These themes will vary! It could be based off of some book mail I just received, pop culture, something personal to me, a headline from the news, a trend I noticed when I was buying books for my library system, etc. I hope you stick around to see all the themes and book recs I come up with!
Today’s Theme: Squad Goals!
As soon as I heard these were both releasing during the summer I knew I had to use this as a TfT! I thought about waiting until the fall, but it was too good to wait! Not only does it count because of the cheerleading, but it’s also Pride Month and both of these fit as well! In this one, a cheerleader joins a squad and gets into a rivalry with the rest of the squad. She doesn’t realize that she’s up against an old evil like the devil. Will she be able to save herself or will she die trying? This novel in verse was a wild ass ride. I really was in shock the whole time I was reading lol I did want a bit more from the ending, but it wasn’t terrible. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would tho. I don’t usually like novels in verse, but I was enthralled in this one. But take care of yourself and read the content warnings. They do talk about some of the heavier topics, so just know before you go in. [This is YA and is out 06/23/26]
This one is a completely different type of book. It’s about two girls on a cheer squad that fall in love with each other. As it turns out, the entire squad is Queer, which makes some people unhappy. When they threaten the squad with serious allegations, the captain has to make some real decisions on how she wants to proceed. Where Doe is more scary and dark, this one is light and fun. Definitely a rom com. I couldn’t stop laughing or saying aw. They were cute! Definitely one of the cutest books I’ve read in a long time. If you’re not a former cheerleader or you don’t know a lot of tumbling terms it’s ok. This one doesn’t go too much into details or terms. Like there are some, but it won’t make you confused. [This is YA and is out now!]
Well, there you go! Here I’m just going to talk about why I grouped these two books together. I hope you enjoyed a look at this small part of the books. For a full synopsis of the book or to add it to your TBR, click the picture and it will take you to their Storygraph. The link on the caption will take you to it’s Goodreads.
Need more recs with a squad?
These are some more MG and YA favorites! Kara Thomas’ is a thriller. Kendrick’s is about a girl trying to make the cheer squad and cheer camp. Why We Fly is a coming of age book about friends who learn a lesson about solidarity. And in Bad Cheerleader, a bookworm joins the squad to see what happened to her sister when she made the same squad.I hope you pick up one of these to cheer on your team in the NBA finals or the NHL finals!
What about you? have you read any of these? Let me know in the comments!