Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

Wow!  Monday's Not Coming is another incredible novel by Tiffany D. Jackson.  Her debut, Allegedly, was a wonderful read, so I was really looking forward to this novel.  And Jackson provided us with a novel that hits with all the same force of her debut.  This is a story about the power of friendship, but also the trauma that comes with tragedy.  It is a story that will leave you sad because of the terrible truth that comes with it, while at the same time fill you with hope in the knowledge that there is always someone out there who won't give up.  This novel has left me with so many thoughts, thoughts that will stick with me for a long time.  This isn't a book that you will soon forget.

Monday's Not Coming is told through the unique narration of Claudia, a girl who seems to be the only one that cares that her best friend, Monday Charles, is nowhere to be found.  When Claudia returns home after a summer spend with her grandma, she can't get in contact with Monday.  And since Monday did not respond to any of her letters over the summer, the worry that Claudia feels is immediate.  And when she doesn't show up to school for the first day, Claudia's fears only intensify.  And as the day's pass with no sign of Monday, Claudia does everything she can to figure out what has happened to her best friend.  But few of the adults in her life seem at all concerned about the sudden disappearance of this young girl.  And Claudia isn't going to give up the search until she has some answers.



From Amazon:

From the critically acclaimed author of Allegedly, Tiffany D. Jackson, comes a gripping new novel perfect for fans of E. Lockhart and Gillian Flynn about the mystery of one teenage girl’s disappearance and the traumatic effects of the truth.

Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried.

When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.

As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?

I Felt A Funeral In My Brain by Will Walton

I read this novel at the suggestion of Andrew Smith, like I do with anything I see him advocating for.  And with I Felt A Funeral In My Brain, Will Walton has given the reader a novel about the pains of not only losing a loved one in death, but the pains of losing loved ones to life.  Told through both prose and poetry, this is a story that many can relate to.

Our narrator, Avery, has a lot on his plate.  And much of that is grown up stuff that a teenager shouldn't always have to deal with.  But the sad reality is that many teenager are facing the same realities as Avery on a daily basis.  Avery has an alcoholic mother who, due to her addiction, hasn't always been there for him.  At the same time, Avery is also discovering that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  Avery's grandfather, Pal, is also struggling with this same addiction.  But this addiction soon plays a role in the death of Pal, and now Avery is tasked with trying to figure out how to deal with the death of his grandpa, the person who has been there for him since they day he was born.  This novel will explore the many ways that people often try to cope with losing someone we love, while also figuring out how to live at the same time. 

From Amazon:

How do you deal with a hole in your life?

Do you turn to poets and pop songs?

Do you dream?

Do you try on love just to see how it fits?

Do you grieve?

If you're Avery, you do all of these things. And you write it all down in an attempt to understand what's happened--and is happening--to you.

I Felt a Funeral, In My Brain is an astonishing novel about navigating death and navigating life, at a time when the only map you have is the one you can draw for yourself.

The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik by David Arnold

 I am a huge fan of David Arnold.  His two previous novels, Mosquitoland and Kids of Appetite, were incredible.  Since I have loved his two previous novels so much, I have been waiting for The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik for a long time.  And I have to say, this one was worth the wait.  Arnold has once again given us a novel that is smart and funny and heartfelt.  He has given us a novel that we will be thinking about long after finishing the last page.  As usual, he strikes a place deep within us.  And as usual, I am blown away by another novel by David Arnold. 

This novel tells the story of Noah Oakman, a teenage boy who has grown bored with the life he is living.  He is bored with his two best friends, his little sister, and his parents.  He feels like he is trapped in a life that isn't the one he wants.  One night at a party, he meets a strange boy who gives him an opportunity to change the things that have become so mundane. 

But when Noah starts noticing slight changes in the world that he has always known, he has to figure out why.  Why have all but a few things changed?  Why have his "strange fascinations" remained the same while everything else around him is just slightly altered?  And when all of these questions are answered, we are left with a stunning novel about family and friends and the ways that we often hurt them without even realizing it.  But even more important than that, this is a novel about how we, as family and friends, are always there for each other despite anything else that may happen.  This novel teaches us to live in the present and to not take for granted the things we have in our every day lives.  It teaches us to live in the in between.  That time in between our birth and our death.  It teaches us that the most important moments are the ones we are living in right now. 

From Amazon:

This is Noah Oakman → sixteen, Bowie believer, concise historian, disillusioned swimmer, son, brother, friend.

Then Noah → gets hypnotized.

Now Noah → sees changes: his mother has a scar on her face that wasn’t there before; his old dog, who once walked with a limp, is suddenly lithe; his best friend, a lifelong DC Comics disciple, now rotates in the Marvel universe. Subtle behaviors, bits of history, plans for the future—everything in Noah’s world has been rewritten. Everything except his Strange Fascinations . . .

A stunning surrealist portrait, The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik is a story about all the ways we hurt our friends without knowing it, and all the ways they stick around to save us.

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.