Meat Market has been shortlisted for the YA Book Prize, You can hear Juno's interview with one of our students at Glenthorne High School by clicking here. It's the story of Jana, a teen from a council estate in London. When she's at a theme park she's scouted by a model agency and signed almost immediately because she's "got the look." Her friends are freaking out, her boyfriend supportive but somewhat wary and her parents aren't having any of it, although they are very supportive throughout the novel and I was happy to see this family dynamic rather than a one dimensional cardboard set of parents that just scream at the main character whenever they get a chance. Jana herself isn't too sure, it's a big time commitment and she is genuinely worried about her school work. However, she soon gets sucked into a whirlwind of casting agents, shoots and catwalks. She's whisked to New York, Dubai, MIlan, all over the world and seemingly overnight finds herself, as a teen, on billboards all over the world. People are copying her hair style, going into hairdressers and asking for "The Jana". It's all a dream, and it all becomes too much. Jana very quickly sees the dark side of the modelling industry, the pressure not to eat and the loneliness, the pressure to get to the shoot at five am when she's expected to go to parties all night. Drugs, sexism and the idea that she is just a mannequin to be posed however they want and then discarded. Her relationships begin to strain, her mental state becomes frazzled and then something happens that shatters her to her core. Meat Market is impossible to put down, Dawson has created a character in Jana that cuts to the bone, she is real, funny, stubborn and smart just to name a few. You will find yourself cheering her on every step of the way and getting angry at those who deliberately try to keep her down. This could have been a book on any industry in my opinion, Dawson is such an expert writer that truth pours off the page, really loved this one and I can see hundreds of students in my library that will really want to get their hands on it.
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Lex is burning alive. At least that's how she feels inside. Her soon to be step-father, John, is a monster, but nobody else really sees it that way. Since being with John, Lex's mother has undergone what can only be described as a lobotomy, she's placid, meek and anxiety ridden. Lex's step-sister Iris is young and innocent and caught up in the angry whirl-wind that is John's behaviour. Sometimes he's sweet, sometimes he's not. When Lex's mother and John get into it and the swearing starts and things get thrown around, that's when Lex's monster comes out. She becomes the furious thing, trashing the house, damaging property, running away. John thinks Lex needs to be medicated, and he's got a doctor friend who can do just that. Desperate, Lex turns to the only person who has ever got her, Kass, her soon to be step brother, whom she also has had an undying crush on for years. Kass is in university in Manchester, he's also desperate not to become like his father, although sometimes his behaviour says otherwise. As the wedding looms, and the situation at home starts to collapse, Lex starts to do even more outrageous things to get her mother's attention to what she's become. Furious Thing is one of the best YA I've read in a while. Lex isn't just living with a monster, John is written as a complex character with sides that allow Lex to see why her mother loves him. Lex is also a deeply complicated, flawed person, someone I wish I knew when I went to high school. Someone who goes with her gut, is desperate to feel something in this life and to show others what it's like to love and hurt. I think this is a beautiful story about life and love and abuse and deciding you aren't going to take it any more. Highly recommend it for ages 14+. When she turned ten, Aniyah made a wish on a star for her mum. The wish was for her mother, but during that same day, she and her brother Noah are taken from her home and driven far away and made to live in a foster home. The only silver lining is that the foster home is run by Mrs. Iwuchukwu who is one of the best motherly fiction character from the past few years in my opinion. She is firm yet fair, loving and open. This is a character that helps restore the image of foster carers as caring, responsible people when the primary image we receive from the media are ones who prey on children's weaknesses. Throughout the novel, Mrs. Iwuchukwu becomes a character I wanted to spend more time with and I wanted to learn as much as I could about her. Aniyah is obsessed with star hunting, so when she finds out that the Royal Observatory at Greenwich is holding a contest to name a new star, she knows that the star is connected to her mother and that it must be named after her. This is when she recruits the help of some of the foster children to embark on an adventure to travel to the Observatory to tell the judges her mother's story and why the star belongs to her. A truly devastating story that will wreck you as a reader. As Aniyah's story slowly unravels, we see the true desperation behind her attempt to get to the Observatory. We see how children being sent to foster homes cope on a daily basis, how children are so, so resilient when it comes to traumatic events and how powerful kindness and empathy can be. Another blockbuster from Onjali, this will be another book I'll need several copies of to keep the students happy, don't miss this amazing story. Holly is fourteen and her best friend Amy has just moved from the UK to Canada. Upset, she turns to a group chat with students from her school to try and fill the void left behind after Amy left. Through the students in her school, she meets a boy named Jay. Jay doesn't go to Holly's school and she's never met him in person, but Holly feels like he really gets her. They are very similar in so many ways, same age, they both have parents who seem too busy to pay attention to them, they both are looking for a connection. It only takes Holly a few days to be nearly completely