By Jennifer Trend, Staff Writer
2017 has been a good year for books, with new selections that do a good job of analyzing the good and bad of the society, imagination and creativity. Here’s a look at some of my top books of the year.
- The Hate U Give
By Angie Thomas
Genre: Fiction
Starr Carter, a 16 year old African American girl lives in the poor neighborhood of Garden Heights, but she attends a fancy suburban prep school where she can only hope to keep her two lives separate. After a party, Khalil, an old friend, is unjustly killed by a police officer. Soon, his death raises suspicions and Starr is thrown into a world where the police’s actions are justified, untrue statements about Khalil surface and where white privilege comes into play. What Starr does and doesn’t say can be used against or for her, but it has the ability to determine the fate of her life and her community.
- Turtles All the Way Down
By John Green
Genre: Fiction
When billionaire Russell Pickett goes missing, Ava Holmes’s best friend, Daisy, the hero to Ava’s sidekick, comes up with the brilliant idea of reviving Ava’s friendship to Davis Pickett, Russell’s son, to find Russell and win the $100,000 reward offered for information to his whereabouts. But this friendship turns into a budding romance, which produces complications for both. See, Ava isn’t your ordinary girl- she suffers from invasive, irrational and repeating thoughts of bacteria and infections that hold her back from enjoying the small and big things in life. Follow along as Ava spirals down through her thoughts and emotions.
- Renegades
By Marissa Meyer
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
There are two sides to Gatlon City- the Renegades, humans with extraordinary powers who rose from the ashes of a devastated society to bring peace, justice and order, and the Anarchists, who want nothing more than to ensure chaos and destruction. Nova, a Renegade turned Anarchist, wants revenge for what the Renegades did to her, but she runs into Adrian, a Renegade who has hope that she can overcome her revenge and become a better person. Nova realizes that justice and the two sides of the city are not as black and white as she, along with everyone else thinks.
- The Upside of Unrequited
By Becky Albertalli
Genre: Romance
Molly Peskin-Suso has had all the luck of having crushes, but none of it to muster up the courage to ask them out due to her fear of rejection. Her twin, Cassie has never been in love, but when a new girl enters her life, she becomes a lovesick mess, leaving Molly to fend for herself. Molly decides to have Will, Cassie’s girlfriend’s friend, fall in love with her, so she can finally get her perfect first kiss, and get Cassie back. But while she’s falling for Will, she also falls in love with nerdy Reid. Who will Molly choose in the end?
- Genuine Fraud
By E. Lockhart
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Jule West Williams is spending a month in a resort in Mexico. On the outside it seems as if she has an unlimited amount of money and time to spend, is outgoing and charismatic. But in reality, she is a social chameleon and a self trained fighter with a questionable past always looming over her shoulder. Imogen Sokoloff is a runaway heiress who loves Victorian novels and traveling the world, a complete opposite to Jule. But they have one thing in common- they’re both orphans, and yet their differences bring them together into a world filled with mystery, where murder, disappearances and romances are apparent.
- There’s Someone Inside Your House
By Stephanie Perkins
Genre: Horror
It’s been a year since Makani Young has moved to rural Nebraska to escape her darkest secrets and a haunted past, but now they’re catching up to her. All of a sudden, there’s a murderer on the loose, toying with their victims before killing them, creating fear and breaking trust between everyone. One by one, the students of her school are reported dead, each target killed with more flair than the last. When the terror intensifies, Makani will have to face her secrets- or will she be dead before then?
