Chasing Tail Lights by Patrick Jones

Chasing Tail Lights by Patrick Jones

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Patrick Jones has such a way with his characters in this book! Christy is now sixteen but she alternates the chapters with dates in her life. Christy has many issues and low self-esteem. She lives in Flint, Michigan in a rundown school, poverty stricken town, and a shattered household. Christy is best friends with Anne but Anne knows nothing of her life, because Christy is afraid if she knew, she wouldn't be her friend. Christy doesn't want any attention so being friends with out loud Anne is great for Christy. Christy loves her truck driver dad but he dies very early on in the story and she is left with her brother Mitchell (she loves him), little cousin Bree (she is Robert's daughter and Christy loves her). Christy really has three brothers: Robert is in jail, Mitchell and Ryan. Robert and Ryan are her half brothers, different fathers from each other, and from Christy and Mitchell. There is no evidence of Christy's dad but her alcoholic mother's room is loaded with pictures of Ryan's dad, who didn't stick around. Christy's mom favors Ryan and as a result Ryan terrorizes Christy and Mitchell and makes everything their fault. Christy doesn't feel like anyone cares about her and it is Jones' characterization of Christy as lonely, shy, and who feels like a loser who slowly, achingly overcomes a life of neglect to take control, think of adults as counselors who will help her, and confide some of her "secrets" that really spoke to me as I read this book. I haven't even mentioned Tyrell, but you need to read this book to find out about this character who sticks by Christy and offers her a ray of hope. Reluctant readers will love this book, as well as Harris' other books. His honesty about teen life is compelling and not soon forgotten.



View all my reviews

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Roth's first dystopian novel is thrilling, packed with suspense as it tells the story of Beatrice (Tris) whose society is comprised of five factions and with arrival of her 16th birthday, she will need to choose where she wants to spend the rest of her life. The five factions are Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless, this is the faction Beatrice has been in), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent. Beatrice has two loving parents and a brother and she has never quite felt right in the selfless way of life. She angers quickly, questions where she belongs, and is curious, none of the Abnegation attributes. It is at the choosing ceremony that she makes the decision to leave her family and join in the initiation to become Dauntless. the process is grueling and now Tris (she renames herself) questions if she made the right decision, who her friends are and who can she trust. I really liked the Beatrice/Tris character; she was vulnerable yet prickly. She underestimates herself, thinking she is selfish and weak, when she has proved to others that she is selfless and brave. When Tris meets Four, one of the instructors of the Dauntless initiates, she waffles between anger at him (he has shifting moods)and interest in him. What will happen to them evolves with purpose and their romance is unexpected but key to what Divergent really means and what kind of threat being divergent holds. The dystopian world that Roth crafts is so interesting with the Abnegation, self denial, controlling the government, food and luxuries. But there is an undercurrent of evil that manifests itself and Tris and Four will have to choose how to stop the forces that want to betray their faction. A must read!



View all my reviews

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!



View all my reviews

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!



View all my reviews

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.



View all my reviews

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.



View all my reviews

Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray

Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a great story of loss, bullying, and ultimately the power of friendship. Three friends from England decide to "take" their dead friend's ashes from the family home and spread them in Ross, Scotland which Ross talked about constantly. Friends Blake, Sim and Kenny are best friends who feel that their friend Ross's funeral did not honor him as the great person he was in life. They go through adventures on trains, in taxis, on motorbikes, meeting girls, bungee jumping and confronting their own involvement in their departed friend's final days. Each of the three friends have to cajole, embarass and psyche each other throughout the book to do this one last act for their friend,Ross. The only problem I see is that this book is so English teens will not understand their grammar, slang, etc. and may not persevere which would be a shame because this is a rollicking good, funny, sad, and in the end, redemptive read.



View all my reviews