The Plain Janes – Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg

The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Published: January 2020
Publisher: Little, Brown BFYR
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Graphic Novel, Art, Friendship, Mental Health, Romance, High School

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REVIEW:

This graphic novel makes the following claim, supported by multiple events, throughout its story: that art saves. That without it, we can easily drown underwater and lose sight of the beauty that surrounds us even in bleak times.

How It Feels to Float – Helena Fox

How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Penguin Random House Canada
Published: May 7th, 2019
Publisher: Dial Books
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Mental Health, LGBTQIA+, Family Death, Friendship

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REVIEW:

I will not always remember what happened in this book but I will always remember how this book made me feel. It is so lyrical I can remember clearly how it increased my heartbeat during stressful scenes and reduced it during really comfortable moments between Biz and the new people she meets. Everything Biz felt, I felt, which was heavy at times because she is not in a right space of mind right now. Her father’s death affects her tremendously even if it was a while ago. I can relate to that because my own father passed away when I was a baby and even if my heart doesn’t squeeze when I think of him I still wonder oh so many times what it would have been like to get to know him. Yet this book never got too overwhelming. Biz is drowning in her own mind—or floating out of it rather—but has people in her life who help her stay grounded. But you can’t always depend on others to feel sane and so Biz is losing herself more and more.

Scars Like Wings – Erin Stewart

Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Received: Penguin Random House Canada
Published: October 1st 2019
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Mental Health, Romance, Death, Friendship, High School

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REVIEW:

This is such a realistic story that I had no problem picturing everything happening and understanding what the characters were feeling. As someone who enjoyed the book Wonder but wished it had been about a more mature protagonist, this was pretty perfect for me and a wonderful reading experience. The poems included had a huge impact on me because I strongly connected with the heroine whose heart was shattered into a million pieces when her parents and best friend died in a fire that she was the only one to survive. Everyone has scares but some scars, like Ava’s, are impossible to miss. This, of course, affects the way she sees herself and other people see her.

You Asked for Perfect – Laura Silverman

You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Raincoast Books
Published: March 2019
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, LGBTQIA+, Mental Health, Romance, School Pressure, Friendship, Family Dynamics

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REVIEW:

I could have used this book a year before applying to college. That year, and the one before actually, I was intensely focused on my studies and cancelled many plans with friends, so many that by the end of the school year, I barely had anyone to say goodbye, good luck to. And I only realized my mistake when I did get into university, went to a few classes and realized that it’s harder to make friends when the teacher lectures and there’s little time to discuss in or between classes. Unless you go to events, socialize.

Dear Evan Hansen, The Novel

Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Published: October 9th, 2018
Publisher: Poppy
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, High School, Mental Health, Suicide, LGBTQIA+, Romance

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REVIEW:

This was my first time reading a novel based on a play. And you know what? Even though I had no idea what to expect and had mildly bad experiences with novelizations in the past, this was quite the positive experience.

It becomes obvious after the first couple of chapters that this story was modified to fit the novel format because of the way certain scenes unfold or the text itself, but that only adds to the specialness of the book.

This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare – Gabourey Sidibe

This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare by Gabourey Sidibe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Borrowed
Published: 2017
Publisher: HarperCollins
Recommended Age: 14+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Nonfiction, Memoir, Humor, Coming of Age, Body Image, Mental Health, Celebrity

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BLURB:

Sidibe’s memoir hits hard with self-knowing dispatches on friendship, depression, celebrity, haters, fashion, race, and weight (“If I could just get the world to see me the way I see myself,” she writes, “would my body still be a thing you walked away thinking about?”). Irreverent, hilarious, and untraditional, This Is Just My Face takes its place and fills a void on the shelf of writers from Mindy Kaling to David Sedaris to Lena Dunham.

Starfish – Akemi Dawn Bowman

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Borrowed
Published: September 26th, 2017
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Mental Health, Art, Family Relationships, Romance, Coming of Age

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BLURB:

Kiko Himura has always had a hard time saying exactly what she’s thinking. With a mother who makes her feel unremarkable and a half-Japanese heritage she doesn’t quite understand, Kiko prefers to keep her head down, certain that once she makes it into her dream art school, Prism, her real life will begin. But then Kiko doesn’t get into Prism, at the same time her abusive uncle moves back in with her family. So when she receives an invitation from her childhood friend to leave her small town and tour art schools on the west coast, Kiko jumps at the opportunity in spite of the anxieties and fears that attempt to hold her back. And now that she is finally free to be her own person outside the constricting walls of her home life, Kiko learns life-changing truths about herself, her past, and how to be brave.

Love & Other Carnivorous Plants

Love and Other Carnivorous Plants by Florence Gonsalves

My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Received: Distributor
First Published: May 15th, 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown BFYR
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mental Health, College, LGBT

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BLURB:

Freshman year at Harvard was the most anticlimactic year of Danny’s life. She’s failing pre-med and drifting apart from her best friend. One by one, Danny is losing all the underpinnings of her identity. When she finds herself attracted to an older, edgy girl who she met in rehab for an eating disorder, she finally feels like she might be finding a new sense of self. But when tragedy strikes, her self-destructive tendencies come back to haunt her as she struggles to discover who that self really is.

Finding Audrey – Sophie Kinsella

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: June 9th, 2015
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Mental Health, Family, Romance

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BLURB:

An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family.

Review: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group
Publication Date: August 13th, 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Point of View: 1st Person & Masculine
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Neglect, Contemporary, Mental Health, Abuse

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BLURB:

Today is Leonard Peacock’s birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather’s P-38 pistol.

But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate, Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school’s class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.

In this riveting look at a day in the life of a disturbed teenage boy, acclaimed author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made—and the light in us all that never goes out.