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Circe by Madeline Miller

Hi, I am Sarah. I am fourteen years old and an avid reader; it is one of my favorite things to do. Inspired by authors’ creations of magnificent places and surprising havens built by simple letters, I aspire to be an author and, meanwhile, nurture the love to write.

Circe is born to the sea-nymph Perse and Titan Helios, one of the many minor offspring of the brilliant Titan king. Every day she kneels at his feet, and her life is filled with the endless and monotonous paradise of immortality. Though having lived many generations, she is still a child.

Then she meets a young fisherman, and her cut from the world of mortals is breached. Driven out of love for this new mortal, she experiments with pharmakeia, witchcraft: once, to turn him into a god, and twice, to turn his lover into a monster.

Exiled for experimenting with this new magic, Circe transforms herself on her island of Aiaia. She has spent a hundred generations dim and dreamy, toiling at her father’s feet, and she will have no more of it. She masters the art of witchcraft and becomes one of the only female figures in Greek Mythology to have power, and to have obtained it herself, without punishment, mistreatment, or death.

Her enchantments catch the eye of the mortals and divinity alike, and she adventures among the mortals Daedalus and Odysseus, defies the gods Athena and Hermes, faces monsters like the Minotaur and Scylla, and manages to impact a greater part of Greek Mythology: Circe, the legends’ first witch.

Madeline Miller explores the witch Circe, from the time before and after her life mingles with the hero of The Odyssey. The language is originally and lavishly descriptive, and if you read hard enough, it gleans messages like hidden dewdrops under a forest canopy: cleverly woven feminism mesmerizingly ingraining itself in your head, a tale that so perfectly and completely captures the timeless burden of immortality; the story of Circe, the witch of Aiaia.

I would recommend this book to lovers of Greek Mythology looking for a modern take on timeless tales, and a certain sophistication only received from adult fiction.

Find it in print, ebook, eaudiobook and CD here.

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

My name is Essence. I am in 7th grade. I love to read, one of my favorite genres is historical fiction. Some of the things I like to do are skiing, swimming, and rock climbing.

Ghost Boys is about a black boy named Jerome. Jerome was bullied in school and pushed around. One day there is a new kid that comes to school and Jerome becomes friends with him and helps him stand up to the bullies. Jerome is very protective of his little sister Kim and walks her to the doors of her school and walks with her home. Jerome (12 yrs old) gets shot by a police officer. The police officer says he shot Jerome because he felt intimidated. Jerome’s family wants to sue the police officer that shot Jerome because he shot him for no reason.

Jerome doesn’t go anywhere he becomes a ghost in his hometown.  He watches as his family and friends realize what has happened and how they cope with it. Jerome doesn’t like seeing everyone in such pain. The story is mainly told through Jerome’s perspective as a ghost. It is all about racism towards black people. It also tells the historic story of Emmett Till. There are other ghosts that Jerome sees. He is not the only one. There are more black boys in the world that have been killed unfairly.

There are more Ghost Boys.

Find it in print and eaudiobook here.

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Hi, I am Sarah. I am fourteen years old and an avid reader; it is one of my favorite things to do. Inspired by authors’ creations of magnificent places and surprising havens built by simple letters, I aspire to be an author and, meanwhile, nurture the love to write.

Patroclus is the awkward son of a king, disgraced and disowned and cut from his royal line. For his weight in gold, he is given to another kingdom that will see him to manhood. In the kingdom of Phthia, he meets Prince Achilles: a golden boy, son of a goddess, The Best of the Greeks, and, in summary, everything the exiled Patroclus is not. And yet an unlikely friendship spawns between the boys, regardless of their differences, and they grow to be close companions. Together, they train in the practices of war and medicine, much to the dissatisfaction of Achilles’s mother, Thetis, a sea-nymph with a particular hatred of mortals.

Then news comes that the Helen of Sparta, renowned for her beauty, has been kidnapped, stolen by Paris of Troy. Achilles, driven by the promise of glorious fame, joins the army of Greeks to rescue her and (more importantly) protect their honor. Patroclus, tethered by the love for his friend, follows.

And thus the Trojan war commences: one of the most important and pivotal events ever told in Greek Mythology, and Achilles – the boy Patroclus loves most – the hero.

