Tradition by Brendan Kiely

Tradition by Brendan Kiely is a powerful and important novel about privilege, expectations, power, but most importantly about doing what is right.  This book should help to open the eyes of the reader to the dangerous nature of tradition in an every changing world. 

This novel is told through the dual narration of James and Jules, two senior students at the prestigious Fullbrook Academy.  James is a new student, one who doesn't quite fit, but because of his hockey ability has been given a scholarship for the year.  Jules is a legacy, attending the same school her mother graduated from years ago.  She has decided that she is going to take control of her future during her senior year.  But this ruffles the feathers of many other students since she doesn't just fall in line with what is expected of her. 

Both being outcasts at Fullbrook, James and Jules become friends as their senior year progresses.  Along with friends Aileen and Javi, their friendship is put to the test after Jules is sexually assaulted by an ex-boyfriend.  But Ethan has power at the school and is untouchable.  Jules and Aileen are tired of being quiet though, and with the help of James and Javi, they plan on putting an end to the dangerous traditions that continue at Fullbrook.

From Amazon:

From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Brendan Kiely, a stunning new novel that explores the insidious nature of tradition at a prestigious boarding school.

Prestigious. Powerful. Privileged. This is Fullbrook Academy, an elite prep school where history looms in the leafy branches over its brick walkways. But some traditions upheld in its hallowed halls are profoundly dangerous.

Jules Devereux just wants to keep her head down, avoid distractions, and get into the right college, so she can leave Fullbrook and its old-boy social codes behind. She wants freedom, but ex-boyfriends and ex-best friends are determined to keep her in place.

Jamie Baxter feels like an imposter at Fullbrook, but the hockey scholarship that got him in has given him a chance to escape his past and fulfill the dreams of his parents and coaches, whose mantra rings in his ears: Don’t disappoint us.

When Jamie and Jules meet, they recognize in each other a similar instinct for survival, but at a school where girls in the student handbook are rated by their looks, athletes stack hockey pucks in dorm room windows like notches on a bedpost, and school-sponsored dances push first year girls out into the night with senior boys, the stakes for safe sex, real love, and true friendship couldn’t be higher.

As Jules and Jamie’s lives intertwine, and the pressures to play by the rules and remain silent about the school’s secrets intensify, they see Fullbrook for what it really is. That tradition, a word Fullbrook hides behind, can be ugly, even violent. Ultimately, Jules and Jamie are faced with the difficult question: can they stand together against classmates—and an institution—who believe they can do no wrong?

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds was a highly enjoyable read.  This story is so much about family and what it should mean to us.  It is about being there to take care of those you love and doing what it takes to make sure they are taken care of.  And that may not always be easy, but it is necessary.  At times it could be easy to give up on people, but in this book, Reynolds shows us that sticking by their side, even when it is difficult, is maybe the bravest thing you can do.  If you have read anything by Jason Reynolds before, you will enjoy this one as well.  

From Amazon:

In Bed Stuy, New York, a small misunderstanding can escalate into having a price on your head—even if you’re totally clean. This gritty, triumphant debut that Publishers Weekly calls “a funny and rewarding read” captures the heart and the hardship of life for an urban teen.

A lot of the stuff that gives my neighborhood a bad name, I don’t really mess with. The guns and drugs and all that, not really my thing.

Nah, not his thing. Ali’s got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there’s a dude looking for trouble—and, somehow, it’s always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy’s gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it’s all small potatoes; it’s not like anyone’s getting hurt.

And then there’s Needles. Needles is Noodles’s brother. He’s got a syndrome, and gets these ticks and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It’s cool, though: everyone on their street knows he doesn’t mean anything by it.

Yeah, it’s cool…until Ali and Noodles and Needles find themselves somewhere they never expected to be…somewhere they never should've been—where the people aren’t so friendly, and even less forgiving.

S.T.A.G.S. by M.A. Bennett

S.T.A.G.S. by M.A. Bennett was a wild ride, and one I am glad I jumped on.  This is a novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out how it will all play out.  And just when you think you have it, it will turn you on your head again.

St. Aiden the Great School is a boarding school for the ultra privileged,  and it is control by a group of six students know as the Medievals.  A group who not only establishes the rules, but feel as if they don't always apply to them.  If you are an outsider, say a scholarship student, come from new money, or have a darker skin tone, you are the target of their incessant bullying.  That is until these students are invited to a weekend at Longcross of huntin', shootin', and fishin'.  But as the weekend unfolds, we have to start wondering who the targets really are, the animals or something else.  There are so many twists and turns as the weekend goes on that, as a reader, you will often find yourself second guessing what is really going on.  This was such a fun read!

