BookPage Teen Top Pick, August 2017

Ever since their families merged eight years ago, Suzette and Lionel have been inseparable siblings. She calls him Lion; he calls her Little. Suzette and her mother, Nadine, are African-American, while Lionel and his father, Saul, are white. Suzette and Nadine converted to Judaism as they embraced Saul’s traditions, and all four have celebrated Shabbat every Friday night ever since.

But when Lionel was diagnosed with bipolar disorder last year, Suzette was sent to boarding school in the Northeast. Her parents expected this separation to help her live her own life, undistracted by her brother’s needs, but no one, including Suzette herself, expected her to fall in love at school . . . with her roommate, another girl.

Now back in Los Angeles for the summer, Suzette has a lot of adjusting to do. What does Lionel need from her, and what is she willing to give? As she renews her relationships with her family and her lesbian best friend DeeDee, she also struggles to name her own emerging sexuality. Is she bisexual if she’s attracted to both the hypnotic Rafaela, a Latina co-worker at her summer job, and Emil, a half-black, half-Korean boy?

Told in a combination of present-day narration and flashbacks, Little & Lion is simultaneously a quick read and a thoughtful one. Navigating intersectional identities is never easy, and author Brandy Colbert doesn’t shy away from details of mental health, racism and how these issues affect friendships and families. This is an intense, readable and highly recommended choice.

Jill Ratzan is a sharer of stories, an organizer of information, and a fan of traditions and technologies.

This article was originally published in the August 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Since the drowning of her beloved brother, Cal, 10 months ago, Rachel feels like she’s lost everything. She’s lost her academic drive and consequently failed year 12 at school. She’s even lost her passion for the ocean, a love that has sustained her in the years since her former best friend, Henry, broke her heart just as her family moved to the seaside. Now, compelled by her aunt to make a change, Rachel is returning to Melbourne and—more than a little reluctantly—to her old job at the used bookshop Henry’s family owns, where they once spent so much time together.

Henry is going through a crisis of his own. Amy, the girl he once chose over Rachel, has been toying with his heart for three years, and she’s just done it again. Meanwhile, the bookshop is struggling, and Henry is tempted to side with his mother and sell the place—at least then he’ll have money to spend on Amy. But when Rachel shows up to catalog the shop’s so-called Letter Library (where strangers leave notes for one another in the margins of beloved books), things seem more confusing than ever.

Cath Crowley’s latest novel is a complex but comforting love story about resilience, second chances and the power of stories to uplift (and in many cases outlast) human lives. Words in Deep Blue offers nourishment to readers who love words, books and the thrill of discovering the unexpected within the pages of a dusty old volume.

This article was originally published in the July 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Matt is on a mission of bloody revenge; he’s bent on making the jocks pay for driving his sister away and determined to save his single mother from a dead-end job. But he’s got to be sharp if he wants to succeed, and that means conquering his hunger. Food will only dull his senses, making him soft and disgusting. But hunger? Hunger gives him unconquerable strength and superhuman senses.

Sam J. Miller’s first novel, The Art of Starving, is a gut-wrenching and powerful read about a high school boy clamoring for acceptance—from his wealthy classmates, from the boy he has a crush on and from the sister he fears he’s lost.

As Matt turns to food deprivation in order to gain control over something in his life, Miller paints his descent into the eating disorder in terrifying relief. As Matt’s pain goes unnoticed by most—those who do see it are too lost in their own trials to provide the support he needs—it becomes all too clear how easily we can overlook each other’s suffering.

Like Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why (and more so the recent Netflix adaptation), The Art of Starving teeters on the edge of romanticizing tragedy. However, Miller’s novel offers as much relief as desperation, and Matt’s journey will feel familiar and hopeful to any reader who’s experienced the precarious scramble for self-acceptance.

