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.

Straight Outta East Oakland by Harry Louis Williams II

Straight Outta East Oakland by Harry Louis Williams II

First off, this didn’t feel like the typical urban drama because the main character, Firstborn Walker, is a studious young man who just makes some really bad decisions.  He’s from East Oakland and has been accepted to a prestigious (fictitious) private college in Berkeley.  The only catch is he has to come up with 20% of his first year’s tuition in order to qualify to get the rest of his costs (tuition, books and dorm) paid for for his entire time there.  What makes this especially tricky is that he’s about to be evicted from his rented room and can’t find any type of job, no matter how hard he looks.  Out of desperation, what he finally decides to do is go along with his childhood friend Drama and sell marijuana until he can save up the money he needs to start school in the fall.  What are the odds that his plan will work out, or that this naive bookworm will even survive?

This book captured and kept my interest more than many urban dramas.  It felt authentic without glorifying the drugs and violence, while at the same time telling a suspenseful story.  Sometimes the writer does become a little preachy about the “black man’s plight in the hood,” but I think these are messages that especially need to be heard by readers of this particular genre.  I would recommend this to fans and urban drama and Bay Area urban teens and young adults.

We also own the sequel to this book, Straight Outta East Oakland 2, Trapped on the Track.

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

In this gripping novel in verse, Hopkins tells what happens to three suicidal teenagers who meet in a clinic for “troubled youth” in Nevada.  First there’s Conner, who seems to have the perfect life if you don’t look too closely.  He lives in a mansion in an exclusive part of town and is very popular at school. Along with this, however, he has parents with impossibly high expectations who are always comparing him to his “perfect” twin sister Cara.  Then we meet Tony, a street kid who’s been in the juvenile detention system since he was a young child, but readers won’t learn why until much later in the book.  We just find out that he’s gay and been a prostitute on and off just to survive.  Lastly is Vanessa, the beautiful girl with a secret so dark the only way she believes she can relieve her pain is by cutting herself.  These three patients slowly become friends as they find they have more and more in common with each other.  Sharing their pasts is excruciating, but carefully they reveal their darkest mysteries to each other, learning to trust and love in the process.

This book is full of bleak topics: sexual abuse, self-mutilation, drug abuse, parental neglect, mental illness and suicide. Like all of Hopkins’ books, the author has done her research, and presents her characters in a realistic, if depressing fashion.  I found this book engaging, yet sad.  It didn’t really matter that I read it after I read Perfect, as there was only one character in common.  I would highly recommend this to teen readers who like realistic fiction and fans of Hopkins’ other titles.

Click HERE to see the review of the companion novel Perfect.

 

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.

Secrets by Lauren Kunze with Rina Onur

Secrets by Lauren Kunze with Rina Onur

This book in the Ivy series picks up with Harvard freshman Callie Andrews returning to Cambridge from Thanksgiving with her family in California.  Callie is up to her neck in trouble: she’s being blackmailed by her magazine editor who has a copy of an incriminating video of Callie and her high school boyfriend; her perfect Harvard boyfriend Clint has told her he needs “space” from her,  her best college friend Vanessa has disowned her completely, and she’s made a huge mistake with the hottie from across the hall.

This book is just as quickly read as the first one; I read it in a long evening and simply couldn’t put it down.  While Callie and her friends may not be the most realistic portrayal of college students, they sure are the most fun ones I’ve read about lately.  This is the perfect book for summer beach reading, if you’re looking to forget about your own problems for awhile, or if you’re a Gossip Girl or Clique fan.

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

Here’s another review of this short and engaging book, this time from Ms. Goldstein-Erickson.

Although Trina, Leticia and Dominique all go to the same high school, they only know of each other, but are not at all in the same groups. When Trina walks between Dominique and her friends, Dominique feels Trina has violated her personal space. She slams her fist into her hand, signaling her intention to beat up Trina after school. Leticia just happens to be at the top of the stairs at that moment, and realizes what could happen. Each of the three girls tells what’s happening to her as the day goes on, all the way to the end of the day, when Trina walks out of school where Dominique is waiting for her. I felt like I knew each of the girls through reading her thoughts, and understood each of them well. This book is a fast read and I found it really engrossing. Even though it’s told by girls, I think boys will like it too. The drama that goes on at their school could happen at any high school.

