Reality check, by Peter Abrahams

Cody, a small town quarterback has big dreams for a football scholarship. When his smart, hot girlfriend is sent away to boarding school by her father and he suffers a torn ACL, Cody’s life begins to spiral out of control. He drops out of high school and gets a job at the local lumber yard. But when his ex-girlfriend Clea disappears in Vermont, Cody travels from Colorado to join the search for her. Out of place in the wealthy privileged private school there, Cody doesn't know who he can trust and nothing is as it first seems.
This is full of fast action and mystery - hard to put down.

Magic and misery, by Peter Marino

TJ has never had a boyfriend and falls hard for the new boy in school, Pan, who is funny, classy, beautiful - and gay, as TJ learns when he outs himself in the course of a class discussion one day. The two become close friends. But when TJ starts dating Caspar, things get complicated. Pan is jealous of her time with Caspar, and Caspar is confused about TJ and Pan's friendship.

While I liked the story, there are things I really didn't like. The concept of a "new" emotion - fago - just seems to me to be something a little silly. Do we really need a new emotion? Then there is the matter of sex. For a book about relationships, it is treated way too casually. Readers would be better off reading Sarah Dessen and Alex Sanchez.

13 reasons why, by Jay Asher

On tape, Hannah explains that there are 13 reasons why she decided to commit suicide. Clay is one of them. If he listens to the tapes, he'll find out why. So over the course of one long, terrible night, Clay listens to all 13 taped stories.

This is a heartbreaking book to read as it follows Hannah's descent into despair. If you ever doubted that your simple small acts of kindness can make a difference, this book is an emotional arguement that they matter. A powerful story well told.

Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher

Eric Calhoun (Mobe) survived his early teen years as a fat boy with the help of another social outcast, Sarah Byrnes, whose face and hands are terribly scarred from burns suffered as a small child. Sarah is the bravest, toughest person he's ever known. Now in high school, joining the swim team has changed Mobe's body, but not his fierce loyalty to Sarah. But now Sarah sits unresponsive in a mental ward, and Mobe, at a loss as to how to help her, enlists the help of an old school enemy, his best friend, and even his swim coach. And he discovers that Sarah is still that brave, tough friend, caught in the crosshairs of her abusive dad. Love, loyalty, and courage come in the least expected people as Sarah and Mobe figure out how to keep her safe.

Wow - this author isn't afraid to face tough topics - abuse, abortion, religion, disfigurement, bullying - and he does it without losing perspective and a sense of humor.

Putting makeup on the fat boy, by Bil Wright

Carlos Duarte has a dream of making the big time as a makeup artist, and when he gets hired at one of the Macy's makeup counters, he has a chance to take some real steps toward the dream. But life is never simple, and just as Carlos gets his big break, he has to deal with the jealous diva boss who could undermine his dream plans; his sister's abusive boyfriend; and a fantasy (or is it?) crush on his punk-rocker classmate.

Dash & Lily's book of dares, by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Christmastime in New York for two teens is livened up when Lily leaves a red notebook full of challenges on a shelf in her favorite bookstore and Dash (short for Dashiel) finds it and takes up the challenge. Both start to think a real life romance may be possible..........

This is good fun - I still like this pair of authors' other romance better tho. Nick and Nora's infinite playlist is worth reading and WAY better than the movie version!

Nickel Plated, by Aric Davis

From Goodreads:
"Nickel is a twelve year old runaway who's gone to ground. He disappeared from the foster care system two years earlier, after years of abuse, and now he's on his own. Now, if there's a job to be done, whether it's spreading counterfeit money around or tracking down your son, he's your guy. Carefully camouflaged as a typical kid, he's rarely noticed and often underestimated. A survivor, he's observant, paranoid, well-armed, and prone to lucky hunches. He's also a risk-taker, with no compunction about blowing up a telephone pole with a pipe bomb if he thinks it will get him the information he needs. Nickel also blackmails pedophiles to pay the bills. Since he has this money to support himself, he can take on the case when Arrow asks him to search for her missing sister. For Nickel, rescuing other kids from bad situations, and especially sexual predators, is personal."

