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The Less Financially Privileged Teens in Contemporary YA Fiction: A Reading List

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It’s weird how often teens go on vacation, have summer rental homes, can afford cars (and car insurance!) or cell phones and other luxuries in YA fiction. It seems hardly representative of real life teens, many who work part-time jobs to pay for their own items or who work part-time to support their families. Faythe’s post did an excellent job bringing up why the issues of social class matter when we read and think about contemporary realistic fiction. A few of the titles on this list are ones she’s suggested.

Today, let’s look at the contemporary YA books that feature main characters who don’t have luxuries. These are the teens who aren’t upper middle class — or even middle-middle class — and I’ve also included novels where teens are working part-time jobs and those part-time jobs are a significant part of who they are. All of these books have been published in the last 10 years and all descriptions come from WorldCat (unless otherwise noted). 

Girls Like Us by Gail Giles: Graduating from their school’s special education program, Quincy and Biddy are placed together in their first independent apartment and discover unexpected things they have in common in the face of past challenges and a harrowing trauma.

Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo: A fifteen-year-old Australian girl gets her first job and first crush on her unattainable university-aged co-worker, as both search for meaning in their lives.

Panic by Lauren Oliver: Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do. Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher — $67,000. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought… Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for. For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them — and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most. 

Black Helicopters by Blythe Woolston: In a day-after-tomorrow Montana, fifteen-year-old Valley (now Valkyrie) and her big brother leave their underground den to fight a government that will kill them like coyotes. (Note: All of Woolston’s books feature rural impovershed characters). 

Starting from Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow: Sixteen-year-old Colby is barely hanging on with her mother dead, her long-haul trucker father often away, her almost-girlfriend dumping her for a boy, and her failing grades, when a stray dog appears and helps her find hope.

Shine by Lauren Myracle: When her best friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to discover the culprits in her small North Carolina town.

15 Days Without A Head by Dave Cousins: When his alcoholic mother disappears, fifteen-year-old Laurence is determined to find her, take care of his little brother, and keep their predicament a secret, all while trying to win a luxury vacation for his mom in a radio call-in contest.

The Sky Always Hears Me: And The Hills Don’t Mind by Kristin Cronn-Mills: Sixteen-year-old Morgan struggles with her growing attraction to a co-worker, her unsatisfactory relationship with her boyfriend, and with her own sexual orientation after a girlfriend is rumored to be gay.

Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina: One morning before school, some girl tells Piddy Sanchez that Yaqui Delgado hates her and wants to kick her ass. Piddy doesn’t even know who Yaqui is, never mind what she’s done to piss her off. Word is that Yaqui thinks Piddy is stuck-up, shakes her stuff when she walks, and isn’t Latin enough with her white skin, good grades, and no accent. And Yaqui isn’t kidding around, so Piddy better watch her back. At first Piddy is more concerned with trying to find out more about the father she’s never met and how to balance honors courses with her weekend job at the neighborhood hair salon. But as the harassment escalates, avoiding Yaqui and her gang starts to take over Piddy’s life. Is there any way for Piddy to survive without closing herself off or running away?

Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero: Sixteen-year-old Gabi Hernandez chronicles her senior year in high school as she copes with her friend Cindy’s pregnancy, friend Sebastian’s coming out, her father’s meth habit, her own cravings for food and cute boys, and especially, the poetry that helps forge her identity.

Saint Iggy by K. L. Going: Iggy Corso, who lives in city public housing, is caught physically and spiritually between good and bad when he is kicked out of high school, goes searching for his missing mother, and causes his friend to get involved with the same dangerous drug dealer who deals to his parents.

The Not-So-Great Depression by Amy Goldman Koss: Jacki, a ninth-grader, does not understand when her teacher talks about unemployment and recession, until her mother loses her job and Jacki cannot buy the things she wants.

 

Brianna on the Brink by Nicole McInnes: A one-night stand has life-altering consequences for popular, sixteen-year-old Brianna, who must then accept help from the one person closest to her mistake.

Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair:  Seventeen-year-old Faith shepherds her neglectful, drug-addicted mother through her pregnancy and then kidnaps the baby, taking on the responsibility of being her baby sister’s parent while hiding from the authorities.

Sorta Like A Rock Star by Matthew Quick: Although seventeen-year-old Amber Appleton is homeless, living in a school bus with her unfit mother, she is a relentless optimist who visits the elderly at a nursing home, teaches English to Korean Catholic women with the use of rhythm and blues music, and befriends a solitary Vietnam veteran and his dog, but eventually she experiences one burden more than she can bear and slips into a deep depression.

The Lure by Lynne Ewing: Living in a violent, impoverished town outside Washington, D.C., 15-year-old Blaise joins an infamous gang against the advice and warnings of her best friends only to be required by her new leader to put herself in life-threatening situations.

Tyrell by Coe Booth: Fifteen-year-old Tyrell, who is living in a Bronx homeless shelter with his spaced-out mother and his younger brother, tries to avoid temptation so he does not end up in jail like his father.

When I Was The Greatest by Jason Reynolds: Ali lives in Bed-Stuy, a Brooklyn neighborhood known for guns and drugs, but he and his sister, Jazz, and their neighbors, Needles and Noodles, stay out of trouble until they go to the wrong party, where one gets badly hurt and another leaves with a target on his back.

Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg: Sick of living in the shadow of her seven-year-old pageant queen sister who is praised for her looks, Lexi resolves to get a makeover when she determines her personality just isn’t enough to garner the attentions of boys.

Take Me On by Katie McGarry: Abandoning kickboxing after a tragedy in the ring, champion fighter Haley is forced to train an attractive mixed martial arts student who secretly fights on Haley’s behalf to redeem his troubled past.

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West: Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers knows better thant to trust a rich boy. But then she meets the richest guy of all, who proves money might not matter after all. 

Cherry Money Baby by John M. Cusick: Cherry Kerrigan loves her simple life, her family’s tiny trailer, even working at Burrito Barn. Forget college–she’s marrying her sweetheart from next door. But here comes Ardelia Deen, a glamorous starlet who sweeps Cherry into a world of fast cars and penthouse parties. Now Cherry’s small-town life just seems so small. When Ardelia drops a bomb of an offer, Cherry knows her life will change forever, no matter what she decides.

Kiss Kill Vanish by Jessica Martinez: A teenage girl flees her opulent life in Miami when she witnesses her boyfriend commit a murder that was ordered by her father. 

Rules of Summer by Joanna Philbin: Spending the summer working as an errand girl for the Rule family in the Hamptons, seventeen-year-old Rory befriends the family’s teenaged daughter and develops feelings for their older son, but she finds that societal rules can be hard to break.

The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard: Reading the journal of the high-society girl he was secretly involved with for a year helps high school senior Colt cope with her death and come closer to understanding why she needed him while continuing to be the girlfriend of a wealthy classmate.
Damaged by Amy Reed: Numb after the death of her best friend, Camille, Kinsey starts to shut down but Hunter, Camille’s mysterious boyfriend, has other ideas and whisks Kinsey off on a multi-state road trip to forget the ghosts of their pasts and their own fears.

** Okay, this one is maybe not contemporary realistic YA, but that depends on your reading of the ghost here. More, the depiction of Kinsey’s home financial situation and her job are noteworthy.

Adrenaline-fueled, Male-Centered Contemporary YA Fiction

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With Eric Devine’s post on male violence and aggression, I could think of no better sort of list to write than one featuring contemporary realistic YA books that are male-centered and feature high adrenaline and, in most cases, violence of some kind. These books are gritty and intense. 

All descriptions come from WorldCat, and most of these titles were published in the last 5-7 years. I’d love to have more titles to add to this list, so if you can think of any, feel free to offer them in the comments. 

Crash and Burn by Michael Hassan: Steven “Crash” Crashinsky relates his sordid ten-year relationship with David “Burn” Burnett, the boy he stopped from taking their high school hostage at gunpoint.

Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen: High school sophomore Danny excels at gymnastics but is bullied, like the rest of the gymnasts, by members of the football team, until an emotionally and physically scarred new student joins the football team and forms an unlikely friendship with Danny.

Press Play by Eric Devine: While making a documentary to get himself into film school, Greg accidentally captures footage of brutal and bloody hazing by the lacrosse team, and he must decide whether to release the film or keep the secret.

