Have you ever felt that you can’t seem to find the right book? Well fear no more, this is the right article for you! We have our dear Mrs. Kahawai who teaches high school English at our own Costa Mesa High School, and she has some book recommendations for you!
Our next recommendation is “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummines. This book is about Lydia Quixano Perez who is a Middle-class Mexican bookseller. She flees from Acapulo with her son Luca after a drug cartel attacks a Quinceanera she’s attending. They kill her husband who is a journalist and earlier had the Cartel leader, Javier.
Our first recommendation is “The 57 Bus” by Dashka Slater. The book takes place in Oakland, California and it's about an African American boy named Richard with a tough background setting fire to a gender-nonconforming private school and a teen named Sasha is on that bus. The story follows the trial and punishment and descriptions of Richard’s past. The book is based on a true story through both character’s eyes.
Next we have “The Poet X” by Elizabeth Acevedo. The book is about a young girl who lives in Harlem that uses “slam” poetry to understand her mother’s religion and to make her own way in her world.
Another great recommendation that many of our readers have liked is a book called “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens. The book is about a girl named Kya who is abandoned from a young age and she has to make her own way on an isolated marsh that she calls home. The second timeline follows a murder of Chase Andrews, a rich celebrity of the local town. And the authorities suspect the “Marsh Girl”.
Our next book is “Dry” by Neal Shusterman and it's about a water crisis called the “Tap-out”. The access to water is shut off across California and Alyssa Morrow and her family along with her neighbor Kelton are in the middle of a warzone for water. And one day when her parents don’t return Alyssa has to make impossible decisions if she is going to survive.
Our next book is by the same author, “Unwind” by Neal Shusterman. “Unwind” follows three teenagers who are running away from a government that believes “unwinding” or body harvesting is an alternate solution to abortions or unwanted teens. This is a choice for extremely religious families who want to tithe one of their teens.
Another amazing recommendation is “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie. This book is a first-person narrative novel from the perspective of a native American teenager, Arnold Spirit Jr. also known as “Junior”, a 14-year-old promising cartoonist.
Our next book is “Educated” by Tara Westover. “Educated” is a memoir that talks about Tara Westover overcoming her survivalist Mormon family in order to go to college and get a better education.
Next we have “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand. “Unbroken” is about a World War ll veteran, a former Olympic track star who survives a plane crash and spends 47 days drifting on a raft. And then survives two and a half years as a prisoner of war in three japanese POW camps.
And last but not least “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls. In this memoir, Walls describes her “deeply dysfunctional yet vibrant” upbringing.
