family fiction

Golden by Jessi Kirby

golden

 

I’m a sucker for a good YA novel with a pretty cover, but a book with a pretty cover (even gold foil on the paperback! too gorgeous) AND Robert Frost poetry woven in? I’m so there. Golden by Jessi Kirby is a really beautifully written story full of romance, mystery, and adventure. The story is compelling and the characters are realistically flawed with plenty of redeeming value. Parker, the main character, is a protagonist that I rooted for all the way through, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way her story turned out. You’ll love this one!  Click here to find Golden on Amazon!

The Swift Boys and Me by Kody Keplinger

Summary from Goodreads:

Nola Sutton has been best friends and neighbors with the Swift boys for practically her whole life. There’s the youngest, Kevin, who never stops talking; the oldest, Brian, who’s always kind and calm; and then there’s Canaan, the ringleader and Nola’s best-best friend. Nola can’t imagine her life without the Swift boys — they’ll always be like this, always be friends.

But then everything changes overnight.

When the Swifts’ daddy leaves without even saying good-bye, it completely destroys the boys, and all Nola can do is watch. Kevin stops talking and Brian is never around. Even Canaan is drifting away from Nola — hanging out with the neighborhood bullies instead of her.

Nola just wants things to go back to the way they were — the way they’ve always been. She tries to pull the boys back to her, only the harder she pulls, the further away they seem. But it’s not just the Swifts whose family is changing, so is Nola’s, and she needs her best friends now more than ever. Can Nola and the Swift boys survive this summer with their friendships intact, or has everything fallen apart for good?

Nola’s struggle to save her friends, her unwavering hope, and her belief in the power of friendship make Kody Keplinger’s middle-grade debut a poignant story of loss and redemption.

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This is a really sweet and beautifully written middle grades novel. The only thing keeping me from giving it five stars is that I felt like the ending, while hopeful and complete enough to resolve the book, didn’t quite do Lola and Canaan justice. They were such great characters – there should have been more resolution, both in their relationship and in Canaan’s family life.

I definitely recommend The Swift Boys and Me to kids in the 4th-6th grade range! The adorable cover will no doubt appeal to lots of young girls, but the messages and themes are perfect for boys, too. For my fellow teachers, this would make a great summer reading choice for students coming into 5th and 6th grades!

Find it here on Amazon or at your preferred bookseller. Enjoy!

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

half life of molly pierce

 

You guys… WOW. I was not prepared for this book to suck me in immediately and hold my attention hostage until I’d finished the whole thing.

The Half Life of Molly Pierce is told from Molly’s point of view as she tries to make sense of some strange things that have happened to her over the past year, culminating in a tragic motorcycle accident she witnesses and is somehow linked to, though she doesn’t understand how at first. t don’t want to say too much beyond what you can find in the official blurb; part of the fun in this for me was trying to figure out what was going on at the same time Molly was trying to figure it out.

I can tell you, though, that issues of mental health arise in this book. The way Katrina Leno handles these topics left me absolutely speechless – those who have ever struggled with any form of depression and emanational lows will find Molly’s voice both hauntingly real and breathtakingly hopeful.

And then there’s the character of Molly herself… I can’t remember the last time a character’s voice has so vividly popped off the page and lodged itself into my head. The whole book is a fascinating study in characterization and effectively establishing a unique character voice. A quick note here about the voice for parents: there is what I consider a good bit of cussing in this, but it isn’t without reason. Even for me, as a fairly sensitive reader to content and how it will impact teenagers, I wasn’t bothered by it because it served a purpose in highlighting issues Molly dealt with.

The Half Life of Molly Pierce is Katrina Leno’s first novel and, frankly, it makes her one to watch. I believe she’ll be hugely successful, and I’m so glad I got to read this! It comes out on July 8th – preorder it now so it’s waiting for you!

Click here to find it on Amazon or find it at your favorite local bookseller!

Road to Somewhere by Kelley Lynn & Jenny S. Morris

road to somewhere

 

I really enjoyed this story of Charlie and Lucy. Told in alternating POV between the two sisters: Charlie is the older sister in reckless pursuit of her musical career, and Lucy is the quiet, cautious younger sister just trying not to rock the boat. They don’t really get along, mostly because they don’t understand each other.

