McGarry ROCKS!

So much divides us. When something brings together two people from such different worlds, its hard to remember all that keeps us apart. In Katie McGarry's romance short, a girl from the wrong side of town meets a boy of privilege who is struggling to find his place in the world. 

Stella has purple hair and is generally ignored by her classmates, when they aren't humiliating her and calling her Trash Can Girl. Jonah is a kid born into every privilege, but he would give it all away to change the events of that fateful car accident. He is called a hero, but the death of the man he couldn't save haunts him. Both are drawn to the cemetery for different reasons, but neither expected to find solace in another person while they were there... especially another person who is from a totally different world. 

OK. Let's be honest. I would read a grocery list if Katie McGarry wrote it. I just love her no-nonsense, incredibly candid, real romances. They are amazing. And this e-short is no difference. Yes, the "wrong side of the tracks" love story screams "Pretty in Pink", but Katie McGarry can make everything fresh and new. There was a deep sorrow in Jonah that made you want to protect him, and Stella's history was hard to read about because it was so sad and yet so real. My only complaint is that there wasn't more! I wanted a full book about these two!

An Amazing Experience

If one event that happened decades before you were born could shape the person you would become, what would you do if you could go back and witness that event? Would you try to change it? Jordan Sonnenblick takes a boy whose life has been dictated by the events of the summer of 1969 and flings him from 2014 back to that summer and the festival that changed the face of our culture. Are You Experienced? is your opportunity to be transported back to the three days that defined the decades that followed.

Richie's parents were older than his friends' parents, and their age shows in more ways than one. He has never had anything in common with his father other than their love for guitar, but his dad even controls his love for music. In his parents militant anti-drug, anti-alcohol campaigns, they control his life like he is on lock-down. When he sneaks out to play at his girlfriend's protest to legalize marijuana, Richie doesn't expect his father to show up outside, but then again, Richie didn't even know what the protest was for! When he gets home, the chasm between him and his father is almost insurmountable... almost. When Richie's mother tells him the truth about his uncle Mike's death, Richie goes to speak to his father and instead finds the secret his father has been keeping: Jimi Hendrix's famous guitar from Woodstock... with a note for someone named Gabriel. Richie can't help himself. Despite his father's restrictions on electric guitars, he plugs it in. Just as he is about to rock out, his father finds him. Despite his father shouting at him to stop, Richie refuses to give in. He needs to play this miraculous piece of history he never knew was hidden in his basement. And then it all goes black. 

Richie wakes up, naked, in 1969 just in time to get hit by a car. Granted it wasn't going very fast, but it still hurt! He can't understand why he ended up on the side of the road, why he is naked, or where all of these pristine super old cars came from. That is, until a girl named Willow jumps out of the car to check on him. Through a few quick questions, it becomes clear that Willow is Mike's girlfriend, Richie's uncle Mike. And his little brother David, is Richie's father. Richie has heard that Woodstock was the weekend where it all went downhill for Mike and started the trend that led to his heroin overdose two months later, but somehow, he is going to live it right alongside them. Knowing he had to be careful about the future, Richie tells them his name is Gabriel, his middle name, and the strangest and most incredible weekend of his life that he wasn't even born for changed his life forever. 

Wow. Just Wow. I thought the premise of this story was hokey. I have to admit it. Time traveling to Woodstock? Ha! Wouldn't we all love that?! But it still seemed silly. And even the beginning of the book where one chapter was in Woodstock and it alternated with 2014 didn't thrill me, but from the moment Richie learned the truth about his uncle and played that legendary guitar, I was hooked. This story is so steeped in incredible history and music legends, I felt that I was transported to 1969 right next to Richie. Some stuff was a little silly (how the holding of lighters at concerts or crowd surfing started?), but on a whole, this was a really amazing story of how one weekend can ripple into the generations that follow it. I loved seeing how the consequences of Mike's weekend even affected Richie and his own music. It was a pretty powerful message. And that music? Let's not forget that music! Oh, I could just hear Janis and Jimi and Credence. It makes me think I was born a few decades too late, and the beauty is many of our students don't know who these greats are yet. So let's grab the Woodstock album and set the tone! There is no better way to understand such a festival than to swim in all its magnificent tunes!

