The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Razorbill, 2011.

If you had a chance to see your life in the future, would you want to?
It's 1996, and Emma and Josh are your ordinary teenagers.  They've lived by each other for years and have practically grown up together.  But now they're sophomores in high school and things are a little different.  Well, they're WAY different after Josh tried to kissed Emma six months ago - now they hardly speak to each other.  It's what Emma's father sent her that will make a huge impact in their lives...
In Emma's room is a bright shiny computer.  It probably weighs 25 pounds, but it's all hers.  She's heard about people getting emails and sending instant messages, so she's excited about this new prospect of trying it out.  Of course, there's always the problem with sharing the phone line, but she and her mother will work it out.  Josh is the one who hands her the AOL Online CD with 100 free internet hours, but when Emma finally gets online, she's shocked by what she sees.
A page begins to emerge...something called Facebook, which Emma has no idea what it is.  And there on the front page is a woman about 30 years old, who looks kind of like her.  She went to the same high school as Emma, has the same birthday...this isn't coincidence.  What Emma is looking at is her life fifteen years in the future, and she's not quite sure she likes what she sees.  But who can she tell?  The only person who comes to mind is Josh.
He also gets a look at who he is and becomes in the future, but unlike Emma, he definitely likes what he sees and who he gets married to.  His life is amazing!  And what the two quickly realize is that they can send ripples through time from now to Facebook in the future and make changes to their lives and what they see posted on their timeline, in their photos and their comments.  But are those changes dangerous?  What are the repercussions of the decisions they make, create or change not only to them, but to those around them, including their best friends? 
This book is chock full of references from the mid-nineties, but not so much as to bog down the reader that it's "old school."  Emma and Josh's relationship not only with each other but with those in their school, stands out the most and creates their unique personalities the reader can't help but want to know more of.  Teens today were born around this year, so they may not get the 90's references (Wayne's World, Boyz 2 Men, only one character has a cell phone) but the theme and situation remains a popular one.  Asher and Mackler switch voices with the characters they write about, which makes this a book you want to read through to see what happens to the other person....right....NOW!  Recommended.

Common Core Pair:  Friend Me!  600 Years of Social Networking in America by Francesca Davis DiPiazza.

Stay by Deb Caletti

Clara thought she'd found love, but what she didn't realize is that she'd found obsession as well.
After a bad relationship in the past, Clara sees Christian for the first time and she feels that connection. Even though they go to different schools, she makes the time to "bump" into him again, and a deeper relationship soon begins. She likes the way Christian makes her feel - wanted, cared for, concerned about - and the way she can be a new person around him. He's a good person, but sometimes, good is just a layer hiding the real truth.

Now, Clara and her father have moved away from Seattle to get away from the person Christian really is, and Clara wants no contact from him, this time from fear instead of love. They settle down in a small seaside village and soon become part of the community.

Life goes well for Clara and her father, but there are still secrets that are lurking under the happiness. Clara has become increasingly aware that her dad is hiding something about her mother through conversations she overhears between him and a close friend. Clara also has to get used to sharing her world, not only between herself and her father, but also with herself, when she begins a fresh friendship with Flinn, whom she meets by chance. 

Always looking over her shoulder, Clara soon begins to find some breathing space, until a message comes through on her new phone - from Christian.  Soon, she finds herself living a life of paranoia, convinced that he'll find her, that he's still around....and her paranoia then becomes reality....

Deb Caletti has written a beautiful novel, surrounded with layers of descriptive and poetic writing filled with witty metaphors, ironies, and narrative.  She not only breathes life into her characters, but creates images through her words, so that what the reader is taking in becomes visual in their minds (I, for one, would LOVE to meet Clara's dad!!)  Caletti's book is serious in tone, but her deft writing also provides some comic relief in the form of all things, a seagull, which she uses at perfect opportunities to give the reader a pause, just for a moment, in Clara's life.  The adult characters in this novel aren't separated that far from the teen main character, but become a huge part of the story, that of a daughter and her father.  But above all, it's about relationships on all levels, from friendship, to family, to loves present and past and how to make the decision to leave or stay.  And this theme will draw readers in.  Highly recommended

Two for the girls! The Complete History of Why I Hate Her and Amy & Roger's Epic Detour

I've been reading and have four to blog, but I'm cutting it up into two parts. Here's part one, which features some great reads for girls - one a romance, the other about friendships....

