Annabelle and Lee. Danielle Allen. 2020. 240 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Annabelle and Lee is a love story that spans more than two decades — romantic, right? Annabelle Winston and Bradley Thompson met as tweens in the small Rhode Island town of Heathrow Beach. They spent three months of every year falling in love with each other, making plans for a future, and growing up. It was a fairy tale until Lee didn’t show up ...

Let Me Hear a Rhyme. Tiffany D. Jackson. 2019. Katherine Tegan Books. 384 pages. [Source: Public Library.] If there was ever a book written that speaks directly to the soul of 14-year-old me, it is Let Me Hear a Rhyme.  On its surface, it’s a touching story of a group of friends refusing to let their friend become another anonymous victim of street violence. But it really feels like a long-overdue homage to the New York hip-hop s...

Into the Wild. Jon Krakauer. 1996. Anchor. 231 pages. [Source: Public Library]. I’ve been dancing around Into the Wild for nearly 20 years. I was introduced to Jon Krakauer in 2000 with his recounting of a disastrous trek up Mount Everest, Into Thin Air. I was fascinated and traumatized by it. *shrug* For just as many years, I’d been seeing Into the Wild on various book lists and finally took the plunge. Luckily, I didn̵...

Small Town Secrets. Katrina Jackson. 2018. 153 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] I’m a sucker for small-town series, and Katrina Jackson has me completely sucked into Sea Port. I was first introduced to this quaint southern town in From Scratch. I fell further in love through Inheritance, and Small Town Secrets is another in a series of eyebrow-raising looks at the citizenry. Small Town Secrets further introduces Sully, the owner...

The Changeup. Nicole Falls. 2019. 144 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] You throw like a girl is usually meant as a stinging insult, insinuating a lack of power. That is absolutely the opposite of what it would mean referencing Geffri Robinson, a former college baseball pitcher. Geffri finds herself a viral sensation after winning a competition at a baseball game, which puts her on the radar of sports blogger/internet troll Noah. What ...