The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson

The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Read this as part of #yearofya debut author chat to be held 3/29 @8PM EST and oh was it good- comic book & literature references plus a cast of loveable & devious teens and what a great title!!! Lily Anderson is a librarian and oh do I have love for her and this first new book that is real, funny, about teens in a genius school, rankings, and someone who is framing teens for plagiarism and other honor code violations. Add in romances, 2 teens who despise each other and you have one AWESOME read, I could not put it down and after the many sad, current books I have been reading, I thoroughly enjoyed this fantastic read, a must for teens:)

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Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Random Houses Children’s and Crown Books for Young Readers for the ARC, Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner. I was compelled to read The Serpent King three times and with Zentner’s 2nd book, Goodbye Days, I will certainly be reading this book multiple times. Carver Briggs loses his 3 best friends with just one text, Where are you guys, text me back. With this ripped from the headlines story, a teen loses everything he loved - his best friends known as The Sauce Crew. Teen readers will deeply feel Carver’s palpable grief, his tremendous loss, and also the anger, rage, and unforgiving nature of some of his best friend’s family members. When Nana Betsy asks Carver to help her celebrate her grandson, Blake, in a Goodbye Day, both Nana and Carver learn things they did not know about Blake. It is a deeply moving day but one that Carver needed to deal with the loss of his best friend. Even though we never “meet” Blake, Mars and Eli; Carver’s memories of how they each met, each of their goodbye days, and Carver’s celebrations of their Sauce Crew antics, made these guys real and very exceptional to me. I knew them and loved them like Carver did. Carver navigated his grief and self-hatred by leaning on strong characters: Blake’s sister, Georgia was remarkable and supportive while Jesmyn (dated Eli) was such a new, special friend along with honest psychiatrist, Dr. Mendes. Teens will be passing this book around; there is so much they will relate to with Carver’s loneliness, despair, and turmoil but he is also someone they will root for, love, and hold tight in their hearts. Highly recommended for teens and adults.

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The Way I Used To Be by Amber Smith

The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story about rape and its effects on a freshman in high school was a sucker punch readers will not be able to escape. Rebekkah Ross's narration of this audiobook was compelling; the voices Ross used for Eden, her friends and family were so good I did not want to stop listening! Eden is young for her age and nerdy. One night she is savagely raped by her brother's best friend, Kevin Armstrong, whom Eden idolized. As the reader follows Eden through high school, we see her terror (Kevin threatened to kill her id she told anyone & he said no one would believe her), self loathing, and descent into a life of self harm (she sleeps around, is rude and mean to her friends, she turns on her brother and parents, drinking and drugs). It was so distressing to see this young girl who was full of life and hope become angry, isolated, and desperate (Eden keeps pushing down the incident). I rooted for her to trust someone with the truth and for her rapist to burn in hell. Amber Smith gives the horrifying statistics about rape in her Author Notes- rape doesn't just destroy the victim and so many times it goes unreported, why is this? This story does a stellar job of getting into a victim's head and heart. Every school should have this book in their library and all teens MUST read this raw and compelling book!

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