Red Girl, Blue Boy (If Only . . . #5) by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Release Date: October 20, 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: ALA 2015
Rating: 
(3.5)
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
Enjoy Red Girl, Blue Boy and the other standalone titles in Bloomsbury’s contemporary If Only romance line centered around an impossible problem: you always want what you can’t have!
Sixteen-year-old Katie and Drew really shouldn’t get along. After all, her father is the Republican nominee for President of the United States while his mother is at the top of the Democratic ticket. But when Katie and Drew are thrown together in a joint interview on a morning talk show, they can’t ignore the chemistry between them. With an entire nation tuned into and taking sides in your parents’ fight, and the knowledge that—ultimately—someone has to lose, how can you fall in love with the one person you’re supposed to hate?
This title in the If Only line is a frank and funny romance that shows how sparks fly when opposites attract. – Goodreads
Review:
This was a cute story. That’s the best way to put it. There is nothing wrong with it, I just don’t have the interest to ever re-read it. It tells the story of Katie, our Red Girl, and Drew, our Blue Boy. Their parents are currently running for President of the United States, something I found very timely with the election madness that is going on. The problem is I never got the feel of Katie.
Drew was very clear. He wasn’t interested in his mother running for President. He doesn’t care about the fact that they might move to the White House, he just wants to continue to be a teenager who has annoying twin brothers and a father who happened to make millions of dollars. Katie on the other hand eat, drinks, sleeps, and breathes politics. She takes her father’s campaign very seriously and doesn’t understand people who aren’t like her.
Katie seems very naive throughout this entire novel, and there is nothing wrong with a naive character, but Katie was confused by a phone with a cord. Has she never seen a movie from the 90s? While she’s never been kissed or never dated (which I completely understood — and believed) there were multiple scenes where I was confused how she survived life until she became a teenager.
I found their love story cute. The two characters really did like each other, they fell in love in a believeable way, there life was just out of the ordinary and instead of that making me fall in love with them it made me meh.
Everything But the Truth (If Only . . . #6) by Mandy Hubbard
Release Date: November 17, 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: ALA 2015
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
If Only . . . she wasn’t pretending to be someone else! The If Only romance line continues in this fun rags-to-riches romance.
Holly Mathews’ mom is the new manager of a ritzy retirement home, and they just moved in. But having super-rich retirees as her only neighbors isn’t a total bust, because the gorgeous, notorious Malik Buchannan is the grandson of a resident. Just one problem: when they meet, Malik assumes Holly is there to visit her own rich relative. She doesn’t correct him, and it probably doesn’t matter, because their flirtation could never turn into more than a superficial fling . . . right? But the longer she lives in his privileged world, the deeper Holly falls for Malik, and the harder it is to tell the truth . . . because coming clean might mean losing him.
For anyone who has dreamed of their own Cinderella story, this romance shows that when it comes to true love, the best person to be is yourself! – Goodreads
Review:
As my second book in the If Only…series, this book was adorable. And the better of the two that I’ve read so far. Everything But the Truth is the story of college bound Holiday (please call me Holly) who is just trying to survive the summer until college. Holly lives in a resident home with her mother, who is currently the temporary manager. Holly’s mom loves this job and is trying to become the permanent manager and Holly loves helping her mother out. The relationship between Holly and her mother was super cute and super relatable. While Holly and her mom have always had a happy lifestyle, it has never been one of money or wealth. Having a lot of money is the exact opposite of what they know. However it is something their residents know extremely well.
Malik’s grandfather is an extremely rich man. Everything But the Truth makes jokes about the grandfather and Bill Gates that’s how rich he is. Malik has never had life without money and since Malik meets Holly at the resident home, he assumes Holly is rich, too. And here is where the problem in the book falls, Holly doesn’t correct him and by the time she wants to correct him they have both fallen in love. The love story was realistic and believable even if it is one of the most used tropes in young adult literature. While there was nothing amazing about this book it was so cute and I will happily recommend it because it was exactly what I wanted to read in that moment.
