What YA' Reading: Embracing individuality
I've read several amazing young adult books where self-acceptance and embracing uniqueness is a major part of the story. But what truly captivated me were the friendships and complex relationships that unfolded within these stories. These connections kept me hooked, turning page after page, eager to see what would happen next. Thanks to these books I have a better appreciation for challenges that are very different from my own. Check out my favorite YA books about embracing individuality.
Bye Forever, I Guess by Jodi Meadows
This is a fabulous, funny, heart-felt and thought-provoking read. It's one of those books I read every chance I got because I loved the characters and was so invested in their progress. Regardless of your age, this is an excellent book!
Ingrid's online personas are much more popular than she is. Online she runs an anonymous social media account that everyone at her school (and beyond) loves. Ingrid is also an online gamer known as Stitches who plays a world-building game with her online BFF who lives in another state. In real life she is a quiet eighth grader who is tired of trying to blend in with her supposed BFF's in-crowd.
When a new family moves to town with two eighth-grade siblings it triggers Ingrid to rethink her real life. She leans further into her online world for connections and friendships. One of the new kids, Oliver, joins Ingrid's online gaming group, but they don't realize they are classmates or even that they live in the same city. In real life Ingrid is suspicious of Oliver, but online they become friends and she develops a crush on him.
Ingrid works to find a good balance of her worlds, find her happiness and discover who she wants to be. A big part of the story is also the question if she and Oliver will figure out their online connection and make it a real world connection.
"Interspersing Ingrid's delightfully snarky narration with chat transcriptions, Meadows (the Salvation Cycle) presents an earnest and laugh-out-loud middle grade debut that's both a winning exploration of tween friendship and a pitch-perfect paean to fan culture and the thrill of finding one's community." –Publishers Weekly
Time & Time Again by Chatham Greenfield
Phoebe is stuck in a time loop repeating the same day for weeks. Same breakfast, same conversations, same game of scrabble. She's not sure how she got here, but thinks wishing her IBS away might be a factor. Unfortunately, her stomach issues aren't gone and the hope of a future doctor's appointment never gets any closer because she never leaves August 6! Then a small change in the day brings her former best friend and secret crush, Jess, into her time loop.
The addition of Jess adds variety, fun and excitement to her days. It also adds some new challenges of keeping her IBS secret. How will they take advantage of the repeating day and the way it gives them so many do-overs? Will they find a way to move on to August 7? Will they become more than friends?
You've probably figured out by the title of this article that a big part of this story is Phoebe and Jess embracing what makes them each unique. They both work to accept their challenges and appreciate themselves and each other.
There are so many hilarious and touching moments in this book! In addition to feeling like part of their journey I thought a lot about how I might deal with a time loop and what I would change.
“Chatham Greenfield is a stunning new voice to watch. Phoebe and Jess are beautifully drawn treasures, and their poignant journey of self-acceptance, self-discovery, and love shines with authenticity. Don't miss this gem. Joyful. Important. Unputdownable.” ―Laura Taylor Namey, New York Times bestselling author of A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow
You're Welcome Universe by Whitney Gardner
I read this book a few years ago and I still think about it. The story was completely engrossing with believable, complicated and interesting characters. While this is fiction, it really made me think about deaf schools, the Deaf community and how differently people who are deaf might experience the world.
When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a beautiful (albeit illegal) graffiti mural. Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a "mainstream" school in the suburbs.
At this school she's treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. The last thing Julia has left is her art, and not even Banksy himself could convince her to give that up. Out in the burbs, Julia paints anywhere she can, eager to claim some turf of her own. She soon learns she might not be the only vandal in town. Someone is adding to her tags, making them better, showing off and showing Julia up in the process. She expected her art might get painted over by cops. But Julia never imagined getting dragged into a full-blown graffiti war.
"Gardner brings together Deaf culture, discrimination, sexuality, friendship, body image, trust, betrayal, and even a potential Banksy spotting for this fresh novel, brightened by black-and-white illustrations from Julia’s notebooks."—Booklist
If you are interested in more amazing fiction about the Deaf community, I highly recommend True Biz by Sara Novic.
