#ana ellickson

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We've got a little something for everyone this week! Have you checked out these new releases yet?

I'll Be Waiting for You by Mariko Turk Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Natalie and Imogen are inseparable, and wildly different—Imogen is infuriatingly humble and incredibly intelligent, while Natalie is brave, jumping into danger and new adventures. Still, one thing ties them their love of the supernatural. Every summer, they vacation with their parents at the famously haunted Harlow Hotel. Imogen is a true believer, while Natalie sees ghost stories as nothing but pure fun. Then, Imogen suddenly passes away from an undiagnosed heart condition that no one saw coming, and Natalie is left to take on the summer before senior year alone. Without Imogen, Natalie throws herself into her senior project. Her passion is still horror, so she plans to spend her summer back at The Harlow Hotel recording fun fake footage that will get her on the teen ghost hunting show of her dreams. And her plans would be a lot less complicated if Leander, her irritatingly attractive arch rival from school, wasn’t working on his senior project at the very same hotel. The longer Natalie stays at the Harlow Hotel, the more she realizes that Leander might be helpful for her project. After all, she could use an extra hand to help record her fake footage. But, when strange things start happening at the Harlow, Natalie wonders, could there really be something to these ghosts after all?

The Notes by Catherine Con Morse Crown Books for Young Readers

Claire Wu isn’t sure that she has what it takes to become a successful concert pianist. It’s the fear of every student at Greenwood School of Performing becoming a washed-out performer who couldn't make it big. And Claire's no Rocky Wong, the ace pianist at their boarding school. Then Dr. Li shows up. She’s like no other teacher at mysterious, sophisticated, fascinating. Under Dr. Li’s tutelage, Claire works harder and dreams bigger than ever. And her crush Rocky finally seems interested. Maybe she’ll even be "Chinese enough" to join the elusive Asian Student Society. Everything is falling into place until eerily personal notes about Claire’s bond with Dr. Li appear. Claire starts to feel the pressure. But she isn't the only one. Everyone is feeling the strain. Especially Rocky, whose extreme perfectionism hides something more troubling. As the Showcase tension crescendos, Claire must decide if she’s ready to sink or swim. She may discover who she really is as a Chinese American and learn if she’s ready to give her all for a shot at greatness.

The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste Sourcebooks Fire

In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family. Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her. Then an enemy's iron bullet kills her mother, Venus’s life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister Janus safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother's killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge. The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave D.C.'s most influential politicians. As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it's hard to tell who to trust…Herself included.

Prom Babies by Kekla Magoon Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

A compelling, multi-generational novel from the Coretta Scott King and Printz Honor-winning author of How It Went Down, Light It Up, and The Minus-One Club, Prom Babies chronicles the stories of three teen girls who become pregnant on prom night. Eighteen years later, their three babies, now high school seniors, are headed to prom and facing their own set of complicated issues and questions. Mina, Penny, and Sheryl have the typical expectations of prom night in 2005: dresses, dancing, and of course some coming of age moments. None of them plans to get pregnant, but when all three do, they band together as they face decisions that have the power to shape the rest of their lives. In 2024, their three children--Blossom, Amber, and Cole--are high school seniors, gearing up to go to prom and facing some big decisions of their own. As they seek to understand who they are and who they want to be, they grapple with issues that range from consent to virginity, gendered dress codes, and the many patriarchal, heteronormative expectations that still come along with prom. A generation later, will this prom night change lives too?

Sound the Gong (Kingdom of Three #2) by Joan He Roaring Brook Press

From New York Times and Indie bestselling author Joan He, comes the dazzling and sweeping conclusion to The Kingdom of Three duology, Sound the Gong, the breathtaking sequel to the critically-acclaimed Strike the Zither. All her life, Zephyr has tried to rise above her humble origins as a no-name orphan. Now she is a god in a warrior’s body, and never has she felt more powerless. Her lordess Xin Ren holds the Westlands, but her position is tenuous. In the north, the empress remains under Miasma’s thumb. In the south, the alliance with Cicada is in pieces. Fate also seems to have a different winner in mind for the three kingdoms, but Zephyr has no intentions of respecting it. She will pay any price to see Ren succeed—and she will make her enemies pay, especially one dark-haired, dark-eyed Crow. What she’ll do when she finds out the truth—that he worked for the South all along…

The Vanishing Station by Ana Ellickson Amulet Books

Eighteen-year-old Filipino American Ruby Santos has been unmoored since her mother’s death. She can’t apply to art school like she’s always dreamed, and she and her father have had to move into the basement of their home and rent out the top floor while they work to pay back her mother’s hospital bills. Then Ruby finds out her father has been living a secret life as a delivery person for a magical underworld—he “jumps” train lines to help deliver packages for a powerful family. Recently, he’s fallen behind on deliveries (and deeper into alcoholism), and if his debts aren’t satisfied, they’re going to take her mother’s house. In an effort to protect her father and save all that remains of her mother, Ruby volunteers to take over her dad’s station and start jumping train lines. But this is no ordinary job. Ruby soon realizes that the trains are much more than doors to romance and they’re also doors to trafficking illicit goods and fierce rivalries. As she becomes more entangled with the magical underworld and the mysterious boy who’s helped her to learn magic, she realizes too late that she may be in over her head. Can she free her father and save her mother’s house? Or has she only managed to get herself pulled into the dangerous web her father was trapped in?

