Cousins

Written by: Virginia Hamilton

First line: "You hear that?" Cammy asked Gram Tut. 

Why you should read this book: Cammy spends her free time sneaking into the care home to hang out with her elderly grandmother—her mom works and her brother can't keep track of her and she barely knows her dad—even though she's not supposed to be there without an accompanying adult. She loves Gram Tut, but she hates her perfectionist cousin Patty Ann, whose clothes are always perfect and who never does anything wrong, and she has mixed feelings about Patty Ann's brother Richie and her poor third cousin, Elodie. Cammy thinks she understands her world and her relations, until tragedy turns her understanding of that world upside down.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Some heavy real world stuff for young readers: death, eating disorders, class, family problems.