Despite being overall a pretty terrible year, 2017 has brought us some pretty amazing young adult books, so here are my top 5:
1. Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
Moxie is the perfect girl power book that explores everything from sexist dress codes and intersectional feminism to to the power of friendship between girls. The book follows Vivian Carter who is ‘fed up with sexist dress codes and hallway harassment.’ and takes a stand by following in her Riot Girrrl mom’s footsteps by making “controversial” zines and distributing them throughout the school. Consequently she starts a mini revolution in her small Texas High school.
2. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
This book touches on the very talked about issue, but also still extremely taboo, of police brutality. The main protagonist, Starr Carter witnesses the fatal shooting of her best friend Kahlil by a police officer, and Kahlil was unarmed.
Kalil’s death becomes a national news story, some were stereotyping him as a drug dealer and others protesting in his name. Starr sets out on a mission to find out: what really happened that night?
The Hate U Give also made some controversial waves this year, being banned by one Texas school district.
3. The Upside Of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
The companion novel to Albertalli’s already well loved debut novel, Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda, follows twin sisters, Cassie and Molly. Molly is completely cynical and a self proclaimed expert on unrequited love, because she can’t handle the idea of rejection and feels that because of her weight that she has to be even more cautious. When all of a sudden Molly’s hopeless romantic sister brings home a new girl with her hipster-boy sidekick in tow, who Molly may just fall for but, then enter Reid, Molly’s nerdy co-worker who she may also have a slight crush on.
4. The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
The newest book from the author of the much loved novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. In this beautifully written tale of love, loss and everything in between, the protagonist Sal, who had always been very sure of his place in the world discovers things that begin to make him question every thing that he knows. Following this Sal and his best friend Samantha take a much needed trip of self-discovery.
5. Because You Love to Hate Me by various authors
In this utterly unique collection of short stories, an abundance of authors team up with a collection of BookTubers to retell some of our famous childhood fairly tails through the villains point of view.
“These fractured, unconventional spins on classics like “Medusa,” Sherlock Holmes, and “Jack and the Beanstalk” provide a behind-the-curtain look at villains’ acts of vengeance, defiance, and rage–and the pain, heartbreak, and sorrow that spurned them on. No fairy tale will ever seem quite the same again!”