When Charlie and her friends have a chance to participate in an exclusive music competition with a recording contract prize for the winner, they decide to go for it… but then Charlie’s parents make her take Lucy with them, and they have to stop in Texas and visit their grandparents along the way.

Enter hot cowboys and more sister drama, misunderstandings and country home cooking, and the story heats up and settles in for what ultimately is a story of sisterhood more than a quick little romance.

I really enjoyed Road to Somewhere, and I hope you’ll check it out, too. Click here to find it on Amazon!

 

Behind the Scenes by Dahlia Adler

behind the scenes

 

 

Summary from Goodreads:

High school senior Ally Duncan’s best friend may be the Vanessa Park – star of TV’s hottest new teen drama – but Ally’s not interested in following in her BFF’s Hollywood footsteps. In fact, the only thing Ally’s ever really wanted is to go to Columbia and study abroad in Paris. But when her father’s mounting medical bills threaten to stop her dream in its tracks, Ally nabs a position as Van’s on-set assistant to get the cash she needs.

Spending the extra time with Van turns out to be fun, and getting to know her sexy co-star Liam is an added bonus. But when the actors’ publicist arranges for Van and Liam to “date” for the tabloids just after he and Ally share their first kiss, Ally will have to decide exactly what role she’s capable of playing in their world of make believe. If she can’t play by Hollywood’s rules, she may lose her best friend, her dream future, and her first shot at love.

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I’ve been following Dahlia on twitter for a while now, and I knew from the books she recommends that I’d enjoy her writing.

I was right.

Ally is a sweet, fun, totally relatable protagonist who is easy to root for. When she meets and develops a crush on Liam, we’re not jealous of her very lucky situation… we’re hoping she realizes she’s every bit as worthy of his attention as anyone else. I loved that Ally and Liam met through Van, but that it wasn’t anything “Hollywood” related that made them connect; it was a similar family situation that made them open up to each other.  The romance between Ally and Liam is beautifully and, though the situation is more dream-like than reality-based, realistically written. They aren’t perfect people, but their romance is one that any girl would love to live out.

There are plenty of other great characters here, too, with a lot of depth and full of their own stories to tell. I’d love to see Dahlia write more books involving these characters!

My only reservation here is the language and some of the sexual content, both of which would make me cringe to see in the hands of my 8th grade students,  but for more mature readers it’s a really great choice, especially for the summer. Behind the Scenes comes out on June 24th; you can find it here on Barnes and Noble’s website, or look for it at your favorite book store.

 

One to preorder… like, NOW! Crazy by Linda Vigen Phillips

crazy

Crazy is a beautifully written account of how mental illness affected one family in the 1960’s, and of the hope that comes from art, open communication, and the road to healing. Written in verse, Crazy is a collection of thoughts, snippets of conversations, observations, and artwork from Laura, the book’s protagonist, over the course of a year. Her mother suffers from a mental illness that Laura tries to hide from her friends, both because she’s ashamed to have a mom who’s not normal and because she’s afraid she’ll turn out just like her. Laura’s journey from fear and not-knowing to hope and understanding is a pretty one to watch, and I absolutely LOVED how the author incorporated Laura’s artwork throughout the novel.

The Geography of You and Me by Jen. E. Smith

geography of you and me

I’ve been a big fan of Jen E. Smith’s previous books, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and This is What Happy Looks Like, so when I saw the cover (LOVE) and the blurb for this one, I couldn’t wait.

In The Geography of You and Me, Lucy and Owen meet when they’re stuck together in an elevator during the New York City blackout a few years ago. The story, told in the alternating points of view that Smith is an absolute master of, follows Lucy and Owen on that blackout day and then throughout the next few years as they both end up all over the world but still manage to keep in touch.

