I neede a list of these, and fabulous librarians, you responded! So, here it is - use it for displays, booktalking, whatever you can do with an amazing list!
21 About a Boy Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (they changed the title for the movie) Beastly Boy in the Striped Pajamas Blood and Chocolate Breaking Dawn
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)
City of Ember (2008)
Confessions of a Shopaholic Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Eagle of the Ninth (released as The Eagle)
Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine
Eragon Flipped
Girl, Interrupted, by Susanna Kaysen
Golden Compass Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Hellboy
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Holes, by Louis Sachar
Hoot
How to Deal (based upon 2 of Sarah Dessen's titles, That Summer and Someone Like You)
I am number Four I Love You Beth Cooper Inkheart It’s Kind of a Funny Story
Jane Eyre
Legend of the Guardians : The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010)
Last Song
The Losers
Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
My Sister’s Keeper
Narnia
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Princess Diaries 1 was based upon a book, but 2 was not.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the world Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Soul Surfer: a true story of faith, family, and fighting to get back on the board Speak Stormbreaker
Upcoming (either the film rights have been bought, are in pre-production or post-production):
Hugo Cabret
Hunger Games
Incarceron
Maze Runner
Mortal Instruments
If I Stay
Divergent
Matched
Wicked Lovely
Shiver Perks of Being a Wallflower Thirteen Reasons Why
Took the plunge!! The funeral wreath is from our floral class and it just fits perfectly : ) This is the supernatural section. Working on fantasy next....
I know it's a little thing and lots of people are doing it, but it was WORK and I'm just so proud that I finally jumped tracks a little : )
Liz and Kate has been forever bests since they were six years old and are still best friends at sixteen.Liz is Photo Girl – taking amazing photographs and hoping to purse photography in college.Kate is Mistress of Modern Dance, but unsure exactly what she wants to do.
It’s their monthly sleepover – the only time dedicated to the two girls without outside interference, without threat of anyone taking time away from them, cocooned in the comfort of their friendship and lives. But a minor spark, a disagreement, gets in the way this one time, and for tonight, Kate sleeps on the couch, while Liz stays in her room.
But something happened….Kate avoids Liz, even after she apologizes for hurting Kate’s feelings.But nothing Liz can say could possibly prepare her for what Kate finally reveals to her.Mike, Liz’s brother, home from college, raped her….
Is it true or is Kate lying?Liz can’t possibly believe that her brother, the one who introduced Liz to Brian, the one whom she told Kate was off limits, could do this.Why would Kate make something like that up?Or is Mike the one who is lying?Consentual or forced?It not only ruins a friendship, but ruins Liz’s focus, not only with Kate but with those closest to her as well as her passion for photography.She feels out of focus….and still unsure about who is telling the truth….
A powerful novel in verse, the author sets the scene of the book without the reader possibly knowing what could have happened until they read it.It’s a look at relationships, not only between friends, but those that are familial as well.Marcus delves into the gray area that teens start to run into the older they get.No longer is life a clear division of opposites, but sometimes the lines blur.And that is what that author so clearly writes about.Who is truly innocent or guilty is left up to the reader, but the nuances allow a certain modicum of bias the reader will pick up on. An excellent first book for a new YA author.Recommended.
Liz and Hope are sisters, and they know what a regular family is like.But that’s in the past….now it’s just them and their mother.Things at home aren’t the same as they were, and it gets worse when Hope finds her older sister in the bathroom with gun.
Now, in order to make ends meet, Liz and Hope’s mother takes on clients at home to make money.At their age, they don’t exactly understand what that means, but their lives are uninterrupted with friends, secret crushes and a private spot in the house that becomes their clubhouse.
