All We Could Have Been by T. E. Carter - OPTIONAL

All We Could Have Been by T. E. Carter, 291 pages. Feiwel and Friends Book (Macmillan), 2019. $17.99

Language: R (78 swears, 46 “f”); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG-13

BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Lexi is starting another new school, and hope that this year will be different is running low. Every year it’s the same: Lexi has a new name and pretends to have a normal life until someone discovers what she’s running from and everyone ostracizes her. Even though hope has only given her false security so far, Lexi has to believe that she can get through this year—or else running made no difference.

I was not impressed when I started reading Lexi’s story, and I was uninterested in her difficulties. At first, Lexi seemed unreal and unrelatable, but, as I pressed through the first third of the book, I started to see Lexi as personified self-consciousness—of course I can relate to her! While this book wasn’t earth-shattering, the lessons that Lexi finally allows herself to embrace encourage readers to grow with her. The mature content rating is for genitalia humor and sex, and the violence rating is for murder.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen