This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really love author Courtney Summers but I just don't love zombie books. Sloane Price is one of 6 students who is barricaded in her high school when the world has ended and the zombies are trying to get into the school. Everyone in the high school wants to live but they do not know that Sloane has a pact to die and she is just biding her time until she can take her own life. Why? Her sister, Lily ran away 6 months ago and she promised she would take Sloane. Why? Their misreable father maliciously beats them on a daily basis and Lily was going to run with Sloane to a better life and then Lily ran away and the apocalypse struck! What happens inside the school is totally creepy and scary, I couldn't put the book down. I liked watching characters who gradually stepped up and changed during their time in the school while others deteriorated, turned on others and were just palin human during a truly terrifying time. I so enjoyed watching Rhys become someone Sloane grew to care about; Rhys knew how to handle Sloane (even when he found out she wanted to kill herself)and it was totally maniacal when they decide to run "outside" and make it to a center for aid. Summers does not allow the reader any time to think in this book because there is constant paranoia, dread, and fear. Intense and utterly scary, what will happen to Sloane?

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Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Wither by Lauren DeStefano
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book and really felt like I was withering along with all the other "brides" of Linden. Imagine a world where women do not live past the age of 20 because of faulty genetic engineering; there is a master race but now boys only survive to age 25. Rhine Ellery had wonderful parents and a twin brother but her parents are dead now and at age 15 she is stolen off the streets of Manhattan and forcibly taken to Florida to be one of the 3 wives of Linden Ashby. Rhine's narrative is strong but very conflicted; she plots to escape and return to her twin brother but she lives like a prisoner in Ashby's mansion. His father, HouseMaster Vaughn is sincerely scary, trying to find the perfect antidote. Rhine sees/finds that he is experimenting on anyone who dies but cannot share this information with anyone. Through Rhine's eyes we see how cold, fake, and eelike Vaughn is but she knows how to lie and play his game. Linden is sheltered, awkwar,d but a husband to 3 women and the love of his life, Rose dies making Rhine promise she will look after him. I really had a tough time liking Linden. He was weak, and he never knows his father is evil incarnate---but his father was experimenting on Rose after she dies, to try and get that perfect antidote. Somehow Vaughn knows everything that goes on in his home. He knows that Rhine is growing closer to the house servant, Gabriel. He knows she tried to escape during a storm and he isolates her and continues to badger hee and stress her importance in keeping Linden happy. The title of the book Wither was so apt and it is part of the Chemical Garden series. DeStefano does a thorough job of creating a world that is in chaos with a perfect Master Race racing against time to save the children that science has doomed. Since I downloaded the 2nd book on my Kindle, I will be reading it, but I am glad to give myself some distance from the ache of the decay in this first book.

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Every Day by David Levithan

Every Day by David Levithan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, I just really loved this book, A. and Rhiannon, and the many other people A is each day. But I was also very sad, because when A falls in love with Rhiannon, you want everything to be possible for them, like their first day together when they spend the day at the ocean. Even though it may seem fantastical that A. isn't a person, but someone who becomes another person for just 24 hours. Levithan's A. is sympathetic, has had to get used to something he cannot control since he was born...waking up every day, somewhere else, a male or a female, black, white or any other culture, happy, sad, a jerk, suicidal, fat, geeky, etc. But the day he wakes up as Justin, A, isn't really a fan of Justin, until he meets Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. She seems tentative around Justin and A. just falls for her niceness, her smile and decides to throw all his caution to the wind and spend a very special day with her. The day at the ocean is perfect. It is only later, in another body, another day that A. becomes driven to see Rhiannon, even if it is 5 hours away. At some point, A tells Rhiannon who he is and Rhiannon, being touched by the special person A is, decides to (a little unwillingly) meet up with A, whenever possible. Will they find true love? Well, there is alot more going on in this book, so you have to read it to find out. But I think teens will love this book! It is full of yearning, honesty (even amongst the lies)and I see it as probing the teen uncertainties---when A. is fat, when A. is a girl, when A is black---how does Rhiannon act towards him? I think teens will see the many possiblities and keep on turning those pages, I know I did! I can't wait to discuss it with my boys and girls because I think both will see the good in A. and Rhainnon. Enjoy this YouTube video of many YA authors who are different characters in this wonderfully compelling story, High recommended!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZjSHv...


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Take Me There by Carolee Dean

Take Me There by Carolee Dean

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I so wanted to give this book 5 stars. I loved the main character, Dylan. He had a horrible life and he always wanted to make the right choices, but trouble seems to follow him. Dylan Dawson's narration goes back and forth in time. Dylan's father is in jail, Dylan was six when his father went to jail and is on death row for killing a police officer who was also his friend. Dylan's father was selling drugs on the side and since he went to jail any information he wanted about his father was not provided by his mother, grandmother, and uncle. In the present, Dyland and his friend Wade are running from a drug lord Two Tone but Dylan is also trying to find his father in the Texas jail to ask his father if he was born "bad" and would he ever find happiness. Even more important than his unfortunate life is his deep love for Jess. Dylan has loved her since he was 12 years old and Jess has dropped in and out of his life over the years, but Dylan knows he is not good for her and tries to stay away but life just isn't helping him. Even after he tells Jess trouble seems to follow him and she should just stay away, and Jess tells him despite his history, he is decent,real and genuine. I love the way Dylan speaks and thinks. "There was a light in her eyes that reached all the way to the corners of my soul, telling me that I could start over. That I could leave my past behind and be worthy of a girl like Jess. It was like a small explosion shaking me all the way down to my roots." I had so many passages marked throughout this book where I was just so moved by Dylan's plight and his love for Jess. I wanted him to get the girl, have a happy life and leave all his trouble behind. A really, really, really good book (guys and girls will love it) and a PA Young Reader's Choice title for this year!



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forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


For the third and final book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls, I so enjoyed the story, the suspense, the maturation of the characters (Sam and Grace, Isabel and Cole)and the ending was very satsifying. Sam and Grace were still such an in-love couple, caring deeply for each other even when one was a wolf. They even got cocky Cole St. Clair to become a supporter and believer in their devotion to each other. Isabel was still the ice queen but both she and Cole definitely thawed toward each other and oh did I enjoy when they were under the table in her mother's exam room!!! I really disliked what Isabel's dad was intent upon doing to the wolves and it was Cole who really grew as a human/wolf in order to help the wolf line. It was a definite page turner, and I really hated whenever any of them had to become wolves with all the popping bones, yuck! But I am going to miss not having another novel of Sam and Grace to look forward to; Maggie Stiefvater better start working on another great series for those of us she hooked!



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Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos

Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Dark Dude has such a great cast of characters. They all have their problems, but it is Gilberto and Rico, who takes Jimmy with him too that decide to leave their lives in Harlen and strike out for a better life in Wisconsin. Rico is a light Cuban American and this causes him so many problems; he is bullied becdue to his light skin, family tensions with his moms' constant hassles, a father who drinks too much and can't make enough money to support his family and a rundown, violent school. Gilberto is an older Latino friend who truly cares for Rico and makes Rico feel he can do anything. Jimmy has a horrible life but together Rico and Jimmy make comics and watch out for each other. Jimmy is the artist and Rico is the author and they have an idea for a story, "Dark Dude" or Latin Dagger. It is when Gilberto comes into money and decides to go out west and get an education and better life that changes life drastically for Rico. When he can't take his life anymore, he runs away with Jimmy and meets up with Gilberto in Wisconsin. It is this new life, which isn't always great, and his coming of age in Wisconsin (lots going on there), that really causes Rico to mature and changes the course of his life. Rico as a character is going through so much and he has compassion, morals,and integrity. He is smart, re-reads Huck Finn and loves the relationship between Huck and Big Jim. I really admired how Rico never shirked the many challenges that came his way. A great multicultural read of bonds and friendship, but one my reluctant readers won't be interested in because of the 439 pages.



