Alice lost both parents when she was 9 years old. She was forced to move from San Francisco to live with her aunt, uncle and cousin Leo in Chicago. Nine years have passed since then; Alice and Leo are now inseparable and have brought fellow classmate Teddy into their fold. While Alice secretly harbors a crush on Teddy, she’s too afraid to let him know. On Teddy’s 18th birthday, Alice decides to play the odds and buys him a lottery ticket, and miraculously he wins. Teddy, also no stranger to hardships, gladly accepts his prize. He goes on spending sprees and enjoys his newfound fame, owing it all to Alice. But when he offers Alice a portion of the winnings, she declines, and a chasm opens between the two.

Jennifer E. Smith’s latest novel will have readers laughing out loud as often as wiping away tears. Alice is easy to fall in love with, from her courage in dealing with her parents’ deaths to insisting on making decisions on her own terms and her ability to adapt when things don’t go as planned. With a tight set of characters, complete with realistic relationships and issues, Windfall fearlessly explores the impact of wealth, particularly when it is sprung on a teen. Smith pulls at readers’ heartstrings as Alice, Teddy and Leo struggle to find themselves in the midst of the unexpected.

A novel with crossover appeal, Windfall is an excellent choice for older teens to read with parents or mentors.

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

“We all have a deep desire, a deep need, to ignore what is happening here,” writes Marcus Sedgwick midway through Saint Death. Sedgwick, who sets his new novel amid the violent borderlands of Juarez, Mexico, might be describing human migration or death itself, embodied in this story by the mystical appearance—both literal and figurative—of Santa Muerte, or Saint Death. Either way, Sedgwick’s latest novel forces readers to look at what’s happening in regions of Mexico, and at the pressures that have created the drug cartels, which are provoked by U.S. demand and, in many cases, armed by the U.S., too.

Caught in the crosshairs of this volatile situation is a lonely young man, Arturo, a cardsharp who is enlisted to help save the life of his old friend Faustino—but who finds himself in a bargain he has no real way to win.

With Saint Death, Sedgwick offers a timely story that often reads like a thriller—or like a fable. Suffused with elements of magical realism and informed by real-world facts and statistics, Sedgwick’s narrative is remarkably immersive, providing both context and a human face for an issue that too often remains abstract but that, as he suggests, cannot be ignored.

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

Jordan Sun is a Chinese-­American junior at elite arts-­focused boarding school Kensington-Blaine, but she doesn’t have much to show for it. Her first years were spent wrapped up in an intense relationship that ended badly, so she has no close friends to lean on when she fails, yet again, to get a callback for a musical. As a theater student on scholarship, Jordan feels extra pressure to prove to her parents that Kensington is worth it, but her low singing voice keeps her from landing traditional female musical roles. Dejected and isolated, Jordan notices an open call for a tenor in the Sharpshooters, Kensington’s top all-boy a cappella group. Jordan is determined to find a place at school, even if it means months of deception and possibly extreme consequences. But life as Julian—the male alter ego she adopts for the Sharpshooters—is freeing in a way Jordan never expected, despite the complications.

Riley Redgate tackles big topics in her second novel, as Jordan unpacks the complicated interplay between her class, gender and friendships. Jordan’s insights on femininity and masculinity are effective. However, the exploration of her sexuality, which is supposedly fluid or bisexual, feels incomplete, especially since the romantic angle unfolds traditionally. With an amusing plot reminiscent of familiar teen movies, Noteworthy is a solid, realistic YA novel with enough new notes to entertain even avid readers.

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

A story about processing grief takes a different turn when painful experiences bring two teens together in Sonia Belasco’s profound debut.

Summer deals a severe blow to Damon Lewis and Melanie Ellis. Damon loses Carlos, his best friend, to suicide, while Melanie loses her mother to cancer. Both live in the shadow of loss, keeping their feelings guarded, but neither knows the other exists. Their hard emotional shells begin to crack when Damon takes a picture of a grieving Melanie at a local park. This awkward moment leads Damon to give her a picture of Carlos. Soon a romance blossoms between them, but friction develops when Damon blocks Melanie from his deepest pain.

Ten years in the making and inspired by a traumatic event in the author’s own life, Belasco’s novel sends a powerful message about the complicated nature of grief. Speak of Me as I Am teems with raw emotion as the dual first-person narratives center on Damon and Melanie’s personal struggles and their relationship. As chapters shift back and forth between the two protagonists, Belasco weaves in a third character. Tristan, who is best friends with Melanie, is a charismatic and confident gay teen, and he immediately connects with Damon. The deep ties between these three friends play a crucial role in the development of the young lovers and provides refreshing twists to Belasco’s gut-wrenching plot.

This powerful, emotional work should be earmarked to be a favorite with teen readers.

It’s rude, it’s crude and it’s a whole bunch of fun. David Elliott’s raunchy retelling of the myth of the Minotaur and Theseus, Bull, takes a decidedly modern turn with multiple perspectives and a sympathetic look at the Minotaur.

A useful list of characters, complete with brief biographies, supplies background information that helps illuminate the plot. The characters have unique voices, which reflect their stations in life, understanding of the world and distinctive attitudes. Each character’s narration unfolds through a unique poetic form, and while the forms don’t strictly adhere to poetic rules, they are perfect foils for the characters’ interwoven personalities.

The ancient Greek tale begins with Poseidon’s revenge, resulting in the birth of a baby with the body of a human male and head of a bull. Pasiphae, his mother, names him Asterion, an ironic choice as King Minos eventually spirits him to the depths of the labyrinth where there are no stars to rule.

The story is accurate to the legend, with all the principal players reprising their roles. However, gaps in the original story get filled with down and dirty details, revealing the twisted nature of the characters. Only the Minotaur acts with nobility and leads readers to a central question of how people treat those who are perceived as different. Like any good timeless story, Bull offers contemporary analogies that will resonate with readers.

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

Molly Peskin-Suso has had 26 crushes, but never a boyfriend. Not even a kiss. She’s just never felt ready to put herself out there. But during her 17th summer, her twin sister, Cassie, falls head over heels for the girl of her dreams, their moms are finally allowed to marry, and not one, but two boys take an interest in Molly. Love, it seems, is all around. But will these new relationships change things between Molly and Cassie? Will Molly be able to take the risk?

Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, has a knack for capturing the all-encompassing emotions of adolescence, and her talents are on full display in The Upside of Unrequited. In a moment when Molly is feeling particularly low, her mother notes that being 17 feels like both the end and the beginning of the world. This becomes a mantra that sets the tone for the book, as Albertalli’s characters revel in the ups and downs of friendship and first love.

The Peskin-Suso twins and their friends are a lovable, diverse group of talented teens, made relatable by the fact that each is rife with his or her own insecurities about growing up and fitting in. The characters’ authentic voices will feel intimately familiar to teen readers and will catapult older readers back to their high school days.

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