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.

Tweak, by Nic Sheff

Nic Sheff's memoir of out-of-control addiction is sad and frustrating to read. He has no insights into addiction to share, just a litany of broken relationships, broken promises, broken lives. If he bothers to explain his bad choices at all, he rationalizes ineffectively. His parents' divorce? Come on, Nic, lots of people have divorced parents and are not meth/heroin/whatever they can get their hands on addicts as a result. Nic's life is a train wreck as he lies, steals, prostitutes himself for his next high.

Addiction is heartbreaking to those whose lives it touches. I wanted this to explore Nic's struggle with addiction, but instead he seems almost perversely proud of his failures. Sad.

Beastly, by Alex Flinn

This adaptation of the Grimm fairy tale Beauty and the Beast is proof (once again)that fairy tales are not just for children. With due respect to Walt Disney, this story works much better as a young adult tale. The theme of a handsome but heartless male bewitched so that his exterior is as ugly as his personality is timeless. His inner transformation is a journey worth reading, and his final redemption through the love of a girl - satisfying. Alex Flinn throws enough twists into the classic tale to keep readers who know where the story is going entertained along the way. This is plain fun.

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.

Chew : Taster's Choice, by John Layman (Graphic Novel)

Tony Chu is a cibopath, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. Eating an apple, for example, gives him an impression of the exact tree it came from, the tree's location, the pesticides used on it, and the migrant workers who picked the apple. Eating a piece of meat gives him visions of terrified animals being led to the slaughterhouse and those visions have made him vegetarian. The only food he can eat in peace is beets - beets lead dull lives, apparently. Basically he is hungry all the time and reluctant to eat and bring on disturbing visions. His job as a cop gets tougher and less appetizing when he stops in a restaurant one day and the vegetable soup he orders brings on horrifying visions of 13 grisly murders committed by one of the kitchen help. He stops a mass murderer, but his explanation of just how he knew gets him transfered to Special Crimes Division where the boss is not afraid to exploit Tony's ability - and Tony's case load gets tough to swallow when he starts getting fed evidence from cold cases........

The reader better have a strong stomach as well as a taste for dark humor.

I am number four, by Pittacus Lore

There were nine children sent to Earth to escape the destruction of their planet Lorien by the evil Mogadorians. Now the Mogadorians are hunting the nine to kill them all, and three are already dead. Number Four knows they are coming for him next. But at 15, Number Four is sick of moving constantly, changing schools, changing names, never making friends or having a girlfriend. So when he settles into Paradise, Ohio, taking the name of John Smith, he refuses to stay anonymous as he has always done before. He makes friends, falls in love, and when the Mogadorians come for him, he fights. This is good fun, and if it doesn't always make perfect sense, well, that's easy to forgive in the adventure of it all.

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.

Hold me closer, Necromancer, by Lish McBride

Sam is working the grill at Plimpies on the night shift when he is viciously attacked by a necromancer and a werewolf. The necromancer has recognized Sam as a rival necromancer. News to Sam. When his friend Brooke's head is delivered to his apartment in a box later that night, Sam knows he's in deep trouble and had better figure out this necromancer stuff FAST. (Brooke has lost none of her wise mouth, sharp tongued personality - just, you know, her body). Some may think Sam is a slacker, but the guy does have good friends, and with their help, Sam sets to work and the body count rises.

As Sam says, "My name is Samhaim Corvus LaCroix. I am a necromancer. Now, if only I could say that with a straight face."

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.

Illyria, by Elizabeth Hand

Magic. The magic of forbidden love between Maddie and Rogan. The magic of theater as the two lovers perform the lead roles in a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. And magic in their discovery of an old toy stage made of paper and cardboard - a stage that lights, that changes backdrops and that snows as unseen actors perform to an invisible audience. Their love is as fragile and inexplicable as that paper stage. But there is magic.

Black hole sun, by David MacInnis Gill

Durango is a 16-year-old mercenary on Mars, barely scraping by, when he is offered the job of protecting the treasure found by an an impoverished band of miners from a race of vicious cannibals. The action is fast and violent. Newly colonized Mars is inhospitable and lawless. And Durango is wonderful - tough as nails, as principled as King Arthur, a hero straight out of the Wild West keeping his small band alive by bravery and wits and an unbreakable code of honor.

