Croak by Gina Damico

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Lex is a little bit wild…ok she is a serious DELINQUINT!  Even she doesn’t know why she keeps getting into fights and hurting people.  Her parents have had enough so she is sent to live with her weird uncle for the summer.  A summer of shearing sheep and milking cows should fix her right up.  Only that’s not what her uncle does for a living.  Lex is soon working for him and she finds herself in a strange new world with different rules and danger. 

The book is about reapers (scythe and all).  It kind of reminded me of the show Dead Like Me so I checked it out at the library.  Lex starts out as a character I would not want to know, but as the story goes on I found myself being pulled in.  The end is sad and unusual so I hope they do another book to wrap it all up.  I would recommend this book for guys and girls who like dark humor. 

Swim the Fly by Don Calame

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Matt and his two best friends set themselves a challenge every summer. They choose something that they all must do before school starts. This summer they are 15 and their goal is to see a real, live, in person naked girl. You would think since they are all on a coed swim team it would not be that difficult, but they go to some pretty amazing lengths to get the job done.


This book is so funny! The characters are realistic and well thought out. Sean, Coop, and Matt are amazing, but the really impressive characters are the girls. When you read this story you will recognize girls that you knew in high school. The story is sweet and fun and not at all as racy as the summary would lead you to believe. I would recommend this book for 9th grade and up. It’s a great way for girls to find out what guys are really thinking. This book features Matt as the main character but the other book, Beat the Band tells a story from Coops perspective.

Blood on My Hands by Todd Strasser

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Callie is at a party when she starts looking for her best frenemy. As she is walking by the dugout she trips over the body. What’s a sensible girl to do but feel for a pulse? No pulse but lots of blood all over Katherine and Callie. What’s that shiny object next to the body? Maybe Callie should pick it up…Oh it’s a knife (the murder weapon). Snap. Snap. Snap. Everyone from the party with a phone is taking pictures of Callie covered in Katherine’s blood and holding the murder weapon. Now Callie is on the run in her small town. She is trying to prove she is innocent by avoiding the cops and doing her own investigation.

The ending was a bit of a surprise, but this is my least favorite Todd Strasser book. His stories are usually a little tighter. The motive is a little shaky for my taste and some of the characters are a little one dimensional until the big reveal at the end of the story. I would read Wish You Were Dead by Strasser instead.

Gone by Michael Grant

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In a quiet town in California, in the middle of class, everyone over the age of 14 disappears. Adults and older teens just blink out of existence. In the world that everyone now lives in there are no rules, no parents, no one to tell kids what to do, fix a broken arm, or make food. Add to that the fact that there are little kids and babies who need to be taken care of and you have a pretty gripping story. But why stop there? Let’s pile on. Some kids have special super abilities and some kids are powerless. When the power hungry kids from the private school come to town and clash with the public school kids anything can happen.


I enjoyed reading this book. I’m reading the sequel right now. I hardly ever read a whole series, because there are too many good stories to get to and I don’t have the time, but I really want to know what is going to happen to these kids. The book drags a little in the middle, and it takes a while to get where it’s going, but the final showdown is worth it, and there are some amazing action sequences that would translate really well to a movie. There is a lot of violence so if you are sensitive to that sort of thing don’t read the book. The main characters are mostly 14 and that is the youngest aged teen I think I would recommend the book to.

The Detention Club by David Yoo

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Peter and Drew are about to start their first year of middle school. They were the coolest kids in elementary school so they know that they would rule middle school. Peter was not prepared for everyone else changing over the summer, or the harder classes, or detention. As all of his plans to become popular fail, he and Drew try to keep their friendship together and make it through middle school.

This story is funny and cute. The book is full of hysterical supporting characters and it rings true for what happens to a lot of kids as they move from elementary school to middle school. I liked the way that Peter and his sister see the same situations differently, and the way that Drew misunderstands everything. I would recommend this book to 5th and 6th grade boys and girls who like humor and realistic fiction.

Addie on the Inside by James Howe

 

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From the outside Addie is an outspoken know it all.  She cares about the environment, human rights, and preventing animal cruelty.  On the inside she cares about those things, but she is aware of just how much she doesn't know.  This book is told in verse, poems from Addies perspective, about what's going on in her life as a 7th grader in Paintbrush Falls Middle School.  She deals with friends, bullies, gossip, and her very popular boyfriend.

