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This was a tough one. Catherine Atkins’ The File on Angelyn Starkis gritty, intense, and unsettling. Its deceptively simple, succinct prose, short chapters, and sparse dialogue make it a quick read, but that comes at a price; this is a chilling story of a teen girl who is scarred by the sexual abuse she suffered at hands of her stepfather.  Being swept up in the train wreck that is Angelyn’s life is not really someplace that I enjoyed being, and I could hardly imagine living it day to day.  Angelyn’s boyfriend always wants to go further than she does; sometimes its easier to give in than toRead More →

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If what you want most in a novel is a protagonist who gets it, who’s wading through the same emotional crap you are, who’s fed up with the ineffectual adults in his life and having to just accept the way things are, and most of all, a guy who is funny as hell, then Lucky Linderman is the protagonist for you. That’s not to say that Lucky’s life is all that great – it’s pretty crappy, actually.  His dad is emotionally distant from the family; his mom meekly inhabits the edges of her own life, preferring to spend time swimming laps; his grandfather is/was a VietnamRead More →

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Cecil Castellucci’s latest is First Day on Earth, a succinct, poignant short novel about a teen who is an alien in his own life. Mal is a loner. An observer of the idiocy of high school, reluctant caretaker of his alcoholic mother, and lonely as hell.  He would never admit that, of course, but  ever since his dad left him and his mom, Mal’s been adrift.  And something strange and secret happened to him out in the Mojave desert that he still can’t get over – he was abducted by aliens.  Trying to survive high school, his messed up home life, and the wrenching pain ofRead More →

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Who wouldn’t want a glimpse into their future? To see what your life is like 15 years from now, who your friends are, what your job is, where you live and if you’re happy.  But how do you piece together a true picture of your future if it’s revealed in a list of “friends” you many not even know, photos that haven’t been taken yet, and random tidbits (“Cake for breakfast – yum”) that don’t make sense?  For Emma and Josh in 1996, getting access to their lives in 2011 via an AOL disc that reveals their as-yet-to-be-invented Facebook pages, there are just as many gaps inRead More →

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Peter Parker, meet Steve Jobs. In a 21st century twist on the superhero genre, Kevin Brooks gives us iBoy.  Tom Harvey is a average teenager living in the lowerclass section of London, in a housing project rife with gangs, drugs, violence, hopelessness and poverty.   Not one to meddle in affairs that don’t directly impact him, Tom keeps his head down and muddles along.  On a day when he’s going to visit Lucy, a girl in the projects he’s known since childhood, Tom’s fate is sealed: an iPhone is thrown from the 3oth floor, hitting him in the head at 77 miles per hour, fracturing his skull andRead More →

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22 year old Joel Bloom’s life is at a crossroads – literally.  He can accept the decision of the draft board and go to Vietnam, a war that he opposes, or he can flee to Canada, a fugitive with little hope to return home.  It seems that Joel’s destiny has been to go to war: he grew up in an industrial town in Massachusetts in the years following WWII, dreaming of fighting in the military or maybe winning the World Series for the Brooklyn Dodgers.  But there’s always been something about conflict, war, politics and violence that didn’t make sense to Joel, and no oneRead More →

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New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater has created something wonderful, enchanting, thrilling, and unique in her latest, The Scorpio Races.  It’s hard to say what I like most about this book – its breathtaking scenery and visceral sense of place; the pulse-pounding thrill of the wild horses racing on the beach; the lovingly crafted, superbly detailed characters (human and horse); the fact that it’s a unique blend of romance, action, coming of age, and fantasy that feels so different from most everything else out on the YA market right now; or maybe, simply, the powerful honesty of a book well written, carefully edited, and lovinglyRead More →

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Dandi Daley Mackall’s latest book for young adults, The Silence of Murder, takes the reader along on a slowly unraveling mystery about a beloved coach, murdered in cold blood; a mute, autistic teen, on trial for the crime; and a strong-willed young woman, determined to prove her older brother isn’t a killer.  Sixteen year old Hope is her 18 year old brother Jeremy’s protector, the only person who truly understands him and appreciates his unique way of being in the world.  Since  Jeremy stopped speaking at the age of 9, Hope has made it her mission in life to be the bridge between reserved, autistic, creative Jeremy andRead More →

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Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin deliver a hilarious, heartfelt concoction in Notes From the Blender.  I can’t count how many times I laughed out loud, smirked with understanding, and cringed with embarrassment throughout this book.    16 year old Declan (named after Elivs Costello, thank you very much) loves death metal, violent video games, and Neilly Foster.  He’s an outsider for sure, cloaking himself in black clothes, combat boots and an attitude that lets people know to keep their distance.  He’s learned to live with the pain and grief he’s carried since his mom was killed in a car accident when he was 9.  He and his dadRead More →