Zahra’s Paradise by Amir and Khalil

Zahra’s Paradise by Amir and Khalil

Readers who appreciated Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi will be taken in by this story.  It is a fictionalized account of what happened to one young man who protested in Tehran during the 2009 Green Revolution in Iran.  Mehdi has disappeared during the street protests, and we watch as his mother and our narrator, a blogger, search everywhere for him.  They start with his friends, check the morgue, try to check the infamous prison named Kahrizak, and even Tehran’s largest cemetery, Zahra’s Paradise.  In essence, this is a story of the most recent human rights abuses in Iran.  The writers do not pretend to be impartial, and lambast the Iranian government time and again.  No matter what one thinks about Iran or the Middle East, this story of a family searching for its son will wrench your heart.

This soft revolution was made famous throughout the world by its participants using their cell phones to record the events then post them immediately on YouTube.  Millions of citizens took to the streets of Tehran to protest the results of the presidential election, calling them fraudulent.  During the riots that took place, thousands of people were arrested, beaten,  and/or imprisoned, and dozens more were killed.  The book blends fiction with real people and events, like the killing of Neda Agha Soltan near the ironically named Freedom Square. The authors have also enhanced the book by including a number of sections after the story itself, to further explain the Green Revolution while giving historical context.  Readers will find these and the brief glossary of Farsi terms especially helpful in understanding this precursor to Arab Spring.  I very much recommend this book to high school readers, especially those with an interest in human rights, the Middle East and Iran.

Starters by Lissa Price

Starters by Lissa Price

Thanks to the Spore Wars, Callie and her seven-year-old brother Tyler have lost both their parents and are now “unclaimed minors,” living in abandoned buildings with their friend Michael.  They’re just barely able to stay alive, but the most pressing problem is that Tyler is sick, and Callie needs money for healthy food and a warm home for them.  Out of desperation, she visits a secret company called Prime Destinations, which she heard about from a boy in their building.  The company rents the bodies of teens (Starters) to aged people (Enders) so the older “renters” can experience life as a young and healthy teenager again. This is the only way she sees to save her brother, so Callie reluctantly agrees to be a donor, signing a contract for the minimun of three rentals.  However, something goes wrong in her last rental, and she regains consciousness only to realize that her Ender renter plans to have her murder someone!

This book contains lots of plot twists and turns, which I’m sure will engage most teen readers.  Right up until the end, we’re not sure about the supposedly evil owner of Prime Destinations everyone calls the “old man.”  While I didn’t like this book as much as  I had expected to, it was a quick read that will become popular among our dystopia and science fiction fans.  The second book called Enders is due out in December of 2012.

Here’s a video book trailer you can watch from home:

The Off Season & Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

             

The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

After playing varsity linebacker in her school’s opening football game and scoring a touchdown on an interception, DJ Schwenk starts the school year feeling upbeat. But after People magazine publishes an article about her, all the attention embarrasses her. A shoulder injury in football puts her basketball season in danger, especially since her only chance of affording college will be on an athletic scholarship. All these problems become minor when her brother Win, in college on a football scholarship, is badly injured. DJ keeps Win company in the hospital and rehab. Trying to lift his spirits becomes DJ’s fulltime job until her parents get some help for the family’s farm and can join Win and DJ. As the family adjusts to what has become their “new normal,” their relationships shift to accommodate everyone’s new roles.

Ms. Murdock makes DJ such a true-to-life character that I feel like she could be a student at Berkeley High. Another feature I like about the book is the humor that keeps popping up, even in serious situations. This book is the sequel to Dairy Queen.

Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Third in the Dairy Queen series. DJ Schwenk returns to high school after Thanksgiving, having missed 27 days of school caring for her injured brother Win. DJ wants nothing more than to return to being in the background in school and her hometown, but her brother’s injury and her prominence after playing football won’t allow that to happen. After learning that she has to contact college coaches who are interested in her in order to start the scholarship process, DJ works hard to overcome her shyness. At the same time she has two boys interested in dating her, a situation she never expected would happen to her. By the end of the book DJ has followed both her brothers’ and friends’ advice plus her own instinct and learned much about herself and how to achieve her goals.

