It’s those hot days of summer where all we want to do is sit in the shade with a cool drink and good book. Luckily there are more books this week for us to purchase or check out from the library to add to summer reading pile.
Too Perfect to Die by Juliana Goodman
Feiwel & Friends
With competition this fierce, bodies are bound to hit the mat…
All Jonty has ever wanted is to lead her cheerleading team, The Exalted Ones, to win a NCA championship. Cheer is not just a sport, it’s her legacy. Her mother cheered for T.E.O. before she died, and Jonty would do anything to snatch the crown and honor her mother’s memory. This year she has a real shot, finally beating her rival Tommie and becoming the team captain.
But Jonty’s perfect season is shattered when Tommie shows up dead on the first day of practice. Now the team is down a flyer and everyone is convinced that Jonty killed her. Everyone except Adam, her co-captain, who was with her the night that Tommie died.
As the season progresses, girls keep dropping like flies, and one thing becomes clear: Someone is sabotaging The Exalted Ones, and they’re willing to commit murder to get their way. But with the police still convinced it’s her, will Jonty be able to save herself, her team, and her perfect season?
Evamar by Margarita Engle
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Just before she was transformed
into an invisible spirit
my grandmother whispered her last wishes
into my ear:
Sprinkle my ashes in a patch of girasoles,
wait patiently, harvest the seeds,
fly to la isla, find el jardín,
plant las semillas.
Then and only then—
read my diaries.
Evamar has arrived in Cuba with her abuela’s ashes and her mother’s warnings: Don’t talk politics, boil the tap water before you drink, y por favor absolutamente, don’t fall in love. But then she meets Río, a captivating drummer whose music and presence she can’t ignore.
Río bears his own scars, separated from his family in the United States. As their bond deepens, Evamar discovers an ancestral treasure that could change her future—and the lives of millions of Caribbeans.
Black Girls Don’t Cry by Alex Travis
Sourcebooks Fire
Ida and JJ could have been the ultimate power couple of Banneker High. As the VP and president of their Black Student Union, the two seemed destined to be yearbook legends. But that was before JJ learned Ida was equally attracted to girls. JJ is already deep in a new relationship, which infuriates Ida―almost as much as when a sexist “hot list’ starts circulating the school. It’s bad enough anyone rated the girls on their looks, but the list has only white students. Seriously?
There has never been any racial diversity among the prom queen candidates at Banneker, so the BSU decides to make their own statement on beauty and run a candidate. Now Ida and JJ’s new girlfriend are both competing for the title. Ida wants to make a point more than win the crown, but having smart, savvy Amayah as her campaign manager might just help her do both. She’s already winning Ida’s heart.
Competition is fierce. Suddenly the prom queen candidates start getting picked off one by one…dropping out and dropping dead. Forget winning a tiara. Who will live to see prom?
You Only Live Twice
Autumn Allen
Barely one week into senior year of high school, Boston native Zakiyyah is making her 2012-2013 Get Free Plan.
Step one: quit high school. (PSA: There are other ways to get to college!)
Step two: live like it’s Ramadan year-round.
As she gets deeper into her Plan, she starts to wonder if there’s someone out there who would be a good companion. To everyone’s surprise, Zakiyyah decides she wants to get married. But there are some complications.
Problem one: she’s never met a guy she liked. Zakiyyah’s family (reluctantly) and friends (eagerly) agree to support the search.
Problem two: what’s the secret to choosing a good life partner?
Enter Musa, by way of mutual friends. With marriage in mind, Zakiyyah and Musa get to know each other, progressing from email to instant messaging to phone calls. Things are going well… thrillingly well… until tragedy strikes Boston. In a moment of heightened emotion and stress, Zakiyyah and Musa have their first major disagreement.
Zakiyyah can call the whole thing off. But with or without Musa, what does it mean to live on her own terms?