What's Eating Jackie Oh? by Patricia Park Crown Books for Young Readers

Jackie Oh is done being your model minority. She just hasn’t told her second-gen Korean American parents yet. They would never understand her unconventional dream to become a professional chef. Just ask her brother Justin, who hasn't heard from them since he was sent to Rikers Island. For now, when she isn’t avoiding studying for AP World History, Jackie is improving her French cooking techniques and working at her grandparents’ Midtown deli Melty’s. Then the most unexpected thing Jackie gets recruited for a casting audition for the teen edition of Burn Off!, her favorite competitive cooking show. Even more unexpected, Jackie becomes a contestant. Jackie is thrown headfirst into the cutthroat competitive TV show world filled with psych outs, picky mom critiques, and dreaded microaggressions to lean into her heritage. All Jackie wants to do is cook her way. But is her way to cook traditional French cuisine? Lean into her heritage? Or is it something more? To advance through the competition, Jackie must prove who she is on and off the plate.

Where Was Goodbye? by Janice Lynn Mather Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

A teen girl searches for closure after her brother dies by suicide in this breathtaking novel from the author of Learning to Breathe and Facing the Sun. Karmen is about to start her last year of high school, but it’s only been six weeks since her brother, Julian, died by suicide. How is she supposed to focus on school when huge questions Why is Julian gone? How could she have missed seeing his pain? Could she have helped him? When a blowup at school gets Karmen sent home for a few weeks, life gets more things between her parents are tenser than ever, her best friend’s acting like a stranger, and her search to understand why Julian died keeps coming up empty. New friend Pru both baffles and comforts Karmen, and there might finally be something happening with her crush, Isaiah, but does she have time for either, or are they just more distractions? Will she ever understand Julian’s struggle and tragedy? If not, can she love—and live—again?

[bookaddict24-7]

NEW YOUNG ADULT RELEASES! (APRIL 30TH, 2024)

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HAVE I MISSED ANY NEW YOUNG ADULT RELEASES? HAVE YOU ADDED ANY OF THESE BOOKS TO YOUR TBR? LET ME KNOW!

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NEW STANDALONES/FIRST IN A SERIES:

To A Darker Shore by Leanne Schwartz

The Vanishing Station by Ana Ellickson

Where Was Goodbye? by Janice Lynn Mather

I'll Be Waiting for You by Mariko Turk

Playing for Keeps by Jennifer Dugan

The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge by Matthew Hubbard

The Notes by Catherine Con Morse

Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo

Pillow Talk by Stephanie Cooke, Mel Valentine (Illustrator)

What's Eating Jackie Oh? by Patricia Park

NEW SEQUELS:

Sound the Gong (Kingdom of Three #2) by Joan He

Saint-Seducing Gold (Forge & Fracture Saga #2) by Brittany N. Williams

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Happy reading!

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

April 2024 Young Adult Book Releases

🦇 Good morning, my bookish bats. I hope you have a good book, delicious latte, and sweet snack within reach! No TBR is complete without a few young adult novels, and plenty were released in April! Here are a few YA releases to consider adding to your shelves.

[ List Under the Cut ]

🩷 April 2 🩷 ✨ Your Blood, My Bones - Kelly Andrew ✨ What If... Loki Was Worthy? - Madeleine Roux ✨ Fate Be Changed - Farrah Rochon ✨ No Going Back - Patrick Flores-Scott ✨ The Reappearance of Rachel Price - Holly Jackson ✨ Darker by Four - June C.L. Tan ✨ Draw Down the Moon - P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast ✨ The Black Girl Survives in This One ✨ Wrath of the Talon - Sophie Kim ✨ Every Time You Hear That Song - Jenna Voris ✨ Otherworldly - F.T. Lukens ✨ Misdirection of Fault Lines - Anna Gracia ✨ Something Kindred - Ciera Burch ✨ Hearts Still Beating - Brooke Archer ✨ Call Forth a Fox - Markelle Grabo

🩷 April 9 🩷 ✨ Teenage Dirtbags - James Acker ✨ Canto Contigo - Jonny Garza Villa ✨ Dragonfruit - Makiia Lucier ✨ The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray - Christine Calella ✨ Fog & Fireflies - T.H. Lehnen ✨ Against the Darkness - Kendare Blake ✨ The Darkness Rises - Stacy Stokes ✨ Right Here, Right Now - Shannon Dunlap ✨ The Last Love Song - Kalie Holford

🩷 April 16 🩷 ✨ To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods - Molly X. Chang ✨ Merciless Saviors - H.E. Edgmon ✨ Deep Is the Fen - Lili Wilkinson ✨ This Is Me Trying - Racquel Marie ✨ Calling of Light - Lori M. Lee ✨ Pretty Furious - E.K. Johnston ✨ Dear Wendy - Ann Zhao ✨ The Lady of Rapture - Sarah Raughley ✨ The End of Always - Rebecca Phillips ✨ The Kill Factor - Ben Oliver ✨ The Breakup Lists - Adib Khorram ✨ We're Never Getting Home - Tracy Badua ✨ The Harrowing - Kristen Kiesling & Rye Hickman ✨ King of Dead Things - Nevin Holness ✨ Sheine Lende - Darcie Little Badger & Rovina Cai ✨ The One That Got Away with Murder - Trish Lundy