smitten with Jay. They chat online through the night and Holly finds herself nearly sleep deprived and desperate to be on her phone twenty four hours a day just to talk to him. Sometimes Jay gets impatient when she doesn't respond, when she's visiting with her grandmother or when she's trying to sleep or be with her other friends. Sometimes Jay sounds jealous, but Holly convinces herself it's because he loves her and there's nothing wrong with a guy being protective, is there? They've known each other a couple of weeks and already Holly is envisioning her life with Jay. Jay gets her, not like her parents, Holly thinks. He also starts to tell Holly to skip school, and when she gets detentions, to skip those too. He tells her to ignore her parents, ignore her teachers and only listen to him. Holly believes it's for the best, and when Jay asks to meet under the pier at Brighton, she agrees. Always Here For You is terrifying, it's a must read for any teen using social media, and let's be honest, that's almost every teen out there As the noose tightens, it becomes a book that is nearly impossible to put down, it's a true nightmare scenario that every teenager should read. I recommend it for ages 12+! Kiera Johnson has a secret that is getting harder and harder to keep. By day she's an ace student and one of the only black teens at Jefferson Academy but at night she's the creator of a massively popular online role playing game called SLAY. SLAY is a haven for gamers who for years have endured racist abuse in other online formats. Kiera keeps the fact that she's the game's creator hidden from her parents, her sister, her friends and even her boyfriend Malcolm, who is passionate about fighting white oppression, one of those tools being, in his opinion, video games. However, disaster strikes when a teen in Kansas is murdered over the game's built-in coin system. The boy's family and the media demands a response from the game's elusive creator. Not to mention the fact that SLAY is labelled racist, dangerous and responsible for generating gang-like mentality amongst its players. Lawsuits are brought up, prison sentences are mentioned. Kiera is consumed with dread and panic. Kiera's only solace is her friend Cicada, one of the game mods who lives in Paris. Kiera has never met her but finds a kindred spirit and a calming presence while talking to her. As the walls start closing in and Kiera finds herself loosing a grip on her sanity, she must make an impossible choice: reveal herself to the world and lose the only escape she's ever had in her life or try a last ditch effort to save the game she and hundreds of thousands of others love. SLAY is a brilliant new novel for fans of gaming and for anyone struggling to be themselves, struggling to live up to the expectations of others. Kiera is someone who feels like she has to apologise for who she is, someone who intimidates her white classmates just because of the colour of her skin. Her white friends come to her for advice on how not to appropriate black culture which is exhausting, as if Kiera is the last word on everything that revolves around black history and culture in general. I loved the supporting characters, Malcolm, her boyfriend, starts out as a passionate yet angry man who studies white oppression and black culture fervently. This passion eventually descends into something troubling for Kiera, and she must make hard choices when it comes to her love of SLAY and her love of Malcolm. Her sister Steph and her parents are supportive, tough, annoying and worried about her. In short, they are very well written. Morris has created a very unique and believable gaming atmosphere in my opinion. Many moons ago I was a fan of Everquest and played it often. SLAY opened my eyes up to the racism, sexism and overall toxicity of online gaming culture. I did not experience this in Everquest but this is down to two things, I am a straight white male and I wasn't that huge of a player, it didn't consume my life. Reading SLAY prompted me to do some research into this and I see it is a huge problem. This is an atmosphere that teens I work with in the library are dealing with, some of them on a daily basis. It really brought something I should have known more about to the forefront and i'm grateful for it. I highly recommend this novel to ages 14+ Owen feels like there's nobody he can talk to, life at home is hard. His mum isn't doing too well and Owen isn't himself at school. When he discovers a stone soldier on a bench in the park, Owen finally finds someone he can talk to, someone who really listens. Then the town council announces that they're removing the soldier. It's old, it's cracking, it's an eyesore they say. Owen knows the soldier is important, he just needs to find the right words to make everyone else see it the way he does. This is a really touching story about loss and friendship. Anyone who has ever found it hard to do the right thing, stand up for yourself and what you believe in will connect with this little gem immediately. I can't wait to get this into the hands of our students at Glenthorne, there's a lot here to discuss, highly recommend it. Jemima Small is tired of standing out. Bullied for her weight, she's dubbed Jemima "Big" by the ringleader of the bullies, Lottie. Things get worse when she's made to enrol in a school run program called Health Club but which everyone at school calls "Fat Club." What keeps her together is her best friend Miki, her brother Jasper (even if he is annoying 90% of the time) her father and her aunt Luna. Her mother isn't in the picture, all Jemima knows is that one day she decided she needed to leave, that's it. It's a cloud that hangs over her head and when Jemima discovers the truth, it comes like a bucket of cold water. Keeping Jemima focused is her chance to be on Brainiacs, the most popular quiz show around. It's not just the money that is driving her, it's the idea that she can be something more than what everyone thinks she is. As the date for the Brainiacs tryouts approaches, Jemima struggles with her self confidence and finding her place in the world. I lvoed the