"Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon

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Yoon, N. Everything, Everything. New York, NY: Delacorte Press, 2015. Print. ISBN: 9780553496642. Hardcover. $18.99.

Annotation: Eighteen-year-old Madeleine Whittier has Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, or, as she puts it, “bubble baby disease”, and has never left the safety of her house. But when the gorgeous, charming Olly moves in with his family to the house next door, Madeleine discovers a powerful need to see – and feel – more of what the world has to offer. 

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What happens when a girl who can’t leave her house falls in love? Eighteen-year-old Madeline Whittier has Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, or, as she puts it, “bubble baby disease.” She has never left her house. She rarely has visitors besides her nurse, Carla, and her mother, who doubles as her doctor. But when a family moves in next door and one of them is a completely gorgeous, charming boy named Olly who is determined to talk to her, she can’t help her curiosity. Slowly, with Carla’s help, the two move from talking online to short meetings in person – with the appropriate decontamination protocol, of course – but Madeline wants more.

Told from Madeline’s point of view and broken up with email conversations, drawings, and appropriate book spoilers, Everything Everything is a beautiful story about fighting for the things that are worth living for. After all, how is she supposed to be content with her life in a bubble now that she has learned all that the world has to offer outside of it? 

Literary Awards:

• #1 New York Times Bestselling debut
• New York Times, Sunday Book Review
• School Library Journal, Best Book of 2015
• Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
• School Library Journal, Starred Review
• School Library Journal, Starred Review for Audiobook
• Book Expo America Young Adult Buzz Panel selection (2015)
• Indies Introduce Debut selection
• #2 Indie Next Autumn 2015 selection
• American Library Association - 2016 Best Fiction for Young Adults selection
• American Library Association - 2016 Top 10 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers selection

Watch Book Circle Online interview Nicola Yoon about "Everything, Everything"

"All the Rage" by Courtney Summers

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Summers, C. All the Rage. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2015. Print. ISBN: 9781250021915. Hardcover. $18.99.

Annotation: Romy Grey became an outcast when she accused the sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, of taking advantage of her; no one wants to believe it could be true, and so they shunned and bullied her, instead. But now her former best friend has gone missing, and Rory has to decide if she should keep to herself, or try and speak up once again.

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(Excerpt, page 95)

To say that Romy Grey is going through hell would be an understatement. She tried to talk about what happened, when the sheriff’s son raped her, but instead of believing her, the whole town turned against her. She faces down horrible bullying every day, no matter where she goes, and the isolation and torture this girl endures is incredible. It’s amazing that anyone could put up with so much cruelty for so long, but it’s no wonder that she buried the things that happened that night so far back it’s impossible to tell where the truth really is. But when her former best friend turns up missing, Romy may have the answers, and she has to find the courage to speak up again in the face of so much hatred and rage. 


Literary Awards:

• Official Tumblr Reblog Book Club Pick
• Junior Library Guild Selection
• ALA 2016 Best Fiction for Young Adults Title
• 2016 Amelia Bloomer Title
• OLA 2015 Best Bet
• 2015 Cybils Finalist for YA Fiction
• Barnes & Noble Teen Blog’s Best YA Books of 2015
• Book Riot’s Best Books of 2015
• Bustle’s Best YA Books of 2015
• Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Best Books for Kids & Teens, Fall 2015
• Chicago Public Library’s Best Teen Fiction of 2015
• 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards Semifinalist
• 2016 OLA White Pine Nominee
• Quill & Quire’s 2015 Notable Books
• 2016 Tayshas Reading List Selection
• Amazon Best Book of the Month, April 2015
• Amazon Big Spring Book, 2015
• Publishers Weekly Picks: Books of the Week, April 13, 2015 

Check out author Courtney Summers on Tumblr! 

"Manicpixiedreamgirl" by Tom Leveen

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Leveen, T. Manicpixiedreamgirl. New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books. 2013. Print. ISBN: 9780375870057. Hardcover. $16.99.

