When you’ve finished your morning paper, pick up one of these books to join in on New York City’s largest unofficial reading group: the Subway Book Club. The August heat has probably melted your brain, and if you’ve breezed through all your top picks for beach reads, pick up a young-adult novel for some more easy reading that will keep you entertained while you commute. As back-to-school season kicks off, get in the high school mode with these YA books that are totally suitable for adults.
“The Hate U Give”
By Angie Thomas
At the top of the New York Times’ young adult hardcover bestseller list for 23 weeks and counting, this debut novel should be on everyone’s must-read list for 2017. The story of a 16-year-old girl, Starr, who witnesses a police officer shooting and ultimately killing her best friend, Khalil, is all the more poignant when explored through the lens of a teenager.
“Alex and Eliza”
By Melissa de la Cruz
Alexander Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler meet in New York at the cusp of the American Revolution, and, well, the rest, as they say, is history. Fans of Broadway’s “Hamilton” will enjoy dipping into this teenage-friendly work of historical fiction that pairs well with the Lin- Manuel Miranda soundtrack that covers the same theme.
“When Dimple Met Rishi”
By Sandhya Menon
Fresh out of high school, coder Dimple Shah is ready for her life to begin, and that means not conceding to her mother’s wishes for her to rush off with an Indian husband. Rishi Patel, an incoming MIT engineering student at a summer computer program, knows his parents have an arrangement for him to marry Dimple, and this novel exploring the two teenage perspectives through humor and nerdiness is much better than re-watching some old rom-com on Netflix.
“The Impossible Vastness of Us”
By Samantha Young
India Maxwell’s mother has fallen in love with a wealthy Boston attorney, meaning India has to abandon her social status at her California public school and re-start what seems like her entire life over at an elite Boston private school, along with her seemingly perfect soon-to-be stepsister of the same age, Eloise. Of course, not everything is as it appears, and as the secrets roll out, the drama of high school life only slightly beyond believability will keep you reading.
“We Now Return to Regular Life”
By Martin Wilson
Based loosely on an actual police case, this novel follows a teenage boy, Sam Walsh, who has been missing for three years. Miraculously back home, he finds life is anything but regular, especially for Sam’s best friend Josh (who, amidst everything else, has been hiding romantic feelings for Sam) and Sam’s sister Beth, the last people to see Sam before his disappearance.