characters in this novel. Jemima has a real friend in Miki, someone who relentlessly defends her against the tide of toxicity that spews from the bullies at her school. Tasmin Winter knows how to write the high school voice and the voice of the downtrodden and those who rise up against the hurt. This is an important book, it's a book that tackles tough issues in a way that is delivered flawlessly. Unfortunately Jemima's struggles mirror those of many students in the UK and around the world. Jemima struggles with the idea that because she doesn't look a certain way she isn't worth anything. This is a real issue causing real damage to our youth. This book is a message like a lightning bolt to anyone struggling with body image issues, bullying, doubt, anxiety, depression, the list goes on. It's a triumph and I already anticipate how popular it will be at our school. Perfect for ages 11 and up! India Smythe is 14 and can't seem to get out of her own way. She's funny, nice and has good friends but always finds herself in one awkward situation after another. When she discovers that Ennis, the most popular boy at her school, has taken a liking to her, her life goes into warp speed in an attempt to be cool enough to live up to what she thinks are Ennis' and his clique friends' expectations. What follows are a series of genuinely funny moments involving an expired and probably illegal perfume brand and a party where India's dad storms in, clueless yet overly protective of his daughter. Eventually India begins to wonder who she's becoming by trying to keep Ennis' eye. Not only that, she's not sure she likes who she's becoming. It can be hard to find funny novels for teens. As a Librarian, I'm always on the lookout. Sarah Govett has created a story here that would appeal to a 12 year old just as much as a 17 year old, and that's an amazing feat. It's warm, hilarious and has some important underlying issues involving social media, body image, friends, peer pressure and more. I absolutely loved this story and can't wait to get it into the hands of our students. Don't miss this one! This is the 4th book in my sponsored read in memory of my brother. For all of the details about this fundraising event, you can click here. Cameron Post has just lost her parents in a tragic accident. Just prior to this, she was kissing a girl for the first time. Her first feeling is one of relief, knowing her parents will never discover her secret. Then she's moved to Miles City, Montana to live with her aunt Ruth and her grandmother. Ruth is conservative, religious and misguided in her intentions for Cameron. Cameron learns to survive the boredom of a small town and the depression, anxiety and ruin that her loss has left her. When Coley moves to town, something in Cameron ignites, she's never met someone like Coley, a beautiful girl who seems perfect in every way. Her and Coley become friends and just as their bond becomes close, Ruth decides to send Cameron to an ultra-religious camp in order to "fix" her homosexuality. In the camp, Cameron meets some teens who are genuinely on board for their "fixing" and others who see the camp for what it is, a denial of the basic human rights of the people who are forced to go there. Together, Cameron and her friends hatch a plan, one that will bring them closer together or potentially tear them apart. This is a beautiful novel that touches upon loss, grief, depression, substance abuse, the dangers of forcing religious beliefs onto others and so much more. Cameron wants to be herself, but she's not really sure who that is. I strongly identified with her struggles in her small town. The boredom, the toxic masculinity, the gossip, all of it were things that were to be overcome otherwise they would swallow you up. Cameron doesn't let it swallow her up, she takes things head on and pays a price for it but in my opinion it's a price worth paying. Cameron is someone I wish existed in my town, I think she would have been a great friend. This novel has received tons of accolades already so I'm not writing anything new here, but check it out if you haven't already. I'd happily give it to a Year 10 or 11 students at Glenthorne. This is the first book in my sponsored read. I am reading one YA book a week in memory of my brother, Matt, who passed away in August 2018. I am raising money for a charity close to him and our family. More details can be found here: https://bit.ly/2NeAetH or on social media using #ReadingForMatt Darius Kellner is about to take his first trip to Iran to see his grandparents and other members of his extended family. His grandfather is suffering from a brain tumour, Darius has only met him over Skype. Darius, along with his father, are also struggling with diagnosed depression and take medication for this. Darius feels guilty because, as he said, "nothing bad has ever happened to me", he just knows his brain sometimes tells him things he shouldn't think. When he gets to Iran he meets a boy named Sohrab, who calls him Darioush. Sohrab is like no one Darius has ever met, he doesn't make fun of him, he is respectful and thoughtful. Sohrab is dealing with a major family trauma in that his father was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Together they play soccer, eat delicious Persian food and keep each other afloat. Darius also learns to communicate with his father, Darius feels his father wishes he was more "normal" and would just "snap out of it" even though he takes medication for his own depression. As Darius tries to navigate his own depression and his family, the looming date to leave Iran and Sohrab is closing in. Darius must decide who he wants to be and try to learn to be happy in this world. I really loved this novel, I connected with it on many levels - down to playing Rook with my friends, trying to communicate with different members of my family and living with a family member who was depressed, restless and out of place. It's the prefect novel for anyone who feels like they don't belong & I'm very glad I chose it for my first book in this sponsored read! |
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