The thing to know about this story is that it is Woodstock, with all its amazing adventures and all of its 1969 charm... including the things people would like to forget. There are certainly a lot of drugs being taken and accidents happening, and some skinny dipping, but you have to understand Sonnenblick wanted an authentic experience for his readers. If hundreds of thousands of young adults could go to Woodstock and spend an entire weekend peacefully listening to music and not rioting, hurting, and being unkind to one another, why can't today's young adults read about it? I find fault with the opinion that reading about drugs makes kids try drugs. I think that is a ridiculous hypothesis, but then again, I have always felt it was important not to censor our young adults' reading habits (or music or movies, for that matter). I grew up reading everything I could get my hands on, and that includes some of those romance novels my mom and grandmother read, and you know what? I didn't turn out so bad! I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Trainspotting, and I didn't turn to a life of drug abuse. I watched R-Rated movies and it didn't make me violent. I think we have to trust our young adults to experience something like Woodstock through this amazing story, and experience it in its entirety! 

One part of this story that we can all agree is invaluable, though, is that Richie finally took a moment to understand why his father did the things he did. He always thought his father was overbearing and controlling and basically just there to throw a wrench in Richie's fun, but really, he just wanted to protect Richie. Mike was everything to David, and it took a trip to Woodstock for Richie to understand that was why David protected Richie so fiercely. I have read a lot of Sonnenblick novels, and I think this might be one of my favorites! I just can't get our how much the culture of 1969 washed over me, from the music to the idea of war and the draft. After reading this, I talked to my students about the draft and how they would feel if it was reinstated, and they were speechless. It is important to understand what the generation of my parents and their grandparents lived through. It was a summer to remember, even if you weren't there!

Beneath a Meth Moon

Crystal meth has become a scourge upon our young people. But do you really understand why? I can't say I do, but in Jacqueline Woodson's heartbreaking tale, Beneath a Meth Moon, I feel like I witnessed the devastation first-hand. 

Laurel's mama packed her and her baby brother up to go with their father north, away from the hurricane, away from the water. She said it would only be a few days and that she couldn't leave Laurel's grandmother M'Lady behind, but she lied. It was forever. As they turned and drove away, they never thought that would be the last time she would see or speak to her mother. But the water came. And the water couldn't be stopped. And the water took everything away.

At first they lived with Laurel's aunt, but in search of more work, they headed to a new town with new people and new opportunities. Laurel meets Kaylee and starts cheering. Everything finally seems like it might be a life worth living again. Until Laurel meets T-Boom, the co-captain of the team. It is T-Boom who introduces Laurel to the moon. And once she starts the moon, it isn't so easy to stop. Especially when it takes away all the memories, all the pain, and all the emotions. 

This is a short, quick story, but it is devastating, both in the poetic beauty with which it is written, and the haunting devastation of the content. You see this innocent 15 year old girl who lost her mother and her grandmother, and even having a loving father and a little brother who needs her can't make her stop using. She knows it is killing her, she sees herself in the store windows, but when the itch starts, all she can think about is the moon (meth). 

I have read a number of addiction YA stories in the past, but there is something so melodic and poetic about the way this story was written that it makes you almost feel guilty in finding beauty in a story of such devastation. That conflict of emotions may be what made me like this story so much. It is written in simple language with large type and is a fast story, so this would be a very good story for an older student who struggles with reading. They won't be bogged down by the heavy content because the writing style is so smooth and easy to read. This story makes me want to explore more from Woodson. I am very impressed by my first story from her!

Deadly But Not Silent

A peaceful death is something we all take for granted, but if you can see a death echo, a body's connection to the person or creature that ended its life prematurely, you know all too well how many deaths are far from peaceful. In Kimberly Derting's Dead Silence, Violet's life has taken a very violent turn.

