Can't Wait Wednesday!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I am combining CWW with Books From the Backlog hosted by Carole at Carole's Random Life in Books. This will allow me to feature some newly "rediscovered" books, which I plan on reading, alongside a new release.

This week I can't wait for:

Finding Balance
Kati Gardner
Series: Brave Enough, #2
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Flux
Release Date: September 29, 2020
Goodreads

Jase Ellison doesn’t remember having Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia when he was three years old. His cancer diagnosis only enters his mind twice a year. Once at his yearly checkup at the oncology clinic and when he attends Camp Chemo in the summer. No one in his “real” life knows about his past, especially his friends at Atlanta West Prep.

Mari Manos has never been able to hide her cancer survivorship. She wakes every morning, grabs her pink forearm clip crutches, and starts her day. Mari loves Camp Chemo—where she’s developed a healthy crush on fellow camper Jase. At Camp, she knows that she’ll never get “the look” or have to explain her amputation to anyone.

Jase wants to move on, to never reveal his past. But when Mari transfers to his school, he knows she could blow his cover. That’s the last thing he wants, but he also cannot ignore his attraction to her. For Mari, she only wants to be looked at like a girl, a person, and not only known for her disability. But how do you move on from cancer when the world won’t let you?

Why I want to read this book

I had the pleasure of "meeting" Mari in Gardner's previous book, Brave Enough. She was a standout character, who I immediately wanted to know better. Therefore, I was excited to see she was getting her own book. I have read many "cancer kid" stories, but I was especially drawn to Gardner's books, because they are own voices. I am very much looking forward to learning more about Mari's journey, and also, returning to Camp Chemo.

Black Boy White School
Brian F. Walker
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Goodreads

In a hard-hitting novel about fitting in—or not—Anthony “Ant” Jones gets transported from his East Cleveland hood to an almost all-white prep school and has to figure out where he belongs...before he loses himself entirely. Black Boy White School is a memorable debut that will appeal to fans of Walter Dean Myers and Sherman Alexie.

Anthony has never been outside his rough neighborhood when he receives a scholarship to Belton Academy, an elite prep school in Maine. But at Belton things are far from perfect. Everyone calls him “Tony,” assumes he’s from Brooklyn, expects him to play basketball, and yet acts shocked when he fights back.

As Anthony tries to adapt to a world that will never fully accept him, he’s in for a rude awakening: Home is becoming a place where he no longer belongs.

In debut author Brian F. Walker’s honest and dynamic novel about staying true to yourself, Anthony might find a way to survive at Belton, but what will it cost him?

Why I want to read this book

I know you are shocked to see a book here with a synopsis that begins with "hard hitting", but I have heard this story leans hopeful. The book caught my eye a while back when I was scrolling through the eLibrary. I decided to finally read it, when it popped up again in a post I came across recently. The more I looked into it, the more interested I was, especially when I learned that this is based largely on the author's own life experience. Where he was falling in with a bad crowd until he got the opportunity to attend an elite boarding school, which is a story very similar to his main character's, and I am looking forward to seeing how Ant's story turned out. 

What are you waiting on?
Any backlog books you want to read soon? 
Let us know in the comments!