Author: B.B. Alston
Published: 2021 Amari's older brother Quinton went missing months ago. The police think that he got mixed up into something bad and was killed. Amari, however, believes he is still alive out there somewhere. Amari soon discovers that her brother had nominated her to join a special summer camp at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. It seems that her brother was kind of a celebrity there and went missing while working for the Bureau. Amari decides to attend this summer camp. After all, this is probably the best place for her to go to dig into what Quinton was working on when he went missing. But soon she discovers that she has magic in her blood--she is a magician. All magicians are viewed as evil creatures. Will she be able to stay at the Bureau and figure out what happened to Quinton? Or will she be chased out? Amari and the Night Brothers is a great girl power fantasy for readers looking for a girl power social justice Harry Potter.
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Author: Namina Forna
Published: 2020 Every year, sixteen-year-old girls have to go through the Ritual of Purity. At this ritual, all girls are cut. If they bleed red, then they are considered pure and are then accepted into society. If their blood is not red, then then they are demons and are banished and never heard from again. Deka is already an outsider in her northern city because of her dark skin, taking after her mother who passed away. She just needs to get the Ritual of Purity over with so that she will finally be accepted as a member of her village and will no longer be an outsider. But when the ritual takes place and her blood is golden, she is killed. When Deka comes back to life, she is killed again. And again. And again. She is destined to a lifetime of torture and death until she finally won't come back to life. One night she is finally rescued by a mysterious stranger who explains that the emperor is building an army of demons like her, called alaki, who can hopefully defeat evil creatures called deathshrieks that are destroying villages and murdering hundreds of people. Deka joins this army but soon finds out that not everything is at it seems. The Gilded Ones is a wonderful fantasy novel with a lot of gore and girl power. Would recommend to 8th grade and up. Author: Kalynn Bayron
Published: 2020 Cinderella is Dead takes place 200 years after Cinderella married Prince Charming and lived happily ever after. She has been dead for years and years, but the tradition she started on the night of the ball lives on. Every year, teenage girls come to the annual ball at the palace where the men in the kingdom are able to choose any girl they want and the girl must marry him. If a girl is not chosen by a man after attending the ball for a few years, she disappears and is never heard from again. Sophia is about to attend her first ball, but there is nothing she wants less than to get married. She sees how women are treated like possessions in the kingdom. Women must do what the men in their life tell them to do or they will be "forfeited," which means they are sent to the palace where they disappear. On the night of the ball, Sophia tries to convince her best friend Erin to run away with her so they can be together, but Erin refuses, saying it's too dangerous, that they must do what is expected of them. Sophia escapes and runs into, Constance, the last living descendent of one of Cinderella's ugly stepsisters. But it turns out that the story they have been told about Cinderella, her stepsisters, and Prince Charming are not all true. There is a lot more to the story, and it is up to Sophia and Constance to figure out how to get rid of the king and disrupt the way things have always been. Cinderella is Dead is an absolutely fantastic retelling of Cinderella. I loved all the girl power vibes and the way Sophia is unapologetically herself. Author: Angharad Walker
Published: 2021 The main character has been dealing with unbearable pain for a long time, and no doctor is able to tell him what is wrong with him. He is sent to the Ash House and is told that they may be able to help him with his pain issues. When he shows up, he finds that 1) he cannot remember his name, 2) there are a ton of strange children there, and 3) the Headmaster left three years ago and the only contact he has with them is when he calls them one time every day. When he shows up, the children assign him a name--Solitude. Each child there is named after a Niceness, something the Headmaster tries to teach them to be all the time. There's Freedom and Calm and Charity and Wisdom and more. On Sol's first day there, the kids all go to an assembly and wait for the Headmaster to call...but he doesn't call. The next day either or the day after that. Sol also is still dealing with his pain, but when he brings it up to one of the other children and asks about a doctor, the kid freaks out. When the doctor comes, Sol discovers why... The Ash House is a great book that fans of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will love. It's really good for readers of mystery and paranormal. I got a nice creepy feeling the entire time I was reading it! Author: Patrick Ness
Published: 2011 Conor has been having the same terrible nightmare over and over again. He can't tell his mom or his dad about it, so he just keeps it to himself because no one else could know what happened in this nightmare. Conor lives with only his mom. His dad lives with his new family elsewhere. We learn that Conor's mom has cancer, and is currently going through treatment. Conor mostly keeps to himself at school and is bullied by three boys. At the beginning of A Monster Calls, Conor wakes up to someone calling his name. When he looks outside, he sees a monster that had transformed from the yew tree near his house. It tells him, "I have come to get you, Conor O'Malley." The monster is surprised that Conor is not scared because this is not the nightmare that scares him. The monster visits him again and tells Conor that he will tell Conor three stories and that when he is done, Conor will tell him a fourth story, and if he doesn't tell him the story, the truth, then the monster will eat him alive. Conor is terrified of telling his story and having to confront his deepest, darkest secret. A Monster Calls is one of the most heart-wrenching books I have ever read. It is about love and fear and loss. I absolutely loved this story. Author: Marie Lu
