Just Like You

"I swear to you fat is not an emotion. I wish you could hear that... it'd spare you lots of self abuse."

Typically, Young Adult authors are adults. Sure, they have lived through high school and their awkward teenage years, but they aren't currently entrenched in them. Perhaps they have glorified those times, or maybe they view them like being the lone survivor of a zombie plague- all alone and waiting to be devoured by the beasts surrounding you. Either way, they aren't part of the target audience for whom they write their books. So can they make the young adults they write for believe they lived through the same situations? Yep. With one book. In Dear Teen Me, a collection of letters from the authors to their teen selves, you will get a glimpse of just how much they can connect to the teens they write for.

"You know there is no way in hell a guy like him would ever kiss a girl like you, you think."

There are moms who left. Left behind was a girl who had to raise her younger siblings and needed her grandmother to buy her first bra for her. Dads who left an never called, creating an almost obsessive need for attention of any kind. There was a dad who suffered from mental illness in a way that devastated her childhood. And there were great parents who loved, comforted, angered, yelled, supported and loved some more.

"Here's the thing: You're a freak. Always were. Always will be. One day you'll love this about yourself. But right now you hate it."

There are band geeks, theater dropouts, book nerds, smart kids, dancers, jocks, chubby kids, and so much more. Some had a defining moment like when Big Bern (scary Sister Bernard Agnes) recognized you were a fish out of water and suggested you spend some time in the library, the exact spot where you finally fit in. Some just floated through, realizing only now that they missed an amazing opportunity. But they all have something in common. They had no idea who the hell they really were and who the hell they were going to be one day. And that was OK. Because eventually, they would know. 

"The goose egg on your forehead will heal, but the loose thread in your moral fiber is probably still there to this day."

There were bullies. Some were expected, and some were unexpected. Those were inexplicably sadder. Sometimes the bullied became the bully just to turn the tide a little bit. There were cruel taunts and jabs that will stay with you forever. But there were friends. A girl who let you know it is OK to stop worrying about homework and tests and just be free. Friends who want to play Dungeons and Dragons or belong to the breakdancing group right along with your rhythm-less self. And did you know Lauren Oliver and Elizabeth Miles were friends in school?! How awesome and crazy is that?!

"Keep dancing by the highway, you splendid little dork."

There are first crushes, first kisses, and attempts to lose your virginity. There are milestones and drudgery, but it is all that time you need to spend finding yourself, losing yourself, and finding yourself again. This is all the advice you wish someone had told you when you were a teenager, but then you stop and realize even if they had told you, you would have ignored them and made those same mistakes again. This book should not only be read by students from middle school through their young adult years, but also adults as well. Parents, teachers, and just the woman debating whether or not to go to her high school reunion because she was once an awkward young girl who dreaded every day of high school. I loved this collection. Loved it. And there is nothing you will ove more than watching someone realize those very authors you look up to were struggling through the same horror show you went through during adolescence. (And not Rocky Horror Picture Show, kind of horror either. There was no bustier and singing. This was more like Jason and hockey mask). 

"PLEASE stop pretending you don't know the answers in math class! It's okay to be smarter than they boys. Really. They'll get over it."

Converse over Cranium

Families are as different as people themselves. The definition of family is so broad that it doesn't just cover a mom, a dad, and children. Sarah Tregay gets to the heart of this growing cultural difference in Love and Leftovers with a variety of different kinds of family, but they all have one thing in common: love. 

Marcie's mother drags her to New Hampshire after finding out Marcie's dad has been lying and cheating on her- with another man. Usually they just vacation at their family's old summer house, but fall has arrived, school has begun, and they should have left by now. Back in Idaho, Marcie left her father, her best friends (the Leftovers), and her perfect boyfriend, Linus. She didn't even pack for the move, and her aunt has to donate some clothes to the cold and changing cause (including underwear the size of Idaho). 

At first Marcie just wants to go back to Idaho, but she begins to settle in to her new school. In fact, she even starts hanging out with a boy named J.D. and starts to forget about the life she has back home. When her own father's lies and life choices start to invade her own thoughts, she finds herself uncertain about what to believe. Could Linus be gay like her father is? Is it easier to go after a boy who is so clearly not gay but might be a player?

There are so many layers to this book, it is hard to unravel them all. First you have the catalyst for the whole story, Marcie's dad. This whole relationship is handled so well, I was happy to see it in this book. Yes, the realization that he was no longer in love with Marcie's mother was difficult, but he still cared about her. And Marcie struggled with the separation and divorce, but eventually she accepted it and was actually quite understanding about her father's new relationship. She even becomes close with Danny, her father's boyfriend, and realizes how much happier her father is now. I loved the way this relationship unfolded, and it gave this added depth and love to the story that doesn't often come out of one parent cheating on the other.

Next were the supporting characters. In Idaho, Marcie's friends call themselves the Leftovers, the unclassifiable kids who don't belong to any group. They are an eclectic bunch, but they are truly fabulous- the kids you wish you were brave enough to be at that age! But they all have their skeletons too. Emily got pregnant and gave her son up for adoption. Linus' father lost his job and Linus spends most of his time babysitting his brother's daughter. All of these backstories make this group of kids enough for an entire book for each of them! But the backstories aren't hokey or cheesy, they just are what they are, and they all care about one another. I loved these kids!

This was a really great book written in verse with short but powerful sentences that suck you in and throw you into the spin cycle. I would love this book, which deals with such mature topics, to be used for an older, mature, struggling reader because the chapters are super short, the language is melodious but simple, and the verse is acceptable. They would be able to read it successfully but not feel like they were reading a story that was beneath them in terms of maturity. I really liked this story and applaud Tregay for fitting in so much material with so few words! Brilliant!

Rumors and Candidness Bring Keplinger to the Top

Do you remember the unfortunate girl in high school who carried the nickname "slut"? If you think back really hard, can you remember a shred of truth to those rumors? Did anyone actually know for a fact they had happened? Most likely not, and in Kody Keplinger's third novel, A Midsummer's Nightmare, we see a candid portrayal of a girl who starts off wearing that label like a badge of honor and eventually finds a little soul searching is all she needed to get to the root of her choices and actions.

Whitley suffers through each school year in order to make it to the summer- her only time with her father. Now that she has graduated, this summer is even more exciting. It is a chance to hang out with her dad, make cocktails, and relax, as opposed to the misery of living with her mother where her mom ignores her most of the time and only acknowledges her existence to complain about her father. At her last big graduation party, Whitley gives in to her drunken state and meets a guy who she wakes up next to the next morning. He was fun, and certainly good looking, but she is moving on from this place, and she doesn't plan on looking back.

