Sliding on the edge by C.Lee McKenzie – Shawna Stone is 16 years-old.

Shawna’s mom, who’s rather flighty, abandons her in Las Vegas. She leaves the child, who’s become a pretty responsible person - money, a bus ticket to Sacramento, and the phone number of her mother in law, Shawna’s grandmother, Kay. Shawna has never met her grandmother and has heard only her mom's side of the story about her father, who's dead. Shawna has had self abuse and social acceptance issues throughout her life. Kay’s community comes through for the conflicted teen. Shawna, by story’s end, considers reaching out to others. Believable and well written, I was curious about Shawna and wondered if hope and optimism would prevail. The story too emphasized the role of the community in helping conflicted teens. I instantly became involved in the story.
This was a satisfying, good read.

Willow by Julia Hoban - From the fly leaf: Seven months ago on a rainy March night, Willow Randall’s parents drank
too much wine at dinner and asked her to drive them home. But they never made it – Willow lost control of the car,
and both of her parents were killed.
Now seventeen, Willow has left behind her old home, friends, and school – numbing the grim reality of her new life by
secretly cutting herself. But everything changes when one of Willow’s new classmates, a boy as sensitive and
thoughtful as she is, discovers Willow’s secret and refuses to let her destroy herself.
At first I didn't want to read about a girl who cuts herself. From the outset though, this story rang very true - I hated
to put the book down. The characters and their emotions seem genuine - Even though Willow's bouts with the razor
are cringe worthy - you really care about her and the special relationship she has with Guy. You want both of them to
succeed.

Mutiny - by John Boyne - A good read, the story got me to investigate further about the subject. It starts out with the reminiscences of of John Jacob Turnstile - Later we become aware of what he has made of his life - which brings you to the beginning of the story - I liked the way the author used that device.
One of a band of young thieves, John Jacob Turnstile has just been caught picking a watch from a gentleman, Matthieu Zela, who refuses to press charges.
The police are intent on sending the boy to prison anyway for this and previous misdeeds. Matthieu Zela intervenes to have the boy sent to sea - The arrangement is agreed upon by the judge. John Jacob Turnstile, nicknamed "Turnip" by a number of the crew, soon finds himself on the journey of a lifetime.
The ship is the Bounty, and this is the infamous story of the mutiny. According to review sources, Mutiny is the first novel to explore all the events relating to the Bounty’s voyage. Bligh and Christian are given more historically accurate looks which diverge from their portrayals in the classic, Mutiny on the Bounty by Nordhoff and Hall.

Ten Things I Hate About Me is the latest from Does my head look big in this? author Randa Abdel-Fattah. Lebonese Aussi Jamilah lives two lives - A trying-to-fit-in sophomore with bleached blond hair and blue contacts and the daughter of a
taxi driver in a single parent Muslim household as well as a darabuka drummer in an Arab band. Known as "Jamie" to her classmates, Jamilah doesn't let anyone know about her home/cultural life. Jamilah doesn't want negative comments made about her because of her ethnicity. Peter, a boy that likes her, constantly derides others not realizing that Jamie is a member of one such ethnicity. Thanks in part to two friends, Timothy and Amy, She comes to grips with being honest with herself and others by the story's end. I liked the development of the two friendships and the honesty that ensued. What a ride though. Jamilah is a warm humorous sensitive person at the core, and to see her realize that made for a wonderfully good read.

Alligator Bayou by Donna Jo Napoli - Fourteen-year-old newly immigrated Calogero Scalise and his Sicilian uncles and cousin live in Tallulah, Louisiana in 1898, when racist laws ruled. The story is loosely based on the Tallulah lynchings of 1899. It's a good piece of historical fiction that explores racial conflicts and relationships in a realistic way. It took a bit to get into unlike the author's Hush, an Irish Princess' Tale which totally hooked me from the start. Incidents leading to the lynchings; Mistaken motives; Hunting the animals in the swamp; Calo's love for Patricia and her responses made for an eventful interesting read.

True Adventures of Charley Darwin by Carolyn Meyer
I enjoyed this book. I'd never read anything about him, although I was familiar with his work, On the Origin of Species. This story is told in the first person,

through Charles Darwin's eyes. He is a likable person, and intensely curious about the world around him. Through Charley, I got a real good view of his world; likes and dislikes.

Although very much a part of an upper class family - where scholarly persuits prevailed, Charley preferred to be outside studying and collecting birds’ eggs, feathers, and insects.