Published: 2014 Adelina was four years old when the blood fever hit everywhere. She and her sister and mother got the fever. Fortunately, Adelina and her sister survived; no adult survived the blood fever. There was something weird about some of the children who had the blood fever. Many recovered and went back to normal, others became marked somehow. Those who were marked were viewed as outcasts, called malfettos and seen as bad luck. Adelina was marked; her sister was not. The even stranger thing was that most of the children who were marked were not really that different than they were before they got sick. A select few, however, got strange powers and were viewed as demons, too dark and dangerous for this world. They are referred to as the Young Elites. At the beginning of the book, Adelina is in jail about to be put to death for murdering someone. She is rescued by the Young Elites at the last minute and discovers that she also has powers within her that she never new existed. But there is also a lot of darkness within her. She spent her childhood being abused and ignored by her father for being marked. She has no idea how to use her powers or control them. The Young Elites let her in and begin her training, and she learns that they are planning to take down the king and put the rightful heir on the throne who will keep those who are marked safe. But when Adelina discovers that her sister is in danger, she must do something even if that means risking everything. The Young Elites is a really great dark fantasy story that will keep you hooked until the very end. I absolutely want to read the second one to see what happens next. Author: Patrick Ness
Published: 2020 Sarah and her father live in Washington in the 1950s. Her father is a farmer who is really struggling and as a last resort has to hire a dragon to come help him on the farm. Sarah's mother, who passed away years ago, was Black and Sarah's father is white. It is not easy being biracial in a small town during this time period. She and her father are already viewed as outcasts because of this, and now they hired a dragon that supposedly came from Russia, which doesn't help matters. During this time period, Russia and the United States did not have a good relationship. It was the Cold War, where both countries were worried the other would send nuclear bombs to destroy them. When Sarah gets into some trouble, the dragon named Kazimir is there to help and she soon discovers that there is a reason he decided to go to their farm at this exact time. There is a prophecy that Sarah is responsible for saving the world and Kazimir knows that there is someone after her who will do anything to make sure that she does not survive to fulfill that prophecy. Suddenly Sarah finds herself in a lot of danger. Burn is a really great mixture of historical fiction and fantasy that looks at what the world might be like if there were dragons among us. It has adventure and mystery and even romance. This was a very enjoyable read, and I definitely was not able to guess where the story was going at all! Author: Brittney Morris
Published: 2021 Ever since Alex and his brother Isaiah survived the accident that killed his parents, Alex has had this strange power. Whenever he touches something or someone with the palm of his hand, he is able to see the future of whatever he is touching. All of these visions cause Alex a lot of anxiety, especially because they happen constantly and it is very overwhelming. And no matter what he does, he cannot keep the vision from coming true. He really thinks of this as a curse instead of a power. Alex and his brother Isaiah have lived with their aunt ever since their parents passed away. Ever since the accident, Isaiah has kept to himself, hardly ever leaving his room unless he absolutely has to, keeping Alex at a distance. When Alex touches a photograph, he suddenly sees himself with that picture at Isaiah's funeral. And he knows it's going to happen in the near future. Alex knows he doesn't have much time. He knows the first step is to go into Isaiah's room and talk to him, to become like brothers again for as long as they have left together. But maybe that's not all. Maybe there's something else he can do. The Cost of Knowing is heartbreaking. It's about love and grief and anxiety, about what it means to be a Black boy in America. Fantastic story by the author of Slay. Author: David A. Robertson
Published: 2020 Morgan has been moved around from foster family to foster family. Right now she is currently living with a nice couple who just don't really understand what it means to be an Indigenous child. Her foster parents also took in another Indigenous boy younger than Morgan named Eli. One day, Morgan and Eli discover a secret room in the attic. While in this secret room, they hang up a drawing Eli did of a fisher (an animal similar to a weasel) in the snow. After they hang up the picture, they feel wind and suddenly snow comes pouring into the attic through the picture. The fisher is running toward them. Eli rips the paper off the wall and see that his drawing has changed. The fisher is much closer and it looks like he is running. Morgan and Eli don't understand what just happened, but when Morgan discovers later that Eli has gone into this mysterious snowy world, she knows that she has to enter the portal the picture opened in order to save him. They learn they have entered another world and found a community of animals who can stand upright and speak to one another. Morgan and Eli also discover that this community is starving, stuck in eternal winter. They set out with a couple of others to try to find food but have no idea what the journey will bring. The Barren Grounds is a fantastic adventure story that has strong Narnia and Frozen vibes. Absolutely beautiful story. Author: Ryan Calejo
Published: 2018 Charlie Hernandez is living with a temporary caregiver ever since his parents went missing a couple weeks ago when a fire destroyed his home. On the night his parents disappeared, something really weird also happened when he was talking to the police--he grew small horns on his head. Growing up, Charlie's abuela had told him all the Latino and Hispanic folk tales. When his feathers appear, Charlie wonders if he is the Morphling, a creature from one of abuela's myths. But Charlie always thought that the stories his abuela told him were made up. When Charlie discovers a mysterious map in his mom's things, he starts a dangerous journey with the help of a very curious and determined classmate, Violet. It turns out that the Morphling, whoever they are, is destined to destroy some serious evil, but there's no way that can be Charlie, right? Charlie Hernandez and the League of Shadows is a fantastic adventure story with Latino and Hispanic mythology. Fans of Percy Jackson will love the start to this series. |
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