When she gets to her father's place, she quickly realizes things have changed. He moved out of his condo and into a house, and he is engaged. For her father, who goes through girlfriends so fast Whitley doesn't even bother to learn their names, this is a huge development. But even worse, her dad's fiance has two kids. And despite the odds, that new stepbrother-to-be just happens to be the boy from the party the week before! As if things couldn't be any worse, Whitley is now going to be related to her latest hookup.

To drown her miseries in this fresh hell she has found herself in, Whitley submerges herself in the local parties and the local nameless boys. She doesn't care what their names are or who they are because they are just a good distraction, but when that distraction starts to have consequences, Whitley starts to see the ugly side of her reputation. She used to just enjoy the perks of all the male attention it garnered, but now the attention has gotten ugly, and borderline scary. But the one man she wants to notice her has no problem ignoring her for the entire summer- her father. And nothing she has done has gotten his attention. Yet.

This is the third book I have read by Keplinger, and I continue to be amazed by her candid writing style that puts the BS aside and focuses on the topics young adults really want to talk about. She isn't afraid to say things adults might be taken aback by or uncomfortable with, because her books aren't for adults- they are for the same teens they are written about. I find it a beautifully honest way to write and applaud Keplinger for sticking to her target audience with brutal honesty. I am sure most people will say these books are appropriate only for older teens because of the sexual content and alcohol use, but I challenge that premise by saying it is a candid picture of teen life that might make some teens think twice or at least encourage them to think differently about their lives and the lives of the people around them.

This book dealt with some hard situations, but the idea of being labeled a slut and publicly humiliated via social media was hard to bear witness to. Therefore, it should make you, the reader, uncomfortable. And the idea of a girl acting out, resorting to alcohol and bad decisions with boys to get her absentee parents to acknowledge her existence? That is the hardest thing to watch because you know how often it happens. Whitley certainly has a chip on her shoulder, and her selfishness is hard to reconcile with, but she is just the kind of flawed heroine we find ourselves relating to. This is another important book from Keplinger that tells the stories you might be too uncomfortable to tell to your teenaged girl. Keplinger isn't afraid to say what everyone is thinking, and I am grateful to have her books out there in the YA universe because of that fearlessness.

The Future With Facebook

When I tell my students there were no real cell phones (remember the car phone in a bag??) and Facebook hadn't been created yet when I was in high school, they look at me like I was alive when dinosaurs roamed the earth. But what they don't realize is that their iPhones and Facebook and wireless internet are very young in the grad scheme of things. Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler examine what a teenager in the 1990's would do if they stumbled upon their future selves as is represented in Facebook in The Future of Us. 


It's 1996 and Emma's father got her a brand new computer as a consolation prize when he got remarried and started his replacement family. When Josh Templeton stops by, she is surprised since things have been awkward between them since he admitted he liked her. They are still friends, just not the kind of friends who hang out at each other's houses regularly anymore. So when he comes over, she is shocked, but excited by the AOL disc he is carrying. His mother got it in the mail and thought she might like it for her new computer since Josh's mother doesn't believe in the internet. when Emma pops the disc in, something strange happens. A screen called Facebook pops up. Emma checks it out and realizes the woman named Emma Nelson Jones is her... in the future.


She calls Josh over because she just can't believe what she is seeing. Married to a man who doesn't come home at nights and might be cheating on her is not how Emma hoped her future would turn out. But Josh is convinced this is all an elaborate joke. Until he sees his own Facebook page and he is married to the hottest girl in school. But every time they open up the program, their lives have changed. They begin to realize every choice they make changes their future in small ripples. Emma, sad about her depressing future, starts to do things to purposely change her future, but Josh is worried about ruining what seems like an awesome future. What they quickly realize, though, is that the future is something you can't predict or control. Or can you?


I loved Asher's book 13 Reasons Why. It rocked my literary world. So I had high hopes for this book. I liked this book, but it wasn't as good as 13. I think it had a much younger feel than the first book. Even though the characters are thinking about college and talking about graduation, their reactions and actions feel very young- almost middle school-like. Also, I LOVED the nostalgic nods to life in the 1990's (when I was in high school- yep. I'm that old). The music (Dave Matthews and Green Day) and the greeting when you first open AOL, instant messenger, etc. It was like I was back in high school again! Oh wait, I hated high school. Never mind! But seriously, the references were fun, but they would be totally lost on kids of today. The references to old technology would be interesting in an anthropological sense, but I don't think they would enjoy the pop culture references.


Still, the book was interesting and fun to read. The way small things changed their futures was something that makes you really think, especially about fate vs. free will. How can your choices change what you become in the future? This would be fun to talk with your students about, maybe even plan out how some choices could lead them to different future possibilities. I think the characters might seem to young for more mature students, but middle school through youngish high school students would appreciate this fun story. And most important moral of the entire book? When Josh asks, "Why would anyone say this stuff about themselves on the Internet? It's crazy!" (although this was a close second: "Why does it say she had three hundred and twenty friends? Who has that many friends?").

From a Bully's Perspective

After finishing The Fault in Our Stars, I really needed to read something different. I had bought this book on a whim, at first scoffing at it, then intrigued by it. I was torn between being impressed by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson writing about his early start as a playground bully and being annoyed by this ghost written story pumped out to make more money. Now that I have read Playground: A Mostly True Story of a Former Bully, I think I am more impressed than annoyed...


Butterball is a big guy. Junior High is rough enough for a kid, let alone a fat kid, so you have to be tough to make it through. When Maurice, Butterball's only real friend at school, starts telling people something truly horrible about Butterball's family, he does the only thing he can. He defends his honor. He bashes Maurice's face in with a sock filled with D batteries. Now Butterball has to go to a social worker twice a week and talk about his feelings- the last thing he wants to do.


Butterball and his mother moved out of the city to Garden City when his parents split up. He still goes to the city occasionally to see his father, but his dad is usually preoccupied by his latest girlfriend. Butterball's mom works constantly between her time at the hospital and college classes to become a nurse. Mostly he spends his time with Evelyn, his mom's friend who make gross vegetarian stews and rags on Butterball to behave himself. At school he has gotten a lot of attention, some good and some bad, for what he did to Maurice. Now a group of guys wants him to do it again to a guy Butterball has never met. But Butterball doesn't understand- this guy hasn't done anything to him, so why would Butterball bash his face in? 


I wouldn't say this was a great story, but it was one that has a good moral and is told form a different perspective than others of its kind. I like the fact that 50 Cent took the time (via a ghost writer) to get his story out there about his own bullying, why he did it, and how it affected him later. As an artist many kids look up to, it is great to put yourself out there and try to be a positive role model to them. I think it was important for him to stress that there was a reason behind Butterball's actions. While the reason doesn't condone the actions, it helps someone understand and address the situation properly.