The Plague by Michael Grant

The Plague by Michael Grant (Gone #4)

This fourth installment of Grant’s Gone series, following the addictive Gone, Hunger and Lies.  Fans of the series will not be disappointed in this new title.   Sam and friends and Caine and his crew are alive and well, and still fighting against each other.  The overarching plot theme in this book is a terrible flu which is killing off the kids on the mainland, one even Lana the healer is unable to cure.  Readers learn right at the beginning the evil power the book calls Darkness is alive and well, and still living deep in the old, abandoned mine.  An this time, Darkness has made its way into Little Pete’s brain.  No good will come of this, as you can imagine.

This book is as gripping and as action-packed as its predecessors.  I wish there had been a little more review of the past books in the beginning, so help readers remember or clue in new readers.  A lot of plot points and important characterization has occurred and new and continuing readers alike would benefit from some type of synopsis in a prologue.  Despite this very minor flaw, I found this book to be great fun and recommend it to all teen readers.

The Unidentified by Rae Mariz

The Unidentified by Rae Mariz

Taking our corporate culture to a frightening conclusion, this book’s protagonist Kid goes to high school in a converted shopping mall.  There are no teachers, but the students learn by playing various games and moving up through the levels.  They each have an “intouch” device, which is like an super iPhone, that keeps track of everything they do and everywhere they go in “The Game,” as school is now called.  Social networking is also constant, with the kids always aware of the what the people the “follow” are doing, wearing, eating, playing, etc.  The whole time, corporate sponsors are watching the teenagers, developing new products and signing them to endorsement contracts, the ultimate prize for many of them.  Kid knows something is off about this whole system,but it’s not like she has any choice in the matter.  The plot gets really interesting when a fringe group calling themselves the Unidentified host an anti-corporation prank, that captures Kid’s attention.  While trying to figure out who they are and what they believe in, she is noticed by one of the larger corporations and “branded,” becoming a trendspotter for their development team.  The story also involves a love triangle, but that is almost an aside,taking the back seat to the themes of loss of identity, corporate influence and loss of privacy.

I recommend this book to readers who like dystopias, social networking, futuristic stories and science fiction.  It’s a fast read and certainly reflects the directions our culture seems to be taking.

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

Jumpstart the World by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Jumpstart the World by Catherine Ryan Hyde

When Ellie’s mom rents the fifteen-year-0ld her own apartment so the mom’s  boyfriend won’t have to deal with a teenager, Ellie realizes that it’s a good thing she enjoys her own company.  It’s not like she had a choice, after all.  One of the few benefits, though, is her new neighbor Frank, who she is developing a crush on, despite his having a live-in girlfriend.  In her mind, he’s so different from the boys she sees at school.  He’s kind, gentle and actually listens to what she thinks.

Soon, however, Ellie discovers that he is different in a way she had never considered before, and she is both surprised and hurt.  As she learns more about Frank and explores her feelings about him, Ellie begins to grow up, and even understand herself and her dysfunctional relationship with her mother better.

I really liked this book.  It deals with a difficult subject in a very senstive way, without imposing stereotypes on its characters.  I also appreciated that it took place in New York City without being cheesy, just allowing the urban setting to play a natural role in the story. Since the book is fairly short (under 200 pp.) it would be great for someone doing a quack book project.  I recommend it to all teens.

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

This is one of those books I had heard great things about from students, but just put off reading for no real reason.  Boy am I sorry now because I loved it!  The story takes place in a town so ideal that when a boy is told by his teacher that he’s “definitely gay and has a very good sense of self” when he’s in kindergarten, his mom’s reaction is that he learned a new word.  Paul is surprised that his being gay is different, and rarely faces any homophobia in his small town, although he knows it exists elsewhere.  In the story, Paul is a high school sophomore, and his school includes a cross-dressing football quarterback, cheerleaders that ride Harley Davidson motorcycles and the Gay-Straight Alliance as the most popular club.  Although he’s had boyfriend’s in the past, Paul can barely catch his breath when he meats the new kid at school, Noah. Naturally, the course of true love is never smooth, especially when Paul’s ex starts coming around again, right after he’s convinced Noah that his feelings are real.