This article was originally published in the July 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

For 16-year-old Marnie Wells, reading tea leaves is a party trick—a kooky hobby she picked up from an old book of her grandmother’s. And although Marnie doesn’t take her tea-leaf reading seriously, the kids at her high school sure do. Matt Cotrell, a popular athlete whose best friend, Andrea, disappeared last year, is particularly interested in Marnie’s hobby.

Matt begins to seek out the introverted Marnie for fortune telling, but is it really to help find Andrea? Marnie isn’t sure, even as she and Matt spend more time together. But anonymous emails, a missing drug dealer and suspicious circumstances at a party compound the mystery, placing Marnie in the center of it all.

Marnie is a cynical and perceptive character, but she struggles to fit in. Grappling with her sense of identity, Marnie longs to escape the rundown home she shares with her troubled brother and loving grandmother. And she’s unsure how to navigate her new romance with Matt—a boy she doesn’t wholly understand.

Emily Arsenault, known for weaving haunting tales in adult mysteries, brings her knack for subtle suspense to a younger audience in this rewarding YA debut.

Kimberly Giarratano is the author of Grunge Gods and Graveyards, a young adult paranormal mystery.

This article was originally published in the July 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

As the second volume in Kiersten White’s And I Darken series (a retelling of the Vlad the Impaler legend) begins, the ferocious Lada has fled the Ottoman Court with a band of warriors, determined to fulfill her destiny and secure the throne of Wallachia. Left behind is her brother, Radu, who is still yearning for the attentions of Sultan Mehmed, despite Mehmed’s unabated lust for Lada.

As part of his scheme to expand his empire, Mehmed sends Radu to Constantinople to gather intelligence for a planned invasion. Radu and his wife, Nazira—who has left behind her own same-sex lover—are thrust into a dangerous game of intrigue in the court of Constantine. Meanwhile, Lada’s bloodthirsty drive for power is tempered by unexpected affection for an ally. Nevertheless, she remains true to her dragon nature, outmatching her opponents through a merciless combination of cunning and brutality.

White skillfully interweaves the cultural and political norms of 15th-century Eastern Europe with contemporary empathy by switching up gender roles and maintaining a smoldering undercurrent of romantic tension.

The storylines of Lada and Radu do not directly intersect in this middle volume, which allows readers to bond with each sibling and their respective entourages. This installment is highly recommended for both teens and adults interested in alternative histories flush with imaginative twists.

Diane Colson is the Library Director at City College in Gainesville, Florida.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our Q&A with Kiersten White for Now I Rise.

This article was originally published in the July 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Filmmaker-in-training Tash Zelenka is adapting Anna Karenina into a contemporary web series titled, “Unhappy Families.” Sure, it’s a challenge, but Tash loves her Tolstoy. With her best friend, Jacklyn (Jack), as co-producer and a cast of talented teen actors, Tash revels in translating Tolstoy’s words and characters into modern parlance.

When a famous vlogger calls “Unhappy Families” an “undiscovered gem,” subscriptions leap from a few hundred to more than 40,000. Success, however, brings unintended consequences. Tash’s new preoccupation with fame distances her from Jack, and she also gets involved in an online flirtation with a fellow vlogger, which carries potential complications should the two meet in person.

Tash is heteromantic asexual, meaning she is susceptible to romantic attraction but completely disinterested in sex. This story is intensely focused on Tash’s process of self-discovery. Her beloved “Unhappy Families” is suddenly the focus of thousands of comments on YouTube, which causes her to question her creativity. Issues related to family life, friendship and romance are well-developed, explored through natural conversations among characters and through Tash’s proclivity for introspection. Readers who like the honesty of Jenny Han’s novels, combined with the creative, quirky characters in Jandy Nelson’s I’ll Give You the Sun, will love this heartwarming novel. While it’s not necessary to have read Anna Karenina to appreciate the story, some familiarity with the characters and plot will definitely enhance the reading experience.

Diane Colson is the Library Director at City College in Gainesville, Florida.