While our official summer vacation has yet to start, Mrs. Lukkarinen and I have already started our summer reading. Since we must spend a great deal of time preparing for next year’s Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl, I decided to start with some of the Georgia Teen Peach Award nominee titles that caught my eye immediately.
So far, I have read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Every Day by David Levithan, The Girl of Fire and Thorns (and its sequel The Crown of Embers) by Rae Carson, and I am currently reading UnWholly by Neal Shusterman (I read Unwind, the first book in this series, a few weeks ago because I refuse to start a series with book two). I thought I would write about my favorite book so far, but I loved something about all of these very different books.
I will be honest and say that The Fault in Our Stars was probably the best read overall for me, but I enjoyed the unique story of Every Day and the way it made me think about the characters in a way that I usually don’t. The Fire and Thorns books are fast-paced and page-turners, especially if you enjoy fantasy with a good love story and a strong heroine. Unwind and UnWholly are dystopian books that should appeal to fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent. I found myself reflecting a lot as I read Unwind, and I usually just devour this type of book.
I think what I have enjoyed most about my summer reading so far is the variety in the books I have chosen. (I don’t know how many John Green books I could handle in one summer. Tissues, please!). Next on my reading list is Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick and Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers. Check back soon for updates on these titles.
Melissa McCallar
Nikki Lukkarinen
Bradwell Institute Media Center 