May Genreflecting: Giveaway of The Dante Club & Review of All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab

Carly: She was sweet. Smart. Self-destructive. She knew the secrets of Brighton Day School’s most privileged students. Secrets that got her killed.

Neily: Dumped by Carly for a notorious bad boy, Neily didn’t answer the phone call she made before she died. If he had, maybe he could have helped her. Now he can’t get the image of her lifeless body out of his mind.

Audrey: She’s the reason Carly got tangled up with Brighton’s fast crowd in the first place, and now she regrets it—especially since she’s convinced the police have put the wrong person in jail. Audrey thinks the murderer is someone at Brighton, and she wants Neily to help her find out who it is.

As reluctant allies Neily and Audrey dig into their shared past with Carly, her involvement with Brighton’s dark goings-on comes to light. But figuring out how Carly and her killer fit into the twisted drama will force Audrey and Neily to face hard truths about themselves and the girl they couldn’t save.

From Goodreads

Carly was a decent young woman who lost her way and paid the ultimate price. A year after her death, despite having a man convicted of her murder in jail, something doesn't fit for Carly's ex-boyfriend Neily and her best friend/cousin Audrey. It doesn't help that Audrey's dad, Carly's uncle, is the one rotting in prison for a crime he swears he didn't commit.

So Audrey and Neily set out together, however difficult it may be for them personally, to uncover the truth. What they find is  more than they bargained for and at times too much for them to handle. Neily is dealing with guilt over not saving her, resentment at her for being dumped, and a very general anger towards almost anyone she associated with prior to her death. Audrey feels responsible for drawing Carly into the crowd that led to her demise and for being too wrapped up in a relationship to see what was going on.

Richly written with well-placed and timed flashbacks, All Unquiet Things is a masterful mystery. What makes it so unique is that we are starting with what is usually the ending and working backwards. A death has occurred and been "solved" before we even enter the story, so now we're seeing things for the first time while the characters are reliving them. That makes for a more compelling story, in my opinion, because instead of being able to anticipate the answers that are given, we must analyze everything that is given to us in order to solve this murder.

These are some seriously damaged characters. It makes sense for this book to be set exactly where it is because of the lifestyle that can be found within elite prep schools. The variety of personalities are simply more pronounced because of their status. The level of mischief these teens can get into is off the charts for most of our considerations because of the socio-economic  differences between this elite group and middle-class families. Parties, drugs, & relationships can be found in all high schools, but the level and intensity increase with more affluent (spoiled) groups.

The mystery part of this book was incredible. I usually stick with detective type mysteries, which this one kind of resembled, but like I said, with a twist. This allowed me to travel outside my preferred historical or paranormal mysteries. The "who dunnit" feeling is very prevalent in this book, but it takes a back seat occasionally so that we can really want the characters process what's going on around them. I really enjoyed that. I have to admit though, that I did not see that ending coming. Way too good to spoil, so be sure to read it if you really want to know! Now on to the giveaway!

You have the chance to win  The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. It's a great mystery with a little bit of thriller thrown in. The giveaway will run until Thursday, June 6. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dare You To by Katie McGarry review

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

From Goodreads

All Beth wants to do is live a nice quiet life with her mom. Too bad nobody else seems to want that. After one too many run-ins with her mother's on again, off again, drug dealing, abusive boyfriend, Beth finds herself sentenced to a new life with her estranged uncle. To make matters worse, the cocky jock who tried to pick her up at the Taco Bell is to be her uncle-approved guide in her new town and high school. 

Ryan's life isn't nearly as hard as Beth's, but it's nowhere near as perfect as everyone believes. With an absent older brother and feuding, manipulative parents, baseball is Ryan's only hope for escape. A golden recommendation from Beth's uncle would clench Ryan's hopes of getting drafted into the majors, but Beth's different than any girl Ryan's ever dealt with. It's a good thing he loves a challenge.

Angst, attitude, and attention are the three big starter elements to this unlikely love story. This book is about so much more than their romantic love, it's about love in all its forms. So many relationships in this book are strained and tested because of the different kinds of love that we choose to accept. Rather fast-paced, but believable, Dare You To has continued to further my belief that Katie McGarry knows how to write a  moving and spirited book about love trying to overcome the most difficult of obstacles.

