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Paper Towns by John Green
(grades 9 +)
This may not be quite as good as Looking for Alaska, but John Green still does not disappoint. His writing is superb and his characters are so well drawn that I couldn't help but eagerly read this book to its conclusion, even though the plot is a little cheesy and feels a little bit like you have read it somewhere before…Q has always had a crush on his neighbor and childhood friend Margo who he pretty much lost touch with since they became pre-teens and Margo was set on the very top of the popularity ladder. However, one night Margo climbs into the window of his room, which she hasn't done since they were kids, and invites him on a whirlwind night of adventure and revenge in their hometown or Orlando, Florida. He can't help but go along and ends up having a crazy, great night reconnecting with Margo. However, soon after this she disappears, a stunt she has pulled in the past…only this time she doesn't come back. She has always left cryptic, whimsical clues for her parents as to her whereabouts when she has run away before, but this time she leaves them for Q. Q is determined to find her and recruits his best friends to help him. The search for Margo takes over Q's last weeks of his senior year, and in his search he discovers that Margo is not really who everyone thought they knew. Read this book for the writing and the characters and enjoy the very humorous ride. By the end of the book you will feel as though you are a part of the group of Q's good friends and although the plot's a little predictable and the self reflection's a little bit corny, you won't want to miss a word. Reviewer, Amy, Teen Librarian | |||
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Impossible by Nancy Werlin
(grades 8 +)
Lucy Scarborough has always wondered if she was doomed to go mad like her mother did. But, raised by loving and stable foster parents, she thought that was an irrational fear to be put aside. However, when she is raped on prom night and ends up pregnant at 17, just like her mother was with her - she starts to worry a little bit more. Ater all, her mother went mad immediately after she gave birth to Lucy. It turns out that her mother had hidden a diary and a letter that she meant for Lucy to find and it reveals the fact that not only did she get pregnant at 17 and go mad after giving birth, so did her mother, and her mother's mother, and so forth. The reason: a curse placed on her family by the Elfin Knight. The solution: to complete the tasks laid out in a song passed down for as many generations. Lucy has the support of her parents and life long friend to try to complete the tasks in the song despite of how ridiculous the concept of the curse may seem. Although this book has a promising premise, it was a disappointing offering from Nancy Werlin. The unraveling of the plot starts to feel very predictable and I lost patience for reading the details of the story since I already knew where they going to lead. I don't know if it is because of my very high expectations, as a big fan of Double Helix and The Rules of Survival, but Impossible just fell short for me. Reviewer, Amy, Teen Librarian | |||
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Jerk California by Jonathan Friesen
(grades 8 +)
Although this book feels a bit scattered and slightly confusing in the very beginning, bouncing around in time periods of the protagonist's life, it quickly falls into a nice groove as you are invited into the life of an 18 year old boy with Tourrette's Syndrome living in a "middle of nowhere" kind of country town. Sam has always blamed his problems on his Tourrette's and, in turn, on his father who died wrecklessly, abandoning him and his mother when he was 2 years old and passing to him this "freak" disease. However, as the book progresses we learn along with Sam that everything his "new father" has told him about his "real father" - which is all he knows - is a lie - and we can only see just how bad this "new father" is as Sam discovers this for himself. Sam's emotional journey is prodded along by a carefully planned road trip mapped out by a very good friend of his "real father" that he ends up taking with a mesmorizingly beautiful girl with problems of her own. This is a very well written book about self discovery that feels a little bit more complex and dense than your average YA novel. Reviewer, Amy, Teen Librarian | |||
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The Day I Killed James by Catherine Ryan Hyde
(grades 7 +)
Before the book begins, you imagine that Theresa was living a fairly average teenage life - but everything changed the day that James died. And Theresa feels that it was all her fault. James had always been in love with her, and she used him, and betrayed him and broke his heart. The book is about Theresa trying to come to terms with her heart wrenching guilt, alternating betwen reflective journal entries and chapters that chronicle her current whereabouts. Theresa drops out of life for a while, and even tries to escape herself completely by shaving her head, moving, changing her name and never looking back. She discovers that you can never really escape being yourself…This is a short book that explores thoroughly, and from many different angles, a single and profound theme: carelessness with someone's heart. This would be a great book group book as there is a lot to discuss, ponder and explore here. Reviewer, Amy, Teen Librarian | |||
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Confessions of a Serial Kisser by Wendelin Van Draanen
(grades 7 +)
Evangeline finds a stash of cheesy romance novels and self-help books under her mother's bed and can't resist reading them. She falls in love with one book — The Crimson Kiss — and from that moment forward is determined to find her own. Evangeline goes from barely having ever kissed a boy before her junior year of high school to kissing 2 then 4 then 6…all in a span of weeks…and she is still not finding the "crimson kiss" she dreams about. Meanwhile, she is misleading boys and creating a reputation for herself in the proccess. This is a fun read that makes you keep reading as you can't help but wonder: which boy will she actually like? which boys actually like her? how will she and her best friend fair this storm? and will she ever get her "crimson kiss"? But, I would only recommend this to die hard chick lit fans. Reviewer, Amy, Teen Librarian | |||
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Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper
(grades 8 +)
