This is the first book I’ve read where the main character is blind. See Me as I Am blew me away. The author did a superb job describing Jenny’s world through all the ways a blind person interacts with her surroundings and with people.
Jenny’s romance with the manager of an Irish rock band unfolds, and we cringe as she gets fooled by the guy because she is blind. Falling in love is complicated for anyone, but it’s hard when the person you’re with isn’t who he says he is.
This disability representation and perspective in this book are beautifully presented. Jenny’s strength and resilience was learned the hard way after becoming blind, but it is these very qualities that give her courage.
Being blind doesn't stop seventeen-year-old Jenny Ryan from going after what she wants. Journalism byline? Horse sports? Rock climbing? No problem. Meet Liam O'Shannon, frontman for hard-rocking Irish band (also named) O'Shannon? Jenny's got a plan for that, too.
She's already landed a backstage pass for the Portland tour stop where she hopes to interview her idol for a write up in her school paper. Instead, she finds herself in an unexpected convo with the band's junior publicist, Jamie Conway. Not exactly her dream. But Jamie is sweet and thoughtful and later offers to arrange an interview for her with…
If you like stories that tear your heart into tiny pieces and have you on the edge of your seat wondering if it can ever be put back together, then Life After was written for you.
It isn’t an easy read, but it is a memorable one. What grabbed me the most was the authenticity of the story.
August, a high school senior, never had an easy life, but after the tragic loss of her twin brother, her struggle to cope becomes formidable. Will she make it? I turned the pages hoping things would improve for August, but the author kept it real. There was no quick return from tragedy. The road back can be long, winding, and filled with obstacles.
"Readers will cheer for August in this gorgeously-written story of hope that will stay with you long after you finish the last page." (Amber Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be and The Last to Let Go)
Someone once asked August Haiz if twins realize one of them is an accident. Deep down, August knows if anyone was an accident, it wasn't Benny-it was her. Granted, August doesn't mind dancing in the background, letting Benny be the star musician and center of attention. In fact, she prefers is that way.
Fetching Dreams is such
a worthy book and should be required reading for teens and adults. I learned so
much from this story about the dangers girls and women face in Africa, having to
trek far from home to fetch water for their families.
It is a way of life I knew nothing about,
and I admired how the author presented it without ever becoming preachy or
pedantic. The reader journeys with twelve-year-old Neyah as she finds her voice
to stand up to her father and to the authorities to make the radical change
the community requires.
The story is harsh in many ways, but I felt
like I was soaring after reading it.
Complicated Choices is a contemporary young adult novel that will
challenge your assumptions about teenagers and adults.
High school
senior Claire Jackson’s life shatters after an unplanned pregnancy. But it’s
not hers. With no father
on baby Harry’s birth certificate and her mother sinking into despair, Claire
is knee-deep in diapers and streams of baby barf. Harry robs Claire of her
freedom and her future when her mother uses her college funds for daycare.
Claire’s uncle
offers to replenish the missing money provided Harry is given up for adoption.
With an unstable mother, Claire must choose to trade Harry for money and return
to her former life or fight for him.