Beth doesn't really stand out to me as a unique character. She's a rebellious teenager, with a dark family secret, and an alcoholic, absentee mother. She rebels in the typical fashions, but has found companionship among similarly discarded teens. Naturally when she is given the opportunity to move to a new life and start over, she resists. What makes her different than what I expect most characters to do is that she never actually accepts her new life. She doesn't gradually forget about her former existence, it taunts her every waking moment. Beth isn't ready to let go & it causes lots of hiccups in her new town.

To me, Ryan is the stand out character in this story. There are so many things about his make-up that aren't typical, but that when put together in him, make him all the more desirable. The foundation of his moral compass is pure & strong. I didn't think there were many guys like him around in YA today. You'll have to read the book to fully appreciate & understand what I mean.

The background characters were actually quite active in the story. At least 75% of them directly contributed to the way the story progressed. Without their actions, so many things wouldn't have happened. I do wish we had seen more of Beth's uncle, but that's just my preference. I think Katie has done an exemplary job of creating some of my favorite YA contemporary romance because of its warmth and credibility. I really look forward to her next work!

ARC graciously provided by Around the World ARC Tours

January Genreflecting: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky review

Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix-tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.

But Charlie can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

From Goodreads

First off, we'll start with my review of the book. Having grown up when YA was just starting to blossom, it's not surprising that I missed this book the first time around. It also wasn't my kind of reading at the time. Well, it's apparently not really my style today. Told in the form of letters to an unknown recipient, we meet the brilliant, if awkward Charlie. The kid brother of the star football player & a boy-obsessed sister, Charlie has never really fit in socially.

While I can relate in a way to this, the book spiraled into something weirder and more dark than I imagined. There is pervasive drug & alcohol abuse, as well and sexual & emotional assault on many characters. I think the core message of the book could have been brought to fruition without all this, but in a way these things are so ingrained in the personalities & lifestyles of the older teens that Charlie hangs out with that I think the book would have been missing something without it.

For such a short book, told in four parts over about 200 pages, it packs a wallop of a punch. The world as we see it is through the distorted perception of Charlie, but the message that he seems to latch onto throughout the book is one of individuality & trusting oneself. The narrative & word choice give a clear picture of just how removed Charlie is from the social interactions he is supposedly taking part in. His incomprehension of other people's actions coupled with his cognitive abilities reminds me of someone with Asperger Syndrome. All of this combined to make a powerful, if sometimes overstated, storyline.

With respect to the genre analysis, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is indeed a prime example of a contemporary life book. While we listen to Charlie describe his emotions & events of his life, what we're really focusing on is how he interacts with his own world. We don't focus in on the fact that he smoked pot & took LSD, we focus in on the fact that in his desperation for acceptance, Charlie was willing to experiment with things outside of his comfort zone. We get to live alongside Charlie as he travels the confusing path that is adolescence. It is especially difficult for him for reasons that he himself is unaware of, so it makes the overarching story (and not the minutia) the most important.

I think this book has successfully explored the teenage experience at a very pivotal time in our nation's collective history. Being published in 1999, but set in 1991-1992, would normally make this book seem "dated" to the majority of the population. While there are definitely some obvious "signs of the times" in the book, it is a timeless novel. I could see it being set anywhere from the 1960's to in the near future. A good contemporary novel has the ability to transcend time in order to be approachable by the audience, present & future. This is evidenced by the fact that this book is just now being made into a major motion picture starring Emma Watson (of Harry Potter fame), Ezra Miller, and Logan Lerman.

What do you think about The Perks of Being a Wallflower? Have you seen the movie? Do you intend to?

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch review

THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND ... 

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen-year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey's younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and the girls are found by their father, a stranger, and taken to re-enter the "normal" life of school, clothes and boys. 

Now, Carey must come to terms with the truth of why their mother spirited them away ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won't let her go ... a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn't spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

From Goodreads

Carey has made as much peace as is possible with her "home" in One Hundred Acre Wood. She and her little sister Jenessa (Ness) have a (run down) camper, (some) canned food, a shotgun for self-defense and hunting, and most importantly each other. That's why she feels completely distraught when a man and woman show up at their campsite to take them away. With their mother MIA for several weeks now, on one of her worst meth benders in a while no doubt, Carey doesn't understand how the people knew where to find the girls and (more importantly) how they know the truth about the girls' mother.

