A good, suspenseful mystery that begins with a bullied girl blogging about how she wished the queen bee/mean girl was dead at her school. Days later, A good, suspenseful mystery that begins with a bullied girl blogging about how she wished the queen bee/mean girl was dead at her school. Days later, she's missing after being dropped off at her home tipsy after a late night party. She's vanished without a trace and about a week later her boyfriend turns up missing too. Readers that like watching Criminal Minds will love this dark tale with a great twist at the end....more
Sheff shares the gritty details of his struggle with addiction. Told in the present tense, readers will feel as though they're on this difficult and pSheff shares the gritty details of his struggle with addiction. Told in the present tense, readers will feel as though they're on this difficult and painful journey with him. Having abandoned treatment and given up on the 12 step road to sobriety, Sheff seeks to find his own way to living his life. After moving in with a girl-friend from rehab that will support him, he finds himself facing feelings of despair and struggles with some big questions. Is working minimum wage jogs, eating take-out and watching tv as good as life will get for him? To deal with his feelings he starts drinking heavily and smoking marijuana to get through these dark days. Soon hard drugs become available and he's heading into decline. Hang in there until the end, because when he reaches Los Angeles pieces of his life fall into place in a way that will provide him and his readers with hope. ...more
Marcelo in the Real World quickly became one of my favorite coming-of-age stories for teens and even, adults. I understand why VOYA reviews have two rMarcelo in the Real World quickly became one of my favorite coming-of-age stories for teens and even, adults. I understand why VOYA reviews have two rating scales- one for quality and one for popularity. Few books fall into earning high marks for both-think Hunger Games. This book would earn a 5 for quality and a 3 for popularity. It's the type of book that students might fall in love with if they gave it a chance, but with a narrator that falls somewhere on the autism spectrum it will not resonate with many teens who won't be able to identify with him.
Marcelo's father insists that he work at his law form over the summer, abandoning his job of managing the small horses at the farm/school that he's attended for his entire childhood. His father wants to challenge him and make him confront his fears and sort out life in the real world and leave behind both his special interest and his IM (Internal Music). He finds a friend and a colleague in Jasmine the manager of the copy room where he's sent to work. But when Marcelo stumbles on a photo of a young disfigured girl who's injury is likely the result of a company's reluctance to acknowledge their faulty windshield, he struggles with what to do. His father is that company's defense attorney. When asked how to determine write from wrong, Jasmine helps with a music analogy- the right notes sound right and the wrong notes sound wrong, much like life's decisions.
Marcelo's journey is both thoughtful and thought-provoking. If you haven't read it, wait no longer, you'll love it. ...more
Skip the nearly straight to DVD movie with A-list actors and read this book. I'm stunned by all the negative reviews. White Mike takes a year off fromSkip the nearly straight to DVD movie with A-list actors and read this book. I'm stunned by all the negative reviews. White Mike takes a year off from his over-privileged life to defer an ivy league education and "work". Needing only a supplier, a beeper and his never-ending prep school connections, he walks the streets of New York to collect cash in exchange for drugs. Near the beginning, another dealer, much like Mike, dies in a violent and bloody deal gone bad in Harlem and the wrong guy is arrested. That deal's connection to White Mike eventually surfaces, but it's Jessica-the teen slut's first trip on Twelve, a drug she describes as a combination of ecstacy and cocaine that lends its name for the title. Taking place in the two weeks of a high school's Christmas break, you will feel White Mike's self-imposed isolation, even as he walks among the crowds in New York during the Christmas .
I was surprised to find that this dark book about a teen drug dealer was well-written, regardless of how it was published. I loved its structure, moving from vignette to vignette and leaving a loose-end only to pick it up later. ...more
First, I'm a big Criminal Minds fan and not easily put off by dark and violent stories, but this one was too much for me. Oskar, a bullied teen, was soFirst, I'm a big Criminal Minds fan and not easily put off by dark and violent stories, but this one was too much for me. Oskar, a bullied teen, was so brutally bullied, both physically and emontionally that it was difficult for me to read these sections. The sections where he wasn't bullied describe a teenage boy who was murdered nearby and hung from a tree by his ankles so all the blood would drain out of a wound on his neck, into some recepticle since no blood was discovered at the scene of the crime. Thirty pages in, I had to give it up-too dark for me....more
The story begins with the end-of-summer specatular silver-shimmering California beach scene brought on by the grunnion fish riding the waves to shore.The story begins with the end-of-summer specatular silver-shimmering California beach scene brought on by the grunnion fish riding the waves to shore. Moments after the beach turns silver, one boy shoves another off the cliff, to what surely must be his death.
Kidd tries desperately to escape his tragic past and genetic death drive, beginning with running away from Horizon-the place he's lived and received therapy since his mother killed his father and turned the gun on herself. Leaving Horizon, also meant leaving Devon, a friend who his therapist recommended he detach from. He seeks out Red, a retired surfer and campsite manager who provides him with a job and a campsite of his own. Days later, Devon finds him and Kidd is scared for himself, but also for the blonde girl, Olivia, that caught his eye.
Kidd had to push Devon off the cliff. He had to save Olivia. Kidd, an unreliable narrator, tells us the story by taking readers to the beginning of the summer, before Olivia wrote a song, before Kidd learned to surf and before Kidd followed Devon to his make-shift home.
Kidd, Devon, Red and Olivia are characters that stay with you long after finishing the final page....more
Happyface is Diary of a Wimpy Kid for an 8th-10th grade boy. The narrator is a shy, artistically talented sophomore boy, who moves with his mom to a nHappyface is Diary of a Wimpy Kid for an 8th-10th grade boy. The narrator is a shy, artistically talented sophomore boy, who moves with his mom to a new neighborhood following a divorce. Having been a shy, geeky kid with no friends, he tries on a new personality that involves a lot of smiling and soon gets a group of unique and somewhat popular friends. One of them nicknames him Happyface and it sticks. Filled with short diary entries, drawings, and occasionally comic strips and IM message logs, readers will gradually learn that the divorce is the least of the problems that splintered his family. Alternately dramatic, sarcastic and laugh out loud funny. Read it!...more
Shakesspeare Shapiro must write his memoir to pass his English class and to graduate. He tells us his story as he moves through senior year and througShakesspeare Shapiro must write his memoir to pass his English class and to graduate. He tells us his story as he moves through senior year and through his memoir. Obsessed with girls, sex and a willingness to share humiliating stories from his past, Spanking Shakespeare lands itself in a much needed category of contemporary funny guy reads. ...more
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