Curled Up With a Good Book and a Cup of Tea

Her whole life Kate O’Brian has been the odd girl out.  As the scholarship student at a succession of elite private schools, she’s had to prove she is worth her place all while keeping her past a secret. She’s book-smart and she’s street-smart and she can stand her ground no matter what life throws at her and no matter what she has to do. Now she is in her final year of high school and she’s attending yet another new school. But she has a plan. She will climb the social ladder and achieve her ultimate goal - a spot at Yale. She just needs to find the right “it” girl who she can use to her advantage. That girl is Olivia Sumner, a wealthy yet troubled teen. She is back at Waverly School to repeat her last year of high school after mysterious circumstances prevented her from finishing. She’s in desperate need of a best friend, and Kate may be the one for her. But when the handsome Mark Redkin joins Waverly as part of the administration, their world is turned upside down. Ma...

Hermione Winters is really looking forward to her senior year. She’s the captain of her schools championship cheerleading team and one of the most popular girls in school. She has a bright future ahead of her and she plans to make the most of her last days of high school. But just before the school year begins her future is changed in an instant when someone spikes her drink at a party. Everyone at school knows about it and now she is being talked about for all the wrong reasons. But Hermione isn’t going to be “that girl.” She doesn’t want to be known by what happened to her. And with the support of her best friend Polly, her parents, and her cheerleading team, she is determined to defy all of the labels being placed on her. Exit, Pursued by a Bear , by E.K. Johnston, is a touching and poignant story about a young, determined woman and her journey to recovery and acceptance after a terrible crime. I was pretty impressed by this book. Hermione is a young woman who has...

At 10:00 am, the principal of Opportunity High School in Alabama has finished the same speech she gives every year, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester.  At 10:02 am, the students all get up to leave but the auditorium doors will not open. At 10:05 am, someone starts shooting. This Is Where It Ends , by Marieke Nijkamp, is a story told over the span of 54 minutes in which a high school shooting occurs. Shown from four different perspectives, it relates the horror and heroism that takes place as one student commits the most heinous of crimes against his peers. I was in high school when the Columbine shootings took place. I still vividly remember the feelings of returning to school the next day and how the place felt different. Nothing like that had happened before but now it’s an epidemic. Each time I hear of another school shooting, I’m reminded of how those days felt and that is what drove me to pick up this book. I thought that telling the s...

Eighteen-year-old Layken has been through the toughest time of her life.  After the sudden passing of her father, she’s had to move across the country with her mother and nine-year-old brother.  She’s not happy to be in a new town where she knows no one, but she knows that she has to be the rock for her family.  She’s just not sure how she’ll hold it all together. Then she meets Will Cooper, her 21-year-old neighbour who is cute, intriguing, and more than interested in her.  They can’t fight the connection they immediately make and after Will introduces her to the world of slam poetry, Layken begins to think that the move may not be so bad. Until they make a discovery that quickly puts an end to their relationship.  But they still have to see each other on a daily basis which both Layken and Will find difficult to do.  And when Layken receives devastating news, it becomes almost impossible to stay away from each other. Slammed is the first b...

Madeline Whittier is a smart, funny, typical teenage girl.  Except for one thing - she cannot go outside. Maddy has Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) meaning that her immune system is so comprised, the outside air could kill her.  And so she spends her life in her house and other than her mother and nurse Carla, with very little human contact. That is until a new family moves in next door and Maddy lays eyes on their teenage son Olly.  Dressed all in black, Olly is mysterious and Maddy is intrigued.  They make a connection online but Maddy knows she wants more.  She gets her wish but it comes with repercussions.  She makes the decision to take a giant step toward living the life she wants but what happens next will change her life forever. Everything, Everything , by Nicola Yoon, is a stunning and original Young Adult novel about love against the odds and risking everything for the life you want.  Complete with illustrations and conver...

Fourteen-year-old Audrey has been struggling with an anxiety disorder since a terrible incident at school.  Though she has been making progress with the help of her psychologist, she still keeps herself hidden away, preferring the dark provided to her by the sunglasses she constantly wears. But when a friend of her brother named Linus initiates contact with her, she finds herself having feelings she had long forgotten.  At first, Linus is someone she can talk to, but very quickly he becomes so much more.  As Audrey’s recovery gains momentum, she finds herself making a romantic connection she never expected.  But is Audrey moving faster than her family and doctor think she should be and will it ultimately help or harm her recovery? Finding Audrey is the first Young Adult novel from celebrated author Sophie Kinsella and is a heart-warming, sweet novel that readers of all ages will love. I read this book, not just because I’m a huge fan of everything Kin...

