Category Archives: Ya Contemporary

Review: Sweet Like Sugar Cane by Leah T. Williams

8 June, 2026 8:00 pm , 2 Comments ,

Sweet Like Sugar Cane
The Prequel to Neither Out Far Nor In Deep—Gwen’s Story
Leah T. Williams
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: June 1, 2025
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

Before she became the mother struggling to understand her American-born son in Neither Out Far Nor In Deep, Gwendolyn Richards was just a girl in St. Kitts trying to figure out who she was.
She had her best friend Sharon, her father’s quiet wisdom, her mother’s firm and loving hands, and Lenwell Turnbull whose eyes found hers across every school assembly. Life moved to the rhythm of sugar cane fields, market mornings, and the island’s radio reading out the names of the dead.

Then everything changed.

In one season, Gwen will discover the electricity of first love and learn that some things cannot be rushed, like yam vines, like grief, like growing up. She will face heartbreak she never saw coming and changes that will alter her world forever.
Sweet Like Sugar Cane is a lyrical, tender coming of age story set against the vivid backdrop of Caribbean island life. It is a story about the sweetness of first love, the bitterness of loss, and the bittersweet reality of becoming someone new.
Perfect for readers who love Jamaica Kincaid, Edwidge Danticat, and stories about Black girls finding their strength in the most difficult seasons of their lives.

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Posted in: YA Contemporary, YA Romance

Review: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

16 September, 2022 3:22 pm , 1 Comment ,

With the Fire on High
Elizabeth Acevedo
Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Publication date: May 7, 2019
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Still, she knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain—and shouldn’t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. But even with all the rules she has for her life—and all the rules everyone expects her to play by—once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free.

 

 

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Posted in: YA Contemporary

Review: Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston

4 January, 2021 3:13 am , Leave a Comment ,

Bookish and the Beast
(Once Upon a Con #3)
by Ashley Poston
Publisher: Quirk Books
Publication date: Aug. 4, 2020
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Rating:

Rosie Thorne is feeling stuck—on her college application essays, in her small town, and on that mysterious General Sond cosplayer she met at ExcelsiCon. Most of all, she’s stuck in her grief over her mother’s death. Her only solace was her late mother’s library of rare Starfield novels, but even that disappeared when they sold it to pay off hospital bills.

On the other hand, Vance Reigns has been Hollywood royalty for as long as he can remember—with all the privilege and scrutiny that entails. When a tabloid scandal catches up to him, he’s forced to hide out somewhere the paparazzi would never expect to find him: Small Town USA. At least there’s a library in the house. Too bad he doesn’t read.

When Rosie and Vance’s paths collide and a rare book is accidentally destroyed, Rosie finds herself working to repay the debt. And while most Starfield superfans would jump at the chance to work in close proximity to the Vance Reigns, Rosie has discovered something about Vance: he’s a jerk, and she can’t stand him. The feeling is mutual.

But as Vance and Rosie begrudgingly get to know each other, their careful masks come off—and they may just find that there’s more risk in shutting each other out than in opening their hearts.

 

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Posted in: YA Contemporary, YA Romance, Young Adult , Tagged:

Review: I’ll Be The One by Lyla Lee

26 October, 2020 10:18 am , 3 Comments ,

I’ll Be the One
by Lyla Lee
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication date: June 16, 2020
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her.

She’ll challenge thousands of other performers in an internationally televised competition looking for the next K-pop star, and she’ll do it better than anyone else.

When Skye nails her audition, she’s immediately swept into a whirlwind of countless practices, shocking performances, and the drama that comes with reality TV. What she doesn’t count on are the highly fat-phobic beauty standards of the Korean pop entertainment industry, her sudden media fame and scrutiny, or the sparks that soon fly with her fellow competitor, Henry Cho.

But Skye has her sights on becoming the world’s first plus-sized K-pop star, and that means winning the competition—without losing herself.

 

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Posted in: YA Contemporary, Young Adult , Tagged:

Review: The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston

5 October, 2020 9:20 am , Leave a Comment ,

The Princess and the Fangirl
(Once Upon a Con #2)
by Ashley Poston
Publisher: Quirk Books
Publication date: April 2, 2019
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

The Prince and the Pauper gets a modern makeover in this adorable, witty, and heartwarming young adult novel set in the Geekerella universe by national bestselling author Ashley Poston.

Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield. The problem is, Jessica Stone—the actress who plays Princess Amara—wants nothing more than to leave the intense scrutiny of the fandom behind. If this year’s ExcelsiCon isn’t her last, she’ll consider her career derailed.

When a case of mistaken identity throws look-a-likes Imogen and Jess together, they quickly become enemies. But when the script for the Starfield sequel leaks, and all signs point to Jess, she and Imogen must trade places to find the person responsible. That’s easier said than done when the girls step into each other’s shoes and discover new romantic possibilities, as well as the other side of intense fandom. As these “princesses” race to find the script-leaker, they must rescue themselves from their own expectations, and redefine what it means to live happily ever after.

