Happy Families

Happy Families by Tanita Davis follows twins Ysabel and Nicholas as they spend spring break with their father who have recently learned of their father's secret, that he is transgender.  The book is told in alternating voices as the twins spend time with their father, the first in months and try come to terms with their father's new life and try to heal their family.

This was a very good social issues book.  Introducing teens to an issue that they are not familiar with in a way that is interesting and relateable.  While I was not rushing to finish the book I had no problem finishing it and I found myself caring about the characters and hoping for a happy ending.  The author doesn't provide a happy ending but does provide a hopeful one.  This is a book that needs to be on library shelves.

Appropriateness:  There is no adult content in the book.  The author does a good job talking about transgender persons and the differences even providing a glossary in the back of different terms and resources for more information.  I would recommend this book to teens 12+

Review copy provided by Netgalley

Saving June

Saving June by Hannah Harrington follows Harper after her sister's suicide.  June's life and family is in shambles after her sister commits suicide and she runs away to California with her best friend and the music obsessed boy her sister used to tutor.  The three of them face an adventure and rebellion on the trip while coming to terms with June's death.

I enjoyed this book but didn't find it to be exceptional or original.  It couldn't seem to decide if it was a book about healing or a road trip book about rebellion.  It tended to embrace the "girl gone wild" moment more than I would have liked which took away from the plot of her learning to deal with her sister's death.  While it did keep me interested I think there are better books dealing with loss or rebellion.

 Appropriateness:  There's tons of adult material in the book.  Harper runs away gets wasted, smokes like a chimney, puts herself in very unsafe situations and has casual sex (with a mention of a condom yay).  It's mostly seen as rebellious and destructive but it's enough that I could see it making young and conservative readers uncomfortable.  I would recommend this book for readers 14+ and recommend that parents use it as a starting conversation on rebellion, drinking, casual sex ect. . .

Review Copy provided by Netgalley

Blood Wounds

Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer tells the story of Willa whose world is torn apart when she finds out that the father she barely remembers kills his entire family and is thought to be headed towards her home.  Willa is forced to confront the demons in her past and figure out how everything relates to her present.

This is an interesting book that follows a girl coming to terms with the demons of her past.  It is very heavy and also deals with her addiction to cutting and the unfairness that can exist in step families.  I found the book fascinating and finished it quickly and readers who are looking for a tough emotional read will enjoy it.  It is not however a book filled with mystery or action and the initial trauma happens in the first section of the book.

Appropriateness:  The main character is a cutter and the subject is dealt with tactfully and has a positive resolution.  There are also several scenes of abuse that are difficult to read.  I would recommend this book to readers 14+ however it is not inappropriate for younger readers who can handle the emotional content.

Review copy provided by Amazon Vine

You Will Call Me Drog

You Will Call Me Drog  follows a boy named Parker who gets a sarcastic puppet named stuck Drog on his hand.  Parker is going through many problems in his life and Drog just makes his life more difficult.  His relationship with his father hasn't been strong since his parents got divorced and Drog's sarcastic comments complicate things.  Because of Drog Parker is forced to confront many issues in his life and find new interests and friends.

I really enjoyed this book.  I initially thought it was going to be a silly little children's book but it was far more than that.  This is a well crafted book about a boy in pain over his parents divorce.  Throughout the book Parker grows from a needy little boy to a young adult who sticks up for what he believes in and isn't afraid to speak honestly but kindly to his father and other adults in his life.  The book has several fantastic adult characters that help Parker on his journey including his teacher, his Akido instructor, his therapist and his mother.  Many social issue novels read like after school specials but this one integrates the problem into Parker's struggle with his sarcastic puppet making it a book that kids will want to read. 


Appropriateness:  Drog tries to get Parker to show him dancing girls, he does some searches on the computer to get pictures.  He makes a visit to a strip club (to which Parker is immediately stopped from entering), both of which are seen as crazy activities.  I would recommend this book to boys from 9-13 and it would be helpful for kids dealing with a divorce or custody disputes.

The Beginning of After

If you need a good cry then this is the book for you.

The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle puts us inside the life of Laurel who has just learned that her entire family has died in a car crash.  They were riding with the parents of David, a childhood friend, whose mother was killed and his father remains in a coma.  The reader is taken through Laurel's life following the accident and the how she learns to move on and try to keep herself together and try to get through life.  Her Nanna moves in and David comes in and out of Laurel's life as they are entangled due to the accident. 


I'm not a big fan of depressing books but this was fantastic.  It was so heartbreaking and Laurel is such a wonderful person that you really cheer for her when she makes gains and cry when she has setbacks or more heartbreaks.  The book is told entirely in the present tense (no flashbacks) however the reader is privy to memories as she grieves.  I rushed through this book reading it in less than a day however others may need time to process the information.