Whisked away into the land of plenty by Carey's biological father, the girls find themselves overwhelmed by all the differences between their idea of normal and society's idea of normal. With a world of indoor toilets, light switches, and unfamiliar words, Carey and Ness begin to unravel the truth about their existence in the woods. The hardest part is sharing that truth with those who hold the power to destroy all that Carey loves in this world. Stuck between two worlds, Carey must help Ness find her voice and in doing so, find her own.

Wow. This is without a doubt one of the most triumphant and moving YA books I have read. While outwardly it seems to be such a simple premise, the contents of this book gripped me tight and made me see the truth of the story. It's not just about family, love, and hardship. It's about truth, beauty, and above all hope.

With the story being told from Carey's point of view, we get an encompassing tale. If the story were told any other way, I don't know that it would have had as much power. Carey is the key to the story since she is the only one to experience all the central events. She is the bridge that takes us from the woods, to town, and then into the past to explore the truth of the situations she is facing.

The incredible thing about the writing in this book is the detail. Emily Murdoch did a marvelous job conveying the girls' experience of such simple things that we take for granted every day. Light switches, hot water, opening a vehicle trunk, even bedazzled jeans were so foreign to these girls that the author had to convince you that they were experiencing it for the first time, but without boring you. She did an incredible job because I continually felt like I was in their shoes and never once found myself bored.

The author also took tremendous care with the subjects she broached in this book. Being a kidnapped child of a bipolar, drug-addicted parent is beyond my comprehension, but the more disturbing things that Carey and Ness had to experience were handled with the delicacy of a rare flower. Most of the gritty events the girls' endured are told through specific verb-age and euphemisms that get the gist across to the audience. While there is one scene (towards the end) where she spares few details, it's still presented in a manner I think most young adults who've ever seen an episode of Law and Order: SVU can handle.

In short, don't pass this one up. I know it's not even coming out until late March, but it'll be well worth the wait. You'll love the characters and you'll have the pleasure of reading one of the most poignant books of 2013.

Provided by Around the World Tours

Tilt by Ellen Hopkins review

Love—good and bad—forces three teens’ worlds to tilt in a riveting novel from New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins.

Three teens, three stories—all interconnected through their parents’ family relationships. As the adults pull away, caught up in their own dilemmas, the lives of the teens begin to tilt….

Mikayla, almost eighteen, is over-the-top in love with Dylan, who loves her back jealously. But what happens to that love when Mikayla gets pregnant the summer before their senior year—and decides to keep the baby?

Shane turns sixteen that same summer and falls hard in love with his first boyfriend, Alex, who happens to be HIV positive. Shane has lived for four years with his little sister’s impending death. Can he accept Alex’s love, knowing that his life, too, will be shortened?

Harley is fourteen—a good girl searching for new experiences, especially love from an older boy. She never expects to hurdle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.

Love, in all its forms, has crucial consequences in this standalone novel.

From Goodreads

Tilt follows the teenagers introduced in her adult novel Triangles. Each of the three teens are facing their own struggles with demons. None of them ever expected to end up in the situations in which they find themselves, but who does? 

Mikayla can't imagine a world without Dylan, so why would he expect her to hurt their baby? Shane has used "light recreational drugs" to help him cope with a dying little sister & the fact that his homosexuality has caused him to be a blight on the family. But how far will he falls when he falls for a doomed lover? Harley is a newly minted high schooler trying to find her own path in a sea of confusion. With no real guiding reference as to what a relationship or proper personal responsibility should look like, she risks losing everything she never knew she'd miss.

As far as the story is concerned, this is a very traditional Ellen Hopkins novel. Told in verse, you're pulled into very hectic situations and tossed in all sorts of directions. Each character has some serious demons to face that they couldn't have really planned for no matter how hard they may have tried. While none of them have perfect parents, I really think their parents' issues cause more damage than the teens are able to cope with at such a fragile time in their lives. 

I'm sure every reader will be able to identify with at least one of the main characters, but I really enjoyed the vignettes from other characters. Between each section of a main character's story is one page from a minor character's point of view. I think this gives the book a different feel than we usually get when reading from just the main characters' views. In a way it breaks down the barrier between how the main characters' perceive events & the reality of the situation.