I also enjoyed the side story with Holly’s BFF. STRONG FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS FOREVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
Side note: while I was drawn to the cover because of the interracial couple, race is never once brought up throughout the story which I found fascinating. I also understand that the author has nothing to say about the cover.
When We Collided by Emery Lord
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: ALA 2015
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
Meet Vivi and Jonah: A girl and a boy whose love has the power save or destroy them.
Vivi and Jonah couldn’t be more different. Vivi craves anything joyful or beautiful that life can offer. Jonah has been burdened by responsibility for his family ever since his father died. As summer begins, Jonah resigns himself to another season of getting by. Then Vivi arrives, and suddenly life seems brighter and better. Jonah is the perfect project for Vivi, and things finally feel right for Jonah. Their love is the answer to everything. But soon Vivi’s zest for life falters, as her adventurousness becomes true danger-seeking. Jonah tries to keep her safe, but there’s something important Vivi hasn’t told him.
Perfect for fans of E. Lockhart and Jandy Nelson, When We Collided is a powerful story of two teens whose love is put to the test by forces beyond their control.– Goodreads
Review:
This book is openly going to be hard for me to review. I read it for a buddy read with my bookbff and ended up devouring it when I didn’t mean to. I read this during a point when I was dealing with my own anxiety and ultimately my own grief. During my read of When We Collided I lost my aunt and ultimately didn’t grief because denial is my middle name. I’m saying all of this because When We Collided was the right book at the right time. I bonded with Vivi and Jonah and will probably be offended when people say the characters are too much and didn’t work. I feel the same about Isla and The Happily Ever After because I feel Isla to my bones. Same with Vivi and Jonah. I feel them to my core. I understand their pain.
Vivi is a force of nature who comes into a coastal California town and changes everyone around her. What no one knows is that Vivi is fighting her own demons — which she deals with daily. It is clear from the beginning of the book that Vivi is unique and does not fit into whatever box you try to put her in. Including the labels that have been given to her.
“I keep thinking that I’m a different Vivi than I was just days ago, and I don’t know how to be the new version.”--pg 223 ARC
Then we have Jonah. Jonah’s father has recently died, his mother is falling apart and Jonah is trying to keep his shit together. Between his older siblings and himself they are trying to take care of the family and keep them all together.
“I want to tell her that I will with six heartbroken people, one of whom is catatonic. That kind of heartbreak smells like the aftermath of a car wreck, like hot metal. Oil. The chalky powder released by airbags.” –pg 149 ARC
What Lord did, which is no surprise to me, was pull the reader into a heart wrenching story of grief, love, but also finding yourself. This is one of those rare books that I saw myself in. Not just parts of me. But the sum of me. I saw that girl throughout When We Collided. The girl who debates taking her meds. The girl who loves food and the girl who is annoyed at her mother but still at the end of the day loves her mother with all of her heart. I even wanted to live in the beautiful Verona Cover.
When We Collided burrowed a hole into my cold bitter black heart to the point I’m very protective of it, Viv and Jonah. Both of whom would probably tell me they don’t need me. That they’re doing fine.
Soundless by Richelle Mead
Release Date: November 10, 2015
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: ALA2015
Rating: 
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
In a village without sound…
For as long as Fei can remember, no one in her village has been able to hear. Rocky terrain and frequent avalanches make it impossible to leave the village, so Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.
When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink. Many go hungry. Fei and all the people she loves are plunged into crisis, with nothing to look forward to but darkness and starvation.
One girl hears a call to action…
Until one night, Fei is awoken by a searing noise. Sound becomes her weapon.
She sets out to uncover what’s happened to her and to fight the dangers threatening her village. A handsome miner with a revolutionary spirit accompanies Fei on her quest, bringing with him new risks and the possibility of romance. They embark on a majestic journey from the peak of their jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiguo, where a startling truth will change their lives forever…
And unlocks a power that will save her people. – Goodreads
Review:
I did not know it was possible to be so underwhelmed by a book and I was. There was nothing special or spectacular about this book. I thought it would be nice to read a Mead book outside of the Vampire Academy world, but reading Soundless made me think maybe I should just stay inside the Vampire Academy world.
