Confessions of a YA Reader

The theme for July's OwlCrate box is Wanderlust.  I received my box today and wanted to share it with you. There is always a card inside that has the theme with picture on one side and a list of everything in the box on the other side.  I didn't take an individual picture of that. The box also comes with a card that gives a sneak peek of next month's box.  The first item in the box was an OwlCrate exclusive backpack inspired by The Lord of the Rings. The next item is an owl luggage tag created by Mudpuppy.  (This is also in the Owlcrate Jr box this month.) This month had an adorable Newt Scamander keychain by Funko.  This was especially cool for me since I recently found out that I'm a Hufflepuff.  I was really excited to find out that there was something inspired by A Darker Shade of Magic.  This is a pocket mirror designed by Miss Phi. One of my favorite items in the box is this gorgeous art print designed by Shaile...

Wow!  Just wow!  This book really lived up to the hype.  How is this a debut?  Not only is this probably the best YA book of the year, it's probably one of the best books of any genre.  An instant favorite for me.  I can't say enough about it. This book is intense.  I think it should be required reading in all high schools.  Yes, I know there is a lot of swearing.  But let's be honest.  Kids hear it in school every single day. They hear worse.  So please get past that.  As a parent, I would have let my daughter read this in school.  I would have encouraged it. The Hate U Give is about a sixteen year old girl named Starr.  I loved her so much.  Starr lives in The Gardens which is an inner city filled with gangs and shootings all the time. Her dad used to be in a gang and spent three years in jail while she was young.  He was one of the few that was able to get out and he wanted better for his kids. ...

I decided to try out Owl Crate Jr for a month and my box arrived today. I wanted to share everything with you.   This month's theme is Magical Creatures (which is what made me try it out).  Every box has a card with the theme and the back lists everything you get.  The first item is an iron on Creature Catcher badge. The next item is a 3D inflatable dragon that you get to color. Next item is Unicorn Poop! This Niffler sticker is adorable! My favorite item in the box is this owl bag tag.  I can't wait to use it! There is also this adorable unicorn pin. Now on to the book.  This months' selection is The Unicorn In The Barn by Jacqueline K. Ogburn.  The book is about a unicorn who is being taken care of by a vet.  The neighbor boy finds discovers and he helps out while working on keeping the secret.  The book came with a letter from the author, an exclusive art print from illustrater Rebecca Green, and a signed book pla...

Not all of these books came out in 2017, but I read them in the first 6+ months.  There are technically more than 10, but I'm counting series as one book for this one. 1.   This Savage Song & Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab I'm not even sure I can begin to describe how amazing these books are.  This was my first time reading Victoria Schwab and she's already become a favorite author and these are on my all time favorite books now. I'll try to briefly describe each book without spoilers.  These books follow Kate Harker and August Flynn in a city called Verity.  Verity is split with Kate's dad running the side where people pay for protection and August's dad runs the other side and a small army.  Kate is human, but August is a monster.  There are three types of monsters living in Verity (book two partially takes place in another city with other types of monsters).  August is a Sunai which is the rarest type.  They steal souls of si...

The Stolen Marriage is the third book I've read by Diane Chamberlain.  While historical fiction really isn't my favorite thing to read, I always find myself pulled into Ms. Chamberlain's storytelling.   It is very obvious that she does a lot of research to make the time period as accurate as she can.   This is the story of a young woman named Tess.  She is studying to be a nurse and is engaged to her boyfriend, Vincent, who is a doctor.  Vincent leaves Baltimore to help out with some polio cases in Chicago and is gone much longer than planned.  Tess is getting upset, but is doing her best to be supportive.  While Vincent is gone, Tess and her friend, Gina, visit Washington DC.  While on that visit, Tess has too much to drink and sleeps with a business man, Henry.  She is upset with herself, but was hoping to go back home and pretend it never happened.  But Tess finds out she is pregnant.   Tess decides to just leave Vi...

These are the books I'm most looking forward to reading that come out in July 2017.  They are in order by release date.  Words on Bathroom Walls by Julie Walton (July 4) Adam has just been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He sees and hears people who aren’t there: Rebecca, a beautiful girl who understands him; the Mob Boss, who harasses him; and Jason, the naked guy who’s unfailingly polite. It should be easy to separate the real from the not real, but Adam can't. Still, there’s hope. As Adam starts fresh at a new school, he begins a drug trial that helps him ignore his visions. Suddenly everything seems possible, even love. When he meets Maya, a fiercely intelligent girl, he desperately wants to be the great guy that she thinks he is. But then the miracle drug begins to fail, and Adam will do anything to keep Maya from discovering his secret. I See London, I See France by Sarah Mylnowski (July 11) Nineteen-year-old Sydney has the perfect summer mapped out. She’s spen...