Appropriateness: This is a difficult book to read.  While it's certainly not dark it is very emotional and invokes a lot of empathy in the readers.  There are scenes of drinking (which is presented as destructive) and depression and some minor sexual content (but no actual sex).  If your child reads this you'll want to have the answers to the "what would happen to me if something happened to you" question that will probably come up.  It will help your child empathize with someone going through grief.  The main character is 17 and focused on college.  I would recommend this book for readers 13+

Advanced Copy Provided by Netgalley

North of Beautiful

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley is a great novel of self discovery and the acceptance of ones flaws. Terra is a teen girl with a flawed face. A port wine stain and an emotionally abusive father has ruled Terra's life. She covers her face with makeup and cowers in shame when her father makes horrible remarks about her face. Terra's mother eats and cowers to deal with the abuses of her husband. One day while driving home from another laser surgery Terra gets in a car accident and meets a boy Jacob who helps her learn to embrace how she looks and Jacob's mother helps Terra's mother gain self confidence.



This is a delightful and mature young adult read.  It tackles weighty subjects in a real way without feeling like a lifetime TV movie.  The main characters journey (and the journey that her mother also faces) provides a wonderful lesson of women learning to accept themselves and learning to demand more from the men in their lives.


Appropriateness:  This is a remarkable book that both Mothers and Daughters would enjoy and would be a perfect pick for a Mother Daughter Book Club. The book has a few sexual references but no sex scenes and no substance abuse making it appropriate for middle age readers that are looking for a more sophisticated read (although the intended audience would be the 15-19 crowd).  The lexile is 850 putting it at a fifth grade level.

Putting Makeup on Dead People

Putting Makeup on Dead People by Jen Violi follows Donna who has found what she wants to do with her life, work in a funeral home as a mortician.  After the death of her father Donna has been floating through life.  While visiting a funeral home after the death of a classmate Donna has a conversation with one of the owners of the funeral home and decides that working in the mortuary business is her calling.  The book follows Donna as she completes her senior year in high school and starts college.  Donna grows up and finds herself along the way. 

This is a nice contemporary coming of age novel with an interesting premise.  I enjoyed reading about Donna's life and the mortuary industry.  It's nice reading a book about a teenager who is moving into adulthood and while experiencing bumps along the way, she ultimately knows what they want and work towards it.  This isn't a sweet and cute story but rather a coming of age novel about a girl moving through life after the death of her father.

Appropriateness:  There is quite a bit of adult content in this book.  Donna fumbles through a couple relationships which become sexual (although there are no erotic descriptions), there is drinking and drunkenness.  Donna is an older teen and behaves like one.  I would recommend this book to older teenagers 15+

ARC received from netgalley.  Publication date is 5/24/11

Where She Went

Where She Went by Gayle Forman is a sequel to If I Stay.  In the first novel Mia was in a coma after a huge car accident where she lost her parents and her brother.  This novel takes place three years after the accident.  Adam meets Mia after her recital and we are given background on Adam's life in the past year through flashbacks.

I'm going to start out with saying that the book was very well written.  The characterizations were done well and it answered all the questions that readers might have as to what happened to Adam and Mia.  However, I didn't like it and found it unnecessary.  Mia and Adam have both gotten to the highest possible point in their musical careers which I found very unrealistic.  As for the plot, it consisted of Mia and Adam walking through New York City and discussing their relationship with flashbacks interspersed throughout explaining Adam's breakdown and subsequent rise to fame.   Readers who like character studies and who really want to know what happened to Mia and Adam will like this book however, it doesn't have the brilliance of If I Stay.  It is rather like the last book in the Jessica Darling series in which the entire plot takes place as a discussion between two characters.  I just needed more plot

Appropriateness:  This book features characters that are over 18.  Adam has substance abuse issues, depression and suicide is discussed.  There are some illusions to sex but nothing blatant.  The lexile of the first book was 830 putting it around a sixth grade level.  I would recommend this series to teens 14+ 

Rage

Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler is the second novel in the Riders of the Apocolapyse series.  This series puts girls who are facing difficult social/mental issues in the roles of one of the horsemen of the apocalypse.  Rage features Missy who cuts herself to deal with the rage and pain she feels inside.  She is met by death who tells her that she can either be the horseman War or die.  The story details the mercyless bullying that Missy receives when it is discovered that she is a cutter from her ex-boyfriend and classmates her sisters hatred as well as her parents who are totally unaware of her problems.  This struggle is intertwined with Missy figuring out how to handle her new role as War.  She learns slowly that she can work to better the world instead of destroying it.

This book is very dark.  Much darker than Hunger the first book in the series Missy's struggles were so difficult that her cutting seems almost logical.  She is suicidal at times and has no friends.  She does not change or mature throughout the book as much as I would have liked, instead she sinks into major depression and does not ask for help until it is almost too late.  However, the story is well written and I enjoy this paranormal take on social issues.  So many social issue novels read like lifetime TV movies which makes this series a nice change of pace.