Blade: Playing Dead by Tim Bowler: A fourteen-year-old British street person with extraordinary powers of observation and self-control must face murderous thugs connected with a past he has tried to forget, when his skills with a knife earned him the nickname, Blade.

Violence 101 by Denis Wright: In a New Zealand reformatory, Hamish Graham, an extremely intelligent fourteen-year-old who believes in the compulsory study of violence, learns that it is not always the answer.

Freeze Frame by Heidi Ayarbe: Fifteen-year-old Kyle believes he does not deserve to live after accidentally shooting and killing his best friend.

Dirt Road Home by Watt Key: At Hellenweiler, a reformatory for second-offenders, fourteen-year-old Hal Mitchell will soon be free if he can avoid the gang violence of his fellow inmates, but the real enemy may lie elsewhere.

Efrain’s Secret by Sofia Quintero: Ambitious high school senior and honor student Efrain Rodriguez makes some questionable choices in pursuit of his dream to escape the South Bronx and attend an Ivy League college.

If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser: Growing up in the inner-city projects, DeShawn is reluctantly forced into the gang world by circumstances beyond his control.

Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly by Conrad Wesselhoeft: Seventeen year-old dirt-bike-riding daredevil Arlo Santiago catches the eye of the U.S. military with his first-place ranking on a video game featuring drone warfare, and must reconcile the work they want him to do with the emotional scars he has suffered following a violent death in his family.

Unlocked by Ryan G. Van Cleave: While trying to impress a beautiful, unattainable classmate, fourteen-year-old Andy discovers that a fellow social outcast may be planning an act of school violence.

When I Was The Greatest by Jason Reynolds: Ali lives in Bed-Stuy, a Brooklyn neighborhood known for guns and drugs, but he and his sister, Jazz, and their neighbors, Needles and Noodles, stay out of trouble until they go to the wrong party, where one gets badly hurt and another leaves with a target on his back.



Blank Confession by Pete Hautman: A new and enigmatic student named Shayne appears at high school one day, befriends the smallest boy in the school, and takes on a notorious drug dealer before turning himself in to the police for killing someone.

Bystander by James Preller: Thirteen-year-old Eric discovers there are consequences to not standing by and watching as the bully at his new school hurts people, but although school officials are aware of the problem, Eric may be the one with a solution.

Run The Game by Jason Myers: A cocaine-addicted teenaged guitarist in a rock band falls dangerously in love with a fourteen-year-old prostitute.

Dear Life, You Suck by Scott Blagden: Irreverent, foul-mouthed, seventeen-year-old Cricket Cherpin, living under the watchful eye of Mother Mary at a Catholic boys’ home in Maine, has such bleak prospects he is considering suicide when Wynona Bidaban steps into his world.

Diary of a Witness by Catherine Ryan Hyde: Ernie, an overweight high school student and long-time target of bullies, relies on his best friend Will to watch his back until Will, overwhelmed by problems at home and guilt over his brother’s death, seeks a final solution.

Period 8 by Chris Crutcher:  Paul “the Bomb” Baum tells the truth. No matter what. It was something he learned at Sunday School. But telling the truth can cause problems, and not minor ones. And as Paulie discovers, finding the truth can be even more problematic. Period 8 is supposed to be that one period in high school where the truth can shine, a safe haven. Only what Paulie and Hannah (his ex-girlfriend, unfortunately) and his otherclassmates don’t know is that the ultimate bully, the ultimate liar, is in their midst. Just about everyone else who stops by the safe haven of the P-8 room daily are deceived. And when a classmate goes missing, all hell breaks loose. 

Break by Hannah Moskowitz: To relieve the pressures of caring for a brother with life-threatening food allergies, another who is a fussy baby, and parents who are at odds with one other, seventeen-year-old Jonah sets out to break every bone in his body in hopes of becoming stronger.

Cracked by K. M. Walton: When Bull Mastrick and Victor Konig wind up in the same psychiatric ward at age sixteen, each recalls and relates in group therapy the bullying relationship they have had since kindergarten, but also facts about themselves and their families that reveal they have much in common.

