And so ends January friends!! Can you believe February is just over a week away??!! To wrap up this month of all things letters, I thought I’d give you a break from the traditional letter-form and give you a collection of titles with a little bit of extra added to them. These are teen reads with more than just letters in them…
Becky Albertalli’s Simonverse books are a classic example of a book of this type. The first in the series, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Penguin Books, 2018), gets us hooked into Simon’s world through the many emails and messages he sends. A delightful story of falling in love, identity and teen romance mixed in with a dash of good-natured humour, family dramas and friendship woes. An added bonus to this almost-epistolary read is the fact that it was made into the movie Love, Simon, and to be honest, they were equally really good!!
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon (Corgi Books, 2015) is another similar read. This debut novel introduces readers to eighteen year-old Maddy who hasn’t left her house in eighteen years! The reason why: she’s allergic to everything. Enter stage right the boy next door, Olly, who’s determined to find a way to reach her. Taking risks at each step, this vibrant teen romance is quite unique in the many forms of media used in telling this story. The images, charts, IM’s, emails and short spoiler reviews create another interesting layer to the story. I really enjoyed getting to know Maddy’s story and watched it weave together with Olly’s one with bated breath. I truly felt my heart go out to Maddy and her budding romance with Olly as I watched her experience ‘life’ with him. I hope you all enjoy this lovely story too!!
The next two are titles I read fairly recently.
The love letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017) doesn’t have too many letters or IM’s in it but a poignant story does capture readers straight away. Lily Michaels-Ryan and Abelard Mitchell share an impulsive kiss in the principal’s office; it prompts him to send her a message. Something not too dissimilar to what his namesake, the medieval philosopher Abelard sent to his true love, Heloise. Clearly he’s read The Love Letters of Abelard & Heloise too. Lily might have found her happy turn, expected or not. The two exchange texts, meet up, play chess, and fall for each other. I felt that this was a one-of-a-kind story!! A fairly clean romance, but packed to the gills with some powerful themes of neurodiversity, single-parent family dynamics, high school drama and even a hint of teen suicide. So, not too much for younger readers please. I enjoyed learning of Lily’s family dynamics and especially how Creedle has brought forth her ADHD to the forefront in between the budding romance between the two teens. An interesting read!!
The How & the Why by Cynthia Hand (HarperTeen, 2019) tells the story of two young teen girls, one through the narrative, the other through the letters she wrote to her unborn baby. Cassandra McMurtrey has amazing adopted parents who have given her a life she wouldn’t trade for the world. She has everything she needs – except maybe the one thing she wants. To find out about where and who she came from. Cass can’t stand the thought of hurting the family she has by searching for a woman she’s never met. But eighteen years ago, a teenage girl wrote Cass a series of letters. Letters that have been sealed up in the Idaho Bureau of Vital Records and could hold the answers Cass has been searching for. Clues waiting to be found. I’d never read a book like this before as I found it enchanting and captivating until the very last page. Cass’s voice was so different and real to me, especially after I read the author’s note on how she had been adopted herself!! The letters from the birth mother give a different layer to the story and with each letter the mystery behind her identity became clearer. I loved how the two eventually merged at the end!! A poignant and heartwarming story better suited for older teens with serious issues of teen pregnancy, adoptions, and homosexuality addressed.
Well, these are the teen stories I found for your reading pleasure. If you have read any others with letters, IM’s, emails or tweets in them, I’d love to hear from you!
Stay safe and keep reading
Miss Mahee
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 