows the clues, she makes friends and charms Luke in the process. Britt, who is not a strong reader or writer, must become acquainted with the great literary works that are part of the hunt and find a way to stand out in the process. Along with the history and backbiting competition between the four students, the mystery as to how and why this competition is being financed keeps the reader guessing.  The references to great British literature are informative for Britt and the reader, and the "will they or won't they romance" between her and Luke adds a sweet charm to this delightful novel. 

Informative YA Romances

 As we approach the end of the school year, I like to recommend summer beach reads.  I really enjoy teen romances that are also informative about an unfamiliar topic.  This month I learned about a rescue the whales initiative, cooking show politics, robotics competitions and the world of K-pop. The Edge of Summer by Erica George focuses on a grieving teen who takes a marine biology internship on Cape Cod in order to fulfill a wish list she created with her deceased best friend.  Love from Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill takes place in Seattle at the offices of an online cooking channel, where teen interns Reese and Benny vie for a job and each others' hearts. My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth finds a reluctant physics student joining her school's robotics team, where she struggles with gender prejudice, as well as her attraction to the team's captain.  Once Upon a K-Prom by Kat Cho introduces Elena Soo and Robbie Cho, childhood friends who had promised to be each other's prom dates. Then he moved to Korea and ghosted her when he became a K-Pop star.  Much to her surprise, he returns to America with an elaborate prom-posal which she rejects.

In The Edge of Summer Coriander (Cor) Cabot and her best friend Ella had been obsessed with saving the whales since they were kids.  When Ella drowns after they have a falling out, Cor is determined to complete a "to do" list they wanted to accomplish before college.  Cor accepts a marine biology internship on Cape Cod for the summer and meets and falls for Mannix, a local lifeguard whose father is a struggling fisherman.  Her focus on rescuing humpback whales from entanglement conflicts with the fishing industry.  She is particularly interested in a whale known as "Fraction" for her mangled tail that Cor and Ella had noticed as kids. Knowing that her romance with Mannix could end with the summer, she tries to focus on her goals but cannot resist his charms. The detailed information about the "Save the Whales" effort is interwoven with the story, making this a fascinating, as well as romantic read.

Love from Scratch finds Southern belle Reese Camden working as a summer marketing intern for "Friends of Flavor," an online food-lovers channel. She is hoping for a job with the company when the internship ends.  Her main competition for the job is Benny Beneventi, the culinary intern. When their bosses pair Benny and Reese for a spot on "Piece of Cake: Amateur Hour,"  their episode goes viral.  Benny, whose family owns a restaurant, is the better chef, but Reese's antics as his sidekick charm viewers who beg for more episodes. The company gives them their own show and sparks fly.  Benny falls for Reese, but she resists his flirting, knowing they are competitors and she is unlucky in love. The "will they or won't they" romance is paired with Reese's feminist commentary on the sexism in the food world for a fun informative read.

The world of competitive high school robotics is explored in My Mechanical Romance. Filipino transfer student Isabel (Bel) Maier enters Essex Academy for Art and Science Technology, having no plans for her future. When she unwittingly captures the attention of Mateo Luna, captain of the robotics and soccer teams, by creating an ingenious egg drop design, she reluctantly switches to AP Physics and joins the robotics team.  Even though she has Mateo's support, her male teammates dismiss her ideas, and even Neelam Dasari, the only other girl on the team, shuns her.  Her engineering prowess and her knack for building things keep her engaged, even as she clashes with Mateo and her teammates over her unorthodox ideas.  As her relationship with Mateo becomes romantic, they struggle to navigate new love amidst the cutthroat world of the robotics competition.  Even as Bel shows there is a place for women in the STEM world, she realizes that she needs to be more of a team player.  This is an upbeat romantic comedy with great chemistry between Bel and Mateo and a sympathetic supporting cast. 