Annotation: Tyler Darcy is pining for the quirky, aloof Becky Webb; something about her is just so alluring, even if he doesn’t have the courage to say so to her face. Of course, the situation is slightly more complicated by the fact that Tyler has a girlfriend of two years, Sydney, who is not as clueless as he hopes she is.

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Why do we fall in love with the people that we do? Tyler Darcy doesn’t really have an explanation for why he’s in love with Becky Webb; he just has, since the moment he laid eyes on her, been completely obsessed with her. She’s beautiful, sure, but there’s just something about her that he can’t get enough of, and he works for three years through high school to get closer to her and just know this girl. Of course, his girlfriend, Sydney, isn’t exactly thrilled by it, and neither are his best friends, because all of them know Becky isn’t the amazing, perfect princess that Tyler’s writer mind has created her to be…

This book is awesome because it tackles unrequited love from the male perspective. It’s told in alternating time settings between present day and the past, and gradually the story comes together like a puzzle. There are no bad guys in this story; Tom Leveen created lovable characters in the clueless Tyler, charismatic Sydney, goofy best friends, and the hopeless, broken Becky. We watch all of their relationships evolve, and it’s hard to pick who to root for, because just like real life, not all of them are going to get the happy ending. 

Watch the book trailer for Manicpixiedreamgirl!

"Premeditated" by Josin L. McQuein

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McQuein, J. L. Premeditated. New York, NY: Delacorte Press, 2013. Print. ISBN: 9780385743297. Hardcover. $17.99.

Annotation: Dinah wants revenge for her cousin’s suicide attempt, and she knows just where to start. Claire’s diary leads her to Brooks, and she will stop at nothing to make sure he understands the pain that he put her cousin through.

 

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(Excerpt, page 1)

Dinah’s cousin, Claire, attempted suicide and is now in a coma. When Dinah finds Claire’s diary, she discovers the reason her cousin tried to kill herself: a boy named Brooks. Now, Dinah is on a warpath. She dyes her hair, changes her clothes, and puts on the uniform of Claire’s fancy prep school to hunt down Brooks and make him sorry for the horrible pain he caused. But as she gets to know him, she has to wonder if this guy could really be capable of what Claire accused him of… and she learns that she isn’t the only one who can pretend to be someone she isn’t. 

Literary Awards:

• None

Check out author Josin L. McQuein on Blogspot!

"Rumble" by Ellen Hopkins

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Hopkins, E. Rumble. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2014. Print. ISBN: 9781442482845. Paperback. $10.99.

Annotation: Ever since Matt Turner’s little brother, Luke, hung himself after being bullied for being gay, Matt has spent a lot of time hating everyone else for their roles in Luke’s suicide. But when his girlfriend starts to distance herself and his parents finally seem to be falling apart, Matt is left alone with himself and has to face the reality of his own guilt and rage at himself.

 

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(Excerpt, page 231)

There are a lot of references in this book story to how some people need books that will speak for them, or to them, and Ellen Hopkins is incredibly talented at doing just that. The book is written in poetry format, so although it looks thick, it reads really quickly. Matt is so incredibly forthright about his anger that you start to hate everyone along with him, but as he grows throughout the book, you can’t help but learn with him, too – about more than rage and hatred, but about forgiveness, hope, love, and finding strength in yourself even when you feel abandoned. 

Literary Awards: 

• IRA Young Adults' Choice
• Nevada Young Reader's Award Nominee 

"Ellen Hopkins is my favorite author of all time, and her books just keep getting better! Rumble is her best yet." - Anastasia, age 14

Watch the official book trailer for "Rumble"!

IRA Young Adults' Choices
Nevada Young Reader's Award Nominee

"My Heart and Other Black Holes" by Jasmine Warga

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Warga, J. My Heart and Other Black Holes. New York, NY: Balzer + Bray, 2015. Print. ISBN: 9780062324672. Hardcover. $17.99

Annotation: Aysel’s life revolves around planning her death, specifically with the help of a web site called Suicide Partners, which lets people pair up to hold each other accountable for the deed. But when a boy named Roman messages her, asking her to partner up, she has no idea that their alliance might just wind up making her reconsider if there might be some things worth living for.  

