To say that I didn't like them would be wrong. To say that I loved them would not fit either. These are books that challenged my thinking, they made me upset. Mostly because they made me think about topics that I wasn't ready to take on. To tell you the truth they are topics that I never wanted to think about.
I would have lived a long happy life without having to know or think about the things in these books. But the fact that ideas and acts like these are out there does not mean that turning a blind eye to the topics is the correct thing to do.
When it comes to reading. This is a solo act. You can choose what you want to read and how to interpret it. If you pick up a novel and don't feel comfortable about talking about it, at least you got to know more about yourself and learned from it. If you read books like the following often to learn, grow and discuss openly. I applaud you.
She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister.
Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending
Shine by Lauren Myracle
When her best guy friend
falls victim to a vicious hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to
discover who in her small town did it. Richly atmospheric, this daring
mystery mines the secrets of a tightly knit Southern community and
examines the strength of will it takes to go against everyone you know
in the name of justice.
Against a backdrop of poverty, clannishness, drugs, and intolerance, Myracle has crafted a harrowing coming-of-age tale couched in a deeply intelligent mystery. Smart, fearless, and compassionate, this is an unforgettable work from a beloved author
Bumped (Bumped #1)by Megan McCafferty
When a virus makes
everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents pay teen
girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the
most prized members of society. Girls sport fake baby bumps and the
school cafeteria stocks folic-acid-infused food.
Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and have never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody's doorstep. Up to now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend, Zen, who is way too short for the job.
Harmony has spent her whole life in Goodside, a religious community, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to convince Melody that pregging for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.
When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls' lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.
From New York Times bestselling author Megan McCafferty comes a strikingly original look at friendship, love, and sisterhood--in a future that is eerily believable
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
Frank - no ordinary
sixteen-year-old - lives with his father outside a remote Scottish
village. Their life is, to say the least, unconventional. Frank's mother
abandoned them years ago: his elder brother Eric is confined to a
psychiatric hospital; and his father measures out his eccentricities on
an imperial scale. Frank has turned to strange acts of violence to vent
his frustrations. In the bizarre daily rituals there is some solace. But
when news comes of Eric's escape from the hospital Frank has to prepare
the ground for his brother's inevitable return - an event that explodes
the mysteries of the past and changes Frank utterly.
