The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord

Luce is a pastor's daughter, captain of the swim team despite her asthma and has a doting boyfriend, Lukas.
Yet, her mum fought breast cancer, to the knowledge of everyone as she is also the school nurse as well as pastor's wife.
For Luce, Prom was magical until doubts bubble up towards her mum's condition after the concerned head principal approached her.

After a double mastectomy they learn the cancer has spread to her mum's lymph nodes and so her parents ask her to keep things normal and go and work as a camp councillor for the summer at camp where she usually goes. She worries about her mum of course but goes to camp especially as her boyfriend has paused their two year strong relationship.

At camp she has a good time and makes friends with Anna, a fellow councillor. However the kids at camp have a lot of issues such as underage pregnancy, health conditions, being transgender, suicide and dead parents. At camp they can escape the bad and enjoy the activities on offer.

Then trumpet player Henry Jones sets Luce's pianist heart a flutter which is great, until Lukas turns up!

Cue a lot of drama ahead, a family secret found out by accident and then an emergency in the hospital the force of love within a family has never been stronger.

The books deals with teen pregnancy and the pressures of cancer on a family and the individuals it shows the good and bad of each and the way things get better or worse before they can flip around again and again but love around you never changes, never wavers.

A great new novel by Emery Lord, thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review it for them!

The inconceivable life of Quinn by Marianna Baer

When sixteen year old Quinn finds herself astonishingly a pregnant virgin, it shakes up her family's world.
Her father a candidate for congress and so the limelight becomes heavier surrounding the family throughout her pregnancy.

Her boyfriend, Jesse and her friends all stand by her and support her through the media onslaught and people insisting she's the 'new Mary' from the Bible.

The book also deals with the situation of believing you have experienced trauma for example rape very well. Quinn goes through a period of time trying to dig up memories which she can't complete, a classic sign of trauma normally.

However, this book has an underlying myth/fable fantasy storyline interwoven. Quinn's Grandma who is now dead, previously believed in 'The Deeps' as does Quinn but her father believes his mother was seriously depressed and made it up.

It was certainly a very different story to any other and in no way a straightforward storyline. But that's what made it more interesting, it wasn't predicable and caused me to go down many roots of thinking to try and figure out who could've got Quinn pregnant and the ending sure made it all come together perfectly!

Thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book!

Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley

Set within a Christian camp get together, Lori and Aki set each other the task of having a summer fling.

However, love is never easy and Christian Aki has a big secret to hide about her sexuality, she's bisexual and out to no one. Yet when she meets Christa, her world changes into secret get together and sneaking around, even though a photo circulates briefly of her and Christa and the pressures of keeping their connection secret threatens to be exposed.

Aki and Lori also have a difference of views and do fall out once but make it up after Lori admits what she did was wrong about her and a camp councillor, who's married too and shows the friendship bond in all it's strength and glory.

We learn how much issues matter to Christian groups as well as we see a very serious debate take place about relevant topics to today's society and how they try to do their bit to help make a change in the world to be more accepting and tolerable.

One of the best things about this book is the way it portrays coming out for the first time and having gay sex, an issue not talked about in any teen book I've read before and it's eye opening to see the way it's talked about openly which is a much positive thing to accepting others and involving everyone in being educated to create more understanding. I loved this book and believe the frankness and openness of the language is key and engaging, an essential read of the LGBTQIA fiction for teens out there!