Madeline Miller breathes new life into dusty Greek myths and classics, reinventing stories that have withstood thousands of generations. This adaption of The Iliad is told with a subtle modern twist, through the mind of a friend with his eyes on his hero. Miller’s breathtakingly beautiful language perfectly captures how small insults have large consequences, kind acts can lead to disgrace, and through the stress and glory of battle, love and loss leaves the most lasting impact.

This book is shelved in adult fiction and contains mature content.

Find it in print, ebook, and eaudiobook here.

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

Frances is in 7th grade. She enjoys Nordic skiing and plays soccer in the summer, spring and fall. She also loves writing, reading and spending time outside.

Lydia Bird and her husband of more than a decade both believe their love is completely indestructible. Unfortunately, on Lydia’s 28th birthday their theory is proven wrong when Freddie dies in a tragic car accident. After the accident Lydia spends her time wallowing in her home and crying her eyes out. However, regardless of how overcome she is with emotion, she knows Freddie would have wanted her to live a full happy life even if he weren’t with her.

With the help of her friend Jonah and sister, Elle, she is reintroduced to the and even gives dating a try.  Things are getting better for Lydia until she’s introduced into an alternate reality where Freddie had never been in a car crash.  Lydia battles between devoting herself to a world where the love of her life is still with her and one where she can have a new start with someone in her real life.

This romance novel, by Josie Silver, will sweep you up in a whirlwind of humor, sadness, and joy.  Perfect for anyone who is looking for a page turning sequence of events that will always keep you on your toes.

Find it in print here.

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

My name is Buck and I am in 6th grade. I enjoy soccer, time with my friends, and playing with my pug, Peppa.

The Marrow Thieves is a fictional novel written by an Indigenous Canadian author. The book tells the story of Frenchie, a teen who loses his family members and is on his own, trying to escape the Recruiters. The setting is the 2050s and the world has been badly affected by global warming. Many people become stressed by the environmental changes and start to emotionally suffer as their lives change. Most people lose the ability to dream, but not the Indigenous people. The Recruiters are government agents sent to round up Indigenous children to take them to special school where they hold them captive. They also extract their bone marrow there because it holds the key to being able to dream. The people who have their bone marrow taken die in the process. Frenchie is running and is found by a group of indigenous people who are also on the run. They become his family.

Most of the story is about the relationships between the individuals of the group as they travel searching for more Indigenous people while trying to escape the Recruiters. The story is also about preserving their native culture, which has been lost over time. Remembering their native language and culture is important for their survival. This is based on historical events, as a reflection of residential schools were opened in Canada for Indigenous children in 1876. The schools were made to promote learning English and white culture. However, this also meant separating the children from their own people, languages and traditions. The last school was closed in Canada in 1996.

In the end, this story is really about doing whatever it takes to preserve the things that are important as individuals and as a community. I enjoyed this book because there was action, the characters were described very well, and the book had an important message. There was some objectionable language in the book, as well as a couple of graphic scenes. I would recommend this book for ages 13 and up.

Find it in print and ebook here.

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

Hi, I am Sarah. I am fourteen years old and an avid reader; it is one of my favorite things to do. Inspired by authors’ creations of magnificent places and surprising havens built by simple letters, I aspire to be an author and, meanwhile, nurture the love to write.

Leigh’s world is shattering around her, but she does know one thing for certain: when her mother committed suicide, she turned into a bird. 

Not metaphorically or anything like that. 

Her mother is literally a bird. 

After her mother (the bird) visits in the middle of the night with a package for her, Leigh travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time in her sixteen years of life. Her world unspooling through grief and confusion and a wrecked web of broken relationships, she journeys through the city in search of her mother, some kind of constant – and winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering long-buried secrets, and learning her family’s history as it slowly disentangles. 

Tumbling between past, present, and a world of memories, The Astonishing Color of After is a spectacular narrative of one girl’s journey through grief and loss, and her struggles to adapt to that mother-shaped hole in her life. 

I enjoyed this book immensely and found it to be a beautiful and impactful story. It encompassed many topics associated with grief, but in such a fantastical and original way. Leigh’s artistic talent and colorful view of the world makes for a refreshing yet relatable narrator, and her story gives voice to those personal battlefields, unseen and unheard and yet so prevalent in our society.

Find it in print, ebook, and eaudiobook here.