Once Upon a K-Prom is an entertaining rom-com that sheds light on the K-Pop world and the pressure put on its stars.  Elena Soo and Robbie Choi were childhood best friends, who agreed to go to their high school prom together when they were ten. Then Robbie moved to Korea and ghosted Elena when he became a famous K-pop star.  Seven years later, Elena is running an unpopular "alterna-prom" initiative, campaigning for students to spend their prom money to help a local community center. When Robbie reappears with an elaborate prom-posal, Elena is understandably embarrassed and flees. Robbie continues to pursue her, hoping to rekindle their friendship, but she wonders if it is just a PR gimmick to promote his K-pop career.  Told in alternating perspectives, the story unfolds with Elena warming towards Robbie, as he volunteers with her at the community center and aids her fundraising efforts.  There are several recent YA titles that focus on the K-pop and K-drama world, revealing the pressure that the stars are under and how controlled their world really is.  Elena and Robbie are believable characters that give the reader a window onto the complications arising from K-pop stars trying to have a relationship "offline."

New Young Adult Mysteries

 There are many varieties of mystery/thrillers, but they all have one thing in common. They create intrigue by revealing the identity of the antagonist only at the climax of the story.  Mystery writers drop clues throughout the plot to invite readers to solve the puzzle. The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson follows the Agatha Christie format where a murder is committed and teen sleuths identify a number of suspects before finding the culprit. In These Deadly Games by Diana Urban an anonymous perpetrator threatens to kill a 16-year-old esport competitor's sister, unless she follows his orders which target her fellow team members. Social media plays a big part in  The Rumor Game by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra which finds an online troll fanning the flames that destroy student reputations. Finally, Sense and Second-Degree Murder by Tirzah Price (Pride and Premeditation), the second in the Jane Austen Murder Mystery series, reimagines Sense and Sensibility. The Dashwood girls, whose detective father is murdered, must work together to find his killer.  

In The Agathas,  Agatha Christie fan Alice Ogilvie, pulls her own disappearance stunt (much like Christie's) after her boyfriend Steve dumps her for her BFF Brooke Donovan.  Hoping to gain sympathy and her neglectful parents' attention, Alice sees her plan backfire when she returns after 5 days and becomes a social pariah.  When Brooke disappears after a party where she is seen fighting with Steve, Alice teams up with her peer tutor Iris Adams to solve the case.  Alice and Iris co-narrate the story and each chapter begins with a quote from an Agatha Christie mystery.  With many twists and turns, the mystery unravels as the teen sleuths solves clues and narrow down the suspect list until the exciting denouement. 

As The Deadly Game opens, Crystal and her team of esports gamers are preparing to compete in a MortalDusk tournament, when she receives an anonymous text saying her sister has been kidnapped. She will be killed unless Crystal competes in a deadly real-life game with a 24-hour time limit, targeting her team members. At first she suspects someone is trying to keep them from the competition, but as the hours pass, Crystal realizes Anonymous has discovered a secret from their past and wants to punish them for what they did.  She uses her gaming instincts to discover who is behind the game, but not before her teammates suffer the consequences.

The Rumor Games explores from three points of view the rumor mill at Foxham Prep, which can quickly ruin a student's career and social standing. The narrators are Bryn,  whose queen bee status is destroyed when she runs her ex-boyfriend's car off the road in a jealous fit; Cora, her best friend and head cheerleader whose boyfriend Baez was hurt in the accident; and Georgie, Bryn's Desai neighbor who went through a transformation after a summer at fat camp. Looking to regain her social status, Bryn takes Georgie to Cora's party, where Georgie is seen going upstairs with Cora's boyfriend. An online troll posts pictures of them together and creates suspicions about Baez's fidelity. As rumors spin out of control, Bryn sees an opportunity to regain her status by starting an anti-rumor campaign through her role as student body president.  Told in four parts, "The Rumor,"  "The Lies," "The Game," and "The Truth,"  the story examines the role social media can play in rumors destroying reputations and futures.  Who is the troll who is fanning the flames?

As with the original, Sense and Second-Degree Murder, a reimagining of Sense and Sensibility, begins with the death of Mr. Dashwood and his second family, including his wife and three daughters, Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret, losing their home to his son by his first marriage.   However, Mr. Dashwood ran a detective agency, and his daughters discover he had been poisoned. Marianne, an apprentice detective, and Elinor, a budding chemist, take on the case and discover a network of opium peddlers involved in the complex mystery.  All the original characters are cleverly reassigned parts in the plot.  In an author's note, the popularity of laudanum in Regency-era England and the lucrative opium trade are explained, as well as some historical inaccuracies that do not deter from the enjoyment of this clever whodunit.