Butfor Liz, her normal life quickly turns into a nightmare, and one she wants to protect Hope from.But Liz can only stand so much before she breaks…
Although sisters, both girls have lived very different lives under the same roof.Hope doesn’t understand why Liz would want to kill herself, but she tries to every time she and her mother visit Liz in the mental hospital.Liz won’t talk to her mother at all – it’s only Hope that she’ll speak to, although it’s not a lot.All her mother wants to make sure of is that Liz hasn’t told the secret, whatever that means…
The more visits Hope and her mother make to Liz, who is still unresponsive, the more Hope begins to understand what happened to Liz, especially when she and her mother must see a family counselor who talks to Hope about Liz’s predicament.But it’s when the counselor asks for Liz’s diary that Hope’s mother becomes aggressive, mean…demanding Hope give her the book.Hope doesn’t have it, but she knows where it is.And when she finds it in their secret place, the floodgates open and Hope then realizes exactly how bad Liz’s life has become because of her mother’s demands on her.
Lynch Williams unfolds a tragic story gradually to a situation both girls live in and through, but with different voices that create very strong characters in Hope and Liz.The author writes a tale about abuse and neglect and its ugly aftermath without having to resort to first-hand experiences or sufferings of the older sister, but the reader knows all too well what has happened.Lynch Williams also leaves the ending open, not tied up in a perfect bow that makes this novel all that more realistic and powerful.Those who love novels-in-verse will find this an excellent choice, and one that will make them read every part of the beautiful prose Lynch uses so well to convey the truth about the lives of two innocent people.Highly recommended.
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 thefeeling 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.
We don’t know what happened to Kyle Straker.All there is left is a cassette tape.Old technology – worthless in today’s society of the 21st century and the upgrades we’ve done…
For Kyle, it all started on a summer day in the small village of Millgrove.The local talent show, a tradition for this town of 1,000, was about to start, and Kyle, his best friend Simon, and Simon’s girlfriend Lilly wanted to see if Danny Birnie could actually hypnotize people.But no one volunteered, so Kyle did.
It was this decision that propelled him into the unbelievable, enough to drive a person insane…
When Kyle comes out of his hypnotic state, he realizes something isn’t right.Every one on the green isn’t moving.Televisions, telephones, and computers aren’t working.Weird green symbols flash onto the screens ofthe computer he checks – it looks more like an alphabet, but he isn’t sure.
And then the village awakens.And it’s what they’ve become.Human or inhuman?And what about Kyle, Lilly and the other two that were hypnotized?What did they miss? But more importantly, what have they themselves become?
Kyle soon pieces together the only parts he knows how to and what he and the others discover is something they can’t even comprehend.But Danny, their off-kilter friend knows the truth, and he gives them a choice.Follow or be erased….
Lancaster takes dystopia to a new level in this science fiction thriller that’s sure to catch the attention of the reader.The plot line is quick and will definitely grab the reader’s attention from the very first page.Lancaster pulls together an assortment of writing devices, which only lends to the “authenticity” of this book, which is actually the oldest form of communication for those who haven’t been upgraded.From a dictionary, to expert analyses, from flashbacks taken from the cassette tape, to the editor’s note, all of these are combined within the novel to slowly build tension for the reader, making it one of those books that can’t be put down.Excellent for junior high and high school collections – it won’t disappoint sci-fi readers!
A cell phone picture…it’s all that’s needed to put Callie on the run. She was holding the bloody knife, and standing over Katherine’s dead body. With her family’s past, everyone is going to believe she did it. But did she?
One year ago, Katherine Remington-Day asked Callie to sit with her and Dakota at lunch and it changed Callie’s life. Her best friend had moved away, and her boyfriend, Slade, joined the national guard. Callie’s only connection to safety were the few phone calls and instant messages she and Slade shared, a long cry from the two years they’d been dating. But now, in the small town of Soundview, Callie had a chance at a social life, and she took it.
What she didn’t expect were the nuances and dance friends played when they became Katherine’s friend. It came with a price – sometimes something trivial, sometimes something serious, but Callie knew if she bent to Katherine’s rules, there would be a next time. She didn’t know if she wanted to give more that she already had, and Katherine made her choose between Slade and her friends. Callie thought she chose wisely, but now, on the run for murder, the only person she can rely on is Slade.
With his help, Callie is able to elude the police, but she knows time is running short. And with flashback memories, she is able to piece together enough personal information to figure out who the killer is. But will she be believed? And is it enough?