Unfortunately, this book does not provide the type of closure that I have come to expect from Ellen's books. While her previous books may not have answered every question, I think they still left the reader with some sort of closure or satisfactory ending. The final sections of each character felt very abrupt to me. It's almost as if I was missing a few pages. When I checked, my book was in fact complete. So just a heads up, this one ends messily and in no real way gives the reader or the characters any sort of completion. While that may have been her intention, it didn't really sit that well with me.

Overall though I enjoyed the book, as much as one can say they "enjoyed" such a book. What were your thoughts?

Glass by Ellen Hopkins

Hello all! Life caught up with me, but I'm back on track and hoping to get a multitude of posts rolling here soon. Stick with me and you won't be disappointed!

In Glass we pick up a few months after the end of Crank. Kristina is holding on tight to her reality. She's cleaned up, is raising her son Hunter at home with her mom & step-dad's help, and is working towards obtaining her GED. Unfortunately it's too much for Kristina. She wants some independence and considering how much of her parents' trust she lost, that's not so easy to come by. Yet she manages to score a job at the local 7-11 and that allows her some limited freedom.

Soon though, it's too much for Kristina and she starts using the monster again. At first it's just to pep up and keep up with the demands of motherhood, but soon it turns into something she can't function without. With her usage up, she starts hanging out with the wrong kind of guys and is soon booted from her home when her mother figures out that she's using. While living with her dealer she becomes entangled in a three-way love affair and falls deeper into the drug world. Scrambling to make her world work, Kristina is left with few options. What depths will she sink to in order to continue on her walk with the monster?

The second installment is nothing short of astounding. Glass continues the nightmarish world that Kristina lives and breathes in. I was really hoping that she would be able to pull it together in this installment, although I figured she'd fall apart again. I was mesmerized by her justifications and excuses for her drug use and behavior. It was almost convincing when she said "just to get me going in the morning" or "just to lose a few pounds." I found myself almost thinking, "well if it's just a little, that won't hurt too much." I think the way it is written really lends itself to helping the reader understand just how easy it is to relapse into former bad habits.

Ellen continues her amazing ability to tell a story through poetry and prose in a tantalizing manor. I devoured this book in just a day or two despite it's length (688 pages) because the writing was so accessible! I really enjoyed getting to see Kristina's interactions with other drug users and dealers because I think it reinforced her actions. There were people just as misguided as her and they seemed to feed off of each others' actions.

If you've read Crank then you need to read Glass so that you can understand where we stand when you pick up the third, and final, installment in the series Fallout which comes out in late September of this year.

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Blue-haired, girl-felon seeks hard-working, semi-stable cop. Wait, huh? Meg is just your typical teenage rebellion with a wild side a mile long and more arrests and tickets than any parent wants to believe. Her bad attitude and outlandish hair keep everyone at bay so she can have some peace. Doing what she wants, as she sees fit, is just part of life to her. That's where Eric comes in. The rebellious, drug-imbibing, son of a lawyer gives Meg what she wants when she wants it. That's exactly what they were up to the night they got arrested.

Officer John After routinely patrols the "No Trespassing" bridge that trains cross over. It's a compulsory habit. So the night he catches Meg, Eric and two other teens out on the bridge is no coincidence. Officer After wants to make sure these teens learn their lesson about following the law. So he strikes up a deal with the DA to make them all ride along with the local emergency service crews during Spring Break; except for Eric, whose daddy gets him off the hook. Lucky for Meg she gets stuck on the overnight shift with Officer After.

Pretty soon though, Officer After is revealed to be Johnafter from high school. He's only a year older than Meg, but he's already graduated from the police academy and is on patrol duty. This provides Meg with an endless supply of ammo to poke holes in his armor. She knows that he was captain of the track team and quite decent at art and starts questioning his choice of immediate profession. Over the course of the week, Meg and Johnafter start to develop an understanding of one another based on her passive aggressive (and sometimes out right aggressive) tactics and his bob-and-weave maneuvers. It's clear that something's gotta give between these two if their little town is to survive.

A no-holds-barred, anti-punch-pulling novel, Going Too Far is in a word: amazing. Meg is such a badass chick who apologizes for nothing. I found her tough outer appearance very abrasive (which was the point) but it also set up an alarm that there was something else going on behind that front. I have found that people are not usually that rough and tumble unless they are hiding something. And boy does she have a whopper of a secret!

Johnafter was as secretive and mysterious as Meg, only in a different manner. He wasn't as "in your face" about much, except when it came to the law. He took his job and himself very seriously and it was something that I rarely see in a character. There was so much too him and yet so little at the same time.

