Teen Readers Share the Last Book They Loved: Changing Neighborhoods, Toppled Kings, and Heretics United

Invisible Ghosts, by Robyn Schneider
Rose can see ghosts. While her parents grieved the tragic death of her older brother, Logan, Rose continued to hang out with his ghost, watching Doctor Who reruns and excessively quoting Buffy. Rose believes herself to be the only one who can see her brother until her old neighbor and former best friend, Jamie, comes back to town and helps Rose realize she is not alone. As she becomes closer with Jamie, she drifts back into the lives of her thespian former friends. With a friendly group to hang out with and a boy who holds the same secret she does, Rose’s life changes—but is her new life changing her old one with Logan? Every time I open a book by Robyn Schneider I connect with the characters in a way I didn’t think was possible. Each novel she writes manages to incorporate unexpected elements into a seemingly light and fluffy contemporary story. With the introduction of ghosts into the story, this contemporary novel is transformed into a relatable tale of loss, friendship, and haunting pasts. A story that can be loved by all, Invisible Ghosts is a perfect read for fans of the supernatural and contemporary alike.
–Ellie T. is a Ravenclaw, an avid reader, and an excessive listener of Broadway musical soundtracks. When she’s not reading or talking about books, you can find her binge-watching shows like Arrow, Gilmore Girls, and The Office.

Pride, by Ibi Zoboi
It is a truth universally acknowledged that when a YA Pride and Prejudice retelling is published, I will read it and love it. Pride follows Zuri Benitez, a seventeen-year-old-girl with immense pride in her roots, in her neighborhood. But Zuri can’t help but notice the place she loves so dear starting to change, and when a rich family moves in across the street she begins to do everything she can to grasp onto the only world she knows—including despising the two Darcy boys who call the remodeled mini mansion home. A novel that combines Jane Austen with gentrification, Pride is a beautiful exploration of the clashing of two cultures. Zoboi does an excellent job of bringing a beloved tale into the twenty-first century, trading ballgowns for basketballs and bringing light to the tribulations of current communities. Despite the message of Jane Austen’s beloved work, I will say having Pride (the novel, of course) is a wonderful thing, and I implore you all to get your hands on this remixed classic.
–Maddie M., 19, is currently experiencing her first month of college ever! Some of her favorite things include Ruth Bader Ginsburg, corgis, and Peter Kavinsky

From Twinkle, With Love, by Sandhya Menon
This is Menon’s sophomore novel, and is just as fun, heartfelt, and adorable as her first. This YA rom-com stars Twinkle Mehra, an aspiring filmmaker who teams up with a boy from school named Sahil to create a movie to show to their school. The only catch? That boy happens to be the twin brother of her long-time crush, Neil. An anonymous person starts emailing Twinkle, and she’s sure it’s Neil, finally returning her feelings. But when Sahil and Twinkle start to fall for each other, things become even more complicated. Oh, and one more thing: Twinkle’s best friend, Maddie, has been neglecting their friendship for months, but now she’s starring in Twinkle’s movie. Twinkle’s life just keeps getting more complicated. The story is told through letters Twinkle writes in a diary to her favorite female filmmakers, making the book even more unique. From Twinkle, With Love is a novel featuring romance, but it’s also about friendship, family, films, and so much more, making for an incredible story you just can’t put down.
–Ava M. is a teenage blogger, reader, and writer who drinks too much tea and eats too much chocolate.