This is a companion novel to "The Misfits" and "Totally Joe".  This time we get to tread the book from Addie's perspective.  I was surprised when I opened the book at it was in verse.  I didn't expect it, but I loved it.  The poems are in various styles, but the voice rings true for a 13 year old girl in middle school.  Howe deals with some difficult topics in the book, and he faces the subjects head on, while managing to keep it age appropriate for a 7th grade reader.  This is a great book and I recommend it for everyone.  

                                                                                                               Read the other books  in the Misfits Universe.

Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler

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Missy has a terrible secret. She cuts herself to let out all of the bad stuff she feels. She thinks she keeps it hidden so well, but when something brings her secret to light she’s not sure what to do. When her cutting brings her to the edge of death she is presented an offer. Die or become one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Now she is the Red Rider; she is War.


This is the second book by Jackie Morse Kessler. The first featured a girl who became famine. Both books are amazing. I usually hate books that deal with the sad depressing fact that people hurt themselves. For some reason the way Morse Kessler writes, the insight she brings to the topic, and the fact that death likes to wear the skin of a rock god I listened to when I was a teen all comes together in an incredibly readable story. I recommend these books to everyone. There is some implied sexual content and violence, but it’s nothing gratuitous. What happens in the story is what must happen to get the main character where she belongs. GREAT BOOK!

Amelia O'Donohue is So Not a Virgin by Helen Fitzgerald

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Rachel is the girl in town who everyone tells their secrets to, because it’s guaranteed that she will never tell the secret. After she gets in trouble at a town dance, her parents send her to the pricy private boarding school that she really wants to go to. It seems like all of her dreams will come true. She will graduate at the top of her class, get into medical school, and live happily ever after. Things are going well, until her friends start trash talking about her and she uncovers a secret that is too big to keep.


The book was not what I expected. The back cover and the title make it seem like the book is about Amelia, but it’s not. She is in the story, but the real story is Rachel. We see the world through Rachel’s eyes, so much so that we don’t see everything clearly. The story was a surprise and I’m glad that I read it. It’s told from a unique prospective. I would recommend this to older teen readers because of some sexual content (nothing explicit just a little more information than some tweens are ready for), and the maturity level of the characters and situations. (9th grade and up).

Trapped by Michael Northrop

Scotty and 7 others are trapped in their high school when a record breaking blizzard strikes. Over ten feet of snow piles onto the roof of the school where the kids are trapped. The windows are obscured and the halls are pitch black. There is plenty of food in the cafeteria, but without electricity how can they cook or stay warm? They are buried in the school, and know on knows they are there. They are trapped.

I loved the book. Survival stories are my favorite, especially when the situation is realistic. These are regular students, no geniuses. They are trying to survive it what is a very realistic situation. The teens read true to their age, and the situation, and the description of the events and the weather was so spot on I felt cold while I was reading it. I would recommend this book to guys and girls who like survival stories and realistic fiction. There was no cursing or sex, but there was plenty of longing and death.

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Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

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Nick is a street wise teen, who goes to a a fancy private school his single mom can't afford.  When he gets involved in a mugging, and a mysterious stranger rescues him, Nick is caught up i a strange adventure.  He has to save himself, friends, his future, his mom, and all this while battling an angry swarm of zombies.

This is the first in a series called the Chronicles of Nick.  We find out about who he is and a little about his future.  I liked the story and the idea that future Nick is trying to help past Nick.  Percy Jackson fans will like the story because it features a greek goddess, and because it is a multilayered story featuring a regular kid forced into a series of unusual and dangerous events.  I would recommend this to teen guys who enjoy adventure and zombie stories.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

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Kyle is the perfect person. He is beautiful, smart, athletic, and goes to the most prestigious school in New York. His father is rich and famous so he has all of the material possessions a person could ever want. His life is perfect until the curse. Doomed by his own hurtful prank he is transformed into a beast. Now he has two years to find true love or remain a beast forever.

This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Set in modern times, and featuring a computer chat room for transformed people the story is fun and exciting. It gives new life to an old tale, while featuring some of the more classical elements of the story. I recommend this for people who like romance, and fairy tales. I can’t wait to see the movie that will be coming out in March 2011. From the movie previews I can see that Kyle is not a beast (with hair and fangs) but he is all scared up and pretty gross looking. I hope the movie is half as good as the book.

