where should i get a copy of the book?
If you don’t own a copy of any of the books, I suggest reserving a copy from your local library, purchasing a copy from an indie bookstore, or ordering it online from Powell’s Books. I’m always in favor of purchasing from independent sellers versus the big guys. If you have an e-reader, you can even borrow an e-book from your local library.
FEBRUARY 2013
FINGERPRINTS OF YOU BY KRISTEN PAIGE MADONIA (READ BY: FEBRUARY 24)
Premise (from the author’s website)
Lemon Williams was raised buried in the shadow of her free-spirited mother, Stella, and consequently her childhood was spent on the move – dodging disasters and mastering the art of packing up apartments, of being the new kid, and of leaving the past behind.
But when Lemon begins her senior year at another new school, she realizes she’s taken an inescapable part of their last life with them: She’s pregnant. In an attempt to fill in the gaps of her history and to avoid repeating Stella’s mistakes, she decides she must set things right by going in search of the father she’s never met. So as new life grows inside her, Lemon boards a Greyhound bus and heads west to San Francisco in hopes of freeing herself from her childhood mishaps and discovering the true meaning of family.
APRIL 2013
PURE BY JULIANNA BAGGOT (READ BY: APRIL 25)
Premise (from Amazon.com)
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost–how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.
JUNE 2013
JUST ONE DAY BY GAYLE FORMAN (READ BY: JUNE 25)
Premise (from the author’s website)
When sheltered American good girl Allyson “LuLu” Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.
AUGUST 2013
HOLD STILL BY NINA LACOUR (READ BY: AUGUST 25)
Premise (from author’s website)
After losing her best friend, Ingrid, to suicide, Caitlin is completely immobilized. Unable to function, and refusing to visit a therapist, she begins the long journey to wellness alone. During this year of heart-wrenching, raw emotion, Caitlin finds Ingrid’s journal, which not only reveals her descent into irreversible depression, but also serves as Caitlin’s vehicle for renewed hope in the future. The book is written with honesty, revealing one’s pain after the loss of a loved one. Caitlin learns, with the help of new friends and her parents, that there is life after Ingrid.
OCTOBER 2013
DIVERGENT BY VERONICA ROTH (READ BY: OCTOBER 25)
Premise (from Amazon.com)
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
YA BOOK CLUB 2012
NOVEMBER 2012
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS BY JOHN GREEN
(READ BY: NOVEMBER 15)
Premise (from John Green’s website)
The Fault in Our Stars is the story of Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters, two Indianapolis teenagers who meet at a Cancer Kid Support Group.
OCTOBER 2012
WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON BY JOHN GREEN & DAVID LEVITHAN (READ BY: OCTOBER 15)
Premise (from John Green’s website)
One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.
September 2012
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (read by: September 15)
Premise (from Lauren Oliver’s website)
What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?
Samantha Kingston has it all: the world’s most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.
Instead, it turns out to be her last.
Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.
