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The End of Us / Sandra Proudman / Book Review

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THE END OF US Jules and Rico only have each other, but that's more than enough. They've been side-by-side through it all: burning summer heat, hungry winter nights, and long hours scavenging the Wasteland to find the salvage needed to keep them alive. What else can someone ask for, in this environmental post-apocalypse? The future isn't entirely bleak. They have one thing to hope for: the lottery. The Oasis was set up generations ago by some wealthy billionaire, and it's provided refuge ever since. Limited spots means hoping for a resident of the Oasis to die. Limited spots means waiting for the random chance to be selected as the next resident. And this year, with three potential places in the Oasis open, Rico and Jules have more hope than ever before. When Rico's selected despite all odds, he does the unthinkable: he gives his coveted position in paradise to Jules. But leaving for the Oasis means leaving Rico behind. An...
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A Thousand Nights / Nafiza Azad & Intisar Khanani, Editors / Book Review

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A THOUSAND NIGHTS Nusaybah doesn't want to leave her home, but she doesn't have a choice. Her mother, father, brother, grandparents have been buried now, and there's nothing more for her here. Especially with the Occupiers on their way. Fleeing across the desert is her only option. Across the desert, she can find refuge. With invading forces at her heels, she has no time to rest and to doubt. There's only moving forward, but Nusaybah doesn't have to do it alone. Hers isn't the only life that's been uprooted. First she finds one refugee. Then another, and another. Setting out across the desert isn't her burden alone. Together, they push on with stories of hope, of home, and of magic, heading toward whatever the future holds. THOUGHTS This book is an arduous journey. It takes a very long time to read and digest. The journey that Nusaybah and her ...
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Night of Madness / Ryan Douglass / Book Review

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NIGHT OF MADNESS Everybody knows Jack Stanley. He directed some of the best slasher films of the past few decades. The Jack Stanley cinematic universe is the end-all-be-all for all horror buffs out there. So when a competition is announced, one night of challenges inspired by his most terrifying psychological horror film Asylum , fans all over the country jump at the chance to win a spot to compete. Mara needs to catch a lucky break, and if that means playing Jack Stanley's #1 Fan, so be it. She knows all his films, after all, thanks to her father's obsession with Stanley's campy slashers. She can play the part. She just needs to convince the fans. Because it's not as simple as presenting an audition tape or filling out an application. Jack Stanley's looking for rising influencers to thrust into his twisted limelight. And for Mara, that means doing a lot of work... and not all of it legal. And Mara's creative solutio...
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Where We Go at Night / Ikwo Ntekim / Book Review

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WHERE WE GO AT NIGHT Trixie Godfrey has no plans to leave Woods Crossing after graduation. No college for her. No gap year travel. No, Woods Crossing is all she'll ever have, all she'll ever need . How could she leave it behind, with a family estate she's set to inherit and the fae realm lurking just at the edge of the trees? Not that Trixie's interacted much with the fae (or, as her Mama has always called them, those aberrations ). Pops won't let her get too close, for one. He keeps promising to take her to the other side, but it's never happened. Which is why she can't leave now, with real adulthood looming. Once she's an adult, he won't be able to say no. But on the night of her graduation, Trixie makes a mistake. She stays out too late. Wasn't her plan. Wasn't her fault. But she's stuck sneaking home way past curfew just to find the front door open... and her Pops in the kitchen, split wide...
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Hearts on the Table / Susan Metallo / Book Review

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HEARTS ON THE TABLE Violet Cesari is a girl who knows her mind. She'd rather be organizing with the suffragists than sitting at home working on her embroidery. She'd rather be thrashing men at the cards table than courting whatever lord her father has picked for her. And she'd rather her transgender twin Seb live the life he deserves than whatever life their father dictates for the both of them. Even if that means fleeing their father's oppressive household together in the middle of the night. England might be their father's home, but Italy has always been the twins' safe haven. And that's where they're headed now that their father's house is no longer home. The only problem? There's a bit of a war on... and the passenger ship that was meant to bring them to Italy has been struck by a U-boat instead. When Violet washes ashore on a nearby island, she's only certain of two things: her twin is still a...
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Survival Show / Juno Dawson / Book Review

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SURVIVAL SHOW Taryn Beck's barely hanging on. A refugee who fled a flooded south England, she's been stuck in limbo for years. Not enough food. Not enough housing. Not enough work, and not enough promise for her future. In other words, she's perfect for Project Population (not that she particularly wants to die). But Taryn has one ray of hope in her life. Not for herself, but for her brother. Her chronically ill brother, who needs medication to live. Medication they can't get. Medication she can get for him, if she lands a spot on the next season of Starmaker , Network G's most popular reality TV competition. She's got the voice, if nothing else. The rules are simple: young women from all over the globe audition, and if they make the cut, they'll be invited to the show. Network G's looking for an all-new girl pop sensation: singer-songwriter-dancers all around. And Taryn knows she has what it takes to be part of DOL...
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My Killer Family Reunion / Dinesh Thiru / Book Review

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MY KILLER FAMILY REUNION Jayshree has always felt invisible in her own family, and she's (mostly) okay with that. She doesn't get invited to hang out with the cousins in the basement during the family reunion, but she also doesn't get annoying aunts and uncles asking her questions she doesn't want to answer. The only one who pays attention to her, really pays attention to her, is Grand Mom. Everybody loves Grand Mom. They have to. As the wealthy matriarch of the family, keeping in Grand Mom's good graces is vital. There's an inheritance on the line. Grand Mom may be unkillable (or so she always jokes), but she isn't exactly getting any younger. But this year's family reunion comes with a special announcement: Grand Mom's changed the will. It's not an even division between her children of her expensive properties in India. She's naming three specific heirs, and she needs Jayshree's help to vet the can...
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