DJ has become such a real person to me that I’m sorry this is the last book in the series. All the characters, from her family to her friends to her coaches and the people in her town have true to life personalities. I really want to know what will happen to them next. The author adds humor to both serious and minor situations, which I really liked.

Reviewed by Ms. Goldstein-Erickson

Small Town Sinners by Melissa C. Walker

Small Town Sinners by Melissa C. Walker

This book took me completely by surprise.  I had read that it was about the Hell Houses that evangelical Christian groups put on yearly to scare young people into joining their churches.  I was expecting an indictment of these sorts of events, not the well-balanced view Walker portrays in her new YA novel.  High school junior Lacey Anne is the story’s protagonist, with her father being the children’s pastor at her church, the House of Enlightenment.  She’s just about to get her drivers’ license and is  hoping her super strict parents will loosen the reins once she is able to drive herself and her two best friends around their small hometown.  She plans to audition for the Hell House’s most challenging part, that of Abortion Girl, who goes through a mock bloody abortion and dies as part of the production.  but, when she see’s a super hot new guy at the DMV, it takes her awhile to realize that he’s really Tyson Davis who moved out of town ten years ago.  But Ty seems to have secrets of his own, and is full of thoughtful questions about religion, beliefs and morality.  While he and Lacey Anne begin to secretly see each other, she begins to question her certainty about the strict biblical interpretations she’s been taught by her parents and church.

I literally could not stop reading this book until I finished it.  I expected it to be pretty one-sided against the controversial Hell Houses, but it showed the humanity of the people who put them on and their true desire to help other people by “saving them.”  Although I disagreed with many stands taken by Lacey’s church, they were portrayed fairly, with Walker going to pains not to demonize them.  It forced me to look at my own prejudices and make room for other perspectives, even those with which I strongly disagree.  This, I think is one of the strengths of this book.  It reminds us that just because we all have different beliefs, it doesn’t mean the people on the opposite side of the fence are the enemy.

I would recommend this book to all teens, especially those who like books that encourage them to think about the big issues–religion, morality, war, etc.  It’s a short, fast read so it’s perfect for that last minute book project or long car ride with the family.

Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach

Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach

Sixteen-year-old Felton can’t figure out what’s going on with his body.  He can never get enough to eat, and yet never feels full.  He’s sprouting hair in places he’d rather not even think about. And, he’s outgrowing his clothes so fast he doesn’t have any jeans that are even close to long enough.  To add to all this, suddenly he can run “stupid fast,” and the track and football team coaches are eyeing him to try out.  Due to his crazy meditation attempts in his younger days, he’s been known as Squirrel Nut since elementary school.  But things might be changing as the jocks start to find his ability to run “fast like a donkey” valuable to their teams.

His home life isn’t much calmer; his mom can only be called a retrograde hippie.    When he was only five, Felton found his dad’s dead body hanging by one of the beams in the garage.  Although Felton and his younger brother barely remember their professor father, their mom has burned all his belongings in an effort to start fresh.  Partly due to his strange family, Felton has been bullied by the other students and only has one good friend Gus, who is gone for the summer.  Now that Felton has to take over Gus’ newpaper delivery route, he sees a beautiful girl his age playing piano at the crack of dawn as he makes his paper deliveries.  And she doesn’t know he’s viewed as smelly, hairy squirrel nut by the kids at school;  and their romance begins.

This book surprised me by being so readable.  I know young men will love it because it speaks to sports and all the physical and mental changes boys go through as they become men.  I think girls will also enjoy it’s exploration of growing up differently from the rest of the crowd.  I highly recommend this book to all teen readers as a fast and engaging read.

