Novels for teenagers and adults

We can't believe how quickly August is coming to an end. This summer, we got a chance to read a lot more novels. Here are a few of the titles we recommend...
10 Things I Hate About Pinky - Young Adult/ Adult
Destination Wedding - Adults
The Black Kids - Young Adult
The Last Dragon Rider An Adventure in Presadia - Children

Destination Wedding by Diksha Basu is an adult romantic novel about a wealthy Indian family from America going to a destination wedding in Delhi, India. I like the humour and the author's style of writing, it felt like watching a movie, and I couldn't put down the book until I finished it. It is neat how the author brings up familiar incidents in the story, how we perceive belonging, and how we see people. For example, "third world countries" are always seen as a place where there is poverty, not many mentions about the wealthy and their lifestyle. I like when the author mentioned how there is still a feeling of not belonging based on how a person looks i.e skin colour and usually looked at as an immigrant not as an expat even if the person thinks the country they live in is their home. This is reversed when a white skinned person is seen in a middle eastern or asian country and quickly thought of as wealthy and an expat.

Destination Wedding grapples with the nuances of family, careers, belonging, and how we find the people who make a place feel like home. This book is about Tina Das finding herself at a crossroads both professionally and personally, she wonders if a weeklong trip to Delhi for her cousin’s lavish wedding might be just the right kind of escape. Tina hopes this destination wedding, taking place at Delhi’s poshest country club, Colebrookes, will be the perfect way to reflect and unwind. Her amicably divorced parents are each using the occasion to explore new love interests—for her mother, a white American boyfriend, for her father, an Indian widow arranged by an online matchmaker. A former fling is unexpectedly on the guest list, a work opportunity is blurring the lines of propriety on several fronts, and her best friend Marianne's terrible penchant for international playboys is poised to cause all sorts of chaos. I really enjoyed reading this book and am looking forward to reading the author's first book, The Windfall.

I have enjoyed the previous Dimpleverse young adults books by Sandhya Menon, and really enjoyed the recent third book which is part of Dimple and Rishi Series, 10 Things I Hate About Pinky. I like the familiarity of knowing these characters, as they were previously introduced in the other books. It was nice to get to know the characters more and read about their lives. It was also fun to imagine how the characters spent their summer at their Lake House. I totally recommend this book.

This book is a delightful follow-up to When Dimple Met Rishi and There's Something about Sweetie. It follows Ashish's friends Pinky and Samir as they pretend to date in order to achieve their individual goals, to disastrous and hilarious results. Pinky Kumar wears the social justice warrior badge with pride. From raccoon hospitals to persecuted rock stars, no cause is too difficult for her to champion. But a teeny tiny part of her also really enjoys making her conservative, buttoned-up corporate lawyer parents cringe. Samir Jha might have a few quirks remaining from the time he had to take care of his sick mother, like the endless lists he makes in his planner and the way he schedules every minute of every day, but those are good things. They make life predictable and steady.

Pinky loves lazy summers at her parents' Cape Cod lake house, but after listening to them harangue her about the poor decisions she's made such as previous boyfriends, she hatches a plan for Samir to pose as her perfect boyfriend for the summer and Samir agrees. As they bicker their way through lighthouses and butterfly habitats, sparks fly, and they both realize this will be a summer they'll never forget.

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed is a Young Adult novel based in 1992 in Los Angeles when the Rodney King riots happened. The main character, Ashley Bennet, from a wealthy family is one of the few black kids in her senior high school year, whose parents provided her with everything and shielded her from a life of knowing what it means to be black in America. 

Ashley was not aware of what most black kids in the USA were going through until the riots happened, when she realizes the racism based on skin colour even amongst her lifelong white friends. Ashley's sister actively participates in the riots, which her parents fear for. As the novel progress, we see Ashley finding her voice and standing up for herself. 

This book educates people about the injustices people of colour have faced and continue to face because of skin colour. We recommend this book, as it explores topics of privilege, racism, identity and shows that nothing has changed over the past years as people are still treated badly based on something irrelevant as the colour of their skin. If God made us in different shades that is something of beauty, not something humans have any place to judge and choose. 

The Last Dragon Rider An Adventure in Presadia by Luke Aylen is a middle grade children's fantasy science fiction that children 8 to 12 years will enjoy. It is about a young street-smart girl, Anavah that lives a tough life on the crime-ridden streets of northern Presadia. When a mysterious tinker gives her a curious set of crystal goggles, she discovers a powerful magic that changes her life. Drawn into an adventure that stretches across time and space, she learns about the legendary dragon riders and is caught up in events that will transform Presadia's history.

Squiggly time, in which the story goes back and forth in time, makes the storyline a little confusing for the reader. There is a lot of suspense and thrill that keeps the reader interested in reading this story such as what will Anavah decide to do? Will she help overthrow the king or be on the king's side. The story is packed with magical creatures like dwarves, dragons, elves, and more looking into big ideas such as trust, betrayal, fear, bravery, greed, and sacrifice of individuals that lead to a struggle for Presadia's existence. 

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