What to Read Based on Your Netflix Queue
If you’re anything like me, your Netflix queue has gotten out of control. This is partially due to the fact that I keep getting distracted by books (looking at you Red, White, and Royal Blue), and not actually watching anything on my list. Fortunately, if you also happen to have a back log of movies and/or shows in your Netflix, I’m more than happy to distract you with shinies (a.k.a. books) that match up with anything and everything you’ve been planning to watch. So, tell me what’s in your Netflix queue, and I’ll give you a book rec! (And then we can all continue to put off watching all those things we just haven’t gotten around to watching yet.)
IF YOU HAVE SET IT UP, READ AMELIA WESTLAKE WAS NEVER HERE BY ERIN GOUGH
Harriet Price is the perfect student: smart, dutiful, over-achieving. Will Everhart is a troublemaker who's never met an injustice she didn't fight. When their swim coach's inappropriate behavior is swept under the rug, the unlikely duo reluctantly team up to expose his misdeeds, pulling provocative pranks and creating the instantly legendary Amelia Westlake -- an imaginary student who helps right the many wrongs of their privileged institution. But as tensions burn throughout their school -- who is Amelia Westlake? -- and between Harriet and Will, how long can they keep their secret? How far will they go to make a difference? And when will they realize they're falling for each other?
Award-winning author Erin Gough's Amelia Westlake Was Never Here is a funny, smart, and all-too-timely story of girls fighting back against power and privilege -- and finding love while they're at it.
IF YOU HAVE SEX EDUCATION, READ JACK OF HEARTS (AND OTHER PARTS) BY L. C. ROSEN
Riverdale meets Love, Simon in this modern, fresh, YA debut about an unapologetically queer teen working to uncover a blackmailer threatening him back into the closet.
Jack has a lot of sex--and he's not ashamed of it. While he's sometimes ostracized, and gossip constantly rages about his sex life, Jack always believes that "it could be worse."
But then, the worse unexpectedly strikes: When Jack starts writing a teen sex advice column for an online site, he begins to receive creepy and threatening love letters that attempt to force Jack to curb his sexuality and personality. Now it's up to Jack and his best friends to uncover the stalker--before their love becomes dangerous.
Ground-breaking and page-turning, Jack of Hearts (and other parts) celebrates the freedom to be oneself, especially in the face of adversity.
IF YOU HAVE HOMECOMING, YOU SHOULD READ ON THE COME UP BY ANGIE THOMAS
The YA love letter to hip-hop--streaming on Paramount+ September 23, 2022! Starring Sanaa Lathan (in her directorial debut), Jamila C. Gray, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Lil Yachty, Method Man, Mike Epps, GaTa (Davionte Ganter), Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Titus Makin Jr., and Michael Anthony Cooper Jr.
#1 New York Times bestseller · Seven starred reviews · Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri's got massive shoes to fill. But it's hard to get your come up when you're labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral . . . for all the wrong reasons.
Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn't just want to make it--she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.
Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn't always free.
"For all the struggle in this book, Thomas rarely misses a step as a writer. Thomas continues to hold up that mirror with grace and confidence. We are lucky to have her, and lucky to know a girl like Bri."--The New York Times Book Review
Plus don't miss Concrete Rose, Angie Thomas's powerful prequel to her phenomenal bestseller, The Hate U Give!
IF YOU HAVE SOMEONE GREAT, READ HELLO, GOODBYE, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN BY JENNIFER E. SMITH
On the night before they leave for college, Clare and Aidan only have one thing left to do: figure out whether they should stay together or break up. Over the course of twelve hours, they retrace the steps of their relationship, trying to find something in their past that might help them decide what their future should be. The night leads them to family and friends, familiar landmarks and unexpected places, hard truths and surprising revelations. But as the clock winds down and morning approaches, so does their inevitable goodbye. The question is, will it be goodbye for now or goodbye forever?
Charming, bittersweet, and full of wisdom and heart, this irresistible novel from Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and Field Notes on Love, explores the difficult choices that arise when life and love lead in different directions.
IF YOU HAVE THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW, READ WITH THE FIRE ON HIGH BY ELIZABETH ACEVEDO
From the New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award-winning title The Poet X comes a dazzling novel in prose about a girl with talent, pride, and a drive to feed the soul that keeps her fire burning bright. Winner of the California Young Reader Medal!
Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago's life has been about making the tough decisions--doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela.
The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.
Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it's not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.
Plus don't miss Elizabeth Acevedo's Clap When You Land!
IF YOU HAVE THE PERFECT DATE, READ A MATCH MADE IN MEHENDI BY NANDINI BAJPAI
Fifteen-year-old Simran "Simi" Sangha comes from a long line of Indian vichole – matchmakers – with a rich history for helping parents find good matches for their grown children. When Simi accidentally sets up her cousin and a soon-to-be lawyer, her family is thrilled that she has the "gift."
But Simi is an artist, and she doesn't want to have anything to do with relationships, helicopter parents, and family drama. That is, until she realizes this might be just the thing to improve her and her best friend Noah's social status. Armed with her family's ancient guide to finding love, Simi starts a matchmaking service -- via an app.
But when she helps connect a wallflower of a girl with the star of the boys' soccer team, she turns the high school hierarchy topsy-turvy, soon making herself public enemy number one.