The Complete History of Why I Hate her by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Nola just wants a summer to be herself.  She loves her little sister, Song, but has always wanted the  feeling of being a normal teenger, not a sister of a sibling who has cancer.  So this summer, she’s off to Rocky Cove Inn to work at the resort as a waitress, surrounded by other teens from all over the place. 

On her bus ride there, she meets the quirky, funny, and always lively Carly, who’s on her way to Boston to be with her family.  All it takes is one bus trip to seal the deal of a friendship.  Even though they've never met, when Nola gets off the bus at Rocky Cove, she already misses her new bubbly friend….

It isn’t long until Nola is immersed in life at Rocky Cove, including meeting the guy counselors from across the way, going to parties in a cabin by the lake, and spending the afternoons she has off swimming, running, and writing haikus to Song and sending them home.  And the best thing that could ever happen – Carly shows up to work too! 

But is it the best thing in the world?  At first Nola thinks so, but slowly she’s seeing a side of Carly that she isn’t sure is real or imagined.  Is Carly in competition with her, or is she just being a friend?  Why doesn’t Carly cheer Nola on when good things happen to her?  At first dubbed the Cannoli’s, Nola isn’t sure she wants a friend that she feels strangles her more than allows her freedom to be herself.  Or is Nola just presuming that Carly is being this way?  Isn't imitation the best form of flattery?

Jacobson has written a quick and dramatic unfolding of events between two girls and a friendship that quickly becomes toxic.  She recognizes the invisible signs that people wear but don’t always show others they have.  Both Nola and Carly are realistic in two very separate ways, and the reader at first is excited for the friendship, but is also omnisciently aware of what really is happening before Nola does.  This is not a happy romance book, but one with a darker side.  Jacobson’s use of haikus within the book, as well as a budding romance for Nola, rounds out this novel into one that readers will start and finish quickly.  Recommended. 

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Amy Curry killed her father.  Now, she won’t even think about driving a car.  Home isn’t home anymore since the accident either.  Her brother is in North Carolina, and her mother found another job in faraway Connecticut – as far as possible from California as she could get, and now Amy has to leave too.  But this time, it’s a cross-country trip, which Amy’s mother has meticulously mapped out.  The conundrum?  How is Amy to get to the East Coast in a car?  She can’t do it after what happened….

Enter Roger, an old childhood friend Amy vaguely remembers.  He has the summer off and is going to Philly to stay with his dad and volunteers to take Amy to Connecticut as well as drop of the car Amy’s mother needs.  Great….just what Amy DOESN”T want – a long car trip with a college who happens to be HOT….

For about a year, Amy has had to deal with the pain and suffering of losing a parent.  She doesn’t want to talk about it, feel anything, and becomes a recluse, only allowing herself out when starring in musicals, which is her passion.  She doesn’t want to be stuck in a car answering questions, but when the road trip starts, she realizes Roger doesn’t know what happened, and a small weight is lifted. 

And so the long cross-country trip begins, but Roger and Amy decide to take this time to come to terms with some of the people and incidents in their lives.  Instead of taking the “safe route” Amy’s mom has emailed, Amy and Roger decide to start out at Yosemite,  and from there they run into an endless highway with a shoe tree, a fabulous party in Colorado, and some amazing topiaries in Kentucky. 

But more than that, Amy’s layers begin to peel off as she slowly realizes that life can go on.  Roger also learns that sometimes the people you meet in life are there for now, but there are so many more interesting people to bump into.

What a wonderful read for girls!  Not only does the novel contain romance and road trips, twinkies and tents, but so much added stuff, such as Roger’s playlists of music for the trip, and scraps of a travel log that Amy shares with the reader, including receipts, pictures, menus, notes, and doodles among other things.  The readers feels like the back seat passenger in this novel, and gets to know Roger and Amy on so many different levels the closer they get to their destination, not only physically, but emotionally as well.

