Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

A book review by Madeline Soucie

A year ago Brooklyn's boyfriend, Lucas, died and now their friend, Gabe, has just killed himself a year later by overdosing. Brooklyn can't sleep because every time she closes her eyes, Gabe is there haunting her for reasons she doesn't know. She wonders why she sees him and Lucas.

         

Nico was Lucas's brother. He's not coping well so he just runs and runs wishing he could outrun all the pain. Then Lucas starts sending him messages he doesn't understand to help Brooklyn.

         

As the hauntings continue, Nico and Brooklyn learn that the only way to stop them and make things better is to open up and help each other.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Schroeder, L.

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

A book review by Madeline Soucie

Laurel is just starting high school and her first English assignment is to write a letter to a dead person. She ends up writing to a lot of people- Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, and more. She tells them about high school and her life growing up. How her sister died, and the trouble she has been having with her divorced parents. New friends and crushes and such.

   

As Laurel writes her letters and the year progresses, she slowly starts to come to terms with what happened to her. As she comes to terms, she can finally accept her sister's death. Laurel also accepts that she's not mad at her sister, and can move on and find her own path to discover who she is.

   

In this nice and sweet story the reader is introduced to Laurel through her letters. This is a good book for anyone who liked The Fault in our Stars.

Find it in APL TEEN New Books YA FIC Dellaira, A.