By:
On:
In: On the Edge, Realistic Fiction (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 1 Comment

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 →

By:
On:
In: Action & Adventure (YA), On the Edge, Romance (YA), Sci-Fi & Fantasy (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

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 →

By:
On:
In: On the Edge, Realistic Fiction (YA), Romance (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

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 →

By:
On:
In: Action & Adventure (YA), Multicultural (YA), On the Edge, Realistic Fiction (YA), Sports (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Even with all of the “multicultural” young adult novels published every year, there really isn’t much that takes place in Sub-Saharan Africa.  And those stories taking on the plight of the refugees, the disenfranchised, and the desperately poor are even harder to find.  Michael Williams’ recent publication, Now Is the Time for Running, tells the staggering story of a 14 year old boy, Deo, fleeing from Zimbabwe into South Africa seeking safety and a chance at a decent life for himself and his mentally disabled older brother, Innocent.  Inspired in part by Williams’ work with homeless refugee youths in his home country (South Africa) as well asRead More →

By:
On:
In: Action & Adventure (YA), On the Edge, Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

In You Don’t Know About Me, Brian Meehl’s contemporary re-imagining of  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Meehl takes the reader on an engaging, thought-provoking road trip across the Western US with 16 year old Billy Allbright.  Billy and his mom have lived a nomadic existence, going from town-to-town hunting out sinners and standing up for Jesus.  It’s been a pretty sheltered life, not attending public school, staying away from mainstream media and other un-Godly temptations, and running from the repercussions of their not-so-legal fundamentalist tactics.   When they arrive in Independence, MO, though, something shifts in Billy as he realizes he’s tired of this nomadic existence and he’dRead More →

By:
On:
In: Action & Adventure (YA), On the Edge, Realistic Fiction (YA), Sports (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Paul Volponi has a talent for capturing the authentic voice of teen guys.  His books regularly display a straightforward, economic style that gets directly to the bare bones of his teen protagonists’ struggles with relationships, right and wrong, maturity, and a whole host of other real-life issues.  In every Volponi book I’ve read, I am always struck by the authenticity of the characters, the moral ambiguities, and the masterful blend of reality and fiction.   And his latest, Crossing Lines, is no exception, focusing on bullies, victims, and the people caught between them. The tension builds slowly over the course of the first few weeks ofRead More →

By:
On:
In: On the Edge, Realistic Fiction (YA), Sports (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 1 Comment

Senior Jake Martin is the school’s soccer star: he’s got the magic that pulls off win after win and keeps him at the center of the school’s in-crowd.  But the magic means more to Jake than just winning on the field; his obsession with prime numbers and his increasingly complex daily rituals keep him focused, keep his family “safe,” and keep the spiders and their choking webs from taking over his mind.  Jake’s third soccer state final championship is coming up on Saturday, and if everything goes perfectly by the numbers, he’s sure he’ll be free of the demons that plague him. Heidi Ayarbe plungesRead More →

By:
On:
In: On the Edge, Realistic Fiction (YA), Romance (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Jennifer Brown is making a name for herself with striking, poignant novels about hard-to-face topics.  Her latest novel, following her fantastic debut Hate List, is Bitter End, which explores with wide-open eyes and complete candor, the emotional roller coaster of a young woman in love with an abusive boyfriend. High school senior Alex is haunted by the tragic accident that killed her mother when she was a young girl; the fact that her father will never talk about the circumstances that lead her mom out onto the road to Colorado so many years ago, and the isolation she feels in her family at being the only one whoRead More →

By:
On:
In: On the Edge, Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Josh had sex with his teacher. As a 12 year-old seventh-grader his history teacher selected, groomed and eventually manipulated Josh into a sexual “relationship”. As Mrs. Sherman is brought to justice and the entire town learns of the sordid details Josh retreats into his own head. Now a senior in high school, a gifted baseball player with an amazing mind, Josh is having a hard time breaking away from his seventh grade self. For six years he has felt like the proverbial elephant in the room- the one that everybody notices and is curious about, but won’t address. Perhaps the redemption/conclusion he craves will comeRead More →