Top Ten Tuesday: Books I HAD to Have Immediately but Still Haven’t Read
Last year at the ALA Conference, I grabbed all of these ARCs from the exhibit hall and I still haven’t read them! It’s like a curse, if a book is mine to own, it sits on the shelf and I don’t tend to read it. If it’s a library book, I’m much better about reading it and returning it to the library! I’ve also been reading a lot more on my Kindle, especially at night because I like that I don’t have to have a bright light on as I’m trying to fall asleep. Plus, my Kindle is the Paperwhite version, which is less blue light as well!
What do you do when you buy books? Read them immediately or hold on to them for the perfect time?
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Books I HAD to Have Immediately but Still Haven’t Read
The Best Worst Summer of Esme Sun by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
Esme Sun absolutely does not care about winning shiny trophies or finally receiving some of the praise her mother bestows so lavishly on her three older, brilliant sisters. But, actually… it would be nice to be good at something. So when Esme discovers on the first day of summer, opening day at the community pool, that her growth spurt over the winter has made her a really fast swimmer, she wonders if she just might have found that thing.
After Esme has an uncomfortable encounter at the pool with a new girl, Kaya, Esme worries she may have hurt Kaya’s feelings. Then, embarrassed by Esme’s awkwardness, her friend Tegan, the cool girl at school who seems to do everything perfectly, makes Esme promise that from now on, she’ll be chill, not act so babyish and intense about things–especially not swim team.
But when their swim competitions begin, and Esme starts winning, she finds that she actually cares a lot. In fact, she wants to break the pool’s freestyle record. That doesn’t mesh so well with her promise to Tegan. And as Esme tries to navigate swimming and her friendships, she searches for a way to apologize and make things right with Kaya.
Esme’s mom’s focus on winning confuses her, though, and she begins to wonder: Is winning really as important as she thinks, even if it means being unkind to your friends and teammates? Or is there another way to compete, to be a good sport and a good friend?
Finding Lost by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Cordy Jenkins is searching for something that will change her life, and for the safety that vanished when her father died. She is convinced that if she just tries hard enough, she will find part of what her family lost, which will stop her mom from wanting to leave the small town she and her little brother have always called home. What Cordy finds instead is a muddy, hungry little dog with bad breath. And he’s the start of her family’s new beginning.
You’ll fall in love with Cordy and her family as they fall in love with the stray pup named Lost. Full of unforgettable moments, family, and warmhearted humor, Finding Lost is a tender story of making peace with the inevitable truth: that change is a constant, and that after profound loss there is still always the possibility of unexpected joy.
The Free State of Jax by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Jaxon Averett has had some terrifically bad luck. Because only the worst luck in the world can account for the fact that he has to live with his Uncle Clive Grimmitz, Aunt Helga, and their six kids in dead-end Walkonby, Kansas. Life with Jax’s cousins isn’t easy — they’re all bullies, and his aunt and uncle can’t even remember his name.
Which is why, on the night before his twelfth birthday, Jax sneaks over to the neighboring property, floats a raft out into the middle of the hot springs lake, and drops anchor.
Jax is now the president and sole citizen of his own micronation, the Free State of Jax.
With the help of new friends, a local lawyer, and the property owner Owen O’Keefe, Jax’s micronation begins to flourish. But the Grimmitzes will do anything to get him back and they are not above sabotage. On top of that, Jax is quickly embroiled in the mystery of Owen’s missing brother — and a lost windfall of the town’s money.
Investigating puts everything Jax has built at risk, and when long-buried family secrets are unearthed, he must find the courage to do what’s right, even if it means losing his only chance at freedom.
The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes
In the small town of Great Mountain, Mississippi, all eyes are on Henson Blayze, a thirteen-year-old football phenom whose talents seem almost superhuman. The predominately white townsfolk have been waiting for Henson to play high school ball, and now they’re overjoyed to finally possess an elite Black athlete of their own.
Until a horrifying incident forces Henson to speak out about injustice.
Until he says that he might not play football anymore.
Until he quickly learns he isn’t as loved by the people as he thought.
Overnight, Henson’s town is divided into two chaotic sides—those that support his decisions, and those that don’t—when all he wants is justice. Even his best friends and his father can’t see eye to eye. When he is told to play ball again or else, Henson must decide whether he was born to entertain those who may not even see him as human, or if he’s destined for a different kind of greatness.
The Secret Astronomers by Jessica Walker
When a recent transfer student starts keeping her diary in the oldest textbook at the Green Bank High School library, the last thing she expects is to receive a response. Thus begins a sweeping tale of unlikely friendship and long-buried secrets between two secret pen pals at a rural West Virginia high school.
