This is a collection of 14 short stories going in all different directions from horrifying to thought-provoking to depressing. In 'The Man in the Black Suit', an old man reminisces about the time he met the devil when he was 9 years old, and the lies he told him. In 'All That You Love Will Be Carried Away', a traveling salesman prepares to shoot himself but begins to contemplate not doing so on account of a notebook filled with strange bathroom graffiti. In 'Luckey Quarter', a poor, single mother working as a maid receives a 'lucky quarter' and fantasizes about winning thousands of dollars. This book takes you many different directions, but you'll enjoy getting pulled along.

'Moxie' is an explosive, inspiring book about what can only be described as a girl revolution. Viv Carter's school is run by blatantly sexist authority figures who worship the football team and believe they can do no wrong. It subjects girls to backward rules and regulations while letting boys off easy. Time and time again, their voices are silenced by authority figures and other students. Eventually, Viv gets sick of watching the same things happen without any change. She draws inspirations from her mom's old 'Riot Grrrl' days and creates a zine to call girls to action. What started out as a small whisper of protest quickly turns into a full-scale shout demanding equality.

In this refreshing companion to 'Dumplin'', female friendships and body-positivity take center stage. The book follows Millie Michalchuk, a fat girl confident in her own skin and with dreams of becoming a broadcast journalist, and Callie Reyes, a half-Mexican 'popular' girl kicked off the dance team for committing a crime. The two become unlikely friends and learn to find the good things among the bad in their small Texas city.  

Gene Luen Yang is a wonderful teller of stories through word and art, as demonstrated in his collection of stories 'The Eternal Smile.' He brings up important questions about reality and perception, and which is real, and more importantly, favorable. His art style is flexible, and he speaks many different tongues with his pen and color. This comic book is bittersweet, emotional, and had me on the verge of tears due to all the feelings and thoughts that were provoked (which is more than I can say for some novels). For a quick read but a lifetime of impact, definitely read The Eternal Smile (or the Smile will never forgive you).

Joseph Heller takes a normally serious and sometimes depressing subject, World War II, and makes a raw comedy out of it. The characters are truly human, average males who want absolutely nothing to do with war; ironically, they're the brave men fighting in the planes, bombing places because they don't want to be killed themselves. It is a laugh out loud (quite literally) novel that will make you question war and the people in it. I highly recommend reading this.

My favorite book (series) is Harry Potter, and this book gave it a run for its money in the magical department. What made this book stand out so much to me was the romance. I don't read romance very often, so I don't have much to compare it to, but I thouroughly enjoyed the makeout scenes and lover's quarreling next to the wizarding. Magical worlds are so different from our science, non-magical culture, so imagery is especially important in such magical writings, and Rowell definitely does not disappoint. If you like romance and/or magic, then I recommend you read this.

I also realized after reading this book that it is actually a spin off addition to her other book (series?) FanGirl. I was not aware of this when reading Carry On, so this book is definitely a good read whether or not you've read FanGirl (but the experience might be heightened if you did).

Rainbow Rowell (which is an amazing name, by the way) truly knows how to represent the minority. A relatively fat girl named Eleanor with a father issue moves to a new school and meets mixed race Park, and they fall in love and have a wonderful relationship full of romantic tension and making out. This is one of the rare few books that I have read about a half Korean and fat girl protagonist (if you know of any more, please let me know). And it isn't the minority representation that makes this book good; it's the beautiful style of writing that Rowell has. By cutting out the unnecessary redundancy and getting right to the good parts without leaving out the romantic tension, Rowell is a skillful teenage romance author. If you like love stories, you definitely need to read this.

Eoin Colfer writes a decent addition to Douglas Adam's legendary five book trilogy in 'And Another Thing...' While Colfer is a masterful writer, I continuously felt I was reading a spin off addition, not a genuine addition. While this is of course the case, Colfer begins his book right where Adam finished, meaning that this continuation should be, well, a continuation. However, I felt that instead of that happening, 'And Another Thing...' was more of a fanfiction using Adam's characters, with the constant references to previous books, endless and lengthy references, and the unnecessarily serious romance. I think Adam ended his series on a perfect note, and Colfer proved just that. However, Colfer did add some nice touches, like giving characters that were only touched upon briefly a meaningful backstory, and bringing back old time buddies. If you read Douglas Adam's series and you're dying to know more and rather the whole gang didn't perish so soon, then I'd read this book. Otherwise, I wouldn't be so keen on making a hold on it.

