top reads of 2021

TOP 10 BOOK RECS FROM

The library, aka “The Hive” is a hub of activity, led by Ellie Gilbert, our Hivearian! ................

Ellie Gilbert 2. The Falconer by Dana Czapnik

1. Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. All Lina wants to do is go back home. But then she is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries.

This book is perfect if you are looking for a lighthearted book with just the right amounts of adventure, romance, and heartwarming sentiment. Although many of us now recognize Malala and are somewhat familiar with her story, most folks haven’t read her memoir. You will not believe how inspiring and compelling it is to hear her story in her own words.

New York, 1993. Seventeenyear-old Lucy Adler, a street-smart, trash-talking baller, is often the only girl on the public basketball courts. Lucy describes herself as a “pizzabagel” (she is half-Jewish, half-Italian) and she is in unrequited love with her best friend and pick-up teammate Percy. This is a great coming-of-age story with a terrific, believable, nuanced main character.

3. I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

BOOK RECS FROMthe hive

4. Fresh Ink: An Anthology

Looking for a great read without a long time commitment? Then you need this book! This book is a collection of short pieces from thirteen of the most recognizable YA authors writing today.

5. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

A story of scorned witches and sinister curses, The Bone Witch is the start of a dark fantasy trilogy, perfect for fans of Serpent & Dove and The Cruel Prince.

6. Not Our Summer by Casie Bazay

This novel is packed with humor, fun, and relatable awkwardness. Five trips, two cousins, one family feud, and a summer that will change their lives forever.

7. Sunkissed by Kasie West

A lighthearted and swoony contemporary YA romance about a girl who finds that a summer spent at a family resort isn’t as bad and claws, who emerges from one of her mother’s paintings, she must reconsider what she’s been told.

as she imagined . . . and that falling in love is filled with heartache, laughter, and surprises! to the resiliency of the human spirit.

8. Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

An addictive must-read mystery with shades of Serial and Making a Murderer about an investigation turned obsession, full of twists and turns and with an ending you’ll never expect.

9. Moloka’i by Alan Brennert

This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai’i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a littleknown time and place---and a deeply moving testament

10. Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors

For more book ideas and information about what’s happening in the hive, follow @sma_hive on Instagram!