The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau ( Abe Book)

I LOVED this book. I finished it over the weekend and I was so mad I couldnt start the sequel immediately. While this is another dystopian thriller I found it to be innovative and exciting. I never felt as if the author was stalling to keep the story moving yet I couldn't stop after each chapter. I think LP students will LOVE this book as much as I did.

Amazon Summary
It’s graduation day for sixteen-year-old Malencia Vale, and the entire Five Lakes Colony (the former Great Lakes) is celebrating. All Cia can think about—hope for—is whether she’ll be chosen for The Testing, a United Commonwealth program that selects the best and brightest new graduates to become possible leaders of the slowly revitalizing post-war civilization. When Cia is chosen, her father finally tells her about his own nightmarish half-memories of The Testing. Armed with his dire warnings (”Cia, trust no one”), she bravely heads off to Tosu City, far away from friends and family, perhaps forever. Danger, romance—and sheer terror—await.

Winger by Andrew Smith ( Abe Book)

I enjoyed this book. I had been hesitant to read it based on the cover and description but I certainly enjoyed it at the end. If you can get past the perverted jokes of a 14 year old boy I think anyone would like this heartfelt journey as Ryan Dean begins his journey of Junior year in O-Hall and grows up to being quite a friend and person.

Amazon Summary

A teen at boarding school grapples with life, love, and rugby in a heartbreakingly funny novel.

Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers, and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important, even when it feels like everything has fallen apart.

Filled with hand-drawn infographics and illustrations and told in a pitch-perfect voice, this realistic depiction of a teen’s experience strikes an exceptional balance of hilarious and heartbreaking.