A Few Cybils Reads – Part VII (Audiobook Edition)

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Noggin by John Corey Whaley
Whaley’s follow-up to his Printz-winning Where Things Come Back is a character-driven novel with an SF twist. Travis’ cancer was going to kill him, so he opted to have his head chopped off and put in cold storage, hoping one day science would advance far enough and he’d be revived using a donor body. He figures he’ll wake up in hundred years or so. Except that’s not what happens. It only takes five years. For newly-awakened Travis, it seems like no time has passed at all. But for everyone else, the world has changed. His friends (including his girlfriend) are now adults. His death profoundly affected his parents, and the fact that he’s alive again doesn’t magically fix everything. Not to mention the fact that he’s walking around in (on?) someone else’s body.

Whaley’s writing is very, very good, matched by Kirby Heyborne’s equally good narration. I wouldn’t have enjoyed this nearly as much if Heyborne weren’t narrating. Travis’ growth, the way he comes to terms (or not) with the way his life has changed, the way his family and friends come to terms with it – it’s masterfully done and quite compelling. Travis’ voice is clear; he’s not always likeable, not even at the end, but he’s believable. I can see why it was shortlisted for a National Book Award, and I can easily see this appealing to readers who normally don’t enjoy science fiction. The focus is entirely on Travis’ adjustment, and the medical/scientific procedure that allowed him to wake up five years after his “death” is not explained. That’s not what Whaley considers important in this story. I’ve seen some reviewers describe the premise as absurd or weird, but as far as SF novels go, it’s pretty tame.

Night Sky by Suzanne & Melanie Brockmann
Sasha, the little girl that Skylar babysits, has gone missing, and her father – who has also disappeared – is the prime suspect. The police already think Sasha is dead, but Skylar refuses to believe it. Then a girl named Dana comes into town, and Dana exhibits some of the abilities that Skylar believes she may have – like telekinesis. She learns that she’s a “greater-than,” which basically means she has superpowers. A lot of them. She and Dana, along with wheelchair-bound best friend Calvin and Dana’s sidekick Milo, decide to figure out what happened to Sasha on their own – and they discover it has everything to do with the greater-thans.

I’ve never read an adult Brockmann book and I can’t say this would encourage me to pick one up. The premise certainly has appeal for a certain kind of reader – those who can’t get enough books about teens with superpowers, for instance. It’s fairly diverse, too, though only in its ancillary characters. It’s action-heavy with a good vs. evil plot. But it goes on a little too long and the writing is weak. There’s a certain sentence structure that’s overused, so glaring that each time it happened I winced. (“He did this as I did that” or “I did this as she did that” with a long, drawn out second half. I could hear the narrator run out of air trying to get the whole sentence in without pausing for a breath. Just make it two sentences!) The narration isn’t great. Melanie Brockmann does it herself and she doesn’t voice any of the characters. Her voice is reedy and it sounds like she’s not getting enough air, even when the sentences are short. There are better offerings. (Kirkus gave it a starred review. But what do they know?)

Divided We Fall by Trent Reedy
This is one of those books that may be good in print, but is absolutely fantastic on audio. It’s about a high school kid, Danny, who joins the Idaho National Guard at age 17. He’s sent to help police a protest in Boise. Things get out of control. Someone bumps into his gun and it goes off. Then more people start shooting. Twelve people are killed. Not even Danny knows exactly what happened, but he becomes the face of the state of Idaho’s resistance to the federal government, which started as a refusal to implement a controversial federal ID law. The president wants Danny and the rest of the soldiers arrested, and the governor refuses. Events escalate. Each chapter ends with snippets from television news programs, tweets, radio callers, and the like, and these are all fully voiced by a diverse group of narrators. Some strongly recall Fox News or Rush Limbaugh (the latter of which is particularly painful to listen to), while others are more middle of the road, or simply reactionary. You’ve heard this stuff before, about similar things, things that are happening in real life right now. It’s at times more interesting than the main narrative itself.

