School is back in session! If you need some time away from your homework, here are some great teen novels about school life.
In Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, an anonymous student known only as Aces spreads secrets about two Black students to try and keep them from succeeding in the predominantly white school.
Dahlia Adler’s Home Field Advantage follows Amber, whose ambition to become the next cheerleader captain falters when she meets and starts falling for the new quarterback, Jac, short for Jaclyn.
Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta pits Leela and Firoze, two competitors in high school forensics, against each other in a high stakes contest. Great for fans of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
In The Problem with the Other Side by Kwame Ivery, the growing romance between a Black boy and a white girl is threatened by their sisters’ competition to become class president while fighting to determine whether more teens of color should be admitted to their school.
Why We Fly by Kimberly Jones lets cheerleaders Chanel and Eleanor tell their sides of the story of their senior year, and how taking a knee during the national anthem brings different consequences to each girl.
Samantha Markum’s This May End Badly depicts two rival schools and their century-old tradition of pranking each other. When Doe wants to end the rivalry and learns that the schools plan to merge, she begins a series of pranks that escalate beyond her control.
In Millionaires for the Month by Stacy McAnulty, Benji and Felix find a billionaire’s lost wallet and “borrow” twenty dollars to buy lunch. When the truth comes out, the billionaire challenges them to spend five million dollars in one month in order to learn the true value of money. Can they do it within all the conditions she has set and win ten million dollars to keep?
Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter has Liz recruiting her irritating next-door neighbor to help her get popular Michael to take her to the prom. How much help can she truly expect?
In Jasper Sanchez’s The (Un)Popular Vote, Mark stays out of the public eye as much as possible to help his politician father even as he transitions, but when he decides to run for student president himself, he must be more public about who he really is.
In The Assignment by Liza Wiemer, a popular teacher assigns the class a hot-button debate topic: Hitler’s final solution, pro or con.
~ posted by Wally B.
Leave a Comment