Young Charley Darwin hated school - he had reason too; the boarding school within running distance of his home was dreadful. He was pretty conflicted about what his physician father wanted him to achieve.

The story then takes you on his journey around the world at age twenty-one on the H.M.S. Beagle; An exciting journey that took five years. From his studies and the voyage, he gathered indisputable evidence, and set forth a theory on how evolution works, the theory of natural selection.

We learn too of the special bond he had with Emma, his cousin and friend. This was a good read.

The mysteries of Beethoven's hair / Russell Martin and Lydia Nibley- good enjoyable read; A page turner and a real mystery. Reading the book prompted me to download a number of Beethoven pieces from iTunes.I enjoyed the mystery of this particular lock of hair – When it was clipped; who owned and treasured the locket; how it was rescued from the Nazis by an unknown Jewish individual who gave the locket to a Danish doctor. From there, the story recounts how the locket eventually found a home at the Beethoven Center at San Jose State University. Analysis of his hair and pieces of his skull revealed much about the poor health and bouts of temperament from which the great composer suffered.

The Secret Journal Of Brett Colton by Kay Lynn Mangum

This book is about a girl named Kathy Colton. her brother, Brett, died of leukemia when she was two years old. he was only seventeen. her family talks about him all the time and she can't stand it.then, on the night of her 16th birthday, her mom gives her a letter from brett.the letter leads her to a box of his old things and to a journal that was meant for her. she reads the journal bit by bit and slowly comes to know her dead brother. this all happens while she's tutoring the funny big hearted sophmore football star who rather surprisingly has about a million similarities to her own dead brother. this book combines hurt, comfort, tons of inspiration and handful of sparks and makes for the perfect read. i reccomend this book to just about anyone who can handle it. this book contains very emotional content. if you can't handle topics like cancer, death, and some religion. i don't reccomend this book.this book was so moving and touching that by the time i was done reading, i had tears streaming down my face.

Review by Rebekah age 14

Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks

Jenn's Pick!

This is a slow, gentle sort of book. It is the story of three generations of women. Sally was the sole survivor of a tragic car accident on the frozen Mistik Lake in 1981. Her oldest daughter, Odella, understands her mothers loneliness and burgeoning alcoholism, and tries to hold her family together after her mother runs away to Iceland with a filmmaker. Sally's aunt, Gloria, owns the cabin on Mistik Lake where Odella spends her summers. Gloria also has secrets but she does what she can for Sally's girls. The story is set on the shores of Mistik Lake, where everyone knows everyone, and most people are related if one goes back a generation or two.

How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

Jenn's Pick!

In New Avalon, most people have invisible fairies that provide them with some handy talent or skill. There are loose change fairies, which help their people find loose change. Her friend has a shopping fairy that helps people find great outfits (that are always on sale!) Charlie hates her fairy. She has a parking fairy. She's 14, she can't drive, but people always want her to ride along, so they get good parking spots. She's trying to drive her fairy away by never riding in cars or buses. She hopes if she can get rid of the parking fairy she'll get a new, better fairy. Avoiding cars is causing her some trouble. She keeps getting demerits for being late. Then, her arch-nemesis Fiorenze, who has a fairy that makes every boy her age fall in love with her, decides to help Charlie ditch her fairy. Why would Fiorenze be an expert? Who could possibly want to rid themselves of such a perfect fairy?

Graceling by Kristin Cashore was a fun adventuresome read. In the story are individuals with special abilities. They live in a country divided by seven kingdoms set in medieval times. Graced individuals are easy to identify; though one might not know their particular inborn skill. The skills can be useful or useless and run the gamut from climbing trees to weather forecasting. Kings acquire useful graced individuals for their courts to do their bidding. In this story, one King possesses the ultimate politician grace unbeknown to those around him. Unfortunately, he seems bent on taking over the entire land. He's eventually found out. Lady Katsa, an ultimate killing machine from one of the other courts confronts the evil king and nearly succumbs to his lies.

Kin : The Good Neighbors by Holly Black

Jenn's Pick!

Rue Silver's mother has disappeared, and her father has been arrested, suspected of killing both Rue's mother and another college age girl. As Rue attempts to get to the bottom of these mysteries, she learns that her mother was a faerie. Rue is half-faerie. Her mother has disappeared because of a broken promise and if Rue has any hope of getting her back she'll have to go to the faerie world. She must face her own identity and her true family and deal with a fate darker than she expected.

