best books of 2017-2017

This school year I have finished 22 books! Here's a list of all the books I have finished:

1. Dogman, Dav Pilkey
2. The Outsiders, SE Hinton
3. Ghost, Jason Reynolds
4. The Water Princess, Susan Verde
5. Life, Cynthia Rylant
6. Jabari Jumps, Gaia Cornwall
7. Solo, Kwame Alexander
8. Wishtree, Katherine Applegate
9. Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom, Lynda Blackmon Lowery
10. Refugee, Alan Gratz
11. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, Trevor Noah
12. Inside Out and Back Again, Thanhha Lai
13. After, Anna Todd
14. After We Collided, Anna Todd
15. After We Fell, Anna Todd
16. After Ever Happy, Anna Todd
17. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
18. The Dream Keeper and Other Poems, Langston Hughes
19. One Last Word, Nikki Grimes
20. Love, Hate, and Other Filters, Samira Ahmed
21. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Saenz
22. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng

Looking back at the list, I feel super proud that I was able to accomplish all of that. Our goal was 25, but 21 is still great. By reading this books, I was reminded that you can get lost in a book (the After Series by Anna Todd was that!), that sometimes you just need to read something super easy for fun (Dogman), and that sometimes books are written so beautifully, you want to pick out all the little lines and put them all around your home (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe). Here are my top three books from this school year that you should read!

#3 The After Series, by Anna Todd

So these are romance books, and definitely edgier than even YA books. Love stories, drama with a couple of college kids, and the back and forth of the relationship between Tessa and Hardin. She's the good girl, he's the bad boy, and there's all kinds of secrets and drama at play. I'm pretty sure I read all four of these books in December - they were so good all I wanted to do was read in my free time. Books can definitely be even better than the movies or TV; and speaking of, this series is in production for a movie for next year!

#2 Love, Hate, and Other Filters

I loved this book because it told the story of someone so different from me. Maya Aziz is American-born, but she is Indian and Muslim. I was able to learn lots about that culture and religion, and the book is set in Chicago, so I loved to see what train she might be taking or the neighborhoods she was hanging out in. The main character is also REALLY into creating videos, so it was cool to see how she viewed her world through a camera lens. Finally, theres a big theme about not judging people based on their outward appearances. A bombing happens, and immediately, Maya's family is targeted because of their race and religion. That isn't cool, so it's good to live her experiences to see what that might feel like, and to be aware of our own biases we might hold.

#1 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Best book, hands down. It's the story of Ari and Dante, both high school guys. Ari has never had a friend, and Dante is very social. They meet by accident, and then go on to have this awesome friendship. Eventually Dante comes out of the closet and shares with his family and friends that he is gay, so you have to see how that plays a part in the book. I don't want to give much more away, but read this to be mesmerized by the beautiful language and the tale of friendship. It also shows that boys don't always have to be these tough guys, and shows how we all deal with emotions and feelings differently.

So there you have it. What are you favorite books of this school year? How many have you finished?