Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston

Okay, it has been a long time since I've completed one of these.  Life got busy in July and school was starting up in August.  Combine these two things and not much reading gets accomplished.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear is a title that has been on my radar for a long time.  I finally started it in July and just finished it this weekend.  Exit is the story of a girl entering her senior year of high school, and maybe more importantly for her, her senior year of cheerleading.  Just before the school year starts, Hermione Winters is drugged and raped on the last night of cheer camp.

Over the course of the novel we see her as she is dealing with the emotional, mental, and physical fallout that comes with such a traumatic event.  More importantly, we see the support that she receives from those around her, some more reluctantly than others.  While this book is centered around the tragic event of her rape, it is a book that ends with a hope for the future, a chance at not letting this horrible event define who Hermione is in the end.
 

From Amazon:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author E.K. Johnston comes a brave and unforgettable story that will inspire readers to rethink how we treat survivors.

Hermione Winters is captain of her cheerleading team, and in tiny Palermo Heights, this doesn’t mean what you think it means. At PHHS, the cheerleaders don't cheer for the sports teams; they are the sports team—the pride and joy of a small town. The team's summer training camp is Hermione's last and marks the beginning of the end of…she’s not sure what. She does know this season could make her a legend. But during a camp party, someone slips something in her drink. And it all goes black.

In every class, there's a star cheerleader and a pariah pregnant girl. They're never supposed to be the same person. Hermione struggles to regain the control she's always had and faces a wrenching decision about how to move on. The rape wasn't the beginning of Hermione Winter's story and she's not going to let it be the end. She won’t be anyone’s cautionary tale.


"This story of a cheerleader rising up after a traumatic event will give you Veronica Mars-level feels that will stay with you long after you finish."—Seventeen Magazine

Because of the Sun by Jenny Torres Sanchez

Because of the Sun is a novel that took me a little while to get into, but once I did, I was quickly engrossed in this beautiful novel. It is a story about family. It is a story about accepting and understanding the past. It is a story about forgiveness. And it is a story about resilience. It is a beautiful story.

Dani is a young girl who has to deal with the brutal death of her mother at the hands (or paws) of a bear. Her mother was not always, or even very often, a decent mother. When an aunt who she never even knew existed agrees to take her in, she has to learn to deal with the past that continues to haunt her, and the bear that continues to chase her. With the help of her aunt and a new love interest, she comes to understand the past while accepting her future.

From Amazon:

“An absorbing page-turner, equal parts light and dark, and filled with the sweetest, swooniest ache. Everyone needs to read Jenny Torres Sanchez. Now.” —JENNIFER NIVEN, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe

From the backyards of suburban Florida to the parched desert of New Mexico, Because of the Sun explores the complexity of family, the saving grace of friendship, and the healing that can begin when the truth is brought to light.

Dani learned to tolerate her existence in suburban Florida with her brash and seemingly unloving mother by embracing the philosophy Why care? It will only hurt. So when her mother is killed in a sudden and violent manner, Dani goes into an even deeper protection mode: total numbness. It’s the only way she can go on.

But when Dani chooses The Stranger by Albert Camus as summer reading for school, it feels like fate. The main character’s alienation after his mother’s death mirrors her own.

Dani’s life is thrown into further turmoil when she is sent to New Mexico to live with an aunt she never knew she had. The awkwardness between them is palpable. To escape, Dani takes long walks in the merciless heat. One day, she meets Paulo, who understands how much Dani is hurting. Although she is hesitant at first, a mutual trust and affection develops between them. And as she and her aunt begin to connect, Dani learns about her mother’s past. Forgiving isn’t easy, but maybe it’s the only way to move forward.

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

Allegedly is a dark and gritty novel that will keep you turning the pages in search of answers.  What really happened to little Alyssa on that tragic night?  If Mary is innocent, why didn't she speak up sooner?  How can a mom do that to her little girl?  Is Mary really as innocent as she thinks she is?

All of these haunting questions will keep you reading until the very end.  I highly enjoyed this debut novel by Tiffany D. Jackson.  She brought us true to life characters and a story that will stick with you long after you finish the last page.  

From Amazon:

Orange Is the New Black meets Walter Dean Myer’s Monster in this gritty, twisty, and haunting debut by Tiffany D. Jackson about a girl convicted of murder seeking the truth while surviving life in a group home.

Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: a white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it?

There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary’s fate now lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But does anyone know the real Mary?

Learning to Swear in America by Katie Kennedy

This book was so much fun!  It was funny and thought provoking and intense and heart-warming all at the same time.  Learning to Swear in America is Katie Kennedy's debut novel, and she really knocked it out of the park.

Our narrator, Yuri, is a 17 year old genius from Russia who was brought to the United States to try and help stop an asteroid that is hurtling towards California and threatens its very existence.  Because his theories on antimatter haven't been fully explored, nobody will listen to him.  Along the way he meets Dovie, a 16 year old girl who will teach him what being a teenager and having friends is all about.  Being a boy genius, he has never quite lived like a normal kid, but he is about to start dipping his toes in that water.

Will he help stop the asteroid in time to give himself a chance at some normalcy, or will his life be over before he ever has the opportunity to learn some American swear words?  Kennedy's wonderful debut will keep you flipping the pages as you try and figure all of this out? 