Strasser comes back with another YA thriller, following on his Wish You Were Dead book. Fast paced, the reader is allowed into the present and past lives of Callie and her friends and is able to see just who her friends really are and the various motives they’d all have for murder. Not only that, but the situations Callie goes through are believable instead of far-fetched, the plot is tightly written, and the ending will surprise. The reader feels for Callie, and believes her story, but continues to look for clues as to whom it would be. It’s one of those books where you want to flip to the end to find out who the killer is, but decide to wait to see the story unfold. For those readers who enjoy mystery fiction, this is one to put in their hands.
Tessa and Noelle have been best friends for years. They’ve shared everything together in the small town of Centerville, Ohio. But with all relationships, events can stagger and tear them apart. And that’s what happened two years ago.
Now, Cooper, Noelle's older brother, is telling Tessa she's alive and coming home. After two years of abduction by a stranger, Tessa’s best friend is back, but not completely. Tessa thought it was hard to live knowing her best friend was gone, possibly killed. She’d gone through therapy to understand that loss, but now…it’s harder to live knowing Noelle is back and what happened to her. Two years at the hand of a monster can change a person to someone you never even knew. How do you deal with something like that? Can a friendship you thought was gone forever be re-kindled, and more importantly, can it be the same?
In high school, Tessa’s passion in photography has put her in the advanced classes, which she loves. A new student, Max, is in her class too, and Max sees Tessa for more than what she shows to everyone else, and slowly Tessa lets him into her world. The theme for the next photography project is the opposite of tensions – up down, hot cold, lost found….and all Tessa can think about is Noelle,
When Noelle finally tries to start a normal life by entering into high school, both girls know it will be a long, hard journey, with students knowing what happened to Noelle, with Noelle facing her past and present, and with Tessa trying her hardest to create the perfect balance for not only her best friend, but herself and Max as well.
Kristina McBride creates a dramatic and bold debut novel that deals with real-life issues that have been on the front pages of newspapers as well as televisions today. Many people see the “inside story” of an abductor and can only imagine the horror. McBride writes about the opposite of the abductor and focuses on the life of the abductee after her rescue and the implications of her new life on her as well her family and friends after the tragic events have been aired in public. Paired with the photographic theme of Tessa’s work that creates not only the title of this book, but permeates with symbolism throughout, McBride has created a novel that will keep the reader engaged with the characters as well as the plotline and relationships, and what ultimately will happen to Tessa and Noelle…is there such a thing as resiliency after something that devastating? This debut novel focuses on the now and how the victim and those closest to her must cope with the tragic loss of two years without reliving the past and its brutality. Perfect pairing with Mazer’s The Missing Girl and Scott’s Living Dead Girl.
Excerpt from the book:
“Some of the others might’ve seen things differently, and some of them might’ve told it better, but you don’t get to pick. You don’t because, for one thing, not all of us made it.”
School is in session at Tattawa High School when the snow starts. Kids are milling around wondering if school is shut down and they get another holiday out of it. But Scotty doesn’t want that to happen. He’s all over shooting out at the basketball game scheduled that evening. Jason wants to work on his amazing go-cart in the shop, and their buddy Pete just wants to hang out. But then the announcement comes all. School and all activities are shutting down and students need to go home now.
The snow is still falling, but the guys have it all figured out. Jason convinces the shop teacher to keep it open and his dad’ll pick them up all. He has a four-wheeler. And then they get to work. And the snow continues to fall, harder and harder….
But now they know they’ve made a mistake. Scotty left his phone at home, and Pete’s and Jason’s won’t pick up signal. Their last hope are the buses, so they head that direction. But they’re all gone, and only Coach Gossell is left with a handful of students. Les, the meanest guy on campus, Elijah, who has a creepy vibe, Krista, the most popular and beautiful, along with her friend Julie are left behind. Now the snow is piling up and the road outside can’t be seen.