I would probably keep this book around, even though there are better stories out there, because it would appeal to some kids where other books might not. They may pick it up and read it just because the author is someone they know and look up to. And to be honest, the moral of the story is pretty strong. Overall, not a bad book but definitely one that has a place on my shelves. But I'm not going to lie... still feel silly calling him 50 Cent (what a ridiculous name!).

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Love at First Sight. Now be honest, your first instinct is to be cynical. "What nonsense... love at first sight. It's not possible!" You want to blame it on attraction, on pheromones, on anything but kismet, fate, serendipity. But then there is that little voice inside, that optimistic, romantic person inside of you who wants to believe in Love at First Sight. It is the stuff of all those books we read and movies we watch. Jennifer E. Smith lets you answer the question, what is The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight?


Hadley hates small places, so the idea of flying to London is like the seventh layer of hell for her. Add to the hours long ride in a metal tube thousands of feet in the air that she is going to her father's wedding and you have a perfectly miserable trip on your hands. In retrospect, there are many things that made Hadley miss her original plane by four minutes, and without them all happening, she would have caught her plane and never met Oliver. Instead, she misses the plane. And she meets Oliver. And her whole world changes.


Oliver makes the plane ride more than tolerable. He and Hadley talk all night. They tell each other things they haven't told anyone else because they have a connection both can feel but neither fully understands. They are drawn to one another and feel like they have known each other forever, but they have only known each other for hours. When the plane lands, Hadley feels an overwhelming sense of loss knowing they must both go their separate ways. But do they have to? What are the chances of anything working out between two people who just met on a plane? But then again, would she be able to forgive herself if she didn't at least try?


Oh it was love at first sight alright. I saw this book and knew I would love it, and by golly, I was right! Hadley and Oliver are just so perfect together. They might not admit it right away, but you know it the minute they speak to each other. Neither lives the perfect life, and both have their own skeletons in the closet, but when they are together, those skeletons don't seem quite as scary as the used to. You will find yourself just as in love with this couple as they are with each other... it is kismet!


This is a great book for any middle school through high school student, although probably more likely to appeal to girls. The story is just ridiculously adorable, as are the two main characters. The subplot of Hadley's parents' divorce and her father's remarriage is handled really well. It shows the resentment Hadley feels along with the supreme sadness of no longer knowing her father. It also shows how Hadley has become the support for her mother and how that changes their relationship. This is a great story on so many levels, but the love at first sight is what will make you smile. The beauty of this book is that it catches you with the title and keeps you with the sweetest, most adorable story.

The Spooks are Back in Town

If you see a ghost, does that make you crazy? Or is the ghost drive you to be crazy? Are ghosts real, or a figment of our imagination? In Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook, you get to see just how a girl who grapples with her father's mental illness handles the ghostly happenings of her new home.


Isobel doesn't want to move her senior year, but when her mother suddenly remarries Richard (who Isobel affectionately refers to as Dick), she has no choice. Now she is stuck on an island with a new stepbrother, in a creepy old mansion, and the rumors that Dick's wife and daughter didn't die in a accident after all. It is hard enough being the new girl during your senior year, but when you compound that with the knowledge of your father's schizophrenia, there is no easy way to explain ghostly activity.


Isobel chooses a room in the estate that happens to be Dick's deceased younger daughter's room. She has gotten over the creep factor until weird things start happening in her room. Things move, she swears she sees the little girl, seashells show up all around the house, and finally, during a misbegotten sleep over, a Ouija Board incident leaves Isobel convinced the little girl is haunting the house. The strange happenings around the house are easier to explain for her mother and step-father, though. They just assume she is crazy like her father. The only one who believes there is something strange and inexplicable going on is her step-brother, Nathaniel. Now they have to get to the bottom of everything before Dick packs her off to a mental institution, but how can they when everyone on the island thinks she is crazy. 


While this book had a lot of potential and was a fairly interesting premise, it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be for me. I think it was an interesting ghost story and the twists in the end were great, but the story was a smidge more juvenile than I like. I can't really put my finger on why it felt juvenile, but it did. 


The thing I liked the most were the discussions about Isobel's father's mental illness. There is a stigma out there that having a mental illness makes you irreparably "crazy". There is a point where the queen bee of the school outs Isobel for seeing a therapist (and because said therapist is evil girl's father and she listened through the vent, she also announces Isobel's father's mental condition). Instead of running for the hills (although she really wants to), Isobel stands up and delivers a pretty great, impromptu speech about mental illness. It is straight from the heart, candid, and she stands up to the bully by not letting her father be a "skeleton in the closet". It was a pretty impressive stand she took, and I loved that the mean girl's evil plot backfired when everyone openly supported Isobel. That is the thing I wish our students would understand... when you take the power out of whatever the bully is using against you, you beat them at their own game. It was a pretty powerful experience on multiple levels for Isobel. So while this story wasn't the absolute best for me, I think it is worth putting out there and stocking your shelves with, if for no other reason than to open a dialogue or two about some pretty serious topics.

A Glimpse into Her Future

Have you ever wondered what you were do if given the opportunity to view a glimpse of your future? How far would you go? How long would you stay? Liz Kessler's novel A Year Without Autumn shows the life of a girl as she skips through her future.


Jenni's family goes to the condo for one week out of every summer. The best thing about the family trip, besides the fact that she loves her family, is that her best friend Autumn's family comes too. Jenni and Autumn are the kind of friends who can barely go 2 hours without seeing each other or talking to each other, so being on vacation together is a must. But this summer is different. Jenni is supposed to go horseback riding with Autumn, but when she decides to take the old elevator in Autumn's building, something crazy happens- she is transported a year in the future.


In that year, she missed a lot. While she tries to figure out what happened, she realizes something horrible happened to Autumn's family that day they were supposed to go horseback riding. When Jenni didn't show up for riding, Autumn's little brother Mikey went. The horse was spooked on the ride and Mikey was thrown, but the ambulance took over two hours to get to him. Mikey slipped into a coma and never came out. Now everything has changed. Autumn's lively, vibrant family has fallen apart. Even Jenni's own family has been rocked by the accident to the point of being totally unrecognizable. Jenni knows the only way to fix things is to go back in time and stop the accident, but first she must go forward. But how far forward can she stand to go? And if she goes forward, is there a chance she can never go back?


