Bye-Bye, Blue Creek by Andrew Smith

Bye-Bye, Blue Creek is the latest middle grade novel from the incomparable Andrew Smith.  This is the sequel to The Size of the Truth, his first novel in the Sam Abernathy series.  It is such a fun novel about growing up and letting go.  It is about holding on to those things that are most important to us, while at the same time accepting what the future holds.  Sam is such an enjoyable character and this story about his last days before starting high school is a beautiful way to inform the reader about this boy we encountered years before.  

We first met Sam in Smith's YA novel Stand Off.  In this newest story, Sam is getting ready to leave his small Texas town of Blue Creek and head to school in Pine Mountain, Oregon.  As a 12 year old incoming freshman, this is a pretty scary prospect.  Sam is preparing to say goodbye to all that he has ever known: his family, his friends, this quirky little town.  And as he embarks on a scary little adventure in his last days in Blue Creek, Sam learns that saying goodbye doesn't mean it's the end.  In fact, this is just the beginning of a wonderful adventure to come. 

From Amazon: 

Sam Abernathy prepares to leave home for the first time in this charming follow-up to award-winning author Andrew Smith’s The Size of Truth.

Vampires have just moved in to the haunted house next door.

All twelve-year-old Sam Abernathy wanted to do was make the most of his last few weeks in Blue Creek before he has to say goodbye. Goodbye to the well he fell in eight years ago; goodbye to cooking at Lily Putt’s snack bar; goodbye to his overdramatic best friend, Karim; goodbye to unsweetened iced tea at Colonel Jenkins’s Diner every Saturday with Bahar (who he does not have a crush on); goodbye to his old life.

But the arrival of the Monster People throws a wrench into his plans. Things only get worse when the new family hires Bahar to babysit their child, Boris, who is almost certainly a cannibal. And then—scariest of all—they employ Sam’s catering services. He can’t possibly say no.

If he doesn’t survive the summer, Sam might not have to say bye-bye to Blue Creek at all.

Thoughts & Prayers by Bryan Bliss

My latest read is the new novel from Bryan Bliss, Thoughts & Prayers.  This one is immensely powerful and uniquely told.  Bliss's novel is all about our reaction to trauma and the healing that must come from it.  It is about connecting with those around you and finding peace in their presence.  Even in shared trauma, we all heal differently, and Bliss has given us a novel, told in three different stories, about the different ways in which we find help.  

Thoughts & Prayers is a beautifully told story about three teens, Claire, Eleanor, and Brezzen, who are all survivors of a school shooting.  Each have handled the trauma in different ways, but each are searching for a path to healing.  While told in three separate stories, they are all connected to one traumatic and shared event in the lives of these three students.  This novel is powerful and important and will help the reader understand the trauma our kids go through each time we face these unspeakable acts. 

From Amazon: 

"In his unflinching and resonant new novel, Bryan Bliss shows that there is no straight line through trauma, no easy recipe for healing. Instead, in three loosely connected stories of young people bound by an all-too familiar tragedy, he deftly illuminates the small  moments of human connection and resolve that might just lead to a place of grace."—Gayle Forman, bestselling author of If I Stay and I Have Lost My Way

Fight. Flight. Freeze. What do you do when you can’t move on, even though the rest of the world seems to have? 

For readers of Jason Reynolds, Marieke Nijkamp, and Laurie Halse Anderson. Powerful and tense, Thoughts & Prayers is an extraordinary novel that explores what it means to heal and to feel safe in a world that constantly chooses violence.

Claire, Eleanor, and Brezzen have little in common. Claire fled to Minnesota with her older brother, Eleanor is the face of a social movement, and Brezzen retreated into the fantasy world of Wizards & Warriors.

But a year ago, they were linked. They all hid under the same staircase and heard the shots that took the lives of some of their classmates and a teacher. Now, each one copes with the trauma as best as they can, even as the world around them keeps moving.

Told in three loosely connected but inextricably intertwined stories, National Book Award–longlisted author Bryan Bliss’s Thoughts & Prayers follows three high school students in the aftermath of a school shooting. Thoughts & Prayers is a story about gun violence, but more importantly it is the story of what happens after the reporters leave and the news cycle moves on to the next tragedy. It is the story of three unforgettable teens who feel forgotten.

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

One of my absolute favorite authors, Tiffany D. Jackson, has once again given readers an unbelievably powerful story.  If she writes it, I am going to read it, and this one, like every other novel she has written, did not disappoint.  In this dark and gritty story, Jackson gives us a novel about the abuse of power that adults often inflict on young victims.  It is about how fame and money often causes people to look away when they should be looking deeper.  This is a novel about trauma and the perseverance to survive and move on.  But most importantly it is a novel about how often we don't believe the victims, especially when they are people of color.   Just like her other novels, this one is timely and important and one that should force you to open your eyes to the things we often overlook in our world.  

