Chris and his best friend Win decide to spend their summer before college on a cross-country bike trek. They know everything about each other and look forward to the trip. But all of a sudden, Win has secrets. When they attend a church supper (they were camping out next to the church), Win whispers with the pastor telling Chris it was "nothing." And why does Win claim to have no money for food when Chris has found $20,000 hidden in his friend's pack? And finally, why does Win ditch Chris on the road, when they're nearly at the finish line (Seattle)?
Chris returns home alone and starts college, assuming Win has done the same. But, when the FBI comes to Chris looking for Win, he begins to worry.
This 245-page thriller is told by Chris as he begins to understand what happened to Win, and as he begins to understand the shift in their relationship. A great read!
***The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been in a coma for a year, following a car accident. She has no memory of her previous life and watches home-videos to try to recall people, places, and events. Still, she remembers nothing of her life. Did she have friends? A boyfriend? What activities did she like? How come her grandmother Lily, won't even look at her anymore? The family has moved since the accident, supposedly to give Jenna a new start. Then she slowly begins to recite poetry and historical events that she must have learned in school.
One day, Jenna cuts herself to find blue gel under her skin and synthetic bones and ligaments. Standing next to her mother, she realizes that she's shorter than she was before the accident. Her parents finally tell Jenna that only 10% of her body is actually her. She has been remade. But, what about Jenna's mind? What did Jenna's parents and doctors do about that? What is the real reason she has no memory? And how far is our future from actually uploading information into trauma patients who lose their memories? And who wants to live for 260 years anyway?
This is a quick 265 pages with most chapters no more than 5-pages long.
***Black Box by Julie Schumacher
Ninth-grader Elena is shocked when her older sister Dora is hospitalized for Depression. Dora has always been fun, zany, & outgoing. What happened? While Dora is in the hospital, Elena struggles to take care of herself and her parents, and tries to help Dora. They had always been so close. How could she not know what her sister was thinking? Elena finds a friend to talk to in Jimmy, the black-dressed outsider who doesn't always go to class. Her parents are fighting all the time now and even when Dora comes home, can she be trusted?
Is talking enough to help Elena come to terms with her new world?
This book is a 164-page easy read with short chapters. Rather than focusing on Dora's depression, the reader goes through the family's suffering, as Dora's illness affects those around her. The story is narrated by Elena, who finally learns that she can't take care of everybody and doesn't have to. She learns to release her emotions in order to be stronger.
Leftovers by Laura Weiss
***Blair and Ardith are 14-year-old best friends. Neither has a happy home life, but they have each other to confide in. Blair’s parents are pretty much absent in her life. She is left alone except when her mother is practically pimping Blair out to all her perfect-society upper-echelon friend’s sons in the hopes of climbing the corporate ladder and becoming a judge. Ardith is never alone, as her home is the party house of the block. Both her parents and older brother are alcoholics. Every night is a party with Ardith’s brother’s friends staying the night, having sex in the pool, and pawing her every chance they get. She must hide in her room behind a locked door when she’s home. Her parents don’t care, noting that “boys will be boys”.
How far do these girls have to be pushed before finally striking back? And when they strike back, are the repercussions worth their manipulative ways? Do the ends justify the means? Do they really win in the end?
This story is told alternately by Ardith and Blair. However, it is not until late in the story that you find out to whom they’re telling their story. Should this person spill the beans or keep their secret? Would anything good come of telling their story to the police or should they all remain silent?night is a party with Ardith’s brother’s friends staying the night, having sex in the pool, and pawing her every chance they get. She must hide in her rre 14-year-old best friends. Neither has a hry. Should this person spill the beans or keep their secret? Would athing good come of telling their story to the police or should they all remain silent?
The Missing Girl by Norma Fox Mazer
Tasha Saecker
The five Herbert sisters live in a world where they are poor but safe in their small town. Unknown to them, a man has started watching them, waiting to catch glimpses as they hurry off to school, trying to remain unnoticed. The tension in the book builds as each girl takes risks that would be considered safe in any other book. Until one girl takes one risk too many and goes missing.
Each of the girls has their own unique personality and problems, from wanting to escape to failing spelling. Their strength (and the novel's strength) comes from the fact that the girls are fascinating both as individuals and as a group. The family dynamics are complicated not only among the sisters but also between their parents. The pacing in the novel is deliberate and tense, slowly escalating to the point of no return.
In the end, the book is immensely satisfying. Girl power is definitely rocking in this book, even though none of the sisters would see themselves as powerful. Mazer has created a novel where children are victims but not powerless, a novel that needs to be read and that teens will love to read.
1 star
I was bored out of my mind with this book! The jacket quotes this book as being a "psychological thriller". I did not find this to be true. I had to force myself to read every page. It is a simple story about five sisters. We get to know them individually and as a group. For me, five was about two too many. I couldn't keep them straight. They go about their daily life, going to school, doing homework, etc.
Finally, in Part II, one of the girls gets kidnapped. But, even that isn't very exciting. She sits in a locked room all day while her kidnapper is at work. After a few days, she breaks a window and escapes on her own, which was good. Still, no very exciting to me.
Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner 5 stars
Come on, if your parents had named you Shakespeare, what kind of chance would you have of being a successful teenager?
Shakespeare Shapiro is a high school senior and he’s got problems. Other than his name, that is. He can’t get a girl (his younger brother has more experience with girls than he does); he has to write his senior memoir and essays for college; his parents are absolute freaks; and his best friend charts bowel movements for fun.
