Wellesley High School Library - Book Reviews

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

1/3/2019

Stephanie (Stevie) Bell cannot wait to attend the exclusive Ellingham Academy, known to only accept the most unique and talented students, tuition-free. Stevie is not sure how she was accepted since unlike her housemates, she is not a movie star, has not published a bestselling novel, is not an amazing inventor, and really has no exceptional talent whatsoever. What Stevie does have is an intense interest in mysteries and Ellingham Academy is the setting of one of the biggest unsolved cases of all time. Her dream is to be able to attend the school and uncover the facts behind the decades-old disappearance of the wife and child of the original founder of the Academy, Albert Ellingham. As she and her housemates embark on a project to examine the unsolved crime, another dead body turns up and this time, Stevie has a real killer to track down.

What If It's Us? by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

12/20/2018

What are the chances that two people can have a fleeting meeting in a New York post office and fall madly in love? Ben is there to mail a box of his ex-boyfriend’s belongings. Arthur, from Georgia, happens to be there running an errand for his summer internship. No names or numbers are traded. The universe does not arrange another chance meeting. However, they do manage to track each other down. To be able to find ‘The One’ in a city of millions -- surely the Universe is telling them that they should be together.

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

12/19/2018

Everyone has secrets. If you go to Bayview High, your secrets won’t be safe for long with Simon Kelleher, the resident gossip blogger, alive. When Simon turns up dead, suspicion turns to the four students who last saw him alive, four students whose paths rarely cross except on this one fateful day -- Bronwyn, straight A overachiever, Cooper, star athlete, Addy, pretty airhead, and Nate, the local drug dealer. Now with the police tracking their every move, they form an unusual alliance to try to prove their innocence. However, when their secrets begin to spill, questions start to arise - just who is telling the truth and who is lying?

Character, Driven by David Lubar

9/17/2018

Everyone seems to know what they want to do after high school except Cliff Sparks. It’s senior year and Cliff has no idea. Not only that, he is also dying to have a girlfriend. As a first person, sometimes unreliable, narrator, Cliff takes you through his life as a senior - the ups and downs of dating, standing up for friends, his dreams and aspirations, and finally, finding his calling. Not only are there awkward high school social situations to wade through, there are family financial stresses that cause tension between Cliff and his volatile, unemployed father. How does one teenage boy juggle work, school, family, social life (or lack thereof) and hope to graduate?

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

9/17/2018

On Monday, November 4, 2013, the lives of two teenagers intersected on the 57 bus in Oakland, California. As one of the teens dozed during the hour-long ride home after school, the other decided to set the first’s skirt on fire. This is the compelling true story of two teens whose lives are turned upside down by this tragic event. We follow their stories as one tries to heal, forgive and move on and the other navigates through the criminal courts with remorse hoping for a second chance. All this is cast against a backdrop of questions about race, gender, identity, and class. Was it a hate crime? Will there be justice for both the victim and the perpetrator?

American Panda by Gloria Chao

9/6/2018

Taiwanese-American teen, Mei, is about to start freshman year at MIT. Her super-traditional family has always pushed her to get into a good college, become a doctor, and marry the right guy (preferably a Taiwanese-American boy). She’s trying her best to not be like her brother who chose his own path instead of following their parents’ strict ideas for what defines success. Mei does not want to be disowned like him, however, at college, she is discovering that what her parents want for her does not match up with who she is. As an extreme germophobe, she can barely get through basic bio labs with all the animal dissections involved. Plus, she might be falling for Darren Takahashi who is not Taiwanese, not even Chinese. So, how will Mei juggle her parents’ expectations and her own dreams for her future?

Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid

6/6/2018

Nadia and Saeed are friends, lovers, refugees... They leave their families and war torn country behind in the search for a better future. Their journey takes them to Mykonos, London, and finally the US. Along the way, Nadia and Saeed’s relationship ebbs and flows as they step through the different doors that offer them escape to new places. With each journey and arrival, we meet other migrants like them whose stories briefly parallel theirs. A beautifully written bittersweet story of two friends, lovers, refugees...caught in circumstances outside of their control, leaving their past to seek out a safer, unknown future.

Watched, by Marina Budhos

5/23/2018

Bangladeshi-American high schooler Naeem is caught in a catch 22. The cops discover stolen goods that his so-called friend Ibrahim put in his backpack. Now, he has to choose between being prosecuted for a crime he didn’t commit or being an informant on his Muslim community. Tasked with reporting any suspicious activity in the area mosques and Muslim youth groups, Naeem feels increasingly conflicted about his role as a “watcher” and what that means for his family and those around him.

Dear Martin, by Nic Stone

5/23/2018

Ivy League-bound Justyce McAllister is one of the few African American students at his prep school. After being racially profiled while helping a friend, he decides to study Dr. Martin Luther King’s teachings to see how they apply to his life today. As he navigates the complex racial dynamics at his school, he is forced to confront the grim realities of being an African American male in the US - when every encounter with the police could lead to a life or death situation. Nic Stone’s debut novel shines a harsh light on the issues confronting young African American youth today from implicit bias, racial profiling, gang membership, multi-racial relationships, police brutality and more.

Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds

5/22/2018

For Will, there are only 3 rules he needs to live by:
#1 - No crying
#2 - No snitching
#3 - Revenge: If someone you love gets killed, find the person who killed them and kill them. Now that his brother Shawn has been shot dead, Will is trying to decide how he’s going to live by these rules. With his brother’s gun tucked in his jeans, Will takes the longest elevator ride down. Stopping on each floor, the elevator is haunted by memories? Ghosts? of all the people around Will who have been shot. Each “talks” to Will as he tries make sense of who they are and why they are in the elevator. Before he reaches the lobby, Will will have to make a decision - is he going to be a rule breaker or get revenge.

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