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Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2023) Featured Review of These Deadly Games by Diana Urban

These Deadly Games

by Diana Urban

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Imprint:

Release date:

ISBN: 9781250797193

16-year old Crystal Donovan is laser focused on the upcoming Mortal Dusk gaming tournament, which she will be competing in with her e-sports team. Suddenly everything changes when she begins receiving frightening messages on an app that mysteriously appears on her phone. Someone has kidnapped her sister Caelyn, and to get her back, Crystal will have to play the most dangerous game of her life. Although the tasks seem harmless enough at first, it becomes increasingly clear that they are aimed at hurting Crystal’s closest friends and teammates. Could the person behind the app be a Mortal Dusk competitor? Or could it have to do with an event that happened five years ago that Crystal and her friends swore to keep secret?

Urban constructs a fast-paced, contemporary thriller. Although the twists in the story are slightly predictable, the plot remains engaging throughout. Flawed characters and complicated friendships between Crystal and her teammates are realistic and relatable. The focus on games and technology will also appeal to today’s tech-savvy and connected teens. Librarians should be aware that the title contains contents dealing with death, domestic abuse, panic attacks, anorexia, and racism.

Fans of fast-past thrillers and suspense, who don’t mind a bit of violence will enjoy this book. Hand this to teens who enjoyed Two Truths and a Lie by April Henry, Dead End Girls by Wendy Heard, The Wild by Owen Laukkanen, or Out of the Fire by Andrea Contos.

— Julianne Novetsky

Other Nominated Titles

Two Truths and a Lie by April Henry (May 24, 2022)

Live, Laugh, Kidnap by Gabby Noone (May 20, 2022)

Trigger by N. Griffin (March 29, 2022)

Counting Scars by Melinda Di Lorenzo (August 16, 2022)

Jumper by Melanie Crowder (June 21, 2022)

Gold Mountain by Betty G. Yee (April 5, 2022)

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2023) Featured Review of The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson

The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson
Heartdrum/HarperCollins
May 10, 2022
ISBN: 9780063086166

The summer after she graduates high school, Lou is working at her family’s ice-cream shack, waiting to head off for university in the fall.

Lou is Metis, and lives with her mother in farmland in small-town Alberta. While she knows her mother’s family, who are Indigenous, she knows nothing for certain about her white father or his family.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2022) Nominations Round-Up, Summer

Due to the large number of nominees, not all titles are shown here. See full list below.

Each quarter, the Selected Lists teams compile the titles that have been officially nominated to date. These books have been suggested by the team or through the title suggestion form, read by multiple members of the team, and received approval to be designated an official nomination. At the end of the year, the final list of nominations and each Selected List’s Top Ten will be chosen from these titles.

Amari and the Night Brothers. By B.B. Alston. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99 (9780062975164).

Amari’s brother Quinton has disappeared, and her only hope of finding him is to follow in his footsteps and become a Junior Agent with the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs.

Amber and Clay. By Laura Amy Schlitz. Candlewick Press, $22.99 (9781536201222).

In ancient Greece, two unlikely friends Rhaskos and Melisto find their lives intertwined in a search for freedom and purpose. As a ghost bound to Rhaskos, Melisto must help free him before she can find her own rest in the Halls of Hades.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2022) Featured Review of Off the Record by Camryn Garrett

Off the Record by Camryn Garrett
Penguin Random House / Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-1984829993

Josie Wright is seventeen years old, Black, fat, a future Spelman College legacy student (fingers crossed), and a brilliant writer already getting some exposure. When she wins the chance to write a feature article for an important magazine on a young up-and-coming actor, Marius Canet, Josie is determined to make the most of her time on his film’s cross-country press tour, even if it means ignoring her growing feelings for Marius. Just when Josie thinks she’s got her work/life balance under control, a young actress on the tour discloses the horrible truth about a powerful director and asks Josie to break the story of his on-set abuse.

Putting Women Back in the Narrative: Historical Fiction That Remembers The Ladies

It was pretty much inevitable that I would become a Hamilton addict. As both an American history nerd and a musical theatre geek, I found Lin-Manuel Miranda’s brilliant musical exploring the story of Alexander Hamilton and the founding of the United States irresistible from the moment I first listened to the opening number. However, my love of Hamilton comes not only from Miranda’s incredibly well-crafted soundtrack and book but also from his clear interest in highlighting perspectives often left out of the historical record, including the voices and experiences of women.

Obviously, I am not the first to notice this; articles like Michael Schulman’s “The Women of Hamilton“ and Constance Gibbs’ “How the Hero of Hamilton the Musical is a Woman” explore the powerful ways that Miranda’s writing and the performances of Phillipa Soo, Renee Elise Goldsberry, and Jasmine Cephas Jones illuminate the often unacknowledged perspectives, experiences, and contributions of women in our history. Singing along to songs like “The Schuyler Sisters,” “Satisfied,” and “Burn,” I can’t help but feel the urge to read some great historical fiction that places women and their stories in the spotlight.

Continue reading Putting Women Back in the Narrative: Historical Fiction That Remembers The Ladies