A nor’easter, the biggest and baddest in East Coast history has hit, and Scotty and the rest aren’t leaving campus anytime soon. And slowly they’re feeling the effects…first the power goes out, then the water freezes, and outside, it’s a freezing wasteland, where second story homes look like one story. They’re trapped and can’t reach the outside world. But it’s their world inside that is slowly starting to come apart, and it’s only day one…
What a great second novel from this author! A punch right to the stomach within the first two chapters of this book will keep readers turning the pages to find out just what happened to those left at school. Northrop actualizes the dire situation with what typical teenagers without adults around would do and how the environment of the school still resonates loudly with each clique left in the halls. The enemy is nature, and she is violent and dangerous, but Northrop leaves the reader guessing to find out is the enemy wins or not. Although some may disparage the ending, I found it surprising at first, but with a definite mental image in my mind. Excellent for reluctant readers as well as those who enjoy trying to outwit the characters and figure out just what will happen around the next twist and turn in this story.
Henry (Hen for short) has just been dumped by his girlfriend, who also kicked him out of her band. His sister is on the lam as a criminal, and his parents continue to try hard to make him eat meat.....the only solid thing in his life is his best friend and next door neighbor, Emma.
And so begins the life of Hen Birnbaum, official bum. He lives the life of a teenager in NYC, trying to get gigs in places like the Bimbo Lounge and wondering where the popular tag, "Steal Your Parents' Money," found on buttons all over the city, originated. But right now, he has better things to think about - like why his sister decided to come home after a year of absence without warning and what the heck happened to her, why he and his friend Emma keep having some strange karmic connection through dreams and cell phone calls, and how come his parents are the most uncool people on the planet?
When Sarah, finally gets home, she tells him to see Gabriel, her partner in crime about bass guitar lessons. It can only help him become that famous rock star he's always wanted to be (according to the VH1 Behind the Music video he plays through his head that happens to star him as uber rock star of the future). But for now, his rock-star self gets to walk dogs while trying to figure out what happened to his sister and Gabriel and why they're being sought out by the authorties. It doesn't hurt that Hen commits his first crime ever by stealing Gabriel's manuscript (aka his love letter to Sarah) but it only adds fuel to the burning question of why (Jean Paul Satre's head, an ex- Nazi and leyaks don't help anything either!)
But along the way, Hen realizes that the Unseen Hand can either give him a fist bump, a high five or slap him in the face, and his life, which he may find pathetic, has some very interesting qualities to it. And sometimes a crisi-tunity (crisis and opportunity) is the most important thing you can try to overcome.
Ehrenhaft writes another extremely humorous novel about the life of a typical teen-age guy living out a life of angst with weirdo parents, a failed relationship with a rock goddess, all while trying to live out his dream of rocking out. Filled with lots of rock and roll references from David Bowie to Green Day to Journey, this novel will make you smile, if not make you laugh out loud. Along with a great story, Ehrenhaft parallels the plot with the sub-text of true friendship, where the word "friend" was a noun only but is now a verb as well (think Facebook) and how the the circles of friendship created in his story use both type of grammar to make their connections. What a refreshing, funny and humorous book in the midst of everything dark and deep in YA lit!
It was 1994, and a hot summer but things in Southside were getting hotter. There was a dangerous mankiller on the loose and police had no leads. Everyone in the neighborhood knew him...knew what he did...
A gang shooting took the life of a 14 year old innocent girl, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And she knew her killer - he went to school, even church with her.
Yummy was 11 years old when he died. At one point in his life, he was committing a felony every month, but because of his age, he came back to the Southside projects in Chicago, Illinois. Yummy is the cold-blooded killer everyone was looking for....
This powerful graphic novel takes the short life of a child and pulls in the reader through narrative, images, and a biography. But it's the essence and the not so black-and-white issue at hand that will draw the reader in. Although not an in-depth look into Robert Sandifer's (aka Yummy's) life, the reader gets to know him through the words and illustrations Neri and Du Burker have created. The forward by the author lets the reader know that this is a blend of narrative fiction and non-fiction taken from the stories, news reports and other sources about Robert Sandifer. The afterward gives a brief synopsis of Chicago's Southside and the Black Disciple Nation as well as an annotation of additional information. A very quick read, but one that will leave the reader with lingering thoughts, and for this reader, a desire to know more about the story of this tragic tale and life of this kid....