It was bad enough that Violet lived her life stumbling upon dead bodies, animal and otherwise, but when she was taken by a serial killer, her last resort was to kill him, leaving her with her own death echo connecting her to his life which she took. She can't help but think it was all connected to the team, and that without them, she never would have had to kill a man in self-defense. As she learns to cope with her new life, she stumbles upon the journals of her grandmother, the woman from whom her gift of sensing the echoes came from. It is in these journals that Violet begins to uncover the truth of her team and the people pulling their strings- a dangerous truth.

Meanwhile, she is drawn into another series of imprints that lead her to a family brutally slaughtered in their home. Unable to ignore the imprints, she finds the bodies and must rely on her team for help. It is through this case, one that involves a missing teenaged girl, Violet's childhood friend as the primary suspect, and more murders piling up, that Violet begins to look carefully at her own life and her own gift. But more than anything, Violet wants to keep those she loves safe, and when you can't stop finding murderers, it is hard to feel safe anywhere you go. 

I was really surprised in the last book when Violet's involvement with the team took a turn for the worst. I actually really liked the idea of the team, so it was hard to think of it as a bad thing, but in this installment, we get to see a lot of the politics and history behind it, making the team a fascinating, morally ambiguous group that you can't get enough of. While I think four books would have been tough without the team, its presence gives a whole new dimension to Violet and her ability. And what a terrifying ability to have! I am glad Derting has added this level of sophistication to the story, as it has certainly held my interest and then some! In fact, although I am fairly certain this is the final book in the series, I would love if she would just keep going with it! There is so much more to be done with the team and Violet's personal life (Oh, I love Jay). 

This is a good series for many readers. It is interesting, mature at times, and the series doesn't ever dull. I would give this series to a number of different kinds of students, in particular older readers interested in true crime or mild supernatural stories. Derting creates realistic, skeptical characters who aren't afraid to question authority, a quality I whole-heartedly appreciate! So, please, Ms. Derting, Give. Us. MORE!

Mexican Hat Dance on My Heart

A good book makes you love the supporting characters as much as the main characters, so when Katie McGarry announced Dare to You, the story of Beth from Pushing the Limits, I was so excited I yelled loud enough to wake my husband and scare my dogs. And lucky for me, McGarry didn't disappoint.

Beth has always taken care of her mother. She buys food, pays the bills, and even collects her when the local bar owner wants her out. Beth has never known what it meant to be a carefree child, but at least she has a family with Noah and Isaiah. When a confrontation with Trent, her mother's abusive, drug-dealing boyfriend, leaves Beth in jail, her aunt calls the one person who can help them: Beth's uncle, the famous baseball player, Scott Risk. Scott is willing to help her, in fact, he insists on it, but he has some conditions. In fact, he tells Beth that if she doesn't live with him, go to school, stay out of trouble, and abandon everything about her former life, he will tell the police exactly what Beth's mom has hidden in her apartment. 

Beth can't imagine life in the sticks with prom queens and baseball games, but she will do it to protect her mother. What she didn't expect was to come face to face with the jerk who asked her out last week. Ryan has some demons of his own, but they are well-hidden inside the school's star baseball player. Never one to lose a bet, he continues to try his luck with Beth now that she is permanently in Groveton.  His friends bet him he couldn't land a date with her, and lord knows she has made it perfectly clear she would rather stab him that go on a date with him, but Ryan doesn't give up on anything. Especially a girl who seems like a nightmare on the outside, but turns into a whole different person when you get to know her. 

I don't think my description of this book can really do it justice. It sounds like a typical romance, but there is so much more to this book and this series. In fact, the romance is hidden within a dark, sad tale about a girl who had never had a stable life. Sure, Isaiah and Noah loved her unconditionally, but she never had real parents. In fact, Beth had to parent her own mother. And because of everything she dealt with growing up, Beth was a hard, angry young woman who was the antithesis of the suburbs her uncle transplanted her to. And who can blame her? Anyone growing up around abusive boyfriends and drug addicts would have to develop a wall around themselves just to survive. But I loved that there was so much more to Beth. She wanted to love and be loved, but she never fully believed she deserved it. Even with Isaiah's undeniable love for her, she never felt she was worthy. 

