Reviews written by Elisha Jachetti, Staff Reviewer

THE LAST SUMMER by Cait Marie is a YA contemporary novel set in the Midwest between next-door neighbors, Lila and Gavin. The two of them have grown up together since the womb— they were even born a few days apart from one another— but unfortunately, an incident happened at their...

CLOVER by Nicole Kilpatrick is a YA fantasy novel that follows Clover, a girl who has spent her entire life with luck. What she doesn’t know though is that on her eighteenth birthday, she will lose it all and discover a very handsome leprechaun, Finn, has been looking over her...

VERNTROPA by E.L. Clarke is a YA Sci-Fi novel in which Earth has become gray and colorless in the last fifteen years. Unbeknownst to humans, Verntropa, another planet full of vibrant life, is responsible for maintaining the balance between the two places, but forces there are trying to tip that...

JUNE BLOOMED ANYWAY is a beautiful kids book written by Ivy Strohmaier and illustrated by Cara McFarlane Varela. The story follows June, a young poppy flower who lives in a garden with her family. One day, the gardener picks June’s father and some cousins and plants them in another place...

SWAY WITH ME by Syed M. Masood is a YA contemporary novel about Arsalan, a studious teenager being raised by his great-grandfather. Arsalan doesn’t have much time for friends, especially with his grandfather’s rigorous reading requirements, but then Beenish storms through Arsalan’s life and convinces him to join a dance...

KIND OF SORT OF FINE by Spencer Hall is a YA contemporary novel that follows two seniors in high school. Hayley is a perfectionist who cracked under the pressure of junior year, her breakdown ending up all over the internet and resulting in her being forced into an easier schedule....

WHAT ADULTS DON’T KNOW ABOUT ART is a YA non-fiction book that sets out to answer the big question: why is art important? It’s one of those questions that is rarely answered, even in prestigious literature on art. Instead, we’re meant to naturally show reverence, which can make the art...

BATTLE OF THE BANDS is a YA anthology from sixteen different authors, edited by Lauren Gibaldi and Eric Smith. Each story is woven into the fabric of the ones before and after it, and are all uniquely related to one specific night: a high school music competition in which the...

IDOL GOSSIP by Alexandra Leigh Young is a YA contemporary novel set in Seoul, Korea, to where Alice Choy has just moved from San Francisco. At the urging of her sister Oliva, Alice attends a talent search competition there and gets selected for a spot at Top10 Entertainment’s Star Academy,...

IN THE SAME BOAT by Holly Green is a YA Coming-Of-Age story and romantic adventure in which Sadie Scoefield sets out to complete the Texas River Odyssey, the same 260-mile kayak race that her family has done successfully for the last twenty years. Last year, Sadie raced with her father...

21 QUESTIONS by Alexandria Rizik is a YA coming-of-age novel about Kendra Dimes and Brock Parker, high school students who both are harboring their own secrets. Kendra moved to Laguna Beach after her older brother died of a drug overdose, but never told anyone in her new town of her...

SHATTER CITY by Scott Westerfeld is the second book in the IMPOSTERS series. It begins with Frey stuck inside Shreve pretending to be her sister… again. In order to save Col, she’s convinced her father they must marry to sway public opinion in her father’s favor, but Frey’s walking a...

IMPOSTERS by Scott Westerfeld is a YA dystopian novel, set in the future after many different and unique time periods have passed. Frey is the daughter of the first family of Shreve, a strong military town with a terrifying leader, her father. Usually this would mean she’d have quite a...

BREEDER by Honni van Rijswijk is a YA Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic novel in which natural disasters and war have killed off most of the population. The survivors went on to form the Corp, a non-government, business entity that controls society. Under the Corp, people live in different zones according to their...

BETTER THAN THE MOVIES by Lynn Painter is just about the cutest YA Rom-Com to ever exist. The story follows Liz Buxbaum, who, inspired by her mom’s favorite movies, creates soundtracks for important moments and tries to manipulate her own love life to mimic the scripted ones. Liz thinks her...