Summer reading ideas ...

Looking for summer reading ideas? Please check out our suggestions on this libguide.

And be sure to catch up on reviews in 2021 as we Continue the Conversation. 

Enjoy!!! Happy Reading!! 

City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson

CITY OF SAINTS & THIEVES by Natalie C. Anderson was released in January and deserves the high level of praise it has received, including from well-known and award winning authors like Tara Sullivan (The Bitter Side of Sweet), Francisco X. Stork (Marcelo in the Real World - which some of our English classes read) and Ashley Hope Perez (Out of Darkness, just nominated for the Abe Lincoln Award).  Natalie Anderson’s debut novel tells the story of Tina (Tiny Girl) who escaped from the Congo with her mother almost a decade ago.  For a while Tina had a protected life, serving as playmate and companion for the son of the Greyhill family where her mother worked as a maid. But her mother was murdered and so for the last five years Tiny Girl has been surviving on the streets as a thief and member of the Goondas, a local gang in Sangui City, Kenya.

Tiny Girl blames Mr. Greyhill for her mother’s death and desperately wants revenge (dirt, money, blood is her mantra) so she patiently plots and breaks into the estate – only to be caught. That leads to deals and counter deals involving a memorable cast of characters – Boyboy, the computer nerd and hacker extraordinaire; Bug Eye, the gang’s trainer and daily leader; Mr. Omoko, the ultimate cruel boss out for money; and Michael Greyhill, her former playmate.  CITY OF SAINTS & THIEVES is most definitely a thriller, packed with questions of loyalty, plenty of suspense, and a courageous striving for survival.  With so many starred reviews (Booklist, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal), I won’t be surprised to see CITY OF SAINTS & THIEVES as a nominee for Illinois’ Abe Lincoln Award in a few years.

Until then, here is the just-released 2018 Abe Lincoln Award nominee list, including titles like Salt to the Sea, Those Shallow Graves, and March – Book One which we have reviewed previously. Still looking for more to read? Check out the suggestions for young adults and adults from Illinois Reads. Enjoy!     

  

The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a mystery story featuring privileged high school students – think of it perhaps as an upper class Veronica Mars meets West Wing. Although this title could technically be read as a stand-alone, there are enough references to previous events that I would recommend reading Barnes’ The Fixer first, The Long Game next, and then keeping a lookout for others in this exciting series.  Don’t take just my word for it, though; check out the positive comments from students on GoodReads and elsewhere.

In The Long Game, main character Tess promises to help win a student council election for classmate, Emilia.  Tess and her friends, Asher, Vivvie and Henry, are forced to deal with compromising pictures, a murder, and kidnapping by a fanatical group. Meanwhile, adults are coping with an attempted assassination event and resulting national security concerns. There is plenty of teenage angst and some gratuitous violence in this fast-paced story for students who like political intrigue and thrillers.

Barnes is also the author of The Naturals (start to another series) which was chosen by a student reading panel as a nominee for this year’s Abraham Lincoln High School Book Award list in Illinois.

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Twins Jude and Noah are tell their stories at ages 13 and 16. Noah is first as the storyteller when they are 13 years old. Jude is the narrator three year later. The family dynamic is complex between the twins themselves, and each with their parents.  They have a strong bond, Jude and Noah, which, over time, unravels, and is close to crumbling as they encounter and act upon unexpected and difficult circumstances. What starts with sibling competition turns into more then they each can handle.  At the same time, they must deal with being a teenager in their own ways, and in their determination to love and hate each other, Noah and Jude make choices that alienate, and even isolate, their twin sibling. 

Much of this realistic-fiction novel was fast-paced, creative, and engaging. The novel handles an array of topics– family, school, coming-of-age, sexual identity, death, forgiveness – maybe almost too much and there is a lot of tension between the twins. What they do to each other is mean and certainly life-altering. While everything is possible, especially in fiction, these actions seemed a little too much. 

I enjoyed reading through Noah.  I looked forward to Jude; however, what Jude does to forgive herself and make amends with her mother, and maybe even Noah, seemed like a dis-jointed plot line that just didn’t fit.   This was a good portion of the second-half of the book, and I found myself eager to get past those parts and into the Jude-Noah dynamic and final resolution.