— Ruby Red is the first book in a trilogy by Kerstin Gier where the main character Gwyneth Shepard, who was raised into a family of Time Travelers where only few gifted the gene, every couple generations. Gwyn didn’t know she was a time travel until she found herself hurled back into the 18th century. Her family outraged by not knowing the truth, she’s soon brought up to speed on etiquette, weapons, and history of the all the centuries she would travel and spy on. Gwyn is your endearing and typical teenager who you instantly like. You soon meet the swoon worthy time traveler counterpart, Gideon. There is some romance between these two characters. It’s very fast-paced read you can’t seem put it down. There’s so much adventure with time traveling and some action packed scenes that make you want to flip to the next page and see what’s next.

— The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy is a must read. The aliens who go by the Other’s invade the Earth and wipe out billions of people leaving only the unlucky ones to have survived. After going through the first wave, killing of everyone’s electronic devices, then the second wave where billions of people died off, the third wave where even more people were killed, and the fourth wave was to trust no one but yourself. Scattered around the world, the Other’s put into human form in hope to kill off the remaining humans. Cassie, the first point of view, is found in the woods by herself fighting to survive at any costs and running from Them. Then you meet Zombie’s point of view who’s a military recruit, trained to kill the aliens in hope to keeping what’s left of humanity alive. This book is captivating and has scenes where you feel empathy for the characters who have lost or looking for family. Yancy creates a world of identity loss and characters who have the will to keep moving

— Paper Towns by John Green was beautifully written, but let’s be honest, anything John Green writes is fantastic. Margo Spiegelman show’s up at Quentin Jacobsen’s window during the middle of the night, beckoning him to go on one her prank filled adventures. Q has been in love with margo since he could remember, so this was a one in a lifetime opportunity to follow her. After day breaks, Margo runs away and Q is left with a string of clues in hope of finding her. The characters Green created are relatable and you can somewhat see little pieces of yourself or anyone in your life. John Green can make you go from crying to laughing in an instant, using his language effectively making it completely addictive. It’s suspenseful because you want to know what happened to Margo while Q and his friends try to figure all the clues. This masterpiece, filled with vibrant and real characters definitely has an impact on your perspective of modern literature.

— Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, is definitely a novel teenagers or even adults should read. Clay Jensen finds a brown-wrapped package on his front porch to find cassette tapes with no return address. Later have listening to the first cassette, it’s from a girl named Hannah Baker who recently committed suicide. He discovers that anyone who receives this a package are the 13 reasons why she did what she did and how each person contributed. Although this book is sad it’s one you can’t seem to put down. A lot of kid’s go through what Hannah did, so it helps understand suicide and depression. It’s one of those books you read in one setting and will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat. Hannah’s loneliness helps us realize if we need help, we need to stand up and ask for it. Teenagers go through a lot and sometimes we think suicide is the only option and it isn’t. This book definitely opened up major emotional feelings because of how relatable it is.

— Yes, most of us have already read To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee because of our sophomore english class but if you’re into the classics, I highly recommend this book. Despite it being in the south where racism and the great depression were present, this coming to age novel has a powerful moral message. Atticus Finch is the epitome of standing up for the rights of good people who don’t deserve the hate and discrimination received. He’s a white lawyer who stands up for a black man during on going trial. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.. Until you climb inside of his his skin and walk around in it.” This power message is captivating, it helps the reader understand the prejudice world and how one person can evoke change.