Copernicus is adrift and searching for answers after the sudden death of her mother, and leaving her cosmopolitan life in San Francisco behind. Kepler is a small-town girl with straight A’s and big plans to be the first person in her family to go to college, despite her family’s modest means. The two girls are so different from one another but united in their goal to solve a mystery that has riddled Green Bank for decades.
The Steps by Wendelin Van Draanen
Fourteen-year-old chess whiz Ruby Vossen tries to keep to herself. She refuses to be a pawn in her wealthy family’s web of deception.
But ever since Ruby’s mother and aunt died in a car wreck, the battle lines drawn within the Vossen clan have ruled her life. Ruby’s father and uncle became irreparably estranged, and within months, Ruby’s cousin/BFF was banished from her life, her father remarried, and she wound up with a gold-digging stepmom who has two teens of her own—The Steps.
So when strange and dangerous things begin happening on the Vossen estate, Ruby sees only one logical explanation: The Steps are scheming to inherit the Vossen fortune. And as things get more and more intense, it seems like killing is in their playbook.
Luckily, Ruby has her own playbook, and she’s not about to go down without a fight. She’ll even break her dad’s rules to get her cousin back on her side of the chessboard . . . It’s time to check-mate The Steps before they can finish the Vossens off.
Summer Girls be Jennifer Dugan
Cass has a rule about dating summer girls—just say no. Every year, her idyllic beach town is flooded with the obnoxious daughters of the rich who stay in their families’ summer homes, sail their yachts, and generally make things unbearable for townies like Cass.
Birdie is the ultimate summer girl. She’s the daughter of a wealthy real estate developer dad and a social media influencer mom, and this summer Birdie happens to be in big trouble for accidentally crashing her boyfriend’s very expensive car.
Birdie’s punishment is to spend the summer with her father at the beach—but it won’t be a vacation. He’s enlisted the help of Cass, whose dad works for him, to keep Birdie on the straight and narrow, including getting her a job at the public beach where Cass lifeguards.
At first the two despise each other. Birdie doesn’t want a babysitter, and Cass doesn’t want to be one. But as the season heats up, Birdie surprises Cass time and again, and before long both girls can’t help but wonder: Are some rules made to be broken?
This Way to Happy by Alison Green Myers
Growing up at her grandparents’ amusement park, Reilly Rhoades spent her life in the glow of bright lights, hard work, and sweet treats. That is until her beloved grandfather died. With Grandpa gone now, the sweetness of the park disappears, and the pride Reilly had for her family’s legacy grows bitter.
Without Grandpa, Reilly’s family fights to keep the park going—spreading happiness to others as they struggle to find it themselves. The strain causes one problem after another to erupt, until the Rhoades family, and their amusement park, comes apart at the seams.
As past traditions clash with today’s realities, a new friendship splashes into Reilly’s universe. With epic advice, wild adventures, and a plan (or twenty) for tackling life’s twists and turns, Reilly Rhoades discovers that happiness doesn’t mean you have to choose between the past and the future—sometimes building a bridge connects all the best parts of you!
The Tinkerers by Caroline Carlson
When Peter leads two Tinkerers to his family’s inn in Stargazers Valley, he imagines they’re like other astromancers, researchers from the Imperial College who study starstuff. The valley is a special place, where the magical aurora called the Skeins appear in the sky and starstuff falls in their wake, as thin and wispy as fluff from a seed pod. But starstuff is powerful, and astromancers are the only people allowed to handle it—a law enforced by the strict and stealthy Outbounder Task Force.
When Peter discovers the Tinkerers have used starstuff to invent an incredible not-a-clock that can turn back time for a few minutes, he realizes it’s his chance to undo his mistakes: if he can go back and put away his new boots, he doesn’t need to add their destruction by falcons to his list of ten worst mistakes (#7: stepping on a star-eating newt). But while using the not-a-clock is easy, stopping using it is hard. And maybe not everything that feels like a mistake at the time actually is. Family, friendship, and budding self-confidence are at the heart of Caroline Carlson’s stellar fantasy.
Zeyna Lost and Found by Shafaq Khan
Her monotonous life is suddenly interrupted when Zeyna’s parents decide to visit their native Pakistan―where Zeyna feels she doesn’t fit in either. But then her parents disappear, leaving behind a string of clues that connect them to an international jewel heist. Along with her annoying little brother and her clever Pakistani cousin, Zeyna sets out to find her parents and clear their names. Along the way, she discovers that being shaped by two cultures doesn’t have to mean she’s always an outsider.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