This is a very popular genre for students, and novels in verse has been around for quite some time. I remember the first one I ever read and was hooked as well. They're short, easy to read, and pack a powerful punch. Most seem to be based on character's voices, but whether they are or not, these are complex reads. Here's a list of 34 great novels in verse I've read:
Hard Hit by Ann Turner (2006) - A rising high school baseball star faces his most difficult challenge when his father is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
One Night by Margaret Wild (2002)- a teenaged girl decides to have her baby and care for it on her own after a "one night stand" results in pregnancy
All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg (2009)- Two years after being airlifted out of Vietnam in 1975, Matt Pin is haunted by the terrible secret he left behind and, now, in a loving adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events forces him to confront his past.
A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone (2006)- Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva all fall for the same sexy high school senior, and while they each make different choices, they're all changed by their experiences of love and sex.
Sold by Patricia McCormick (2006)- Lakshmi, a thirteen-year-old girl from Nepal, is sold into prostitution in India.
Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas (2009)- The youngest of three siblings, fourteen-year-old Anke feels both relieved and neglected that her father abuses her brother and sister but ignores her, but when she catches him with one of her friends, she finally becomes angry enough to take action.
Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall by Wendy Mass (2007)- After an accident in gym class puts sixteen-year-old Tessa into a coma, she re-evaluates her life by visiting the mall stores where significant events in her life took place.
Walking on Glass by Alma Fullerton (2007)- A teenage boy recounts, in a free verse journal, his attempts to come to terms with the realities of his mother's near-death coma.
Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham (2007)- After a shark attack causes the amputation of her right arm, fifteen-year-old Jane, an aspiring artist, struggles to come to terms with her loss and the changes it imposes on her day-to-day life and her plans for the future.
Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs by Ron Koertge (2010)- Fourteen-year-old Kevin Boland, poet and first baseman, is torn between his cute girlfriend--Mira--and Amy, who is funny, plays Chopin on the piano, and is also a poet.
Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers (2007)- mother and daughter, who mainly communicate through short notes left on the refrigerator door, experience a life changing event when one of them is diagnosed with breast cancer.
Street Love by Walter Dean Myers (2006)- Damien, a seventeen-year-old from Harlem, takes a bold step to ensure that he and his new love, Junice, will not be separated.
Kissing Tennessee and other stories from the stardust dance by Kathi Appelt (2000)- Graduating eighth graders relate their stories of love and heartbreak that have brought them to Dogwood Junior High's magical Stardust Dance.
Sonya Sones:
Stop Pretending (1999) - A younger sister has a difficult time adjusting to life after her older sister has a mental breakdown.
What My Mother Doesn't Know (2001) - Sophie describes her relationships with a series of boys as she searches for Mr. Right.
What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know (2007) - Artistic fourteen-year-old Robin Murphy is so unpopular at high school that his name is slang for "loser," so when he begins dating the beautiful and popular Sophie, her reputation plummets.
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies (2004) - Fifteen-year-old Ruby Milliken leaves her best friend, her boyfriend, her aunt, and her mother's grave in Boston and reluctantly flies to Los Angeles to live with her father, a famous movie star who divorced her mother before Ruby was born.
Mel Glenn:
Foreign Exchange (1999) - When students from big-city Tower High School spend a weekend in rural Hudson Landing with the students of the local high school, an African-American boy from the city is accused of murdering a local white girl.
Jump Ball (1997)- Tells the story of a high school basketball team's season through a series of poems reflecting the feelings of students, their families, teachers, and coaches.
Split Image (2000) - A series of poems reflect the thoughts and feelings of various people-- students, the librarian, parents, the principal, and others-- about the seemingly perfect Laura Li and her life inside and out of Tower High School.
Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? (1996)- Free verse poems describe the reactions of students, colleagues, and others when a high school teacher is shot to death as the school day begins.
The Taking of Room 114 (1997) - A series of poems reflect the thoughts of school officials, parents, police, and especially a class of seniors who have been taken hostage by their high school history teacher.
Ellen Hopkins:
Crank (2004) - Kristina Georgia Snow's life is turned upside-down, when she visits her absentee father, gets turned on to the drug "crank", becomes addicted, and is led down a desperate path that threatens her mind, soul, and her life.
