Reviewed by OHS student, Cyrus P.

River McIntyre is a young high school trans person who spends his life in Haley, Ohio swimming, raving about jellyfish, exploring life and love, and battling all forms of discrimination. He spends the most significant of his days at the local SeaPlanet swimming with fish and being queer. Giving the full scope of a coming of age novel this book puts the reader through the full athletic queer experience the perfect read for someone who wants to learn about marine biology and life as a queer person.

I like the “sciencey” aspects to the book and the ways that River connects those aspects to themselves. At times I felt that it was egregiously queer. Gay to a fault – making the issues seem too forced at times. Queer people and athletes may like this book. They should read it because it’s a great, full journey and keeps you invested in the lives of these people while teaching you about marine biology.

Reviewed by OHS Student, Connie C.

The book “The Quiet and the Loud” highlights the importance of addressing your mental health and your personal needs, and raises awareness to ongoing problems in our world. Set in Australia, we follow Georgia, a girl who finds peace in kayaking and art. As we watch her overcome her past struggles and her present struggles we learn what is truly important in life. The heavy emphasis of art and poetry makes this book both touching and beautiful. As well as the common reoccurrence of mental health/abuse makes this book relatable and deep.

I like how this book is extremely relatable and how you can see things that are happening in real time in the book. I also like how poetic/artistic is it and how it battles important topics of mental health, relationships, and climate change. I dislike how poorly they built the setting. I had to guess they lived in Australia but I didn’t know exactly until like halfway through the book where the header said “Sydney”… That made me really confused. And (since it dealt with tough topics) it was not the most interesting book and I found myself getting bored really easily and I really wanted the book to end.

I think people who are interested in reading books about LGBTQ+ romances and mental health/climate change topics.

True to form, Ellen Hopkins latest book pulls readers right in! Sync follows twin siblings, Storm and Lake, as they try to navigate their circumstances of being pulled apart and sent to different foster homes, repeatedly throughout their adolescent years. Although the siblings are physically forced apart their connection cannot be broken, not through time spent in juvenile detention or on the streets. Fortunately for each, they have people to love and care for no matter the circumstances.

Lake is placed with a foster family who is very conservative and expects her to follow suit; however, she has a girlfriend and wants to challenge the ideals consistently pressed upon her within the foster home. Storm is placed with a loving, caring foster father, but ends up in juvenile detention after trying to seek revenge on someone who sexually assaulted his long-time girlfriend.

In the worst of circumstances, the siblings are unable to connect – trying to keep tabs on each other through their caseworkers. Although things seem pretty hopeless for both twins, they continue to persevere.

Students who like to read about difficult topics and trauma will be pulled in by these characters and their circumstances. Ellen Hopkins knows how to tug on a reader’s heartstrings. If you have other books by this author in your collection, you will want to add this as well.

Reviewed by OHS Substitute, Sandy H.

This coming of age story will connect readers with the difficulties of being a teenager as well as showing how family struggles impact life. Brynn Kwan balances friends, family, and boys on top of struggles to let an unattainable persona go. Meanwhile pain rears its head. In this book, the protagonist (and her father) has chronic pain resulting from a health disorder which is a young adult topic not frequently encountered, for this primary reason I appreciated reading the book.

Reviewed by OHS Substitute, Sandy H.

This novel will be a hit with young adult readers who enjoy coming-of-age struggles.

Kat Evans tries to get a date, deal with friends, and manifest self-acceptance, while trying to think of everything through the lens of feminism. Meanwhile she’s also rabidly documenting everything in her diary. This young adult fiction dives deep into the anxieties, dreams, and ideals of a teenager trying to make her way through high school – so believable, the anxiety just oozed off of the pages!

Reading it as an adult, I liked being reminded of how tough it really is to be a teenager.

This book was really difficult to read because of the content; it’s very powerful, but will need content warnings if added to a high school collection.

The main character, Virginia, is a victim of sexual assault and abuse – but she is keeping it hidden. Instead, she displays risky behaviors with drinking, drug use, and sex. As the reader, we are not made aware of the extent of the abuse, and the fact that there are multiple abusers, until much later in the book. Instead we follow Virginia’s journey of self-loathing desire to feel love.

As details about Virginia’s story unfold, other victims come forward – all of which are close friends of Virginia’s and all were groomed by the same abuser.

This book should be considered for high school libraries only.

It is set in Washington State and has some local references, which I always appreciate.

Reviewed by OHS Student, Eliza T.

This book beautifully combines a soft romance with the challenges of having divorced parents.

Bailey and Charlie first meet on a plane when they are both flying to live with their other parent. They meet again when they are older, and their initial hate blossoms into a beautiful romance as they connect through their shared parental experiences.

This book is perfect for those looking to better understand the life of a child of divorce, or those who just want to cozy up for a sweet romance. I loved the banter throughout the book, as Charlie and Bailey learn that the other might not be so bad. Bailey’s mom’s boyfriend has a daughter, and I think there could have been more conflict there, where it felt very understated.

Reviewed by OHS Substitute, Megan C.

This is a fast paced thrill-ride where main character Luna competes in a competition to live without technology in exchange for a cash prize that her struggling family needs desperately. As the competition continues the stakes become high when Luna’s classmates begin disappearing. Worried for her safety, Luna must decide to continue with the competition or give up the potential cash prize.

In addition to the fast pace, I appreciated the reference to 80s/90s music. This book also highlights the role of social media in our lives and encourages readers to question it’s value.

This would be a great addition to any high school library.

Reviewed by OHS Substitute

Readers who enjoy Fantasy Adventure will love this book! The characters are very intriguing, especially since one is even an all-consuming evil God.

“Love requires nothing by gives everything.” Anya, the main character, sets off to kill the unappealing, all-consuming evil God after the demise of her twin sister Ilya. On her quest she finds a love and strength that she has never before known, making her feel invincible. Anya embodies a powerful force that aids her in conquering evil raised against her.

The characterization is the books strong suit; characters are very well developed with strength, forgiveness, mercy, and perseverance.

The only downside was that at times the dialogue was difficult to follow.

Reviewed by OHS Library Secretary, Mikel D.L.

For readers who equate “corn maze” with dread, this is your book.  This perfect Halloween season story is narrated by Claire, a teenager who is about to testify in her sister’s murder trial. She’s a horror movie fanatic, but a total scaredy-cat of anything that moves in real life. The plot twists in cryptic ways and I certainly couldn’t have predicted the conclusion. It’s a real nail-biter and readers will have a hard time putting it down …to go to sleep (!?).

Does the intrigue into the lives of kings and religious temple life from distant tropical islands interest you?  How about gifted women who possess spiritual powers, enabling them to gain knowledge and secrets of the unseen world make for an interesting read?  Lizz Huertauses flowery, descriptive words to bring you into the hearts and minds of her characters as they interact with Indir, the Dreamer, the seer.

Royalty passes the throne of power from the father to the son and song with this succession, comes change.  Immediately, the new king tells his audience of the old traditions that, “I am here to usher in a new age.”  The tradition of Dreamers is now threatened.  What does Alcan, the new king want?  Power.  He believes power means having control over others. 

But Alcan is also an angry person.  Indir escapes from Alcan’s threats.  Not until three quarters into our story is Indir told the source of this anger, the secret brother of Alcan.  Even kings are not spared from the consequences of unfaithfulness in a family.  You’ll just need to read for yourselves how Indir’s lost Dreamer is found.

Reviewed By: OHS Substitute