Fresh Reads, Honest reviews, Educator-approved
Can a novel be a standardized test? Alejandro Zambra’s Multiple Choice is a 4-star experimental masterpiece that mimics the Chilean Academic Aptitude Test to critique conformity and authoritarianism. Moving from playful to political, it challenges readers to find answers in a world where the “correct” choice doesn’t exist. An essential, thought-provoking tool for high school ELA and Social Studies classes exploring rhetoric, history, and the power of compliance.
Mean Girls meets The Craft in this surreal 5-star trip through the world of elite creative writing. Local author and Syracuse University professor Mona Awad crafts an unsettling, comical, and bizarre “fever dream” where a lonely grad student is pulled into a cult-like clique of “Bunnies.” It’s a masterful satire of academic obsession and the monstrous lengths we go to for belonging. Warning: Things are about to get weird.
Hadley Freeman’s Good Girls is a searingly honest memoir that deconstructs the “perfect” facade of anorexia. By blending her personal 20-year struggle with cutting-edge research on metabolism, OCD, and neurodivergence, Freeman offers adults a vital window into the anorexic mind. This 4-star read is an essential, albeit heavy, resource for counselors and parents looking to understand the cultural and biological pressures that drive disordered eating in adolescents.
Jared Reck delivers a 5-star masterpiece of humor and heart. Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love follows Oscar, a teen navigating grief and the pressures of fitting in, while running a Swedish food truck with his grandfather. A perfect pick for middle and high schoolers, this story explores the many ways we express love when words fail us. It’s an essential tool for counselors and educators looking to support emotional literacy and empathy.
R.F. Kuang delivers a haunting Dark Academia twist on Dante’s Inferno. In Katabasis, two rival students descend into Hell to rescue a mentor—not for love, but for their academic futures. Using only chalk, runes, and their wits, they navigate a monotonous yet terrifying underworld. It’s a 4-star exploration of academic trauma and the lengths we go for validation. Perfect for high schoolers who loved Babel or Piranesi.