Reedy does a good job of balancing each “side” of the story – those who support the state government and those who support the federal government. It’s a really tough tightrope to walk, but he succeeds in not making his book seem like it has an agenda. That’s partly due to Reedy’s protagonist, who is an everyguy – but of the kind we don’t see a lot in YA fiction: he lives in a semi-rural area, participates in rodeos, plays football, doesn’t intend to go to college, enjoys guns and country music. He joined the National Guard because he loved his state and he loved his country. These are all things we tend to associate with conservative kids, but his political views aren’t what’s on display. He never wanted to get caught up in everything that happens and would rather it all go away. This is a tricky, very discussable book that will probably piss some people off. The setting could have been Texas (my home state) and been just as believable. It’s very close to home; that’s what makes it worth the read.

Here There Be Dragons

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Dragons are perennially popular in young adult literature. When I was a teen, I dove into Anne McCaffrey (Dragonflight) and Patricia C. Wrede (Dealing With Dragons) for my dragon fix, though both sets of books were published before I hit adolescence. Right around the time I decided I was mostly too old to read YA books, Eragon became a sensation (I’ve still never read it). 

Today’s teens have even more creative material from which to choose. Books about dragons published within the last five years or so put new twists on the legendary creatures, often turning the dragons into shapeshifters or imbuing them with other talents not found in previous incarnations. (Some also seem like poor imitations of Pern’s dragons.) Below are nine recently-published titles that should appeal to teen dragon fans (three of which are Cybils nominees). Descriptions are from Worldcat. Are there any others I’ve missed?

Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey (2012)
In AD 1192 on Wilde Island, Tess, the daughter of a cruel blacksmith, is
accused of witchcraft and must flee, but when she meets a handsome and
enigmatic warden of Dragonswood who offers her shelter, she does not
realize that he too harbors a secret that may finally bring about peace
among the races of dragon, human, and fairy.

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman (2008)

Sixteen-year-old Eon hopes to become an apprentice to one of the
twelve energy dragons of good fortune and learn to be its main
interpreter, but to do so will require much, including keeping secret
that she is a girl. Sequel: Eona (2011)

A Creature of Moonlight by Rebecca Hahn (2013)
Marni, a young flower seller who has been living in exile, must choose
between claiming her birthright as princess of a realm whose king wants
her dead, and a life with the father she has never known–a wild dragon. Kimberly’s review

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (2012)
In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce and
dragons can assume human form, Seraphina, whose mother died giving birth
to her, grapples with her own identity amid magical secrets and royal
scandals, while she struggles to accept and develop her extraordinary
musical talents.

The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim by E. K. Johnston

In an alternate world where industrialization has caused many species
of carbon-eating dragons to thrive, Owen, a slayer being trained by his
famous father and aunt, and Siobahn, his bard, face a dragon
infestation near their small town in Canada.

Firelight by Sophie Jordan (2010)
When sixteen-year-old Jacinda, who can change into a dragon, is forced
to move away from her community of shapeshifters and start a more normal
life, she falls in love with a boy who proves to be her most dangerous
enemy. Sequels: Vanish (2011), Hidden (2012)

Talon by Julie Kagawa (2014)
Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St.
George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and
growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong
and cunning, and they’re positioned to take over the world with humans
none the wiser. Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother
known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants
to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking
her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective,
and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught.

Talker 25 by Joshua McCune (2014)
The fifteen-year-long war between man and dragons seems nearly over
until Melissa becomes an unwilling pawn of the government after she–and
those driving the beasts to extinction–discover that she can
communicate with dragons.

Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn (2010)

In a parallel world where humans and dragons live in a state of cold
war, seventeen-year-old Kay and her dragon friend, Artegal, struggle to
find a way to show that dragons and humans can co-exist.

A Few Cybils Reads – Part VI

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Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke
Del is a Walker, which means she was born with the ability to travel to parallel worlds, each one formed when a person made a choice. The choice they made belongs to the Key world – the main world. All other possible choices spiral off into infinite echo worlds. When these echoes become unstable, it’s the job of the Walkers to cleave them. Unsurprisingly, the regimented world of the Walkers isn’t as it seems, and Del becomes caught up in a conspiracy that could have ramifications throughout the entire multiverse.