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

This is one of those dystopian books that while full of interesting characters and non-stop action, also looks at some pretty deep questions. First the story–Two identical space ships are traveling to create a New Earth, after mankind has pretty much destroyed our planet.  Our two main characters, Waverly and Kiernan are the most important teenagers aboard the Empyrean, Waverly because she’s the oldest girl and Kiernan because he is expected to succeed Captain Jones when he steps down.  Each ship is completely self-supporting, including the ability to grow fresh livestock and food.  Although they left Earth at different times, they are expected to eventually reach New Earth together.  Then the most shocking event occurs: the New Horizon appears outside the portal windows, and sends a shuttle to land on the Empyrean, despite Captain Jones’ direct orders not to do so.  Before they know what’s happening, all the young girls have been either “saved” or kidnapped depending on who they believe, and are taken aboard the New Horizon, split up from the friends and families.  Evidently, the women aboard the New Horizon have been unable to conceive children, and are hoping the girls from their sister ship will be their salvation. Let’s just say that life gets chaotic and unpredictable, both the the girls onboard the New Horizon and the boys and remaining families on the Empyrean.

This book is full of enough twists and turns to satisfy even the most reluctant readers.  The action sequences are clearly detailed and easy to visualize. The characterizations are vivid and complex, with the main characters having both flaws and strengths to make them feel realistic.

As I said at the beginning of the review, this book also looks at some deeper issues, such as pollution, birth control, abortion and religion.  It is not heavy-handed, but probes these topics in a way to encourage readers to look at their own beliefs.

I highly recommend this book to all young adult readers.  It is engaging, fast-paced and realistic, perfect for anyone looking for a good title.

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Since her two older brothers left for college, where they both play football, and her father was injured, DJ has been doing all the heavy chores on her family’s dairy farm inWisconsin. Because of the work required, DJ even had to quit basketball the previous season. When her father’s best friend, who coaches football for her school’s biggest rival, sends Brian Nelson, his quarterback, to help on the farm and get conditioned, DJ agrees to train him for a week. After they continue to work out, DJ thinks about playing football herself, but first she has to make up an F grade from sophomore English. She doesn’t even know if she’ll be allowed to play.

One of the best things about this book is the humor. Even when DJ’s telling about serious events, the author adds funny comments that sometimes even made me laugh out loud. One example is when DJ tells about how people laugh at her when she talks about farm life. She says, “So what. I know where your milk comes from, and your hamburgers.”

Dairy Queen is the first book in a series of three. The second book is The Off season, and the third is Front and Center. Watch for them on the blog and in the library!

Reviewed by Ms. Goldstein-Erickson

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

When Valerie’s boyfriend brings a gun into the high school Commons, he kills six people and injures a number of others.  In fact, he shoots Val in the leg as she’s trying to get him to stop his rampage.  Although she had no idea what Nick had planned, the students he targeted were people on the hate list Nick and Valerie wrote together, including all the students who had bullied them, and even people (like their parents) who had simply gotten on their nerves.  Valerie saw it as a way to express her frustration with being called Sister Death by her classmates, and her sadness about her parents’ constant bickering.  It never occurred to her that Nick’s talk of death,  wanting to be like Romeo and Juliet and maybe “leaving it all behind” had even an ounce of seriousness behind it.

Even though Valerie helped bring the shooting to an end, saved one girl by standing in front of her in the process and was injured herself, it seemed like the whole town blamed her for what happened.  Even when the police investigation cleared her, her own parents were still afraid of who she was and what she might do next.

Val’s pain and guilt throughout the book are easy for the readers to feel, making this a compelling read.  Even though it’s a little over 400 pages, I found it difficult to put down and finished it in just a few days.  I highly recommend it to all teen readers who like realistic fiction.  I think fans of Ellen Hopkins and Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why will devour this book.

Here’s a book trailer you can see from home:

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

This engaging teen romance is the perfect book to read in the spring, as the pink blooms start opening on Shattuck Avenue here in Berkeley.  I found it totally fun and a perfect escape from all the “deep” realistic fiction I’ve been reading lately.  It takes place in the world’s most romantic city, Paris.  Anna’s been sent there to boarding school for her senior year by her father, who’s become rich writing “these novels set in a Small Town Georgia about folks with Good American Values who Fall in Love and then contract Life-Threatening Diseases and die.”   The last thing Anna wants to do is leave Atlanta, her best friend Bridgette and the hottie she works with at the local multiplex movie theater.  Imagine being forced to spend a year in Paris?