Appropriateness:  This is a very dark novel that follows a girl that is suicidal and struggling with cutting.  There are graphic hard to read passages of hardcore bullying including a main plot point that involves Missy being photographed naked by her ex-boyfriend at a party where many students are drinking and the picture being passed around the school.  I'd recommend this to readers aged 14+ and encourage parents to start a dialog with their teen about the issues that Missy faces in the book.

Girls that Growl

Girls that Growl by Mari Mancusi is the third book in the Blood Coven Vampire series.  This book again follows Rayne the Vampire Slayer as she is forced to infiltrate the cheerleading squad to find out why their football player boyfriends have gone missing.  Rayne makes the cheerleading squad and find that the cheerleaders have been turned into werewolves.  Through all of this Rayne's relationship with Jareth is on rocky ground and her life is slowly spinning out of control.

Mancusi again does a fantastic job of combining a hysterical over the top plot with very complex characters and serious issues.  Rayne spends most of the book struggling with her self identity and sabotaging her relationships with the people she loves as she searches for a way to deal with werewolf cheerleaders.

Appropriateness:  This book has the same level of adult behavior as the last in the series.  Rayne's bad girl antics are shown to be a cover for her insecurity in her life.  There's some drinking, some sex talk (but no actual sex) and Rayne lies to her mother (and leaves the country without permission).  One of the side characters is a cutter and it is handled in an extremely delicate way.  While some think that cutting is something that should never be talked about or mentioned at all, I appreciated Mancusi's handling of the topic.     

Mockingbirds

The Mockingbirds is a story of a girl who was date raped standing up for herself and speaking out.  Through the help of a secret student run disciplinary society she is able to face her attacker and deal with her pain.  Alex was drunk when she was raped and initially has no memory of the incident. 

What I loved about this book is that the blame for the incident was fully placed on the boy.  While there is no doubt that Alex put herself in a bad situation her friends tell her over and over that it was not her fault.  That it is not ok for a guy to sleep with a girl who is so drunk she can't consent or who is sleeping or passed out.

Appropriateness:  This book is appropriate (and important) for high school readers to read independently and for middle schoolers to read with adult to discuss the issues that are presented in the book.  Obviously this book includes drinking and cursing and rape.  However, these things are presented in a manner that makes for a great teaching tool.  The things that each player in the rape did that contributed to the incident are clearly stated and the message is clear as to the many different ways the rape could have been prevented.  The rape scenes are disturbing but not exceedingly so (I found the harassment scenes that happened afterword more disturbing because they rang so true).

Positively

Positively by Courtney Schiinmmel tells the story of Emmy a young HIV positive girl whose mother has just died of AIDS.  The first half of the book follows Emmy trying to deal with her mothers death and her subsequent move into her father and pregnant stepmother's house.  Emmy is angry and depressed and destructive because she is so hurt, then her parents send her to a camp for girls with HIV.  Emmy is upset to have been sent away to camp but it ultimately ends up being a great help and comfort to her.

Positively does a fantastic job of creating a engrossing story around a difficult topic without turning into a cookie cutter lifetime movie like story.  When Emmy is lashing out and acting destructively the reader can see how much she is hurting.  Her journey is presented in to educate young people to the daily struggle that HIV positive kids have while also presenting the readers with engaging characters and an interesting plot.

Appropriateness:  There is nothing inappropriate at all in this novel.  Emmy is thirteen so I'd put the interest level to be middle school age with it not being inappropriate for even younger readers.  There is educational information about how HIV is transmitted as part of the plot and parts of the book are sad but not to the point where they would be traumatic.  I would of course recommend that parents use this as an opening to discuss HIV (and perhaps even other STD's) with your child.  The lexile is 670 putting it around a fourth grade level.

The Hate List

The Hate List follows Valerie deal with the aftermath of a school shooting caused by her boyfriend.  Valerie, who was extensively bullied, had a notebook in which she and her boyfriend wrote down the name of anyone that insulted or irritated or hurt them which she called the hate list.  Little did she know that her boyfriend would take that list and use it to shoot students at their school.  The novel follows her (in flashbacks, newspaper articles and in the present) as she deals with the aftermath of her boyfriends actions, his death, difficult experiences at school and tries to pull her life back together. 

The Hate List is very well written and engrossing.  It is thought provoking and asks many questions of the reader and the ending is very emotionally draining.  It would be excellent for reading groups and almost demands discussion as to the many issues that the characters face.  The author is brave enough not to wrap everything up in a pretty little bow and make everything turn out all right at the end and that adds to the brilliance of the novel.

Appropriateness:  The book contains many sensitive issues.  There is suicide, self injury, bullying, substance abuse, violence and sexual assault.  It can be a very difficult read even for adults and can be very upsetting.  If your younger teen wants to read the book I would encourage them to talk to you about the different issues that the characters face and what different decisions each could make and how they could have changed the outcome by their actions.  I would gauge the interest level as 13+ .  Scholastic lists the reading level as 5.6 with a lexile of 760.