Just Contemp: Top Ten List with Bonnie

Just Contemporary month hosted by Basically Amazing Books and Chick Loves Lit continues on the blog today.  I teamed up with Bonnie from A Backwards Story for this week's topic: Top Ten List!  I had so much fun coming up with my own top ten list, which you can see on Bonnie's blog.  Be sure to check out the hosting bloggers Ashely & Shanyn because they have done a super fabulous job of putting this whole event together. Lots of great reviews, author interviews, discussions, & giveaways! 

Please welcome Bonnie to GReads as she shares her 

Top Ten YA Contemps She's Anticipating to Read.

So...I know I haven’t read a lot of the “best” contemporary novels. There are some that I never will. I didn’t want to make an all-inclusive list and feature titles knowing I have books sitting on my shelves that I know I’ll adore. Instead, I decided to go outside the box after a suggestion from Ashley and looked at all the books I want to read that aren’t available yet. Who doesn’t like hearing about new titles? Here are ten books on my Goodreads TBR list.

I didn’t include sure-to-be-blockbuster titles like THE FAULT IN OUR STORES by John Green or ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER by Stephanie Perkins because chances are, you already know about them and have them on your wishlist, too! Some of these authors have published books before while others are first timers.

1. WHEN YOU WERE HERE by Daisy Whitney
LOST IN TRANSLATION meets WHERE SHE WENT.
WHEN YOU WERE HERE is about an American teenager who travels from California to Tokyo to uncover the secrets surrounding the death of his mother, all while trying to both hold onto and let go of the girl he’s been in love with his whole life.

I adored Daisy’s first novel, THE MOCKINGBIRDS (my review), and am already such a fan of hers. This book sounds amazing...especially since part of it takes place in Tokyo. I miss living in Japan and hope this book can bring me back a little. [Little, Brown 2013]

[Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd if it didn’t bring my post to 11 books instead of 10, I would also include THE RIVALS, which is releasing Feb. 6, 2012 and a companion novel to THE MOCKINGBIRDS!]

2. SURVIVE by Alex Morel
Jane runs away from Life House, a facility for kids with mental health disorders and addictions. She boards a plane to Montclair, New Jersey, though her destination does not matter—she doesn’t plan to be alive when the plane lands. Jane has planned the perfect suicide: she’ll fall asleep on the plane and never wake up. As she’s reaching for her pills in the cabin’s bathroom, the plane hits turbulence. Another jolt, and the engine’s down. The plane crashes into the mountains of Montana, and Jane and a boy named Paul are the only two survivors.What starts out as a death mission quickly becomes a fight for life. [Razorbill/Penguin, Aug. 2, 2012]

3. WAITING by Carol Lynch Williams
In one moment
it is over.
In one moment
it is gone.
The morning grows
thin, grey
and our lives-
how they were-
have vanished.
Our lives have changed
when I walk in
on Lizzie
my sister
holding a shotgun.

Twelve year old girl Hope's life is turned upside down when her older sister Lizzie becomes an elective mute and is institutionalized after trying to kill herself. Ever since their dad died Hope and Lizzie have relied on each other from a young age. Their mother is a reluctant and unreliable parent at best, and it's up to Hope to discover the terrible secret that's eating away at Lizzie before it's too late. [Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster, May 1, 2012]

4. BREAKING BEAUTIFUL by Jennifer Shaw Wolf
Allie lost everything the night her boyfriend, Trip, died in a horrible car accident—including her memory of the event. As their small town mourns his death, Allie is afraid to remember because doing so means delving into what she’s kept hidden for so long: the horrible reality of their abusive relationship.

When the police reopen the investigation, it casts suspicion on Allie and her best friend, Blake, especially as their budding romance raises eyebrows around town. Allie knows she must tell the truth. Can she reach deep enough to remember that night so she can finally break free? Debut writer Jennifer Shaw Wolf takes readers on an emotional ride through the murky waters of love, shame, and, ultimately, forgiveness. [Walker & Co./Macmillan, Apr. 24, 2012]

5. TAKE A BOW by Elizabeth Eulberg
From the fantastic author of THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB and PROM & PREJUDICE comes a story of all the drama and comedy of four friends who grow into themselves at a performing arts high school.

