If you’re a student at Ridgewood, I know you had to read A List of Cages as your summer reading book. Since it was required, you probably hated it. But if you didn’t, if instead you though it was pretty good, maybe even great, here’s a list of six book you might also like.
How To Say Goodbye In Robot by Natalie Standiford
The new girl in town, Beatrice is expecting her new best friend to be one of the girls she meets on the first day. But instead, the alphabet conspires to seat her next to Jonah, aka Ghost Boy, a quiet loner who hasn’t made a new friend since third grade. Something about him, though, gets to Bea, and soon they form an unexpected friendship. It’s not romance, exactly–but it’s definitely love. Still, Bea can’t quite dispel Jonah’s gloom and doom–and as she finds out his family history, she understands why. Can Bea help Jonah? Or is he destined to vanish?
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain by Will Walton
For most of his young life Avery has dealt with his alcoholic mother with the help of his grandfather Pal–he immerses himself in poetry and popular music, and now that high school is over for the summer, he makes out with his best friend Luca (who understands about alcoholic mothers), but the death of his grandfather creates a hole in his life that he can not seem to crawl out of.
Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone
Next-door neighbors and ex-best friends Hannah and Emory haven’t spoken in months. But their paths cross unexpectedly when, one night, Hannah finds Emory’s boyfriend, Luke, doubled over in his car outside her house. The paramedics rush him to the hospital, and for three minutes, Luke is clinically dead. And then he isn’t. As Luke struggles to understand why he lived, he turns first to Emory for comfort, and then to Hannah for an explanation through her strong faith. With Hannah’s help, Luke records a video about his experience, and suddenly his video goes viral, thrusting him into the limelight while Emory watches helplessly, unsure of where his new experiences leave their relationship. But when a devastating secret comes to light, all three must reexamine the things they hold true. In alternating chapters, a skeptic and a believer piece together the story of the close relationship they lost and the boy caught somewhere in the middle. New York Times best-selling author Tamara Ireland Stone deftly crafts a moving portrait that examines the intricacies of faith, love, and friendship.
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable-more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried. When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best-and only-friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help. As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today.
Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.
The Last Exit to Normal by Michael B. Harmon
It’s true: After 17-year-old Ben’s father announces he’s gay and the family splits apart, Ben does everything he can to tick him off: skip school, smoke pot, skateboard nonstop, get arrested. But he never thinks he’ll end up yanked out of his city life and plunked down into a small Montana town with his dad and Edward, The Boyfriend. As if it’s not painful enough living in a hick town with spiked hair, a skateboard habit, and two dads, he soon realizes something’s not quite right with Billy, the boy next door. He’s hiding a secret about his family, and Ben is determined to uncover it and set things right. In an authentic, unaffected, and mordantly funny voice, Michael Harmon tells the wrenching story of an uprooted and uncomfortable teenaged guy trying to fix the lives around him–while figuring out his own.