The base storyline was kind of obvious, but the execution of action was more nuanced and unexpected. I kept thinking that it was going to go one way and then it ended up going another. Their situation was a unique one in that, only in a smaller town would a suitable punishment for trespassing in a dangerous area be to ride along with emergency service crews for spring break. The character interactions were colorful and entertaining, while still maintaining a sometimes serious tone.

This book is great for fans of realistic fiction (obviously) and those who have enjoyed other books like Perfect Chemistry, Lock and Key, or The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove will find this story very much to their liking. I couldn't put it down and read it in less than a day, I truly recommend this to anyone and everyone.

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Potential mild-spoilers may follow if you haven't read Perfect Chemistry. Be sure to check my review of that here before continuing. Just in case.

Carlos Fuentes likes to think he is nothing like his brother Alex. Carlos is tougher, is taking better care of the family in Mexico than Alex did in Chicago, and Carlos is a one-man show with no extra baggage to worry about. So then why is it so hard for Carlos not to follow in Alex's footsteps.

After getting in trouble with the local gang in Mexico, Carlos is sent to Alex in Colorado to be straightened out and finish up his last year of high school. Carlos of course has no intention of listening to his brother's warnings and decides to continue living his life on the edge and doing whatever makes his feel numb. Unfortunately those activities land him on the local drug lord's radar. When Carlos is caught with a substantial amount of drugs, he's sentenced to completing an after-school enrichment program and living with a guardian, who just so happens to be Alex's former college professor.

The professor has a lovely home with a tea-house-running wife, a rambunctious six-year-old son named Brandon, and a frumpy-looking senior-in-high-school daughter named Kiara. Things are starting to look up for Carlos. As he continues to rebel and push those nearest to him away, Kiara dares to push Carlos back. She's certainly not afraid of him and manages to pique Carlos's interest. Too bad the local drug lord isn't letting Carlos go easily. Can he protect those he cares for without having to destroy everything?

This is the exciting second volume in the Perfect Chemistry trilogy starring the mesmerizing and scrumptiously yummy Fuentes brothers. While each book can be read as a stand alone novel, it helps to have read the first one for the back story that is referenced in this book. Simone Elkeles really knows what she's doing with this series. The characters are hauntingly accurate and enticingly fascinating. They are all very unique individuals with their own hidden talents. Believe me, there were a few surprise abilities that were showcased in this novel.

The storyline was along the same lines as the first novel with a change in setting and ending mostly. I found that, while basically the same, Carlos was more ardent in his need to prove himself to everyone than Alex was in the first novel, but the girls were opposites. Kiara was much more personally vulnerable than I ever imagined Brittany. Yet in a way, Kiara's vulnerability made her more accessible to the reader. The strength that emanates from the main characters is just phenomenal and something that I think more people should possess.

While there were a few plotlines that dropped off and left me wondering what happened to them (the obligatory mean girl went poof, etc) I found that they didn't bother me as much as usual because they allowed Simone to focus more on the important part of the story. A pleasurable read that I'm sure I'll visit time and time again, Rules of Attraction is a wonderfully pleasant book that I think fans of Sarah Dessen and Jennifer Echols will appreciate. Be sure to check out my thoughts on Perfect Chemistry if you haven't already.

P.S. I LOVE this cover so much. I really want a poster size version of it, but haven't managed that yet. Next on my to-do list after moving. :)

Nostalgic Friday: Go Ask Alice

Welcome back to Nostalgic Friday! Since I love all things historical (culturally, physically, and personally) I do a post on Fridays honoring some awesome book that is a bit older. Many of them are books I enjoyed in my teens and others are books that I discovered as an adult that I think are relevant to YA readers.

This week's selection is Go Ask Alice by Anonymous. This diary of an ordinary teenage girl tracks her descent into the monstrous world of drugs. I read it in middle school at the recommendation of the librarian. I will be forever grateful to her for the unique reading opportunities she provided me.

"Alice" is just your average teenager going along in her own little world. She has her up's and down's as is expected of a teen and of course she thinks her parents are "perfect." While her family is attempting to settle into the new town they just moved to, "Alice" is still clinging to her old hometown and friends. She goes to a party with one of her old friends and gets slipped some LSD and it all goes down hill from there.