"Have gun will travel reads the card of a man -- A knight without armor in a savage land -- His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind -- A soldier of fortune is the man called Paladin -- Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam? -- Paladin, Paladin, far, far from home." - Theme song from Have Gun, Will Travel (1950's TV Western) If they ever make a movie of Black Hole Sun, I want this as the theme song.

How I live now, by Meg Rosoff

This is a dystopian novel without a hint of fantasy or science fiction. It's a realistic story of 5 teens in wartime - cut off from any outside help and caught in an ever tightening noose of deprivation. The story is narrated by 15-year-old Daisy, who has escaped a hated life in New York with her recently remarried father and pregnant step-mother. Shortly after her arrival in the English countryside to visit her loving aunt (her dead mother's sister) and 4 cousins, her aunt is killed, the war erupts, and all of their lives are forever altered.

Cut off from outside information, media, supplies, with rumors raging, and facing the fear of an uncertain future, Daisy and her cousin Edmund draw close. As fear, hunger and deprivation mount, their relationship grows in equal measure - love balancing terror.

Love and war leave indelible scars in a powerful and moving story.

Paper towns, by John Green

I didn't read this book for a long time after it arrived at CHS, mainly because I couldn't get any kind of take on what it is about. Now I've read it, and loved it, and am at a loss for words to explain what it is about without giving up the entire thing. Hmmm. Love - loss - the things that keep us going and the things that break our hearts. I can't explain it either. But I think John Green is one of the best authors out there writing.

Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi

Set in a not too distant future where the depletion of fossil fuels and climate change have made the Gulf Coast an impoverished, storm wracked region. On the lawless beaches, dirt-poor workers struggle with cut-throat competition for the hellish jobs that mean survival. Here, teenage Nailer works as a light crew member, crawling the ductwork of old rusty oil tankers to salvage copper wire, aluminum staples, anything to make his quota and keep his job. His job is dangerous, but not as dangerous as the level 6 hurricanes which blow from the Gulf regularly nor his vicious father, who with rat-like cunning is willing to sacrifice anything to stay alive. Then one day a hurricane beaches a clipper ship and one occupant is still alive - a wealthy shipping family heiress. Nailer joins forces with her and together they struggle to stay alive long enough to return her to her people.

The story moves along quickly as Nailer and Nita move through an eire swamp of a submerged New Orleans and out onto the gulf waters where a new breed of clipper ship houses the international shipping magnates that are the new wealthy elite of this society.

This is fresh, fast-paced, and leaves the reader with something to think about concerning the choices being made today in regard to fossil fuels, allocation of resources, and distribution of wealth.

Twisted, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak, has written another hard hitting story, this time about just how quickly a person's life can be ruined by today's technology - facebook, texting, cell phones with cameras.

As the story opens Tyler is on probation for a high school prank gone wrong and serving community service hours instead of jail time. His senior year starts with him still getting used to his new bad boy reputation and he finds that reputation comes with a plus side when popular, attractive Brittany starts wanting to spend time with him. But at a drunken party Brittany loses control, and tho Tyler does the right thing and gets her home, someone has taken compromising pictures of her. Tyler's reputation works against him as the gossip mounts that he has taken advantage of Brittany, and the cops, Brittany, his parents, school administrators, basically everybody, are all skeptical of his innocence. With frightening swiftness Tyler's life is going down the tubes, and people's perceptions of reality are far more important than the honest truth.

The Demon's lexicon, by Sarah Rees Brennan

Nick and Alan Ryves are brothers who have had to live on the run for almost as long as they can remember, since an attack by magicians on their family left their father dead and their mother driven mad. Now the magicians are hunting the brothers and their mother. When a girl and her brother show up at the Ryves home asking for help, the magicians are quickly on their trail, and the brothers are once again on the run, this time with the girl and her brother. Things go from bad to worse when Nick Ryves discovers that the girl's brother has been marked by demons, and suddenly Alan is marked as well. The only chance they have is for Nick to kill the magicians that they have run from for so long. Then Nick learns that his brother knows more than he is telling, and suddenly Nick knows nothing is as he thought it was, and nothing will ever be the same again.