But then she meets Etienne St. Clair, who’s half British but raised by his mother in San Francisco.  He is smart, gorgeous and charismatic; but he has a long-time girlfriend named Ellie who attends the nearby Parsons art college.  Still, as the year goes by, the two become best friends, although Anna can’t deny the way she feels as she sits next to him in the dark cinema watching her favorite classic movies.

This book was a joy to read–light, funny and full of anticipation about what would happen next between Anna and Etienne.  I woudl definitely recommend it to all teen girls looking for a fun, escapist romance.  Fans of Sarah Dessen and Deb Caletti will not be disappointed.

By the way, you can search the subject heading Love Stories to find over 100 teen romances in our online catalog.

Legend by Marie Lu

Legend by Marie Lu

This is another new dystopian novel that’s getting lots of positive buzz from both readers and librarians.  Told in alternating voices, this book describe a frightening future United States that has been ripped apart and at war with itself.  The western part is the Republic and is a totalitarian government ruled with an iron fist by Primo ______.  June Iparis lives here and is part of the elite, born into wealth and now a military prodigy.  Day also lives in the Republic, but is its most wanted criminal for his numerous acts of anti-government terrorism, that interestingly enough have never killed a single person.  While trying to escape from his most recent escade, Day is nearly captured by a young captain named Metias.  They both shoot, wounding each other but that gives Day the chance to make his escape.   When it comes to light that June’s brother Metias has been killed, not just injured, she is put on the team as someone with “fresh eyes” to try to catch Day, who has been eluding the army for years.  What follows is non-stop action, as June fights for revenge against her brother’s murder and Day uses all the resources he can muster just to stay alive.  The plot is full of twists, and will keep readers wanting more.

The parallel perspectives from both Day and June really let the readers see into the minds of both characters and become invested in their futures.  The fact that June’s entries are more like straight-forward reports while Day’s read more like a personal journal really adds to the novelI highly recommend this title, Lu’s debut novel, to dystopia and science fiction fans, and anyone looking for a fast and engaging read.

Here’s a book trailer you can watch from home:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I’m predicting that this will be one of our favorite books of 2012, even though the year is less than a month old.  John Green is amazing writer who’s able to capture the smart and sardonic teen attitude and voice with perfection.  Be forewarned that although this sounds like a sad story, most readers will find it totally uplifting because the story of first love counter-balancing the teens’ tragedy of cancer is told with effortless simplicity.  The story is narrated by Hazel, who has stage IV thyroid cancer that is in remission due to some new, miraculous chemotherapy drug. At sixteen, she’s already lived two years longer than her doctors originally predicted, but is finding living with cancer both painful and depressing.  That is until she meets Augustus Waters in a support group her parents coerce her into attending.  He is tall, gorgeous and in remission from his cancer, but comes to support his pal Isaac, who’s lost one eye to the disease already.  It’s the way the characters think and talk that make this book so awesome. Upon first seeing Augustus, Hazel thinks:

“I looked away, suddenly conscious of my myriad insufficiencies.  I was wearing old jeans, which had once been tight but now sagged in weird places, and a yellow T-shirt advertising a band I didn’t even like anymore.  Also my hair:  I had this pageboy haircut, and I hadn’t even bothered to, like, brush it.  Furthermore, I had ridiculously fat chipmunked cheeks, a side effect of treatment.  I looked like a normally proportioned person with a balloon for a head.  This was not even to mention the cankle situation.  And yet–I cut a glance to him, and his eyes were still on me.  It occurred to me why the called it eye contact. “

Hazel and Augustus fall tentatively in love, each one nervous about the other and the repercussions of their feelings.  Their feelings, relationship and sickness give them both have the opportunity to rethink the importance of life, heaven, disease and the mark one leaves on the world.

