Category: Contemporary

Title: Charming as a Verb
Author: Ben Philippe
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: October 13, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Henri “Halti” Haltiwanger can charm just about anyone. He is a star debater and popular student at the prestigious FATE academy, the dutiful first-generation Haitian son, and the trusted dog walker for his wealthy New York City neighbors. But his easy smiles mask a burning ambition to attend his dream college, Columbia University.

There is only one person who seems immune to Henri’s charms: his “intense” classmate and neighbor Corinne Troy. When she uncovers Henri’s less-than-honest dog-walking scheme, she blackmails him into helping her change her image at school. Henri agrees, seeing a potential upside for himself.

Soon what started as a mutual hustle turns into something more surprising than either of them ever bargained for. . . .

This is a sharply funny and insightful novel about the countless hustles we have to keep from doing the hardest thing: being ourselves.

Review:

Henri Haltiwanger is a charming student at the prestigious FATE Academy in New York. He has created his own dog walking company, and he aspires to attend Columbia University. When he gets a new dog walking client, he’s brought to the home of his neighbour and classmate Corinne Troy. Corinne discovers that Henri’s dog walking company is masquerading as a large corporation when it’s really just rum by him. She blackmails him to help her become more social at school to look better on college applications, or she will expose the truth about his company. Henri and Corinne get closer and closer, until he makes a mistake that jeopardizes everything he’s worked towards.

This story addresses common issues that teens face, such as applying to college and keeping up with your classmates. Henri and his friends applied to colleges, and they each had different experiences. For one friend it was easy to get an acceptance right away, while another had to work a little harder at it. Henri had some problems while applying, and he had to decide if he really wanted to go to Columbia for the right reasons. Though Henri went to a prestigious school, he wasn’t in the same position as the other students. His fellow students were from wealthy families, but Henri’s parents were working class immigrants. His parents’ dreams for Henri got in the way of his own path in life, which led Henri to take an extreme measures.

This story reminded me a lot of The Field Guide to the North American Teenager, Ben Philippe’s first novel. Henri was like Norris, the main character in that novel, with his confident attitude to life. Though some parts of this story were predictable, I still found it exciting when my predictions were correct.

This is a great contemporary story!

Thank you HarperCollins Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe

Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds

Have you read Charming as a Verb? What did you think of it?

Title: New Year’s Kiss
Author: Lee Matthews
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Underlined
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: December 1, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A fun and upbeat paperback original romance about a girl who has a New Year’s resolution to make the coming year epic in every way—and is willing to put herself out there for love.

Tess and her opinionated older sister Lauren are spending the week after Christmas at the snowy Evergreen Lodge in Vermont and they aren’t happy about it. Their stern grandmother, who owns the holiday resort, is not known for her warmth and good humor. But when shy, straight-laced Tess meets Christopher in the lobby, things are suddenly looking up. And when she decides to get out of her comfort zone and create a bucket list of things to accomplish before the New Year-like singing in public and skiing a black-diamond slope-Christopher is happy to help, even as he keeps a secret that could turn everything upside down. When the ball drops, will Tess and Christopher share a magical kiss-or will Tess start the new year off alone?

Review:

Sixteen-year-old Tess and her older sister Lauren are sent to stay with their grandmother at her ski resort after Christmas. Their parents are getting divorced, so they want the girls to spend some time with their grandmother over the holidays. Lauren wants to take chances and deviate from the schedule that their grandmother plans, while Tess always follows the rules. When Tess meets Christopher, a guest at the resort, they create a bucket list of things she wants to do to get outside of her comfort zone before the new year. However, Christopher has a secret that could ruin their new friendship.

This was a cute New Year’s Eve story. It was set during the days after Christmas and until New Year’s Eve. I haven’t read a story that had a theme around the New Year like this before. Rather than make resolutions for the new year, Tess wanted to do some new things before the year ended. Some of these things were sing in public, wear high heels, and talk to a stranger.

The only thing I didn’t really like about this book was the ending, when Tess was close to completing her list. This may be a bit of a spoiler but there was a reason that she couldn’t do a couple of items on the list. She learned something about herself, which made it so she couldn’t do one of the tasks and I think she should have known about it before. It felt like the story was written into a corner and something had to be made up to add some tension at the end.

This was a short, cute holiday story.

What to read next:

All I Want for Christmas by Wendy Loggia

10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

Have you read New Year’s Kiss? What did you think of it?

Title: Clap When You Land
Author: Elizabeth Acevedo
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: May 5, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.

And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other. 

Review:

Teenager Camino lives in the Dominican Republic with her aunt. She loves the summer when her father visits from New York. When she goes to pick him up from the airport, she finds a crowd of devastated people who have just learned that the plane from New York to the Dominican Republic has crashed. At the same time, Yahaira is called into the school office in New York. She finds her mom there with the news that her father’s plane to the Dominican Republic has crashed. In the aftermath of their father’s death, Yahaira and Camino learn that he had a secret life that neither of his daughters knew about, including the existence of each other. His death devastated both of them, but it brought them together when they learned that they shared a father.

This was a heartbreaking story. Both Camino and Yahaira kept replaying the events of their father getting on a plane, hoping that he survived it. They counted the days after they got the news, in hopes that something would change. This story was inspired by a plane crash, which happened between New York and the Dominican Republic. Once that plane crash was determined not to be a terrorist event, the news stopped reporting on it, but it was still a life changing event for the family members of the victims. This story shows how the devastation affects the family, but it can also bring something positive to the survivors.

This was a beautifully written novel in verse. This is the perfect medium for this emotional story. The narrative switched between Camino’s and Yahaira’s perspectives, but I could always tell who was speaking because they had distinctive voices. The verses were easy to read. One thing that sped up my reading was that the word “and” was replaced with an ampersand (&). It made me notice how many times the word “and” is used, but it looked much neater on the page without the repetition of the word.

This really is a beautiful story! I highly recommend it.

What to read next:

Fight Like a Girl by Sheena Kamal

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Have you read Clap When You Land? What did you think of it?