From Amazon:

An asteroid is hurtling toward Earth. A big, bad one. Maybe not kill-all-the-dinosaurs bad, but at least kill-everyone-in-California-and-wipe-out-Japan-with-a-tsunami bad. Yuri, a physicist prodigy from Russia, has been recruited to aid NASA as they calculate a plan to avoid disaster.

The good news is Yuri knows how to stop the asteroid--his research in antimatter will probably win him a Nobel prize if there's ever another Nobel prize awarded. But the trouble is, even though NASA asked for his help, no one there will listen to him. He's seventeen, and they've been studying physics longer than he's been alive.

Then he meets (pretty, wild, unpredictable) Dovie, who lives like a normal teenager, oblivious to the impending doom. Being with her, on the adventures she plans when he's not at NASA, Yuri catches a glimpse of what it means to save the world and live a life worth saving.

Prepare to laugh, cry, cringe, and have your mind burst open with the questions of the universe.

The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

I'll be honest.  When I first started The Smell of Other People's Houses, I didn't think I was going to like it.  I had heard good things about it and it was a finalist for the Morris Award (given to the best debut YA novel), so I was excited to read it.  After the first 25 pages or so I was not too excited about it.  But I kept reading and I am very glad I did.

This beautiful story is told through 4 different narrators, each having their own individual story.  These worlds eventually collide and as it all comes together, it will leave you wanting more. 

This was one of those books that I would often times catch myself smiling at, excited about how the book was working and happy for the incredible characters that Hitchcock developed during the story.  

From Amazon:

“Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock’s Alaska is beautiful and wholly unfamiliar…. A thrilling, arresting debut.” —Gayle Forman, New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay and I Was Here

“[A] singular debut. . . .  [Hitchcock] weav[es] the alternating voices of four young people into a seamless and continually surprising story of risk, love, redemption, catastrophe, and sacrifice.” —The Wall Street Journal

This deeply moving and authentic debut set in 1970s Alaska is for fans of Rainbow Rowell, Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, and Benjamin Alire Saenz. Intertwining stories of love, tragedy, wild luck, and salvation on the edge of America’s Last Frontier introduce a writer of rare talent.

Ruth has a secret that she can’t hide forever. Dora wonders if she can ever truly escape where she comes from, even when good luck strikes. Alyce is trying to reconcile her desire to dance, with the life she’s always known on her family’s fishing boat. Hank and his brothers decide it’s safer to run away than to stay home—until one of them ends up in terrible danger.

Four very different lives are about to become entangled. This unforgettable William C. Morris Award finalist is about people who try to save each other—and how sometimes, when they least expect it, they succeed.

The Call by Peadar O'Guilin

The Call was a thrilling ride that will keep you turning the page until the end.

This is the story of Ireland and the country's fight for survival.  Their future relies on the youth, but unfortunately they are all slowly dying.

At the age of 10, kids are sent off to Survival College to learn all about their country's past and learn how to survive when they eventually get "the Call."  Many years ago, the Sidhe were banished to the other world and now they are doing everything they can to become part of the natural world again.  Their way of taking over involves calling out the youth of the country one at a time.  Nobody knows when they will be called, but when they do, they have 3 minutes to survive.  Can the youth survive when their time is called and give the country some hope for the future?

This is a fun story and one that I am sure many of you will enjoy!

From Amazon:

THREE MINUTES

You wake up alone in a horrible land. A horn sounds. The Call has begun.

TWO MINUTES

The Sidhe are close. They're the most beautiful and terrible people you've ever seen. And they've seen you.

ONE MINUTE

Nessa will be Called soon. No one thinks she has any chance to survive. But she's determined to prove them wrong.

TIME'S UP

Could you survive the Call?

A genre-changing blend of fantasy, horror, and folkore, The Call won't ever leave your mind from the moment you choose to answer it.

A List of Cages by Robin Roe

This is my favorite book of 2017!  It is raw and emotional and will definitely stick with you when it is all said and done.   It is a story of friendship and family and most importantly resilience. 

It is the beautiful story of two boys who were once like brothers.  Adam and Julian become reunited when Julian begins high school.  After struggling through the first month, he becomes "assigned" to Adam by the counselor.  This becomes something that both boys need, especially as the past, and now the present soon come in to focus for Adam.  He soon realizes what is really going on with Julian and the friendship that they share becomes of the utmost importance. 

I just can't praise this book enough.  It is an incredible story that will leave you thinking of it long after the last page. 

From Amazon:

FIVE STARRED REVIEWS! #1 BESTSELLER! 

"I love this book with my whole heart."--Jennifer Niven

"Remarkably gripping and moving."--Emma Donoghue

"Triumphant."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Beautiful and brilliant."--Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"Emotional, visceral...heartbreaking...and beautiful."--School Library Journal (starred review)

When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he's got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn't easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can't complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian--the foster brother he hasn't seen in five years.

Adam is ecstatic to be reunited. At first, Julian seems like the boy he once knew. He's still kind hearted. He still writes stories and loves picture books meant for little kids. But as they spend more time together, Adam realizes that Julian is keeping secrets, like where he hides during the middle of the day, and what's really going on inside his house. Adam is determined to help him, but his involvement could cost both boys their lives.