I adored this book, and felt as if I were living through their trials and triumphs with this young couple.  I would recommend this to all teen readers, especially fans of John Green.  We have multiple copies of his other most popular book, Looking For Alaska, which is reviewed HERE.

Angry Young Man by Chris Lynch

Angry Young Man by Chris Lynch

Xan (Alexander) is an unusual kid who just doesn’t fit in anywhere.  He’s moody, way too sensitive and possibly depressed.  He’s dropped out of high school, and spends his days in the room he shares with his older brother Robert or taking long walks in their hometown.  They boys’ single mom is doing her best to raise them, but the bill collector who keeps stalking his is about to drive Xan to his limit.  The story is told from Robert’s perspective, who the readers discover hasn’t always been the best big brother.  He can barely remember not coming to Xan’s rescue when kids relentlessly harassed him in middle school, but cares about Xan in his own way.  This slim book is a character study of what might happen when a young person is an outsider without anyone to really talk to.  It might remind readers of students who have gone on shooting sprees at Columbine High and other schools throughout the country.  When Xan makes some friends in a community college class on social change that he is sitting in on, he is drawn to the violence their charismatic leader suggests as a method of protest.  “It is not because he is stupid or weak-minded,” Robert says. “It is because he cares so much, and because he wants, so much, to belong.”  Here Xan finally gets Robert’s undivided attention, and the two brothers must work together to try to make the most moral choice as well as the safest one.

I liked this book a lot, as I do most of Lynch’s books.  He has a way of seeing into the psyches of teenaged boys that feel honest and realistic.  I recommend this to all young adults, especially those who like Chris Lynch titles or are interested in what it feels like to be an outsider.

How To Save a Life by Sara Zarr

How To Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Sara Zarr’s newest novel will absolutely delight her fans, both old and new.  She tells this story from two disparate perspectives: high school senior Jill and pregnant nineteen year old Mandy.  Jill’s father died suddenly nearly a year before, and she and her mom are not dealing well with the loss. In fact, Jill has practically disowned her friends and has broken up with her boyfriend Dylan three times because she refuses to let him see her pain and grief, getting mean and snarky instead.  Her mom Robin has decided to adopt a baby, much to Jill’s shock and anger.

“Adding someone to a family, though?  Is major.  Life-changing.  Permanent.  When someone’s been subtracted from a family, you can’t just balance it out with a new acquisition.  In the months after Dad died, a couple people told us we should get a dog.  A dog!  How is this all that different?” she says.

Robin found Mandy on New Year’s Eve through an open adoption website.  Mandy told Robin she is pregnant from true love, but Robin and her daughter Jill slowly find out that sometimes Mandy lies to cover terrible secrets from her past.  In addition,  Mandy has numerous demands for the adoption of her baby, all of which Robin goes along with, making Jill fume even more.  The ending will probably not come as a complete surprise to most readers, but it’s emotionally satisfying and a logical conclusion to everything that’s happened in the story.

This was an amazing story; I found it hard to put the book down. I highly recommend it to all teen readers, especially fans of Sara Zarr, Jodi Piccoult and Sarah Dessen.

Hush by Eishes Chayil

Hush by Eishes Chayil

This fascinating book gives readers an inside look at the sheltered ultra-orthodox Jewish community living in Brooklyn, New York.  Gittel is a seventeen-year-old girl, about to graduate high school and be matched up with her future husband by a local matchmaker, or ” shadchen” as they are known within the Community.  She will probably ending up teaching to support her family while her husband spends his days studying the Torah.  As long as she add lots of children to this equation, she will be considered a righteous woman and a success in her community.  The rules in her insulated Orthodox community have been the same for hundreds of years, developed originally in the shetels of Poland.  Nothing ever changes, and the modern world is viewed as evil and unseemly.  The beginning of the book explains Gittel’s Chassidic culture and lifestyle for readers, many of whom will be unfamiliar with it.

