A Heart Revealed

Josi S. Kilpack

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a beautiful girl during the London season must be in want of a rich husband. Enter Amber Sterlington—and exit Amber Sterlington, after a devastating illness exiles her to Yorkshire. Little does she realize one of her truest admirers lives nearby, but both have some maturing to do. Kilpack weaves an interesting plot with a moral core and surprising twists. Though overly sentimental at times, the story is enjoyable, especially for teens in search of a Regency romance. Clean with very mild sensuality, A Heart Revealed is more satisfying than many Jane Austen spinoffs.

Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad

M.T. Anderson

As a celebrated composer, Dmitri Shostakovich could have escaped the horrors of Hitler’s invasion of Russia. Instead he returned to his native Leningrad (St. Petersburg) near the beginning of a three-year siege, and eventually wrote a symphony to be performed by and for his starving fellow citizens. Symphony avoids harsh language and graphic sexuality; but because it details one of the cruelest chapters in human history (not just the siege but the rise of Stalinist tyranny), it’s best for older readers. That said, this well-written and documented book raises valuable questions about art, war, the human spirit—and its Creator.

The Poe Estate

Polly Shulman

Sukie O’Dare’s family faces hard times after her sister Kitty succumbs to a rare blood disease (a possible family curse), and tight finances force a move to Cousin Hepzibah’s creaky old house. There Sukie encounters a ghost—not Kitty, who’s still hanging around, but someone further back. Literature-loving ghost hunters, a hidden treasure, and a cute-but-obnoxious boy round out a plot that blurs the line between “real” and “fictional.” Fans of gothic writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edith Wharton will enjoy this lighthearted story modeled after a pattern set by the author’s previous supernatural riffs on H.G. Wells and the Brothers Grimm.

Titans

Victoria Scott

Like Seabiscuit and Red Pollard, an unlikely horse and jockey unite—only this horse is mechanical, the jockey is female, and the setting is Detroit. When Astrid Sullivan agrees to race a “Titan,” the stakes are high: Winning could mean keeping her family together, even though she has a grudge against mechanical horses. But her growing enthusiasm for racing is contagious, and readers share the excitement. Meanwhile, Astrid’s family troubles plumb surprising depths. A plucky heroine, savvy manager, and curmudgeonly trainer combine to make this a classic sports story and gripping read for teenage horse and sports lovers. The dialogue includes a few swear words.

Epilogue

With cameras, filters, and followers at our fingertips, it’s easier than ever to carve out an identity, be it smart, beautiful, funny, or adventurous. In Faker: How to Live for Real When You’re Tempted to Fake It (The Good Book Company, 2015), Nicholas T. McDonald describes how he became an expert at winning audience affection as he played the part of jokester, prankster, rebel—even good Christian.

Underneath McDonald’s faking was a looming question teens and college-aged youth certainly wrestle with today: “What if people really knew me?”

Drawing from Jesus’ comparison of the prayers of the Pharisee and the tax collector, McDonald invites readers to “stop trying to declare ourselves good.” With frequent humor and pop culture examples, Faker introduces young people to theological terms like justification and propitiation, showing how the tax collector was acutely aware of his true crisis (Luke 18:13). God’s holiness versus the tax collector’s sin (and ours) is “a mask-melting truth” indeed. —Mary Jackson