And her relationship with Isaiah was hard for me to accept. In Pushing the Limits, I wanted her to finally realize he was in love with her, so seeing this book wasn't about the two of them devastated me. But once I saw the story play out, I could see how Isaiah would have been wrong for Beth and she for him. She needed something different, someone new, someone whose romance didn't threaten one of the few friendships Beth had. And Isaiah could never be that for her. And trust me, it was heartbreaking. Watching her come to that realization and Isaiah, wonderful, tattooed, devoted Isaiah, come to that conclusion had to be one of the hardest things for me to read as a person who just loves these characters. 

And that is the thing about McGarry. She can make you fall in love with even the toughest and hardest characters. I mean, Beth?! She was the last character you would find yourself siding with in Pushing the Limits, but you always knew there was more to her than just the black hair and nose ring. And McGarry gave you more. And she gave it to you in a way that is absolutely heart-wrenching. I felt such an emotional attachment to these characters that even now, I am looking at this book thinking, "How can it be over?!" These are phenomenal books and I don't think anyone out there could read them and not feel a connection to the characters, even if they could never empathize with them. McGarry has a gift, and I am going to be waiting, very, very impatiently waiting, for Isaiah's story, because he has some unfinished business. I love this series, and I Dare You to read it and not love it too!

A Spin off the Red Death

Who would be brave enough to spin a story off the great and powerful Poe, you ask? Well, because there is no greater form of flattery than imitation. Bethany Griffin took Poe's ideas in Masque of the Red Death and ran with them in a story of plague, corruption, and despair.

Araby Worth is one of the lucky ones. As a result of her father's status as a scientist who designed the masks the rich use to keep themselves plague free, she lives in the "safe" part of town (which inevitably  means the wealthy part of town). But even in a time of so much death and suffering, people who have the time and money to not worry about where their next meal comes from or if they are safe from illness find themselves bored. Araby may not be as wealthy as her friend April, but she has no problem acting as carefree as they club hop and experiment with illicit substances. But the tattooed boy who works at the club just has to look at her with those piercing eyes to bring her out of the haze she has been living in ever since her brother succumbed to the plague. 

When Araby ends up passed out on the floor of the club, Will, tattooed boy, takes her home despite the risks. There she finds he is struggling to raise his younger brother and sister alone after his parents died, and without money to even feed them, he can't afford to buy them the masks that will keep them safe. Araby is drawn to Will, but back home, Elliot, April's brother, is pressuring her to steal her father's plans for how to create the protective masks and distribute them to everyone in the city, not just the rich people. As things tend to do, everything starts to fall apart at once. Prince Prospero has taken an interest in Araby, rebels are fighting the Prince's army, and a religious zealot uses the plague as a proof of God's vengeance. Araby isn't sure who she should trust, but she certainly knows that something must change or the newest illness, the fast and violent Red Death, will be the end of them all.

I love this Poe story, and I am an avid fan of dystopias, so I was interested to see how this homage held up to the original story. I think the direction was great and the twist was interesting, but sometimes I think the structure of the story faltered a bit. That isn't to say I didn't enjoy the story, because I actually did, but it wasn't a seamless, flawless story. There were some confusing moments and changes in direction that weren't clearly prepared for or resolved that left me forced to go back and reread for more clues.

But still, this was a really interesting twist on Poe. The characters aren't exactly the type of people you would instantly love or put complete faith in, but that didn't necessarily both me. Araby's drug addiction, Elliot's scamming and drug dealing, and even Will (who was the most likable main character in my opinion) who was difficult to read most of the time, all added to the realistic notion that great things can be done by not-so-great people. In a dystopia like this, you often see a clear hero, but I prefer a flawed hero who you appreciate the effort it takes for them to sacrifice for strangers. Therefore, the lack of clear heroic qualities only added to this story in my opinion.

I think this would be an interesting story for a fan of dystopias, but not the best as first exposure into the subgenre. I think some of the confusion and difficulties I had will be resolved in the following sequel. I am very interested to see how these characters develop and if they will become more defined in the next book. This would be appropriate for the older end of young adults since it shows some of the uglier sides of plague and dystopic society (starvation, rape, violence, etc.). The reading level isn't too complex, but parts of the story itself can be complex, so an older student would appreciate this story the most. It is also a great complement to the original Poe story for a literary connection to popular literature!

