The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Have you seen or read this book yet? It was sort of everywhere last year. I finally got my hands on it and read it a few weeks ago, and WOAH. 

Starr Carter lives in Garden Heights, but goes to school in a more prestigious part of the city. None mostly as being the daughter of her father the store owner, Starr is a bit in limbo. She doesn't really fit in in Garden Heights, but going to a school in a different neighborhood is somewhat surreal as well--she goes home to a different world than all her classmates. 

After a party breaks up, Starr is heading home with a childhood best friend when they are pulled over by a cop. They have been told how to act when a cop stops you, but Khalil goes a little off script by moving to see if Starr is okay when the officer doesn't expect it. Within seconds he is dying on the ground. 

Suddenly, Starr is in the maelstrom emotions--grief over losing yet another childhood friend to senseless violence, disbelief as the media paints a completely different picture of Khalil than the Khalil she knew, and indecision about whether she should speak out as the only witness to his death. She has spoken to the detectives, but she is only referred to as "the witness" in the media. Should she speak out? Would her family be in danger if she did? How would her friends and white boyfriend at her prep school react? 

In the midst of her grief and indecision, Starr's older brother's step-dad starts getting more and more out of hand. As the local drug lord, King has reigned over his small kingdom of Garden Heights and destroys those who question him. When their neighborhood is the center of media attention, a neighbor speaks out against King and so begins an internal, neighborhood struggle while this larger police brutality struggle is being played out in national media attention. 

Full of amazing characters, interesting family dynamics, timely racial discussions, and a pervading sense of hope, this book is FABULOUS.  

I loved Starr. Her strength, her humor, her kindness, and resiliency... She is sort of majorly awesome. 

Angie Thomas is kind of majorly awesome too. 

Read this.

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

This book was so gripping. And while I loved and sympathize with Kiko and exalt with her every victory, it is her awful, horrible, narcissistic mother that caught my imagination so much. She is just SO HORRID. Really. Like no redeeming qualities at all. There is something so fresh and freeing about a character you can hate with no reservations. You don't have to feel conflicted and try to see their good points. Nope. Nada. 

Kiko is a Japanese-American teen dealing with rejection from her only college application--Prism, the prestigious art school she had set her heart on. A chance encounter with her childhood best friend  after a particularly painful episode with her mother leads to a cross the country road trip, romance, (I mean, a cross country road trip and romance is already pretty fabulous, but there is MORE) an incredible mentor and a second chance at dreams. 

I really, super-le-douper loved this book. I mean, obviously her mother is painfully despicable, but that means your emotions aren't pulled out of whack. You are 100% for Kiko and you can follow her story with no reservations or side interests. 

A great quick read! 

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Werewolves are so not my thing. I am boring, prosaic. I like real people and realistic fiction. I was almost an entire decade behind on the Harry Potter bandwagon. I never felt the need to squeal over Twilight. Dystopian novels are not my gig. I read mid-century girl lit for fluffy, thoughtless reading. (Betty Cavanna-Anne Emery-Janet Lambert devotees unite!)

I know! I. Am. Boring. The thing is, I had a depression/anxiety problem when I was a teen. (I still have it to some extent if I don't exercise/sleep/eat right. In other words, after each and every of my four pregnancies. Postpartum OCD. I didn't know it was a thing, I thought I was just bizarre. But it is legit and turned my world upside down each time.) Reading about uncertainty and never before conceived of things to worry about was not my idea of a good time. I wanted realistic things with problems that could be solved in a mostly happy way. I didn't want sugar sweet, I just wanted some sweetness somewhere. I wanted hope. 

So the depths of dystopian and fantasy themes in today's YA genre were left unplumbed by me. Until I had to take a Young Adult Literature class last spring. I didn't have high hopes, but I figured I could slog through the book list. 

As it turns out, I may not be keen on fantasy, but I do make exception for masterfully executed fantasy. JK Rowling is a genius. I adored the Harry Potter books. But the fact that everyone said Rowling was incredible made me even more convinced that I wouldn't enjoy lesser authors attempts. 

Enter Maggie Stiefvater. 

I am not sure I would go so far as to say she is on the same level as Rowling. But I loved this book. 

There was a bit of angst. There were mystical happenings. There are inter-species longings that were a little weird. 

But they all combine in a marvelous way. Things make sense. Inter-species longings are justified. The entire werewolf thing is believable. (If werewolves living in a brick house in a Minnesota suburb is believable.)

And there is romance. Love that transcends all the weirdness. And best of all, there is hope. 

Sam is a werewolf who is more human than wolf. Grace is a 17 year old human who is really drawn to the wolves in the Minnesota woods behind her home. One wolf in particular stands out--the one with yellow colored eyes. 

As the town demands the death of all the wolves for the suspected attack of a high school student, Sam suddenly finds himself wounded on Grace's back door step in human form. Fortunately, Grace's parents are completely non-involved. She can invite him in and care for him without worrying about her parents finding a teenage boy hanging around in her room. (Despite the werewolf thingy, this was one of the most unbelievable parts.) Of course, they fall in love. There is a connection between them. But why? 

Time is limited. The cold makes Sam turn into a wolf again. And it is October in Minnesota. How long will they have together before he turns? And will he ever turn human again or is this brief time their only shot at happiness? 

Angst. Love. Werewolves. Hope. 

They are all there in glorious technicolor. 

(Of course, there are additional books in the series, if you get hooked.)