Tag Archives: Accidents

YA – Together We Burn

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Ibanez, Isabel. Together We Burn. Wednesday Books, 2022. 978-1-250-87031-5. 354 p. $18.99. Grades 12+.

Together We Burn follows 18-year-old Zarela whose family is famous for their flamenco dancing and Dragonador in Hispalia. When the story opens, the reader learns how Zarela’s mother died in an unfortunate accident and how she and her father have coped with that loss. During the 500th anniversary performance, though, disaster strikes again and Zarela has to try to pick up the pieces of this life that her family has built by becoming the next Dragonador. However, Zarela has no clue what she is doing, so she needs to find someone to train her. Enter Arturo who wants nothing to do with helping her, but Zarela refuses to take no for an answer. Will she be able to recover her family’s rightful place in the Dragon Guild or will everything just go up in flames?

THOUGHTS: This is a more unique young adult fantasy novel with the dragon and Dragonador element. There are some more graphic scenes throughout, so this book is not for a sensitive reader. There also are some spicy romantic scenes, so this book would fit best for upper high school.  

Fantasy            Mary McEndree, Lehigh Valley Regional Charter Academy

YA – Dead Girls Can’t Tell Secrets

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Ichaso, Chelsea. Dead Girls Can’t Tell Secrets. Sourcebooks, 2022. 978-1-728-25597-2. 328 p. $10.99. Grades 7-12.

Savannah has been consumed by guilt ever since her younger sister, Piper, fell – or jumped – off a popular scenic overlook on a nearby mountain. Savannah believes a fight the girls had is responsible for the accident that left her sister in a coma. Until she borrows a sweater from her sister’s school locker and finds a note from the Survival Club, luring Piper up to the mountain the day of her fall. Savannah never did understand why her brilliant, non-athletic sister signed up for the hard-core hiking club in high school, but now she has a place to begin unraveling what happened to her sister. Joining the club herself, Savannah heads up the mountain with the group for a weekend camping trip, determined to unearth who was out to get Piper, and why. But it won’t be easy, when everyone, from the club’s faculty advisor, to each member, including Savannah’s boyfriend, has secrets to hide, and framing each other for Piper’s fall becomes the weekend activity. As Savannah probes each of the club members, the backstory of the sisters’ last days also unfolds, revealing deep sibling rivalry as well as Savannah’s frustrating relationship with her parents. Suspense is high until the last pages, proving a satisfying conclusion to the book. Many of the characters, including Piper and Savannah, are white, while Grant, Savannah’s boyfriend, has brown skin, and another character presents Latina.

THOUGHTS: This is a solid, highly entertaining middle school and up mystery in the vein of Karen M. McManus. The mystery, along with the high school drama, should make this a popular book. 

Mystery          Nancy Nadig, Penn Manor SD