Sarah Welch

Two months after moving to Hawaii in the middle of her junior year, Lea Lane still feels like the new girl. For the most part, she’s OK with that, but when her mother announces that they’ll be moving into the wealthy West family’s guest cottage, Lea is mortified. Embarrassed at feeling like a charity case, she’s more determined than ever to keep her head down and fit in. But soon she can’t help but befriend the West kids. Popular Whitney is a completely different person outside of school, and could it be possible that gorgeous Will is attracted to Lea?

Juniors is Kaui Hart Hemmings’ first foray into young adult fiction, and the acclaimed author of The Descendants proves that she’s up to the challenge. Hemmings fully inhabits her teenage characters in their attempts to navigate high school politics and discover their own individual identities. Confusing relationships, false steps and awkward feelings all ring true to the 17-year-old experience, as do the after-school moments of joy and abandon. The masterfully executed Hawaiian backdrop adds to the book’s charm, imbuing the hyper-realistic story with a hint of fantasy (at least for mainland readers). 

Juniors drags in places, as Lea’s uncertainty becomes monotonous here and there, but overall the novel is a dead-on depiction of the high school social scene told in simple, elegant prose.

This article was originally published in the October 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Claire Takata’s father was always a bit of a mystery, but on the 10th anniversary of his death, she stumbles upon a cryptic letter he’d written to her now-stepfather, and Claire realizes just how little she knows about either man. A sleuth by nature, she gathers her brothers and her closest friends and begins to investigate. Claire quickly discovers that her father had been a member of a Japanese crime syndicate called the yakuza. Before she can learn more, her discovery sets off a chain of events that puts Claire and her family and friends in more danger than she’d ever imagined.

Valynne Maetani’s debut young adult novel (a New Visions Award winner and Junior Library Guild selection) is equal parts gripping mystery and engaging coming-of-age story. Claire’s confusing mix of grief and indignation at discovering her father’s secrets is powerful and relatable, and her colorful cast of friends offers both the unwavering support and the comic relief that the protagonist and readers desperately crave. (Not to mention, of course, the romantic tension that manages to be at once cringe-inducingly cheesy and heart-flutteringly adorable.)

Maetani does an admirable job weaving the mystery of Claire’s family history and creating realistic, escalating stakes that build the story from a Nancy Drew-level adventure into a climax that is pure thriller. The novel is compelling from the start, but for the last 150 pages or so, it’s impossible to put down.

Almost 15, Adam Ross has outgrown his pants and fallen in love with Robyn Plummer all in the same week. Combine that with navigating his divorced parents, his needy-yet-adorable stepbrother, his mother’s hoarding and his own Obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Adam can hardly imagine what a “normal” high school experience would be like. In fact, as all of these things converge, Adam might just be in over his head.

The Governor General's Award-winning novel by Canadian author Teresa Toten is a breathtaking portrayal of the anxiety, confusion and yearning for community that will be familiar to teenage readers—and, for that matter, readers of any age. In this younger, softer Silver Linings Playbook, Adam works hard to be a superhero, protecting his stepbrother and his mother and playing Batman to his newfound love, Robyn. His sheer determination is equal parts inspiring and heartbreaking.

The complex, richly developed teen characters in this novel are all coping with various degrees of OCD, and Toten treats the subject with admirable deftness. At no point is the disorder reduced to a stereotype or to an object of pity. It’s an obstacle and another serious complication in an already-complicated stage of life, but it never defines the characters or becomes the novel’s central focus. Instead, the core of the story is the struggle Adam and his group face to understand themselves and each other, and to navigate their roles in new friendships, evolving families and first loves.