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Sixteen-year-old Aysel is planning her suicide. But to make sure she doesn’t wimp out at the last minute, she’s found a web site called Suicide Partners, which lets people pair up and hold each other accountable. A boy named Roman messages her and asks her to partner up, and at first she’s hesitant, because he’s nothing like what she expected him to be. He’s the opposite of her: athletic, popular, good-looking, with a family who adores him. But he’s as torn up by tragedy as she is, and she slowly begins to trust him.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, as they plot out the details of their suicide, they begin to fill the voids in each others’ lives. Hazel starts to wonder if maybe there might be some things about life that are worth hanging on for, and maybe her heart isn’t such a black hole after all…

Literary Awards:

• Spring 2015 IndieNext List Selection
• Huffington Post's List of Most Anticipated 2015 YA Debuts
• Huffington Post's YA Books of February 2015
• Goodreads Best Books of the Month, February 2015
• PopSugar's Best Books of February 2015
• Chicago Tribune YA roundup, Spring 2015
• Bustle's List of Most Anticipated 2015 YA Novels
• PopCrush's List of Most Anticipated 2015 YA Novels
• Barnes & Noble 15 YA Books That Get It Right
• CBC's "Hot Off The Press" January 2015 List
• LitReactor's List of of 14 Highly Anticipated YA Novels
• Sugarscape's List of 15 Anticipated YA Novels

"I really couldn't predict where this was going. Like, I kept thinking, one of them is going to die, but which one? There's no way they're both going to go through with it. This is going to be so sad. But I definitely wouldn't have guessed the way she was going to end it! That's why I liked it so much. I like that it's real, and that it kept you guessing." - Chris, age 16

 Listen to an interview with author Jasmine Warga:

"Every Day" by David Levithan

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Levithan, D. Every Day. New York, NY: Ember, Inc. 2012. Print. ISBN: 9780307931887. Paperback. $9.99.

Annotation: Every day, A wakes up in a different body, and he has learned how to make this work without arousing suspicion or changing the person’s life. That is, until one day when he wakes up as a boy named Justin who has a girlfriend named Rhiannon, who is the first person he wants to connect with for more than just one day.

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Who is A? Every day, he or she wakes up in a different body, as a different person. Ultimately, A has learned how to make this life work without awakening suspicion from the person’s family or friends or changing their life in any major way. Of course, this all changes on the day that he wakes up as a boy named Justin and meets his girlfriend, Rhiannon. Suddenly, A realizes that it’s not okay to wake up in a different body that is living a life without this girl. Every day, in a different body, as a different person, he or she makes the effort to reconnect with Rhiannon.

Unfortunately, this means that some lives are going to be disrupted when left behind, and some people might just notice the trail. A bounces between football players, nerds, breathtakingly beautiful girls, morbidly obese young man, and even a drug addict – and all of these lives are pulled toward Rhiannon. But at the end of the day, how can A hope to build a life or a love when he will always wake up as a different person the next morning? 

Literary Awards:

• ALA Best Books for Young Adults WINNER 2013
• ALA Best Books for Young Adults Top 10 WINNER 2013
• Amazon Best of the Year WINNER 2012
• Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Year WINNER 2012
• Connecticut Nutmeg Children’s Book Award NOMINEE 2015
• Florida Sunshine State Book Award NOMINEE 2014
• Kentucky Bluegrass Award NOMINEE 2014
• Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award NOMINEE 2013
• Missouri Gateway Readers Award NOMINEE 2015
• Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award NOMINEE 2014
• Cybils FINALIST 2012
• Indies Choice Award FINALIST 2013
• Kid’s Indie Next List “Inspired Recommendations for Kids from Indie Booksellers” FINALIST
• Lambda Literary Award FINALIST 2013
• Louisiana Young Reader’s Choice Award FINALIST 2015

 Watch David Levithan introduce and read from Every Day