In the Soundless world there are three classes: the miners, the artists, the beggers. That’s it. Everyone falls into one of these three categories. In reality, everyone falls into one of the first two categories and as soon as someone goes blind, they become beggers. Everyone is also deaf, they have no idea how they lost their ability to hear, but it is what everyone knows.
I also am not sure why in Soundless there is a such a focus on Asian culture in the beginning of this novel because it doesn’t come up ever again. Soundless was dry and bland. There was no humor. There was no character development, or world building. I had come to expect more from Mead and this makes me wonder about those expectations.
Max the Brave by Ed Vere is one of my favorite stories of 2015. I got a chance to read it at ALA 2015 and the story has stayed with me. I was thrilled to be part of the blog tour. It made up for the fact that Vere came through town and I missed him!
Max is a fearless kitten. Max is a brave kitten. Max is a kitten who chases mice. There’s only one problem—Max doesn’t know what a mouse looks like! With a little bit of bad advice, Max finds himself facing a much bigger challenge. Maybe Max doesn’t have to be Max the Brave all the time…
Join this adventurous black cat as he very politely asks a variety of animals for help in finding a mouse. Young readers will delight 
in Max’s mistakes, while adults will love the subtle, tongue-in-cheek humor of this new children’s classic.
Ed Vere is an author, artist and illustrator with a long track record of success in the picture book category. Max the Brave was named one of The Sunday Times’s 100 Modern Children’s Classics. His book Bedtime for Monsters was shortlisted for the 2011 Roald Dahl Funny Prize and Mr Big was chosen by Booktrust as the official Booktime book for 2009 (and was distributed to 750,000 British schoolchildren making it the largest single print run of a picture book). Vere was the World Book Day illustrator
for 2009.
Rafflecopter Link (contest runs Sept. 1-Oct. 31)
Social Media:
Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuNbrpUVunE
Website: http://books.sourcebooks.com/maxthebrave/
Activity Kit: http://sourcebooksftp.com/Email/MaxTheBrave/MaxTheBrave-ActivityKit.pdf
Educator guide: http://sourcebooksftp.com/Email/MaxTheBrave/MaxTheBrave-EduGuide.pdf
Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales
Release Date: September 15, 2015
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Source: ALA 2015
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
From the author of This Song Will Save Your Life comes a funny and relatable book about the hazards of falling for a person you haven’t met yet.
Seventeen-year-old Arden Huntley is recklessly loyal. Taking care of her loved ones is what gives Arden purpose in her life and makes her feel like she matters. But she’s tired of being loyal to people who don’t appreciate her—including her needy best friend and her absent mom.
Arden finds comfort in a blog she stumbles upon called “Tonight the Streets Are Ours,” the musings of a young New York City writer named Peter. When Peter is dumped by the girlfriend he blogs about, Arden decides to take a road trip to see him.
During one crazy night out in NYC filled with parties, dancing, and music—the type of night when anything can happen, and nearly everything does—Arden discovers that Peter isn’t exactly who she thought he was. And maybe she isn’t exactly who she thought she was, either. – Goodreads
Review:
Tonight These Streets Are ours is the story of Arden who ultimately takes care of everyone around her. Unfortunately because her mother has recently left the family, no one takes care of Arden. Arden realizes her father continues to be absent, her brother needs someone to parent, her boyfriend knows she’ll understand, and her best friend always knows Arden will be there. Arden is sick of being there. Arden wants to be taken care of and needed herself.
I wanted to hug Arden and tell her “I get you. I get what it’s like to be the ‘understanding’ person. It gets old!” But Arden and I quickly diverge paths from each other when Arden decides to leave her small town for New York City for the chance at seeing a blogger she admires. Arden sees this blogger living the perfect life and for one night she wants to be part of that. Of course, what Arden doesn’t realize is how blogging often paints a perfect picture but behind the scenes is much more than that. And it’s true, I have spent many nights/days talking to my co-blogger, my friends Jen and Lauren discussing just aspects of blogging, but it’s more than meets the eye. It always is. Arden never thinks of that though. Arden sees the pretty picture that it is and views it as the truth.
