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Your 2021 YA Summer Reading Guide

It's that time of the year again. Summer reading (and a preview of some of my year's favorite books)! Reading shouldn't feel like a chore. This should be a time to engage with texts that YOU want to engage with. As I finish book number 90 (Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon), here's my top 10 picks this year. Just some quick details about this list. All books on this list are 2021. Additionally, this is the YA list; my adult list will be out early next week. So seek and find something that works just for you! (If you want a one page printable list, click here!)


1. Off the Record by Camryn Garrett
In Garrett’s brilliant new novel, Josie is a high school journalist with the opportunity to go on a press tour and write a profile piece on an up and coming actor. But as she starts to do interviews, it’s clear that the director is a “Harvey Weinstein” type with exceedingly questionable behavior. Will Josie confront the issue, and will she come to her own reckoning with her past?


2. Love is a Revolution by Renee Watson
Nala’s group of friends seem involved with local activism in Harlem. Nala is merely going through the motions. But when a particularly interesting MC starts hosting the nights, Nala needs to change her whole persona to gain his notice—what could possibly go wrong?


3. Lore by Alexandra Bracken
“Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.”


4. Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi
Two sisters with a less than ideal past now need each other more than ever for totally different reasons. One because she’s flitting through life making terrible decision after terrible decision, the other because she needs a whole new identity.


5. Game Changer by Neal Shusterman
When Ash is tackled during a football game, the world looks suddenly different. Stop signs are blue as are traffic lights. Other small changes occur. When he’s hit again, the world looks even more different. With each subsequent hit, the world he knows is changing. But what are these worlds showing him, and what does he need to do to change it back?


6. Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
Evie is a hopeless romantic. Or she was until her parents got a divorce. Swearing off love forever, she wakes to a mysterious power where she can see a couple’s entire relationship in the matter of seconds. This power is going to change everything she knows, and she’s going to need to live out her own teenage romance to solve the problem.


7. Chlorine Sky by Mahogany L. Browne
There are many teenage stories about love, but very few about friendship, and even fewer about how those relationships dissolve. Browne’s new novel will make you pine for all those lost relationships.


8. Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli
Two best friends always experience the same crush, but when one falls in love with the other’s love interest, this theater duo suddenly feels tension in whole new ways. Mean Girls meets Glee in this delightful new rom-com.


9. The Awakening of Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Tiffany Jackson 
“Here is an intimate look at Malcolm X's young adult years. While this book chronologically follows X: A Novel, it can be read as a stand-alone historical novel that invites larger discussions on black power, prison reform, and civil rights.”


10. When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris
Jay Murphy’s sister disappeared. No one seems to notice or care. Not the school, not her family and certainly not the local authorities. And what Jay is about to uncover is going to shake up this town. This high octane mystery/thriller would make Shondra Rhimes shiver.

Daniel Valentin teaches English 9 and Senior Seminar at Horace Greeley High School. He is currently reading Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon and is listening to You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar. He wants his students to feel empowered through books. Follow him on Twitter @DanielJValentin 

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