We Were Beautiful
by Heather Hepler

Synopsis

The trace amount of alcohol in her bloodstream. The tremendous amount of guilt on her shoulders. A severely scarred face that is a daily reminder of the car crash that killed her sister. But when Mia finally pieces together her memories of the night Rachel died, the shocking truth might be as jarring as the crunch of metal.


It’s been a year since fifteen-year-old Mia Hopkins was in a car crash that killed her older sister, Rachel, and left her own face terribly scarred. The doctors tell her she was lucky to survive. Her therapist says it will take time to heal. The police reports claim there were trace amounts of alcohol in her bloodstream. But no matter how much she tries to reconstruct the events of that fateful night, Mia’s memory is spotty at best. She’s left with accusations, rumors, and guilt so powerful it is quickly consuming her.

As the rest of Mia’s family struggles with their own grief, Mia is sent to New York City to spend the summer with a grandmother she’s never met. All Mia wants to do is hide from the world, but instead she’s stuck with a summer job in the bustling kitchens of the café down the street. There she meets Fig—blue-haired, friendly, and vivacious—who takes Mia under her wing. As Mia gets to know Fig and her friends—including Cooper, the artistic boy who’s always on Mia’s mind—she realizes that she’s not the only one with a painful past.

Over the summer, Mia starts to learn that redemption isn’t as impossible as she once thought, but her scars inside run deep and aren’t nearly so simple to heal … especially when Mia finally pieces together her memories of the awful night Rachel died.

We Were Beautiful is:

• A unique coming of age story about tragedy, forgiveness, and love
• Written by acclaimed, award-winning author Heather Hepler
• Perfect for fans of Robyn Schneider and Justina Chen.
• A poignant, clean YA romance unafraid to explore serious contemporary life issues

Review

I have always been intrigued by the concept of grief. I have felt some strands of it myself, but I have not, thankfully, lost anyone extremely close to me yet. We Were Beautiful is a lovely book that is focused on the process of grief of Mia, a 15 y/o girl who has lost her sister in a car accident. It has left her scarred, both on the outside and the inside, and she is left with the guilt of being the one who lived. 
Mia is sent to the city to visit her grandmother - a grandmother she has not met before. Mia is met with a variety of things and events to get used to and learn to work with. The hardest part of grief is, of course, having to move on when your loved one cannot. This is something that Mia is living through and the character and situation is written so well that we are taken right along with her. 
Grief is a scary emotion. It is engulfing and necessary. I was so happy to read this book that has provided a temporary moment for us to live through someone's grief. The writing is beautiful and I came to care very much for the characters. It may be slow moving for some, but I think it was necessary for the subject of the story. Pick it up - I don't think you'll be disappointed. 

Within These Lines
by Stephanie Morrill

Synopsis 
Evalina Cassano’s life in an Italian-American family in 1941 is quiet and ordinary … until she falls in love with Taichi Hamasaki, the son of Japanese immigrants. Despite the scandal it would cause and the fact that interracial marriage is illegal in California, Evalina and Taichi vow they will find a way to be together. But anti-Japanese feelings erupt across the country after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Taichi and his family are forced to give up their farm and are incarcerated in a Japanese internment camp.
Degrading treatment at Manzanar Relocation Center is so difficult, Taichi doubts he will ever leave the camp alive. Treasured letters from Evalina are his sole connection to the outside world. Embracing the boldest action she can to help Taichi, Evalina begins to radically speak out at school and at home, shining a light on this dark and shameful racial injustice. 
With their future together on the line, Evalina and Taichi can only hold true to their values and believe in their love against all odds to have any hope of making it back to one another.
Within These Lines is:

• A historical YA novel set against the backdrop of WWII and the shameful era of American injustice surrounding Japanese internment camps
• Told from the dual points of view of an Italian-American woman and Japanese-American man brought together by love then separated by war, injustice, and hatred
• As haunting and unflinching as it is hope-filled and love-driven
• Perfect for fans of Monica Hesse, Ruta Sepetys, and Elizabeth Wein

Review
I have to be honest with you, reader. I am not one for historical fiction. Not really for any reason - it just isn't my first choice for picking up. Needless to say (for me at least), that may be a habit I get to change thanks to Within These Lines. 

WTL is a novel about Evalina who is Italian American and Taichi who is Japanese-American. World War II is the backdrop for the story, and anti-Japanese feelings are running high. Taichi is forced, along with his parents, to go to a internment camp for Japanese-Americans. Morrill has written a beautifully written and researched novel - though it does more than just tug at your heartstrings. I had heard of the internment camps for Japanese-Americans before, but this novel truly brought it to light. It's sad and extremely unfortunate, but it is part of our history regardless. 

Their story is told with a realistic hopelessness while also providing some hope for the reader (we are talking historical fiction here - not to say that the hope is not real, of course). The characters are very easy to care for - as flawed as any character can be. Their worries were treated realistically and can be considered culturally sound I believe. The reader will find that Morrill took care into these characters' development. 

WTL is truly an experience that everyone should take an advantage of. I don't see many novels being written about Japanese-American internment camps during WWII, so please check it out - you won't be disappointed.