She’s shocked when she gets to New York City with her BFF and finds the blogger isn’t everything that she imagined him to be. Her friendship with Lindsey falls apart. Her car falls apart. The blogger falls apart Arden is lost and finds hope in the least likely of places in New York City.
I didn’t find Tonight These Streets Are Ours to be a let down or anything, I just didn’t find it particularly…grabbing. A lot of it was a bit unrealistic, which is fine if it works for the story, but this is a case of where it didn’t work for the story, or therefore me.
Last in a Long Line of Rebels by Lisa Lewis Tyre
Release Date: September 29, 2015
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Source: ALA 2015
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
Debut novelist Lisa Lewis Tyre vibrantly brings a small town and its outspoken characters to life, as she explores race and other community issues from both the Civil War and the present day.
Lou might be only twelve, but she’s never been one to take things sitting down. So when her Civil War-era house is about to be condemned, she’s determined to save it—either by getting it deemed a historic landmark or by finding the stash of gold rumored to be hidden nearby during the war. As Lou digs into the past, her eyes are opened when she finds that her ancestors ran the gamut of slave owners, renegades, thieves and abolitionists. Meanwhile, some incidents in her town show her that many Civil War era prejudices still survive and that the past can keep repeating itself if we let it. Digging into her past shows Lou that it’s never too late to fight injustice, and she starts to see the real value of understanding and exploring her roots.. – Goodreads
Review:
Last in the Long Line of Rebels was the perfect read for me at the time I read it. It had adventure, it had growth, it had a bit of a mystery. I adored this book. From the moment the reader meets Lou, they are drawn into her story. And Lou’s story isn’t simple or neat, it’s messy, sharp and even painful. Lou knows a few things for sure and one of those is that her house is the oldest in the small town she lives in. People loathe her messy house and her parents for not being “normal” but Lou doesn’t care. Lou’s parents (and that messy house) are full of love and give Lou everything she needs to live a successful life.
What they don’t plan for is the city coming after the house and Lou, never one for sitting down, to decide to save her house. With its age they figured Lou and her friends figured could get it on the National Registry of Historical Places, which I thought was genius of them. Once made historical they house can’t be taken and all’s well that ends well. Of course it’s not that simple, but it’s for the best that it’s not that simple. Lou finds a diary from the Civil War and finds out that living in a Swing State (where The Union and The Confederacy was not a clear line) during the Civil War is very similar to present day racial tension in her life. One of Lou’s closest friends is African American and is treated poorly because of that. That affects Lou, and was a great way to introduce younger readers to a topic they may not be comfortable with themselves.
I have no shame in my love and adoration of middle grade novels. I also have no shame in my love of history (which makes sense because of my history degree). Last in the Long Line of Rebels was a dream come true in a book. In her first novel, Lisa Lewis Tyre, wrote a story full of rich characters that had to look to the past to go to the forward. I cannot wait to see what Lisa Lewis Tyre writes next.
Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
Release Date: September 15, 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: ALA 2015
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.
Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.
With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine— Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart. – Goodreads
Review:
Before I went into Dumplin’ I had heard great things. Great things. So expectations were a bit high about this book and here’s the thing. I was not remotely disappointed. I even related to this book far more than I expected to. From Willowdean stating “I’m fat. I’m happy. I’m insecure. I’m bold” (ARC, pg 371) to her relationship with her friends: I got Willowdean.
I only wish I had Willowdean in my life when I wasn’t so happy or bold. My friends tend to comment on the fact I wear loud and bold clothing. From dresses that have horses on them to cardigans that have seahorses, I own them and I love them. But it took me awhile to get here. For the longest time I wore what fit, even if I hated it and then one day I realized screw that. Wear what makes me happy. And you know what, I am. I am happy, but I also have insecure days, because I’m human.
