"The Disenchantments" by Nina LaCour

“We felt so small with the city lights stretching forever below us, and we yelled at the top of our lungs because we were just these small humans but we felt more longing than could ever fit inside us.”

Colby and Bev have made plans to travel to Europe after graduating from high school. College can wait for a year, exploring the world and doing their own thing is more important. Bev is the lead singer of a band with her girlfriends Alexa and Meg. They call themselves the Disenchantments. They are super loud, somewhat talented and love to rock out and get crazy.

The band decides to embark on an epic road trip for a west coast tour before Colby and Bev leave for their trip. Colby borrows his uncle’s beloved VW van, named Melinda, and they hit the road, ready for adventure. But when Bev confesses she got accepted, and is going to college, Colby is left heartbroken, and without a plan for his future. Colby has been in love with Bev for years, but their relationship has never gone beyond friendship.

Without Bev in his future, Colby must find his own personality and rely on his own strengths to empower himself. In the meantime, he's busy playing stagehand to the band, and the token male in their artistic collaboration. The excitment of the road trip, the thrill of live music and the reality of high school graduation all come together to make the Disenchantments an enjoyable ride.

LaCour's characters are honest, powerful and on the cusp on adulthood, embracing what life experiences have to offer them. Some f-bombs, sexual situations, some alcohol, probably best for 8th and up. Highly recommended.

"If I Stay" by Gayle Forman

Music is everywhere in Mia's life. Her parents were rockers. She's an accomplished cellist. Her boyfriend Adam has his own punk band. She's applied to Julliard and life after high school is finally showing more potential.

But one snowy morning everything changes. Mia and her family are driving along the highway when a semi-truck collides with their car, instantly killing Mia's parents and her younger brother. Mia finds herself outside her own body, not dead, not alive, and not knowing what to do. As a ghost-like spirit, Mia spends time at the hospital, observing her own coma state. Limbo is confusing....should she join her family in the afterlife, or return to her human body? Is this even Mia's decision to make?

Life without her parents and brother would be devastating. But, at 17 years old, is she ready to give up on what the future may hold?

This is a beautifully written book, full of grace and possibilities. It's a quick read, wonderful for fans of "The Lovely Bones" or "Elsewhere."