Please ignore Vera Dietz, by A. S. King

Told from many different points of view - Vera (who is haunted by her dead friend/almost boyfriend) ; Charlie (Vera's friend/almost boyfriend who never believed he was good enough for her) ; Ken Dietz (Vera's dad, who would like to see Vera finish high school without self-destructing). Charlie is the heart of the book - Charlie who came from an abusive home but whose worse abuser turned out to be himself. By the time he asked Vera's help it was too late to save his own life or stop the arson at the local animal rescue, but even in death Charlie wants Vera to clear his name, if she can get past her anger with him.

Ender's game & Ender's shadow, by Orson Scott Card

I read Ender's shadow several years ago when it was on the Abe list, and enjoyed it a lot. It's taken a while, but I finally got back to the series, and this time read Ender's game, which is the 1st book in the series. These books essentially tell the same story from the perspectives of two different characters, and both are excellent.

Earth has been under alien attack for almost a hundred years, and the next attack is imminent. On earth, humans have genetically engineered children with military genius, and these children are sent to a space station battle school, where they are taught military strategy. Ender Wiggins is the world's best hope to survive, but he is young (six, at the story's opening) and has a lot to learn in a short time. His teachers manipulate behind the scenes, and the older students resent Ender's advancement as Ender struggles to survive the war games that take up most of the battle school curriculum.

Ender's shadow concerns Ender's right hand child commander, Bean.

These are science fiction at it's best - but don't take my word for it. They are on every core collection list I've ever seen and have won numerous awards for Science fiction. Great stuff!

The Replacement, by Brenna Yovanoff

Underneath the town of Gentry lies something evil. Something spoken of in whispers, if spoken of at all. It calls itself Mayhem, and it's citizens are a nightmarish collection of beings, some of whom can pass as human if you don't look too closely.

Mackie Doyle lives in Gentry with a loving family - but Mackie is not what he appears to be. He is from Mayhem, traded as an infant into a human family so Mayhem could take the human baby as a sacrifice. Now at 16, Mayhem wants Mackie back. He is getting sick (Mayhem says dying) because the human environment is slowly poisoning him. Then another baby is taken, and the baby's sister, Tate, turns to Mackie for answers. Relations between Gentry and Mayhem are strained and tense as Mackie finds himself drawn against his will into the eerie world of Mayhem to find answers both he and Tate need.

The book is dark, the imagery straight out of nightmares, but Mackie is such a compelling, strange, and sweet hero that I stayed up half the night reading because I couldn't put this down. This is imaginative and creepy at the same time - not for every reader.

Ingo, by Helen Dunmore

Ingo is a mysterious undersea world only found in old legends - until Sapphire and her brother Connor are called into that world from their ocean side home in Cornwall, England. But the mer folk that inhabit Ingo are not human, and their world is filled with danger for two human teens. Sapphire and Connor find themselves caught between two worlds in the opening book of this series.
The lure of the sea is as real as the tide, and the writing is hypnotic in this romantic adventure series.

Flash burnout, by L.K. Madigan

Blake's favorite subject is photography, and at 15 Blake can hardly keep up with the changes in his life fast enough to get a snapshot. He is negotiating new territory romantically with his girlfriend Shannon. Meanwhile, a photography class project sends him into the city, where he takes a photo of a passed out street person. Back in photography class, his photograph hits like a bombshell when his friend Marissa recognizes the picture as her meth addict mother. Marissa's vulnerability is exposed, and Blake protects her as a true friend. But life with 2 important girls is complicated, and Blake is headed for a crash course in girl trouble.

I liked Blake, the class comedian with girl trouble. I liked his older brother Garrett too, who for all his upperclassman cool, is there for Blake in the crunch. And then there is his Einstein look-alike Dad, the medical examiner who leaves autopsy tools on the kitchen table. And don't leave out his hospital chaplain mother who flies around the kitchen in hot-flash induced states of undress. But mostly it's Blake's memorable voice that the reader will remember - funny and confused and real, trying to do the right thing and bungling it all.

