Category: Tween Book Discussion

The book of the month is “Waiting For Normal,” by Leslie Connor. This is a poignant and joyful novel, one filled with meaningful moments and emotional resonance. This is the story of Addie, who is waiting for normal, with a bipolar mother who has an all-or-nothing approach to life — her way, or no way — and is keeping Addie from a normal life with her half-sisters and her step-father. … Read more

The book of the month is “Never Fall Down,” by Patricia McCormick. When soldiers arrive in his hometown, Arn is just a normal little boy.  But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, his life is changed forever… This is the unforgettable story of Arn Chorn-Pond, who defied the odds to survive the Cambodian genocide of 1975-1979 and the labor camps of the Khmer Rouge.  Authentically told… Read more

The book of the month is a graphic novel called “Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy,” with a story by Rey Terciero and penciled by Bre Indigo. In the mood for a modern re-telling of Little Women? It’s been quite the year for Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy.  Their father is off with the military, and they must work overtime to make ends meet.  In addition, each of the girls is… Read more

The book of the month is “The Cat I Never Named,” by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess:  A True Story of Love, War, and Survival. The stunning memoir of a Muslim teen struggling to survive the Bosnian genocide — and the stray cat who served as a guardian angel. Just as Serbian tanks rolled into her town of Bihac, Amra’s family was saddled with a stray cat, one they couldn’t afford and almost… Read more

The book of the month is “I’ll give you the sun” by Jandy Nelson. “Love does as it undoes. It goes after, with equal tenacity: joy and heartbreak.” The twins, Jude and Noah, once incredibly close, are now hardly speaking to each other.  Both of them have a past burdened by secrets, and a sibling rivalry that has pushed them apart.  During their early years, Noah had struggled with an… Read more

The book of the month is “Gallant,” by V. E. Schwab. Everything casts a shadow. Even the world we live in.  And as with every shadow, there is a place where it must touch.  A seam, where the shadow meets its source. All Olivia Prior has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, she receives an invitation to come home—to Gallant.  Yet when she… Read more

The book of the month is ‘War Horse’ by Michael Morpurgo. Separated by war.  Tested by battle.  Bound by friendship. During the dark years of World War I, a service horse, named Joey, is purchased by the Army and made to serve the war effort in the embattled nation of France.  Amid the chaos of The Great War, his previous owner, 15-year-old Albert, rediscovers the bond they once shared and… Read more

The book of the month is ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ by Holly Jackson. The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it. But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the… Read more

The book of the month is ‘Clap When You Land’ by Elizabeth Acevedo. In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives. Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on… Read more

The book of the month is ‘A Northern Light’ by Jennifer Donnelly. Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown entrusts her with the task of burning a secret bundle of letters. But when Grace’s drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers that the letters could reveal… Read more