This is exactly what you get when you read the title – an epic adventure!   Recommended. 

The Julian Game by Adele Griffin

Yes, I've been reading over the break and now it's time to start posting.  It hasn't been many books (I seriously just vegged most of the break!) but I'll post a book a day until I'm done.  And onto the reviews!

Raye is smart.  She knows she's going to a good college and knows that Fulton, a private all girl's school, is a great step in that direction.  She hangs with her best friend Natalya and spends her Tal weekends watching movie marathons on the SyFy channel and eating homemade brownies.  But one night, she decides to step out of her comfort zone.  What better way to do that than online?

Raye sets up a fake facebook page and starts friending people she knows is out of her league.  Like Julian, the hottie from MacArthur, the private all guy's school and some of his friends.  It starts out harmlessly, but we all know what happens with those "harmless" situations....

Meanwhile, back at Fulton, Ella Parker reigns supreme as the most beautiful and untouchable of the Group.  It doesn't matter if she has OCD and wears gloves all the time, or sits on the third row in the third chair or taps things a specific amount of time.  Her beauty overshines everything.  But it's in a Chinese class that Ella has problems with where she and Raye's diverse galaxies collide.

What starts out as an innocent tutoring takes on new meaning when Raye shows Ella her faux facebook page.  With Julian as a friend, and the one to diss Ella at a party, the revenge begins....and the true personalities begin to come out....but can Raye go back to her true friendships or has she crossed the line?  Will the good girl get the guy or will evil and bitchiness triumph?

Griffin creates a quick read that is all about high school cliques, romances and relationships.  Reading this book is like walking down the halls of any typical high school.  It's about mean girls and those that want to fit in.  But Griffin does something different in this book (and you'll have to read it through to understand what I'm saying) and that to me, was the biggest draw of the book.  It's real, it's quick, it's fresh.  The characters, from the main character to the parents, are not drawn out for the reader but the author subtlely draws in reader reaction - you'll know who to love, who to hate, and who to be wary of.  Recommended for high school

Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti

Junior year is upon Lani. She's been looking at the stars and tracking her horoscope and knows this year will be the best ever. She has her friends Erin and Blake beside her, and although she's not part of the Golden Circle, she is still likeable by her classmates.

Erin, her best friend, is also ready for high school, especially when she sees Jason, the guy she's been crushing on. Erin usually gets what she wants, and Lani is there cheering her on. Blake is hoping to get through his last year without any bumps in the road, and Lani is keeping his secret. Life couldn't get any better.

But then summer arrives, and as with all summers, life unexpectedly changes. Lani faces some major challenges before her senior year ever starts. And the biggest obstacle? How to tell her best friend that Jason and her are seeing each other. And Blake's secret? Oops.... Senior year isn't what Lani is hoping or wishing for, and the fates are definitely working against her.

Need some light and fun reading? This is one to pick up. It's a definite magnet for girls to want to read. What can be more taboo that dating someone's ex when the ex won't let go? Colasanti has weaved together two episodes in one life about love, friendship, betrayals, and healing. This will be one handed from one girl to another!

The Six Rules of Maybe booktrailers

Want a summer read? Here's one!!


You can download this for your OPAC or a presentation on the NHS Library webpage. Look for the "Digital Booktalk" link under the Mighty Red N :)
http://www.nisdtx.org/120820731141528687/site/default.asp

Beastly by Alex Flinn is now...

a movie!! Here's the MOVIE trailer for the book...can't wait to see it!!

http://www.beastlythemovie.com/

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfours

Need a book to read during the coldest part of the year? Something to add to your winter fiction? Here's one to display, read and booktalk!