Orson Scott Card strikes back again with a thrilling sequel, extending the life of Ender a couple hundred thousand years while keeping him a fit 30 year old man learning cultures, exposing truths, and seeking shelter one planet at a time. Card gives unique insights to anthropology and the treatment of species, especially sentient ones, and really challenges the meaning of humanity. The most heartless characters develop into beautiful creatures; I can't say I didn't cry at least once during the reading of this book (check the pages for water damage). This book can be read alone, as Card states in his preface, but I believe that the experience is definitely heightened emotionally if followed by Ender's Game. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the study of human culture, animal culture, space, ethical science, or anything, really.

Orson Scott Card is a cruel parent, at least to his fictional children, and I absolutely love it. Ender, an extremely young child, grows up in a dystopian future where the Chinese One-Child Policy is now the World Two-Child Policy and everyone is afraid of being zapped by alien bugs, and everyone important expects him to either be unwanted trash or the savior of humanity. Card captures the insight of a prodigial child very well (to my knowledge; I'm not a prodigial child, at least) and really paints Ender as a feeling, alive, human child rather than a fictional hero. Following Ender's childhood life made me cry for both himself, for being so manipulated and burned, and for myself, because I will probably never be as strong or as smart as this child in my entire lifetime, much to my satisfaction. This is a MUST READ for any sci-fi readers!

Kazuo Ishiguro managed to illustrate the life of a butler in such a beautiful way that I almost wanted to abandon all of my dreams to become a butler. Ishiguro writes in a very unique way, meandering the path of life, as if time is just one giant pool of water with every memory and moment mixed together without a defined beginning and end. Yet, because books are structured so there is a beginning, middle, and end, Ishiguro fits his pool of memories just so it makes sense in both a linear and universal sense. Because of this meandering style of writing, I had a difficult time connecting the words to meaning, and the meaning to a general roadmap of the book. However, once I had really gotten into the book, I then had a difficult time putting it down. I highly recommend this book for both butlers and commonfolk, or anyone who is mildly interested in the life of a serious gentleman.

Jesmyn Ward wove the lives of the American poor of two different generations into one beautiful and raw story that will stick in my head for a long time. Ward uses the first person perspective in a shudderingly realistic way using idiom and reflection of voice, and vivid imagery of the environment and character emotion. While I did read this book for school, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. However, I did find some of the parts to be a little winding and lethargic, and had a bad habit of skipping over some key details. It's very important for a reader to really read every part of Ward's tale, because missing even half a page will make you confused later on. (While most books are, of course, intended to be read for every word, but sometimes a word or page or two just goes in one eye and out the other. However with this book in particular, it is important to keep those little skips in reading to a minimum.)

This book shows the strongest bond of friendship and it's amazing how people can come together to do crazy , fun things! This is an amazing book and I would suggest reading it! 

This book was a real tear jerker! It made me laugh and cry at the same time! Beautiful!

This book had me questioning every move every character made and that's a good thing! This book was so beautifula dn the ending made me smile like a maniac! I love it!

This book is so funny and had me cracking up throughout. Nikki didn't let her bully get to her and she stood up to her and that's what we need to see more of in the world! Aamzing!

This book is amazing and taught me that love and family isn't easy. You have to show that you really want something by fighting for it. It doesn't come to you easily. 5 stars!

This book honestly touched my heart. It also showed me that you never know how much time you have left with someone or what they are going through so you have to appreciate them while they are still with you. I honestly love this book. 5 stars!

This book is divided into 3 parts, following two sisters Pearl and May Chin as they grow and face hardships among various historically significant events and places, such as facing internment at Angel Island, World War 2, the Chinese Exclusion Act and the 2nd Sino-Japanese War. Growing up, Pearl was always jealous of her younger sister May because of her beauty, while May envied Pearl because she went to college and was favored by their parents. However, their sheltered lifestyle had to come to an abrupt end when war broke out, and tragedy, a need for survival and desperation forced them to move to America. There, they stuck together and raised families in a time where America was openly racist and discriminatory against Asians. A common theme in this book is the relationship between sisters.

