Ms. Nichols Reads

 Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds Reynolds, Jason. Long Way Down . Antheneum, 2019. Will witnesses the murder of his brother, Shawn. It was a gruesome murder, shot out  in the open at a public park. Will thinks he knows who did it. He goes into his brother’s bedroom and grabs the gun out of his dresser. He heads out of the house and is looking for the guy who murdered his brother.  In the elevator on the way out of his apartment, Will is visited by different spirits of his past. First Buck gets on, then it’s the girl (Dani) he saw murdered just as Shawn had been murdered when he was eight. Next floor his Uncle Mark enters. The next floor Will’s father enters. On floor number three Frick enters. Floor two, Shawn enters. Then finally, on floor number one, all the ghosts of the past disappear.  With every floor that Will goes down, a new person appears. Each one had been killed in Will’s lifetime. Each one teaches Will a lesson. He doesn’t have to obe...

Leah On the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (2019 Best Fiction Young Adults) Albertalli, Becky. Leah on the off Beat . Balzer + Bray, 2019. Leah On the Offbeat is the sequel to the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda also written by Becky Albertalli. In this novel, we are following Leah, Simon’s best friend, as she deals with friendships, relationships, body image, and other things teenagers such as herself have to deal with on an everyday basis. The books begins to take shape when Leah admits to herself that she is bi-sexual. She is hesitant about telling anyone else, even her best friend, Simon.  The problem with this is that Garret has a crush on her, along with Abby. Now Leah must decide which one she likes more. Another issue that Leah is dealing with is that she has broken up with Nick despite the fact that he was the perfect boyfriend. She just didn’t like d oing the whole long distance thing.  Leah likes Abby alot, but she is giving off mixed sign...

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton 2019 Best Fiction Young Adults Clayton, Dhonielle. The Belles . Gollancz, 2018. The Belles are young ladies bred in the kingdom of Orleans to make the wealthy elite young and beautiful. The most favorite of all the belles stays at court and works specifically on the queen and Princess Sofia.  When Camellia Beauregard becomes the favorite, something she has waited her whole life for, she is excited to start her court life and be surrounded by royalty and be given all that she desires. However, court life isn’t exactly what Camellia had expected.  For starters, Camellia is constantly working and being asked to work on the elite. She is tired and using her powers too much. Also, Princess Sofia is also demanding Camellia to work on her. Princess Sofia is not a kind woman and if provoked, retaliates harshly. There is also the matter of Princess Charlotte who has been in a coma for the past three years. No one can figure out what i...

Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter  2019 Quick Picks Carter, Ally. Not If I Save You First . Scholastic, Incorporated, 2018. Maddie and Logan are best friends. What makes their relationship so different from other people is who Logan’s father is; the president of the United States. And Maddie’s dad is head of the President’s Secret Service entourage.  One day, Maddie’s dad takes her to a cabin in the middle of nowhere in Alaska. Six years pass, living in the woods with her father and Logan shows up at Maddie’s front door. Maddie hasn’t seen Logan in six years, and she quickly realizes she is still mad at him. He hasn’t written to her since she moved. But before she can express her anger, someone appears and kidnaps both Maddie and Logan. Now they must learn to survive in the bitter cold, and devise a plan to escape the bad man.  Maddie is pushed off a cliff, while Logan continues on with the kidnapper. She somehow survives and figures out how t...

Grenade by Alan Gratz 2019 Quick Picks Gratz, Alan. Grenade . Scholastic, 2018. Ray is a young American soldier fighting in Japan; Okinawa to be more specific. Hideki live in Okinawa and fights for his country, against the Americans. Grenade by Alan Gratz alternates the point of view of each character to tell the story of how the lives of two young men, of completely different backgrounds, end of intertwining.  The quest is survival. Hideki was given two grenades from his school headmaster, and was told to throw one at American troops, and to kill himself with the other. On the fateful day that Ray and Hideki cross paths, Hikeki is forced to use his grenade to kill Ray.  Hideki must like with the consequences of having had killed a man. He feels guilty and that the spirit of Ray is haunting him.    For fans of Grenade , I recommend reading Alan Gratz’s other novel, Refuge .  

The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon 2017 Printz Honor Book Yoon, Nicola. The Sun Is Also a Star . Ember, 2019. In the novel The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon, Natasha and Daniel meet and fall in love on the worst possible day. Natasha has just been deported, back to Jamaica. Natasha ends up meeting Daniel, while he is on his way to a meeting with Yale alumni.  Both Daniel and Natasha bump into each other in a record store and they immediately hit it off. From there they spend the rest of their day together. One thing that they continue to discuss is the existence of God. Daniel believes it was an act of God that brought them together, while Natasha doesn’t believe in God at all.  Unfortunately as the day draws to a close, Natasha must get on a plane back to Jamaica. Daniel tries to stay in touch with Natasha, but they lose contact with each other after being so far apart. As the story draws to a close, we jump forward to ten years later. Natasha is ge...

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang 2019 Great Graphic Novels For Teens The Prince and the Dressmaker . Roaring Brook Press, 2018. Louise is working in a dressmaker’s shop, when she is discovered by Prince Sebastian. Louise has created a one-of-a-kind gown that has caught Prince Sebastian’s eye. Louise is invited to the palace and an unlikely friendship is formed from there.  It seems Prince Sebastian has a secret that he wishes to keep. Louise quickly discovers that Prince Sebastian likes wearing ladies dresses. Rather than be disgusted with his secret as Prince Sebastian expects, Louise accepts Sebastian and even pushes Sebastian to express himself. This is how Lady Crystallia is formed.  Lady Crystallia is Prince Sebastian’s alter ego. When he wishes to go out in public dressed as a girl, Louise creates a dress for him to do so. Louise’s dresses draw the attention of a famous dressmaker. Despite a few setbacks for both Sebastian and Lady Crystalli...

Unicorn Bowling by Dana Simpson  May 11, 2019 NYT Bestselling List Simpson, Dana. Unicorn Bowling . Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2019. In book #9 of the Phoebe and Her Unicorn series, Phoebe continues to go on adventures with her magical unicorn. Phoebe and her unicorn,Marigold Heavenly Nostrils, successfully avoid Montana, the school bully. They attend Unicorn Summer camp together, Camp  Shimmerhorn. They also create their own newspaper, The Phoebington Post.  This book is a series of comics that are put together in the style of Calvin and Hobbes or Charlie Brown. There isn’t an exact story line; with the turn of the page something new is happening.  This adorable book can be followed up with one of the other books in the Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventures book series. This series would be great for younger readers and older readers alike. 

Alexander Hamilton: The Graphic History of an American Founding Father by Jonathan Hennessey  2018 Great Graphic Novels Hennessey, Jonathan, et al. Alexander Hamilton: the Graphic History of an American Founding Father . Ten Speed Press, 2017. From someone who is completely obsessed with Hamilton the musical, this was such a great book find! The whole book centers around the life of Alexander Hamilton. From his humble beginnings in the Carribean Islands, to his untimely death, Alexander Hamilton was a self-made man that fought for everything he accomplished.  The one thing that I truly liked about this story was that the vocabulary was still difficult and challenging for the reader. I, myself, found myself reaching for the dictionary a few times. I also enjoyed that this story focuses more on the political career of Alexander Hamilton, rather than his personal life. Yes there are times when his political life intertwines with his personal life, but for th...