Katrina lives in a part of Washington state known for its Scandinavian heritage, quaint shops, and people who still eat traditional Scandinavian dishes that one doesn't see just anywhere. But amidst all this quaintness, lies a girl who doesn't really know what to do with herself and has no direction but to work beside her grandmother toting old-world coffee to even older men. And what really gets her worked up is the updated, modern Starbucks-esque coffeeshop right next door, where everyone goes for the latest macchiatto, latte, and cappuccino, as well as free wi-fi.

But Katrina has loyal friends, especially Vincent, the star swimmer at school. They've been friends forever, but things are beginning to change...

One night Katrina helps a street bum out with some hot coffee and old danish, and the next day the bum (aka Malcolm, a hot guy in a kilt!) shows up at school embarrassing Katrina with his duty to grant her deepest desire in the middle of a pep rally. And then the fun begins....

What does a person desire most? Fame? Wealth? Love? Katrina has to make some tough choices, and three little coffee beans are the only thing that can give her what she desires most. Is it revenge against the mega coffee-opolis next door? How about breaking up Vincent and his barbie girlfriend, Heather? What about Grandma's health or her rising debt?

Selfours has written a light, frothy, foamy, cup of chick lit that has some substance beneath the froth. Selfours combines elements of modern-day romance that girls crave with some fairy-tale (think Jack and the Beanstalk) mixed in, all centering around relationships and entrepreneurship. Angels, best friends, huge rats, and competition make for an enjoyable read. The message is simple: Follow the golden rule and you never know...there may be angels among us...

Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs

Phoebe Castro loves three things in her life - her two best friends, Nola and Cesca; running; and her chances of going to USC on a full ride scholarship. But things take a different course when her mother comes back from Greece in tow with a nuew husband and a decision that she and Phoebe are moving to Greece during Phoebe's senior year, and Phoebe is LIVID!!

But what Phoebe doesn't realize is that she's not just going to any old Greek island...she's going to Serfopoula and to a very unique school...one that caters to the elite around the world, which goes beyond money and power. The elite? Descendents of the gods - and Phoebe is the only nothos on campus.

She doesn't make friends easily either. Her step-sister Stella hates her, and worst of all, Phoebe's crushing on the god of gods, Griffin, who treats her life an insect. And then there's Adara, THE queen goddess of the campus. Add to this the accelerated classes, homesickness, and trying to keep up with her running with the demi-gods, and Phoebe is wearing down quickly. She doesn't fit in with any of the cliques at school (separated by which god they're related to) and looks forward to the day she can IM her two besties. Can she make the year and fly back to California, or will she be stuck on a Greek island filled with uptight teens with unique powers and a lack of hospitality?

What a great read for teens!! Light, funny, romantic, this book will appeal to those girls who can't get enough romance in their hands. Childs pulls from mythological past and blends it with the 21st century in a fun read that will please the chick-lit crowd. It was just what I needed in my reading repertoire - nothing heavy, but something that made me feel like wings on Achilles' heels. Recommended.

Destroy All Cars by Blake Nelson

Meet James Hoff - high school junior who doesn't drive and lately, doesn't have a girlfriend. Not a big deal, right? Well, welcome to his AP English essays...and welcome to his world...

His first assignment: a 4 page persuasive essay. James believes we must destroy all cars because:

1. It's a primitive machine that you put gas in and poison comes out. "Is it a good idea to start your car in your garage and sit beside it, reading the paper, while your garage fills up with exhaust? No. Then why would that be a good idea on global level?"

2. He's so sick of cars!!

3. The lameness of people in general because of their production and consumption of "USELESS CRAP."

His grade? They go up and down, matching his emotional state at the time. He just broke up with Sadie and the only way James knows how to deal with it is to write...and think about her...and try to hang out with friends...and think about her...

And then there's the competition. What does Sadie see in jock Will Greer? And then there's the dumpster-diving, food-eater Jedediah. Who'd want to be with someone who ate garbage you threw away - in the school cafeteria!?!

James's life is complicated. From Mr. Cogweiller's essay grading to adjusting to his father coming back home after leaving them to figuring out what he'll do after graduation to making a list of potential girls who'd want to hang out with him, James is elbow deep in everything a typical guy deals with. And what will happen with Sadie? And can the possibility of destroying all cars seriously destroy our government system? Oh, the possibilities...

