Posted on by Maureen

Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman

I found Backlash at the library. It was on the new release shelf in the young adult section. I was not familiar with author Sarah Darer Littman, but I certainly plan to pick up her other books after this.

It’s hard to describe Backlash without venturing into spoiler territory. The story is told from multiple perspectives, and this is an absolute necessity when it comes to getting the whole story. As Backlash begins, a girl named Lara tries to kill herself because Christian, the boy she had a crush on, just publicly humiliated her on Facebook and told her the world would be a better place without her. Lara has a history of depression beginning when she was in middle school, but she gained new insight through therapy, lost 30 pounds, and just made the cheerleading squad. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

I found Extraordinary Means at the library. I had read one of Robyn Schneider’s other Young Adult books (The Beginning of Everything), so I was pleased to find this newly released book.

Extraordinary Means is the story of Lane and Sadie, two teenagers with an incurable strain of tuberculosis. They have been placed at Latham House, which used to be a boarding school, and now serves as a sanatorium. Lane and Sadie met before, several years earlier at a summer camp.

The chapters alternate between Lane’s perspective and Sadie’s. As the book begins, Lane is just arriving at Latham House; Sadie has been there for months. Lane’s biggest concern is keeping up with his AP coursework. Despite the diagnosis, he will not be deterred from his goal of getting into Stanford. The lackadaisical attitude of the teachers, and the busywork that the students are given comes as a shock to Lane. But everyone there is sick, and not everyone has energy to keep up with traditional coursework. Read more

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The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley

As soon as I read the synopsis for The Carnival at Bray (written by first time author Jessie Ann Foley), I immediately added it to my checkout pile at the library. This novel is set in 1993; I turned 14 that year, so I felt an immediate connection with the story.

Maggie is 16 years old when she moves to Ireland with her sister, mother, and new stepfather. She leaves her grandmother and beloved uncle Kevin behind in Chicago, trading the big city for a small town on the Irish coast. Life is very different in Bray, and while Maggie’s sister acclimates quickly, she finds it a little more difficult to adjust. When Uncle Kevin gives her two tickets to Nirvana’s concert in Rome, it seems like a ludicrous gift. The concert is several months away, but how is she supposed to get from Ireland to Rome? Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Geek Girl by Holly Smale

As I mentioned in one of my last reviews, I love browsing the new release section at my town library. I’ve found many wonderful books there, many of which had not been on my radar and that I might not have discovered otherwise. This is where I found Geek Girl, a young adult novel by Holly Smale. The book was published in the UK in 2013, but has only recently been published here in the United States.

Harriet Manners is a very clever girl. Her mind is full of facts about the world around her. Harriet is socially awkward, and at the beginning of the book, she is reluctantly accompanying her friend Nat to the Clothes Live show in Birmingham. While there, Harriet is spotted by a modeling scout. At first, Harriet doesn’t want anything to do with modeling; after all, the entire reason she is at Clothes Live is because Nat has always dreamed of being discovered.

When the modeling agency calls to follow up, Harriet feels conflicted. Modeling has never been a passion of hers, but could it help her improve her image? Harriet is tired of being a geek, and she wants things to change. Harriet usually has all the answers, and could modeling be the answer that she has been looking for? Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Audacity by Melanie Crowder

I love browsing the new release shelves at my local library. I often request books through the library network, but the new release shelves are a great place to find books that might not have been on my radar. This is where I found Audacity, a book of free verse poetry for young adults by Melanie Crowder.

Audacity is a fictionalization of Clara Lemlich’s life. The story begins at the beginning of the 20th century in the Pale of Settlement, the portion of Russian land in which Jewish families are allowed to live. While Clara’s father and brothers devote their days to studying the Torah, Clara secretly learns Russian. She has always had a love for learning, and Russian unlocks a world of literature and learning that is not accessible via her native Yiddish. When her father discovers her Russian books, he burns them. When the Russians burn down their village in a pogrom, the family makes their way to America. Read more

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All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

I read almost all of All The Bright Places yesterday. I didn’t intend to read the entire book in one day. I started reading Friday night, and then I picked the book up again the next morning. I had a hard time putting it down. I read while the girls were at Kumon, and then I read here and there during the day. I was absolutely captivated, and by the end of the book, I was profoundly moved. This is a book that is going to stay with me for a long time.

All The Bright Places is a young adult novel by Jennifer Niven. It is, as the cover states, “the story of a boy called Finch and a girl named Violet”. Finch (Theodore) and Violet meet one day in the bell tower at school. Everyone expects that Finch is up there because he plans to jump off, but no one has any idea that Violet is up there for the same reason. In fact, Violet is credited with saving Finch that day, and no one knows the truth- except for Finch. Read more

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The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

I first saw The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place at Barnes & Noble over the holidays. I made a request at the library, and the book arrived. Things were hectic, and I didn’t get around to reading more than the first chapter before it was time to return the book. I was very sad about this, but I didn’t want to run up fines- that dime a day adds up quickly! When I received my monthly Audible credit, I didn’t even hesitate before buying The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place.

This novel straddles both the middle grade and the young adult genre. It was written by Julie Berry and narrated by Jayne Entwistle. The story opens in the waning days of the Victorian era. Seven young ladies are enjoying Sunday dinner- or rather, they are watching Mrs. Plackett, their headmistress and her n’er do well brother Mr. Godding enjoying the veal that they prepared. This is what happens every Sunday, but on this particular Sunday, something different happens: the two adults drop dead in front of them. Read more

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The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door by Karen Finneyfrock

The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door is a young adult novel by Karen Finneyfrock. I found it at my town library displayed on the end of a shelf. The cover intrigued me, and the plot synopsis on the flap made me add the book to my checkout pile.

The novel begins as Celia is entering high school in Hershey, PA. She has turned “dark” over the summer. She explains rather early in the novel what turning dark entails, but she doesn’t go into the reasons behind her decision until the novel is almost over. To Celia, being dark mean no longer caring about what people think of her, and no longer trying to fit in. Celia is also determined to exact revenge on a Queen Bee type girl named Sandy, who did something terrible last year during eighth grade. Read more

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The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder

I read The Museum of Intangible Things immediately after finishing Great. Both of these novels fall into the young adult genre, but they could not have been more different. Great is a modern version of The Great Gatsby, and filled with fabulously wealthy teens behaving badly. Hannah and Zoe, the main characters in The Museum of Intangible Things, live in a rural part of New Jersey, where there have been cutbacks at the local high school, and no one has very much extra money.

The Museum of Intangible Things was written by Wendy Wunder. As I have mentioned, Hannah and Zoe are best friends. Hannah is the practical sort, and Zoe is much more esoteric. But, like they say, opposites attract, and somehow, they make their friendship work. Read more