Odd One Out. Nic Stone. 2018. Crown Books for Young Readers. 320 pages. [Source: Public library.] I intentionally started Nic Stone’s latest without reading about it. I didn’t read reviews, I didn’t even read the synopsis on the jacket. Like Angie Thomas, she is an author whose books I will read without a prior question. I am grateful I came into this book with no preconcieved notions, no expectations for content, no “clues” about the characters and the story ahead of them. It made reading Odd One Out that much more of an experience of openness that I relished. Odd One Out is, on its surface, a story of three teen friends. Courtney is a star basketball player who joined the cheerleading team in the off-season. His best-friend, Jupiter, is his self-assured next-door neighbor. Their friendship extends beyond themselves, and is a kinship shared by Courtney’s widowed mother and Jupiter’s gay fathers. Rae, a newcomer to their town and the daughter of his mom’s coworker, finds an immediate connection with Jupiter, much to Courtney’s chagrin. The story, however, is about much more than new and old friendships. Through the trio, Stone explores how youth grapple with understanding their sexual identities…

Dear Martin. Nic Stone. 2017. Random House. 212 pages. [Source: Public library.] If nothing in the world ever changes, what type of man are you gonna be? I picked up Dear Martin on the recommendation of someone because I’d enjoyed The Hate You Give. This book is in a similar vein as THUG in that it follows the aftermath of an officer-involved shooting that results in a young, black teen’s death.  More than that, however, it explores the complexities of racial and social class in nuanced ways. Told from the perspective of 17-year-old Justyce, Dear Martin gives a young, black males insight, which I found especially interesting. Justyce is an honor student who attends a prestigious private school on a full scholarship.  He is, however, from the other side of the proverbial tracks, the child of a single mother and lives in what he describes as a bad area of Atlanta.  His bright future is a foregone conclusion – Ivy league education, law school, public policy career. However, he receives a rude awakening that his accomplishments mean little in the face of biased community members.

Before I Let Go. Marieke Nijkamp. 2018. Sourcebooks Fire. 372 pages. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Small towns don’t often take kindly to outsiders. Sometimes, they don’t even take kindly to their own. Such is the story of Before I Let Go, which follows Corey as she seeks the truth about the sudden — and suspicious — death of her best friend, Kyra.  Corey grew up in the small town of Lost Creek, Alaska, and was nearly inseparable from Kyra. When Corey’s family moves away, the two girls make a promise to stay connected; while Kyra writes regularly, Corey leaves the letters unanswered. Nonetheless, she’s distraught when she learns just seven months later, that Kyra fell through what is normally a frozen over lake.  In returning to Lost Creek, she can sense that things have changed, but just how far these changes have gone aren’t anything she’s ready for.

The Hate U Give. Angie Thomas. 2017. Balzer + Bray. 469 pages. [Source: public library.] Ever so often, a book’s hype will precede itself in a way that makes it impossible to ignore, no matter how oblivious I am. The first I’d heard about The Hate U Give was when news of its film adaptation came out.  That Amandla Stendberg would play the protagonist piqued my interest. But it wasn’t until everyone around me – book lover or not — started buzzing about it that I picked it up. My bad. I’ve since learned my lesson. The Hate U Give is centered on Starr, a 16-year-old black teen who straddles the line between two worlds: Garden Heights Starr is the daughter of a former gang member who struggles to find her place in her urban neighborhood and Williamson Starr is a popular scholar-athlete at a prestigious private school across town where nobody knows her family backstory or home zip code.  She has to constantly balance being black enough to navigate her neighborhood in the shadow of her dad’s past while being palatable enough for her suburban peers to accept her as one of the “good ones.” It’s a precarious balance, but…

Love and Vandalism.  Laurie Boyle Crompton. 2017. 366 pages. Sourcefire Books. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] They had me at graffiti.  They kept me with this heartbreaking/uplifting story. Rory is the town’s secret vandal. She’s been tagging lions under the cover of night, somehow dodging the watchful eye of her sergeant father who’s forbidden her from art. She’s remained anonymous until Hayes catches her one evening, but instead of turning her in, he turns her into his own personal tour guide.  It’s definitely blackmail, but Rory sees an opportunity to complete her magnum opus – painting a lion on top of the town’s water tower. This is definitely a compelling story that tackles several sensitive topics.  Hayes is recovering from an addiction, so it’s quite interesting to see how how he comes to terms with the damage he’s done to others near him and how he tries to put his life back together in a new place.  Rory initially seems like an angsty teenager who just wants to rebel for the sake of being combative. Her fractured relationship with her  suspicious father and near idol-worship of her artist mother factor prominently. It’s not immediately clear why her father is so adamant…