Posted on by Maureen

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Darcy has been giving anonymous advice to her fellow private school students for awhile, and it’s a great source of income for her since she’s a scholarship student whose mother works at the school. But when she agrees to help Alexander Brougham, it sets off a series of event that changes everything.  

Darcy specializes in relationships, and her advice is actually useful, focusing on setting boundaries and different attachment styles. But she ends up breaking her own rules in several different ways—this affects her relationships with her friends and loved ones, including her best friend Brooke, who Darcy has been pining over for years.

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Posted on by Maureen

As Far As You’ll Take Me by Phil Stamper

After graduating from high school a year early, Marty moves to London. He’s a talented oboe player, but he’s not going to the conservatory like he planned, but his parents don’t exactly know that. He’s supposed to be going to church every Sunday, but he’s not doing that either. Marty came out to his parents last year, but it didn’t go very well. Still, they’ve allowed him to go to London, and Marty’s determined to make the most of it.

Marty is always looking for places to showcase his musical talent; there isn’t a lot of demand for an oboe player, but the opportunities he finds prove to be rewarding. He’s also coming to terms with being out. Back home, he’s only out to his parents and his two best friends, but in London, he can be fully out, and that means that he can find a boyfriend.

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Posted on by Maureen

For Better or Cursed by Kate Williams

My thirteen year old daughter asked me to request this book because she enjoyed the first book in the series so much. Here is her review:

For Better or For Cursed is the sequel to The Babysitters Coven, so if you haven’t read that book, you need to do so before reading this one.

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Posted on by Maureen

Admission by Julie Buxbaum

Chloe is a high school senior living in Los Angeles. Her mother starred in two popular television shows as well as Hallmark movies. Her mother also engaged in an elaborate scheme of cheating and bribery in order to help Chloe get into college.

The narrative alternates between Then and Now, exploring the dual perspectives of the events that preceded Chloe’s mother’s arrest as well as what she and her family do after being implicated in the scandal.  

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Posted on by Maureen

Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass

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I want to begin this review by saying that I have followed Adam Sass on Twitter for quite awhile and when I saw Surrender Your Sons pop up on NetGalley, I immediately “wished” for it. When my wish was granted a couple of months, I literally shrieked out loud.

Connor Major trusted his boyfriend when he suggested that Connor come out to his family, but it turns out to be an utter disaster. Connor’s religious mother strongly objects to the revelation, confiscates his phone, and ultimately has him shipped off to a conversion camp on a secluded island near Costa Rica.

In theory, if Connor follows all the directions, he can leave after a week.

But no one ever leaves after only a week. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Recommended for You by Laura Silverman

Shoshana loves working at Once Upon, an independent bookstore at her local mall. She’s always loved reading, but lately, it’s become a place of refuge for her because her two moms are fighting a lot and her car needs expensive repairs that she can’t afford. But when Jake Kaplan starts working at Once Upon, Shoshana’s beloved bookstore becomes full of tension, and not because Jake is a total hottie.

Okay, maybe because he’s a total hottie, but he’s also a bit of a jerk who doesn’t even read, and when the owner announces a holiday sales competition, Shoshana is determined to win.

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Posted on by Maureen

Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Rowan Roth has spent her four years of high school locked in a bitter feud with Neil McNair. They compete over EVERYTHING.

Finally, it’s the last day of senior year, and Rowan is determined to beat McNair at Howl, the city-wide scavenger hunt that takes students all around Seattle. There’s a $5k prize waiting at the end.

There’s also a catch—while everyone is going around collecting clues, they are also playing a game of Assassin: elimination means being out of the game.

When Rowan realizes that some of the students—annoyed by her and McNair’s constant one-upmanship of each other—are planning to collaborate and take the two of them out, she has no choice.

So that’s how she and McNair team up together, going all over the city, and getting to know each other for the first time. Maybe they’ll become friends, or—maybe, just maybe—even more than friends.

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Posted on by Maureen

The Mall by Megan McCafferty

New Jersey: 1991

Cassie Worthy’s senior year spring did not go as planned—she got mono and missed prom and graduation and a bunch of other stuff. But now she’s better, and she’s starting her job at the America’s Best Cookie store with her amazing boyfriend of two years. They’re going to spend the summer working at the mall together, and then head up to NYC together for college.

And then almost immediately, everything goes wrong. Cassie finds herself dumped, jobless, and wondering what happened. Our intrepid heroine has pick herself up, find something to do all summer, and most importantly, realize that plans can only go so far.

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Posted on by Maureen

The Friend Scheme by Cale Dietrich

Matt’s father is the head of an organized crime family, and now that Matt is 17, he’s expected to join the family business. But Matt just wants to be normal and not have to worry about the retaliatory attacks that could come at any moment from their rivals.

And then Matt meets Jason and finds him utterly fascinating. He’s not supposed to have friends outside the “family”, but as their friendship grows closer—and the possibility of something more than friendship emerges—Matt tries not to worry about whether or not the whole thing might be a setup.

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Posted on by Maureen

Again Again by e. lockhart

Adelaide Buchwald is a “fac brat” (child of a faculty member) at a boarding school. She has just broken up with her boyfriend and is spending the summer walking dogs, and she is going to spend her summer walking dogs. On her third day at the park, she meets a boy.

The narrative splits into three different possibilities (accentuated by bold text) of how the conversation could proceed, before the real possibility plays out.

To say much more would be delving into spoiler territory, but needless to say, this is a summer where anything can happen. This book is so much more than the classic tale of “girl meets boy”.

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