She manages to fall in with the wrong crowd, namely a girl named Chris, who introduces her to more drugs and the party lifestyle. Eventually things get too hot in their town and the girls runaway to San Francisco where they plan to live a nice, drug-free life. Naturally it doesn't go as planned and the girls end up succumbing to the drugs' calls. There are more ups and downs that cause "Alice's" life to spiral out of control on a downward slope. She can't seem to get away from those who just want her to be high. No matter how hard she tries, she can't seem to stay afloat without the chemical timeouts.

This book opened my eyes to a different world. Some of the references were a little outdated (it was originally published in 1971) even by the time I got it, but the impact was the same. It's validity has been questioned for years, but to me that's kind of a moot point. The fact remains the same that this book changed the way people think about drugs. Nowadays there are countless songs, books, and movies that catalog teen drug use, but for its time, this book was the end all, be all.

For me, this book really changed the types of books I read. Up until this point I had mostly be reading "safe, happy" books like Nancy Drew, Goosebumps, Choose Your Own Adventure books and Animorphs. This book opened up a whole new world that included books like The Body of Christopher Creed, Number the Stars, and Killing Mr. Griffin. Drugs were a really big no-no for me, not only due to personal choice, but I was extremely asthmatic and that would probably not bode well for my health. These books allowed me to see into a world that I would not otherwise know about, from the safety of my own home. This book in particular was my first real glimpse at how horrible life can go if you aren't constantly vigilant in your pursuits.

If you have not already read this book, I consider it a must read for everyone. There is just rawness and power in this book that paved the way for such books as Crank, Love You Hate You Miss You and After. It's heart-wrenching, but well-done. "Alice" could honestly be any teen and that's what's so frightening about this story. Give it a shot. Have you read it?

Cover for Fallout released!

This is the final chapter in the Crank trilogy by one of my favorite authors, Ellen Hopkins. It's currently scheduled for release on September 14th. How exciting! I can't wait! Just thought I'd share the love. You can read more from Shelf Awareness.

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Ruby can take care of herself. At least that was the ruse she kept up for a few months after her mother disappeared, again. Only this time her mother was gone longer than usual. So Ruby decided that she would continue her existence as if nothing was wrong. Well, that only lasted so long. Now she finds herself being forced to live with her older sister Cora that Ruby had pretty much forgotten all about.

Ruby moves to Cora's house, a.k.a. mini-mansion, from the foster facility and is astonished to discover what her sister has been up to in Ruby's absence. Cora has obtained a college degree, gotten married, and is living the life that Ruby always dreamed about; but she feels out of place. So as soon as she believes the happy couple to be asleep, Ruby slips out of the house and tries to make a daring escape over the fence into the neighbor's yard. To her utter surprise though, she winds up face to face with Nate, the swimming phenomenon hottie. Now it doesn't seem like such a terrible idea to stick around.

While she begins adjusting to life in a new private school and attempting to rekindle her relationship with her sister, Ruby is constantly returning to her old habits and clinging to her independence fiercely. Over time, she learns the hard way that sometimes in order to gain that which you most desire, you have to let others help you.

A charming, captivating novel, Lock and Key is par for the course for Sarah Dessen. Ruby is tough young woman who I found very easy to relate to throughout her story. Many teens go through a stage of rebellion, especially when an authority figure is attempting to tell them what is best. I found Cora, and to an extent her husband Jamie, to be prime examples of those who really do want the very best for their loved one. Even though I found the "love story" aspect a little overdone (I seem to be reading a lot of next-door-love stories), the character of Nate was a spot-on reminder of a teen boy. This was a really great, fun read and I'm hoping to read more of her in the near future!

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

The master of prose-written novels has done it again. Ellen Hopkins has delivered yet another amazing novel dealing with difficult, but applicable subject matter.

Usually a taboo subject, Tricks follows five different teens through their decisions regarding sex. Hopkins deals with the reality of what can happen when things go horribly with careful consideration and a thought-provoking situations.

Eden is the sweet, innocent daughter of a hell-fire-and-brimstone pastor. Her mother and father have forbidden her to date until she is ready to marry, so meeting Andrew was definitely not planned. They shared a love that they hoped could withstand anything. That love is tested when she is sent off to a secluded, religious, reform center to have her "demons" excised. Eden holds on to her memories as she is forced to do unthinkable things in the name of escape and freedom.