Now, I liked this – I really did – but I have to say up front that it didn’t grab me quite the same way that her previous books did. Actually, it’s much more like Statistical Probability in feeling, with a lot of emotional depth and sadness to the characters’ lives, but my absolute favorite of hers is Happy which is, well, happy. For me, while I enjoyed Lucy and Owen as characters and liked the way their stories ultimately played out, there just wasn’t enough at the end to fully lift my spirits and leave me feeling upbeat. I’m still recommending it, of course, or else I wouldn’t post it here, but be prepared for an emotional journey rather than a light, summery fling of a read!

You can find The Geography of You and Me at your favorite local bookseller, or here on Amazon.

The Book Thief, the book and the movie

book thief

 

I’m usually fascinated by and really connect with Holocaust literature, but when I tried to read The Book Thief a while back I just couldn’t get into it. I don’t know why, and many people would think that’s insane, but I just didn’t like it.

When the movie came out, though, I was intrigued… and just got around to watching it recently. And, while the book didn’t hold my interest, I found that the movie really did. It was well done, and the casting/acting was superb. If you didn’t get into the book, like me, you should definitely check out this movie!

 

book_thief movie

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

 

we were liars

 

Mark my words… this will be the next YA title to take the world by storm, like The Fault In Our Stars did last year. I so hope they make a movie out of this.

All I can really say about this without giving anything away is that it was really, really beautifully written and masterfully crafted. I started this thinking I was getting into a typical summery beach YA title, but what I found was something that consumed my entire Sunday because I just could not put it down. This is the first E. Lockhart title I’ve read, and it has single-handedly turned me into a fan.

The characters are intriguing, and the style with which Lockhart builds this story is effortlessly suspenseful and mysterious.

I can’t even tell you what it reminds me of without getting into spoilers, so I won’t. But you should definitely read it when it comes out next week! Preorder, reserve, send to kindle… whatever. Get it.

With a twist I didn’t see coming, Liars shocked me in the most delightful way… but the best part about that was I could go back and see the clues Lockhart left along the way, and though I never would have seen the end coming, it made perfect sense once I got there.

How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly In Love by Ken Baker

how i got skinny

 

 

In How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly In Love, we follow sixteen year old Emery Jackson’s journey from an overweight, outspoken, sarcastic, binge-eating girl to a healthier, mature, still outspoken and sarcastic young lady. It’s definitely an addicting read in that her family is pretty much a train wreck that you can’t help but stare at. In an effort to save the family house, which is in danger of foreclosure despite the fact that Mr. Jackson is a former NBA player and now healthy-living life coach, the Jacksons sign up for a “reality” TV show which will shower them with a million dollars… IF the star, Emery, can manage to lose fifty pounds in just fifty days.

There are some things about this book that I really enjoyed. One, Emery is a great character. She’s sassy and smart, but her one big flaw is not being able to control her weight or her food intake. She feels completely out of place in her family (which, with a perfectly gorgeous and thin sister named Angel, it would be hard not to). She deals with crap at school resulting from her appearance. She suffers from depression, though she wouldn’t admit it. Through it all, though, she’s not like a “woe is me, I give up on life” kind of character. She’s funny, and though things don’t seem to be going her way, she’s tough and she’ll get through it. I was surprised at the realness of her and the spot-on inner workings of a teenage girl mind given that the author is a guy, but good for him!

Another thing I enjoyed was the supporting characters, some of which I would have strangled if I could, but they were all well-written and, unfortunately, realistic. The premise behind the book was cool, too, and afforded the reader lots of behind the scenes looks at reality TV shows and how they manipulate reality. As the show went on, Emery’s well-being became less and less important until Emery stood up and made it important.

So, while there was a lot here that I liked, I can’t say that I really loved the ending. Without giving anything away, because it’s quite a surprise, it did make me proud of Emery for doing what was best for her. As a reader, though, it left too many loose ends. There were some big things that didn’t resolve enough for me. Maybe Baker plans on writing a sequel, but I don’t know. It probably resolves enough to satisfy most people, but I’m a needy reader.

I think Emery’s story will be especially valuable for teenage girls who struggle with body image. Her journey to healthy living is nothing if not inspirational!

How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly In Love is available this Tuesday! Find it here on Amazon, or at your favorite local bookseller.