Longtime readers of this blog may know I have a particular fascination with alternate/parallel worlds. Dissonance is a special treat for readers like me, since it focuses so much of the story on the specifics of the parallel worlds – how they’re created, how they relate to the Key world, how Walkers can travel to them, how they can be destroyed. It’s fascinating. Each chapter opens with an excerpt from what looks like a Walker-in-training textbook, and I wish I could read that textbook in its entirety. What’s more, it all makes sense. If parallel worlds exist, they probably look like the ones from O’Rourke’s imagination.

Sometimes in books where world-building is so comprehensive and so detailed, plot and characterization suffer, but that’s not the case here. The plot is smart, complex, and hinges both on this huge concept as well as the unique characters O’Rourke has created – rule-breaker Del, her strict sister Addy, and their senile-but-maybe-not grandfather Monty. Good speculative fiction is still character-driven, no matter how high the concept, and Dissonance fulfills this requirement. While it wouldn’t interest readers who need something fast-paced to stay engaged, I have no doubt it will more than satisfy those who can’t stop thinking about what it would be like to visit an alternate world themselves.

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
This is such an odd little book, one that doesn’t feel much like YA. It’s short and reads more like a novella, with sketchy world-building, a small cast of (rather thin) characters, and a single, focused storyline. Ceony Twill has just graduated at age 19 from the Tagis Praff school for the magically inclined. She wanted to be a Smelter, a magician who works with metal, but she’s been forced into an apprenticeship as a Folder – a paper magician – under magician Emery Thane. One she’s bonded to paper, she can’t work magic with any other material. Ceony is heartbroken, but it’s a career as a Folder or a career without any magic at all. She decides to make the best of a bad situation.

This one drew me in initially with its oddness. I enjoyed reading about the tricks paper magicians could do, such as making stories written on paper come to life for a time by reading them aloud, or animating folded shapes by commanding them to breathe. Thane is suitably strange, obviously hiding some secrets. It lost me about a third of the way through, when Thane is attacked by his ex-wife, who rips his heart out of his chest. Ceony replaces his heart with a paper version, which will sustain him for a time. All this intrigued me; it’s when Ceony sets off to find his real heart and somehow gets caught inside it that made me scratch my head. From that point on, the book is a journey through the different parts of Thane’s heart (metaphor!) and life. We see flashbacks to his time as a child, marrying his wife, becoming estranged from his wife. We see his hopes, his dreams, his doubts, his fears. I’ve never been one for flashbacks and dream sequences, much less prolonged ones that encompass almost an entire novel. Characters should be built from their actions, not their dreams. Give this one to readers who delight in the odd and don’t share my aversion to flashbacks.

A Girl Called Fearless by Catherine Linka
Avie lives in an America where almost all women who consumed a deadly hormone in beef have died of cancer. Only the very old and the very young lived. It is now ten years later, and America has to come to terms with its decimated female population. The Paternalists have taken power, restricting women’s and girls’ freedoms in order to “protect” them. They can’t go to college, and they’re married off at a young age (such as sixteen) to much older men, told they must dedicate themselves to having a lot of children. Avie’s father has always promised she could go to college – even if it has to be in Canada – but in order to save his struggling business, he sells her to a rising Paternalist star. This man is 35 years old and it quickly becomes clear that Avie will be his prisoner. She decides to run.

This is another dystopia by way of The Handmaid’s Tale, albeit a well done one (though with much less nuance). It’s fast-paced and focuses mainly on Avie’s escape and its aftermath, plus a few scenes clearly meant to horrify (such as when Avie’s intended “sticks his tongue down her throat,” always a phrase guaranteed to elicit shudders). The plot crumbles a bit at the end, with the less-than-surprising revelation/twist that the Paternalists aren’t actually trying to protect women and girls, but rather disenfranchise them. (Most readers will be shocked that the characters are shocked; preventing women from going to college and marrying them off to 35 year old men at age 16 was never about protection in the past.) This would be a good pick for readers who aren’t yet burned out on this particular sub-sub-genre (dystopias where women are subjugated) or who perhaps haven’t read much of it before. Readers who enjoyed Kristen Simmons’ Article 5 would probably enjoy this one as well, as the two seem almost identical in execution.

Dissonance and A Girl Called Fearless borrowed from my library; Paper Magician provided by the publisher.