Munmun, Jesse Andrews

In an alternate reality a lot like our world, every person’s physical size is directly proportional to their wealth. The poorest of the poor are the size of rats, and billionaires are the size of skyscrapers. Warner and his sister Prayer are destitute–and tiny. Their size is not just demeaning, but dangerous: day and night they face mortal dangers that bigger richer people don’t ever have to think about, from being mauled by cats to their house getting stepped on. There are no cars or phones built small enough for them, or schools or hospitals, for that matter–there’s no point, when no one that little has any purchasing power, and when salaried doctors and teachers would never fit in buildings so small. Warner and Prayer know their only hope is to scale up, but how can two littlepoors survive in a world built against them? (Publisher summary)

First lines: Being littlepoor is notsogood.
I know I know, you think you know this already, howabout I just tell you though.
I want to see if this makes you laugh. A middlerich kid stepped on our house and crushed my dad to death. Then that same year a cat attacked my mom at the dump and snapped her spine. Okay there. That’s it. Did you blurt a little giggly laugh?

The girl who saw lions, Berle Doherty

Abela has lost everything, and now she must leave her home in Tanzania and flee to Britain. Rosa’s struggling to cope with her mother’s wish to adopt a child. When they are brought together, will Abela and Rosa ever be able to love one another like sisters? From the Carnegie Medal-winning author Berlie Doherty, The Girl Who Saw Lions is a powerful and moving story, inspired by the author’s visit to Africa. (Publisher summary)

First lines: The priest arrived on a red motorbike. Dust rose like smoke around him as he roared into the village. Already the villagers were strolling towards the church, which was built like a barn on wooden supports. The sides were open, and swallows and children swooped and tumbled in and out. Abela had been one of the first to arrive, carrying her baby sister on her hip, the child’s skinny arms looped around her neck. She was too big to be carried, really, and Abela was too small to be carrying her.

The astonishing color of after, Emily X. Pan

Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: when her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird. When she travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time, Leigh is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life. (Publisher summary)

First lines: My mother is a bird. This isn’t like some William Faulker stream-of-consciousness metaphorical crap. My mother. Is literally. A bird. I know it’s true the way I know the stain on the bedroom floor is a permanent as the sky, the way I know my father will never forgive himself. Nobody believes me, but it is a fact. I am absolutely certain.

Found, Harlan Coben

It’s been eight months since Mickey Bolitar witnessed the death of his father. Eight months of lies, dark secrets, and unanswered questions. Mickey’s sophomore year brings on its own set of troubles: Ema surprises with news that she has an online boyfriend, and he’s vanished. As he’s searching for Ema’s missing boyfriend, Mickey and his friends are pulled deeper into the mysteries of the Abeona Shelter, risking their lives, until Mickey finally comes face-to-face with the truth about his father. (Publisher summary)

First lines: Eight months ago, I watched my father’s coffin lowered into the ground. Today I was watching it being dug back up. My uncle Myron stood next to me. Tears ran down his face. His brother was in that coffin – no, strike that, his brother was supposed to be in that coffin – a brother who supposedly died eight months ago, but a brother Myron hadn’t seen in twenty years.

The sorcerer heir, Cinda Williams Chima

Emma and Jonah are at the center of it all. Brought together by their shared history, mutual attraction, and a belief in the magic of music, they now stand to be torn apart by new wounds and old betrayals. As they struggle to rebuild their trust in each other, Emma and Jonah must also find a way to clear their names as the prime suspects in a series of vicious murders. It seems more and more likely that the answers they need lie buried in the tragedies of the past. The question is whether they can survive long enough to unearth them. (Publisher summary)

First lines: “Where are you off to, Alicia?” Aunt Millisandra asked as Leesha Middleton sidled past on her way to the door.
“A party,” Leesha said, purposely vague. “I’ll be back late.”
“Is the party here in town?” Aunt Millie asked. “Will there be drinking? Will you be careful?”