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Merit
29 Reviews
(3)
YA
Nerdy Samantha narrates the story of her quirky middle-class Jewish family's time on a televised Sasquatch-hunting competition. Though she's much less enthusiastic than other family members, the prize money would help with her premed ambitions. What follows is a requisite romance with prep-school boy Devan and snobbery from the show's other contestants in this unusual but funny Pride and Prejudice takeoff.
Reviewer: Shoshana Flax
(4)
YA
Seventeen-year-old Van and her caretaker, Ida, have always lived a peripatetic existence thanks to Van's mother, an inspired businesswoman prone to erraticism. When the trio arrives in Las Vegas, Van begins to forge her own identity in a rock band. This moving coming-of-age story unfortunately veers off course when Van's mother disappears into the desert with a cult and the teen must bring her home.
Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer
(4)
YA
Mennonite teen Lucy looks forward to the annual visit of her Amish friend Alice. But this year, Alice is exploring life outside the Old Order during Rumspringa, and Lucy grows envious of Alice's temporary freedom. When Alice disappears, Lucy leads her own investigation. This culturally sensitive novel offers a glimpse into Amish and Mennonite communities, though it's a relatively predictable mystery.
Reviewer: Norah Piehl
(4)
YA
In El Rosario, Mexico, Juan Pablo and his female best friend Rocio have both lost the grandparents who raised them, and now drug traffickers are after them. Before her death, Juan Pablo's grandmother told him to go to Pacific Grove, California, where "someone" awaits him. A compelling narrative is marred by some Spanish errors and occasional reliance on melodrama.
Reviewer: Sarah Hannah Gomez
(4)
YA
In 1914, half-English, half-Indian fifteen-year-old Adi's life is upended when she accidentally foils the assassination plans of a shape-shifting, devil-like madman named Coal. Coal exacts his revenge by kidnapping Adi's brothers, presenting her with riddles to find them, and literally stealing her voice. Historical fiction melds with magical realism in this elegantly written but somewhat overstuffed novel.
Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello
(4)
YA
As long as Tess has best friend Tabitha, she can hide her outcast status from her manic-depressive mom and financially struggling dad. But early in junior year, Tess loses Tabitha to a tragedy Tess foresaw in a dream. The supernatural element never quite finds its place in the story, but Tess's concern that her burgeoning prophetic powers may signal her own mental illness is moving and believably rendered.
Reviewer: Rebecca Fox
(4)
YA
American Evie comes to Oxford for college and begins a whirlwind romance with Prince Edmund of the British royal family. While they struggle to maintain their relationship in the face of Edmund's celebrity, Evie discovers secrets in her own family tree. Despite predictable plot points and shallow characterizations, this royal romance hits the right genre notes for fans of The Princess Diaries.
Reviewer: Norah Piehl
(4)
YA
Sixteen-year-old writer Emmy Danvers discovers that the stranger who tackled her and died was actually protecting an intended murder victim: her. Armed with the man's enigmatic last words about her long-lost father and an encrypted digital tablet with clues, Emmy must elude a killer while also navigating romance and mean girls at her elite boarding school. For mystery fans not bothered by character stereotypes.
Reviewer: Grace Enriquez
(3)
YA
Ellery plans her suicide right down to the post-deed cleaning service. When the gun fails, however, a desperate late-night Kmart visit brings Colter into her life. Both teens are seeking redemption for a sibling's death, and out of this shared sadness comes unexpected love. Dramatic, dark, and sometimes achingly realistic. Fans of All the Bright Places will get lost in this book.
Reviewer: Jenn Matters
(3)
YA
When seventeen-year-old Gabriela Santiago's brother is wounded in Afghanistan and left in a coma, she's determined to fulfill his request--that she hike Spain's Camino de Santiago--even if she has to do it with her brother's detestable best friend, Seth. The lush setting and grounded characters are skillfully rendered with a mix of heartfelt realism and thoughtfully evocative prose.
Reviewer: Siena Leslie
(4)
YA
Kat's little brother, Beep, is dying of leukemia. While Kat stays strong for Beep, the rest of her life spirals out of control; she faces high school bullies, juggles a secret online persona, and lashes out at her family. Kat's story feels a little too crammed with subplots, but her pervasive grief and guilt are intensely rendered and certainly tear-jerking.
Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald
(4)
YA
After participating in a hypnotist's act at the local fair, Hannah is the driver in a fatal car crash and her comfortable life unravels. Is she the target of a master mental-manipulator, or is the schizophrenia that led to her father's death manifesting in Hannah as well? Kelly blends the occult, crime, romance, and high-school politics in this somewhat predictable thriller.
Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac
(3)
YA
At age twelve, Charlotte was kidnapped by a pedophile and imprisoned in his attic. After being rescued more than four years later, she returns home to discover that her parents are divorced and her twin sister is a delinquent. And she still feels trapped. Deeply disturbing yet riveting, the novel recognizes and explores the lasting psychological effects of abuse.
Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith
(4)
YA
High schooler Annalise's current life consists of dodging mean girls, obsessing over her favorite band, and maintaining an online friendship with a sympathetic boy. The boy turns out to be the fabrication of the same mean girls, but Annalise gets her happy ending anyway. This breezy novel may appeal to readers who like the melodrama of adolescence and don't mind unrealistic plotting and characters.
Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth
(4)
YA
After Lorna is swept into the ocean off Cape Cod during a storm, her best friends--Jackie, boyfriend Finn, and Lucas--are shattered. Narrator Jackie's grief is initially well developed, as is the mystery surrounding the tragedy. However, after a mid-point twist, this uneven story devolves into soap-opera territory. Wittlinger's affectionate, vivid portrayal of the Provincetown community is the book's highlight.
Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen
(3)
YA
After her sister's friend Perdita drowns mysteriously in a nearby lake, sixteen-year-old Arielle has strange, supernatural experiences. Although friendship and family struggles distract her, the psychic incidents are strengthening; Arielle suspects Perdita may be trying to reach her, perhaps with a message about her death. This fast-paced mystery strikes an excellent balance between realism and ghostly horror.
Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald
(4)
YA
Jeremy is thrilled when his lifelong friend--and fellow Olympic Wildlife Shelter volunteer--Mackie Spence asks him to the Sadie One dance. Their new romance is complicated, however, by a jealous ex-boyfriend and Mackie's newfound ability to heal injured animals. Despite the somewhat stilted writing, readers interested in wild-animal rehabilitation will enjoy this hi/lo-feeling paranormal mystery.
Reviewer: Barratt Miller
(4)
YA
A somewhat melodramatic but nevertheless appealing retelling of the infamous crime that gripped Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892, when Lizzie Borden was accused of murdering her father and stepmother in cold blood. The sometimes clumsy, clichéd dialogue doesn't overly detract from the fast-paced narrative told in the believable voice of the family maid, Bridget.
Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn
(3)
YA
Orphaned Lola has suffered a rough, solitary life. Then she falls asleep in the school library and wakes up in 1923, where she finds welcoming friends, wealthy benefactors, and romance. Lola slips back and forth in time, wondering if she is crazy but trying desperately to stay in the past regardless. Her story is an intriguing blend of history, fantasy, and realism.
Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald
(3)
YA
Art school in Paris is put on hold when Tera's artist father is arrested for possessing child pornography. Tera's denial creates an unreliable narrator, as years of manipulation and repression slowly unfold. Despite the artistic lens examining nudity vs. obscenity, readers will detect clues of abuse. Maysonet honestly, yet delicately, highlights issues such as victim-blaming, shame, and difficult sexual relationships.
Reviewer: Andrea Curtis
29 reviews
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