Bea dies in a car accident and wakes up in “purgatory,” an airport called Layoverland. To move on to Heaven, she must help 5000 people move on themselves! However, her first real assignment is the one who killed her. Can she help her killer? You should read this book because: It’s moving and thought-provoking while being funny and real. Bea is a fun, relatable character that you can hang out with. Genre: Realistic Fiction/ Fantasy
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Review by OSD Sub. Angela
Riz the main character experiences dissociative experiences, memories of her father who passed away years ago. We watch as she holds on to the grief of her father’s death- almost a metaphor for keeping going and holding on to life and love.
If you enjoy books that are filled with emotion this book is perfect for you! I loved this book and could not stop
Reading it because it’s so easy to connect your own emotions with the characters.
The genre is Realistic Fiction.
Reviewed by OSD Sub: Maxine
Reviewer: OHS Student, Ffiona
Right Where I Left You is a fantastic book by Julian Winters (Who is a WONDERFUL LGBTQIA+ author.) It shows a great bond between an introverted gay boy, and his outgoing bisexual best friend. It emphasizes the vast difference between expectation versus reality in a friendship. And shows the difficulties of the next finding your path in life, and the people you want to share it with. Right Where I Left You is 5 stars and a 10/10 in my book.
Reviewer: OHS Student, Ffiona
Kiss & Tell was a cute book but could be a bit cliche at times. It highlights the struggles of being out of the closet, but staying true to yourself. It shows the difficulty of being seen for more than your sexuality, and skin color. Kiss & Tell shows examples of a healthy, and unhealthy relationship between two boys, and the importance of having friends and family to support you.
Kiss & Tell is a boy band on its first major tour. The main character, Hunter, goes through his first breakup with a boyfriend. The details of Hunter’s personal life are leaked and put in the lime-light.
This is a sweet romance set on a small town farm, between a home-town farm girl and long-lost Rockstar friend. The story is a pretty typical enemies to lovers tale – boy comes “home” to recover from one of many fame scandals; he’s in dire need of money, so selling the farm seems like the best option. Girl makes it her mission to treat the boy with “honey” in order to keep him from selling her home. There are many familial ties between the two, making the situation more complicated. Along the way the characters bicker, disagree, form a true friendship and an eventually romantic love. This story is very sweet – appropriate for ages 12+. Anyone looking for a warm, feel good read will enjoy this.
Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy is a memoir in graphic novel form. It is FANTASTIC! Huda writes of a time in her life when she moved from a large city where she was known as the “hijabi girl” to a small, predominantly Muslim community where nearly everyone adorned hijabis. This prompted a lot of questions for Huda in regard to her own identity. Who is Huda? The book follows her journey to find friends and fit in, but most importantly Huda’s self discovery shines through in the end. I feel all middle school and high school students will find this relatable, funny, and quick to read. I am choosing to put the book in our graphic novel section rather than the biography section because I think it will get more use.
The historical fiction WWII novel, The Enigma Game, is actually the “prequel” to Elizabeth Wein’s critically acclaimed Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire. I did not read her earlier works but this did not at all detract from my enjoyment of this well-crafted tale. The story is told in the voices of three young people brought together by the strange circumstances of war.
It is 1940 and 15-year old Louisa has recently lost both her parents at the hand of German forces. She is the child of a black Jamaican father and a white British mother, and has to suddenly be responsible for her own survival. She has a difficult time finding employment in her new English homeland because of racial prejudice and her young age, but is able to find a job in Scotland taking care of an elderly German-born ex opera singer.
Jamie, the second narrator, is a Royal Air Force flight leader stationed at a base near the Scottish village of Windyedge, where the story takes place. Ellen is the third voice, and she is a youngish volunteer driver for the military base, and grew up as a “Traveller,” the common name for the nomadic tribes of the British Isles.
Wein cleverly weaves a tale of espionage and wartime drama as seen through the eyes of her three main characters. A pilot from the German resistance leaves an Enigma code maker/breaker machine at the Limehouse pub, which is the central location for the main characters. Louisa, a classically trained musician, is able to crack German pilot code communications to help aid the Royal Air Force. The pacing of the story really varies with the voice, and I found Louis’s voice to be spunky and intelligent but somewhat contrived, as opposed to the other two older characters who seemed more genuine. I was most engaged with Jamie’s narration of dangerous flight missions. I think this story would resonate with WWII history buffs, and it has an impressive amount of historical detail that I found fascinating. Recommended grade level for this book is 9th grade and above. I give the book four out of five stars.
Review by M. DeBuse-Losh, OHS Library Secretary
Mason Deaver’s 2nd novel, The Ghosts We Keep, is a deeply emotional story of a non-binary high school student losing his older brother in an accident. Liam Cooper is already having trouble maintaining friendships at school and is struggling with his place in the world and what he wants to do after high school, and the death of his brother makes him almost suicidal. It’s a believable story, and it was born of the author’s own grappling with grief. It moves pretty slowly and the main character might drive you a bit crazy, but you’ll hang on to the end in order to find out how Liam matures and survives this tortuous time. Genre: Realistic Fiction
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by M. Losh, OHS Library Secretary
Main character, Spencer, was born biologically female but identifies as male. His early high school experiences have been riddled with bullying and threats to his life. At Spencer’s new school he decides to keep his transition a secret, passing easily as male. Spencer is a skilled soccer player, but encounters trouble playing for his new school’s team once the coach finds “female” listed as the sex on Spencers birth certificate. At this point, Spencer must decide if keeping his transition a secret is more important than playing soccer.
This book would interest student athletes as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies. The character development is strong, the events unfold in a way that makes the reader want to continue to learn what happens. I highly recommend this book for all high school libraries.
This is a book about grief, addiction, family and finding your community. I went into this book with high expectations because I’ve loved every other book by Gayle Forman, but by the end of this read I was left wanting so much more. The main character, Aaron, is boring and had me often wondering why I couldn’t connect to him very well. The events unfold slowly with little development. The one redeeming aspect of the book is the way we see Aaron and his parents dealing with grief in vastly different ways; none of which are coping well, but all are still making their way through it.
The book is appropriate for both upper middle and high school students. There are characters dealing with substance abuse and addition as well as a character who dies of an overdose.