Emperors of the Ice by Richard Farr is a story within a story of the ill-fated Robert F. Scott expedition to the South Pole 1910-1912. It tells of gathering penguin eggs and other adventures in the face of gale force winds and extremely cold temperatures. The bounds of human endurance seem incredible. The fictionalized slant to very real accounts made for an authentic convincing read. Those early explorers were tough. It is told from the point of view of Apsley Cherry-Garrard. He was a wealthy Oxford graduate who showed real optimism in the face of adversity and seemed willing to take on any challenge. Inwardly, however, he was conflicted.

After the ordeal, Cherry (his nickname) wrote a memoir entitled, The Worst Journey in the World which may be downloaded at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14363 .

Out of the Pocket by Bill Konigsberg is about a popular, talented senior high school quarterback in Southern California. Bobby realizes that he is gay and comes out of the closet sooner than he intends. Bobby’s story is about being honest with yourself – It is about breaking barriers. As Finch, a high school reporter who covertly records and publishes an interview in which the quarterback admits to being gay later says:”Bobby, everyone likes you. You think being gay will stop people …” Bobby gets the better of Finch in fine style. More than that, the story is about the reactions by everyone in Bobby's social sphere including his parents. I liked near the end when a news reporter asked Bobby how it felt to be an openly gay quarterback leading his team to the championship."I don't know, [Bobby replied] kinda like being an openly straight quarterback but with more media attention on me..."

Right Behind You by Gail Giles - 

Great book featuring a teenager who set a boy on fire causing his death. The teenager has just been released from a detention facility to the care of his father. Coming to grips with the past and hope for a brighter future are the focal points of this fine story.

Bog Child by Siobhan Down was a page turner, although a few of the Irish expressions slowed me down a bit. I knew next to nothing about the politics of Ireland especially in 1981 when this story is set. I got more of a grasp of the ordinariness of people involved in political conflicts by reading this book. I could easily imagine the characters involved. 16 year-old Fergus McCann is an athlete and a student. He finds the body of a girl in a peat bog – she’s met a violent end. Fergus dreams about her. Themes involving the final days of the AD 80 bog child Mel become intertwined with those of Fergus who becomes involved with the resistance. From the fly leaf, the story involves, “sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the unflinching strength of the human spirit.”

Possibilities of Sainthood by Donna Freitas. Antonia Lucia Labella is a 15 year-old Italian-American student at a Catholic high school. Two things occupy much of Antonia’s thoughts – boys and sainthood. I especially liked Antonia’s choice-making as her expectations mature.

Her father’s death at age seven coupled with his words,” you are the saint of my heart’ has prompted Antonia to routinely write the Vatican; not only making suggestions for new patron saints but to be considered for sainthood herself. Antonia’s aspirations make for a genuinely funny story. Her first kiss is really special – loads of warmth and authenticity throughout. I listened to the audio version. The library also has the print version -

Cheater by Michael Laser explores the validity of dishonesty to achieve an objective. Super smart high school junior Karl Petrofsky becomes involved with a ring of students who use quite a bit of technology to cheat on classroom tests. One of the ringleaders Blaine tells Karl that “school’s purpose…is to sort us out…if it were really about learning, then grades wouldn’t matter.” Lizette, Karl’s real friend, tells him that “cheating doesn’t help anybody…it’s a matter of pride.” Ethical considerations come into play. Good entertaining read that questions right and wrong.

MIDNIGHT TWINS BY JACQUELYN MITCHARD

Fast paced light story about identical twins who are mirror images of each other. Meredith and Mallory Brynn change as they become teenagers. Mallory is able to foretell future calamities and Meredith sees outcomes of what has happened. It got a bit confusing in spots. I’d have made them fifteen instead of thirteen. Anyway, all comes out right in the end – very predictable. There are two more books in this planned trilogy. The last book I read by Jacquelyn Mitchard, All we know of Heaven was ever so much more gripping and had more depth of character. Saying that, however, I would still read the next two books in the series.

The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block

The chapters alternate between two families in different states. A member in each family is closely related, though you don’t know who at first. I liked the development of the characters. They come across as very human in dealing with the impact of there situation.

The theme is an aberrant genetic link that binds the two main characters. They both have a common ancestor who suffered from an early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. From the novel I saw how people with memory loss probably cope. I felt the stress put on the families. It was a good optimistic turn to have one family meeting the remains of the other at the end. You can read about the novel and its origins at stefanmerrillblock.com. If you want to learn more about Alzheimer’s visit the website at www.alz.org.