Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Jasper Jones is an outcast in his Australian mining town of Corrigan. But one night he knocks on Charlie Bucktin’s window and asks for his help. Charlie is honored and desperate to impress Jasper; he follows him to a sheltered area and sees Laura Wishart hanging from a tree. Charlie is stunned; who did this and why is Jasper Jones pulling Charlie into this awful web of lies and deceit? This story is mesmerizing, suspenseful, and funny; it pulls you into Charlie’s world of family, friends, and the deep, dark secrets in Corrigan. Charlie must reach deep within himself to keep these confidences that just ache to be unburdened. A superb novel of characterization, setting, and coming of age.







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Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Stephanie Perkins' second book does not disappoint with Lola Nolan as a seventeen year old, with two dads for parents and a biological mom who can't seem to get it together. Lola has a totally different fashion sense, loves wigs, and most definitely stands out in a crowd. Lola has a rocker boyfriend, Max, who is way too old for her, according to everyone else. Lola also has been friends with Cricket, the boy next door, since they were very young. As they grew up, Cricket Bell and Lola clicked, but they didn't act on it. When Cricket's family return after moving, the anguish and hurt from his abrupt departure, and now return, is fresh pain again for Lola. But wait! Lola has Max and they love each other, don't they? Perkins gets the angst of true love (just like her other book's characters, Anna and St. Claire---they are in this book too!) Lola and Cricket manuevr through many road blocks in quest of a relationship. Living in San Francisco, Lola has it together, but she was hurt by Cricket and his sister, so the doubt she carries throughout is very believable. Cricket is a great guy, who has spent years as his twin sister's support for her ice skating career that has taken top priority forever. The reader cheers when Lola and Max break up and hope beyond hope that Lola and Cricket really can be together.



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Shelter by Harlan Coben

Shelter by Harlan Coben

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I love Harlan Coben mysteries and he has effectively made the transition into YA mysteries with Micky Bolitar, a sophomore, whose uncle, Myron Bolitar, is the famous detective in other Coben suspense novels. Mickey's dad has died in a car accident and it has sent his mom on a downward spiral into alcohol and drugs. While she is in rehab, Mickey is staying at his uncle's house, going to a new school, meeting a new girl he likes and befriending a goth and a geeky guy. Mickey is self assured, plays basketball, and misses his father terribly. When his new girlfriend disappears without a trace, Mickey and his friends try to locate her. There is lots of suspense' Bat Lady in an old house, a home invasion of Ashley's house; being followed and run-ins with the police. I will certainly be reading the next YA mystery by Coben!



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Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Sarcastic, negative Cullen Witter is a 17-year-old living with his family and friends in dead end Lily, Arkansas. It is during the summer before his senior year that his cousin overdoses and dies, an extinct woodpecker returns and his 15 year old brother, Gabriel disappears. As his life unravels, Cullen questions why his brother is missing, why his best friend sticks by him, falls in and out of love, and hopes for the return of his brother. Masterful storytelling, a great read, twists and turns with a wonderful resolution.



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Chime by Franny Billingsley

Chime by Franny Billingsley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I love my kindle but I wish just with this book, that I was looking at the cover as I read it each day. This cover is revealing and might have helped me understand a little more about what was going on in this supernatural fantasy of redemption, loss, and re-finding oneself. Billingsley does a fabulous job of crafting the odd Swampsea world of seventeen-year-old, Briony Larkin, the narrator, who feels responsible for her twin sister Rose's accident, her stepmother's paralysis, and totally hates herself (for many other reasons). Briony is convinced she is a witch who speaks to the Old Ones, and if discovered by the Chime and the townspeople, she will be put to death. When twenty-two year old Eldric with his good looks and fun loving way with children and Rose, arrives in Swampsea, Briony enjoys their jokes and banter together as he urges her to be a Wolf-girl, teaches her to box and forms the Fraternitus Bad-Boyificus. But it is the unreliable, self-abhorrent thoughts of Briony that drive this story and her belief that she must stay a witch to save her sister from the swamp cough that has taken lives and threatens Rose as well. The swamp contains great fantasy elements with the Boggy Mun, Mucky Face, Brownie, the Dead Hand and the Dark Muse; Briony can see them all. I enjoyed seeing the relationship of Briony and Eldric develop slowly and it is Eldric's unwavering loyalty to Briony that saves her during her trial and helps her love herself again.




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Top Sellin YA Books at Baker & Taylor

Top-selling books at Baker & Taylor in October for teens:
Top Titles for Teens
1. Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
2. Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos
3. The Hunger Games (paperback), by Suzanne Collins
4. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
5. The Hunger Games: Movie Tie-in Edition, by Suzanne Collins
6. Where Things Come Back, by John Corey Whaley
7. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
8. The Hunger Games (hardcover), by Suzanne Collins
9. The Returning, by Christine Hinwood
10. Why We Broke Up, by Daniel Handler