This hysterically funny novel from first-time writer Jake Wizner, is told from Shakespeare’s point of view. It is the story of his woe- is- me life stemming from the day his parents named him. Each chapter of his memoir tells a funny anecdote from his life, with titles like: The Time My Parents Sent Me to a Camp Straight out of Lord of the Flies; The Time I Watched a Pornographic Movie with My Mentally Unstable Grandmother; The Time I Got Hit in the Face by a Baseball at a Yankees-Red Sox Game; and The Time I Visited a Sex Doctor.
Shakespeare is an easily likable character with a great self-deprecating sense of humor. And crazy as his parents are, they are fun.
A nice, light, and easy read.
Sam is an almost-16-year old skater with his life “ticking along quite nicely” until his mom brings him to a coworker’s party where he meets 15-year old Alicia. They begin seeing each other, spending every possible minute together when they’re not in school (they go to different schools). Then Alicia gets pregnant and says she’s keeping the baby.
In the nine months that follow, Sam looks to pro skateboarder Tony Hawk for advice. Sam has a Tony Hawk poster on the wall in his room, which is where he talks to Tony; and where Tony talks back. Tony also whizzes Sam into the future so he can see how his life changes. Does he like the changes? Does the pregnancy ruin his future or just change it? And why would he have ever named his child Roof?
Sam is an ordinary teenager, speaking ordinary teenage language (albeit, with a few British words). He’s telling his story two years later, when he’s 18 years old, tired, but doing what needs to be done.
The Very Ordered Existence of Merilee Marvelous.
Suzanne Crowly.
Thirteen-year-old Merilee Monroe lives an ordered and precise life. Everything is scheduled. There are no surprises. She has peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch every day. She spends half an hour every day picking up litter. She has no time for friends and only likes spending time with her mother or her Uncle Dal. If her schedule gets interrupted, Merilee feels like she’s “on fire.”
Then Biswick moves into town, following her around all day spouting out stupid factoids while his poet father stays home drunk. And Veraleen moves into town and takes over the kitchen while Merilee’s mother is in the hospital. Bisweek and Veraleen are completely ruining Merilee’s VOE (very ordered existence) but slowly, she becomes friends with both of them, even putting her garbage detail off by a few minutes.
This is a story of unlikely friendships and what can be learned from others, no matter whether they are in our lives for a few days, a few years, or a lifetime.
Cathy's Book: if found call (650)266-8233
Sean Stewart & Jordan Weisman
**** Cathy's Book is a great book. It is a new branch of science fiction. With hands on evidence the reader really gets into it. This story is about a budding young artist who is curious as to why her boyfriend dumped her. As she investigates closer she realizes a century-year-old secret. This book is filled with secrets, tradition, love, and confusion. I highly reccommend it.
The Opposite of Invisible
Liz Gallagher
****The Opposite of Invisible stars Alice, who lives in the background of her school with her best friend Jewel (Julian), who she’s known since they were toddlers. They spend all their time together, sharing their sense of humor and jokes against the school’s in-crowd. Both are content being invisible to their classmates until Simon, of the football in-crowd begins noticing Alice.
Alice and Jewel plan on attending the Bloodbath (Hallowe’en dance) as a joke, but when Simon asks Alice to be his date, it’s no longer a joke. Simon is so hot. And really nice; not like his jock friends. But, what’s with Jewel? Since when is he so proprietary?
Besides dating Simon, Alice is also making new friends. One of them is even a cheerleader! Who’d have thought cheerleaders were real people too? Alice is no longer invisible. She is trying new clothes, letting her hair down (literally), and making new friends. Where does this leave Jewel, who now seems to be dating Vanessa?
Alice has to choose between her best friend and her boyfriend; her former life and her new life. Will Jewel be by her side for whatever she decides?
Suzanne Collins
*****During the Roman Empire, gladiator fights were an important part of culture, both politically and socially. It allowed the government to have a sense of control over what happened in their jurisdiction, and served as a form of entertainment for the vast public. However, those who participated in the gladiatorial games were either forced to as punishment for their crimes or volunteered in order to gain social standing and escape poverty. Each gladiator would face creatures, the elements, and other gladiators in a battle to the death. In Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games, a similar fate awaits 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, as well as twenty three other teenagers from the nation of Panem. In the future, Panem exists amongst the ruins of what was once North America and is divided into twelve districts surrounding the all-powerful and cruel Capitol. In order to maintain authority and dominance over the districts, the Capitol holds the annual Hunger Games in which each of the twelve districts must send a boy and a girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to battle the other districts to the death; the last tribute standing wins fame, fortune, and glory for themselves and their district. The worst part is that the entire thing is on live television and everyone has to watch. Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist, is a skilled hunter and strong-willed girl from District 12, one of the poorest districts in Panem. When she volunteers to fight in the Games in place of her little sister, she enters an entirely new world where her own survival is the only thing that matters. In the midst of the animalistic violence and struggles that the Games present, she experiences first love and friendship with the male District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark. Suzanne Collins's novel was an excellent story, with interesting characters and a suspenseful plot. One of the best aspects of the book is that it makes you think - what if this happened in today's world? How could society be so corrupted that this is allowed to happen every year without fail? How do the teenage tributes cope with what is ultimately a death sentence? How does the Capitol justify these actions? Beyond these questions, Collins also finds a perfect balance between action and romance to add depth to the story. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone; I can't wait to continue with the next two books in the series and see the movie in March!
