Ms. Nichols Reads

Winger by Andrew Smith Smith, Andrew, and Sam Bosma. Winger . Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2014. In the novel Winger by Andrew Smith, Ryan Dean West is at a boarding school for wealthy teenagers. The difference that sets Ryan Dean apart from everyone else is that he is about three years younger than everyone else in his grade.  Ryan Dean is on the school rugby team, in which he plays the position of winger, hence his nickname “Winger”. Ryan Dean has found himself living in Opportunity Hall, a punishment for getting into trouble. An even bigger punishment is that his roommate is the biggest bully at school, Chas Becker. Ryan Dean must learn to lay low and stay off his radar if he wants to survive this school year. Another thing that Ryan Dean must deal with is the fact that he is in love with his best friend, Annie. While with her, in Seattle, visiting her family, Ryan Dean is finally able to make his feelings known, however Annie says that she can only be friends....

Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher Crutcher, Chris. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes . HarperTempest, 2003. In this novel, Eric, nicknamed  Moby, is bestfriends with Sarah Byrnes, however she is currently in a mental hospital, and refuses to talk to anyone. Sarah was badly burned as a child and as a result has learned to hide her true feelings about everything. The only person she has ever opened up to was Moby. Moby learned that the accident that burned Sarah was no accident at all. Sarah told Moby that her father purposely burned Sarah in order to scare her and control at a young age. Sarah then goes on to explain to Moby that she in in the mental hospital to escape from her father because he was beginning to act like he used to and she was scared. With the help of his teacher, Moby helps Sarah escape and go in search of her mother. Meanwhile, Mr. Byrnes threatens and beats up Moby. He wants to know where Sarah is and Moby won’t tell him.  Event...

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King King, A. S. Please Ignore Vera Dietz . Ember, 2012. In the novel Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King, Vera is coping with the death of her best friend Charlie. Charlie has passed away and Vera is trying to carry on with her life as usual, however she sees Charlie wherever she goes. He appears to her at her job delivering pizzas after school. He appears to her while she is making out with the hot older guy she works with at the pizza shop. He even shows up while she is just driving down the road. Vera can’t decide if she is going crazy or if she is just trying to get over what happened.  Vera turns to Vodka to do, as she puts it, “cope”. The problem is that Vera is the only one that knows Charlie didn’t do what he is accused of doing; setting the pet shop on fire, and ultimately killing himself in the process. Charlie begins dating Jenny who is bad news. On the night that Charlie died, he told Vera that he was afraid s...

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander Alexander, Kwame. The Crossover . HOUGHTON MIFFLIN, 2019. The Crossover is the story of twin brothers Josh and Jordan Bell as they navigate their lives trying to balance school and basketball. Their mom is their middle school principal which means they must always have good grades, therefore they are constantly in the library after school, studying. That is until Jordan, or JB, gets a girlfriend and begins spending less time with Josh. Josh becomes lonely and jealous of JB.    The boy’s father begins to experience a few health issues, but brushes it off, and pretends it didn’t happen. However at the rec basketball court, after a game, Chuck can’t brush off a heart attack. He is rushed to the emergency room where he will eventually pass away after several days in the ICU room and multiple heart attacks later.  Told in lyrical verse, this novel tells a story in a sing-song-like way. I enjoyed the way the stor...

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green Green, John, and Julie Strauss-Gabel. Turtles All the Way Down . Penguin Books, 2019. In the novel Turtles All The Way Down by John Green, Aza Holmes is on the hunt for a man who has disappeared. She and her friend Daisy hear of the mysterious disappearance of Russell Pickett, an Indianapolis C.E.O. and billionaire. Aza and Daisy go on the hunt to find Picket and they end up finding themselves along the way. Aza befriends Davis, Pickett's son, and they quickly form an attachment to each other on the basis of both having lost a parent. Aza struggles with her O.C.D. disorder and examples are shown throughout the novel of how she is constantly struggling and mostly losing her battles with this disease.  As the story continues, Aza ultimately learns that she must accept herself as she is, and learn to overcome her struggles.    For fans of Turtles All The Way Down , I recommend reading Looking For Alaska ...

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Thomas, Angie. Hate U Give . HarperCollins Publishers, 2017. In the novel The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, the story centers around Starr Carter, an average African American teenager. Starr lives in a predominantly African American poor neighborhood with her mother, father, and brother. She attends a wealthy private school in a “white” part of town. Her life seems just fine until one night, Starr caught a ride home after a party with her friend Khalil. That night, Khalil was shot by a police officer, sparking outrage from her hometown of Garden Heights.  Starr is caught between two worlds. One with her family and friends in Garden Heights, where she grew up, and one with all her friends that she goes to school with and where her aunt and uncle live.  With the seemingly unnecessary death of Khalil, rioting begins in the streets of Garden Heights. Starr is interviewed by a local news reporter which she has been urged to do by h...

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 1: the Story of a Childhood . Pantheon, 2003. In the story Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood , Marjane Satrapi tells the story of her life, growing up in Tehran. Satrapi portrays her childhood as a happy one, until the Islamic Revolution destroys her life as she knows it. Very quickly we see the revolution start to happen as mobs of people attack a statue of the Shah. Protestors begin shouting, massacres take place, and the country is left in chaos.  Through the drawings and style of a graphic novel, Satrapi paints a picture for her readers to understand her experiences through the eyes of a young girl. The confusion of all the changes and her inability to fully comprehend and understand the dangers and turmoil of her country at war can be found in the pages of this novel. The images are filled with sadness, anger, and confusion. Guns firing, family and friends disappearing a...

Gabi: A Girl In Pieces by Isabel Quintero Quintero, Isabel. Gabi, a Girl in Pieces . Cinco Puntos Press, 2014. In the novel Gabi: A Girl In Pieces by Isabel Quintero, Gabi has just entered her senior year of high school. With her best friends, Sebastian and Cindy, and her younger brother Beto, Gabi is learning to navigate those teenage years. Having a chaotic home life doesn’t help Gabi understand the difficulties of growing up. Her father is a cocaine addict, and is frequently absent from her life. Her mother is constantly nagging at Gabi to”lose some weight” or to “be a good girl.” Gabi feels as though she can never make her parents happy. How can Gabi for a ‘good Mexican girl’ when she can never make her parents happy? Quickly things seems to start changing in Gabi’s life. First, her friend Sebastian comes out as gay and is kicked out of his house, because ‘good Mexican boys don’t live that way’. Then her friend Cindy becomes pregnant. What doesn’t come out until...