LGBTIQA - New YA Novels

 Diversity in sexual identity is currently a hot button issue and reflective of this is the growing body of young adult literature that focuses on characters who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning or asexual (LGBTIQA). This month I will recommend three books that tackle one or more of these issues.  Malinda Lo's Last Night at the Telegraph Club, which focuses on a lesbian Asian/American teen in 1950s San Francisco, is the 2021 National Book Award Winner, as well as the winner of the Stonewall Book Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature,  a Michael L. Printz Honor Book and a Walter Dean Myers Honor Book.  The One True Me and You by Remi K. England finds a fan/fic writer and a beauty pageant contestant crossing paths and falling for each other at a Florida hotel which is hosting a fan convention and the Miss Cosmic USA contest the same weekend. Year on Fire by Julie Buxbaum introduces several prep school teens who are navigating family and friendship issues, while a mysterious arsonist is setting fires at their school. 

Last Night at the Telegraph Club is set in San Francisco's Chinatown during the 1950s. 17-year-old Lily Hu struggles to fit into her school and community.  She longs to work at the Jet Propulsion lab where her aunt works and is slowly recognizing she is attracted to women. When she and Kath, a classmate whose goal is to fly airplanes, connect over an ad for a male impersonator at the lesbian Telegraph Club, her life changes forever.  They sneak out and enjoy the scene at the club, as well as their growing attraction to each other. Fearing her family's disapproval and the very real danger of McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare, Lily struggles to reconcile her identity as a Chinese American and a lesbian in a time fraught with danger for both. The author's notes are a novella in and of themselves.  Lo (Ash) explains how Lily's family situation mirrors her own and provides an extensive bibliography and a section on "Lesbians, Gender, and Community." This beautifully written exploration of first love certainly deserves all the accolades it received. 

In The One True Me and You Kay, a fanfic writer attending the GreatCon fan convention, and Teagan, a contestant in the Miss Cosmic USA pageant, arrive at the same Florida hotel for the weekend.  Kay is hoping to win a writing contest, begin using they/them pronouns, and work up the courage to kiss a girl.  Teagan is hoping to win the pageant so she can pay for college and finally come out as a lesbian.  When Teagan sneaks out after curfew to attend the convention, their paths cross and they feel an instant attraction.  As they begin text flirtations and secret hangouts, they realize they have a lot in common, including a mutual enemy, Miss North Carolina who goes to school with Kay and competes against Teagan. The novel explores the confusion and alienation each feels, although the fan/fic culture is much more accepting of queerness than the pageant world.  Teagan and Kay are very relatable as they experience first love and attempt to find themselves in the process.

Year on Fire introduces twins Imogene and Archer Gibson and alpha-girl Paige Cohen-Chen who are an inseparable trio. The twins' loyalty to her and each other is tested when Archie kisses Paige's boyfriend Jackson and Immie claims responsibility to hide his homosexuality from their abusive father. This strains her friendship with Paige, so when Rohan Singh, a charming British teen, transfers to their school and Paige calls "dibs" on him, Immie ignores the growing attraction between her and Rohan.  Rohan, whose parents have separated after his father's infidelity, has been forced to move with him to LA.  He is angry and homesick, but his crush on Immie keeps him grounded.  Meanwhile Archie and Jackson dance around their feelings for each other, as Archie struggles to come out of the closet and Jackson anticipates his father's fifth wedding.  Paige, the classic neglected rich girl, strives for perfection in an attempt to gain the attention of her parents, who are never home. When the girls' restroom at school is set on fire, pretty much everyone is under suspicion. This romantic soap opera explores a variety of attractions, as well as family dysfunction, as the mysterious arsonist continues to set fires.  Although the identity of the arsonist is of interest,  the teens' personal dramas are much more engaging in this surefire winner from Julie Buxbaum. (Admission)

