Cilla and Evie are bound together by sisterhood. Then, Cilla gets pregnant, is excommunicated by her ultra-religious parents, and subsequently goes to live with her Aunt Maureen. There, she gives birth to a baby girl, whom she tries to forget after she relinquishes her for adoption. She also prefers not to think about her sister or parents… the life she used to have. The teen is moving on with new friends at school and her Aunt Maureen. Life is looking up.

Evelyn (Evie) misses her sister greatly, and writes to her about once per week. She wishes Cilla would reciprocate and write back, but that seems like an empty desire. Evie gets annoyed at Cilla for not responding and avoiding he; she longs to communicate verbally with her sibling and see her, but to no avail. She begs her parents to let her attend her niece's birth, but they seem determined to exclude her. 

Amid all this, there is one very exciting development in Evie's life: June. She has known this classmate for only a few months, but feels there is something special about her. Hanging with June feels different than spending time with her other friends, Maggie and Katie. Evi cannot quite articulate the exact difference, but she is feeling emotions and physical sensations that she has never experienced before. To Evie's dismay, Cilla does not approve of the relationship.

P.S. I Miss You by Jen Petro-Roy, 2018

Stories about sisters always appeal to me, and this one is no exception.

Books about teen pregnancy

Jen Petro-Roy's website

The violin has been Yvonne's life for the past 11 years. First, with her instructor, Denis, and then with the school orchestra conductor, Ms. Ortiz. During that time, Yvonne's violin case has been like an extra limb conveniently strapped to her back. The young woman finds it difficult to recall an existence prior to strings. She has put her heart and soul into the instrument, and does not feel right if she doesn't pick it up to play something every day. Her violin calmed her when she was worried, letting her forget everything and relax while she played. Although it is an inanimate object, Yvonne's violin almost seems like a part of her, a friend of sorts. Then things change. Yvonne no longer feels the drive to play, and the absence of a passion that defined her childhood leaves her directionless.

Her boyfriend, Warren, is the sous chef at her father's restaurant. Both Warren and her dad are so terrific at their jobs in the food business that Yvonne feels like an abject failure by comparison. She is lost, about to graduate from high school, and does not know which profession will be her new dream. After Warren manages to mess up royally by working on Yvonne's birthday, her sights stray to Omar. Long walks on Venice Beach and soul talk with him intrigue the girl, and the couple soon become intimate.

Baking, meanwhile, has taken on a soothing role in Yvonne's life. And the food fanatics in her world have sat up and taken notice. The first indication of a possible culinary talent morphing into expertise is her father complimenting her on a cake she baked. He is pleasantly surprised by her skill and the delicate nature of the creation. Then, her godfather, Lou, commences with cooking assignments. He is delighted by her carrot cake, and challenges her to make a lemon meringue pie. Yvonne relishes the task, but the meringue is not easily tamed.

Three exhausting tries later, the young woman produces a valiant attempt at a sweet treat. She studies different recipes and makes carefully planned trips to the grocery store. She is learning from the masters, and culinary school may be in her future. In the kitchen, Yvonne is slowly discovering an arena in which she may thrive.

Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert, 2018

I love stories about baking, and I am familiar with this author's good work.

Books about baking

Brandy Colbert's website

Laurie Anderson grew up dirt poor with a dad who beat her mom. As she describes in this memoir, she was raped by a date as a teen, and then turned to drugs. She traveled to Denmark during high school to work on a pig farm, making friends abroad and perfecting some Danish language. She then returned to upstate New York to work at a dairy farm and attend Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, later continuing her education at Georgetown University. She struggled to adjust to life without her nuclear family.

Anderson loves linguistics and her first career path was in that direction. She is multilingual, and dabbles in many languages, and it was her early dream to obtain a scholarship to study in Peru, but the department head denied her. Regardless, she earned her linguistics degree, tried her hand at writing and found a job as a reporter. However, her compassion for sexual assault survivors drove her from reporting from the courts. Meanwhile, she married and had children. She loves writing, but her first attempts to get her picture books and novels published failed.

Anderson loved her grandmother dearly, a nana who sewed her skirts when she was a schoolgirl. When Anderson worked as a telemarketer, she was lucky enough to speak to her nana every day for an hour, for free. She was also close to her Auntie Laurie, who urged her to follow her nightmares so she could know which demons to slay. 

Looking back on her teenage years, Anderson commenced high school just 14 days after being raped by a boy. She had "almost friends" since it was difficult for her to trust anyone after being violated so deeply. Later, an anatomy professor at Georgetown spliced and objectified female body parts. A department head told Anderson he had had sex with her in a previous life when they were Aztecs. After her book Speak was published, the author estimates she spoke to roughly one million kids about sexual trauma.

No one could have been more surprised than Anderson to discover she was a finalist for the Young People's Literature Award. The experience of spending time with the "fab five finalists," which included Walter Dean Myers, was surreal. She felt a kinship, especially to Myers. The two teen authors fashioned themselves co-conspirators dedicated to reaching kids who do not have the social support of friends, family, teachers, and librarians. Myers and Anderson now write for kids whom the world refuses to acknowledge.

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2019

As always, Anderson is amazing. The poetry in this book is raw and real. I love the cover art, reminiscent of Speak. I was also a big fan of Walter Dean Myers while he was alive. This is one of the most searing autobiographies I have read. The prose poetry really tells the story more vividly than regular prose could. I do not often read poetry, but the skill of this particular author made this work impossible to ignore. I eagerly await more brilliance from this remarkable lady.

Laurie Halse Anderson's website

Books about sexual trauma