Jillian Heise is a National Board Certified middle school language arts teacher allowing her to discuss thoughts and insights about books with real teen readers, and all-around awesome 7th & 8th graders, every day of the school year. Her students are used to her sharing her reading life, the importance of making reading a habit, appreciation for rockstar authors, and love of fictional characters with them. Heise Reads & Recommends is her blog where she shares her book recommendations beyond her classroom walls. Jillian is a voracious reader and self-admitted book pusher with towering TBR stacks and does not feel the need for a program to change that. On twitter, she is @heisereads and is always happy to recommend a book to any reader in need.
Jenn’s voice is a fun new on in YA and this book is an addictively good, completely intriguing story. I was hooked on this action-packed, heart-pounding, surprising story from the first page and couldn’t stop until I was done. This is another one that has become a favorite of my students also. I was lucky enough to get to read the sequel, Erased (Jan), already, and it’s a strong sequel that answers many questions.
Best Series Finale
Champion (Legend #3) by Marie Lu
I loved the Legend series from the start, and this finale was exactly right for this series. If anyone would ask me which YA dystopian trilogy to read if they could only read one, I would say it is this one.
I surprisingly like this book very much. Smart, likeable characters, a compelling setting, and a story that had me rooting for the main character and kept me reading to the very end.
Not what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed reading this book. Deals with a tough issue (AIDS) in a non-preachy, accessible way with a strong teen voice. Love the character, love the dads, love the friends, love the story.
A thrill-ride, page-turner, heart-pounding in fear for what’s happening and what might happen, suspenseful thriller of a novel. Shy is smart, sensitive, a guy who cares about his family and is trying to make a crappy situation better. He’s endearing in his worries, hopes, desires, realness. Engagingly written with a plot that keeps it moving forward, and reveals about a world that has changed a bit from what we know.
This book is SO good! I thought I was over vampire novels, but not this one. An intriguingly and thoroughly built world. A likeable main character. And a vampire who says all the right things. The pacing and the suspense…it is cleverly written.
An achingly, heartbreakingly, healingly incredible novel. It ripped me apart and stitched me back together one small piece/scene/conversation at a time. Some books are hard to let go of and forget, and this one will be with me for a long time because of its sincerity and how it hits just the right notes.
Elizabeth is one of my favorite go-tos for fun, feel-good books. Her contemporary romances are so enjoyable, and this one even takes place in Wisconsin (where she and I are both from) so there’s extra fun in it. I think it’s her best book yet!
Can. Not. Wait. I’ve been an obsessive Mara Dyer fan since reading an advanced copy of the first book, and I am dying to read the end of this series and find out where Michelle takes this twisty story.
It’s always interesting when a blogger is also a teacher or works with teens – they offer a very valuable perspective and have awesome recommendations for all types of readers.
I too LOVED Lisa McMann’s new series!! Her characters are perfectly flawed and perfectly funny and relatable 🙂