Heretics Anonymous, by Katie Henry
Michael is used to adapting to new places. Because of his father’s job he’s been in four schools over the past ten years. But this newest school, St. Claire’s, might prove to be too much of a challenge for a boy who doesn’t believe in God or plaid. When a girl named Lucy speaks out against their teacher, Michael thinks he might have spotted a fellow nonbeliever. But Lucy is incredibly Catholic. So much so that, despite the fact that she is a girl, she dreams of one day becoming a priest.
It’s through Lucy that Michael meets Heretics Anonymous, a secret club made up of students who don’t quite fit in. The Heretics meet to listen to each other’s issues with life at St. Claire’s, from humiliatingly strict dress codes, to sex ed that consists of straight up lies. Michael convinces the other Heretics to speak out against the hypocrisies at St. Claire’s, but the corruption might run too deep for five teenagers to fix, and things quickly get out of hand.
I was pleasantly surprised at how respectful and tolerant the story was. Heretics Anonymous could’ve easily vilified any of its characters because of what they chose to believe (or not believe). Although the book never hesitates to poke fun at religion, it was ultimately a story about love and acceptance. In a world currently riddled with intolerance, I’m glad these kinds of stories are being told.
–Evalyn H., 17, loves Disney movies, marching band, and the smell of new books. She can often be found with video camera in hand, scream singing to musicals, and crying over fictional characters.

Ash Princess, by Laura Sebastian
Ash Princess is a stunning and brutal debut fantasy that will stay with you. Theodosia lost everything when she was six years old: the Kaiser invaded her kingdom and killed her mother, the Fire Queen, renaming Theodosia the Ash Princess. Theodosia has struggled to survive for the last ten years, until the Kaiser’s treatment takes her over the edge, igniting a spark she long thought lost and beginning her journey to free herself and her enslaved people.
Ash Princess is brutal in its amazing portrayal of an unforgettable abuse survivor who wants justice for everyone in her kingdom. The female characters all shine on the page, truly making the story special. Another thing I especially loved is the romance. Theo so grapples with her feelings for one love interest throughout the book that you can’t help but feel for her as she struggles to understand how she truly feels.
I highly recommend Ash Princess, but be warned: it can be very hard to stomach at times due to the harsh treatment of Theodosia.
–Tatiana J. is a teenaged reader who always carries a book around and constantly has her headphones in. She is also an intersectional feminist who spends her time uplifting black and brown women. She also spends way too much time listening to KPop and playing video games.

Glitter, by Aprilynne Pike
Imagine watching a man murder an innocent girl and then having your mother blackmail that man into marrying you. Imagine this man is the king of a modern-day Versailles, the most ruthless and dangerous man in the court. That is the situation Danica finds herself in, and like any rational person would do, she tries to find a way out. Unfortunately, in a world that looks like the 18th century but has a palace-wide AI surveillance system into which everyone is connected by contact lenses, escaping is difficult. Dani turns to selling Glitter, a powerful new drug, in order to raise money to buy her freedom. The thing is, this book isn’t condoning drug usage at all: Dani frequently frets about the damage that she’s doing by hooking the court on Glitter. Sure, she’s single-minded, and selfishly puts the lives of the entire palace at risk, but she’s also been thrust into a situation entirely beyond her control, and you do have to admire her resourcefulness. I liked having the historical fashion set alongside futuristic technology and that criticisms were made of both, and I’m looking forward to what the final book in the duology brings!
–Kelvin L., 18, is a figure skater and audiobook lover and thinks teleportation is the most useful superpower. He is definitively a Ravenclaw, a water type Moroi (who secretly wants to be fire type), and an Erudite; he cannot see Hollowgasts and would 100% not survive the Hunger Games.

Catwoman: Soulstealer, by Sarah J. Maas
Though I’m not familiar with Catwoman’s canon, I was excited to pick up the third installment in the DC Icons series because I love how Sarah J. Maas adds depth to her protagonists. Her Selina Kyle is the foil to Leigh Bardugo’s Diana Prince, but she’s still admirable and courageous in many ways. She’s clever, caring, and loyal, and she’ll have you at the edge of your seat during every heist. Add Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn’s dynamic, Maas offers an action-packed, ridiculously fun supervillain origin story.
Reading from the villain’s perspective was different but refreshing. While I admired Luke Fox’s attempts to stop Catwoman, the ease with which she thwarted his plans made it clear she was not a typical supervillain. Though the means by which she accomplished her goals were questionable, her intentions were admirable. It took me some time to accept that our protagonist may be selfish and her actions unpredictable, but ultimately that added another layer of suspense to this already captivating adventure. Just beware if you’re a superhero fan, because in Catwoman: Soulstealer, you may find yourself rooting for the villain.
–Nicole S., 17, is currently navigating the world of standardized testing, but she’s excited to embark on a new journey with great books, soulful music, and a pen in her hand. When she’s not hitting the books, you may find her cooking, reading (for fun!), or playing the ukulele.