From Amazon:

"Gossip Girl meets The Hunger Games." --Bustle

"Like Mean Girls, but British and deadly. . . . This book is great, from start to finish." --Hypable 

Get ready for one deadly weekend in this twisting thriller for fans of Pretty Little Liars and One of Us is Lying that explores just how far the elite at an English boarding school will go.

Greer MacDonald has just started as a scholarship student at the exclusive St. Aidan the Great boarding school, known to its privileged pupils as STAGS. STAGS is a place where new things--and new people--are to be avoided. And in her first days there, Greer is ignored at best and mocked at worst by the school's most admired circle of friends, the Medievals.

So, naturally, Greer is taken by surprise when the Medievals send her an invitation to a sought-after weekend retreat at the private family estate of their unofficial leader, Henry de Warlencourt. It's billed as a weekend of "huntin' shootin' fishin'."

As the weekend begins to take shape, it becomes apparent that beyond the luxurious trappings, predators are lurking, and they're out for blood.

OPTIONED FOR FILM BY FOX 2000 AND CHERNIN ENTERTAINMENT--WITH HUNGER GAMES CO-WRITER TO ADAPT!

"Reinvigorates the boarding-school thriller." --The Guardian

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi

Wow!  A Land of Permanent Goodbyes is such a powerful and important novel.  The stories of Tareq and Susan, along with all the others involved hit me like a ton of bricks and has stuck with me since I finished it yesterday evening.  This is a novel that I just keep thinking about.

This is the story of refugees who have been impacted by the war in Syria; impacted physically, emotionally, mentally.  It is the story of their journey to safety and let's us know just how dangerous that journey is.  And while this is a story about Tareq and his little sister, Susan, it is also the tale of so many Syrians who have fled their homeland in order to preserve their own lives, along with the lives of their families.

While the story of Tareq and Susan is ficitonal, it is also a completely true representation of the crisis that has effected so many.  As I read the hardships that little Susan endured during her journey, I kept thinking of my own little 4 year old girl, and how I couldn't imagine the same things happening to her.  And while she will never have to experience these atrocities, it is an unfortunate reality for way too many.

This is a novel that should open your eyes to some of the things we often try to not pay attention to.  To some of the things we would rather not think about.  But it will also open your hearts and fill you with hope.  A hope that things can be better, a hope that there are good people out there, a hope that the helpers will always be there to help.  

From Amazon:

Narrated by Destiny, this heartbreaking -- and timely -- story of refugees escaping from war-torn Syria is masterfully told by a foreign news correspondent who experienced the crisis firsthand.

In a country ripped apart by war, Tareq lives with his big and loving family . . . until the bombs strike. His city is in ruins. His life is destroyed. And those who have survived are left to figure out their uncertain future.

In the wake of destruction, he's threatened by Daesh fighters and witnesses a public beheading. Tareq's family knows that to continue to stay alive, they must leave. As they travel as refugees from Syria to Turkey to Greece, facing danger at every turn, Tareq must find the resilience and courage to complete his harrowing journey.

But while this is one family's story, it is also the timeless tale of all wars, of all tragedy, and of all strife. When you are a refugee, success is outliving your loss.

Destiny narrates this heartbreaking story of the consequences of war, showing the Syrian conflict as part of a long chain of struggles spanning through time.

An award-winning author and journalist--and a refugee herself--Atia Abawi captures the hope that spurs people forward against all odds and the love that makes that hope grow.

One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

One of Us Is Lying was so much fun!  I love when a book like this keeps you guessing, making you keep turning the page as you try and unravel the mystery.  This book does that in an incredibly fun and unique way.  As we look in to the lives of each of the suspects, we start to learn who they really are, and we start to doubt all of the assumptions we may have made about them early on. 

This is a story of five students who end up in detention on the same afternoon.  These five are all very different, but have one dangerous connection.  The four who become suspects were all the target of About That, a gossip app created and ran by the fifth student, who winds up dead by the end of detention.  Simon was about to release a post implicating the other four in juicy pieces of gossip, but he never got the chance.  Now Bronwyn, Nate, Cooper, and Addy are the prime suspects in Simon's death.  So who is telling the truth and who is lying?  You will want to keep turning the pages as you try and figure out where the truth really lies. 

From Amazon:

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

“Pretty Little Liars meets The Breakfast Club” (EW.com) in this “flat-out addictive” (RT Book Reviews) story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive.