While this book is surely a romantic comedy, Paul’s honest narration keeps the plot feeling realistic as well as honest.  I rate this 5 *’s out of 5, and recommend it to all teen readers.  Fans of Alex Sanchez, Julie Anne Peters and Ellen Wittlinger will appreciate Levithan’s LGBT-friendly world.

The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith

The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith

This disturbing, yet addictive story would not let me go until  I finished the book.  In one long sitting, yes.  It is the story of sixteen-year-old Jack, who is kidnapped and nearly raped by an insane man on the night before he is to leave for a vacation in Great Britain with his best friend Conner.  Although he narrowly escapes the next morning, when he and Conner (the only person Jack tells about the traumatic ordeal) accidentally run into the abuser, Conner encourages Jack to take back control of his life, leading to terrible consequences.

Later, when Jack is getting settled in to his London hotel, he meets a stranger in a pub who gives him a mysterious pair of glasses.  Looking through the glasses leads him to Marbury, an alternative world at war where Jack is responsible to two younger boys, Ben and Griffin.  It is a cold, heartless realm with the three boys on the constant run from cannibalistic creatures bent on finding and killing them.  Try as he might, Jack can’t stop himself from putting on the purple glasses and entering Marbury, where eventually he sees his best friend Connor, only he is one of the roving monsters trying to kill Jack, Ben and Griffin.

This book is raw, gritty, bloody and has strong language.  Although it might not be for all readers, I could not put it down I was so engrossed in Jack’s dilemmas.   I recommend it to readers who like alternative universes; gritty, relentless violence; and fans of dark horror like Stephen King and John Saul.

Here is a book trailer you can watch from home:

Accomplice by Eirann Corrigan

Accomplice by Eirann Corrigan

Determined to make themselves stand out in the hyper-competitive college application process, high school juniors Finn and Chloe concoct a scheme to stage Chloe’s disappearance. She’ll be hiding in Finn’s grandma’s basement for about two weeks, then Finn will stage a rescue and they’ll both be media darlings.  At least this is their plan…  Of course, things rarely go as smoothly as we hope, even though the two best friends think they have planned for any kind of complications.  Finn is the one who has to face CNN, her friends and the community, keeping a straight face all the while acting bereaved about Chloe.  As Finn’s lies become more overwhelming, she finds herself isolated from everyone, even Chloe during her occasional visits to her in the basement.  Then Chloe’s friend Dean is accused of the kidnapping, and only the two girls know the real truth.  Readers will begin asking themselves if even the truth can save the situation Finn finds herself in after Chloe’s “rescue.”

What I enjoyed about this book was that is was told in the first person perspective from Finn’s point of view.  We feel all her tension, guilt and anxiety as the situation gets nearly intolerable for her.  The writer does an amazing job of depicting these two girls, who even though they are best friends, are very different emotionally.  The end has a small twist, which left me haunted for days.

I recommend this book to readers looking for a suspense novel or a realistic teen title.

Teenie by Christopher Grant

Teenie by Christopher Grant

Martine, known as Teenie to her friends and family, has been a hardworking student for as long as anyone can remember.  As a freshman at the technical high school in Brooklyn, she’s hoping to win a scholarship to pay for her to study in Spain for part of the next school year.  Her best friend since forever, Cherise, isn’t such a stellar student, but she’s much more socially adept, so she and Teenie complement each other perfectly.  When Cherise convinces Teenie to wear a body-hugging outfit forbidden by her strict Caribbean parents, the book smart girl starts getting attention from the star of the basketball team.  At the same time,Cherise has been having an online romance with a sugar daddy who keeps sending her gifts and now wants to meet her at Penn Station.  Teenie is sure this is some guy is some type of pervert stalker, and finally tells her father about the meeting.  When he interrupts the rendezvous with the sugar daddy who is indeed old enough to be their dad, Cherise disowns Teenie for her meddling.  Now, Cherise isn’t around to give Teenie advice when her basketball star crush starts asking for favors she doesn’t understand.

