Wild Swans

Ivy is looking forward to a lazy summer before her senior year of high school. She didn’t let Granddad, who raised her after her mother left when Ivy was two, sign her up for a pile of enrichment classes as he usually does. Ivy finds herself fighting a strong desire to let herself fall in love with her best friend, Alex. Just in time, Granddad brings his favorite student, Connor, home for lunch, and Ivy is smitten. As she and Connor fall for each other, Ivy’s long lost mother shows up with two surprise sisters in tow, and Alex is acting jealous and possessive. When Ivy realizes her mother is an alcoholic, and Ivy really needs to help her sisters, everything becomes very complicated.

Jessica Spotswood has written a really smart young adult novel with all the components young adults look for — romance, parent (grandparent)/child struggles, friendship, making hard decisions, and even some issues like transgender problems and peer pressure. The writing is excellent, the story compelling, and the conflicts very real. The characters are all very engaging and the difficulties Ivy and others face are things young readers will relate to. This is a good one.