BookPage Teen Top Pick, April 2017

Sisters Gem and Dixie only have each other. Their parents’ marriage ended when their drug and alcohol addictions made it difficult to hold down jobs, let alone raise a family. However, when the girls are in high school, Dixie receives a letter from their dad, who wants back in their life. Dixie, younger and still easily charmed by their father, falls for it, but Gem isn’t fooled. Their father arrives, certain that their mother will take him back. But she kicks him out again—after he stows his backpack full of money in the girls’ room. Upon discovering the backpack and its contents, the girls take their own adventure, leading them to realizations about themselves and each other.

Sara Zarr returns with one of her most heartfelt books yet. Gem & Dixie packs a real punch, highlighting the ugly truth of severed relationships and the loneliness of a broken home. She examines the inner workings of a sibling relationship that was once close but grows more and more distant. Gem is a particularly strong character; she struggles with her belief that it’s her sole responsibility to ensure that the family doesn’t fall apart. At Gem’s core is the fear of abandonment, whether by her own will or by her parents. Meanwhile, will Dixie ever fully understand her parents, and will Gem ever forgive them?

Other characters are equally rich in depth, each contributing to Gem and Dixie’s adventure, including a transgender girl who befriends Gem, and the school guidance counselor who helps Gem unpack her feelings.

Intense, honest and at times heartbreaking, Gem & Dixie can be hard to read. Zarr sheds light on the life of a teen who doesn’t have it all and is struggling to grasp what she has left. Tackling trust, honesty, faith and hope, this novel is sure to strike a chord with readers coming from similar situations.

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

When Starr was 12, her parents taught her the facts of life. Her mother explained the mysteries of sex, while her father instructed her on how African Americans behave if stopped by police. Four years later, Starr remembers her father’s words when she and her childhood friend, Khalil, are pulled over. But when Khalil makes an innocent move, the policeman shoots. Starr watches in horror as Khalil dies in the street. The media picks up the story, depicting Khalil as a gang member and drug dealer. Starr, who attends a prestigious, predominantly white high school, is repulsed by the sensationalism and initially tries to deny her involvement. But she learns that such silence grants free reign to racist justifications for violent policing of her tight-knit black community. 

Starr’s life is rife with contradictions. Her neighborhood friends live in a world where violent death is a real threat, while her wealthier school friends view Khalil’s death as an excuse to skip school. Starr’s father is a former gang leader who is dedicated to improving their community, while her uncle is a police detective who lives in a safer neighborhood. 

In her debut novel, Angie Thomas breathes life into the incidents that inspired the Black Lives Matter movement, with nuanced characters and complex subplots. Like Kekla Magoon’s How It Went Down, the novel explores the ambiguity of perspective, but in this case, it’s always from Starr’s deeply personal viewpoint.

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

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

It was just another late summer day before the start of senior year at Nashville’s Academy for the Arts. Carver was eager to meet up with his best friends Mars, Blake and Eli to celebrate their end-of-summer traditions. So he sent Mars a text: “Where are you guys? Text me back.” And in an instant, his friends’ lives were over—and Carver’s was destroyed.

After all three boys are killed in a car accident caused, in all likelihood, by Mars’ attempt to text Carver a response, Carver is left with little but a series of increasingly scary panic attacks. Eli’s twin sister despises him, Mars’ powerful father threatens to press charges, and even his new friendship with Eli’s girlfriend is far from uncomplicated. When Blake’s grandma suggests that Carver join her in a “goodbye day” to share their memories of Blake, Carver wonders whether this might be an opportunity for healing or just a route to more pain.

Carver is an aspiring author, so storytelling plays a central role in his grief and recovery. Morris Award-winning author Jeff Zentner, a talented musician and songwriter, suffuses his new novel with all kinds of art forms, from Eli’s music to Mars’ illustrations to Blake’s zany but brave form of comedy. Fans of Jennifer Niven’s All the Bright Places will find much to ponder in Goodbye Days’ sensitive exploration of loss and strong sense of place.

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

Swedish author Sara Lövestam’s first novel to be published in the U.S. captures contemporary teen life and the world of 1940s Sweden, filtered through the universal language of music.

In this tale of two eras, aspiring musician Steffi Herra, age 15, keeps a jazz-infused fugue in her head as a defense against mean-girl bullies. After a chance encounter with Alvar, an elderly jazz bassist, Steffi soon becomes a regular visitor at his nursing home. While listening to classical jazz forms the basis of their relationship, Steffi also receives rich human and historical perspectives about life in neutral Sweden during World War II. As Alvar recounts the tale of his journey to Stockholm at 17, Steffi discovers the impetus she needs to pursue her own dreams of attending a prestigious music academy in Stockholm.

Musicians will respond with glee to the authentic musical references, and non-musicians will enjoy the realistic and loving portrait of a young girl pursuing her passion. Wonderful Feels Like This offers grace notes on cross-generational companionship and the pursuit of a dream, whatever the era. 