This was a heartwarming story about a little girl who just loved her family and friend so much, she knew she needed to help them. In fact, the friendship between Jenni and Autumn made me nostalgic for those friendships we had when we were kids. Remember those? Where you talk on the phone for hours every night even though you saw each other all day in school? Those friendships defined us as adults too, helping us to open up and love our friends unconditionally and whole-heartedly. Kessler really knew how to tug the heart strings with their friendship. Also, the idea that one event, Mikey's accident, could ripple through everyone's lives is both scary and very realistic. Who wouldn't be affected by the loss of such a young little boy? 


This is a great story for middle readers through young adults. The story is very clean and will appeal to a wide range of ages due to the serious nature of the plot. It can be the food of much discussion with a student about how events connect to one another and whether or not we should know what happens in our future. For young people who have a very hard time seeing past their own immediate lives, it might be nice to take some real-life situation and see how the ripples of that event have influenced everything around it. Getting children to think outside their immediate lives is a difficult but worthwhile venture. 

Please Don't Ignore Vera Dietz

What happens when we put our heads down and ignore all the bad things around us? Do they just go away, or do they come back to haunt us? Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King is a phenomenal story that shows the life of an average girl who struggled to ignore what was happening around her and prayed everyone ignored her very existence. Fortunately and unfortunately, that was impossible.

Vera has been friends with Charlie since they were in elementary school. They have suffered through his abusive father, her mother leaving when she was 12, and deep dark secrets they only shared with one another. But when Charlie starts hanging out with a bad group of kids, drugs ad alcohol aren't the only changes to his life. The girl he starts dating, Jenny, is manipulative, a liar, and hates Vera's relationship with Charlie. When she tells Charlie things she swears Vera has been spreading around school about Charlie, he believes Jenny instead of Vera, who would never say such things. He finally joins the rank of the others and starts torturing Vera in every way possible, from throwing dog poo at her to telling the school how her mother was a stripper when Vera was a baby. Charlie's betrayal is more than even when her mother abandoned her.

Now, almost a year later, Charlie is dead and blamed of a heinous crime. Vera deals with her emotionally unavailable father and works a full time job in addition to going to school, just like he tells her to do. Of course, the vodka bottle beneath her car seat she uses just to get through the day and numb the pain is nothing her father would understand- especially since he has always warned her about their "alcoholic genes" they must be careful of. As Vera's destructive behavior continues, her father is desperate to save her, even if it means accepting the pain he still suffers and would prefer to ignore. What he doesn't expect to uncover is the truth behind Charlie's death.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a story you simply cannot ignore. Told in a series of flashbacks to the times when Vera and Charlie were young as well as snapshots of Vera's life now, it slowly gives you snapshots that add up together into a story you can't ignore. The story isn't revealed immediately, and you truly don't know everything until the very end, but you won't want to stop until you find out exactly what happened. It is one of those stories that pulls you into the whirlwind and won't let you go until it spits you out all disheveled and discombobulated.

The story has some mature content and language, but it is handled beautifully and in a way that opens up so many important discussions between you and the reader. Charlie starts selling his underwear to a perv he met on the street, but when things escalate, he doesn't know what to do. Vera knows her family's history, but can't break out of her inevitable future. Perhaps she feels she deserves to suffer like her whole family did because they had her so young. It also raises the question of when you should step in and do something when you know your neighbor is terrorizing and beating his wife and child. At what point do we need to become involved. Although this book has some mature language and content, it is just too important to censor from kids. I would suggest this story for mature middle school students through high school students, but be prepared to talk about it. Not only will your student want to talk about it, you will need to talk about it too.

Many Wounds Never Heal

Susan Beth Pfeffer has proved with this book that she is a skilled author. I read her post-apocalyptic series a while ago, and it was a character driven, thoughtful, realistic series. I am surprised she can bring that same thoughtfulness into a very, very different kind of story- one about a young girl struggle with her own demons, both internal demons and very tangible demons. This story made me think about Pfeffer in a whole new light.

Willa and her mother escaped an abusive father and ended up with a very kind man named Jack who only wanted the best for them. Jack and Willa's mothers life is a financial struggle, but Val, Jack's ex-wife, pays for her daughters to do anything they want. While Willa loves her two sisters, it is very clear there is a discrepancy between what they get to do thanks to their mother, and what Willa gets to do because her mom can't afford it. Willa barely remembers her biological father, except his temper. When frantic phone calls followed by a police visit reveal her father, Budge, may have murdered his new wife and children and is on the run, Willa feels she is living in a surreal world.

Budge was spotted outside Ohio, and is on his way towards Willa and her mother. For their own safety, they are moved to a hotel. When Budge arrives at their house, he attacks a police officer and is killed on Willa's front lawn. In a few short hours, Willa's entire life is turned upside down when she learns about his brutal murders, 4 other children, 3 of which he murdered, and the life she and her mother left behind when they ran from Texas. She decides to go back to the town to pay her respects to the family she never knew she had. It is there she learns a lot about her life, both before and after she left Texas. What Willa uncovers will change everything about the way she sees the people around her.

This is a beautiful and terrifying story all in one. The characters are unconventional, and they have very real problems. I had a lot of trouble digesting Willa's mother through most of the story, especially how she literally tread on eggshells around Jack so as to "not ruin anything". But when they stopped acting like a Stepford family and faced the troubles their family was having, I understood why she was the way she was (although I still didn't really like it). The strange relationship between Willa and her sisters was also confusing at first until it became clear they were just as confused and unhappy as she was. These characters really grew and developed as the story went along.

The story is really very deep and dark. It deals with some very heavy material that might be too much for a more sensitive reader. It isn't overly bloody or gory, but the murder is particularly brutal. The toughest part is seeing Willa suffer through so much and internalize her pain so much she turns to cutting in order to make it through each day. You just want to save Willa. You want to slap her parents and make them realize how hurt she is, even before her father came back into her life. Some of the emotions are difficult to decipher at first, but I think that is what makes the story so realistic. Although the reading level of this story would make it suitable for a younger reader, its subject matter might make it better for a more mature reader. And be prepared to have some discussions with your child or student after they are finished. This isn't a book to be taken lightly, and it proves Pfeffer is quite an adaptable author.

Realistic, Honest, and Well Written

After reading Bumped, a dystopia about teenage pregnancy for profit, I had to prove to myself that my issues with Bumped weren't about the idea of teenage pregnancy. Instead, my issues were the silly way it was handled. So I picked up Hooked by Catherine Greenman with one purpose in mind- prove to myself I was open to all kinds of Young Adult novels- even ones about tough subjects. I have one ting to say- This book proved it.

Thea is the product of a now-sober alcoholic father and a flighty mother who is more concerned with her own life than that of her daughter she is supposed to be raising. Despite a somewhat absentee father (even when he was physically present) and mother, Thea turned out ok. She was doing decently in her competitive high school, was your average, well-rounded young woman, and had some good friends. When she met Will, it was your typical first love. She felt hooked by her love for him; she needed him to love her as much as she loved him.