The author goes into dark territory here. Nickel is a warrior, part of a loosely organized underground network at war against child predators and if the reader needs to suspend disbelief that anyone that young can act like Nickel, the payoff is a story that can't be put down and will haunt you long after it's been read.

Carter finally gets it, by Brent Crawford

Will Carter - freshman, ADD, stutterer, and add immature, clueless, too eager, clumsy, and earnest. You have to love a guy like that. Carter bungles his way through his freshman year trying way too hard to be cool and together and even though he misses the mark by a mile, the trip is, well, a trip.

Boot Camp, by Todd Strasser

Garrett is kidnapped in the middle of the night, handcuffed, and driven for 8 hours to a remote camp for troubled teens, Lake Harmony. His parents are paying $4000.00 per month for the chance that boot camp will turn Garrett into the son they want him to be. His crime? Garrett fell in love with the wrong girl. No anger issues, no school issues, no maturity issues. But in boot camp he is subjected to brutal physical and psychological abuse, and with his parents behind it, there is no way out until he is 18. Then he's asked to join an escape with two others. The risk is enormous, but staying is dangerous too.

I'd like to think camps like Lake Harmony are fictional and the product of the author's imagination, but Todd Strasser has added a bibliography of the sources he used to research the subject, and that may be the most unsettling part of the book.

The book thief, by Marcus Zusak

The narrator of this story is Death, and if it seems strange and awkward at the opening of the book, just try to stay with it for a while till it starts to work. It's a Holocaust story, and Death plays a large role and his perspective is interesting as well. This is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl trapped in the ever tightening noose of Nazi control. As her world becomes more dangerous she finds solace in books and the only way to get them is to steal them. Her books and her courage are haunting.

Water for elephants, by Sara Gruen

This won an Alex Award in 2006 as a book written for adults with special appeal to teens. I don't know that there needs to be to much of a line drawn between teen and adult books - every reader on either side of that line just needs to find their own loved books.

This tale set aboard a depression era circus train has lots going for it. It is first of all a romance, but the circus is full of memorable characters, not the least of which are Rosie the elephant, Bobo the chimp, horses, big cats. As the circus vet, Jacob Jankowski knows and loves them all. His love for Marlena, the beautiful (and married) equestrian star sets them all - humans and animals alike - on a dangerous path.

Deadline, by Chris Crutcher

This book was one of the 2011 Abe books, but I delayed reading it because it concerns a dying teen - emotional stuff. But in the hands of a writer like Chris Crutcher, there are themes worth the inevitable tears here. The main character, Ben Wolf, learns he has terminal cancer during a routine sports physical at the opening of his senior year. Being 18, he refuses to let his doctor tell anyone else and refuses treatment. Instead, he sets about making his last year count for a whole lifetime. In the hands of a lesser writer this could be unbearable. But there is no sentimentality, no unnecessary pulling of heartstrings as smart-ass Ben meets his mortality on his own terms and touches the lives of everyone around him.

Stay, by Deb Caletti

Clara's relationship with Christian became serious almost as soon as it began, and in spite of her father's and her best friend's reservations, Clara falls in love hard. But what starts out as a fairy tale romance soon shows a dark side as Christian's obsession and jealousy begin to show and Clara knows that Christian will stop at nothing to make her stay with him.

Now Clara and her Dad have rented a cabin on the beach, lied to everyone about their wherabouts, changed Clara's phone number, and are hoping that a summer away will convince Christian that their romance is truely over. But Clara knows Christian, and knows that she has reason to be afraid.

Ending relationships is seldom easy. Ending unhealthy ones can be dangerous. This story is well told, and one to think about.

Amy & Roger's epic detour, by Morgan Matson

This may be the best road trip story ever. Amy has been living alone in California since her Dad's death and her Mom's new job forced Mom to relocate to Connecticut a month before school was out for the summer. One of Mom's friends has a son, Roger, who has agreed to drive Amy to Connecticut, since Amy can't bear to drive since the car accident that took her father's life. Roger has his own motives for agreeing to the trip - like catching up with the girl who just dumped him without any explanation. So the two who barely know each other set out across country on an adventure that quickly hits detours as the planned cross-country itinerary gets tossed out the window and two good people start getting back on their feet with each other's help.

