Fresh Reads, Honest reviews, Educator-approved
Why do we overpay for “free” items? Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational is a 4-star deep dive into the quirky, systematic biases that drive our decisions. From the placebo effect to the hidden cost of “zero,” this book reveals that our mistakes aren’t random—they are predictable. A must-read for high schoolers and educators alike, it offers fascinating insights into economics and psychology that will forever change how you shop, study, and think.
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.