Hear about books that members of the school community have read and enjoyed.
Sophomore Kenzie Maccallum recommends “Divine Rivals” by Rebecca Ross (St. Martin’s Publishing Group).
“It’s in a fantasy world, and there’s a war going on. It’s from two different perspectives, and one perspective [is] a girl that is a journalist, and the other perspective is her rival, another journalist,” Maccallum said. “It’s just about how they go into the war themselves, and what they write about it. Lots of world building, and there is a side plot of romance, and it’s just an amazing book.I’d recommend this for literally anybody who’s into fantasy romance or just likes to read.”
Junior Emily Zhang recommends “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press).
“[It’s] basically a prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy, and it’s explaining the backstory of the villain. I really like it, because I just like the Hunger Games in general, and it gave me that insight into the world to build it,” Zhang said. “In the book, there’s a student, and he’s navigating creating the [Hunger] Games. But, in the actual series, he’s the main villain.”
Sophomore Jocelyn Kurchan recommends “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” by Holly Jackson (Delacorte Press).
“It’s about this girl who decides to investigate a closed murder case for a school project, and along the way, she discovers a lot of secrets and things that she didn’t think were true,” Kurchan said. “It’s just a really captivating story. I think people should read it if they like murder mystery novels. The plot twists kept going all the way throughout the series, and it never got boring. I just couldn’t put it down.”
I recommend “A Study In Drowning” by Ava Reid (HarperCollins).
This book is fantasy with a romance side plot. It takes place in a fantasy world and follows Effy, a girl who wants to study literature, but can only take architecture because of sexism in her society. So, when the chance arises to design the house that belonged to her recently passed favorite author, she jumps at the opportunity. The book shows Effy’s journey as she learns more about who her favorite author truly was, and it describes how her path is affected by the dark fantasy elements of her world and her own mental obstacles. I liked how the characters were written, and they fit well in the plot of the book. The book deals with topics like sexism and racism while creating a world reminiscent of modern times, but it is overall an enjoyable and interesting read.
