Young adult books set in college, or even about the summer before college, aren’t all too common. That’s why I was surprised when I first learnt that American Panda is set at MIT. Well, Mei is 17 years old as she enters a year early but it works out well for this book. Mei had a sheltered upbringing, which is very evident as she tries to find her place at university.
WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI by Sandhya Menon
Even though we’re only half-way through the year, I am already confident that When Dimple Met Rishi will be among my top ten reads of 2017.
CLEAN by Amy Reed
Clean is a book that thoroughly surprised me. Firstly, I thought this book would be about mental illness. Actually it’s about addiction. I should’ve realized that before I started reading but as usual, I hardly glanced at the synopsis. Secondly, I was impressed with how the characters were portrayed in terms of depth, development and voice. Best of all, I was amazed by the writing style. It was on the experimental side, which I hadn’t expected.
THIS SIDE OF SALVATION by Jeri Smith-Ready
This Side of Salvation had a lot going for it. Sports, school, religion and romance — all things that are important to a sixteen-year-old. David had a bright future ahead of him in baseball. He trained just as hard for it off-season as he did during his seasons. College scouts were on the look-out for him and his high school coach had taught David all he could.
THERE WILL COME A TIME by Carrie Arcos
There Will Come a Time was such a great book for me. I know it’s supposed to be a very sad book as it deals with the the loss of a twin in a car crash. For what it’s worth though, I enjoyed There Will Come a Time very much. It was so moving due to the emotions that were palpable throughout the book.