What really drew me into Dumplin’ was the story between Willowdean and her BFF, Ellen, or El. The two of them are thick as thieves but they are also slowly growing apart something that worries both of them and worried me as a reader. It killed me not to skip ahead to see if everything would be okay between them. I was so invested in the friendship, because I got it. One of my closest and dearest friends got married and although I like to keep my shit together, in my head I thought, “What if this is the moment? What if this is where she realizes she doesn’t need me anymore. What if this is it?” While Willowdean and El were growing apart because of work, relationships, and general anger it was still completely relateable and at one point made me weep. (This was made more fun by the fact I cannot breathe currently. Plus crying? I was a mess.) Please note my BFF getting married changed nothing besides the fact she’s snarkier now? But I feel like that was all my fault anyway. Plus she’ll read this and be shocked I didn’t tell her in person. It’s cool. She loves me anyway.
Willowdean learned a lot throughout this novel. She learned you can put people in neat little boxes and expect them to stay there. She learned that growth is okay and that you will get hurt. She learned her Aunt Lucy will always be there for here, even in little, small ways. Williowdean learned to be true to herself.
I went into Dumplin’ with high expectations and in the day it took me to read this book I wasn’t disappointed.
The League of Unexceptional Children by Gitty Daneshvari
Release Date: October 20, 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: ALA2015
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
Are you average? Normal? Forgettable? If so, the League of Unexceptional Children is for you! This first book in a hilarious new adventure series is for anyone who’s struggled to be noticed in a sea of above-average overachievers.
What is the League of Unexceptional Children? I’m glad you asked. You didn’t ask? Well, you would have eventually and I hate to waste time. The League of Unexceptional Children is a covert network that uses the nation’s most average, normal, and utterly unexceptional children as spies. Why the average kids? Why not the brainiacs? Or the beauty queens? Or the jocks? It’s simple: People remember them. But not the unexceptionals. They are the forgotten ones. Until now! . – Goodreads
Review:
The League of Unexceptional Children is the story of two unrememberable children, Jonathan and Shelley. Two kids from Washington D.C., who are meant to save the world. The thing is Johnathan and Shelley really don’t want to save the world. That’s meant for people who are meant to save the world and that’s not them. They’re unexceptional. They’re middle of the road. They don’t understand why they’re being recruited except, that’s exactly why they’re being recruited. They’re wanted because people don’t remember them.
With the use of humor and an excellent plot Daneshvari takes the reader on an interesting story. Unfortunately the characters were a little too unexceptional and I couldn’t wait for the story to end.
My friend Jen and I are obsessed with middle grade obsessed. So this book was a pleasant surprise at the Little Brown booth during this year’s ALA. However, sadly, this book was a bit of a let down. It just moved too slowly for me to get involved in the story.
George by Alex Gino
Release Date: August 25, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic
Source: ALA2015
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
BE WHO YOU ARE.
When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she’s not a boy. She knows she’s a girl.
George thinks she’ll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte’s Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can’t even try out for the part . . . because she’s a boy.
With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte — but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all. – Goodreads
Review:
This book is life changing. That’s the best way to put it. It’s a book I couldn’t help but read in one sitting. It’s a book I couldn’t help but cry at. It’s a book I want to get into the hands of everyone. When I finished it I actually turned to the right of me, put the book out to my mom and went “read this.” I very rarely give my mom books to read because my mom’s not a reader, but because this isn’t on audio…yet. I gave her my ARC and she started to read it right away and couldn’t stop.
George transcends age ranges. It really does. George is about a girl, who the world views as a boy. George just wants to be herself, but it’s hard when everyone thinks you’re making a joke about your situation (which you aren’t.) Slowly George starts to tell people “hey, I’m a girl.” And it doesn’t go well. George is in fourth grade. Bully’s are strong. Crying in class is rough for anyone that age, but the end of Charlotte’s Web really got to George. Her mom sees her as her “little boy” and her brother, well he’s in high school. Who know’s what’s going on in his brain. George decides her moment to shine will be when the class puts on Charlotte’s Web.
Of course, her teacher, who she thought was on her side, thinks George is making a joke out of the situation, but her principal seems to get it. It’s hard for George. It’s hard for anyone that age. Why this story transcends age ranges is because George just wants to be accepted and loved for who they are. It’s also a story about friendship and love and one that needs to be read by all.
yAdult Review 