When Will graduated, he decided to stay in the city and go to Columbia University. At some point in the beginning of the year, Thea becomes pregnant. At first, she is stunned, but she tells her mother and decides to have an abortion. While her best friend and her mom offer to go with her, Thea decides to do it on her own. When she sees the sonogram, though, she can't imagine getting rid of the little person inside her. She panics and leaves the clinic, but doesn't tell anyone about her situation. When it becomes too late for an abortion, she finally admits to Will, her mom, and finally tells her father the truth: she is still pregnant and plans to have the baby.

At first everyone is angry with Thea for a host of reasons, but most importantly for keeping this from them. But then they soften and realize she was determined to have the baby. Both sets of parents decide to help Thea and Will out, set them up with a cheap apartment, and are moderately involved in financial support. Will is still going to Columbia, so Thea stays home and takes care of the baby, Ian. At first, the arrangement seems cozy, but quickly the immaturity of both parents comes out. Thea accidentally burns Ian with water and rushes him to the hospital. When Will arrives, he makes it very clear he blames Thea (despite it being an accident). This tension continues until he pushes her to put Ian up for adoption. Terrified Will is going to take Ian and give him away, Thea moves in with her father and asks Will to leave them alone.

Life with her father, a man she barely knew growing up, is odd at first, but their shared love for Ian brings them together. They make a cozy little life together, but sometimes their ideas for Thea's future are very different. This causes tension between two parents in very different points in their lives, both trying to raise their children. While Thea must find out who she is and who she wants to become, one thing is always obvious. Thea loves Ian and wants nothing more than to be his mother.

This is an amazing story because the characters are flawed, caring, mean well, and are so darned realistic. Thea is a kid, but she is a kid who is determined to be the best mother she can. I have a cousin who had a baby when he was still a teenager, and it still amazes me to see him with his son- he is such an amazing father and he desperately loves his son. This is Thea. She is young. She makes mistakes (which is something we adults to all the time too!). She loves her child unconditionally. I love the way her parenting is told through the voice of an 18 year old woman, too. Instead of "nursing" her son, she "gives him the boob"! And when Will tries to give Ian to an adoption agency, she is too scared to seek help from the adults in her life but also too immature to know he didn't have the right to do so. This was a book that showed the real life of a teen mom- bumps, bruises, tears, joy, love, affection, and all. Nothing is spared here, from the time his belly button nub falls off, to the terror when she accidentally scalded him with hot water. This book is frank and honest. Sure the message is that being a young mother is hard work, means losing the "childhood" your friends get to have, and will change you for better or for worse... but the book also says, "Hang in there. It can be done. People will help you." I loved this message. Oddly, it makes me think of all the things we say to kids to scare them throughout their childhoods. "Don't make that face or it will stick that way." "Don't swallow the watermelon seeds or a plant will grow in your belly." We say so much to scare them, but we forget to just tell them the truth. Well, this book does just that. Truth, for better or worse, is what you will get with Hooked.

There is some sexual content in this book that might make it better for a high school reader. The moral is handled seriously, but with enough levity and individualism to make it not sound like a "moral" book. I suspect the cover might frighten away a number of parents and teachers, but I hope you give it a chance. This book doesn't glamorize teen moms, but it doesn't make them seem like a stereotype either. This is a wonderful book for any teenager to read in order to let them get all the information, good and bad, and let them make decisions and choices for themselves. Sometimes, like with Thea, the answer isn't what you first thought was the right answer, but it still might be the best one in the long run.

Things They Shouldn't Have Done (But Learned From)

I'm not going to lie. There are kids I know who would be immediately drawn to this title and cover, and there are also parents who would refuse to buy it. It is definitely provocative, but is that a bad thing? The story itself can be provocative, but the moral behind the surface content is important. Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski is an interesting and sometimes sad story about young women who find themselves parent-less, by choice and as a result of poor parenting.

April is surviving her parents' divorce, their new relationships, and her mother's relocation to Paris only because she got to stay with her father in Westport. In Westport are her friends, her school, and most importantly, her boyfriend Noah. When her father springs on her that they are relocating to Ohio, she is devastated. Then her friend Vi has a brilliant idea. Vi's mom is leaving town for 6 months to travel with the latest play she is a part of, so why don't Vi and April live by themselves, alone, without parents?! April knows her father will never go for it, but after a few fake email accounts (representing both Vi's mom and April's dad) and Vi occasionally using her "mom voice", the two are able to pull it off.

Now the two girls have the house to themselves, April has $1,000 a month for "rent" and expenses, and a newly acquired cat (named Donut) and hot tub (named Hula). Now, all they have to worry about is losing their virginity. April and Noah can't seem to find the right time, and Vi, a girl with clear abandonment issues, wants to make sure it is with someone with whom she has no attachments, so it doesn't get "messy" later. Unfortunately, it gets messy for both of them. April begins to see changes in Noah- he is jealous and distant at the same time, always sending her mixed signals. Vi seduces Dean, but neither can detach their feelings from one another, even when Vi encourages a freshman to go after him and pretends like she doesn't care when he starts dating the girl. While their time in the parent-less house was supposed to be fun, boys, and parties (and there are a lot of those), it also becomes a time of realization, especially painful realizations.

I think the thing I had the hardest time with the book wasn't the intimacy or the language (relatively tame), but how much I wanted to wring the necks of the parents. Vi's mom simply doesn't care about her daughter and has no problem leaving her alone for months at a time to fend for herself. April's mom is too consumed with her own life to care, and she even knows about the parent-less living situation! If my mom had found out about something like this when I was 17 years old, I wouldn't have seen the light of day until I was 30! And April's dad turns out to be the worst. While at first he seems to be caring and worries about the situation, he still lets her stay... and without ever meeting Vi's mom who he thinks is still living at home with the girls. Then when things start to fall apart, and April tells him she wants to come to Ohio, he actually tells her no! He makes up all kinds of excuses, one being the two extra bedrooms in the three bedroom house are being used for exercise equipment and as stepmom's studio. Seriously?! First of all, my parents would never have let me get into this situation, but if I had, one teary phone call and plane tickets would be booked.

This parental absence and self-absorbed ridiculousness actually makes this a very strong story. As teenagers, we always felt smothered by our parents. It felt like a police state when they wanted to know where we were, gave us curfews, and made us promise never to get in the car with anyone else. But eventually we learned this was all because they loved us and wanted to keep us safe. I think the strength of this book lies in a reader's ability to care for their parents protectiveness. I had a student recently tell me she finally realized her mom and dad didn't give her so many rules to smother her- they did it because they loved her and wanted the best for her. This realization only came after spending time with a friend whose mother never set boundaries or forced the friend to do anything. I think this book would carry the same message. I really think it would make the reader stop and think about why parents do and say what they do.

