Middle Grade
School Trip
Jerry Craft
RFLBG
The gang we were introduced to in the earlier books heads to Paris. A (frankly unbelievable) prank shuffles the teacher chaperones resulting in the students’ planned chaperones not being their chaperones. This book has good conversations about race and privilege that grow organically from the situations.
When Impossible Happens
Jane De Suza
RFLBG
Set smack dab in the COVID lockdown, Swara has to adjust to staying in her home all the time and eventually to her grandmother’s death. But something weird is happening across the street.
Young Adult
Imogen, Obviously
Becky Albertalli
Imogen’s visit to college opens her eyes to her future life. Includes frustrating friend dynamics artfully rendered.
One Great Lie
Deb Caletti
Summer travel (Italy!) overlain with the normal problems of a young woman moving through the world. Woven through the book are chapter headings that spotlight Italian women writers of long ago, when it was even harder for women to move through the world.
Stateless
Elizabeth Wein
RFLBG
Wein balances a ton of characters for what turns out to be a flight-contest-related murder mystery. This is packed with the usual details of Wein’s excellent historical fiction.
A Long Stretch of Bad Days
Mindy McGinnis
As always, McGinnis’s small town tale packs a punch. Is there any YA author out there better a depicting small towns while ramping up the tension? I think not. This has solid good girl/wrong side of the tracks friendship and mystery.
My Flawless Life
Yvonne Woo
A bit of a Veronica Mars flavor, but less detective and more of a person who solves people’s problems. Mix in a fall from grace, a DC setting, and a mystery to solve and you’ve got a good read with sometimes clunky transitions. Plus, the brother of the main character didn’t speak until page 175, which was weird.
Grownup Fiction
The Idea of You
Robinne Lee
A May-December romance, with the woman taking the role of May! Plus a boy band! Halfway through the novel, I got tired of the expressed worry about the daughter finding out. (It’s so inconvenient when your mother starts dating your celebrity crush.) And the ending was rather abrupt. But overall, a good escapist read, albeit one that talks a lot about designer clothing.