Emme, Sophie, Ethan, and Carter are seniors at a performing arts school, getting ready for their Senior Showcase recital, where the pressure is on to appeal to colleges, dance academies, and professionals in show business. For Sophie, a singer, it's been great to be friends with Emme, who composes songs for her, and to date Carter, soap opera heartthrob who gets plenty of press coverage. Emme and Ethan have been in a band together through all four years of school, but wonder if they could be more than just friends and bandmates. Carter has been acting since he was a baby, and isn't sure how to admit that he'd rather paint than perform. The Senior Showcase is going to make or break each of the four, in a funny, touching, spectacular finale that only Elizabeth Eulberg could perform. [Point/Scholastic, Apr. 1, 2012]

6. LIFE IS BUT A DREAM by Brian James
Alec and Sabrina are crazy in love. Problem is: Sabrina’s really crazy.

Sabrina, an artist, is diagnosed with schizophrenia, and her parents check her into the Wellness Center. There she meets Alec, who is convinced it's the world that's crazy, not the two of them. They are meant to be together; they are special. But when Alec starts to convince Sabrina that her treatment will wipe out everything that makes her creative, she worries that she'll lose hold of her dreams and herself. Should she listen to her doctor? Her decision may have fatal consequences. [Feiwel & Friends/MacMillan, Mar. 27, 2012]

7. THE FINE ART OF TRUTH OR DARE by Melissa Jensen
PRETTY IN PINK meets ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS in this charming romantic comedy.

Ella is nearly invisible at the Willing School, and that's just fine by her. She's got her friends - the fabulous Frankie and their sweet cohort Sadie. She's got her art - and her idol, the unappreciated 19th-century painter Edward Willing. Still, it's hard being a nobody and having a crush on the biggest somebody in the school: Alex Bainbridge. Especially when he is your French tutor, and lessons have started becoming, well, certainly more interesting than French ever has been before. But can the invisible girl actually end up with a happily ever after with the golden boy, when no one even knows they're dating? And is Ella going to dare to be that girl? [Speak/Penguin, Feb. 16, 2012]

8. THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED by April Henry
Gabie drives a Mini Cooper. She also works part time as a delivery girl at Pete’s Pizza. One night, Kayla—another delivery girl—goes missing. To her horror, Gabie learns that the supposed kidnapper had asked if the girl in the Mini Cooper was working that night. Gabie can’t move beyond the fact that Kayla’s fate was really meant for her, and she becomes obsessed with finding Kayla. She teams up with Drew, who also works at Pete’s. Together, they set out to prove that Kayla isn’t dead—and to find her before she is. [Henry Holt/Macmillan, Apr. 10, 2012]

9. 52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER by Jessica Brody
If she wants to receive her beloved trust fund, every week for the next year, seventeen-year-old Lexi Larrabee must take on a different low-income job. All 52 jobs have been carefully pre-selected by her father himself.

What Lexi doesn’t know is that each job was at one point held by one of world’s most influential people. The goal is to teach his daughter a few lessons about life, compassion, work ethic, and the value of a hard-earned dollar. If each of these jobs eventually led to wealth and success, at least one of them has to work for Lexi.

Left with no other choice, Lexi grudgingly sets off on her quest, each week being comically presented with a highly undesirable job. All of them are designed to turn Lexi into an entirely different person. [Farrar Straus & Giroux/Macmillan, July 3, 2012]

10. PRETTY CROOKED by Elisa Ludwig
Willa’s secret plan seems all too simple: take from the rich kids at Valley Prep and give to the poor ones.

Yet Willa’s turn as Robin Hood at her ultra-exclusive high school is anything but. Bilking her “friends”—known to everyone as the Glitterati—without them suspecting a thing is far from easy. Learning how to pick pockets and break into lockers is as difficult as she’d thought it’d be. Delivering care packages to the scholarship girls, who are ostracized just for being from the “wrong” side of town, is way more fun than she’d expected.

The complication Willa didn’t expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, Valley Prep’s most notorious (and gorgeous) ace-degenerate. His mere existence is distracting Willa from what matters most to her: evening the social playing field between the haves and have-nots. There’s no time for crushes and flirting with boys, especially conceited and obnoxious trust-funders like Aidan.

But when the cops start investigating the string of thefts at Valley Prep and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could Aidan wind up being the person that Willa trusts most? [Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins, Mar. 13, 2012]



Which upcoming teen contemporary novels are you most looking forward to?

Thank you Bonnie for this fabulous list of upcoming YA novels! A lot of them are on my TBR list as well :-)