After committing to a school this year , I started to get into the habit of reading again. I used to read three books per week during middle school to high school. Now that I have time, I am able to get into what I love again. I decided to write a list of books I recommend to the book lovers of Bethpage.

1. Willow by Julia Hoban 

Willow is about a teenage girl who struggles with self-harm after her parents’ death and believes she is responsible for their passing. Willow meets a boy at the college where her brother teaches and the boy doesn’t want to give up on her. Willow lives with her brother and his wife in a small apartment and has a job at the library to relieve the burden of her brother’s financial struggle for the family. I read this during junior year as an independent book for Ms.Whalen’s class and I first thought it was going to be a book I wouldn’t enjoy because I don’t really enjoy fiction books but this book was really fast paced and it really left me thinking about the story after finishing it. 

1. Project Semicolon; Your Story Isn’t Over by Amy Bleuel 

In Project Semicolon, each chapter describes someone going through a difficult time in their life. This book really evokes the message that everyone goes through a hard time in their life and symbolizes a semicolon as it’s okay to take a pause in life because your story isn’t over. I read this book in middle school and after I read this book, I thought, “I won’t be like these people.” But now, I empathize with people in the book. I highly encourage you to read this book whenever you have a chance and are in need of motivation.

• The Selection by Kiera Cass

In a dystopian society there’s a reinstatement of the royal family and the prince comes of age to find his beloved one, letters are sent to ladies all over the country to host a bachelor-type competition to find a new princess. This five book series comes at the recommendation of Isabelle Yoon. Though it sounds like a cheesy romance, it’s actually an easy read that’s perfect to get any reader out of a slump. 

1. If She Wakes By Michael Koryta

If She Wakes is a thriller novel about Tara Beckley, a senior at idyllic Hammel College in Maine. As she drives a visiting professor to a conference, a horrific car accident kills the professor and leaves Tara in a vegetative state. Or so her doctors think. In fact, she’s a prisoner of locked-in syndrome: in which she’s fully alert but unable to move a muscle. Trapped in her body, she learns that someone powerful wants her dead. Abby Kaplan, an insurance investigator, is hired by the college to look into Tara’s case. A former stunt driver, Abby returned home after a disaster in Hollywood left an actor dead and her own reputation–and nerves–shattered. Despite the fog of trauma, she can tell that Tara’s car crash was no accident. When she starts asking questions, things quickly spin out of control, leaving Abby on the run and a mysterious young hit man named Dax Blackwell hard on her heels. I recently finished this book and I thought the last chapter was a bit rushed and I didn’t quite understand it. I read the reviews of the book and other readers also said that they didn’t quite understand the ending as well. 

1. Misery By Stephen King 

The novel’s narrative is based on the relationship of its two main characters – the popular writer Paul Sheldon and his psychotic fan Annie Wilkes. When Paul is seriously injured following a car accident, former nurse Annie brings him to her home, where Paul receives treatment and doses of pain medication. Mr.Malossi recommended the book and read it when he was 13 years old. The movie came close to the book according to Malossi and said that the book allows engagement with the readers. 

As summer is approaching we will have so much time in our hands so spend some time reading outside with the amazing weather!