Totally Joe by James Howe

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Joe is 12 years old and attending Paintbrush Falls Middle School. He has a great group of friends and a really awesome family. He’s funny, artistic, a great cook, and gay. He’s is doing an English homework assignment to write about his life using the alphabet to tell the story. (A is for apple, B is for bananas, etc.…) He has the whole year to write the story so the reader gets to find out about a year of Joe’s life. He faces bullies, his favorite aunt moving away, and his first real boyfriend all with an amazing sense of humor and style.


This is a truly sweet book. The characters are much more realistic and believable than a lot of other teen novels. Many novels with gay main characters are dark and leave you wondering if there are any normal teenagers with awesome families and friends, who just happen to be gay. This book is suitable for a younger reader (Joe thinks kissing is gross and really wants to hug the boy he likes). It’s a good read for any kids who have been bullied or ignored someone who has been bullied. It deals with tough subject matters in a kind and caring way. There is only verbal violence, hand holding, and no bad language. I recommend it to everyone. Don’t take my word for it. Here’s what the experts have to say about the book:

" . . . Hilarious and poignant . . . An upbeat and reassuring novel that encourages preteens and teens to celebrate their individuality." —Publishers Weekly



"Howe tells the truth about the pain and anger caused by jeers and name-calling in a fast, funny, tender story that will touch readers." —Booklist, starred review



This book is a companion to The Misfits and there will be another companion novel coming out very soon called Addie on the Inside. All of these books are about being happy with who you are, and dealing with bullies. He is also the author of the utterly amazing and hysterically funny Bunnicula series.

You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin

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Dalton is a private dick. He's a teenaged detective for hire. The case; find out who in Salt River High killed Wesley Payne. Dalton works for the Wesley's sister to try and find out who killed her brother. Also at stake is a missing hundred thousand dollars. To solve the crime, and get paid, he has to outsmart an evil principal, dirty cops, and try not to get killed by one of the power hungry cliques trying to find the money.


Dalton is a funny and slick Sam Spade character. The book is great and really pulls you in. It reads like an old fashioned pulp fiction novel. Dalton tries to be a hardboiled detective and take care of his family while solving the crime. He faces bad guys, cliques, and slang that makes me thank god and the author for the glossary in the back. There are some mild curse words, most of them made up, some violence, and a little romance. Nothing that made me blush. I would recommend this for older readers who like a lot of action, and a good mystery.

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves

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Kit and Fancy are sisters living in a strange town.  They are outcasts because their father is the Bonesaw Killer.  He is a serial killer who is on death row, while the girls and their mother live in the same small town they have always been in.  The sisters are their father's daughter, and soon they give into the same dark desires that their father indulged in.  Are they bad people because they love blood?  As the sisters discover who they are, they face dangers like bad guys, good boys, and the truth about what they do.

This book is Dexter meets Sweet Valley High.  Sisters ,who on top of dealing with being teenagers and discovering what boys are all about, are also facing a father on death row and their own dark desires for revenge and blood.  What's a burgeoning serial killer to do?  The town that they live in, although in the regular world, is strange and filled with mysterious monsters.  The blood and guts are a little overwhelming, especially in the beginning of the book.  After a while I got used to the gore and really started to enjoy the story.  It feels wrong to cheer for the killers, but in this crazy town they are the lesser of the evils.   I love the book cover and I would recommend the book to more mature teen readers who don't mind a little cursing, romance, blood and guts.

Loser/Queen by Jodi Lynn Anderson

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Cammy is a nice invisible girl. She lives with her grandparents, volunteers at an animal shelter, is kind, generous and a good person. She is also clumsy, embarrassed, embarrassing, and frumpily dressed. When a mysterious texter, known only as the White Rabbit, offers her the chance to get back at the mean girl who makes fun of her, Cammy takes it. After the mean girl goes down the White Rabbit offers many more chances to be better looking and popular. All she has to do is follow orders. Most of the time the texts are nice things that help people out, but sometimes the texts ask her to play pranks. Soon things are out of control, she is lying to her friends, and she is losing the part of herself that was nice. Can Cammy figure out who the White Rabbit is and reclaim some of the good person that she was before it’s too late?


The book is interesting. I read it in one night because I liked the characters, but the story was a little slow. Most of what happened seemed a little improbable. Cammy’s friendship with Gerdie never came across as a really fun and happy one, but in the story they are supposed to be the best of best friends. Cammy is struggling with the bad things that she has done, but there’s nothing that bad about the things that she does. She makes new friends but never gets sucked into a dramatic elite group that makes you feel like she is in over her head. The story is not over the top, it’s incredibly realistic and many girls I’m sure will be able to identify with the story. I admire this more realistic portrayal of teen life, but I would have liked a little more cattiness and drama.



Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

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Years after the plague...years after all of the dead stood up and started eating humans, there are a few small towns rebuilding.  Benny and his brother Tom made it out of their house on First Night.  They ran from their parents and the zombies.  Now, years later, they live in Mountainside.  Benny has turned fifteen and that means he must apprentice to learn a trade or lose his food rations.  Soon he learns the truth about the town, about his brother, and his so called heroes.  When Benny is forced to enter the Rot and Ruin of the zombie infested world outside the Mountainside fences, he must do things he never thought possible to survive and save the ones he loves.

Fans of Hunger Games will like this story of teen survival in the face of the adult agenda.  It is well written in the true voice of a teen guy.  There are amazingly resilient female characters and a world that is frightening real.  As with all zombie stories this book reflects back the worst and the best in humans.  Sadly the zombies are not the worst monsters in the story.  I recommend this to fans of Hunger Games, zombie stories, and survival stories.

Click here to watch an interview with the author.

Blank Confession by Pete Hautman

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Shayne goes to the police station to confess to a murder. He sits with the officer and tells about the bully drug dealer, his wimpy but sarcastic friend, and the girl. Shayne sees the story one way, the cop sees it another way, and Mikey (the sarcastic friend) sees it his way.


Told in alternating chapters from the different characters point of view this is a rough, gritty, heartfelt story about real life. These characters are in every high school, and we all know or know of these guys. The book is a fast and short read, full of interesting characters, none of them stock teen characters. There are a lot of drug references, and some domestic violence. The topics covered are tough, but the language used is accessible to every reader. I recommend this to guys and girls who like realistic fiction.

SIlverFin by Charlie Higson

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It’s the 1930’s and James Bond is an English school boy arriving at Eaton for the first time. While at school he meets and quickly becomes the enemy of a popular and wealthy boy. Nothing sinister happens, but there is a tension on campus. Imagine James’s surprise to learn that the boy’s father owns a castle in Scotland very near where James will be staying for vacation with his family. When a village boy and a Pinkerton investigator go missing, James gets sucked into action, adventure and a little spying.


I thought this book would be a little bit of fluff; an easy action read. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The story is well written and incredibly readable. The pacing is dead on and it keeps the reader interested. The descriptions and imagery put you in the place and time of the story. Overall I was impressed with how well the book was written, the historical accuracy, and the route the author took to get the reader to the end. I recommend this book to guys 12-18. It’s a clean read without cursing or sex. (You might think “How can there be Bond without sex?” I can assure you there is a Jr. Bond girl in the story, but James is only 13 so the book keeps it G rated.)

Three Quarters Dead by Richard Peck

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Three “It” girls befriend a lowly 10th grader. They bring Kerry into their circle of friends and allow her share a little of their fame and notoriety. When an accident happens to the girls, Kerry is left reeling from the tragedy and all alone, until she gets a text from one of the girls. Now a dangerous adventure is in front of Kerry, and she has everything to lose.


This is a supernatural story, but it doesn’t become one until the middle of the book. It starts out as a story about a girl who is so desperate to be popular she sits close to the most popular people hoping some of their coolness will rub off on her. I read the book in one sitting and when it was done it’s hard to say how I felt. The book is interesting, and a quick read. It deals with realistic things like peer pressure and popularity. I’m glad I read it, but I’m not sure what to compare it to or who I would recommend it to. Read it yourself and post a comment. Let me know what you think.

You by Charles Benoit

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Kyle is a regular guy.  He used to get good grades and have good friends.  Now he goes to a different school, has harder friends, and he can’t seem to explain all of the blood.  As he thinks back over the things he had no control over and the bad choices he made he tries to piece together where it all went wrong.

The story is good, and the way it’s told (starting with the end and working backwards) is interesting.  This is a realistic look at the way things can go wrong for “good” kids with just a few bad choices.  The book was good, but I found myself comparing it to another recently published book that is much better.  The Knife That Killed Me by Anthony McGowan takes the story just a little further.  It goes a little deeper and has a character that the reader can identify with a little more readily.  Both stories are good, but if you only have time to read one read The Knife That Killed Me.

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