Growing up, we were all told not to judge a book by its cover, but I am sure we did anyway. Here is a list of books to read with beautiful covers, or are perfect just to decorate your bookshelf. Now, just a disclaimer, you are still not to judge books by their covers if we are talking about people, but I will give you a pass to judge actual books by their covers!
What books have you read lately? Email mkotelchuck@whatsupmag.com with your most recent read and a quick review about it to be featured!
Moral Compass by Danielle Steel: Saint Ambrose Prep is a place where the wealthy send their children for the best possible education, with teachers and administrators from the Ivy League, and graduates who become future lawyers, politicians, filmmakers, and CEOs. Traditionally a boys-only school, Saint Ambrose has just enrolled one hundred and forty female students for the first time. Even though most of the kids on the campus have all the privilege in the world, some are struggling, wounded by their parents’ bitter divorces, dealing with insecurity and loneliness. In such a heightened environment, even the smallest spark can become a raging fire.
One day after the school’s annual Halloween event, a student lies in the hospital, her system poisoned by dangerous levels of alcohol. Everyone in this sheltered community—parents, teachers, students, police, and the media—are left trying to figure out what actually happened. Only the handful of students who were there when she was attacked truly know the answers and they have vowed to keep one another’s secrets. As details from the evening emerge, powerful families are forced to hire attorneys and less powerful families watch helplessly. Parents’ marriages are jeopardized, and students’ futures are impacted. No one at Saint Ambrose can escape the fallout of a life-altering event.
No True Believers by Rabiah York Lumbard: Salma Bakkioui has always loved living in her suburban cul-de-sac, with her best friend Mariam next door, and her boyfriend Amir nearby. Then things start to change. Friends start to distance themselves. Mariam's family moves when her father's patients no longer want a Muslim chiropractor. Even trusted teachers look the other way when hostile students threaten Salma at school.
After a terrorist bombing nearby, Islamaphobia tightens its grip around Salma and her family. Shockingly, she and Amir find themselves with few allies as they come under suspicion for the bombing. As Salma starts to investigate who is framing them, she uncovers a deadly secret conspiracy with suspicious ties to her new neighbors--but no one believes her. Salma must use her coding talent, wits, and faith to expose the truth and protect the only home she's ever known--before it's too late.
The Between by David Hofmeyr: Seventeen-year-old Ana Moon is having a rough week. It starts with a fight after school, then suspension, followed by mandatory psych visits. Still, Ana hopes therapy will help her with another problem - the disturbing feeling that someone, or something, is following her.
Then, during a shocking train crash, life goes from bad to bizarre. In the space of mere seconds, Ana's best friend is gone - taken right in front of her eyes by an incredible, terrifying beast.
Seeking answers, Ana joins forces with the mysterious Malik and his covert clan to find her friend and return home. But there's a larger war under way, and unimaginable evil lurks in the shadows. If they hope to make it home, Ana and her friends must gather the strength to fight - or face the collapse of the universe as they know it.
We Must be Brave by Frances Liardet: A woman. A war. The child who changed everything.
December 1940. As German bombs fall on Southampton, England, during World War II, the city's residents flee to the surrounding villages. In Upton village, amid the chaos, newly married Ellen Parr finds a girl asleep, unclaimed at the back of an empty bus. Little Pamela, it seems, is entirely alone.
Ellen has always believed she does not want children, but when she takes Pamela into her home, the child cracks open the past Ellen thought she had escaped and the future she and her husband, Selwyn, had dreamed for themselves. As the war rages on, love grows where it was least expected, surprising them all. But with the end of the fighting comes the realization that Pamela was never theirs to keep. Spanning the sweep of the 20th century, We Must Be Brave explores the fierce love that we feel for our children and the power of that love to endure. Beyond distance, beyond time, beyond life itself.
