New from favorite authors: Far from the Tree, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, and The Whole Thing Together

The 2018 edition of my book What's New in Young Adult Novels? and Ideas for Classroom Use is now available. I have added over 80 books from 2017 with recommendations for using them in the classroom.  Many of the books have been reviewed in this blog already, however, before I move on to 2018 titles, I would like to recommend three 2017 novels by some of my favorite authors.  Robin Benway (Emmy and Oliver) won the 2017 National Book Award for Far from the Tree, her saga about three siblings who find each other after being adopted out to different families.  Benjamin Alire Saenz (Aristotle and Dante Discover Secrets of the Universe) follows the senior year of Salvador, who was adopted by a gay Mexican-American man after his mother dies in The Inexplicable Logic of My Life. Ann Brashares (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) focuses on two half-siblings who share a room at a family beach house, but have never met each other, in The Whole Thing Together. 

In Far from the Tree Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, finds herself pregnant and decides to find her biological family, after giving the baby up for adoption.  She reconnects with her younger sister, Maya, a confident gay teen who was adopted by a well-to-do family who also have a biological daughter, and Joaquin, their stoic older brother who is a product of the foster care system. Grace is much more interested in finding their biological mother than either of her siblings.  Chapters alternate between their third person perspectives, as each teen struggles to navigate personal challenges that they keep secret. Maya's mother is a closet alcoholic, Joaquin's latest foster parents want to adopt him, and Grace is trying to decide if she wants to maintain a relationship with her baby and adoptive family.  This touching family saga is truly deserving of its National Book Award.

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life introduces Salvador, whose gay Mexican-American father adopted him when he was three, after his mother, who was Dad's best friend, dies. Sal finds his world turned upside down when his adoptive grandmother Mima is diagnosed with cancer, his best friend Samantha moves in with him after a family tragedy, and his streetwise gay friend Fito is kicked out of his home by his drug addicted mom.  Complicating matters, Sal uncharacteristically gets into several fist fights and wonders if he inherited violent tendencies from his biological father. When his adoptive dad gives him a letter his mother left for him, Sal hesitates to open it, thinking it might be better to leave that chapter of his life closed.  In short journal like chapters and text messages, this novel reveals a story of love, loss and the value of family.

After Robert and Lila bitterly divorce, in The Whole Thing Together, they and their three daughters take turns sharing the family's Long Island beach house every summer. The parents remarry and each have another child, Ray and Sasha, who share the same bedroom in the beach house on alternate weeks.  Although they share toys, books and even a bed, they have never met, until they unexpectedly run into each other at a NYC party and feel an instant attraction. When their stepsister Mila gets engaged, the two families decide to bury the hatchet for an engagement party at the house, with disastrous results. Then a family tragedy initiates a truce, and they begin to deal with long standing issues and healing begins.  This exploration of split family dynamics is both funny and tragic with a little romance thrown in as well.