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YOUTH ARE AWESOME

Youth Are Awesome, commonly referred to as YAA, is a blog written by youth for youth. YAA provides the youth of Calgary a place to amplify their voices and perspectives on what is happening around them. Youth Are Awesome is a program of Youth Central.

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HomeUncategorizedFantastic Books To Add To Your Reading List

Fantastic Books To Add To Your Reading List

I have read lots of amazing books and I have taken it upon myself to share with you guys a couple of my favourites that I think will earn a spot on your reading list. These books are the only ones I have ever reread because they’re just really that good. But take this warning: after reading these books you may or may not become obsessed with the story, emotionally attached to every single character and cry for hours. Read at your own risk. 🙂


Asylum||By: Madeleine Roux

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DO NOT READ THIS BOOK WHILE HOME ALONE AND/OR AT NIGHT. The genre of this novel leans more towards horror but also has a fair amount of mystery and comedy. It’s my favourite horror themed book of all time. It’s centered around this adopted boy named Dan Crawford and the two friends he meets at a summer college prep camp. The camp is situated in what used to be an Asylum (a mental institute). Little by little, Dan and his friends start to notice strange things happening and unravel an old mystery about the Asylum’s warden who just so happens to have the same name as Dan. It’s so suspenseful, I guarantee it will send shivers down your spine. It is the first book of a trilogy and if I were you, I’d go out and buy all three right now.


The Selection||By: Kiera Cass

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Can we just take a moment? This book. Is. A. Life. Changer.

It’s the only book where I’ve ever highlighted because the quotes are just that good. I’ve shared many laughs and many tears with this series. Never have I ever finished a book as quickly as this one. And the plot twists, holy moley, this is literally the best book. It’s set in the future, after WW3 where America had been renamed Illéa. There, they live in a society that is separated by castes, one to eight where, the higher the number, the more wealthy and elite you were. So, of course, One meant the elitist of the elite: royalty. It has been a tradition that whenever the prince became old enough to require a wife, 37 girls from all over Illéa would be selected to participate in a competition called “The Selection. It’s like “The Bachelor” where the winner gets to marry the prince. Usually, all girls in the country dream about being chosen, staying in the castle and showing up on TV, but not America Singer. America already had a sweetheart at home so she didn’t want to be in the Selection to win the love of a snobby prince she didn’t even like, but after meeting Prince Maxon, America’s not so sure anymore. This is also a trilogy but before buying it, I advise that you make sure you have a full supply of tissues because you’re going to need them.


Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children||By: Ransom Riggs

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If you’ve read my blog about my favourite movies of 2016, you probably know that I love this book more than life itself. But I will say it again. This. Is. My. Favourite. Book. Ever. Ever. Ever. It’s got adventure, comedy, drama, romance, horror; you name it, they have it. The plot is just simply AMAZING and the characters are so loveable I just can’t. If you’ve watched the movie, you’ll love the book, because like all movies based on books, the book is 100 times better. It, like the first two novels I mentioned, is a trilogy as well. They’re based on  a boy named Jacob Portman who had recently lost his grandfather. They had a close relationship so it devastated Jacob when he died. To cope with his passing, Jacob goes to Cairnholm, Wales and follows to the instructions his late grandpa had left him. There, he discovers a whole new world he and his grandfather belong to: Peculiardom. Peculiardom is where Peculiars live, they are just like us except the fact that they have a “superpower” that makes them special. Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children tells the story of the journey Jacob and the peculiars go on to save their headmistress. Everything in the book fits together so well and makes so much sense that you can’t help but think that maybe peculiars live among us today but we just don’t know…


The Outsiders||By: S. E. Hinton

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Even though I had to read this book as a part of a novel study for English class, it has become one of my favourite books. It includes the best quote I have ever come across: “Stay Gold”. It made me think a lot about life. What the characters tell each other are actually pretty deep and gets you wondering “what can I do to live life more?” It reminds you that in the end, life becomes something amazing if you just wait. It gets better and you shouldn’t give up so early. I know it sounds cliché, but trust me, life is a gift you should enjoy. And let me tell you I have never cried so hard in a book. I cried after I finished the book and the morning after as well. Sorry I have a problem of getting too attached to fictional characters… The book focuses on a gang in Tulsa, Oklahoma where there is a feud between rival groups Greasers and Socials (Socs). The main characters, Ponyboy and Johnny, belong to the greaser group. After they get into a little fight that ends in the death of a Soc, Ponyboy and Johnny must run away so they aren’t caught. By the end of this book, I couldn’t tell whether S. E. Hinton wrote this because she liked us or hated us. Why did she have to make my favourite characters die?? So before you read this, take this into consideration: don’t get attached to any characters because you will cry for a long time if you do. :'(


Hope some of you guys get around to reading some of these books. I apologize in advance if any of them make you cry. You’ve been warned!

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