Naila Rahman has grown up with conservative immigrant parents who have always allowed her the freedom to make her own decisions in all areas except for one - marriage.  As is their cultural tradition, Naila will have an arranged marriage, her parents choosing her husband for her.   While Naila has always been the perfect daughter, doing well in school and being respectful of her parents, she is hiding one secret from them that will change her life forever if it gets out.  Naila is in love with Saif, a boy at school.  And though Saif is from the same background as she is, her parents will never allow the relationship. When they do find out about Saif, their anger at Naila can’t be contained.  Convinced that she has turned her back on everything they have taught her, they take her on a trip back home to Pakistan.  But this isn’t a vacation for Naila and her family.  They are going there to find her a husband and if they do, Naila will not retu...

Who Should Read This:   Someone looking for a young LGBT voice in literature. Sometimes life is just like the movies.  In the case of Jude Rothesay, sometimes it’s better to imagine that life is a movie rather than deal with the reality of it.   Jude is a gay teenager, something that doesn’t go over well in his small-town, especially at school.  He celebrates who he is but others around him don’t, and this results in horrific bullying both at school and home.  Along with his best friend Angela, he remains an outcast.  But Jude knows that he is destined for fame, he just needs to get to Hollywood.  Until that day comes, he lives his life as though he’s already there, even if the public can’t see what makes him so special. When Everything Feels Like the Movies by Raziel Reid is a young adult novel that takes on the very adult issues many young people are facing today. There is a lot to be said about this book and I don’t even know how...

Who Should Read It: Everyone. Raised in both South Carolina and New York, Jacqueline Woodson grew up feeling like each place was both home and not quite home at the same time.  Living in both the South and the North in the 1960’s and 1970’s Civil Rights era, it seemed as though she lived two different lives.  In Brown Girl Dreaming , the National Book Award winner shares the moving story of her childhood, what life was like for an African American girl growing up in the Civil Rights movement in both two very different places.   But this book is much more than your standard memoir.  Woodson writes in a beautiful and touching manner, sharing her childhood through incredible free verse.  The book originally is aimed at a middle grade audience but it will move and touch readers of every age.   Jacqueline was born in Ohio but at a young age moved with her siblings to live in her mother’s hometown in South Carolina.  As a young teenager sh...

Follow the rules.  Remember what happened.  Never fall in love. Seventeen-year-old Prenna James immigrated to New York when she was twelve years old.  But she didn’t come from another country, she came from a different time.  In the future, a mosquito-borne illness has killed millions of people and is threatening to wipe all life from earth.  But Prenna and others have discovered a way to escape, by going back in time. Once in the present day, their community is strictly controlled and everyone must follow the rules so that no one discovers where they are really from and so that they can help prevent the plague they are escaping from.  Prenna doesn’t want to break the rules but when she falls in love with Ethan, a boy at school, she finds herself in trouble.  And when Prenna and Ethan find out a secret that could save the future, they soon find themselves on the run from the community and in a race against time. The Here and Now is...

In 1985, Salva is a young boy growing up in Sudan, helping his family at home and attending school.  But one day his village is attacked while he is at school and he escapes into the forest with a bunch of strangers.  His country is in the midst of a civil war and he is about to become one of the famous "lost boys," young men who walked across countries to find safety. In 2008, Nya is a young girl growing up in Sudan who spends her days getting water from a pond that is over two hours from her home.  She does this twice a day to help provide for her family.  Education is just a dream for Nya, there are more pressing needs at home. Their lives collide in present day Sudan, when Salva's survival story provides him with an opportunity to make a better way for his country and Nya's life changes forever because of it. A Long Walk to Water is a novel by Newberry Medal winner Linda Sue Park that documents that real life story of Salva, a young man forced to...

It's fourteen years after the zombie outbreak that ended the world as it was known and most humans who survived live behind fences in small settlements.  Outside the fences lies the great Rot and Ruin, a place where zombies roam free and there are no rules. Fifteen-year-old Benny Imura lives in the Mountainside settlement with his brother Tom, a zombie hunter.  Benny holds a grudge against Tom that goes back to the First Night when they lost their parents.  Now he is at the age where he has to find a job or else he risks losing a portion of his rations and after trying various jobs around the settlement, he reluctantly decides to join Tom in the family business. But life in the Rot and Ruin is not what Benny thought it was at all.  Tom reveals a world where zombies are not monsters but people.  He also reveals a world where the heroes of the settlement, the zombie hunters, are immoral thugs who kidnap children and hunt zombies for sport.  When B...