Her story is told in alternating voices: the ten-year-old child who witnesses a horrifying tragedy,  and the young woman at seventeen about to be married.  When the book begins, the reader meets Devory, Gittel’s best friend.  The girls were born on the same day in the same hospital and are more like sisters than friends.  During a sleepover when they are 10, Gittel sees Devory’s older brother climb in her bed and push on her under the covers.  Although the naive Gittel doesn’t really know what she’s witnessed, Devory’s behavior become more and more disruptive over the next few weeks until she finally breaks and commits a her last desperate act.

Because of what she saw, Gittel is convinced that she somehow caused her best friend’s eventual suicide.  No one will listen to her when she tries to tell what she saw Devory’ brother do; sexual abuse simply does not exist in their community, especially if it is never even acknowledged.  In the second half of the book, the married Gittel tries to bring the crime to light, but can’t get anyone in the Orthodox community to listen to her or bring the issue out in the open.  Readers’ hearts will wrench as they watch her inner struggle and growth as she learns that she has to listen to her own heart if she is to survive emotionally.

Even though this was a difficult book to read, I adored it.  Although I am familiar with the Orthodox Jewish community and admire it in many ways, I found Gittel’s life fascinating, a true glimpse into a world not many of us see first hand.  I recommend this title to readers interested in stories about growing up and readers interested in stories about sexual abuse.  Readers of Push and A Child Called It will be engaged in this powerful story.

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield

For me, this story of a young teen’s sexual abuse and self-harming (cutting) behavior was mesmerizing.  It’s told in the first person perspective by high school freshman Kendra.  The readers learn in the first few pages that Kendra has been abused, can’t remember who her abuser is, thinks he is currently stalking her, and has a therapist to help her cope with all these related issues.  She remembers phrases from what her abuser said, like, “I will kill you if you tell.”  When she hears these things in her mind, or remembers flashes of his hands grabbing her, the only thing that calms Kendra down is when she cuts her self with a utility knife she hides in her room and begins carrying in her backpack.  Although Kendra keeps the scars on her arm a dark secret, her emotions come out in her artwork, which is strong, violent and emotional.  Although her mother only criticizes her art, their close family friend Sandy supports her and tells her how talented she is.  In fact, he helps her show and sell some of her paintings in a local coffee house when her parents tell her they can no longer afford her therapist Carolyn.  Frighteningly, Kendra is remembering more and more of her abuse, and getting closer to identifying the abuser.  At the same time, this means she’s cutting herself more and more.

This book and the main character captured my heart.  It turns out that the author suffered through a similar situation, and the readers can feel the emotions bleeding through the pages.  I recommend this to readers  who like realistic teen fiction, teens who are drawn to titles about emotional problems,  and fans of A Child Called It and similar books.  If you know anyone suffering from sexual abuse like the main character in this book, here’s a hotline recommended by our Teen Health & Wellness database:

Break the Cycle Organization for Teens
The Safe Space
http://www.thesafespace.org

Here’s a video book trailer you can watch from home:

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

This is so different from most post-apocalyptic stories that I’ve read that I hesitate to put it in the same category.  Readers meet Benny Imura as the story begins, about to turn fifteen and desperately in need of a job so the community doesn’t cut his food rations.  After First Night, the zombie apocalypse, the world as we know it ended.  Benny’s mom and dad were both killed, and he now lives with his older brother Tom.  Although Tom is a zombie hunter, Benny considers him a coward because he doesn’t act like the two hunters that hang around the general store sharing “war stories” about their hunting adventures.  He also has an inkling of a memory about Tom abandoning their mom and dad during the First Night, but even though it’s fuzzy, he’s sure Tom could have done more to save them.  Benny and his close friend Chong apply for all the easy jobs they know about: locksmith apprentice, fence tester (for the fence that keeps the zombies out of Mountainside), fence technicians, and lots of more gruesome jobs having to do with completely dead zombie bodies. (Just imagine what  pit thrower might do, for example.)  Chong is able to find a job as a spotter (sort of like a forest ranger only watching for zom’s instead of fires)  but Benny can’t find anything he’s willing to do.  Out of desperation, he finally asks his brother Tom to take him on as an apprentice.  Can I just say that what he sees outside in the unprotected Rot & Ruin changes the way Benny looks at life, zombies and his brother Tom?  The last half of the book is an action-packed adventure that involves saving Benny’s possible girlfriend Nix, rescuing some kidnapped children, and perhaps even changing the course of humankind.