Kristin Lattimer is a teenage girl who seems to have it all: voted Homecoming Queen, a good boyfriend, loyal friends, a champion hurdler. However, Kristen notices something is wrong - very wrong. A visit to the doctor confirms it: Kristin is intersex. She looks outwardly like a girl, but she has male chromosomes and male 'parts'. Dealing with her newfound truth is hard enough personally, but when her diagnosis is leaked to the whole school, Kristin's past life is crumbling before her eyes. As her identity is thrown into doubt, Kristin needs to learn how to accept herself, as well as what it means to be a boy, a girl, or something in between. 

Gabi Hernandez chronicles her last year of high school in her diary. She writes about her friend Sebastian's coming out as gay, her friend Cindy's rape and pregnancy, body image, her family and their tendencies, her crushes, her father's meth addiction and eventual death, foods she wants to eat, and her poetry. Gabi, a Mexican-American teenager, navigates her messy home and social life which she narrates in her diary. As the story goes on, Gabi develops her character and learns more about her identity and complexity. The author unsentimentally tackles a wide range of sensitive topics, such as abortion, coming out, addiction and teen pregnancy. Gabi as a narrator is fresh, authentic and clear. Recommended for most teens

A collection of short stories by various YA authors, about issues faced by teens today. Asking hard questions about topics ranging from addiction to immigration, to sexuality to gun violence. In Patrick Flores-Scott's 'The Good Brother', one twin is deported to Mexico in the place of his brother whom he feels deserves the opportunity to live in the US more, although he will have to take on his brother's identity. In Faith Erin Hicks' untitled short comic, a group of teenagers discovers themselves as LGBT at an end-of-high-school pool party, and in Marcella Pixley's lyrical 'Hush', 14-year-old June Bug Jordan copes with her father dying of AIDS and her mother's increasingly obsessive tendencies. These stories, plus others, make up this book that teens should read to gain more perspective and see themselves reflected.

Tsukuru Tazaki feels definable by only two characteristics: his love of train stations and the fact that his 4 friends all abruptly cut ties with him in his 2nd year of university. His friends since high school, 4 'colorful' people with colors in their names, gave him a phone call that announced that they did not want to see or speak to him ever again, with no explanation. Following a period when he was overcome with intense feelings of depression and wanting to die, he befriends a man whose name means 'gray' who also abruptly leaves him. When telling his girlfriend about his past experiences with abandonment, she advises him to seek his friends to be freed from the weight of his resulting feelings. He travels and finds his friends 16 years after their abandonment and learns that one of his friends was murdered and that she accused him of assaulting her which led to his getting cut off. Eventually going all the way to Finland to speak to one of his friends, he learns more about his abandonment and how 'colorless' he really was. 

In the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, being born a girl is a dangerous thing. With a drug war raging, it is a common practice to disguise girls as boys to avoid being stolen, and when this fails, to disfigure and make them ugly so that they avoid the grasp of the cartels. Ladydi Garcia Martinez, a young girl, lives with her mother here. When the black SUVs roll into their town, Ladydi and her friends hide and burrow into holes in the ground to be safe for another day. Eventually, Ladydi is offered a break from her dangerous surroundings in the form of a rich family requesting a housekeeper in Acapulco. There, she finds short-lived love and solace. But soon, a murder committed by a friend takes her future for a dark turn. This book has themes of determination, friendship and family.

Controversial painter Elaine Risley returns to her childhood home of Toronto and reminisces strongly about her life and youth, particularly about one of her 'best friends', Cordelia. Switching between her present age and working up from childhood, Elaine reflects on her experiences with female relationships and how her social bullying at the hands of her so-called friends (mainly Cordelia) influenced her life and art. As she grows up and begins to go forward in life, she finds it harder to find a place among women and holds onto a lot of guilt and anger left over from her past. A prominent theme in this book is the construction of identity, as well as the meaning of femininity.