Glass (2007)- Kristina is determined to break her addiction to drugs in order to keep her newborn child; but when she fails and the pull becomes too strong, her greatest fears are quickly realized.
Burned (2006) - Seventeen-year-old Pattyn, the eldest daughter in a large Mormon family, is sent to her aunt's Nevada ranch for the summer where she temporarily escapes her alcoholic, abusive father and finds love and acceptance, only to lose everything
Identical (2008) - Sixteen-year-old identical twin daughters of a district court judge and a candidate for the United States House of Representatives, Kaeleigh and Raeanne Gardella desperately struggle with secrets that have already torn them and their family apart.
Impulse (2007) - Three teens who meet at Reno, Nevada's Aspen Springs mental hospital after each has attempted suicide connect with each other in a way they never have with their parents or anyone else in their lives.
Tricks (2009) - Collects five stories about three girls and two boys who question how they feel about themselves while learning about love
Fallout (2010) - Written in free verse, explores how three teenagers try to cope with the consequences of their mother's addiction to crystal meth and its effects on their lives.
Stephanie Hemphill -
Things Left Unsaid (2005) - After a lifetime of conforming to the image of what her parents and high school friends want her to be, Sarah must come to terms with her own identity when her destructive best friend tries to commit suicide. Told in the form of free-verse poems.
Wicked Girls (2010) - A fictionalized account, told in verse, of the Salem witch trials, told from the perspective of three young women living in Salem in 1692--Mercy Lewis, Margaret Walcott, and Ann Putnam, Jr.
Lisa Schroeder -
Chasing Brooklyn (2010) - As teenagers Brooklyn and Nico work to help each other recover from the deaths of Brooklyn's boyfriend--Nico's brother Lucca--and their friend Gabe, the two begin to rediscover their passion for life, and a newly blossoming passion for one another.
Far From You (2009) - A novel-in-verse about sixteen-year-old Ali's reluctant road trip with her stepmother and new baby sister, and the terror that ensues after they end up lost in the snow-covered woods.
I Heart You, You Haunt Me ( 2008)- A verse novel in which fifteen-year-old Ava, feeling guilty over the role she believes she played in her boyfriend Jackson's death, experiences a whole new range of emotions when she realizes he is back from the dead.
Sam....college dropout, hamburger flipper. His best friends work with him at Plumpy's and they include Ramon, the connoisseur of burger flipping, Frank who wants to please everyone, and Brooke, the hot chick Frank's eyes follow whenever he gets a chance. Just a typical burger joint in Seattle. All it takes is a game of potato hockey and a knocked out light on a Mercedes to change Sam's world from normal to paranormal, to say the least.
Sam has always been an outsider. He's never fit in, felt right in a crowd....but he's used to it by now. But when Douglas Montgomery comes into his life, he has to find a way to find himself, especially after discovering he's not just a drop out hambuger flipper whose mother loves herbs and potions. After struggling through several sources, Sam finds out his mother is a real witch...literally...and Sam is a necromancer - he can communicate and bring back the dead. And Douglas Montgomery, most powerful necromancer in the Seattle area, wants that power.
With the help of a ragtag bunch of friends (including a talking head) and some unusual acquaintances (we're talking witches, hounds of hell, fey, a seer and a Harbinger) Sam has seven days to find out if he'll apprentice under the dark and dangerous tutelage of Douglas or try to go back to his normal world, if normal is what you'd call it after the powerful Montgomery kills his family and friends. Really, what choice do you have?
What a riot to read! Lish McBride has done a fine job of blending a supernatural story with humor and tongue-in-cheek comebacks. If the title doesn't send a message, then the chapters will. Taking from song lyrics like "She's a Lady" to "Sweet Child o' Mine" to "Don't Fear the Reaper," McBride has created a quick read with quick wit. Readers will enjoy reading about Sam's life from Plumpy's to his messed up, beaten up forays into the unknown world of magic and the power of the Council. Humorous horror....I've read a few and this one doesn't disappoint. Recommended.
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
