What I knew about Drowning Instinct before reading it: Nothing. I loved the cover. I occasionally talk to Ilsa Bick on Twitter about challah and rugelach. I might have read a synopsis at one point, but by the time I read the book, I’d forgotten what it said. What you should know about Drowning Instinct [...]

Tags: family problems, high schools, mental illness, psychological fiction, secrets, self-injury, sports, teachers
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[Warning: This review is a bit spoilery. Most of the summary information is revealed in the book's oficial synopsis, but those sensitive to such things should stay away or read with caution.] Rosie and Holly are born in the same hospital on the same night. One baby is born sick, on the brink of death, [...]

Tags: family problems, identity, illness, secrets, switched at birth
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Abby is beginning high school. It’s an exciting time, but also a terrifying one that signals a shift in her academic and social life. Abby struggles with the transition, and she’s afraid to talk to her family about it. The one person she feels she really can talk to about absolutely everything is Luke. Abby [...]

Tags: coming of age, family problems, internet safety, secrets, sex
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Lucy is a glassblower on a mission to find a graffiti artist whose work resonates with her. The artist, Shadow, might be one of the only guys who really gets her. But she doesn’t even know who he is outside of the paintings he has scattered around the city. Ed is a high school dropout [...]

Tags: art, literacy, mystery, romance, secrets
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Anyone who has seen an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras or Dance Moms knows that stage parents can get out of control. There is little so intense as a parent’s ambitions for their child. In Jessica Martinez’s Virtuosity, Carmen is a violin prodigy with a stage mom to beat all stage moms. Diana, a former [...]

Tags: competition, dating, identity, mothers and daughters, music, secrets
Filed under: Book Review