Blake Nelson has written another fantastically funny and cleverly written book. James pops out of the pages and will make you laugh out loud. Rare is a book that will grab a YA that isn't about the grimmer things in life, and while a serious break-up is grim, Nelson puts a spin on this while adding issues that teens really are involved in. Perfect pairing and very on par with Jake Wizener's Spanking Shakespeare. Recommended.

Vibes by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Kristi likes her cat Minie (as in mouse), opera music, unusual practical jokes, and making her own clothes from anything and everything. She doesn’t have the greatest relationship with her mom, her dad split a couple of years ago, and her best friend now hangs out with the popular kids and makes fun of her. And the guy that she crushed on? He now thinks she’s sick. How does she know all of that? She’s psychic, of course.

Going to school is not something Kristi enjoys, but it has it’s defining moments. She does have Jacob Flax as a friend, but he seems to only think about one thing, and life goes on as usual, until she meets the new student, a guy named Mallory, who has defiance issues similar to hers.

School isn’t your typical school. It has Morning Meetings, Explorations in Nature (ie science) and the Contemplation Room. Kristi thinks of it more like a joke than school, but it’s someplace she can get lost in, even if there aren’t that many students. And when her best friend Jacob decides to share with everyone during morning meeting he’s going to improve himself, the principal decides it needs to be an entire school project with partners. And Kristi’s is….Gusty, the golden god and her old crush.

As with anything in life, Kristi meets this expectation by pushing away and making sure her shell remains intact – no one in, herself left out. But the more the project goes on, the more unsure Kristi is of not only her abilities as a psychic, but also about herself and her relationships, especially those with her parents. Can she juggle who she is as well as come to terms with who others think she is? Could Kristi possibly let go and find there is more out there than surface matieral?

Amy Kathleen Ryan has invented a unique, quirky, and strong main character that continues to resonate throughout the book. The more into the story the reader gets, the more layers are peeled back not only in Kristi, but in all of the characters. A fast read with plenty of depth in dealing with issues of friendships, family, and personal lives. If you have readers who loved Cohn’s Gingerbread or Alex Bradley’s Hot Lunch, they need to take a look at larger than life Kristi. Highly recommended.

Playing with Matches by Brian Katcher

A neutron walks into a bar and orders a beer….the bartender gives it to him and says, "For you, no charge..."
And so begins the life of Leon Sanders, junior at Zummer High School, whose architecture reminds him of an enormous bomb shelter or an insane asylum.

Leon’s always grown up as a nerd. He’s surrounded himself with sci-fi movies and figurines, and is probably the only one who checks books out of the library at high school. But his status has changed some. From uber nerd in junior high to being unknown in high school, Leon thinks of it as a step up. His group of friends consists of Samantha (a feminist); Rob (who always looks mad) and Johnny and Jimmy (two brothers who “get nostalgic over their greatest farts.) And then there’s the crush…
Amy is the toned cheerleader goddess Leon has always fantasized about ever since he was in the fourth grade. He watches her daily, but she never sees him and the only thing he can hope for is that she will one day look his way and see him. But until then….

School drones one with projects. In his history class, partners are picked and who does Leon end up with? None other than Melody Hannon, the girl whose status is even beneath the nerds. And why? Because of her severely scarred face, caused by a fire when she was four years old. Leon can’t believe his ill fortune but deals with the fact that once again, bad luck follows him.
But what once was just a school project turns into something else entirely, and one that Leon or Melody didn’t even expect. Their academic partnering turns to friendship, which slowly becomes romance – a first for both of them. The only thing Leon can’t get over is her face, but the more he is around her, the more he realizes what beauty is.

But never underestimate the powers of Leon Sanders, especially when it comes to the goddess called Amy. She takes a sudden interest in Leon and when this happens, the only thing he can compare it to is winning the lottery. So he dumps Melody and although he cares for her, she doesn’t matter as much as the lottery ticket with the grand prize - Amy. And things get truly bad for Leon Sanders….

