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In Skunk Girl, 11th grader Nina Khan feels trapped between 2 cultures: middle America and her Pakistani-Muslim heritage. She’s got all the usual high school troubles: cliques, friends starting to drift apart because of interests in boys, academic pressures, body/self esteem issues, and a crush on a really hot guy; and if that weren’t hard enough, she’s got the expectations left at school from her “supernerd” older sister, restrictions on who she can hang out with, traditional/conservative parents, andof course being the only Asian student in the school.  Nina feels bound and constrained by her parents’ traditional values, unsure about her own feelings, and reluctantRead More →

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In Frances O’Roark Dowell’s  latest novel, The Kind of Friends We Used to Be, Kate and Marilyn are starting 7th grade.  Friends since preschool, the two girls start a new stage in life when things become more complicated and they begin to explore who they are and who they want to be. For Marilyn, getting in to the popular crowd is the focus of her ambitions. She’s joined the cheerleading squad and with hard work, she’s now part of the “in crowd.” Just the opposite is coming true for Kate – she’d rather learn to play guitar, wear combat boots every day, and join the creative writing club.Read More →

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A.E. Cannon’s The Loser’s Guide to Life and Love is a light-hearted romantic comedy of errors that is as breezy and easy as a warm summer night. Well-meaning, if somewhat relationship-challenged Ed has a summer job at Reel Life Movies where he works with his best friend, Scout.  Scout’s the kind of girl guys like to hang out with: she plays sports, love cheeseburgers, and has a great sense of humor.  Quark is Ed’s other best friend, a shy, but gorgeous, guy who’s intellectually way ahead of everyone. And Ellie, a beautiful girl from out of town, who breezes into the video store and catches Ed’s eye right away.  Read More →

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Just finished reading, and loving, the advance reading copy of Fat Cat, the second novel by Arizona’s Robin Brande. (due from Random House in Oct ’09) Catherine (Cat) is a smart, wise-cracking, funny high school junior who is trapped in a fat suit. She wishes there was a way to unzip the suit and start living her real life; but instead she’s trapped in a body that keeps her from being the person she longs to be.  Start of junior year and she’s in for a tough year:  lots of AP classes, no real social life to speak of (except her awesome best friend Amanda),Read More →

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Jill Wolfson’s latest novel, Cold Hands, Warm Heart, tells the story of how organ donation affects the donor’s family,the recipients, and the many others involved in this amazing, but too-little-utilized life giving gift. Wolfson creates a compelling and touching story by focusing on the experiences and families of 2 teenage girls: Dani, who was born with a malfunctioning heart and has spent her entire life in and out of hospital, facing surgery after surgery, just wishing for a normal life; and Amanda, a competitive gymnast whose life is unexpectedly cut short and whose  family chooses to donate her organs after she is declared brain-dead.  Amanda’s storyRead More →

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Acknowledging that “we all make mistakes, sometimes big ones, sometimes small ones, sometimes hilarious ones,” K.L. Going wants readers to confess their biggest “screwups” in an online contest. Those interested in entering (it’s open to readers 12–up) can wrote a paragraph (or more) describing a mortifying or hilarious mistake and email it to the author. Going will reward her favorite entry with a $100 gift certificate to a bookstore of the winner’s choice as well as autographed copies of all of her books; three runners-up will receive autographed copies of King of the Screwups. Enter by visiting Going’s King of the ScrewUps websiteRead More →

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Liam is the popular, charismatic, drop-dead gorgeous son of a former supermodel and high powered CEO.  He’s got great fashion sense, developed over years with his mom on the high fashion circuit; a knack for connecting with people; and an engaging personality.  The trouble is he has no qualities his controlling, reserved, angry father respects.  And to make things worse, Liam continuously makes poor judgment calls that draw his father’s ire.  After the final straw (caught drunk on his father’s desk with a nearly naked party date), Liam is kicked out of the house the week before his senior year. He can’t go live withRead More →

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In James Roy’s Max Quigley: Technically Not a Bully, Australian 6th grader Max Quigley is the biggest kid at school. He and his mate Jared casually torment, tease, and bully just about everyone around them. He’s confident, self-centered, and completely clueless about how his behavior impacts other people.  He claims, repeatedly, not to be a bully since he doesn’t physically hurt people, steal or make them cry; instead, he’s really proud of his powers of “persuasion.” Things start to change when the mother of his favorite victim,  Nerdstrom, suggests a plan to help both boys work through this: Triffin will tutor Max in math and both boys willRead More →