A Monument to Apocalyptic Fiction

You know what you would say to your loved ones if it was the last time you were going to see them, but what if you didn't know that time was the last time? In Monument 14, Emmy Laybourne takes a group of kids from a school bus (or two), throws them into a new, very dangerous world, and hopes they can survive.

Dean boards the high school bus and his younger brother, Alex, gets on the elementary and middle school bus. They head off on just another day of school and routine, but this isn't just another day. On their way to school a freak hailstorm takes out Dean's bus. The driver is dead, as are some kids who were trapped and beaten to death by hail, but the remaining kids know they have to get out. Through the heroics of an ancient bus driver, the surviving kids find themselves trapped in the Greenway department store. When the bus driver heads off to find help, she leaves the kids behind, not knowing just how alone they will soon be. 

The hail storm was just the beginning of the after effects of a giant tsunami. When a major earthquake hits, the kids assume they made it through until a chemical spill from NORAD. The chemical reacts differently in people with different blood types, killing some, sterilizing others, and making another percent of the population go stark raving mad and murderous. The kids are lucky enough that the emergency gates on the store closed, sealing them inside, but what is on the outside wants to come in. While the kids have enough supplies to survive in the department store, there are scarier things out there than they can imagine safe inside the store. 

First, let me just assure you that there are no zombies going on here. Homicidal psychopaths, yes. Zombies? No. I wanted to get that out in the open, because the description of the people affected by the chemical sounded to me a lot like zombies, but they aren't. They are alive, reasoning, thinking loons who want to tear everyone and everything apart they can get their hands on. Scarier than the zombies if you ask me! But nevertheless, no zombies here. 

The story is quite interesting story, especially on the heels of a similar story I just read called No Safety in Numbers. They are very different books as this is apocalyptic and that was a terrorist plot that led to a quarantine, but there are still some similarities, like being trapped in a mall/department store. The thing that sets this story apart is the lack of adults. The older kids try to hold things together, but since they are children themselves, it doesn't always work. Some kids started dipping into the pharmacy, others gorged themselves on candy and ice cream. A couple of the older kids paired off, little kids wanted their mommies, and all of them grew more and more scared. It actually felt very real in regards to how the kids all reacted to the situation. 

My one skepticism surrounded the chemical agent released from NORAD during the quake. I am not sure how a chemical could react so differently based on blood type, but I have learned not to question these things too much and to give fiction a little wiggle room for creative license. So I let that go and just enjoyed the story. It was written in first person narrative and sometimes the story felt very much like it was slipping out of the mouth of a young adult... perhaps a little too much at times? With this writing style comes a few choppy sentences or disjointed thoughts where I had to go back and reread to get the full gist of what was happening. But all in all, it wasn't distracting most of the time, so I was able to really enjoy the story. I found the story exciting and engaging and really want to know what happens next. I desperately hope this is the beginning of a series because otherwise Laybourne's "Got some 'splainin' to do!" The ending had a feeling of finality while still being abrupt and leaving you hanging. I don't know how she concluded the story that way, but she did, and it left me dying to know more!

Not As Alone As You Think You Are

A parent should be a constant in any child's life. Parents should care for and love their children above all else. When a parent fails to do so, the repercussions on the child are lifelong. In Helen Landalf's breakout YA novel Flyaway, she explores the difficult world of a parent who chooses drugs over their child.

Stevie makes do. Her mother isn't always home, there is never food in the fridge, and she is creeped out by her mother's boyfriend, but she loves her mother. Even though her mother's job as a stripper in a local bar has made high school a nightmare, she still waits anxiously for her to come home every night. When she doesn't come home for a long time, Stevie is worried something happened to her. When her Aunt Mindy, her mom's sister, whisks in, Stevie knows Mindy is about to ruin everything she has with her mother.

Mindy takes Stevie in, buys her new clothes, and even arranges for her to have a math tutor to catch up in school. All Stevie can think about is her mother. But Mindy is more concerned with acknowledging the fact that Stevie's mom is a meth addict. They send her to rehab, but Stevie is dealing with her own demons. She struggles with both wanting her mother to get better and wanting her mother back in her life. When her mother decides to leave rehab early, Stevie hopes everything can be different. What she doesn't realize is the first step to recovery is admitting the problem.