 

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Posted in: YA Contemporary, YA Romance, Young Adult , Tagged:

Review: Nerve by Jeanne Ryan

27 July, 2020 8:45 am , 5 Comments ,

Nerve
by Jeanne Ryan
Publisher: Dial Books
Publication date: Sept. 13, 2012
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

ARE YOU PLAYING THE GAME OR IS THE GAME PLAYING YOU?

Vee doesn’t know if she has the guts to play NERVE, an anonymous online game of dares. But whoever’s behind the game knows exactly what she wants, enticing her with lustworthy prizes and a sizzling-hot partner. With Ian on her team, it’s easy to agree to another dare. And another. And another. At first it’s thrilling as the Watchers cheer them on to more dangerous challenges. But suddenly the game turns deadly. Will Vee and Ian risk their lives for the Grand Prize dare, or will they lose NERVE?

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Posted in: YA Contemporary, Young Adult , Tagged: ,

Review: On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

16 December, 2019 4:12 pm , 6 Comments ,

On the Come Up
by Angie Thomas
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication date: Feb 5. 2019
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.

On the Come Up is Angie Thomas’s homage to hip-hop, the art that sparked her passion for storytelling and continues to inspire her to this day. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; of the struggle to become who you are and not who everyone expects you to be; and of the desperate realities of poor and working-class black families.

 

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Posted in: YA Contemporary , Tagged: ,

Sneak Peek Wednesday: Two Like Me and You by Chad Alan Gibbs

22 May, 2019 12:05 am , 5 Comments ,

Two Like Me and You
by Chad Alan Gibbs
Publisher: Borne Back Books
Publication date: May 20, 2019
Genre: Young Adult

Edwin Green’s ex-girlfriend is famous. We’re talking cover-of-every-tabloid-in-the-grocery-store-line famous. She dumped Edwin one year ago on what he refers to as Black Saturday, and in hopes of winning her back, he’s spent the last twelve months trying to become famous himself. It hasn’t gone well.

But when a history class assignment pairs Edwin with Parker Haddaway, the mysterious new girl at school, she introduces him to Garland Lenox, a nursing-home-bound World War II veteran who will change Edwin’s life forever.

The three escape to France, in search of the old man’s long-lost love, and as word of their adventure spreads, they become media darlings. But when things fall apart, they also become the focus of French authorities. In a race against time, who will find love, and who will only find more heartache?

 

 

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Posted in: Excerpt, YA Contemporary , Tagged:

Review: Paper Girl by Cindy R. Wilson

1 March, 2019 12:20 am , 4 Comments ,

Paper Girl
by Cindy R. Wilson
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication date: Dec. 4, 2018
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

I haven’t left my house in over a year. My doctor says it’s social anxiety, but I know the only things that are safe are made of paper. My room is paper. My world is paper. Everything outside is fire. All it would take is one spark for me to burst into flames. So I stay inside. Where nothing can touch me.

Then my mom hires a tutor. Jackson. This boy I had a crush on before the world became too terrifying to live in. Jackson’s life is the complete opposite of mine, and I can tell he’s got secrets of his own. But he makes me feel things. Makes me want to try again. Makes me want to be brave. I can almost taste the outside world. But so many things could go wrong, and all it takes is one spark for everything I love to disappear…

 

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Posted in: YA Contemporary, Young Adult , Tagged: ,

Review: My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life by Rachel Cohn

21 December, 2018 7:51 am , 7 Comments ,

My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life
by Rachel Cohn
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication date: Dec. 18, 2018
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

In the Land of the Rising Sun, where high culture meets high kitsch, and fashion and technology are at the forefront of the First World’s future, the foreign-born teen elite attend ICS-the International Collegiate School of Tokyo. Their accents are fluid. Their homes are ridiculously posh. Their sports games often involve a (private) plane trip to another country. They miss school because of jet lag and visa issues. When they get in trouble, they seek diplomatic immunity.

Enter foster-kid-out-of-water Elle Zoellner, who, on her sixteenth birthday discovers that her long-lost father, Kenji Takahari, is actually a Japanese hotel mogul and wants her to come live with him. Um, yes, please! Elle jets off first class from Washington D.C. to Tokyo, which seems like a dream come true. Until she meets her enigmatic father, her way-too-fab aunt, and her hyper-critical grandmother, who seems to wish Elle didn’t exist. In an effort to please her new family, Elle falls in with the Ex-Brats, a troupe of uber-cool international kids who spend money like it’s air. But when she starts to crush on a boy named Ryuu, who’s frozen out by the Brats and despised by her new family, her already tenuous living situation just might implode.

My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life is about learning what it is to be a family, and finding the inner strength to be yourself, even in the most extreme circumstances.

 

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Posted in: YA Contemporary , Tagged: ,

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