We Regret to Inform You, by Ariel Kaplan
This a novel I found personally touching. Mischa Abramavicius, a well-rounded and pretty much perfect college applicant, is rejected from every single school to which she applied. Given the financial and emotional sacrifices she and her mother made to send her to a fancy private high school and the countless hours Mischa invests in extracurriculars, she’s ruined and embarrassed by the news. Despite this, Mischa begins investigating alongside her best friend and a group of hacker girls, who help her discover not only how she was possibly rejected, but also how to see herself beyond entries on an application. Being a senior in high school like Mischa, I found her thoughts and ambitions relatable. Her time and energy—nearly her entire past four years—has gone into getting into her top choice schools, and for what? Although being in Mischa’s situation would be my worst nightmare come to life, she met it with humor, confidence, and a great deal of poise. I loved the book because it displayed a girl with whom I could directly identify, put in a devastating and seemingly impossible situation. To witness through her witty and original perspective what she made of it was a wonder to read.
–Naomi N. is a 17-year-old with a bookshelf that’s never quite large enough and a reading list that only ever seems to get longer. Apart from reading, she spends her free time writing, bullet journaling, listening to movie soundtracks, and trying to catch up on sleep.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post, by Emily Danforth
This is a young adult coming-of-age contemporary about a lesbian teen, Cameron Post. Post is growing up in the late ’80s and early ’90s in Montana. The first half of her story shows her coming into her identity as a lesbian, while the second half is about her being forced into conversion therapy at God’s Promise.
Danforth writes a brutally honest novel about the realities of growing up in a hostile environment and the horrors of conversion therapy. Both halves of Post’s story are of equal importance. The first is about her learning to love herself in a world where everyone expects her to suppress her true self and hate how she was born. It normalizes the narrative of this lesbian teen in terms of sex between two girls, romantic experiences between two girls, and more. Her experience at God’s Promise included this camaraderie between “disciples” that shows the importance of friendship and love beyond the bonds of romantic and familial love. The heartbreaking truths of conversion therapy, which still exists today, is a story that needs to be told, and Danforth told it with as much respect and honesty as she could have. The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a brutally honest coming-of-age novel about a group that rarely has the opportunity to see their identity represented.
–Kav is a 16-year old booktuber and cohost of Book Bound Society who loves media, books, and social justice. They are frequently active on Twitter and YouTube talking about a combination of book-related and social justice–related topics.
 

Chemistry Lessons, by Meredith Goldstein
On a scale of karaoke to sushi, this book is an emotional elixir of funny and relatable.
My heart honestly hurts for recently dumped Maya, who is so hung up on her ex she decides to mix together a super serum to get him to love her back. (I think Whit should take her back just for the incredible effort she made to win him over again.) With Maya, Meredith Goldstein has reached a perfect middle between captivatingly intelligent and downright silly that I absolutely adore. To be completely honest, if I had science witchcraft powers, I’d probably use them to take over the world instead, but to each their own. 
As someone who hopes to move to the Boston-Cambridge area someday, I totally loved reading all about campus life and the funny quirks that come with living in such a busy area. I would definitely love to stop and smell the nougat on a whiff walk of my own. I would recommend this book to students getting ready to go to college, adorably lovable science nerds, and those who would do anything to be with the one they love.
–Kaitlin D., 16, self-proclaimed bibliophile, hardcore selfie taker, and lover of the oxford comma. Secretly a superhero. May have taken a bite out of the moon. Current status: Trapped in a romance novel.