I really enjoyed this book, the writer’s first.  Grant’s main characters are fleshed out and his dialogue realistic, making the story engaging and fun.  I also liked Teenie’s strong sense of family with her parents and older twin brothers.  Grant contrasts this nicely with Cherise’s mom, who spends most of her time with her boyfriends, neglecting her daughter.

I recommend this book to all teen readers, especially fans of urban drama.  I promise that you will get caught up in Teenie’s problems, which are so typical for today’s teens.

Virals by Kathy Reichs

Virals by Kathy Reichs

Kathy Reichs, the writer of the TV show Bones, enters the YA arena with the first book in a new series.  Tory Brennan has recently moved in with the father she has never known, after her mother was killed by a drunken driver.  They live on a remote island off the South Carolina coast, which is owned by the university for which her scientist dad works.  She and her three best friends, all science geeks, are out exploring a “deserted” building in the university compound, when they discover a caged wolf-dog pup, who they learn by reading the cage’s tags has been exposed to a form of Parvovirus.  While trying to solve the mystery of the virus exposure, since the university is opposed to animal testing, they run into a cold case murder mystery, dating back from the Vietnam War era.  Although Tory knows humans are immune to the Parvovirus, their rescued pup has  been infected with an experimental strain, which they learn has very unexpected effects on the four of them—heightened senses and super human strength and speed.  The group quickly becomes the target of some killers, while their virus and murder mysteries begin to unravel themselves and make sense.

Readers looking for a fast-paced, action-packed suspense story will love this book.  Reichs brings her own knowledge of forensic science into the story, making it the perfect choice for fans of her TV show Bones, the CSI series and other police procedurals.

Harmless by Dana Reinhardt

Harmless by Dana Reinhardt

Afraid of getting caught in a lie about where they really were, Anna, Emma and Mariah concoct a story instead. Treated as heroes for fighting off an attacker they made up, they start to feel guilty. When a homeless man is arrested for the attack, the only way to prove his innocence is to confess themselves. Making this decision presents each of the girls with a difficult moral dilemma.

This book is told in chapters by each of the girls from individual points of view. I felt like I got to know them all and could understand each of their positions. The supporting characters, including families and friends, are realistic and add depth to the story. I kept reading because I really wanted to find out how they dealt with the problem they created themselves. Anyone who likes books that make you think will like this!

Review by Ms. Goldstein-Erickson

The Perks of a Wallflower by Stepehn Chbosky

The Perks of a Wallflower by Stepehn Chbosky

This short title has long been a favorite here at Berkeley High. (In fact, I just bought two new copies to replace some falling-apart ones!)  The story’s narrator, Charlie, is a ninth grade student whose best friend committed suicide the previous spring.  As he enters high school, he becomes a loner, the “wallflower” watching and describing what he sees without much emotion.  The book is told in a series of letters Charlie writes to his “dear friend,” although the reader never learns who this is.    He writes honestly and with a a keen sense of observation, describing high school life as he experiences it.  A group of older students adopt Charlie as a friend, and through them he learns about life, both the good and the bad.  His new best friend Patrick is gay, so Charlie discovers what it’s like to live in a homophobic community.  He falls hard for Patrick’s beautiful sister, Sam, and learns about unrequited love.  Charlie has his first date is with the self-involved Mary Elizabeth, but that relationship falls apart badly when he is honest at a party about who he would most like to kiss (Samantha, of course).  Charlie also experiences casual drug and alcohol use, the ritual of the Rocky Horror Picture Show movie, and being mentored by his English teacher, who literally gives the teen his own favorite books to read and talk about later.

Even during my most recent reading, this book captured my interest from the first few pages.  Charlie’s open and naive voice reminds me of myself as a high school freshman, and many of the kids I see these days, even though many of them have a practiced veneer of  “coolness.”   I think teenagers find it easy to identify with Charlie’s emotions and reactions to his new experiences, and this is one of the reasons this book has stayed so popular even though it is over ten years old.  As of February 2011, the book is being made into a movie starring Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief) and Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame.
I recommend this title to all high school readers–it’s a short, fast read that everyone can identify with.

