One of the great things about Young Adult (YA) as a category is that it is inclusive of all fiction genres -- romance, mystery, fantasy, coming-of-age, sci-fi, horror -- as well as nonfiction subjects.  Fantasy and sci-fi receive the lion's share of attention but we want to make sure that you don't miss other great reads from other genres in YA.  We hope you read and enjoy the books reviewed in this newsletter by our YA readers.  This month, mystery, memoir and eerie fantasy step into the spotlight with new reviews by Paisley & Mia.

At Bayview High, five students share a fateful detention. What they know is that they each embody a classic stereotype: Bronwyn’s the genius, headed for the Ivy League; Addy is the popular princess, attached by the hip to her boyfriend; Cooper is the jock, probably about to be drafted into the MLB; Nate is the criminal with drug-dealing rumors swirling all around him; Simon is the outcast- after all, who would ever befriend the boy who runs “About That”, a gossip app that spills all the innermost secrets of students at Bayview? 

What they don’t know is that by the end of detention, one of them will end up dead.  As the other four are investigated for murder, they must work together and with others to figure out: Who killed Simon?

What first drew me to this book was, admittedly, my dislike for The Breakfast Club, and a hope that a more murderous version of the film would spice up the theme. However, I hadn’t expected such an amazing, creative plot that twists and turns every which way until the final mystery is solved. This is the kind of story that feels familiar, and yet you’ll be on the edge of your seat trying to figure out the truth behind Simon’s death. I also found it impressive that the author was able to breathe life into four very different protagonists. I had been wary about the stereotypical cliques seeming fake (as with The Breakfast Club), they all feel like normal high schoolers- only, they have to use their skills to decipher a crime that could have them sentenced for life. I also like the way that they interact with outside characters- family is clearly important to each of these characters, and each expresses it differently.

If you’re looking for your next YA read, this page-turner will lead you on a rollercoaster of an adventure that all stems back to an hour in detention. --Paisley

Americanized is a coming of age memoir, written for readers age 14-18. Born in Iran and arriving in the US at 2 years old, Saedi recounts her years as a teenage immigrant in Northern California in the 1990’s.

I love memoir and was drawn in by the mix of teenage angst, love interests, and acne, with fear of deportation that correlates to today’s DACA. She gives insight into what it means to be an undocumented immigrant, having to keep that a secret, while simultaneously getting straight A ’s and being student body president. She is witty and honest and combines colorful Persian familial and cultural standards like black tie weddings with a fierce love of Ethan Hawke and ABBA. A toast to the multi-culturalism that is a hallmark of this wonderful country, in the universal context of seeking belonging and identity in adolescence.
--Mia

After the Peculiars defeat their most dangerous enemy, Jacob Portman is having a hard time re-adjusting to his suburban Florida neighborhood. Terrified of the tales he’d told of his friends, Jacob’s parents are convinced that he needs to visit a mental hospital…that is, until Miss Peregrine and the Peculiars show up at his front door, wanting to learn how to live in the modern world.

Jacob’s attempts to integrate the Peculiar children to suburbia come to a halt when they make a discovery: his grandfather’s hidden basement, full to the brim with secrets about the Peculiars of America. Jacob and his friends must venture on a cross-country road trip to finish a series of mysterious tasks and to determine the truth of his grandfather’s double-agent life.

In the same fashion as the original trilogy, A Map of Days combines an eerie plot with surreal photographs. However, as the Peculiars set across the United States, the images that accompany the story shift to a new era of documentation: full color.

As a fan of the original trilogy, I found A Map of Days intriguing because of the drastic change in setting. While the first three books focused primarily on the United Kingdom, we get to see a whole new interpretation of Peculiardom: Americans. Every new character combines the familiar Peculiar talents with personalities that are unique to the different decades of 20th- and 21st-century America. Their societies reflect this too; in a contrast to the well-maintained, ymbryne-run loops of Europe, the Peculiar side of the United States is a far more wild, lawless place than Miss Peregrine’s children have ever explored.

For fans of all ages, sizes, and peculiarities of the Miss Peregrine books, this latest inclusion to the series is a welcome addition. --Paisley