Me, The Missing, and the Dead

by Jenny Valentine

Summary: Lucas' father went missing when he was a little boy. While it's pretty clear to the reader that his dad, wherever he is, is a jerk, Lucas still idolizes him. One day, while sitting in a taxi office, he spies an urn that was abandoned in the back of a cab. It contains the ashes of one Violet Park, and Lucas feels an uncanny connection to her. Through an elaborate plot, he manages to get the urn into his possession, and starts to try to figure out who this woman is, and why her remains were so carelessly discarded. As he works on getting to know Violet, he also begins to find out more and more about his father. The twist ending is truly surprising and believable.

My thoughts: This is a first novel from a British author, so I really enjoyed the characters' very English voices. There is something special about Lucas. He's smart, funny, and his reactions to the puzzling situations he finds himself in are realistically teenager-ish. However, he also shows an uncommon maturity that sort of breaks your heart a little.

Peeled

by Joan Bauer

Summary: Hildy Biddle is a sassy reporter for her high school newspaper, The Core. When a body is found in her small town, the local paper can't seem to get its facts straight. Also, strange things start to happen--eerie messages scrawled on fences and ghostly sightings. The local paper starts to play on the community's fear of the supernatural, and as Hildy uncovers a nasty little plot, she learns a lot about how people are influenced by the press, and how important it is that the truth be revealed.

My thoughts: I think I would have liked this book better if the inside jacket information had been different. I was looking for a ghost story, but instead got a mystery. It's not a bad mystery--it just wasn't what I was looking for. You know, like when you pick up a glass expecting milk, and instead it's full of orange juice? I like orange juice, but the experience is disappointing.

Impossible

by Nancy Werlin

Summary: Lucy Scarborough is an average teenaged girl, except for one thing--she is adopted because her birth mother, Miranda, is completely insane. From time to time Miranda shows up, humming the old folk song "Scarborough Faire" and muttering incoherently. When Lucy, at age 17, finds some pages to Miranda's old diary, she thinks she is reading about the days leading up to her mother's mental collapse. Miranda is writing the diary as a pregnant 17-year old, but suspects that she is under an ancient curse. When Lucy's prom date forces himself on her, she also becomes pregnant at 17. As she continues through the diary, she begins to conclude that the curse is real, and that the only way she can save her baby and herself from the evil Elfin Knight who wants to own her is by completing the tasks listed in the song. The tasks are riddles, and they seem impossible, but she has to try.

My thoughts: I love how Ms. Werlin mixes fantasy with reality in this book. It sort of creates an indescribable genre. Lucy lives in our modern world, but somehow the fact that she has been cursed by an Elfin Knight doesn't seem improbable. This book gets major points for originality. The suspense is taut, because we all know how long a pregnancy lasts, and are keenly aware of exactly how much time Lucy has to solve the curse.

If the video doesn't work, try this link.
http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=73617&title=Impossible

Artichoke's Heart

by Suzanne Supplee

Summary: Back in elementary school, Rosemary wore a puffy green jacket to school one day. Rosemary is a little overweight. Kids can be cruel, and that day she inherited the unfortunate nickname of "Artichoke." As if her classmates' teasing wasn't enough, her mom and her aunt push her to lose weight, even going so far as to buy her a treadmill. Many things happen to Rosemary all at once--she decides to try a crash diet, a boy at school starts to show some interest, she makes a friend who loves to run, and her mom gets cancer. As Rosemary deals with all of these little life surprises, she makes some important and meaningful discoveries about what is important and the person she wants to become.

My thoughts: Great cover, right?! This is definitely one of my top two favorite books of the 08-09 school year. Rosemary is one of the most well-drawn characters I have had the pleasure to meet in a long time. This story could very easily have become trite and cliché, but Ms. Supplee keeps it fresh with unexpected outcomes, hilarious situations, and realistic voices. I rooted for Rosemary all the way, biting my nails the whole time, hoping the best for her. How great is it when a character becomes real to you? Meet Rosemary--you're going to love her.

The Unspoken

by Thomas Fahy

Summary: When cult leader Jacob Crawley's compound burned to the ground, only a few teenagers remained alive. Before his death, Jacob warned the teens that they would each die in the way they feared most. Five years after the fire, one of the teens is found drowned in a field, nowhere near water. One by one, the teens start to die horrifically, just as predicted, and the remaining teens set out to try to outsmart fate.

My thoughts: This book reads just like a horror movie, complete with wanting to scream at characters, "don't go in there!" A gory story, with lots of grisly dead teenagers, a la Friday the 13th. Like most horror movies, the ending was a little disappointing, and this is no great work of literature, but it sure was fun to read! There aren't very many horror novels out there that are truly scary but still reviewed for middle schoolers, so this is a stand-out choice for horror junkies (like me).

Devilish

by Maureen Johnson

Summary: Jane Jarvis attends an all-girl school in Providence, Rhode Island, and when the annual Big-Little (as in sisters) ceremony comes around, she and her best friend Allison are nervous about being chosen as a Big. Allison, who has eaten a very, very, bad cupcake, unfortunately pukes all over herself before she has a chance to be chosen. In what seems at the time like a coincidence, the fashion-forward new girl, Lanalee, adopts Allison as her Big. But Lanalee is no ordinary girl, and when Allison begins to act strangely, Jane must go to extremes to save her friend, who has quite literally sold her soul to the devil in exchange for popularity.


My thoughts: Maureen Johnson is one of my favorite YA authors--she seems like she'd be really fun to hang out with! Her stories are all so different and original, and this is one of her best. I've definitely never read another story like it.

What My Mother Doesn't Know

by Sonya Sones

Summary: Fourteen year old Sophie thinks she's in love with Dylan, her sexy new boyfriend who says all the right things and wears all the right clothes. He's what she's always dreamed of. But there's someone else. Someone not quite so cool, not quite so cute, but when they talk, she feels the connection in her soul. Slowly Sophie falls in love with the guy she can never tell her friends she's falling in love with, and has to make an important choice about what's more important--what others think, or what she feels in her heart. Along this journey, Sophie also deals with familiar issues with friends, family, and school, making this story all the more relatable.

My thoughts: Have you noticed lots of books written in poetry form lately? If you love it, thank Sonya Sones. This is an amazingly realistic portrayal of what it's like to be a teenaged girl. If you're living it now, you'll nod your head and smile. If you're a grown-up teenaged girl, you'll cringe, then nod and smile! What My Mother Doesn't Know is controversial--it often makes the ALA's list of top 100 banned books.