What an AMAZING book!! Brian Katcher’s first YA novel truly packs a punch. The reader can’t help but laugh at Leon’s character and the way he sees the world, but also realizes that he is seriously playing with fire, and emotional fires can burn the hottest. The characters are solid creating the social cliques found in all high schools and the plot is believable and realistic. But it’s the theme that’s the gut-puncher…the motor that will drive this book into YA hands to be talked about and passed around. The ending was thought-provoking, leaving it into the hands of the reader to think about. Kudos to Katcher’s first novel!!

Beastly booktrailer

Final one! Thanks, all!

The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine by April Lurie

Dylan Fontaine is….well, it’s easier to explain him. He’s a neat freak, he’s become the caretaker of his family and their cat ever since his mom ditched him, his brother, and his ob-gyn father for Phillippe the artist, to live in the Village in NYC. And that’s just the beginning of his story.

Another part of Dylan is that he’s a nice guy. So why is he in jail? Because he was caught shop-lifting, and the worst part is that he’s spending time locked up for stealing UNDERWEAR….all the time trying to explain to Officer Greenwood about the travails and dangers of trans fat in foods.

But Dylan has a romantic side as well. The love of his life, Angie, has asked him to star in her latest film creation, starring him. He’s excited about the whole deal, including rumors that she’s broken up with Jonathan. He can’t wait to get started, until…Jonathan shows up to help on the project as well!!

Dylan’s only source of love and frustration comes mostly from his relationship with his brother Randy. He loves the guy, but can’t see why Randy is throwing away so much talent and intelligence on guys in the band who won’t take showers and are always stoned. Dylan just doesn’t understand and his frustration is growing…

So what does he do? How can he cope? He finds his avenues and begins to use them to change his life, his way of thinking, his romantic interests, and his obsessive/compulsive neatness behaviors. Some things can be changed, the key is time.

The characters in this book, from the adults to the teens, make April Lurie’s book not only laugh-out-loud funny at times, but also allows the reader to delve into the bitterness of parents divorcing to seeing someone you love not care anymore. It’s written both with comedy and real-life situations in mind in perfect contrast to each other. This is definitely a must-read and a book worthy for all guy readers everywhere. Perfectly matched with Daniel Ehrenhaft’s Drawing a Blank: Or How I Tried to Solve a Mystery, End a Feud, and Land the Girl of My Dreams.

Headlong book trailer

Tell me what you think....

Headlong by Kathe Koja

Lily Noble is no longer just a day student at the Vaughn School...she now lives in the dormitory full-time and has access to her friends Auds and Jules, and her boyfriend Kells. Sophomore year will be her best if only she can get through living with her roommate Constance, who always has a runny nose and can't think for herself.

But then along comes Hazel....

Hazel is different. She doesn't subscribe to the "traditional" code of conduct at the Vaughn School simply because she's one of the "scholarship" students. She dresses differently, curses inappropriately, and smokes cigarettes whenever and wherever she pleases. Hazel bucks authority in class and doesn't participate in and with anyone or thing. And when Lils sees this, her curiosity begins.

When they first begin their friendship, Hazel lets Lils, or Lily, know exactly what she thinks of the BBG's, or the Burberry Bitch Girls, and their Tiffany bracelets and vacations in Vail, but she shares her gorp and their friendship continues little by little.

And with their friendship, Lily discovers a widening gap between her way of life as she knew it and the one she has with Hazel. She begins to see life a little differently, from her shallow friendships to her relationship with Kells (aka James) to what her mother aspires her to be. And Lily has a decision to make...continue down the footpath of the traditional Vaughn girl, or experience life and what it can hold outside of the safe zone.

Lily finds Hazel exasperating at times and wants desperately to know more about her life - where she grew up, who her parents are, and who is Duncan and Magnus? The secrets both girls are reluctant to share at first and the adventures they go through together, from defacing the school statue to relationships with guys, cements their bond. Through boxes of Hot Cherry Ropes, the girls are comfortable with each other and the social class they represent at school, although others are always looking to sabotage it. And as the year progresses, so do the changes both Hazel and Lily go through. Life can be different, but in the end it's about personal choices.

