I spy Youth Books

I spy some youth fiction books to read.

Which one looks good to you?

Twelve-year-old Monica Garcia has arrived in NYC with her grandmother and a few suitcases to live her dream on Broadway. She’s been chosen as understudy to the star of Our Time, the famed Ethel Merman Theater’s last chance to produce a hit before it shutters its doors for good. Along with her fellow castmates—a.k.a. “the squad”—Monica has a big and very personal reason to want this show to succeed.

But rumors of a long-running curse plague the theater. And when strange and terrible things start to threaten their hopes for a successful opening night, Monica and the rest of the squad must figure out how to reverse the curse before their big Broadway debuts.

With the help of her new friends, her family, and a little magic, can Monica help save the show—and save their dreams? From Broadway and television star Mandy Gonzalez comes a story about what it means to dream, be yourself, and be fearless.

Ever since Ellie wore a whale swimsuit and made a big splash at her fifth birthday party, she’s been bullied about her weight. To cope, she tries to live by the Fat Girl Rules–like “no making waves,” “avoid eating in public,” and “don’t move so fast that your body jiggles.” And she’s found her safe space–her swimming pool–where she feels weightless in a fat-obsessed world. In the water, she can stretch herself out like a starfish and take up all the room she wants. It’s also where she can get away from her pushy mom, who thinks criticizing Ellie’s weight will motivate her to diet. Fortunately, Ellie has allies in her dad, her therapist, and her new neighbor, Catalina, who loves Ellie for who she is. With this support buoying her, Ellie might finally be able to cast aside the Fat Girl Rules and starfish in real life–by unapologetically being her own fabulous self.

Dear weird toes, crooked nose, stressed out, left out, freaked out

Dear missing parts, broken hearts, picked-on, passed up, misunderstood,

Dear everyone, you are cordially invited, come as you are, this party’s for you

Welcome to Pity Party, where the social anxieties that plague us all are twisted into funny, deeply resonant, and ultimately reassuring psychological thrills.

There’s a story about a mood ring that tells the absolute truth. One about social media followers who literally follow you around. And one about a kid whose wish for a new, improved self is answered when a mysterious box arrives in the mail. There’s also a personality test, a fortune teller, a letter from the Department of Insecurity, and an interactive Choose Your Own Catastrophe.

Come to the party for a grab bag of delightfully dark stories that ultimately offers a life-affirming reminder that there is hope and humor to be found amid our misery.

Echoes Between Us

• Author: Katie McGarry 
• Twitter    Instagram
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Teen
• Date: January 14, 2020

Veronica sees ghosts―more specifically, her mother’s ghost, thanks to the blinding migraines that consume her whole life and keep Veronica on the fringes. But the haunting afterimages make her wonder if there is something more going on….

Golden boy Sawyer is handsome and popular, a state champion swimmer, but this All-American is hiding an adrenaline addiction that could kill him. Drawn to each other after a chance meeting, can they help each other battle the demons that haunt their every step or will they push their luck too far and risk losing it all…including their lives?

My Thoughts:
I can’t recall where I saw this book in the first place. Let me try to think, maybe I saw it from another blog or it was on instagram? Anyways,  I was at my local library trying to find a book to read.  I decided to bring up my list on goodreads.  The book cover immediately popped up.  Next up was to find it the library catalog and luckily they had it.  Next step was to the shelves to grab this beauty.   I managed to get this book before the stay home went into effect.

I thought this book was going all about ghosts and teenagers but I was wrong.  There is more to the story than meets the cover!

There are two main characters: Sawyer and Veronica.  Sawyer is seen as the good guy who has everything.  Veronica is seen as the weirdo girl.   Will they connect?   At first Sawyer and Veronica are wrapped up in their own worlds.  Each of them are struggling with things and yet neither one of them knows.  This part of the story made me think that everyone is struggling somehow.

Eventually when Sawyer and Veronica connect, it is awesome.  I love how they connect and talk with each other. It is like they almost understand each other.   I can’t explain it. Perhaps they bring the best out of each other and that’s how relationships should be.  I just think it is awesome.   They also eventually tell each other their struggles which made them realize that they are helping themselves and each other.   Once their struggles are told to each other, they had to deal with their parents also.  That was the next step.  Will they survive it?

I loved the line on page 129 : “For lions, and tigers and bears? Sure.”  This reminded me of the part in the “Wizard of Oz” when Dorothy and her friends were scared and yet they had each other to lean on.  I believe the author may have used that line to demonstrated  the same feeling towards Sawyer and Veronica.

Another thing I want to point out is that on page 110 Sawyer mentions of  having an “IEP” which is  I thought was nice to see since most stories that I have read have not mentioned about that.  Sawyer has dyslexia so that was why he has an IEP and he tells Veronica this.   If you do not know what an IEP — it stands for Individualized Educational Plan.  IEP is a plan or program developed to ensure that a child who has a disability identified under the law and is attending an elementary or secondary educational institution receives specialized instruction and related services.

I do want to mention that Sawyer ends up with a diary from a girl named Evelyn who had TB in the 1900s.  The diary just pops up to him.  It makes me wonder if a ghost did that or was it just destiny.   The snippets of the diary is mentioned in the story which was pretty cool to read and learn a bit of history.   The story also made me wonder if the diary was haunted.   Could  that be possible?

I  could not get enough of this story.   Fate, life, recovering, romance, ghosts and many more themes just made this story amazing.   The cover is stunning.  It catches your eye and the font is sticking out.  It’s almost like art!   Then again I think of every book that I pick out has an amazing cover.  That draws me towards a book along with the summary of the story.   Hope you like the short review and that you will check it out too.