ya contemporary

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Second Chance Summer — Morgan Matson

TITLE: Second Chance Summer AUTHOR: Morgan Matson RELEASED: May 8th, 2012 GENRE: Contemporary AGE RANGE: YA When Taylor’s father suddenly falls devastatingly ill, his only request for the summer is to take the entire family back to the summer lake house they used to visit every year, when the kids were younger and things were easier. The only problem is that Taylor messed up, a long time ago, and Lake Pocono isn’t nearly as welcoming as it once was. In the most pivotal...

Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss — Kasie West

TITLE: Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss AUTHOR: Kasie West RELEASED: February 5th, 2019; HarperTeen GENRE: Contemporary AGE RANGE: YA All Lacey has ever wanted is to become a successful actress, and she’s done everything she can to get there—working hard, neglecting her social life, and even swearing off love altogether. It seems like her work has paid off when she lands a leading role in a horror film alongside a superstar, until her father’s over-abundance of concern forces her to work with a tutor,...

Goodbye, Perfect — Sara Barnard

TITLE: Goodbye, Perfect AUTHOR: Sara Barnard RELEASED: January 29th, 2019; Simon Pulse (US re-release) GENRE: Contemporary AGE RANGE: YA If there’s one thing in life Eden can count on, it’s her best friend, Bonnie—until Bonnie runs away with their music instructor, and everything gets thrown into a whirlwind of police interrogations, suspicion, and fear. The worst part is that Eden knows where Bonnie’s gone, but how can she betray her best friend? If there’s anything I enjoy in the YA contemporary genre, it’s conflict—especially when...

Even if I Fall — Abigail Johnson

TITLE: Even if I Fall AUTHOR: Abigail Johnson RELEASED: January 8th, 2019; Inkyard Press GENRE: Contemporary AGE RANGE: YA The world has been a scary place for Brooke ever since her older brother—her hero—confessed to murdering his best friend a year ago. She’s tried so hard to stay under the radar and keep her family afloat, but how can she be strong when the murder victim’s younger brother suddenly appears in her life, and an unexpected bond forms despite the haunting past between their families?...

Snow in Love [fluffy YA contemporary anthology]

TITLE: Snow in Love AUTHORS: Kasie West, Aimee Friedman, Melissa de la Cruz, Nic Stone RELEASED: October 30th, 2018; Point GENRE: Contemporary AGE RANGE: YA Like many of us in the fandom of YA contemporary reads, I love a good, fluffy Christmas story, but I find that “fluffy” contemporary works best for me in short formatting, so that I can just focus on a cutesy love story without needing much back story. Needless to say, I was excited when I heard about this...

Anna and the French Kiss — Stephanie Perkins

TITLE: Anna and the French Kiss AUTHOR: Stephanie Perkins RELEASED: December 2nd, 2010; Speak GENRE: Contemporary AGE RANGE: YA Anna never wanted to spend her senior year in Paris. Maybe it would’ve been a dream for most American girls, but for Anna, she wanted to spend her last year of high school in Atlanta, with her best friend and new romantic interest. How’s she supposed to spend an entire year in a French boarding school surrounded by people she’s never met—and a cute boy...

A Quiet Kind of Thunder — Sara Barnard

TITLE: A Quiet Kind of Thunder AUTHOR: Sara Barnard RELEASED: January 9th, 2018; Simon Pulse GENRE: Contemporary AGE RANGE: YA ACQUIRED: gift from Kathy Huge thank you to my sweet friend Kathy for sending me a surprise gift copy of this book! She read it and loved it so much that she wanted me to read it too, and I’m so glad that she did, because it was so beautifully diverse, and sweet, and funny, and altogether just a precious story of friendship, love,...

A Very Large Expanse of Sea — Tahereh Mafi

TITLE: A Very Large Expanse of Sea AUTHOR: Tahereh Mafi RELEASED: October 16th, 2018; Harper Teen GENRE: Contemporary AGE RANGE: YA SYNOPSIS: It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped. Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments—even the physical violence—she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab...

That Night — Amy Giles

TITLE: That Night AUTHOR: Amy Giles RELEASES: October 23rd, 2018; Harper Teen GENRE: Contemporary AGE RANGE: YA SYNOPSIS: The year since a mass shooting shook their Queens neighborhood has played out differently for Jess and Lucas, both of whom were affected by that night in eerily similar and deeply personal ways. As Jess struggles to take care of her depressed mother, and Lucas takes up boxing under the ever-watchful eye of his overprotective parents, their paths converge. They slowly become friends and then something...

Finding Baba Yaga — Jane Yolen

TITLE: Finding Baba Yaga AUTHOR: Jane Yolen RELEASES: October 30th, 2018; TorDotCom GENRE: Fantasy AGE RANGE: YA PAGE COUNT: 144 SYNOPSIS: A harsh, controlling father. A quiescent mother. A house that feels like anything but a home. Natasha gathers the strength to leave, and comes upon a little house in the wood: A house that walks about on chicken feet and is inhabited by a fairy tale witch. In finding Baba Yaga, Natasha finds her voice, her power, herself…. I’ve always loved the story...