The winner of multiple awards, Malinda Lo’s Last Night at the Telegraph Club is the beautifully written narration of a young Chinese-American teen’s queer coming-of-age in 1954 California. The story is set in a richly depicted Chinese-American San Francisco of the 1930s through 1950s, including flashbacks to LIly’s parents and her aunt, whose career working…
An Improbable Season is the story of three different debutantes and how they make good – or don’t – during their very first season. Unfortunately, some terminology and title bobbles don’t allow this one to glimmer like a diamond of the first water, but teens will likely find it to be an amusing diversion. Sisters…
Queen Bee is a YA Regency revenge romance about Lyra, a young girl who was betrayed by her best friend when she was fifteen and is now back for revenge. I enjoyed the story’s suspense–the author slowly lets the reader see how Lyra was ruined in the past, how she takes revenge and how her…
In the first few chapters, Flip the Script by Lyla Lee seems like it isn’t going anywhere special: heroine Hana Jin has landed a lead role in the K-Drama Fated Destiny opposite K-Pop star Bryan Yoon in his first acting gig, and to boost ratings for their show, they are asked to have a fake…
Wonderfully brash, brassy and alive, Seven Percent of Ro Devereux is brimming with zest and some surprisingly salty language, as well as a heroine who will not be forgotten by young readers who try out her adventures. Ellen O’Clover has a wonderfully engaging authorial voice, which definitely helps smooth things along. Ro Devereux has an…
Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling is a sweet novel that takes an in-depth look at a high school romance that starts on one New Year’s Eve and ends on another. Teenagers are bound to love and have fun sinking into it, especially if they have a fondness for online Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying streams….
Begin Again is a wonderful coming of age YA story that follows Andie Rose, as she starts over at her dream school. It’s great fun to watch her build new friendships and discover more about herself as she takes on new challenges. I also love the good-natured humor that runs throughout the story as well…
In Talia Hibbert’s Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute, we get a relatable, friends-to-enemies-back-to-friends-to-maybe-more young adult story that, while well written, somewhat missed the mark for me. Granted, I had high expectations given the buzz Hibbert has received for her contemporary romance titles. Celine Bangura may be an outsider, but she definitely owns it. She knows…
This one left me grinning. The Love Match is a fun, fast-paced romp through a coming of age tale with a compelling love triangle and a lot of solid material to be had. Zahra Khan is a princess without a crown. Stuck in Patterson, New Jersey with the rest of her family, she’s hoping to…
I’ve been excited for The Do-Over, Painter’s new YA novel ever since I read and loved Better Than the Movies (2021) and I’m happy to share The Do-Over was just as good, if not better. It reminded me of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off mixed with a little Groundhog Day and I was quickly swept into the story. Emilie wakes up excited for her first…
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