YA Novels filled with Magic

 Magic, defined as the power of influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces, figures heavily in all the books I'm recommending this month. Castles in Their Bones by Laura Sebastian (Ash Princess trilogy) introduces triplet princesses conceived through magic so that their conniving mother can expand her empire. The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman is set in the country of Ashoka that depends on their soon-to-be depleted quarry filled with magic to protect them from invasion.  It is up to the four royal siblings to find a fabled key that will unlock lost quarries that were hidden in the past.  Shattered Midnight by Dhonielle Clayton is the second installment in the Mirror fairytale series. Zora Broussard, a young black singer who wields magic, flees to New Orleans in the 1920s, after her magic causes a deadly accident in NYC.  Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe is a reimagining of The Tempest in which Lord Prosper uses a magical substance to enslave all the spirits on his island. Mae, the daughter of his steward, longs to learn to wield this magic in order to stay on the island once she comes of age.  

Castles in their Bones kicks off a new fantasy series which focuses on triplet sisters conceived in magic by their scheming mother Empress Margaraux, who wants to marry them off to expand her rule. Sophronia, Daphne and Beatriz have been betrothed to princes of neighboring kingdoms. They have been tasked with driving their new countries into war against each other so that the Empress can swoop in and gain control.  However, Sophronia falls in love with her fiancé, Leopold of Temarin. Daphne's fiancé dies and she is passed to bastard son Bairre of Friv, who becomes an ally. Beatriz finds herself married to Pasquale, the gay prince of Cellaria, where magic is banned. Although platonic, they develop a strong friendship and have plans of their own.  The story is told in alternating perspectives of the three princesses, who are trained in poisoning, coding and seduction in order to accomplish their goals. Along with her instructions to be achieved however the girls see fit, the empress has gifted each daughter the ability to pull magic from the stars to grant one wish.  The tale is filled with intrigue and changing allegiances as the girls attempt to decide whether to carry out their mother's plan or follow their own hearts. Meanwhile, Margaraux is behind the scenes manipulating characters and situations to her own end. I suspect their being conceived in magic will impact the girls' fates in the sequel.

The Ivory Key is told from the perspectives of four quarreling siblings who must save their country Ashoka from impending war.  The tale focuses on them finding the ivory key that will unlock quarries filled with magic which fuels their economy and protects them from invasion. Vira has ascended to the throne after her mother, the maharani, is killed.  Brother Kaleb has been wrongfully imprisoned for the assassination. Brother Ronak is planning to rescue Kaleb and flee with him.  Sister Riya, who ran away after arguing with their mother, returns to the palaces after two years of working with a group of rebels who want her to spy.  The only quarry in Ashoka is running out of magic, but it is rumored that there is a map which will lead them to the key that unlocks the lost quarries, which were closed when the Kamala society sought to control the mining trade.  After Vira's fiancé is murdered by the society, she must convince her siblings to band together to help her save their kingdom.  The epilogue, told from a fifth perspective, will leave readers anxious for the sequel in this fast-paced duology opener. 

Shattered Midnight, the second book in the four-book Mirror fairytale series, (Book 1: Broken Wish by Julie C. Dao) introduces Zora Broussard, a young Black teen who flees to New Orleans from New York during the 1920s, after her magic causes a deadly accident.  Living with her Aunt Celine, a high society maven, Zora is expected to become a debutante; however, she sneaks out at night to sing in jazz clubs as "Sweet Willow."  Fearing she will cause more harm, she bargains with a local conjure woman to take away her magic.  However, in return she must give up her music, which is her connection to Phillip, a White pianist with whom she has fallen in love.  Phillip is determined to be with her despite the racial segregation of the era.  Zora must decided how love, magic and music figure into her future happiness. What to keep and what to give up. 

In Bright Ruined Things, an homage to Shakespeare's The Tempest, Lord Prosper's island teams with a magical substance know as aether that keeps the island's spirits his captives and provides a glamourous life for his descendants.  Mae, an outsider who is the orphan of Prosper's steward, worries about being exiled from the island on her 18th birthday.  She schemes to find a way to stay and has many prospects.  Lady Vivian wants her to marry their sullen eccentric grandson Ivo, who is a powerful magician and heir to Lord Prosper's realm. Granddaughter Coco, Mae's best friend, wants her to leave the island and forge a new life together.  Grandson Miles, Mae's secret crush, leads her on in hopes of finding out what Ivo did to his mother, who is now a hopeless addict. First Night, the legendary once-a-year party hosted by the Prosper family, is coming up at which cousin Apolonia's engagement to Rex, magician and son of a rival family, and Mae's engagement to Ivo are to be announced.  But all does not go as planned.  Mae discovers family secrets and waffles between allegiances to various family members and even Rex, as she desperately tries to find a way to learn magic and secure a place in the family. 

