my favorite books and their descriptions master list:
black beauty ā¢ anna bewell
Black Beauty spends his youth in a loving home, surrounded by friends and cared for by his owners. But when circumstances change, he learns that not all humans are so kind. Passed from hand to hand, Black Beauty witnesses love and cruelty, wealth and poverty, friendship and hardship ā¦ Will the handsome horse ever find a happy and lasting home?
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iāll give you the sun ā¢ jandy nelson
At first, Jude and her twin brother Noah, are inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears red-red lipstick, cliff-dives, and does all the talking for both of them. Years later, they are barely speaking. Something has happened to change the twins in different yet equally devastating waysā¦ but then Jude meets an intriguing, irresistible boy and a mysterious new mentor. The early years are Noahās to tell; the later years are Judeās. But they each have only half the story, and if they can only find their way back to one another, theyāll have a chance to remake their world.
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speak ā¢ laurie halse anderson
The first ten lies they tell you in high school.
āSpeak up for yourselfāwe want to know what you have to say.ā
From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication.
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only mostly devastated ā¢ sophie gonzales
Will Tavares is the dream summer fling ā heās fun, affectionate, kind ā but just when Ollie thinks heās found his Happily Ever After, summer vacation ends and Will stops texting Ollie back. Now Ollie is one prince short of his fairy tale ending, and to complicate the fairy tale further, a family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country. Which he minds a little less when he realizes itās the same school Will goes toā¦ except Ollie finds that the sweet, comfortably queer guy he knew from summer isnāt the same one attending Collinswood High. This Will is a class clown, closeted ā and, to be honest, a bit of a jerk.
Ollie has no intention of pining after a guy who clearly isnāt ready for a relationship, especially since this new, bro-y jock version of Will seems to go from hot to cold every other week. But then Will starts ācoincidentallyā popping up in every area of Ollieās life, from music class to the lunch table, and Ollie finds his resolve weakening.
The last time he gave Will his heart, Will handed it back to him trampled and battered. Ollie would have to be an idiot to trust him with it again.
Right? Right.
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a long walk to water ā¢ linda sue park
A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hoursā walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the ālost boysā of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nyaās in an astonishing and moving way.
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inside out and back again ā¢ thanhha lai
For all the ten years of her life, HĆ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, and the warmth of her friends close by. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HĆ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HĆ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food ā¦ and the strength of her very own family.
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the giver ā¢ lois lowry
The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community.
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the darkness outside of us ā¢ eliot schrefer
Two boys, alone in space.
After the first settler on Titan trips her distress signal, neither remaining country on Earth can afford to scramble a rescue of its own, and so two sworn enemies are installed in the same spaceship.
Ambrose wakes up on the Coordinated Endeavor, with no memory of a launch. Thereās more that doesnāt add up: Evidence indicates strangers have been on board, the shipās operating system is voiced by his mother, and his handsome, brooding shipmate has barricaded himself away. But nothing will stop Ambrose from making his mission succeedānot when heās rescuing his own sister.
In order to survive the shipās secrets, Ambrose and Kodiak will need to work together and learn to trust one anotherā¦ especially once they discover what they are truly up against. Love might be the only way to survive.
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red white and royal blue ā¢ casey mcquston
First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veepās genius granddaughter, theyāre the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsidesānamely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations. The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince.
As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?
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ace of spades ā¢ faridah Ć bĆkĆ©-ĆyĆmĆdĆ©
Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect. Until now. Because anonymous texter, Aces, is bringing two studentsā dark secrets to light.
Talented musician Devon buries himself in rehearsals, but he canāt escape the spotlight when his private photos go public. Head girl Chiamaka isnāt afraid to get what she wants, but soon everyone will know the price she has paid for power.
Someone is out to get them both. Someone who holds all the aces. And theyāre planning much more than a high-school gameā¦
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boyfriend material ā¢ alexis hall
Luc O'Donnell is tangentiallyāand reluctantlyāfamous. His rock star parents split when he was young, and the father heās never met spent the next twenty years cruising in and out of rehab. Now that his dadās making a comeback, Lucās back in the public eye, and one compromising photo is enough to ruin everything.
To clean up his image, Luc has to find a nice, normal relationshipā¦and Oliver Blackwood is as nice and normal as they come. Heās a barrister, an ethical vegetarian, and heās never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. In other words: perfect boyfriend material. Unfortunately apart from being gay, single, and really, really in need of a date for a big event, Luc and Oliver have nothing in common. So they strike a deal to be publicity-friendly (fake) boyfriends until the dust has settled. Then they can go their separate ways and pretend it never happened.
But the thing about fake-dating is that it can feel a lot like real-dating. And thatās when you get used to someone. Start falling for them. Donāt ever want to let them go.
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the song of achilles ā¢ madeline miller
Achilles, āthe best of all the Greeks,ā son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the godsā wrath.
They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.
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circe ā¢ madeline miller
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child - not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power - the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.
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the secret lives of church ladies ā¢ deesha philyaw
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the churchās double standards and their own needs and passions. With their secret longings, new love, and forbidden affairs, these church ladies are as seductive as they want to be, as vulnerable as they need to be, as unfaithful and unrepentant as they care to be, and as free as they deserve to be.
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this is where it ends ā¢ marieke nijkamp
Everyone has a reason to fear the boy with the gunā¦
10:00 a.m.: The principal of Opportunity, Alabamaās high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m.: The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03: The auditorium doors wonāt open.
10:05: Someone starts shooting.
In 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun.
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the young elites (trilogy) ā¢ marie lu
I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.
Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelinaās black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their familyās good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the feverās survivors are rumored to possess more than just scarsāthey are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.
Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but itās Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.
Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like theyāve never seen.
Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldnāt belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.
It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.
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skyhunter (duology) ā¢ marie lu
n a world broken by war, a team of young warriors is willing to sacrifice everything to save what they love.
The Karensa Federation has conquered a dozen countries, leaving Mara as one of the last free nations in the world. Refugees flee to its borders to escape a fate worse than deathātransformation into mutant war beasts known as Ghosts, creatures the Federation then sends to attack Mara.
The legendary Strikers, Maraās elite fighting force, are trained to stop them. But as the number of Ghosts grows and Karensa closes in, defeat seems inevitable.
Still, one Striker refuses to give up hope.
Robbed of her voice and home, Talin Kanami knows firsthand the brutality of the Federation. Their cruelty forced her and her mother to seek asylum in a country that considers their people repugnant. She finds comfort only with a handful of fellow Strikers who have pledged their lives to one another and who are determined to push Karensa back at all costs.
When a mysterious prisoner is brought from the front, Talin senses thereās more to him than meets the eye. Is he a spy from the Federation? Or could he be the weapon that will save them all?
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long way down ā¢ jason reynolds
A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE
Or, you can call it a gun. Thatās what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. Thatās where Willās now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brotherās gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who heās after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And thatās when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawnās gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didnāt know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buckās in the elevator? Just as Willās trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buckās cigarette. Will doesnāt know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.
And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an ENDā¦if WILL gets off that elevator.
