The New David Espinoza by Fred Aceves

 

David Espinoza is tired of getting pushed around and bullied. Despite the fact that he has a tight group of friends and a smart, beautiful girlfriend, he is tormented by boys in school who delight in harassing him, verbally and physically.  When a video of him getting slapped goes viral, David has had enough. He vows to reinvent himself physically over summer vacation.  While he initially intends to change his physique with food and weight lifting, he's sucked into the seemingly miraculous allure of anabolic steroids.  

As David's summer unfolds, his focus narrows to one thing: his muscular gain.  It seems that there is no cost too high: he spends all the money he makes, he alienates his friends and, uncharacteristically, he begins to treat his girlfriend terribly.

Aceves shows how insidiously destructive steroids can be in this powerful exploration of male body dysmorphia.  David's story is painful to read - he does a phenomenal job of imploding his own life, but the book ends on a relatively hopeful, yet realistic, note. The author's end note adds depth to the story. This is another exceptional North Star Book Award nomination.

What I Carry by Jennifer Longo

 First: the cover. This is a gorgeous cover! I'm long past the whole "don't judge a book by its cover" concept - a beautiful cover draws me in and makes me want to read the words beneath it. Sometimes it's disappointing, but in the case of What I Carry, the cover does the story justice.

Muir has been in foster care for most of her life and she's gotten old enough so that she's about to age out. She's got just one more year and one more placement, with Francine (who has been a foster parent for years and is also in her last year as such) on an island off the west coast of Washington. Muir has spent her entire life avoiding connection and attachment and she's sooooo close to aging out relatively unscathed.  But, of course, the last placement presents her with challenges; she tentatively trusts Francine, she makes a real friend, she falls in love with a dog. All that should be good news, but it's terrifying for Muir.

What I appreciated about this book is that Muir has clearly lived through some Stuff, but her experience in the foster care system hasn't crushed her and she is so wonderfully honest (with herself and others) and terrified as she carefully sets down some tiny roots. 

This one has all the feels and is perfect for when you want an emotionally cathartic read.

Be Not Far From Me by Mindy McGinnis

Mindy McGinnis doesn't pull any punches and I love it. This is a brutal survival story - kind of a grown up Hatchet - and McGinnis explores both the harsh physical realities and the psychological torment of being lost in the woods. 

Ashley is more at home in the forest than anywhere else, but during a night of camping and partying in the Rockies, she witnesses her boyfriend with another girl. In a fury, she busts out, running into the dark night. A fall in a ravine stops her and puts her life at risk.  From there, she takes a deep dive into a dark internal place, while at the same time trying to physically endure the harsh realities of being severely injured in the middle of nowhere.

There's gore, there's dark humor, there's true introspection. Ashley is a badass (and I mean that in the complete sense of the word - she's extremely capable, but also willing to acknowledge her own terror). Be Not Far From Me is a page turner in the running for the North Star YA Award this year... I think it's a serious contender!

 

They Went Left by Monica Hesse

 

I have read many, many, many books set during World War II. It's rare, though, to find one set just after the war ended; They Went Left captures the chaos and complete disintegration of society that was left in the wake of World War II. 

For three years, Zofia managed to survive in the Gross-Rosen concentration camp.  She knows that her parents are dead, so when the camp is liberated in 1945, her only thought is of reuniting with her younger brother, Abek. With the help of a Russian soldier, she makes her way back to the only house she and her family ever knew. In a jarring scene, she finds that everything is the same, but completely different. Her brother, though, is not there, so she sets off on foot to find him.

Zofia is something of an unreliable narrator, but Hesse's descriptive writing gently reveals the truth of the heartbreaking realities that Zofia and other displaced persons experienced.  Although this is a painful read, it is not without hope. They Went Left provides today's readers with a look at a unique time in history and for me, it was interesting to experience Zofia's uncertainty and fear as a reader in the midst of a pandemic. Historical fiction readers will find much to appreciate in this North Star YA Award nominee.