Readers of Carl Deuker’s sports stories will likely enjoy T. Glen Coughlin’s latest book.  One Shot Away: A Wrestling Story follows the narratives of three wrestlers in Molly Pitcher, New Jersey, during their senior year: Jimmy O’Shea, Diggy Masters, and Trevor Crow. Although not the typical wrestler’s build at 6’2”, Jimmy is ranked best 160 pounder in the county and slated for the Wall of Champions if he can avoid the distraction of his dad’s dastardly deeds.  Mr. O’Shea’s PhD in post hole digging, predilection for thievery, and passion for alcohol threaten to jeopardize Jimmy’s goals. At 152 pounds, Diggy is living in the shadowRead More →

Two young men, one white and one black, are coping with  life shattering events in the only ways they can.  For Finley, basketball has been his life-saver; he lives in a run down neighborhood ruled by drug violence, the Irish mafia, and racially charged conflict.  Emotionally and verbally reserved since his early childhood, Finley survives high school by keeping his head down, trusting his girlfriend Erin and Coach, and playing basketball. When Finley puts on his #21 jersey, he becomes another person: focused, confident, determined, and whole. When Coach asks him to spend time with Russ, a rising basketball star whose parents have been murdered and who willRead More →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Dead Connections’ author Charlie Price’s new novel, The Interrogation of Gabriel James, is an intriguing mystery from page one.  High school junior Gabriel is a material witness to two murders and in a combination of his interview with local police detectives and his memories of the events that lead up to the murders, we watch spellbound as he quickly gets in way over his head. What starts as a prairie fire outside his hometown of Billings, Montana, leads quickly to the disappearance of local pets.  Next, there’s increased drug pushing going on around town and the town’s homeless and mentally ill population is being harassed andRead More →

Matt de la Pena’s second novel for young adults, Mexican WhiteBoy, tells the engrossing story of Danny, a 17 year-old young man who doesn’t feel that he fits in anywhere. Certainly not in his primarily white private school north of San Diego, and even less, he feels, in National City, San Diego, with his Mexican father’s extended family.  Danny struggles with feelings of being an outsider since at school he’s seen as a Mexican kid, and in his family he’s not Mexican enough. Danny comes to National City to spend the summer at his uncle’s place.  His white mother and sister are in San FranciscoRead More →