Salt to the Sea - Ruta Sepetys - It's near the end of WWII and four refugees travel on foot during January to board the Wilheim Gustoff, a ship bound for safety. When torpedoes from a Russian submarine hit the ship, it is estimated that over 9,000 people died, which makes it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history. Multiple Award Winner |
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli - Sixdteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay, Simon Spier prefers to save the drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he's pushed out -- without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he's never met. |
More Happy Than Not - Adam Silvera - After enduring his father's suicide, his own suicide attempt, broken friendships, and more in the Bronx projects, Aaron Soto, sixteen, is already considering the Leteo Institute's memory-alteration procdure when his new friendship with Thomas turns into unrequited love. |
An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir - Laia is a scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire's greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution, |
Dumplin' - Julie Murphy - Sixteen-year-old Willowdean wants to prove to everyone in her small Texas town that she is more than just a fat girl, so, while grappling with her feelings for a co-worker who is clearly attracted to her, Will and some other misfits prepare to compete in the beauty pageant her mother runs. |
Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon - This is a story of a teenage girl who's literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she's ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more. |
All American Boys - Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely – When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints. |
All the Bright Places - Jennifer Niven – Told in alternating voices, when Theodore Finch and Violet Markey meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, both teetering on the edge, it's the beginning of an unlikely relationship, a journey to discover the "natural wonders" of the state of Indiana, and two teens' desperate desire to heal and save one another. |