Young Adult Fiction

Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan

October 8, 2019 Leave a Comment

408 pages | Contemporary | Putnam | Release Date: 4/30/2019

16-year-old Elouise doesn’t love being the dancing hot dog at the dilated amusement park Magic Castle Playland but the park is her second home and she plans to make her summer working there her best one yet. But as summer commences absolutely nothing goes as she plans.

From the cover, I assumed Hot Dog Girl was a quicky romantic comedy but it feels more like a CW-style romance drama as we watch this group of teens navigate their relationships to each other. I thought the friendship between Elouise and her best friend, Seeley felt genuine and lived in. Elouise is bisexual and Seeley is a lesbian and their identities are part of the story and friendship but not the entire story.

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The Revolution of Birdie Randolph by Brandy Colbert

October 7, 2019 Leave a Comment

6 hours 30 minutes | Contemporary | LBFYR | Release Date: 8/20/2019

16-year-old Dove “Birdie” Randolph obediently follows every expectation her strict mother sets out for her. But the summer before her junior year her estranged Aunt–recovering from addiction–moves in with the family and Birdie starts to challenge everything she’s ever been told.

This book delivered a lot of what I expect from Colbert; quiet, deeply character-driven, slice-of-life YAs that can serve as an introduction to sensitive topics to teens. I liked the journey Dove went on as she learns about addiction and recovery from her aunt and starts dating a new boy.

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Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

October 5, 2019 Leave a Comment

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The Beckoning Shadow by Katharyn Blair

September 15, 2019 Leave a Comment

Unrated | 480 pages | Paranormal YA | Katherine Tegen Books | Release Date: 07/02/2019

The Beckoning Shadow feels like a unicorn of a book in the world of YA because it’s paranormal and…get this..it is standalone.

Vesper Montgomery was your average caramel frappuccino-drinking-carefree, high school cheerleader–until she discovers she is an Oddity– a human with superhuman powers that have to be kept hidden unless she wants to risk the wrath of the mysterious Wardens. Vesper has the rare ability to control and pull out people’s fears. When she loses control of her powers she becomes a danger to her family and decides to run.

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Out of the Pocket By Bill Konigsberg

August 21, 2019 Leave a Comment

Unrated | Contemporary | Dutton Juvenile | Release Date: 9/18/2008

Bill Konigsberg is my favorite type of YA author, the kind who has been writing for years but suddenly gets a big highly marketed title with tons of buzz (usually because of the big push in diversity) from the book influencer world.

Konigsberg’s sixth book, The Music Of What Happens, is on a ton of most anticipated YA list for 2019 and Out of The Pocket was his debut all the way back in 2008.

Bobby Framingham is the star quarterback of his Southern California high school football team. He is most at home with this team on the field and trying to find the best way to come out to his friends and family without losing the community he holds close. After being publically outed, Bobby is thrust in the national spotlight. Now out of his comfort zone, he has to be the best quarterback he can be, hold his team together and support his father after he is given a life-changing diagnosis.

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You’d Be Mine by Erin Hahn

August 18, 2019 Leave a Comment

Unrated | 304 pages | Contemporary/Romance | Macmillian | Release Date: 4/2/2019

I’ve seen this book recommended as Nashville meets A Star Is Born which I don’t think is fair because this book was so much better than A Star is Born. Like, this book was what I wanted A Star Is Born to be. I will say music is my pop culture blind spot. I’m not a music person but I’m fascinated by media about music.

Annie Mathers’ is a bright, talented and humble country girl raised by two country music icons whose lives came to a tragic end six years ago. Now she’s is ready to head out on her own and tour with the bad boy of country music; Clay Coolidge. Clay and Annie become a sensation on tour with enough chemistry and talent to sell out stadiums.

What the world doesn’t know is that Clay Coolidge’s swaggering party frat boy persona is just an act that Jefferson Daniels wears to cover the pain of losing his brother and grandfather. The more Jefferson embraces “Clay” the more he sinks into depression and alcoholism and when Annie and her band join his tour for the summer, they pull him out of his siloed world and remind him what it is to be young, talented and free.

The characters in this book all have a lot of fun together, they form a bond only performers (and theater kids) can understand. Clay and Annie’s bands both have fiddlers who have an instant spark and passionate summer romance.

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