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

BookPage Teen Top Pick, March 2017

Set in the modern-day border town of El Paso, Texas, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life boldly shows the resilient humanity of three high school seniors—sharing their confusions, heartbreaks and thoughtfulness—as they grow to learn that “normal” is a term with far more than one definition.

Salvador is the caring, adopted, white son of an unmarried -Mexican-American man—a famous artist who is openly gay in a Southern town. Samantha is the sassy and smart Mexican-American girl from down the street whom Sal has loved as a sister for as long as he can remember. But Sam’s mother drinks too much, falls in love with the wrong kind of men and fights viciously with her daughter nearly every day. Fito is the gay kid at school who’s determined to graduate, save enough money to go to college and move away. He’s one of the smartest, kindest and hardest working kids at school, but he has never realized it because his drug-addicted mother and abusive family would never let him believe it.

As life toys with Sal, Sam and Fito throughout their senior year, they learn to lean on one another, pick up the pieces and face the world again—and that just might be enough for them to make it through and build a “normal” that’s all their own.

Following his multiple award-winning Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s fifth YA novel is yet another outstanding work of literature in a lauded career. In this noble portrait of a group of friends and their questioning minds, Sáenz has crafted characters so memorable that they’ll remain with you—and inspire you—for a lifetime.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Q&A with Benjamin Alire Sáenz for The Inexplicable Logic of My Life.

Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.

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

I grew up loving Ellen Emerson White’s The President’s Daughter and its sequels, which centered on female characters (the main character’s mother is the first female president) daring to break new ground. White, a longtime fan of the Red Sox, also often includes baseball in her fiction; with her new novel, she brings both these themes together.

Senior year is coming to an end, and Jill Cafferty has, if she chooses to accept it, a full ride to play baseball at Stanford. Through some unusual blend of genetics, innate talent and really hard work, Jill can throw a fastball harder and faster than most male pitchers, and for the last few years, not just colleges but also major league scouts have taken notice. When Jill is, to her own surprise, drafted to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization in the third round of the MLB draft, she decides to take a leap, becoming the first woman to play major league baseball. Immediately, she’s both a role model to millions of little girls and scorned and resented by some hard-line traditionalists—but what does Jill want?

Filled with details about the less-than-glamorous life of minor league ball players, White’s new novel will appeal to sports fiction fans regardless of gender. Some plot points (particularly Jill’s feelings about her deceased dad, as well as her relationships with friends back home) feel underdeveloped by contrast, but overall White successfully avoids many sports fiction clichés, resulting in a thoroughly credible novel that’s begging for a sequel.

BookPage Teen Top Pick, February 2017

Oswald Pinkerton has an unfortunate moniker and a boyfriend who has disappeared. Ozzie is a thinker—perhaps too much so—and he wonders endlessly about how his boyfriend, Tommy, vanished. Not only is Tommy gone, but he’s been erased from the memories of everyone who ever knew him.

As Ozzie navigates school (the bullies, as well as a potential new love interest, Calvin), work (where he often sees Tommy’s mom) and friends (including gender-bending Lua), he also travels from therapist to therapist (reluctantly) to deal with issues relating to Tommy, his parents’ rocky divorce and a plane crash that nearly took his life.

At the Edge of the Universe tackles it all—relationships, gender issues, family angst, sexual abuse, alcoholism. It’s a heavy read, but a surprising page-turner. Author Shaun David Hutchinson (We Are the Ants) infuses the very likable yet troubled Ozzie with a lot of interest in and knowledge of the metaphysical world, but there is enough added drama and typical teen issues to keep readers wondering: Will Calvin and Ozzie become a couple? Will Tommy return? Is the universe really shrinking?

This is a well-composed, intelligent young adult read with contemporary themes and plenty of descriptive detail. Some of the issues aren’t pretty or easy, but today’s teens will thrill to Oswald’s story of great heart and big ideas.

Sharon Verbeten is a freelance writer and children’s librarian in De Pere, Wisconsin.

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

In We Are Okay, author Nina LaCour (Everything Leads to You) tells a story more of absence than presence, looking with calm directness at grief and betrayal and the ways they can multiply outward. It’s a beautiful, devastating piece of art.

Marin is in school in New York, quietly living a new life and trying to leave behind the life she ran from. Her lonely Christmas break is interrupted by a visit from her best friend (and now ex-girlfriend), Mabel. The truth about the event that caused Marin to leave San Francisco with only what she held in her hands comes out slowly, and her grief in the face of it is cavernous. But notice the details LaCour shines a light on: the perfect yellow bowls Marin bought at a pottery shop, the potted plant thriving and in need of a larger container. If her existence now is sparse, it is not without color, or life.

The title hints at a happy ending, but the journey toward it passes through some of the darkest corners of the heart. Be prepared to be gutted—and grateful. We Are Okay is an extraordinary work by an author who keeps redefining and elevating her genre. Readers are lucky to have it.

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