It is not easy to be a woman in the 1650s…especially not a poor housemaid. In this book you follow the unfortunate story of Anne Green. The book begins with Anne Green, presumed to be dead by hanging, laid out on the operating table about to be dissected in the name of science. However, Anne is actually stuck in a state of paralyzed darkness - and not knowing herself if she is dead or alive cannot help but recall and regret the events that lead her to this spot. Meanwhile, one of the doctors spies her eyelids flutter and, thinking it to be a miracle, halts the dissection. The team of doctors then try to help coax Anne Green - convicted murderess - back to life. The author has fictionalized the account of an actual recorded event where a poor woman named Anne Green is hung to death and comes back to life in 1650 proclaiming her innocence and prayers answered. The original documentation of the event is included at the end of the book. This is a fascinating, enjoyable quick read for historical fiction readers. Reviewer, Amy, Teen Librarian | |||
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How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt
(grades 9 +)
Harper's life as she knew and loved it is completely turned upside down when her dad divorces the only mom she's ever known. Not only that, but her efforts to keep her sexual relationship with her best friend as "casual" as he seems to be able to do is proving nearly impossible and taking a real emotion toll on her. In Harper's efforts to escape it all, and do some good in the meanwhile, she signs up for a teen summer program out in Tennessee to build a house for a family in need. The summer that she thought would help her escape and be completely alone ends up bringing her into close relationships that could change her life. This is another winner by Dana Reinhardt, proving again that "chick lit" can be fun, light and easy to read while dealing with heavy themes and thought provoking issues at the same time. Reviewer, Amy, Teen Librarian | |||
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Lock & Key by Sarah Dessen
(grades 8 +)
Ruby thought she was taking care of herself pretty well when her mom ditched her…again. But, when her landlords get suspicious and the authorities get involved they don't agree and she is sent to stay with her sister. Her sister had escaped the family years ago and now lives in a huge house with her new husband. Ruby is determined to run away immediately, but cannot make a smooth escape and ends up having to suffer through switching to a new school, for her senior year, on the rich side of town, getting reacquainted with her sister, and adjusting to this new life. Ruby doesn't think anyone will be able to help her or understand her - but it turns out that her sister, her sister's husband and her new impossibly nice neighbor, with secrets of his own, might be just what she needs to succeed. This is a well-written, fast paced, insightful story that will live up to the expectations of all Dessen fans and may create some new ones. Reviewer, Amy, Teen Librarian | |||
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Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
(grades 8 +)
Clay Jensen arrives home to find a package with no return address. He quickly discovers that the package contains 7 cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah Baker who recently committed suicide. After listening to the first tape he realizes these tapes are her way of telling why she decided to end her life...and that the tapes are making their way around to all of the people who led her there. Clay has no idea what he could have done to harm Hannah - he has had nothing but a crush on her since Ninth Grade. They had finally connected this year and then she blew him off…we follow Clay on this anxious night while he listens to Hannah's voice and waits for his name to be mentioned, sickened with each passing story about what he did not know and how rumors ruin everything and secrets are hidden everywhere. Although this is not a particularly complex novel, it will keep you turning the pages to find out everything that happened to Hannah. It will also make you wonder about why someone would choose to end their life, and what people around them could have done to stop it — if anything. Reviewer, Amy, Teen Librarian | |||
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Gem X by Nicky Singer
(grades 7 +)
If you are a fan of the Uglies series by Westerfeld then you should give this novel a read. The setting and pace of this novel feel very similar…with one major difference - In Gem X there are huge segments of the population still living the old way because they cannot afford to be perfect. Maxo Strang is one member of the newest and most perfected generation of humans living in the Polis. The Polis is a world of the future with ambisuits that keep everyone the perfect temperature at all times, food only in the form of perfect pills, and dumbed-down Clodrones that are happy to serve the privileged. However, strange things are starting to happen to Maxo, he is starting to develop wrinkles and foreign emotions, that indicate something has gone terribly wrong and his life may be in danger. Meanwhile, the poor people, or Dreggies, living outside of the Polis have limited electricity, water, food and medicine. Gala and her brothers are Dreggies and their mother is dying. Their father went to the Polis years ago to sell his skin cells and never returned. Gala's brother Stretch is determined to find their father and Maxo Strang has developed an alarming crush on Gala. The leader of this entire world is worshipped by all- but turns out to be evil and secretly staging "disasters" killing thousands and blaming it on Dreggie unrest. Maxo and Gala's family's lives end up intertwined as the fast-paced adventure unfolds. Although this book feels a lot like Uglies (in setting, pace, and writing style), the worlds/societies are quite different and would be very interesting to compare. Good quick plot-driven novel for tweens and teens. However, beware of the ending that doesn't really feel like an ending since much is left unsettled - opening the door for a sequel. Reviewer, Amy, Teen Librarian | |||
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Three Little Words: A Memoir by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
(grades 7 +)
Ashley takes us through her life story in this straight-forward but compelling memoir. Ashley was taken away from home by the state at a very young age. Ashley spent the next nine years in more than 10 different living situations – with and without her brother. This memoir is both a heartbreaking look at the failures of America's foster care system and a heartwarming story of a very smart little girl who endures it all. Ashley's story has a happy ending when she is finally adopted at the age of 13 by a family who intends to make her a permanent part of their family – no matter what happens. In her memoir she shows the reader how orphan children have no voice when it comes to their care…and how she is intent on changing that fact by speaking loud and clear for everyone. It is less intense than America by E.R. Frank, or Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons…but it really hits home with readers because, unlike those stories, it is true. Ashley's voice feels fresh, as she is only 22 writing this and looking back, and the experience still feels "raw" for the reader. This will appeal to thoughtful tween/teen girl readers. Reviewer, Amy, Teen Librarian | |||
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