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Pat Lowery Collins’ The Fattening Hut is a lyrical novel, told in vivid and eloquent free verse, that hauntingly explores the ramifications of a ceremonial rite of passage in a tropical island culture. Our narrator, a smart, imaginative and free-spirited girl named Helen, is in her father’s fattening hut.  The fattening hut is where all early-teen girls of the tribe go to put on a lot of weight in preparation for their arranged marriages.  Helen prefers her own way to live – exploring the island with her childhood friend, being free to run and play and explore – and she doesn’t believe she’s ready to be marriedRead More →

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Heather Hepler’s newest book, The Cupcake Queen, will be out in September 2009 from Penguin. Penny’s parents need a break from each other. So the summer before her freshman year, she and her mom move from NYC to her mom’s home town, Hog’s Hollow, population 5,584.  With her old life slipping away, Penny holes up in the back room of the cupcake bakery her mom has opened, designing and decorating endless cupcakes, wishing things would get back to normal. School starts and Penny finds herself the target of a decades old rivalry and in the sights of a mean girl and her clique.  Things go from bad to worse on aRead More →

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Haunting, painful, and intense – if I only had 3 words to sum up Ibi Kaslik’s YA novel, Skinny, those would be the ones I would choose. Giselle is the 22-year-old medical student whose troubled relationship with her late father has plagued her for years and has manifested itself in anorexia; 14-year-old Holly, a middle school student and Giselle’s younger sister, finds solace in running, but even that isn’t enough to help her as she watches her sister spiral out of control and tries to cope with her own anxieties about growing up.   The sisters alternate in narrating the story after Giselle has been released from aRead More →

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In: Middle Grade Reviews, Sci Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
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What could happen to us in a world where we no longer need to think? Where people live their daily lives uber-connected to the internet and everything it has to offer- encyclopedias of knowledge a split-second away, instant communication capabilities, worlds of information and shopping- complete with pop-up ads tailored to your desires? And what could happen if the thing connecting you to this infinite world malfunctioned? M.T. Anderson’s Feed tackles these issues. In a future world, people live with the Feed, a chip implanted into their brains that connects them to the internet on steroids. Everything they do, shop, hang out with friends, goRead More →

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After by Amy Efaw tackles the very sensitive issue of “dumpster babies.” Devon is a straight-A student, star goalie of her soccer team, and probably more mature than her own mother. So what could have possessed her to throw her own baby in the trash? The answer is not simple, and Efaw approaches it with a fresh perspective. The book is largely set in a Juvenile Detention Center, where Devon awaits a hearing to determine whether or not her case should be kept in Juvenile court. Through her interactions with her lawyer and the people (both the staff and the other girls) at the center,Read More →

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The cover of this book just screams “read me!”  I want a poster of it, and a pair of those cute bunny slippers! Looks are a little deceiving in the case of An Off Year, by Claire Zulkey, however.  Don’t get me wrong, this story captures, with uncanny accuracy and insight, the anxiety and malaise that surrounds the transition from high school to college (and even the transition from college to adult life).  The safety nets, expectations and pre-formed roles, and the familiarity of it all are yanked back and we either emerge, blinking and feeling our way, or we crawl back under the coversRead More →

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In: Middle Grade Reviews, Romance (YA), Supernatural & Horror, Supernatural & Horror (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
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Ever since he was 10 years old and filled with The Holy Ghost, Little Texas has been a born-again, Evangelical preacher, doing God’s holy work on Earth, bringing souls to the Lord and healing people through his mysterious touch.  The trouble is, Ronald Earl, Little Texas that is, is now nearly 16 and starting to grapple with his own doubts, insecurities and bodily needs.  He’s still a vessel for the Lord’s power when he’s on stage testifying and preaching, but in the off hours as the ministry that’s built around him travels from one small Southern town to the next, Ronald Earl is plagued byRead More →

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In: Mystery & Suspense (YA), Romance (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
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When Abbey’s best friend Kristen vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, she refuses to accept that Kristen is dead. As rumors fly that her death was no accident, Abbey goes through the motions of grief, including attending her best friend’s funeral, where she meets Caspian, a mysterious and handsome stranger that keeps popping into her life. As the story unfolds, Abbey quickly realizes that the truth can be a fickle friend, challenging everything she thought she knew about her best friend, the boy she is quickly falling for, and even herself. One of the most unique features of Jessica Verday’s The Hollow isRead More →

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In: Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Supernatural & Horror, Supernatural & Horror (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
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In the 17th century being different from your fellow villagers, and being a woman, was a dangerous combination.  14 year old Mary Newbury lives a quiet life on the outskirts of a village in England with her healer grandmother. Until the day when the townsfolk turn against them, the witchhunters “try” her grandmother, convict her of being a witch, and hang the old woman. Mary is rescued by a cloaked woman who takes her to join a group of Puritans set to sail for the new world and the religious freedom the colonies offer. Thus opens the long lost journal of Mary Newbury and Celia Rees’ captivating and thrillingRead More →