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
  
 Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
 Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
 Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
 Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
 And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

An EW.com Best YA Book of the Year Selection
A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of the Year Selection
A Popcrush Best Young Adult Book of the Year SelectionA New York Public Library's Best Book for Teens Selection
A CBC Teen Choice Book Award NomineeA Bustle.com Best Young Adult Book of May 2017
A Goodreads Best Young Adult Book of the Year Nominee
A YALSA Best Fiction Book Nominee
A YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
“You’ll tear through this juicy, super-fun (if murder can ever be fun?) thriller."—Bustle.com

"A whodunit with a Breakfast Club twist...following four unique voices on a chase to find the killer, this one will keep you guessing until the very, very end."—Popcrush

"Twisty plotting, breakneck pacing and intriguing characterisation add up to an exciting, single-sitting thrillerish treat."—The Guardian
"This is no ordinary whodunit…surprising and relevant."—USA Today
“An addictive, devour-in-one-sitting thriller with so many twists and turns you'll be wondering until the very end: Who really killed Simon?”—Kara Thomas, author of The Darkest Corners and Little Monsters
★"[As] McManus's intense mystery unfolds...each character becomes more complex and nuanced, adding richness and depth to the suspense." —VOYA, Starred Review

"This fast-paced blend of Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and classic John Hughes will leave readers racing to the finish as the try to unravel the mystery on their own."—Kirkus Reviews
"A smart, twisted, and unpredictable YA mystery that will have readers guessing until the very end."—SLJ

"An engaging, enticing look at the pressures of high school and the things that cause a person to lose control."—Booklist
"Readers will have a hard time putting this clever page-turner down."-BookPage.com

For Everyone by Jason Reynolds

ATTENTION EVERYONE!!! Go find this book, take 10 minutes to read it, let it open your heart, then pass it on to anyone who will listen.

Through my blog I’m often giving reviews of the books I have read, telling all of you what I think about what I am reading. But I don’t think I have ever finished a book and immediately thought, “Everyone needs to read this book.” But as soon as I finished it, I passed it to my wife, then my sons, and I plan on reading it to every one of my classes. As the name says, it is for everyone. It is for everyone that has ever dreamed, dreamed of being a parent, an artist, an athlete, a writer, a teacher. In this beautiful little poem, Jason Reynolds has put in to words what everyone who has ever dared to dream needs to hear. I am blown away.

From Amazon:

Originally performed at the Kennedy Center for the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and later as a tribute to Walter Dean Myers, this stirring and inspirational poem is New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds’s rallying cry to the dreamers of the world.

For Every One is just that: for every one. For every one person. For every one dream. But especially for every one kid. The kids who dream of being better than they are. Kids who dream of doing more than they almost dare to dream. Kids who are like Jason Reynolds, a self-professed dreamer. Jason does not claim to know how to make dreams come true; he has, in fact, been fighting on the front line of his own battle to make his own dreams a reality. He expected to make it when he was sixteen. Then eighteen. Then twenty-five. Now, some of those expectations have been realized. But others, the most important ones, lay ahead, and a lot of them involve kids, how to inspire them. All the kids who are scared to dream, or don’t know how to dream, or don’t dare to dream because they’ve NEVER seen a dream come true. Jason wants kids to know that dreams take time. They involve countless struggles. But no matter how many times a dreamer gets beat down, the drive and the passion and the hope never fully extinguish—because just having the dream is the start you need, or you won’t get anywhere anyway, and that is when you have to take a leap of faith.

A pitch perfect graduation, baby, or love my kid gift.

Refugee by Alan Gratz

Refugee by Alan Gratz was an extremely powerful read.  This novel will open your eyes to the plight of so many people, especially children, from all over the world and from all times.

Refugee tells the stories of three kids, all of whom are trying to leave their homeland in order to find safety somewhere else.  We hear the story of Josef, a Jewish boy living in Germany during the beginnings of the Nazi rule.  He learn about Isabel and her journey as she tries to leave Cuba and the lack of resources during the time of Castro.  And then there is Mahmoud, a Syrian boy whose family is seeking refuge from the ongoing civil war that threatens all the citizens of his home country.

While these are all fictional stories, they are all based on the true and harrowing stories that have come out of these countries.  It should open the readers eyes to the atrocities that have not only happened in the past, but to the ones that are happening in our world today.  This is an important book for all readers.  

From Amazon:

JOSEF is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world . . .

ISABEL is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in America . . .

MAHMOUD is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe . . .

All three kids go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers -- from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end.

This action-packed novel tackles topics both timely and timeless: courage, survival, and the quest for home.