Along with The Story Siren's 2012 reading challenge, I found that I will also be participating in Katie's book challenge (: YA Contemporary is such a wonderful and awesome genre that I just couldnt' turn this one down. If anybody reading this would like to check out the rules or what it's about then here is the link :: YA Contemporary Challenge, 2012.
Within the challenge there are three levels. Level One is to read 5+ books, Level Two is to read 10+ books, and Level Three is to read 15+ Books.
I am currently deciding to go with Level Two and conquer 10 books (: Wish me luck!
Books that are to be put on my list first for reading in this challenge:
Title: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Release Date: January 2nd, 2012
Summary: Goodreads
Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?
Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's in seat 18B. Hadley's in 18A.
Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.
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Title: In Honor
Author: Jessi Kirby
Release Date: May 8th, 2012
Summary: Goodreads
Honor receives her brother’s last letter from Iraq three days after learning that he died, and opens it the day his fellow Marines lay the flag over his casket. Its contents are a complete shock: concert tickets to see Kyra Kelly, her favorite pop star and Finn's celebrity crush. In his letter, he jokingly charged Honor with the task of telling Kyra Kelly that he was in love with her.
Grief-stricken and determined to grant Finn's last request, she rushes to leave immediately. But she only gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn's best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn't seen him in ages, thanks to a falling out between the two guys, but Rusty is much the same as Honor remembers him: arrogant, stubborn. . . and ruggedly good looking. Neither one is what the other would ever look for in a road trip partner, but the two of them set off together, on a voyage that makes sense only because it doesn’t. Along the way, they find small and sometimes surprising ways to ease their shared loss and honor Finn—but when shocking truths are revealed at the end of the road, will either of them be able to cope with the consequences?
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Title: Second Chance Summer
Author: Morgan Matson
Release Date: May 8th, 2012
Summary: Goodreads
Taylor's family might not be the closest-knit – everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled – but for the most part, they get along fine. Then Taylor's dad gets devastating news that changes everything. Her parents decide that the family will spend the summer together at their old vacation home in the Pocono Mountains.
Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former summer best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend. . . and he's much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.
As the summer progresses, the Edwards become more of a family, and closer than they’ve ever been before. But all of them are very aware that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance – with family, with friends, and with love.
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Title: My Live Next Door
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Release Date: June 14th 2012
Summary: Goodreads
"One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time."
The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen year old Samantha wishes she was one of them… until the day Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything.
Jase can sense that his beautiful neighbor is missing something in her sterile home, and as the two fall fiercely in love, his family makes her one of their own. But when the bottom drops out of Sam's world, which perfect family will save her–and will her perfect love survive?
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Title: Never Eighteen
Author: Megan Bostic
Release Date: January 17th, 2012
Summary: Goodreads
Austin Parker is on a journey to bring truth, beauty, and meaning to his life.
Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. The doctors say his chances of surviving are slim to none even with treatment, so he’s decided it’s time to let go.
But before he goes, Austin wants to mend the broken fences in his life. So with the help of his best friend, Kaylee, Austin visits every person in his life who touched him in a special way. He journeys to places he’s loved and those he’s never seen. And what starts as a way to say goodbye turns into a personal journey that brings love, acceptance, and meaning to Austin’s life.
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Well there's five of my must reads for the challenge (:
If anybody else is interested in joining the challenge I would love to hear what contemporary YA novels you're interested in reading for 2012!
Happy Sunday everybody!