Summer romance, yes, but also friendship and healing, humor, and a good time.

Gemini bites, by Patrick Ryan

Kyle and Judy Renneker are twins with an uneasy relationship. They have been bickering and competing with one another for years, and their 16th year brings new complications as Kyle comes out of the closet and Judy pretends to be a born again Christian to land a new boyfriend who leads his own bible study.

The twins already thorny relationship is further complicated by the arrival of Garret Johnson - a strange loner about whom there are all kinds of hushed rumors - including one that he is a vampire. Garret's family is moving again, and the Rennekers have offered to let Garret stay at their home to finish out the school year. The twins are both attracted and intruiged, and the competition goes into high gear.

This isn't going to satisfy anyone who loves the high drama supernatural stories. But the low key, realistic family drama here is a nice change of pace and the story is well told.

Played, by Dana Davidson

Ian wants to get into an exclusive group at school. The initiation? Hook up with a "dog" and then drop her, with extra points if he gets her to fall in love with him. Kylie Winship is overwhelmed with Ian's attention, and falls hard. But things get complicated when Ian starts to think twice about his values, and Kylie has to think twice too about a guy who acts one way with his friends and another when they are alone.

This is written by a high school teacher from Detroit, and I like the way that neither Ian nor Kylie is all bad, or all blameless either. Both learn some hard lessons about love.

After, by Amy Efaw

Whew, another tough read. But this one does what Nic Sheff's Tweak never did - gives insight into the human condition. The author explores how a wrong turn in life, in this case an unplanned pregnancy, can drive a teen into a nightmare of denial, isolation, criminal abandonment of the baby, juvenile detention, court proceedings, prison.

The book opens with Devon barely conscious right after giving birth to a baby alone in the bathroom of the apartment she shares with her single/always on the make mother. She is hemorrhaging, and the baby is in the trash can behind the apartment complex. The baby is found and saved, but the reader is left with a journey from horror at the act Devon has just committed to eventual understanding of the emotional nightmare that could drive her to that unspeakable act and through the legal consequences that will decide her future. This is a tough read, but at the end the reader may better understand the issues, develop empathy for a main character who is at first hard to like, and come to admire the people who help girls like Devon.

The cardturner, by Louis Sachar

How are we supposed to be partners? He can't see the cards and I don't know the rules! But pushed by his money-hungry parents, Alton becomes his blind Uncle Lester's cardturner - helping Uncle Lester play tournament bridge. Alton narrates the evolution of his relationship with Trapp (the Uncle Lester stuff is the 1st thing to go) as he becomes intrigued with Trapp, with the game of bridge, and especially with Toni Castenada - the pretty and shy girl whose link to Trapp is somehow tied to Trapp's fabled romantic history. Alton soon learns that things aren't always what you have been told, and appearances don't tell the whole story either.

Alton's not into drama. His self-depreciating sense of humor and his wry observations carry him through a summer full of life changing events in (almost) perfect control. His mother's money-hungry advice rings in his head - Don't screw it up, Alton. But there is more than money at stake, and Alton has his own priorities straight.

A love story starring my dead best friend, by Emily Horner

This book should have been a good one. On the plus side - not one, but two interesting plot lines. The chapters are titled "Then" and "Now", so it's easy enough to move between the two story lines. One story is about a girl, Cass, biking cross country with the ashes of her best friend to complete the road trip that the sudden death of her friend Julia prevented. The other story concerns a play that Julia wrote, and that her friends produce as a tribute to Julia.

But the story is weighed down with a seemingly endless preoccupation with feelings - everybody's feelings, endless discussions about feelings. Well, I've read a succession of terrific books lately, I was overdue to hit a clunker, or maybe I just didn't connect with the characters. Alex Sanchez and David Levithan do a better job with gay issues.

Last night I sang to the monster, by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Zach is in rehab, and doesn't remember how he got there. Every night he wakes screaming from dreams of a monster. But remembering is the last thing Zach wants to do.

There is all kinds of bravery in the world, but this intimate look at bravery of the soul is wrenching and beautiful - unforgetable.