I wanted to love this book, and it was certainly interesting. It is an incredibly short book, so I was wondering how the author planned to tackle the tough subjects thoroughly in such a brief time. Therein lay the problem with this novel. It wasn't poorly written, it wasn't uninteresting, but its brevity kept the characters from fully developing throughout the story. There were parts of the background that were glossed over or mentioned, but not fully explained. For instance, there is the mother's boyfriend who Stevie won't even go near, but the reason why wasn't fully developed. Stevie's friend has done some bad things to her, but they aren't hashed out, so they felt like an unnecessary part of the story. I didn't dislike this book, I just wanted more of it.

This book is short, so it can be deceptive. I wouldn't give this book to an immature student as it deals with some serious behavior like drug abuse, sexual assault, etc. The writing level is fairly average for a young adult novel, so it might be best for an older, more mature student with a short attention span. The shortness could work in your favor if a student tends to lose interest in a book quickly. For instance, I have a student who I have taught for two years now. She has started about 30 books in that time and never finished a single one. She finds another that interests her and abandons the last about 1/4 of the way through. A book this size might actually be something she would finish!

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.

Will Haunt You Long After You Finish

Some books are haunting and others literally haunt you. This book, both physically (the cover and graphics are amazing) and as literature, will stay in the back of your head for long after you have finished it. I was surprised by the content of this story, as it turned out to be much different from what I expected, but I was absolutely not disappointed. Lauren Myracle really threw herself into Shine. You can tell there is a piece of her soul left on these pages, and you won't be the same once you have read it.

Cat and Peter grew up in Black Creek, NC, a small, rural community that keeps its skeletons in the closet and has no tolerance for anything that might come out of the closet. This is your typical southern community rife with poverty and homophobia. Everyone has "known" Peter was gay, but by not acknowledging it they don't have to confront the issue of their own homophobia.

Over the past few years, Cat and Peter have drifted apart due to her pulling away. She didn't sink into herself to get away from Peter, but rather to escape the shame of a sexual assault by one of her brother's and Peter's friends. When Peter is brutally attacked at the gas station where he works, left beaten almost to death with a gas novel taped to his mouth and a homophobic message left scrawled across him, Cat knows she must come out of her self-imposed exile in order to save her best friend. She knows she is the only one who can find the truth, because the rest of the community is content to assume the attack was made by strangers and move on with their lives. Cat has a feeling Peter was attacked by someone in their community and she will do anything to find out who hurt her friend.

As Cat digs deeper and deeper, she uncovers many nasty details about the lives of the people she grew up with, including her brother Christian. When she learns some of the boys have been dealing and using meth for the local drug dealer, she knows she is treading dangerous waters. As secrets are revealed that were never meant to see the light of day, Cat has to come to terms with her own demons as well as the ones who hurt Peter. Can she find out who hurt her friend without becoming the next victim?

This is a beautiful and ugly story all at once. The ugliness of the community's prejudices are blanketed by the beauty of how Myracle writes such a difficult story. Underneath the pain and shame of the surface story lies one of love, friendship, and loyalty. What happens to Peter is so hard to read about, but Cat's devotion to him and the truth is overwhelming. The beauty of this story is the lesson to the reader that anyone can overcome something ugly. Anyone can overcome hate and ignorance, they just have to believe in themselves. In a world that is still full of homophobia, racism, prejudice, and ugliness of other manners, it is important to realize that just one person can make a difference. One person can change things.

The language in this book can be mature at times, but so can the story itself. While this is a difficult and mature story full of attempted rape and hate crimes, the difficult nature is handled beautifully. This is a story you can share with your children and students and be sure you will both come out of the experience having grown and changed. In a world that can be really ugly at times, we need to have these kinds of conversations with our children. Sheltering children does not protect them from anything, it just leaves them unprepared when the inevitable ugliness of the world pokes its head out. A book like Myracle's Shine can prepare them for what is really out there.