The language is average for this book, with some swearing, etc. The content can be quite mature at times, making this a better book for older high school students only. It deals a lot with intimacy, birth control, and STD's- all valuable lessons for young adults to read about, but it would be best for an older student. There is also a lot of partying, but drinking seems to be the only substance use (although they question whether one classmate is a drug dealer because he always has a lot of cash- his real job is a lot more innocuous and kind of cute). Due to the sometimes mature content, I would suggest you read this book before passing it along, unless you are sure of the maturity of the reader. It was a really good story (even though I still hate all the parents), and shouldn't be ignored just because of the maturity!

You Won't Abandon This Book!

I know a lot of people discount Meg Cabot as writing girlie books like the Princess Diaries series, but she's got a lot more going for her (and there was nothing wrong with the Princess Diaries!). While she still has a plucky sense of humor, she can tackle a more serious story with style and flair. I picked up Abandon after a cousin and fellow YA enthusiast recommended it, and I am glad I listened to her! I read it in one day and didn't want to do anything until I finally finished.

When Pierce's grandfather died, she found a bird that was hurt, and in trying to save it, she scared it and it flew into a crypt and died. A strange man appeared in the cemetery and brought the bird back to life. She was seven. At the age of 15, she tried to save another bird in her pool, but instead she tripped over her own scarf, bonked her head, and fell into the pool int he middle of winter. Tangled in the pool cover, she sunk to the bottom of the pool and drowned. Next thing she knew, she was being shuffled into one of two lines, waiting for a boat. She didn't understand what was happening to her, and neither did the other people around her. When a man rode in on a terrifying horse, she instantly recognized him as the man from the cemetery who brought the bird back to life. Comforted by the sight of him, she got his attention. When he asked if she wanted to escape the terrifying place and dry off, she eagerly agreed. What she didn't realize was she had just agreed to spend eternity with a Death Deity.

While John wasn't quite Hades, he served the same purpose. He was like a captain to Hades, ushering people to their final resting (or not so resting) place at one of the many Gates to the Underworld. When Pierce realizes he means for her to be trapped there (as his Persephone), she throws her tea in his face and takes off. She manages to escape the underworld, but not without the incredible necklace John gave her. She is revived and wakes up from her "Near Death Experience"(NDE), but Pierce will never be the same.

After the NDE, Pierce's parents divorced, she continued to draw away from everyone, and after almost killing her teacher (well in all fairness he was a creeper and it was John who tried to kill him), her mother decides to leave Connecticut and take her to the Florida Keys where she grew up. Life on the island is no easier, because now Pierce sees John everywhere. She also suspects something strange is going on about the island. Pierce is determined to protect the people she loves, but the problem is, she may be wrong in her assumptions about who is really after her.

I love, love, love stories about or connected to mythology. I loved Rick Riordan's series' about Greek, Roman, and Egyptian Gods, and I loved this story. I think the thing that makes me love it even more than the interesting Hades and Persephone connection might be the main character, Pierce. She is totally my kind of girl. She doesn't always get things right, is fiercely loyal without really thinking things through, and has kind of a big mouth (she actually yells at a Death Deity!). I love a girl who ends up in the Underworld but is only concerned with how the other people around her feel.

The writing is simple with very mild content and language. Besides creepy Furies, this book is very tame. I think it would be a great book for any middle school through low-skilled or short-attention span high school student. It's brevity will help a student get through the story in a decent time period, but still feel like they just finished a fun book. There is a second to Pierce and John's story heading out soon, so don't forget about the Underworld too quickly!

OOps! She Did it Again!

Bless you, Sarah Dessen. I read a lot of paranormal, science fiction, etc., but sometimes I need something of this world. Something without werewolves, faeries, vampires, or fallen angels. Sometimes I need real people with real problems. Something without centuries old vendettas or grudges between Greek, Roman, or Norse Gods and Goddesses. And certainly, sometimes I just need a sweet story, full of love, mistakes, life, and people. Real people. People people. And when I feel this urge, I know Sarah Dessen is waiting for me like a best friend after a catastrophe. She always makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and What Happened to Goodbye is no exception!

Mclean is the daughter of a basketball fanatic. A Defriese U basketball fanatic to be entirely accurate. Her parents lives consisted of running their restaurant and their favorite team's stats. When the longtime coach retired, a new, younger coach takes over... both the team and Mclean's life. Her mother eventually leaves her father for the new coach, sending Mclean's life into a tailspin. Now she lives with her father, but where they live is constantly changing.

After the divorce he accepted a job traveling to different restaurants and bringing them back to life. This means Mclean Elizabeth Sweet gets to reinvent herself every few months. She has been Liz, Eliza, Beth, Lizbet... everyone except Mclean. But something happens in this new town. In Lakeview, she accidentally lets Mclean out of the box and can't seem to put her away. She makes an odd group of misfit friends, meets a boy she can't quite peg (which is intriguing), and even begins to like the people at the restaurant her father is supposed to either save or abandon. When things start to fall apart and her father is preparing to move on again, Mclean realizes she has been hiding from who she really is since the divorce. Can Mclean really become Mclean again? If she becomes who she once was, will all the pain and betrayal come back too?

I like this story, because it really examines the consequences of divorce. I happen to be the child of two happily married parents, but that isn't terribly common these days. In fact, I am never surprised to hear a student's parents are in the process of or already divorced. But even with the high divorce rate in this country, the act of a kids parents splitting up is still traumatizing. Sometimes I think we even trivialize it if we aren't in the middle of it, and that just makes me sad. What we forget is how many kids are out there who are suffering from divorce and how that affects them in every aspect of their life. This book really shows how one young woman, despite two parents who love her deeply, can be damaged by their separation. It doesn't beat around the bush, or soften the blow; instead it just gives you a peak at her life, for good or for bad. You won't be able to forget Mclean or what has happened to her.

As is typical of Dessen, this book has very clean language and scenarios. Dessen doesn't need harsh language or adult situations to make you feel for her characters. All she needs is the Dessen touch to help you get to know them. This book would be good for any young woman or young man (although probably more likely a young woman), middle school through high school, depending on the reading level. I think it might be particularly helpful for any child who has recently gone through a parents' divorce and is still feeling the consequences of the divorce. Sometimes, kids just need to know there is someone else out there who has been through the same tough times and come out on the other end just fine.