Seth is a farmer's son who has hidden his true self for far too long. After finding and losing his first love, Loren, Seth is forced into outing himself as gay to his conservative father. Being forced from his home and everything he knows, Seth becomes the kept arm candy of an older gay gentleman, only he's not so gentle.

Whitney really just wanted to fall in love. She thought that Lucas was the one and even gave him her virginity. Sadly, he used her and then threw her away. Hurt and depressed, Whitney reaches out for help to the only person she can think of. Bryn promises to take care of her, she believes him, and he makes good on his promise; at least in the beginning.

Ginger hates her mother Iris but there's not much she can do about that fact. Being the eldest of six children, the responsibility of taking care of those younger than her falls on Ginger. While her mother is out with her new dirtbag boyfriend, turning tricks, or buzzed out of her mind, Ginger and her grandmother work hard to provide for the little family. After one of the youngest children is severely injured in an automobile accident and Ginger has an all-too-familiar encounter with one of Iris's "friends," Ginger decides to skip town with a friend. The two girls didn't really know how much worse things could get for them.

Cody doesn't know how to make things better. His mom and stepdad Jack are quite happy, until the unthinkable happens and his mom is left on her own with Cody and his little, troublemaker brother Cory. Cody retreats into a world of sex and drugs to cope. Unfortunately he can't shake the responsibility he feels for his family. Desperate time call for desperate measures, but even Cody is a little anxious about the lengths he is willing to go for his family.

Spellbinding and captivating, this book will ensnare your sensibilities and leave you breathless. Hopkins has an interesting way of weaving stories together just enough that you can see characters from another character's point of view. It gives a truly insightful glimpse into the truth that we are all interconnected on some level.

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

In honor of Banned Books Week, an Ellen Hopkins book. Enjoy.

Twin sisters, both with secrets. Not just from each other, but from everyone. Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical twins with similar, but different problems.

Kaeleigh is emotional detached, a loner. She rides the school bus to be away from others, she works at a retirement home setting up meals, and she does not leave the house without Daddy's permission. Oh, and she is Daddy's replacement since Mom has moved on to the political arena and out from their lives. He drinks himself practically into oblivion and then sneaks into his daughter's bedroom, like he has for quite a few years, and gets the love he desperately misses from his wife. Too bad the only person she really wants is her best friend Ian.

Raeanne is just the opposite. She craves male attention because she feels unwanted by Daddy. She seeks out that attention in sexually with her drug-supplier and another random guy that she meets while fantasizing about her history teacher. She is rebellious in a sarcastic and smart-allick way, knowing when to stop just shy of "the line". Raeanne also feels like a protector for Kaeleigh. While she knows what's going on between her sister and her father, she does nothing to stop it.

As the election draws near tempers begin to flare as the girls' paternal grandparents, long missing from their lives, resurface separately and attempt contact with the family. The girls, unsure how to handle this and confused at their Daddy's vehement hatred of his own parents, set out to get to the bottom of what's going on; naturally they go about it in different ways with shocking results.

A grab-you-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of book, Identical is astonishing and heart wrenching. Ellen Hopkins has done it again with her artful way of writing just enough that you understand, without having to spell out every single action. The rhythm and meter of her work is captivating and will suck you in in no time. True to form as well, this book has a twist that I am sure no one will see coming. I can't wait to read her latest work, Tricks.

Love You, Hate You, Miss You by Elizabeth Scott

How would you feel if you killed your best friend? This is the question that plagues Amy, the survivor of a horrible car crash. Freshly released from rehab after a 75 day stint, Amy struggles to redefine her life now that she has to fit in without the one person who understood her and the "crutches" they shared.

Amy's parents' infatuation with one another drives her need for affection and attention. Her drinking, drug-using, and casual sex lifestyle are her coping mechanisms. Her deceased best friend Julia shared these things with her. Amy is now confronted with the loss of her best friend, the overwhelming guilt she feels for causing that loss, and the difficult adjustment of sobriety.

Her shrink asks her to keep a diary of her experience as a way to help examine what she is going through. Her journal becomes letters to Julia where she finally explores and discovers her true "friendship." While following this path Amy will gain an understanding of her parents, confront her long ignored and suppressed demons, and find a new friend in all this turmoil.

While at times this can be a difficult and emotional read, I strongly recommend it. Also, although I don't believe in a rating system for books, this one does have some slightly more mature content that might not be okay for younger, less-advanced teens.