Wrapping Up 2021

The new edition of my book What's New in Young Adult Novels? and Ideas for Classroom Use is now available. I have added over 50 new books from 2021 and integrated them into the lesson ideas. If you click on the picture of the book in the upper right hand corner of the blog, it will direct you to Lulu.com where you can purchase the book.  As we enter the new year, I would like to recommend a few more books from 2021 that I think are terrific. Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood is a retelling of Jane Eyre with a supernatural twist. Between You Me and the Honeybees by Amelia Diane Coombs focuses on a feud between beekeeping families and the romance between two teens ala Romeo and Juliet. You Can Go Your Own Way by Eric Smith finds estranged friends Adam and Whitney at odds over her father's attempt to take over Adam's deceased father's pinball arcade. You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao deals with the grieving process as the main character is able to talk to her dead boyfriend by calling his cellphone. As with most young adult novels there is an element of romance in each book though they have very different storylines. 

Within These Wicked Walls, which is set in a desert region of Ethiopia, introduces Andromeda, an unlicensed debtera, who exorcises the manifestation of the Evil Eye.  When she is hired to cleanse Magnus Rochester's mansion, she leaves Jember, her mentor/father figure and moves into the mansion. Her relationship with her moody employer quickly heats up and complicates the exorcism.  She loses confidence in herself when she finds out several other debtera have failed and Jember refuses to help her. It turns out he has a prior relationship to the situation and is reluctant to get involved.  The fast-paced battle against the evil spirits and Magnus and Andromeda's angst-filled romance will keep readers turning pages until the dramatic final conflict.

Between You Me and the Honeybees focuses on Josie, a recent high school graduate who aspires to take over the family beekeeping business. She has turned down her college acceptances but puts off telling her mom and her best friend.  When her grandmother's Parkinson's disease worsens, Mom heads off to Florida to check on her, leaving Josie to her own devices.  She meets Ezra, the grandson of her family's beekeeping rivals and forms an immediate bond.  Mom returns with Gran and Josie begins sneaking out to see Ezra.  Plagued by anxiety, Josie is faced with complicated choices as she tries to prove herself as a beekeeper and navigate her romance with the son of her mom's sworn enemies. The authentic details about beekeeping taken from the author's personal experiences, as well as the sensitive depiction of Josie's anxiety issues, take this a step above many Romeo and Juliet reimaginings.

You Can Go Your Own Way alternates between the perspectives of Adam and Whitney, estranged friends who find themselves sparing on social media, as Adam tries to save his deceased father's pinball arcade and Whitney attempts to help her father acquire it for his e-sports café. When her brother destroys a pinball machine at Adam's arcade, Adam blasts him on Twitter, escalating the war.  Then a blizzard threatens to derail the plans for the neighborhood Winter Festival, which will bring much needed business into the arcade. When Adam and Whitney find themselves trapped in the arcade during the blizzard, they confront old wounds and rekindle a friendship both sorely missed. Excerpts from The Art and Zen of Pinball Repair give this enemies to lovers romance a quirky twist on the genre.  

You've Reached Sam is a modern day ghost story that cleverly explores the issues of grieving. Julie Clark's plans to move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam after graduation are derailed when he dies in a car accident.  Planning to attend college together and go to Japan with him over the summer, Julie now finds herself mired in guilt and grief.  After an angry phone call from Julie, (he had forgotten to pick her up at the airport), he jumps in his car and heads to his death. Devastated and finding herself blamed by his friends for his death, Julie skips his funeral and throws out memorabilia from their relationship, trying to move on. But when she calls his cell phone to hear his voicemail message one more time, he answers. The phone calls give them the opportunity to reconnect, making it harder to let him go. This supernatural premise allows for an interesting exploration of the grieving process for an untimely death.