A Brutal Tale of Bullying

There is a great, big beast in our schools that we can't control. Try as we might, as strict as we can be, we can't stop the bullying that happens among our students. I think the greatest feeling of helplessness for a parent or educator is knowing bullying will happen no matter how many conferences we attend, how many times we bring the students together to have an open conversation, how many horror stories we share or how many times we try to appeal to the conscience of our children. I am not a pessimist, but I consider myself a realist. Bullying is out there, and we just have to hope all our preparation and proactive actions will help in the long run. Michael Harmon's Brutal shows how one school had good intentions, but feel far too short to protect one young man.

Poe Holly is the product of some bad decisions. Her mom is an amazing doctor who selflessly goes to South America for a year to help people, but she isn't so great at being a mother. Instead she leaves Poe with her father, the same father Poe has never met and has only spoken to a handful of times in her entire life. When she arrives at her father's house, she realizes not everything is the way it seemed. Her father is the school counselor and he is actually a very kind and understanding man. Despite her previous feelings of abandonment, she can't help but start to care about him.

The same thing happens when Poe meets the students of her new school. Her next-door neighbor is a boy named Velveeta (really Andrew, but he really likes cheese) who seems to be the target of the worst kind bullying. She also meets a cantankerous young man named Theo who seems to subscribe to Poe's exact philosophy of anti-establishment-ness. Turns out, though, Theo is the mayor's son. You would think Theo's particular brand of politics would tick his parents off, but in reality they are just the most happy and bubbly people- nothing seems to phase them (which you would think would be super annoying, but isn't really).

When Poe stops a group of the prized football players beating up Velveeta after a prank they pulled on him, she finds herself on the wrong side of the most powerful students in the school. Now Colby Morris has it in for Poe. When Poe hits his girlfriend in the face for stealing her spot on the Elite Choir, Colby thinks Velveeta did it and spreads the word that he is going to make Velveeta pay. Poe tries to seek help, but no one is listening to her (perhaps because the other times she spoke out were to protest important things like the inequality of the gym uniforms). When the football players pull Velveeta into the bathroom and beat him within an inch of his life (actually put him in the hospital), no one believes it was Colby Morris, even the teacher who heard Poe screaming and came into the bathroom to find Velveeta broken and bloody. now Poe must find a way to prove to the school it was Colby (although they already know who did it) beyond a shadow of a doubt, even if it means putting herself in danger to do it.

This is a book where the characters constantly defy their stereotypes. I thought Poe's father was either going to be completely detached or totally ticked off by her constant need to "poke the bear" or throw injustice in people's faces, but he was supportive of her in a wonderfully constructive way. He called her out when she was being petulant for the sake of it, but he supported her when she was right that the school was created a hierarchy among the students while simultaneously touting that all students were equal. Theo and his parents were a mold-busting group too. His parents seemed fine with his obvious attempts at non-conformity, but at times they seemed a little too disconnected. I expected them to be frustrated with how his actions affected their political aspirations, but they didn't. Even Velveeta was a surprise, as a boy who would fight to protect Poe- his only friend- even if it meant getting beaten half to death and not seeking help or police protection. This story became a stereotype buster for me. No one followed their traditional roles, and while it seemed a little over the top at times, I appreciated this character creation by Harmon.

The sometimes sharp language would probably make this a book best for mature junior high students through high school. This is a great book for any student to open up a dialogue about bullying and life in their own high schools. Sometimes I find myself shocked by what students share with me when they open up. In such a small school, I like to think we are super-connected to what happens with our students, but the truth is, we can't know everything. This book is proof of that. I hope you will give this story a chance and let yourself admit our flaws in order to try and fix them.

Extraordinary and Power-Filled Fun

AAhhhh... sisters. No one really understands the relationship between sisters unless they have them. I happen to have a younger sister who is also the middle child- talk about a therapists dream come true (just kidding!). When we were younger, we didn't hate each other, but we weren't the great friends we are today. Don't get me wrong, we still snipe, annoy, and nudge one another on a regular basis, but the sisterly bond is one no outsider or non-sister can understand. Now add newly realized "super" powers to sister rivalry and you have the fantastic and fun book The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June by Robin Benway.

April is the careful, driven oldest sister. May is the middle child who often gets lost in the flurry and sometimes feels forgotten. June is the impetuous youngest sister who just wants to be popular. When their parents get divorced, the girls move with their mother to a new school. As if that weren't traumatic enough, they begin to develop abilities that will test both their sisterly bonds and their futures.

April realizes she can see the future. She can't command the visions to appear, but when she is around a place or person involved in the future event, she can get snippits. May develops the ability to disappear. Not literally, of course, but she becomes invisible and no one can see her (a typical middle sister power). She can't control when it happens, and often finds herself in precarious situations. June learns she can read people's minds- even her sisters' minds. She chooses to use her power as a way to gain popularity and be part of the cool clique.

When the girls realize what is happening to them, April tells them they can't use their powers for self-serving purposes, but June refuses to follow April's orders. When April starts to see a future where a horrible accident occurs and Julian, a cute boy from school, and June are somehow involved, she decides to get proactive. In order to protect her sister, she starts spending time with Julian in order to keep him away from her little sister. Meanwhile, May is in the middle of her own personal crisis as a school mandated history tutor, Henry, challenges both her intentions and her (sometimes) self-imposed invisibility. At first May refuses to deal with Henry, but his persistence and odd charm cause some exciting moments as she gets flustered and her body parts (usually feet first) start to disappear. When June refuses to listen to April, her older sisters do everything they can to make sure she doesn't get hurt by using both their super powers and their sisterly powers.

The story is told from first-person perspective from all three girls. The chapters rotate between the three girls, giving the reader a glimpse of how all three are dealing with their new lifestyles. At first, this can get a little confusing, but the reader quickly gets used to April's controlling and concerned tone, may's snarkiness, and June's flakiness. Eventually, you can figure out which sister is talking without even reading the chapter headings. At first I thought the personalities of the three sisters were a little cliche and hokey, but it seems to work. The story is very interesting, and Benway doesn't disappoint with a formulaic story. There is enough surprise within the plot to keep the reader interested.

There is some adult language throughout the story, but it isn't overwhelming or distracting. The story itself is a lot of fun and appropriate for mature middle school students through high school. It would appeal primarily to girls, especially sisters, but you might find the occasional male student who enjoys this story. This was the first book of Benway's I have read, and I liked it enough to buy her previous book, Audrey, Wait! I will let you know how that one turns out!

There is always a Duff...?

The title of Kody Keplinger's debut novel caught my attention: DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend. I thought to myself, "Ugh! What the heck is this?!" Then I looked at the blurb on the inside jacket and was intrigued. The Duff is that girl in the group of friends- the one who isn't as pretty or tall or thin as the other girls. A beautiful girl can be the Duff, as long as her friends are prettier, taller, or thinner than she is. It's all about who your friends are.