Grown is the story of Enchanted Jones, an aspiring young singer.  While on an audition, Enchanted catches the eye of Korey Fields, one of the biggest superstars in the music industry.  Korey sees something special in her voice.  And as he convinces her parents to let him make a star out of her, he also starts to seduce this young woman.  The sweet and loving side of Korey is often replaced with a terrifying and abusive man who continues to isolate and abuse Enchanted.  When she wakes up one morning covered in blood, she becomes the prime suspect in Korey's murder.  Did all the trauma she endured finally cause her to snap or did someone frame her for a crime she didn't commit.  Either way, what we see is a group of adults who covered for a man who knew what he was doing was wrong.  We see a group of adults who don't believe the accuser because she is young and black.  Jackson begs us to listen to the victims and condemn the abusers.  This is just another masterpiece in the works of Tiffany D. Jackson. 

 

From Amazon: 

An instant New York Times bestseller! “Grown exposes the underbelly of a tough conversation, providing a searing examination of misogynoir, rape culture, and the vulnerability of young black girls. Groundbreaking, heart-wrenching, and essential reading for all in the #MeToo era.” —Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles 

Award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson delivers another riveting, ripped-from-the-headlines mystery that exposes horrific secrets hiding behind the limelight and embraces the power of a young woman’s voice.

When legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots Enchanted Jones at an audition, her dreams of being a famous singer take flight. Until Enchanted wakes up with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night. Who killed Korey Fields?

Before there was a dead body, Enchanted’s dreams had turned into a nightmare. Because behind Korey’s charm and star power was a controlling dark side. Now he’s dead, the police are at the door, and all signs point to Enchanted.

“Never have I read a story that so flawlessly hits the highest high and lowest low notes of Black girlhood in pursuit of the American Dream.” —Nic Stone, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin and Jackpot

 

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

 If you are a horror fan, The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones will be right up your alley.  This one is intense and terrifying, but offers a satisfying and hopeful ending.  This is a story about our own personal history and how our choices will sometimes come back to get us.  It's about finding our path in life and knowing which direction we should be heading.  

The Only Good Indians is the story of four friends who find themselves in hunting grounds that are off limits to them.  This part of the reservation is for the elders only, but they head in anyways.  When they find a huge herd of elk in their sights, they can't help themselves and open fire, taking down more than they ever could have imagined.  But one of the elk was unexpectedly pregnant, clinging to life to protect her calf, to no avail.  As the 10 year anniversary of the "Thanksgiving Classic" is approaching, things start getting weird for Lewis.  He is driven to madness as the thoughts of that struggling calf come back to him.  But Lewis is only the first of his friends that finds the memories of that day haunting them.  Soon the others are fighting for their lives as their past comes fighting back in to the present. 

Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation by Michael Powell

Canyon Dreams by Michael Powell was my latest read, and I was just blown away.  Powell's storytelling is beautiful and stunning and heartbreaking.  While this book tells of one season of the Chinle High School basketball team, this is a story about so much more than basketball.  It is really a novel about the Navajo people and the struggles they often face living on the reservation.  It is about the history and traditions of the Navajo and how their lives have evolved over the years.  This is a human interest story that will have you cheering for this group of boys as they navigate not only the long basketball season, but lives full of heartache and hope.  I loved this novel so much.  I really can't say enough good things about it.

Note: There is a series on Netflix to accompany this novel.  It is called Basketball or Nothing. 

From Amazon:

The moving story of a Navajo high school basketball team, its members struggling with the everyday challenges of high school, adolescence, and family, and the great and unique obstacles facing Native Americans living on reservations.

Deep in the heart of northern Arizona, in a small and isolated patch of the vast 17.5-million-acre Navajo reservation, sits Chinle High School. Here, basketball is passion, passed from grandparent to parent to child. Rez Ball is a sport for winters where dark and cold descend fast and there is little else to do but roam mesa tops, work, and wonder what the future holds. The town has 4,500 residents and the high school arena seats 7,000. Fans drive thirty, fifty, even eighty miles to see the fast-paced and highly competitive matchups that are more than just games to players and fans.

Celebrated Times journalist Michael Powell brings us a narrative of triumph and hardship, a moving story about a basketball team on a Navajo reservation that shows how important sports can be to youths in struggling communities, and the transcendent magic and painful realities that confront Native Americans living on reservations. This book details his season-long immersion in the team, town, and culture, in which there were exhilarating wins, crushing losses, and conversations on long bus rides across the desert about dreams of  leaving home and the fear of the same.

Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams

Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams was an engrossing and tense read that will keep you on the edge of your seat.  In a novel about faith, family,  and trust, McWilliams gives a strong and powerful female lead.  Through Agnes we learn about the cruelties that people (especially women) face inside a cult.  We learn about the strength and determination it takes to leave and the faith it takes to come back. 

Agnes has always been the faithful servant in her small Red Creek community.  She does the right thing and is obedient to her father and the Prophet.  Except when it comes to her little brother Ezekiel.  Ezekiel depends on a monthly supply of insulin from the outside world and nobody knows that Agnes has been receiving this forbidden medicine from an Outsider.  When she realizes that life in Red Creek isn't the paradise she has been led to believe, Agnes makes the courageous decision to leave for the Outside.  But what she finds is shocking.  The Outside is caught in an apocalyptic pandemic and things are deteriorating quickly.  But through this chaos, Agnes discovers she has more power than she ever thought.  She may just be the answer to saving her family and many others from the illness that is ravaging the planet.  Now she has to decide if she is strong enough to once again face Red Creek and the world she thought she had escaped. 

From Amazon:

The Handmaid's Tale meets Wilder Girls in this genre-defying novel about a girl who escapes a terrifying cult only to discover that the world Outside has succumbed to a viral apocalypse.

Agnes loves her home of Red Creek -- its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town's strict laws. What she doesn't know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet.

Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn't a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek?

As the Prophet grows more dangerous, Agnes realizes she must escape with Ezekiel and leave everyone else, including Beth, behind. But it isn't safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate. As Agnes ventures forth, a mysterious connection grows between her and the Virus. But in a world where faith, miracles, and cruelty have long been indistinguishable, will Agnes be able to choose between saving her family and saving the world?

I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick

The first thing I want to say about I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick is that the book itself is beautiful.  Not only the cover, but the edges of the pages are a brilliant blue.  I love books with colored edges.  The inside of this book is pretty damn good as well.  If you like mysteries and who-done-its, this one should be at the top of your list.  It was such an intriguing and fun read.  From the very first pages you will be hooked.  Frick has given us a great story with tons of twists and turns that will keep you guessing throughout.  If you are a fan of authors like Karen McManus or Kara Thomas, this one will be right up your alley!

I Killed Zoe Spanos is the story of newly graduated Anna Cicconi.  Anna's senior year of high school was filled with hard partying, blacking out, and police rides home.  Before she starts college in the fall she is determined to change her ways.  When she takes a job as a nanny in the Hamptons for the summer, it gives her the perfect escape from the temptations of her life in Brooklyn.

Things quickly turn strange for Anna as people all around the small town of Herron Mills begin to do a double take when they see her.  What she finds out is that she has a strong resemblance to Zoe Spanos, a local girl who went missing on New Year's Eve.  As the summer rolls on, Anna begins to obsess over the disappearance of Zoe Spanos, while at the same time having vivid memories of the people and places in Herron Mills, even though she doesn't believe she has ever been there before this summer. 

When Zoe's body is discovered late in the summer, Anna begins to believe she may have had some involvement in her death.  Soon she finds herself confessing and is placed in a juvenile detention facility.  But did Anna really do it or is she simply conjuring up memories that aren't really connected to Zoe's disappearance?  With the help of aspiring journalist and current podcast host Martina Green, the truth will finally be revealed.  Will Martina clear Anna's name, or will we be convinced that she is guilty as charged?   

From Amazon:

A People Best Book of Summer 2020
A Parade Best Book of Summer 2020
“The YA thriller of the summer.” —Bustle

First print edition includes blue sprayed edges!

For fans of Sadie and Serial, this gripping thriller follows two teens whose lives become inextricably linked when one confesses to murder and the other becomes determined to uncover the real truth no matter the cost.

What happened to Zoe won’t stay buried…

When Anna Cicconi arrives to the small Hamptons village of Herron Mills for a summer nanny gig, she has high hopes for a fresh start. What she finds instead is a community on edge after the disappearance of Zoe Spanos, a local girl who has been missing since New Year’s Eve. Anna bears an eerie resemblance to Zoe, and her mere presence in town stirs up still-raw feelings about the unsolved case. As Anna delves deeper into the mystery, stepping further and further into Zoe’s life, she becomes increasingly convinced that she and Zoe are connected—and that she knows what happened to her.

Two months later, Zoe’s body is found in a nearby lake, and Anna is charged with manslaughter. But Anna’s confession is riddled with holes, and Martina Green, teen host of the Missing Zoe podcast, isn’t satisfied. Did Anna really kill Zoe? And if not, can Martina’s podcast uncover the truth?

Inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, Kit Frick weaves a thrilling story of psychological suspense that twists and turns until the final page.