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Something Like Fate by Susane Colisanti

Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The characters in this romance novel are all really finely drawn by Colasanti and I found Lani very believable as a teen who doesn't follow the crowd and realizes she has angered friends by distancing herself (they think Lani thinks she is too good for them) and becoming very involved in her own club to save the earth. Her good friend, Blake is gay but hides it for fear of his father's anger. Lani and Blake are compulsive about checking their horoscopes and Lani truly believes in fate (hence the title). As the narrator, we find out from Lani about how her best friend, Erin, saved her when they were younger and they have been inseparable since. Lani has also become friends with Danielle in her ecology club. But Lani is insecure and also unaware of herself as being interesting to guys. She has never had a real boyfriend and when she meets Erin's latest flame, Jason, she has no reason to believe he might be interested in her. But it becomes obvious to Blake that Jason is interested in Lani and when they start hanging out together, Lani likes Jason but just sees him as a friend and nothing more. It is when Jason finally tells Lani he cares about Lani, that things get really interesting. Jason is a great guy;athletic, funny, a mentor to younger kids and a lifeguard during the summer. With only 2 months left before summer, Lani and Jason stay friendly; when Erin leaves for summer camp, Jason breaks up with her in an email and Lani and Jason begin seeing each other and it is a pretty perfect summer, what will happen when Erin returns? A great book for girls.



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Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin

Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I was not a fan of the lead character, Charlotte Locke. It is tough to move your senior year, but Charlotte seems to run headlong into the wrong best friend, pink haired Amanda, and her ex-boyfriend, Neal. Charlotte is jealous, mean and petty to her brainiac brother, James Henry. She goes from being a daughter who confided in her mother, to one who hides what she is doing and where she is going from her mother. Charlotte tells us she is afraid, yet she smokes, joins the debate team, does acid and secretly sleeps with Neal (he wants to keep their relationship a secret)so what is she afraid of---oh yeah---she wants to be popular and that propels her to do all these things that were not her before. She also shows disdain for Milton, a neighbor who is mentoring James Henry. Milton is secure in who he started a mushrooms club (I even liked his descriptions of the good and bad mushrooms!!!), snowboards, skis and wants to befriend Charlotte. When Charlotte does acid at a party, she really makes some bad decisions and it is in this aftermath that she finds out what kind of "friends" Amanda and Neal are...It is interesting to see Charlotte start to realize what a gigantic mess she has made of her life and how all her decisions have been so bad---but can she right her wrongs?



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Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai

Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I sooo loved this book! A great book for middle/jr high as well as high school for its depiction of a Muslim family fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan after 9-11. Fadi and his family have tried to stay in their beloved country but the war has driven them from their home. Fadi's father, Habib, has paid the last of their money to flee their homeland. Fadi's family is close-knit, loving, and care deeply for each other. Fadi's mother, Zafoona, is ill and his sister, Noor, is helping her escape and Fadi is responsible for Mariam, his little sister. It is when they are leaping from one truck to another, that the Taliban attacks, and Mariam breaks away to pick up her doll, that Fadi loses his grip on his little sister. Once the family reaches safety in the United States, they try to locate their precious family member, in whatever way they can. Fadi begins school in a country very foreign to him, but he makes friends and also experiences bullying because he is Muslim. What I really enjoyed was how Fadi mentions his favorite book, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and how he relates to Claudia and her escapades in the museum. Fadi loves photography and uses his father's camera which took many a picture in Kabul. It is this love of photography that inspires Fadi to join a school contest in which the winner will win a trip---and Fadi is determined to win that trip and return his lost little sister to their heartbroken family. Fadi has so many things against him but he also has determination and with his new found friend, Anh, they both hope to bring Mariam home---but, will they succeed? This such a great book, great characters, believable plot, and the themes of belonging resonate in each chapter of this wonderful book.





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Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Salire Saenz

Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A heart-wrenching tale of a young man, Zach, who is an alcoholic and finds himself at a rehab facility where he must remember in order to heal. Zach is an 18 year old who has so many skeletons in his closet and he doesn’t really talk too much but you know he has a mother (with depression problems) and a father (who drinks too much) and a brother who is so psychopathic, he is holding the family emotionally hostage. His childhood as he “remembers” it is so dysfunctional that he drinks in order to cope and keep up a façade as a fun guy. Zach almost dies of alcohol poisoning which lands him in a hospital (none of this he remembers) and now at the rehab facility, we are introduced to his therapist, Adam, and Sharkey, a larger than life guy with many demons, and Rafael, a 50 year old man, who has alcohol issues, and it is through these relationships and Zach’s stream of consciousness that we learn about all the “monsters” that are torturing these fragile individuals. It is a tough read, more sad and haunting than I felt comfortable with at times and I thought of putting it down but I was also compelled to read about Zach’s journey. I know this journey is torturous and fraught with self-doubt, loneliness, anger, and helplessness. But it is a journey that many must make and hopefully they will be better, happier, more filled with life.



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