For Bianca Piper, being the Duff was a label she half-expected but was still hurt by. Bianca is a strong young women. Her friends, Jessica and Casey, are endearing and the three of them get along well enough in high school. When Wesley, the hottest guy in school and the leading jerk/woman user/abuser of the school, comes up to her and calls her the Duff, she unceremoniously dumps her Cherry Coke in his face. She plays it off as if she doesn't care, but inside she can't stop think about the label: Duff.

When Jessica's brother comes into town- Bianca's first love who broke her heart when it turned out he was sleeping with her and still had a girlfriend- Bianca can't tell her friends why she is so upset. They still don't know she was ever involved with Jessica's brother. On an impulse, Bianca kisses Wesley. When they are partnered up on a school project by chance, Bianca is desperate to limit their contact as much as possible, but that might not be possible. She planned on bringing him to her house, but her father is not taking the impending divorce well. In fact, he starts drinking heavily after 18 years of being sober. Out of necessity, Bianca agrees to go to Wesley's house. Out of anger, Bianca ends up sleeping with Wesley. She can't believe what she has done, but at the same time, it feels really good to be with Wesley.

Over the next month or so, they continue meeting up at his house since his absentee parents are nowhere to be seen and her father is too drunk to know where she is. While the relationship may have begun as a physical contract only, Bianca and Wesley quickly realize they have more in common than they realize- namely no one else to confide in about their family problems. When it appears Wesley is enjoying Bianca's company in addition to the company of other ladies, she tells him to stuff it, but Wesley won't give up. Even when Bianca tries to move on with a nice, safe, albeit boring and obnoxious, new guy, Wesley won't leave her alone. In fact, when he catches her with this new guy, he almost seems hurt. But his true colors shine when he is confronted with the true reality of her father's alcoholic rages. Wesley will protect Bianca even if he can't admit how much he cares about her and how much she cares about him.

Wow. Don't even know where to begin with this one except, Wow. I am not going to lie or mislead you, this book has a lot of choice language, quite a bit of sex, and situations most adults are simply not comfortable talking about in relation to teenagers (even though we all know it happens). As I got about halfway through, I found myself absolutely shocked by the nature of the book- gritty, severely honest, and no BS. In fact I couldn't believe an adult wrote something so honest! Then I looked on the back flap to see that the author is actually only 18! Of course! No adult would speak to young adults this way- only another young adult could!

And thank the Gods she did! Young women need to hear this stuff. They need to know they aren't alone. They need to understand their insecurities are the same insecurities we have all felt. The idea of the Duff is painful and honest, probably because it hits home with such a strong right hook. I know I feel like the Duff with my friends all the time (because they are beautiful, strong, incredible women), but there is more to the idea of the Duff than just one girl's insecurities. In this book, Bianca is assumed to be the Duff, but in fact, her friends Jessica and Casey also feel like the Duff of their little threesome. Sometimes, when you feel like the lesser of the collective, it is hard to imagine the others feeling the same way. This life lesson is one that is invaluable to young women. Sure, I know we all feel insecure, but even my beautiful, strong, independent friends have insecurities. I might see them as strong and impenetrable, but they aren't. Knowing this makes the Duff label less like a stigma and more like girl power- we choose to own our insecurities as well as our strengths and talents. We aren't perfect and we are fine with that. Sometimes we feel bad about ourselves, but we can share that with our friends because they do too. Being the Duff is about being a woman, good and bad.

This book does have fairly mature language and situations, but it is nothing most teens (save the sheltered and the Amish) haven't already seen, heard, and sometimes lived. I think the adults recommending this book should be aware of the nature of this book and make the decision as to whether it is worth the benefits of such a book to give it to children/students. Personally, I think it is absolutely worth it. The mature circumstances in this book are not gratuitous or overdone, they are simply the nature of adolescence as it is today. We can choose to keep it from our kids in a healthy, empowering medium such as this, but we can't shelter them from everything. Personally, I would rather they saw these situations and related to them here, with an empowering moral, than to only hear about them on the school bus or in the hallways. I applaud Keplinger for taking such a stand and putting in a book for young adults what young adults want to hear and should hear. Brava!

Will Leave you Battered and Bruised

This review is harder to write than most, because this book is not only difficult to classify, but it will defy all your preconceived notions. I had an idea what the book was about when I first started it, but I was quickly aware how wrong I really was. This book was not only something completely different than I though it was- it never ceased to surprise and amaze me. Each turn, twist, or plot element was a surprise.

Bronte and Tennyson are twins whose parents are both literary professors. Tension in the house hasn't been good ever since their father had an "indiscretion" last year. Now their parents tolerate one another with thinly veiled hostility from mom and humble guilt from their father. One thing is always constant, however; Tennyson is always protective of Bronte. When Bronte starts dating Brewster, known around school as Bruiser, he is not pleased his sister is going out with the boy voted Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty. But there is more to Brewster than meets the eye.

When a simple threat doesn't keep Brewster from seeing Bronte, Tennyson takes it upon himself to go to his house and scare him. When he gets to the house, he find a scene he didn't expect. Brewster's precocious brother Cody sobbing over their dead bull and their uncle Hoyt screaming at the two of them and ripping his belt off to whip Cody. Tennyson stands up to Hoyt and begins to see the real Brewster. However, there is more to Brewster than any of them truly understood. It begins to become obvious that Brewster gets hurt a lot. His back is full of bruises and scars, and Bronte and Tennyson assume Hoyt is abusive. The real reason for the scars, however, is one even the reader can't imagine. The real reason is one that will leave you surprised and sad for poor Brewster Rawlins.

This is a book that really examines pain and suffering- both physical and emotional. The bizarre situation surrounding Brewster is just the beginning. From the pain of infidelity and divorce of Bronte and Tennyson's parents, to the pain of bullying and teenage tormentors seeking their target, to true betrayal, love, and devotion. This is a story that starts like any other young adult novel and quickly emerges as so much more than that. The saddest part of this story is how much Brewster wants friends and family and people to love him, but how dangerous all that caring can truly be for Brewster.

This is a very clean story where the conflict is mostly emotional rather than physical. The story can be heavy at times, but is appropriate for a wide range of ages. It would be appropriate for any high skilled middle school student all the way through high school. The story might be a bit too complex for younger students when Brewster's secret is revealed, and would be best for those students if read with an adult who can answer any comprehension questions about the plot. Otherwise, this is a bittersweet tale that is both beautiful and horrifying. While I can imagine we will all take something different from the story, I know it will be hard for anyone to forget.