Tag Archives: LGBTQ

Book Title:
Frannie and Tru
Book Author:
Karen Hattrup
Publishing Date:
May 31st, 2016
Publisher:
HarperTeen
Date Read:
May 19th, 2016
Source:
eARC from publisher via Edelweiss

Synopsis

When Frannie Little eavesdrops on her parents fighting she discovers that her cousin Truman is gay, and his parents are so upset they are sending him to live with her family for the summer. At least, that’s what she thinks the story is. . . When he arrives, shy Frannie befriends this older boy, who is everything that she’s not–rich, confident, cynical, sophisticated. Together, they embark on a magical summer marked by slowly unraveling secrets.

My Review

Frannie and Tru is one of those rare books that leaves me at a loss for words when it comes to writing my review.  I did like the book, but at the same time, it isn’t something that left a … Continue reading

3 stars
2 Comments
Book Title:
The Inside of Out
Book Author:
Jenn Marie Thorne
Publishing Date:
May 31st, 2016
Publisher:
Dial
Date Read:
June 7th, 2016
Source:
I received a copy from the publisher

Synopsis

For fans of Stephanie Perkins, Meg Cabot, and Glee comes a hilarious, romantic, whip smart young adult novel about your best friend finding love before you do, and the lines you’ll cross to stay part of her life.

When her best friend Hannah comes out the day before junior year, Daisy is all set to let her ally flag fly. Before you can spell LGBTQIA, she’s leading the charge to end their school’s antiquated ban on same-sex dates at dances—starting with homecoming. And if people assume Daisy herself is gay? Meh, so what. It’s all for Hannah, right? It’s all for the cause. What Daisy doesn’t expect is for “the cause” to blow up—thanks to Adam, the cute college journalist whose interview with Daisy for his college newspaper goes viral, catching fire in the national media. With the story spinning out of control, protesters gathering, Hannah left in the dust of Daisy’s good intentions, and Daisy’s attraction to Adam practically written in lights, Daisy finds herself caught between her bold plans, her bad decisions, and her big fat mouth.

A Clueless or Emma for the modern age, this is a breezy, charming, incisive tale of growing up, getting wise, and realizing every story needs a hero—sometimes it's just not you.

My Review

The first thing that captured my attention with this book was the cover.  It’s really pretty – especially the rainbow colored boards that the three kids are sitting on.  It’s also nifty how the characters on the cover look almost … Continue reading

4.5 stars
1 Comment
Book Title:
Away We Go
Book Author:
Emil Ostrovski
Publishing Date:
April 5th, 2016
Publisher:
Greenwillow Books
Date Read:
March 31st, 2016
Source:
eARC from publisher via Edelweiss

Synopsis

Westing is not your typical school. For starters, you have to have one very important quality in order to be admitted—you have to be dying. Every student at Westing has been diagnosed with PPV, or the Peter Pan Virus. No one is expected to live to graduation.

What do you do when you go to a school where no one has a future? Noah Falls, his girlfriend Alice, and his best friend Marty spend their time drinking, making out, and playing video games on awaywego.com. But when an older boy named Zach (who Noah may or may not be in love with) invites Noah and Marty to join his secret Polo Club, the lives of both boys change as they struggle to find meaning in their shortened existence.

With an innovative format that includes interstitial documents, such as flyers, postcards, and handwritten notes, Away We Go is a funny, honest look at first love and tragic heartbreak.

My Review

I was originally drawn to this book due to the synopsis – it sounded a lot like the kind of book I’d absolutely love (kind of a dystopian/contemporary combo, with some realistic elements thrown in that kind of remind me … Continue reading

3 stars
2 Comments
Book Title:
Seven Ways We Lie
Book Author:
Riley Redgate
Publishing Date:
March 8th, 2016
Publisher:
Amulet Books
Date Read:
March 3rd, 2016

Synopsis

Paloma High School is ordinary by anyone’s standards. It’s got the same cliques, the same prejudices, the same suspect cafeteria food. And like every high school, every student has something to hide—whether it’s Kat, the thespian who conceals her trust issues onstage; or Valentine, the neurotic genius who’s planted the seed of a school scandal.

When that scandal bubbles over, and rumors of a teacher-student affair surface, everyone starts hunting for someone to blame. For the unlikely allies at the heart of it all, the collision of their seven ordinary-seeming lives results in extraordinary change.

My Review

This review took me forever to write.  I think it’s probably because of how I felt about it – I was kind of “meh.”  I didn’t LOVE it, but I didn’t really dislike it, either. After seeing all the amazing … Continue reading

3 stars
2 Comments
Book Title:
We Are the Ants
Book Author:
Shaun David Hutchinson
Publishing Date:
January 19th, 2016
Publisher:
Simon Pulse
Date Read:
January 14th, 2016

Synopsis

From the “author to watch” (Kirkus Reviews) of The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley comes a brand-new novel about a teenage boy who must decide whether or not the world is worth saving.

Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button.

Only he isn’t sure he wants to. After all, life hasn’t been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer’s. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend’s suicide last year.

Wiping the slate clean sounds like a pretty good choice to him.

But Henry is a scientist first, and facing the question thoroughly and logically, he begins to look for pros and cons: in the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in the brilliant and mysterious boy who walked into the wrong class. Weighing the pain and the joy that surrounds him, Henry is left with the ultimate choice: push the button and save the planet and everyone on it…or let the world—and his pain—be destroyed forever.

My Review

This review has taken me a while to write because I’ve been at a loss for words to even tell you how amazing this book is.  It’s a rare 5-star for me, and I already wanted to start reading it … Continue reading

5 stars
2 Comments
Book Title:
Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel
Book Author:
Sara Farizan
Publishing Date:
October 6th, 2015
Publisher:
Algonquin Young Readers
Date Read:
December 16th, 2015

Synopsis

A 2015 ALA Top Ten Rainbow List Title

A 2015 YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers

“Both personal and universal, this is a compelling story about high school, family and owning up to who you really are. Farizan is just the voice YA needs right now. Trust me, you'll be glad you listened.” --Sarah Dessen

Leila has made it most of the way through Armstead Academy without having a crush on anyone, which is something of a relief. As an Iranian American, she’s different enough; if word got out that she liked girls, life would be twice as hard. But when beautiful new girl Saskia shows up, Leila starts to take risks she never thought she would, especially when it looks as if the attraction between them is mutual.

Struggling to sort out her growing feelings and Saskia’s confusing signals, Leila confides in her old friend, Lisa, and grows closer to her fellow drama tech-crew members, especially Tomas, whose comments about his own sexuality are frank, funny, wise, and sometimes painful. Gradually, Leila begins to see that almost all her classmates are more complicated than they first appear to be, and many are keeping fascinating secrets of their own.

My Review

This is one of those books that I wish I had read while I was in high school.  While I read a lot during those years, I didn’t read much YA, and books featuring m/m or f/f relationships were far … Continue reading

4.5 stars
2 Comments