Cuba 15, Nancy Osa

This book is about an American girl who becomes more in touch with her Cuban side as her family insists on planning her quinceañera (coming of age party for 15 year old girls). I like this book because the main character does not want to have a quinceañera or wear the typical quinceañera dress. She also learns about her family history while competing in her school academic debate club. It was an interesting read!

Carry On, Rainbow Rowell

Imagine another magic school like Hogwarts. This story takes place at Watford School of Magicks and it's the final year of school for Simon Snow, who is the chosen one and has been fighting the Humdrum since he was eleven. Simon is super powerful but doesn't have good control of his powers. He has an amazing best friend, Penelope, and a posh nemesis, Baz. This book contains an LGBTQ storyline.

Shadow & Bone, Leigh Bardugo

This series of three books would be great for somebody that liked The Hunger Games. It takes place in a Russia-type land that is being divided by a huge, pitch-black forest that nobody can enter and that is expanding. Alina finds out that she has a very unique power - could she be the one to help end the darkness?

The Red Tent, Anita Diamant

It seems strange because the story takes place in biblical times, but it stays with you and reminds you of the everlasting beauty and power of women! “Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that are about her father, Jacob, and his dozen sons. Told in Dinah's voice, this novel reveals the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood - the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of her mothers - Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah - the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that are to sustain her through a damaged youth, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah's story reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and creates an intimate, immediate connection.”

The Help, Kathryn Stockett

While it deals with very serious topics, the book is filled with amazing characters and “laugh out loud” humor. A must read for everyone and the movie is very true to the book. “A novel about black maids in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962. The black maids work with Skeeter Phelan, a white woman, to create a book depicting their lives. The chapters are narrated through the eyes of three main characters: Aibileen, Minnie, and Skeeter. Descriptions of historical events of the early activities of thecivil rights movement are peppered throughout the novel, as are interactions between the maids and their white employers. The novel is filled with incredibly accurate details of pop culture at that time.”

The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd

Long before the movie came out, I loved this book and read it twice in succession because I didn’t want to miss any details. Another book filled with strong woman characters, each with their own quirky personalities. “Lily Owens, a girl who has shaped her life around one devastating memory—the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Besides her harsh and unyielding father, Lily’s only real companion is Rosaleen, a tender, but fierce-hearted black woman who cooks, cleans and acts as her "stand-in mother." Set in 1964 in South Carolina, a place and time of seething racial divides, violence explodes one summer afternoon, and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten. Lily is desperate, not only to save Rosaleen, but to flee from a life she can no longer endure. Calling upon her colorful wits and youthful daring, she breaks Rosaleen out of jail and the two escape, into what quickly becomes Lily’s quest for the truth about her mother’s life. The Secret Life Of Bees allows us into a world apart—in a novel whose strong, irresistible voice catches us up and doesn’t let go. The Secret Life Of Bees is a mesmerizing novel about women with extraordinary gifts coping with loss and finding forgiveness and especially, learning to forgive themselves.”

*This story includes sensitive and intricate issues.