Camilla lives a double life. At home, she is a dutiful daughter and focused student. On the futbol field, she is "Furia," a force of nature that destroys any opponent. She loves the game and believes her success on the field could be her ticket out of Argentina, but she hasn't even told her parents she is still playing. In Argentina, only recently has it been legal for women to play soccer, and she is sure her parents won't approve. When her childhood best friend turned first love, Diego, comes back to town after playing soccer in Italy, Furia has some difficult choices to make. She loves Diego, but she doesn't want to give up her dreams of playing soccer for him. Can she even trust the promises of soccers latest superstar? One thing is certain; Camilla needs to be Furia full-time if she is going find the right path to turn her dreams into a reality. I am crazy about this book! It had the perfect mix of sports action, personal struggle, and romance. I cheered for Camilla/Furia to achieve both her soccer dreams and her dreams of having a relationship with Diego. This book was a peek into what it is like to be a girl in Argentina, and I felt so connected to Camilla's struggles. I can't wait to read more from this fantastic new talent. Highly, highly recommended!
Furia by Yamile Saied Mendez
Camilla lives a double life. At home, she is a dutiful daughter and focused student. On the futbol field, she is "Furia," a force of nature that destroys any opponent. She loves the game and believes her success on the field could be her ticket out of Argentina, but she hasn't even told her parents she is still playing. In Argentina, only recently has it been legal for women to play soccer, and she is sure her parents won't approve. When her childhood best friend turned first love, Diego, comes back to town after playing soccer in Italy, Furia has some difficult choices to make. She loves Diego, but she doesn't want to give up her dreams of playing soccer for him. Can she even trust the promises of soccers latest superstar? One thing is certain; Camilla needs to be Furia full-time if she is going find the right path to turn her dreams into a reality. I am crazy about this book! It had the perfect mix of sports action, personal struggle, and romance. I cheered for Camilla/Furia to achieve both her soccer dreams and her dreams of having a relationship with Diego. This book was a peek into what it is like to be a girl in Argentina, and I felt so connected to Camilla's struggles. I can't wait to read more from this fantastic new talent. Highly, highly recommended!
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Grown by Tiffany Jackson Enchanted Jones wakes up in a puddle of beet juice (It has to be beet juice!) and finds that superstar R&B singer Korey Fields is covered in beet juice, which must be blood since he is dead. Korey Fields was the man that discovered her talent and made her into a star, and he was the man that nearly destroyed her. Now he is dead and Enchanted swears she is innocent. How did this normal high school student with loving parents and dreamed of being a singer end up with a murder charge and is she guilty? The truth is slippery in this tightly woven thriller about a tale as old as time, an older man discovers a beautiful young girl and takes her to his castle. At first she thinks he is the prince, but soon, she learns that he is the dragon. Who would even believe the young girl's stories if she wanted to get free? This explosive tale story is powerful and relevant, and I can't stop thinking about. Tiffany Jackson once again proves she is a master at creating dark mysteries that are compelling and provoking. I hope she never stops writing! Highly, highly recommended! They Went Left by Monica Hesse Months after Zofia Lederman was liberated from the Gross-Rosen concentration camp, she is finally able to leave the hospital in search of her only living family member, her younger brother Abek. The last time she saw Abek, she promised to find him again. Keeping her promise means leaving her home in Poland to a displaced persons camp in Germany. With thousands of people desperately looking for their missing loved ones, it seems insane to believe she will find her brother. However, Zofia refuses to give up her search. Many books about the Holocaust detail life in the concentration camps, but this one delves in how challenging it was for the survivors to rebuild their lives and move forward after the war. How do you live with guilt of being a survivor? Where do call home when nothing at home is familiar? How do you move forward when you can't seem to let go of the past? This emotional novel honestly captures the lives of survivors Highly, highly recommended! Becoming Kareem by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is considered one of the best basketball players of all time. Winner of 6 NBA championships, 6 MVP awards, the leading NBA scorer of all time, and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, it is fascinating to learn that as a kid he was known as the shy, studious, and awkward Lewis Alcindor, a quiet and tall boy with a talent for basketball. This book is the story of how the shy Lewis became the confident Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In it, he discusses how his life was blessed with powerful mentors such as UCLA coach John Wooden, Mohammed Ali, and Bruce Lee, and how their wisdom helped him become a success on and off the court. This fast-paced memoir will draw even the most reluctant reader into Kareem's journey. The quotes from Kareem and his mentors will stay with readers as they face life's challenges and encourage them to keep going. I LOVED this book. Highly, highly recommended! Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang After graphic novel author and high school computer teacher Gene Luen Yang finished his last book, he was not sure what he wanted to write about next. Then, he heard students talking about how this year would finally be the year their boy's basketball team would win the state championship. Although the Dragons had been to the state championship finals many times, they had yet to win the title. Yang didn't know anything about basketball, but he felt like this was the story he needed to tell. As he gets to know the boy's basketball coach and the players on the team and began following the games, Yang starts to fall in love with game of basketball. As the Dragons fight to make it to the championship, Yang knows this is an epic story that will change everyone involved. Yang's story is interspersed with basketball history, so this is the perfect read for basketball fans and for anyone looking for an inspirational story. I read this in one setting, and this is an exceptional basketball story and graphic novel. Highly, highly recommended! The Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson Five years ago, a murder happened in Pippa's small town. Popular senior, Andie Bell, was murdered by her boyfriend Sal Singh, who committed suicide a few days later. Although they never found Andie's body or proved Sal's guilt in a courtroom, everyone in town is certain that is what happened, everyone but Pippa. She thinks Sal is innocent, so she decides to use her Senior thesis to reexamine the case. She promise that she will only access old police reports and published interviews and will avoid interviewing anyone tied to the case. She lied. She won't stop until she discovers the truth of what happened, even if it kills her. This is the best teen mystery I have read in ages! Fans of Natasha Preston and Karen McManus will tear through this book. Highly recommended! The Lovely War by Julie Berry Which is more powerful: love or hate? For centuries, society has argued this question. In this book, Aphrodite, the goddess of love, sets out to prove and once and for all that hate and war are no match for the power of love. To prove this, she tells the stories of four individuals, Hazel and James and Collette and Aubrey, whose lives intersect during the one the deadliest wars in history, World War I. As they fall in love against this bloody backdrop, can their love survive the brutality of war? Will love be more powerful than war? Told with gorgeous prose that weaves a spell around the reader, this immersive story draw you in with complex characters, luminous writing, and a rare look into the horrors of World War I. Aphrodite might be the one caught in the net at the start of this book, but the reader is the one that will be trapped by this magical book. Highly, highly recommended! They Called Us Enemy by George Takei As kids, we are told America is the great melting pot, the land of the free where no one is discriminated against. At age 4, George Takei discovered how false this statement was when he woke up to find his family was being forced to leave their home, jobs, and most belongings behind and was sent to a detention center with other Japanese Americans. George's family did nothing wrong and had been in American more than one generation. They just happened to be Japanese American in 1942, when Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese, which gave America license to give into racial prejudice, fear, and hate. George's family, and all other Japanese Americans, lost everything when their finances and homes were seized. In this graphic novel, George shares his family's experiences and how this event dramatically changed the lives of all American citizens with a Japanese heritage. America vowed never to let prejudice and fear win again. Read this book to learn about one of America's greatest mistakes, so we are not sentenced to repeat it again. This is an essential story to read as we continue to detain more people at our border. George Takei, who went on to become famous for his role as Captain Sulu in Star Trek, has become a human rights activist whose words inspire empathy and kindness. Becker's black and white images mirror George's innocence as a young child who is protected by his parents as they deal with a horrific reality. The reader will mimic George's move from innocence to anger as he realizes what has happened to his family and all other Japanese Americans. This is a moving introduction to a terrible event in American history, and it should be incorporated into all American history classes. Highly, highly recommended! A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti Once upon a time, Annabelle was a pretty and popular girl who loved her life and believed in happy endings. That was before she met "The Taker," the person who stole her confidence and trust. Unable to move forward mentally, Annabelle starts running and doesn't stop. She decides that she can't go home and begins running from her home state of Washington to Washington D.C. She doesn't want to be protesting, but she doesn't know what else to do to make things right. As Annabelle makes her way across the country, she is cheered on by family, friends, and even strangers, Unfortunately, Annabelle still can't seem to outrun her shame and guilt over what happened, and memories of The Taker continues to infect everything. By the time she reaches D.C., will she finally be ready to move forward? This profound and powerful novel speaks honestly about trying to move forward after a tragedy that seems to take everything from you. As you run with Annabelle, you too will feel horrified and haunted. Your heart will beat with hers at she begins to heal after unspeakable tragedy. This is gorgeous prose and essential reading. Highly, highly recommended! It is always so hard to decide what were my favorite books of the year. I try to only choose 12, but there were so many powerful and diverse titles that I expanded my list to 14. This year even more diverse stories are being shared and celebrated, and I have enjoyed reading such rich stories of strong women and fresh new voices. Hope this list leads you to some books that will make you laugh, cry, swoon, imagine, and think. Here is a link to the full reviews of each book: https://teenreadingrocks.weebly.com/best-books-of-2019.html. Let me know what you think is the best books of 2019 in the comments! |
AuthorMs. Smith has been the librarian at Washington HS in Sioux Falls, SD, since 2005. She enjoys reading, watching K-Dramas, Harry Potter and hanging out with her family. Archives
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