Kathe Koja combines a narrative about friendship and personal struggles with first-person viewpoints from people who orbit around Hazel and Lily without ever reaching into the core of their friendship. From this perspective, the reader gets not only an omniscient look at the main characters, but fully understands what each girl is going through individually as well as together. Although the length of her books are short, this is a beautifully crafted story that shows the meaning of true friendship and the maturity that happens to teens over a period of one year. Sophomores are not the same as juniors...something magical happens to them, and Koja catches this magic perfectly.

PS - I've already started my "list" to create a booktrailer for this one!! I'll be working on that this week : )

Booktrailer - Saving Juliet by Suzanne Selfours

I see and make so many books about serious or suspenseful storylines, it's nice once in awhile to make a happy, romantic one! Enjoy : )

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

The Past:

They say that guys and girls can never just be friends....but tell that to little Jennifer and Cameron. From the third to fifth grade, they are best friends, driven together by being the social outcasts. From low-income families, Cameron and Jennifer are made fun. Jennifer feels the brunt of it and the nickname from the kids? Fattifer....but she has Cameron, who defends her and is always there for her.

On her birthday during their fifth grade year, Jennifer goes to Cameron's house to receive her present because it is too heavy for Cameron to bring to school. And what happens that day will forever alter her perception of life...

The following day, Cameron isn't at school; nor the next or the next day. The kids tell her that Cameron moved to California and died and Jennifer's mother, without saying it, tells her to take two days from school. At that moment, Jennifer silently puts Cameron in a coffin in her mind as well as Jennifer.

The Present:

Jenna Vaughn is beautiful, popular and witty. She has an amazing looking boyfriend Ethan and life is good, except the day of her birthday. Jenna still constantly struggles to keep Jennifer in the past and on this day, she knows she can do it once again. But when she gets home after school, she finds a note from Cameron. Her past has met her future.

Jenna and Cameron, now 6'2 and muscular, begin where they left off. But Cameron wants something from Jenna...he wants to revisit the past. And she isn't sure that is where she'd like to go. When he asks her to go back to their old neighborhood, the nightmares of her fifth grade birthday and what happened at his house come back and Jenna's identity begins to slip. She is still Jennifer or Jenna? Who is she really?

Jenna and Cameron's relationship has changed. There may be something more there that they want, but to act on it? Will their past bring together two lost innocent children or their present bring together two beautiful teens who have become stronger from their experiences?

Sara Zarr writes this story authentically and poignantly. It has power....from a glimpse into their childhood to what they have and will become. Jenna begins to see her inner strength while Cameron quietly holds those who love him with his own. Readers will not be able to put this one down because they get caught up in the character's worlds and what will ultimately happen. Zarr creates the perfect balance about relationships and how people affect how and who one becomes as well as how to let go....Highly recommended.

Saving Juliet by Suzanne Selfours

(see previous post for cover). Publisher: Walker & Company, New York.

