All Summer Long

All Summer Long by Hope Larsen, 170 pages

“Thirteen-year-old Bina faces her first summer without her best friend, Austin, who has left for soccer camp.” So, I clearly like realistic graphic novels.  This is a great story about friendship and growing up.  Kids who like graphic novels and realistic fiction will enjoy this a lot.

The Thing With Feathers

The Thing With Feathers by McCall Hoyle, 276 pages

Emilie has been homeschooled most of her life.  Since she was diagnosed with epilepsy, she has been afraid to be around people very much, or to do anything that might trigger a seizure.  Since her father died of cancer, she has been even more reluctant to interact with other people.  Her mother and therapist have agreed that she needs to go to be more involved so now she is attending public high school.  If she’s being forced to try and be normal, she wants the chance to just be normal, so she doesn’t want to tell anyone about her seizures.  This becomes complicated as she starts to make friends, and possibly even a boyfriend.  She knows she can’t keep the secret forever, but is afraid of telling people the truth.  This is a great realistic story about growing up and navigating the emotional waters of high school life.