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Teen Book Spotlight--Family!!!

Our teen book spotlight this week is on books that are all about families!!  Let’s face it, love ‘em or hate ‘em, where would we be without our families?  One of the things I love about YA is that there is such diversity throughout the collection and when it comes to books that feature families and family life, it is no exception plus sometimes it is very interesting reading about someone else’s family and then comparing yours (and realizing how lucky you may just be!).  These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #yafamilystories as well as on Libby and Hoopla.  Check back next week for a new teen book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander--Josh Bell and his twin brother Jordan are stars on their high school basketball team, taught by their father, a professional player in Europe before his health forced him to quit. Josh is better known by his nickname, Filthy McNasty, because he has mad ball skills and mad beats, too, making up rhymes even while he is dribbling past some unsuspecting guard. Josh has always assumed that he and Jordan would follow in their dad's footsteps and go pro, but with their father's deteriorating health, and the presence of a polarizing new girl at school, the future is anything but certain.

American Street by Ibi Zoboi--Haitian teen Fabiola Toussaint and her mother finally leave Port au Prince to live with an aunt and cousins in Detroit, Michigan. However, U.S. Immigration detains her mother, forcing Fabiola to go alone to Detroit and try to figure out how to live with her loud cousins in a new, gritty surrounding. A new school and a chance at romance are overshadowed by a terrible choice that circumstances force Fabiola to make—she can either snitch on a drug-dealing boyfriend, or she can let her mother stay in detention indefinitely.

The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen--Unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her late mother's estranged relatives at scenic North Lake, a teen finds herself torn between her mother's working-class relatives and her father's wealthier associates.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer--When a meteor hits the moon and knocks it closer to Earth, 16-year-old Miranda and the rest of her small town must struggle to survive as tsunamis, earthquakes, disease and volcanic eruptions disrupt life on the planet. In a daily ten-month diary, Miranda documents how she finds strength in her family and herself to overcome the physical and mental hardships of the events that have taken place.

Breath Like Water by Anna Jarzab--Sixteen-year-old Susannah Ramos was crowned a world champion swimmer, but has recently been struggling due to a growth spurt and a shoulder injury. Fighting for a spot on the Olympic team, Susannah meets a handsome new swimmer named Harry, with whom she develops a romantic interest. Their relationship is challenged with Harry's mental health issues and Susannah's pressures to win.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo--Camino Rios, a talented swimmer and midwife assistant, lives in the Dominican Republic and wants to go to Columbia University in New York City, where her father works most of the year. Her very different half-sister, Yahaira Rios, a dark-skinned, lesbian, chess champion, lives in Manhattan but quit speaking to their father when she learned he had another wife in the Dominican Republic. The lives of the two girls collide when their father dies in an airplane crash. In alternating voices, the girls grieve their father and begin to uncover the family secrets he kept for decades. Then, despite their differences, the girls begin to bond over--and forgive--their imperfect father.