Reviews written by Paige Cee, Staff Reviewer

WHAT I LOVED: Jus is a well-drawn character, one of just eight black students at his very white and very competitive prep school and not really comfortable in his skin. He’s so smart he won a scholarship to Braselton Prep and gets accepted into Yale for college,...

WHAT I LOVED: Once upon a time, as this storytelling-focused story might begin a tale, Corey and Kyra were best friends in the microscopic Lost Creek. Then Corey’s family moved to Canada and Corey went away to boarding school. Seven months later, Kyra died when the ice broke on...

WHAT I LOVED: White people like me are unlikely to get this book or get much from it either. It’s just a fact because this book is for and about all the Latinx kids chafing in their households and family traditions but still in love their heritage and culture...

WHAT I LOVED: It’s honestly easier to begin with what readers won’t get from Without Annette so they can adjust their expectations. If they want a happy ending for Annette and Josie and/or a bisexual narrator, they aren’t going to find what they’re looking for. I’d even say the...

What I Loved: Though the story is about three women–Mary the grandmother, Caroline the mother, and Katie the daughter–we get the direct points of view of only Mary and Katie. Katie suffers under the thumb of an overbearing mother and the bullying from classmates after her best friend Esme...

What I Loved: After Ainsley’s mom took a cruise director job aboard what is essentially a mockbuster Disney cruise, Ainsley gets to spend all summer onboard with her because she decided against staying with her dad. The recent divorce hit her mom hard and she wants to be there...

What I Loved: Eliza, secret creator of a massive webcomic, is an eighteen-year-old ball of anxieties with much more going on online than in real life. Basically me at eighteen except I was/am a book reviewer instead. Just like Eliza’s family is baffled but aware of her online activities,...

What I Loved: Piper is a rich girl far removed from the worst of 1920s Chicago, but she’s not exactly a prim and proper lady; she’s constantly in trouble at school and practically has her teacher’s ruler permanently branded into the skin of her knuckles from so many punishments....

What I Loved: The linear structure of Girl Code tracks their journey from everygirls to viral stars from start to finish to epilogue: Sophie got into coding to get over her anxiety about speaking and find a new language in which to express herself; Andy was interested in coding...

What I Loved: Queer, There, and Everywhere is a quick read you’ll breeze through in one sitting thanks to simple yet engaging writing and short profiles. If one figure sparks your fancy, Prager has her sources cited at the end of the book and it might just start someone...

What I Loved: If you want something like The Da Vinci Code with fewer conspiracy theories and gaping holes, this book is for you. Though it’s a contemporary YA novel, its plot spreads its roots deep in American history–specifically, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Before his death, Megan’s...

What I Loved: Girls like Rosie often occupy the “best friend” role in YA novels. You know, the ridiculously pretty, clever, boy-crazy girls. Girls like her best friend Maddie, newly returned from a summer in Spain with new confidence and a new look, are usually the narrators. Maciel makes...

What I Loved: Though they were foster brothers once upon a time when Julian’s parents died in a car accident and Adam’s social worker mother temporarily took him in, Adam and Julian are very different boys. Julian is a dyslexic kid who’s heavily drawn into his shell but absolutely...

What I Loved: Seeing as Bailey and her online friend Alex met and bonded over movies, it’s fitting each chapter begins with a movie quote from a wide variety of films that include Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and 10 Things I Hate About You. There’s no film...

What I Loved: It’s a truth universally acknowledged that modern teens are very political. Another truth: religious people are very political and regularly have high turnout for elections, which is why evangelicals have such immense voting power. Combine the two groups and you get Aki, Christa, and the other...