I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed this book.  Even though I love zombie and horror books, this book offers readers so much more than that.  It made me think about the difference between life and afterlife, what constitutes a “good” person, what makes something heroic.  I highly recommend this to all readers, both teens and adults.

Retaliation by Yasmin Shiraz

Retaliation by Yasmin Shiraz

This short novel will surely be a favorite of our Urban Drama fans.  It tells the story of two weeks in the life of Tashera, who is jumped by three girls on her way home from school in Washington, DC.  After the seventeen year old ends up in the hospital, her mother and brother Kahlil (a wheelchair-bound former gang member) swear vengeance, no matter what Tashera wants.  As the story unfolds, we realize the attack wasn’t as random as the family originally thought.  Somehow Tashera’s boyfriend Ahmed and his ex-girlfriend seem to be involved.  And Kahlil is getting his former gang associates to listen to him, as he feels the Deuce Tres crew is being disrespected by this attack.

This book is a roller coaster ride, one event spilling over into another, but there is never a dull moment.  I read it in one sitting, and imagine many teens will do the same.

Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers

 Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers

Imagine your life is so busy that you and your mother leave notes for each other on the refrigerator as your main method of communication. Fifteen year old Claire’s mother is a doctor, and often home late or out early on call. Between school, her friends and her blossoming social life, Claire finds that she is not home often when her mother is. When Claire’s mother is diagnosed with cancer, they find more time to be together, but still use the notes as a way of saying things too hard to do face to face.  This book is a fast read, but talks about important issues we all face. I felt like I really got to know Claire and her mom, and cared about what happened to them.

Reviewed by Mrs. Goldstein-Erickson

Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters

Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters

Reading this book will probably give you the creeps and make you start scratching yourself; it sure did with me.  The beginning of the story is pretty typical for a horror novel: a couple finds a great apartment that’s got everything they need, in a good neighborhood, and for rent that’s way less than it should be.  But, as it turns out, the brownstone apartment in Brooklyn IS too good to be true!  Susan, an artist and stay-at-home mom, becomes convinced that their apartment is infested with bedbugs, but neither the celebrity exterminator or her doctor can find any evidence of this.  As the book continues, readers, along with the husband Alex, begin to wonder if it’s all in Susan’s imagination,or if there really is a bug problem.  Just keep in mind that everyone may not really be the way they seem; as the saying goes: looks can be deceiving!

Despite the repulsive and disturbing  subject of bedbugs, this book kept me on the edge of my seat during the entire reading.  I really appreciated the ending, because it was not at all what I was expecting!  I highly recommend this to horror fans, aged fourteen and older.

Here’s a book trailer you can watch from home:

The Little Princes by Conner Grennan

The Little Prince: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Boys of Nepal by Conner Grennan

Connor Grennan never realized how the three months he would spend at an children’s home in Nepal would change the direction of his entire life.  He just thought it looked like a way to justify traveling around the world for a year between jobs.  Little did he know that he would fall in love with the eighteen children at the Little Princes Children’s Home, and return a year later with the goal of reuniting them with their families in the faraway province of Humla.  His story is heartfelt, often humorous and sometimes tragic.  Because he kept journals during his entire time in Nepal, Grennan is able to recapture the children’s playful personalities in addition to their ability to survive basically be  stolen from their parents by a child trafficker.

I really enjoyed this book, although it could have been about a third shorter.  I recommend to readers who liked Sold, A Long Way Gone, and modern stories about families making their way in war torn countries.