Tag Archives: contemporary

Wonder by R.J. Palacio – Review

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Title: Wonder

Author: R.J. Palacio

Genre: Contemporary, Middle-Grade, Social

Publication Date: 3rd January 2014

Publisher: Corgi Childrens

Pages: 310

Summary: Auggie wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things – eating ice cream, playing on his Xbox. He feels ordinary – inside. But ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids aren’t stared at wherever they go.

Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life. Now, for the first time, he’s being sent to a real school – and he’s dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted – but can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, underneath it all?

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David Inside Out by Lee Bantle – Review

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Title: David Inside Out

Author: Lee Bantle

Genre: Coming Of Age, YA, Contemporary, LGBTQ+

Publication Date: May 12th 2009

Publisher: Square Fish

Pages: 185

Summary: David Dahlgren, a high-school senior, finds solace in running with the track team; he’s a fast runner, and he enjoys the camaraderie. But team events become a source of tension when he develops a crush on one of his teammates, Sean. Scared to admit his feelings, David does everything he can to suppress them: he dates a girl, keeps his distance from his best friend who has become openly gay, and snaps a rubber band on his wrist every time he has “inappropriate” urges. Before long, Sean expresses the thoughts David has been trying to hide, and everything changes for the better. Or so it seems.

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Moonrise by Sarah Crossan – Review

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Title: Moonrise

Author: Sarah Crossan

Genre: Poetry, Contemporary, YA, Verse

Publication Date: September 7th 2017

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Pages: 400

Summary: Joe hasn’t seen his brother for ten years, and it’s for the most brutal of reasons. Ed is on death row.

But now Ed’s execution date has been set, and Joe is determined to spend those last weeks with him, no matter what other people think …

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Flight Of A Starling by Lisa Heathfield – Review

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Title: Fight Of A Starling

Author: Lisa Heathfield

Genre: YA, Contemporary

Publication date: 29th June 2017

Publisher: Electric Monkey

Pages: 301

Summary: Rita and Lo, sisters and best friends, have spent their lives on the wing – flying through the air in their trapeze act, never staying in one place for long. Behind the greasepaint and the glitter, they know that the true magic is the family they travel with.

Until Lo meets a boy. Suddenly, she wants nothing more than to stay still. And as secrets start to tear apart the close-knit circus community, how far will Lo go to keep her feet on the ground?

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One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus -Review

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Title: One Of Us Is Lying

Author: Karen M.McManus

Genre: Crime, YA, Mystery, Contemporary

Publication Date: May 30th 2017

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 357

Summary: Yale hopeful Bronwyn has never publicly broken a rule.

Sports star Cooper only knows what he’s doing in the baseball diamond.

Bad body Nate is one misstep away from a life of crime.

Prom queen Addy is holding together the cracks in her perfect life.

And outsider Simon, creator of the notorious gossip app at Bayview High, won’t ever talk about any of them again.

He dies 24 hours before he could post their deepest secrets online. Investigators conclude it’s no accident. All of them are suspects.

Everyone has secrets, right?

What really matters is how far you’ll go to protect them.

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The One Memory Of Flora Banks by Emily Barr – Review

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Title: The One Memory Of Flora Banks

Author: Emily Barr

Genre: Contemporary, YA, Adventure

Publication Date: January 12th 2017

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 302

Summary: I look at my hands. One of them says FLORA BE BRAVE.

Flora has anterograde amnesia. She can’t remember anything day-to-day: the joke her friend made, the instructions her parents gave her, how old she is.

Then she kisses someone she shouldn’t, and the next day she remembers it. It’s the first time she’s remembered anything since she was ten.

But the boy is gone. She thinks he’s moved to the Arctic.

Will following him be the key to unlocking her memory? Who can she trust?

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I Have No Secrets by Penny Joelson

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Title: I Have No Secrets

Author: Penny Joelson

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Mystery, Family, Social Issues

Publication Date: May 4th 2017

Publisher: Electric Monkey

Pages: 323

Summary: Fourteen-year-old Jemma has severe cerebral palsy. Unable to communicate or move, she relies on her family and carer for everything. She has a sharp brain and inquisitive nature, and knows all sorts of things about everyone. But when she is confronted with this terrible secret, she is utterly powerless to do anything. Though that might be about to change…

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