Mimi Wallingford’s life has always been shadowed by her family’s reputation as the Manhattan Wallingfords, famous Broadway actors. The only place she considers home is the Wallingford Theatre – but the thought of performing on it makes her sick.
To help with rising debt and to make her mother’s wishes of stardom for her daughter happen, Mimi plays Juliet in Shakespeare’s famous play. Her lover? None other than Troy Summer, California teen pop star and current heartthrob. Mimi doesn’t think her life could get any worse.
On the day of the last performance, Mimi wears a necklace her Aunt Mary gave her, supposedly containing the ashes of the quill Shakespeare wrote with. When she refuses to take it off, a fight erupts and the necklace gets broken, sending Troy and Mimi back to 16th century Verona and in the households of Montague and Capulet.
From henceforth, the book becomes a mash-up of 21st century teen thinking and 16th century society, with Juliet in the midst of it. Mimi can’t let Juliet die, but things don’t go as planned at the party. Paris the pervert, will marry Juliet; Mimi falls in love with Benvolio, whose pick-up line for every girl is “your beauty makes the torches burn brighter.”; and everyone is beginning to hum Troy Summer’s next hit “Girl, oh oh oh oh oh girl.” Tybalt is a bully, and Mercutio is….well Mercutio. Example – two of Mercutio’s songs he’s written include “Girl, Come Hither and We Shall Dither “as well as “ Girl. Come and Handle my Candle.”
Shakespeare gets re-written in his hilarious outtake of what happens in Verona. Mimi is still trying to find true love herself, and Troy is making that difficult, not only with his playboy ways, but with his hot looks as well. Readers will laugh out loud when reading this book as well as recognize scenes and lines from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The ending of Mimi’s play is far different from Shakespeare’s, but the similarities between Juliet and Mimi is unmistakable, as well as both Mother Capulet and Wallingford mirroring each other. Minor characters also become newer and different, including Nurse and Father Montague. Selfours has done an excellent job of writing her version of the classic by adding quirkiness, hilarity and romance into one very nice 16th meets 21st century package. I see a definite book pairing with this novel.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Stories about Falling in Love by Four Incredible Authors

Niki Burnham begins with her story Last Stand. Toby and Amber have known each other since kindergarten and now in their junior year, they are about to celebrate their first year anniversary. Amber is, as Toby’s best friend puts it, “smokin’ hot!” while Toby is a sax player and fairly all-around nice guy. Their relationship couldn’t be better, until Amber decides that it’s time to go further. Tables are turned when Toby…a GUY…doesn’t want to. Stereotypes fall apart in this short story and the reader gets the chance to see what happens to the nice guy.
Don’t Mind Me by Terri Clark begins with an atypical relationship. The local football god is dating Dee, the local goth chick. After a night at the movies, Dee decides to take Rick where he has wanted to go with her all along. When things starts to get hot and heavy in the truck, they end up in a small accident, in which Dee seriously bumps her head. The effect of the wreck? She can now read minds and what she reads in Rick Travers’s mind is enough to make her sick. A book? About how to bag girls in all the school cliques AND make them say they love you??? Not only is she angry, but she decides to do something about it with her new ability, her best friend, and those that Rick have already ensnared. Readers will cheer for Dee and get to see the bad guy fall.
Ellen Hopkins writes Just Plain Lisa, where the title says it all. A senior in high school, Lisa knows she will go through her last year as a wallflower and accepts that fact as well as the lessons her parents have taught her about standing strong and being true to herself. But then Chet comes into the coffee shop she where she works, and for the first time in her life, Lisa has a boyfriend. Little by little, Lisa begins to change – first her make-up, then her hair, and soon her weight…all to please Chet, who is the one to “suggest” these changes. Has Lisa lost sight of her true self, or is she really doing this for herself? Hopkins hits on an issue that readers will be able to identify with and creates a situation and character that shows both strength and weakness.
Party Foul by Lynda Sandoval ends the novel. Summer romances are the sweetest and Mia has found hers in Paige. Although neither one has come out at school, they both understand each other, and love each other….until the day of the big senior party before school starts. Paige stops texting, stops talking, and completely ignores Mia, which breaks Mia’s heart. Has she been used? Was Paige just experimenting? Mia gets help and understanding from her best friend Allison (also gay, but strictly friends) and together, they decide it’s time that their high school join the 21st century. They start a club for everyone who has ever felt left out or alienated, and it draws some very interesting and surprising members. But will this be enough to mend Paige’s broken heart and the lies she’s been subjected to? Sandoval treats this theme with respect in a world where experimentation and alienation are becoming major parts of a teen’s life.
This book will capture the teen girl readers and hold their hearts as they read through these short stories. From breaking a stereotype to exacting revenge to changing to please others and a look at redemption, girls will find one story they can relate to. Akin to Tanya Lee Stone’s “A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl,” this book will be sure to fly off the shelves and passed around from hand to hand. Keep plenty of copies handy! Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Stories about Falling Out of Love by Four Incredible Authors. (2008). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.