Sixteen-year-old Sojourner, nicknamed Scotch after the scotch bonnet pepper for her hot dance moves, feels like she doesn't fit in anywhere.  At home, she is the perfect daughter, at school she pushes boundaries.  Her father is White Jamaican and her mother Black American and she feels like she doesn't fit in with either group.  Most people don't believe that she is black and she wishes her skin was darker, just like her brothers.  She's just transferred to a new high school after bullying incidents at her old one.  She's not the most popular girl but she's doing okay at this one.   But lately, Scotch's skin has been breaking out in patches of a sticky black tar-like substance.  And she's been seeing flying, bodiless horse heads wherever she goes.  She's been doing pretty well at hiding it until the Chaos occurs.  She's out one night with her older brother when a bubble of light appears.  Scotch dares her brother to touch it and ...

Eleven-year-old Julia is dealing with the trials and turmoil that comes with being an adolescent girl when life takes an extraordinary turn.  One Saturday morning, Julia and her family along with the rest of the world awake to discover that the rotation of the earth has begun to slow.  At first, they don't think much of i, but as time goes on the days and nights become longer and the world begins to feel the disastrous effects. As the light begins to last for days then weeks at a time, the birds and plants to begin to die.  People take ill from what is only known as the sickness.  Neighbours become divided between those who go by the clock and those who go by real time and soon turn against each other.  But life goes on and Julia must continue to navigate middle school, friendships and her first love as she adjusts to the uncertainty of the new normal. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker is an extraordinary debut novel set apart by its...

Colt and Julia dated each other secretly for a year and no one knew, not their friends, their family and certainly not Julia's boyfriend. They were from two different worlds and they knew no one would understand. But to them it didn't matter, they just wanted to be together. But then Julia dies in an accident and Colt's world changes dramatically. Unable to mourn openly, he's haunted by the fact that he may have a had a part in her death. When a journal of Julia's is discovered by Colt, he relives the year he spent with her while trying to move on. But how can he get over her all on his own? The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard is a country club girl meets boy from wrong side of the tracks love story for teens but with a very serious twist. Julia and Colt feel an undeniable attraction to each other that goes beyond where they come from and what people expect of them. But the only way they can be together is secretly, or so they choose it to be that way...

Abby is starting high school, one of the most exciting times of a teenagers life. But Abby isn't feeling very excited. She's having difficulty making new friends and her best friend is drifting away. Abby begins to wonder if anyone understands what she is going through. Luke does. Luke is a 27-year-old Abby met online. At first Abby isn't sure about him. She knows all about internet safety and that she shouldn't be chatting with him, but he gets her. He understands her struggles with her family and friends. He thinks she's beautiful and smart. Then Luke asks Abby to meet him in real life, which she does. But Luke isn't who he says he is, and Abby goes missing. The police race to find her as her friends and family wonder if they will ever see Abby again. Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman is a young adult novel that gives a realistic portrayal of the dangers of internet chatting and meeting people online. It is a timely novel and one th...

Through six seasons and two movies we laughed, cried, celebrated and hurt with the ladies of Sex and the City . They were more than characters on the television and movie screen, they were friends, alter-egos, role models. When we met them, they were successful women with homes, careers and love lives. In The Carrie Diaries , we were introduced to teenage Carrie Bradshaw. We discovered where she came from and how she ended up in New York City. And now, in Summer and the City , we see how she met Samantha and Miranda and how she came to settle in NYC. Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell is a young adult novel that fans of Sex and the City will enjoy no matter what their age. While the intent of the novel is to discover who the women we love so much are and what made them the women we know, the book itself is a great stand-alone novel, a story of young women taking New York City by storm in the 1980's. Carrie has arrived in NYC to take a summer writing class at The...

Before Sex and the City , Carrie Bradshaw was a small-town girl with big-city aspirations. As her senior year of high school approaches, Carrie dreams of starting real life as a writer in New York City. But before that can happen, she will learn some valuable lessons about friendship and love. The Carrie Diaries is the story of how Carrie Bradshaw became the woman Sex and the City fans know and love. In her senior year, her life is changed forever when a new boy comes into her life and a friend's betrayal makes her view the world in a different way. Women of all ages who may not be familiar with the television show will be able to relate to this story, reminded of what life in high school was like and how it shaped the women we are today. This book also shows young girls that high school is only a moment in our lives and how important it is to find our own, authentic voice. The book stands alone from the television show so those who did not watch the show will still find it...