Very cool MG - Ellie Engle Saves Herself, by Leah Johnson

Ellie Engle Saves Herself! by Leah Johnson

This one is a bit older, but I've only just read it and really enjoyed it. 

From the publisher, Disney Hyperion: available in paperback January 28, 2025 / hardback published in 2023.

Ellie Engle doesn’t stand out. Not at home, where she's alone with her pet fish since her dad moved away and her mom has to work around the clock. Not at the bakery, where she helps out old Mr. Walker on the weekends. And definitely not at school, where her best friend Abby—the coolest, boldest, most talented girl in the world—drags Ellie along on her never-ending quest to “make her mark.” To someone else, a life in the shadows might seem boring, or lonely. But not to Ellie. As long as she has Abby by her side and a comic book in her hand, she’s quite content.

Too bad life didn’t bother checking in with Ellie. Because when a freak earthquake hits her small town, Ellie wakes up with fantastical powers that allow her to bring anything back to life with just her touch. And when a video of her using her powers suddenly goes viral, Ellie’s life goes somewhere she never imagined—or wanted: straight into the spotlight.

Surviving middle school is hard enough. Surviving middle school when paparazzi are camped out on your front lawn and an international pop singer wants you to use your powers on live tv and you might be in love with your best friend but she doesn’t know it? Absolutely impossible.

This is such a great story, with excellent characters and a very cool situation.

I love the themes of standing up for yourself and being valued as a person and a friend. It’s not easy to stand up to friends when you’ve been hurt. Learning and understanding consequences; and how to do hard things. I found the characters’ struggles to be real.

Being yourself is enough.

Tension Filled YA - Best of All Worlds, by Kenneth Oppel

Best of All Worlds, by Kenneth Oppel

From the publisher, Scholastic Press: June 3, 2025

Xavier Oaks doesn't particularly want to go to the cabin with his dad and his dad's pregnant new wife, Nia. But family obligations are family obligations, and it's only for a short time. So he leaves his mom, his brother, and his other friends behind for a week in the woods. Only... one morning he wakes up and the house isn’t where it was before. It's like it's been lifted and placed... somewhere else.

When Xavier, his dad, and Nia go explore, they find they are inside a dome, trapped. And there's no one else around...

Until, three years later, another family arrives.

Is there any escape? Is there a reason they are stuck where they are? Different people have different answers -- and those different answers inexorably lead to tension, strife, and sacrifice.

In this masterpiece, award-winning author Kenneth Oppel builds to a heart-stopping pitch in drawing a story that feels very much of our moment, where our very human choices collectively lead to humanity’s eventual fate.

This book has mind-bending twists. What is the truth? Why is this happening?

The story had a fascinating hold on me throughout. The suspense is intense and the tension riveting. The story ups the ante with the addition of the new family, with very opposing views, into their world.

It’s a wild ride – enjoy it.