🩷 April 23 🩷 ✨ Song of the Six Realms - Judy I. Lin ✨ Off With Their Heads - Zoe Hana Mikuta ✨ Blood Justice - Terry J. Benton-Walker ✨ Kill Her Twice - Stacey Lee ✨ Dark Parts of the Universe - Samuel Mille ✨ Finally Fitz - Marisa Kanter ✨ The Merciless King of Moore High - Lily Sparks ✨ Out of Blue Comes Green - M.E. Corey ✨ A Whisper in the Walls - Scott Reintgen ✨ Homebody - Theo Parish ✨ Punk Rock Karaoke - Bianca Xunise

🩷 April 30 🩷 ✨ To a Darker Shore - Leanne Schwartz ✨ The Vanishing Station - Ana Ellickson ✨ The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge - Matthew Hubbar ✨ What's Eating Jackie Oh? - Patricia Park ✨ Sound the Gong - Joan He ✨ Playing for Keeps - Jennifer Dugan ✨ Not Like Other Girls - Meredith Adamo ✨ The Notes - Catherine Con Morse ✨ I'll Be Waiting for You - Mariko Turk ✨ Pillow Talk - Stephanie Cooke & Mel Valentine ✨ Saint-Seducing Gold - Brittany N. Williams ✨ Where Was Goodbye? - Janice Lynn Mather ✨ The Lilies - Quinn Diacon-Furtado

[winningthesweepstakes]

The Vanishing Station by Ana Ellickson

The Vanishing Station by Ana Ellickson. Amulet Books, 2024. 9781419764226 Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5 Format: Hardcover Genre:  Urban Fantasy What did you like about the book? Ruby Santos is barely staying afloat. After her mother’s death, her dreams of going to art school are sunk by hospital bills, forcing her and her father to move into the basement of their own…

[victoriagleasuredesigns]

It is April, which means a new stack of books! 📖🔪 This month’s @owlcrate @OCthenest @words.and.whimsy reading challenge is Nest’s Kitchen. Filled with sweet and savory books. You can find this challenge on the Nest, a free book community app. My TBR this month is the following:

A Wicked Magic by Sasha Laurens

Accidentally His by Sabrina Jeffries

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

The Vanishing Station by Ana Ellickson

A Bite to Remember by Lynsay Sands

Fruits Basket, Vol. 1 by Natsuki Takaya

Accidentally His by Sabrina Jeffries

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

We make custom quilts! Check out all our quilts in our Etsy shop at VictoriaGDesigns or www.victoriagleasuredesigns.com 💚

[ecumgo-blog]

Week one assignment

Research Question or topic of interest: How does students’ health and related behaviours affect their academic performance?

Data set: Addhealth_pds.csv

 Literature Review: Busch (2014) used an empirical and longitudinal evidence to study the effect of teenage health and related behaviors on academic performance. Busch (2014) found out that good nutrition and sports participation are positively correlated to academic performance. While other factors such as smoking and alcohol use are negatively correlated. Similar results are found in Basch (2011)’s article Healthier Students Are Better Learners: A Missing Link in School Reforms to Close the Achievement Gap. The effect of alcohol use on academic performance in high school is also confirmed by Balsa (2011)’s studies. It is widely believed that participating in extracurricular programmes such as sports can be beneficial to students’ health. Broh (2002) and Taras (2005) jointly found out that extracurricular activities are also positively affecting students’ academic achievements. Some high risk behaviours such as teenage smoking and alcoholic bahaviours are proven to be harmful to academic performance in high school, according to a research by Tucker (2008).

 References: Busch, V., Loyen, A., Lodder, M., Schrijvers, A., Van Yperen, T., & De Leeuw, J. (2014). The Effects of Adolescent Health-Related Behavior on Academic Performance. Review of Educational Research, 84(2), 245-274.

 Basch, Charles E. (2011). Healthier Students Are Better Learners: A Missing Link in School Reforms to Close the Achievement Gap. Journal of School Health, 81(10), 593-598.

 Balsa, Ana I., Giuliano, Laura M., & French, Michael T. (2011). The Effects of Alcohol Use on Academic Achievement in High School. Economics of Education Review, 30(1), 1-15.

 Broh, B. (2002). Linking extracurricular programming to academic achievement: Who benefits and why? Sociology of Education, 75(1), 69-91.

 Taras, H. (2005). Physical activity and student performance at school. The Journal of School Health, 75(6), 214-8.

 Tucker, J., Martínez, J., Ellickson, P., Edelen, M., & Shaffer, Howard J. (2008). Temporal Associations of Cigarette Smoking With Social Influences, Academic Performance, and Delinquency: A Four-Wave Longitudinal Study From Ages 13 to 23. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 22(1), 1-11.