Matched by Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia Reyes’ futuristic society has always taken care of everything– from things as simple as meals prepared specifically for each person’s nutritional needs, to calculating each eighteen year old’s perfect match for their lifelong marriages.  When Cassie is matched with her best friend Xander, she’s pleasantly surprised, even though it rarely happens that a person is matched with someone they already know.  Later at home, when she puts the microcard with his biographical data on it into her port (computer) to admire him, a quick flash of another boy’s picture shows up on the screen for just a second.  She recognizes the picture from school, an orphan named Ky who was adopted at 10 by his aunt and uncle.  How can she have two matches?  An officer from the government explains that it’s just a computer glitch, but Cassia’s mind has already started wondering.  Add to this the illegal poem her grandfather slipped to her on his deathbed, and the young woman is in for a world of confusion.  Cassia begins to want all kinds of forbidden things: more poetry and music than the government-approved 100 titles of each, a growing romance with Ky, more time by herself thinking.

Writer Condie skillfully tells this dystopian tale without giving the readers time to gasp for air.  The fast-paced plot is intricately tied together with specific details: a Dylan Thomas poem, secrets whispered while hiking up a forbidden hill, and descriptions of the three pills each citizen must keep on their person at all times.  This engaging story is one of the best I’ve read this school year!  I love that it blends a unique dystopia with a forbidden romance.  I highly recommend it to dystopia, science fiction and romance fans.

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

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

This book didn’t sound that interesting to me, but it surprised me and was actually pretty great.  In fact, once I got into the story, I had a hard time putting it down to get other things done.  It tells about Piper, a funny, smart, sarcastic high school senior who happens to be deaf.  Although she has hearing aids, her hearing is negligible, but when she sees the winners of the local Battle of the Bands contest rocking it on the front steps of the school, she can’t help but join the crowd, and ends up being one of the last ones to leave.  When the egotistical lead singer and Piper get into a battle of the wits, she ends up challenging the band and signing on as its manager.  She has only one month to get Dumb a paying gig!  She calls the members the Five Flavors of Dumb for a good reason: they couldn’t be more different.  If she can manage to get them to listen to her and each other, they might actually be able to make the record demo they won in the contest, and get a real job.  In addition to this fast-paced, music-centered plot, there are threads about Piper’s family accepting her deafness, her quest to afford college now that her parents have spent her college fund on her baby sister’s cochlear implants, and the band’s drummer Ed Chen, who she’s known forever and now suspects he might qualify for more than just a friend.

What I especially liked about the story is the writer’s appreciation for Seattle’s favorite rock sons–Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain.  Piper and the band members learn about each fallen rocker, and begin to envision their own sound and music within the local music scene.  I highly recommend this to all teen readers!

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

When Alex wakes up naked in a strange boy’s dorm bed, she has absolutely no idea how she ended up there. She gets out of there as quickly as she can, but she can’t understand how she had sex with a stranger, when she didn’t even do that with her ex-boyfriend.  As bits and pieces of the truth start coming back to her, the high school junior realizes she’s had non-consensual sex with Carter, and starts doing her best to avoid him around the small, New England boarding school campus.  But even that doesn’t help because Carter starts bragging about his sexual exploits to all his water polo teammates, painting himself as as irresistible stud.  To add insult to injury, the Themis Academy administration won’t  help Alex–they view their students as perfect and rarely even discipline students since they trust them to behave honorably, and just don’t “see” any other types of behavior.  Alex’s roommate and her older sister Casey encourage her to take her problem to the Mockingbirds, a semi-secret student organization that seeks justice for students through a regimented trial process.  But Alex doesn’t know if she wants to invite the entire school into her personal business.

This book kept me on the edge of my chair!  The story moved along quickly, and I got caught up in Alex’s fears and emotions as she decided to let the Mockingbirds try her date rapist.  I especially liked that the writer stressed that “Silence does not equal consent. . . . The only thing that means yes is yes.”  Writer Whitney also includes a brief afterward where she talks about her own date rape experience during college, and gives a good list of resources for students to use for further information or assistance.  This would be a great title to read after reading Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson.

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