Wake, by Lisa McMann

Janie Hannagan's problem is getting worse and harder to hide. Since childhood, Janie has been getting sucked into other people's dreams, leaving her in an almost seizure like trance. Lots of the dreams are familiar - the naked but nobody notices dreams, the everybody's laughing at the dreamer in their underwear dream, the falling dreams. But someone near her is having nightmares, and they are terrifying, leaving Janie shaken and disoriented when she wakes. She really needs someone she can trust to confide in and to watch over her. But Cabel, the only person she can trust, is the one having those nightmares.

This book, part romance and part horror, sucks the reader in to Janie's nightmare world and doesn't let go until the end.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan

John Green has never written a weak book, and this collaboration with David Levithan works too. Like he did in Boy meets Boy, David Levithan can bring to life an imagined world without prejudice, and the final scene in this book is a dramatic tour-de-force worth reading the rest of the book to get to. The awesome musical theater production - an autobiographical account of gay 300 pound offensive lineman Tiny Cooper's life and loves - is such a feel good scene. John Lennon would have approved that imagined perfect world - Imagine.

The dark days of Hamburger Halpin, by Josh Berk

When Will Halpin decides to leave his school for the deaf and enter a regular public school, he knows it will be hard. His 1st day teaches him the truth tho. He will never be popular, never be anything but socially invisible. The teachers aren't accustomed to deaf students and don't quite know how to handle him. The other students ignore him. But Will is a keen observer of those around him, and when a student is murdered on a field trip, Will sets out to solve the mystery of who did it.

This is a clever send-up of high school life. All the characters are basic stereotypes - from the boring lecturer American History teacher, to the flirtatious young math teacher reliving her high school glory days, to the ex-marine PE teacher, the pot-smoking insane bus driver, and the tough-guy substitute. Nobody is safe from satire. From the football playing jocks to the homecoming queen princess and the wealthy ugly girl with high social status. And Will doesn't miss a thing, including who among the cast of characters may have murder in their heart.

Right behind you, by Gail Giles

Some books hit you right in your heart when you aren't expecting it, and Right behind you is one of those books. Kip McFarland is a main character who I wasn't sure I wanted to get inside the head of. He's a 14 year old who at the age of nine set another child on fire and killed. As the book opens, he has been in an Alaskan juvenile detention (the youngest inmate ever admitted) for 5 years. Five years of living with other juvenile psychopaths and learning how to survive being around them. Five years of constant psychotherapy. Five years of being locked away from any semblance of normal family life, normal adolescent rites of passage, anything remotely normal at all.

So Kip is released, given a new name of Wade, moves with his dad and stepmom to a new state, and begins a new life. But his old demons are not really gone but are just waiting to sabotage his attempts to build a new life. There are lots of issues here. How does a person rebuild a life with a past that horrific right behind him? How does he build relationships with new people while hiding that kind of past? Does a person with this kind of horror behind him deserve a future at all? And what about the dad, stepmom, psychiatrist also right behind him ready to back him up, and in doing so, opening themselves to being hurt by his self-destructive tendencies.

This is an intensly emotional read, and like all good literature it forces the reader to think about their own prejudices. Lots of people have something to hide (ok-maybe not THIS much to hide) in their pasts. So how do they live with the past, and at what point is it unfair to new people in their lives not to open up about that past? Hard questions.

Perfect chemistry, by Simone Elkeles

Gang member Alex and head cheerleader Brittany are assigned as partners in Chemistry lab, and their personal chemistry sets off a chain reaction that has life changing effects. In less skilled hands, the plot could be ordinary, but Elkeles writes well, and the romantic story becomes one that's impossible to put down as together the two struggle to become the adults they want to be instead of following the paths others expect of them. The secondary characters are interesting as well, from Alex's tough widowed mother, Brittany's handicapped older sister, and their Chemistry teacher, who cares passionately about her students while knowing the difference between being supportive and trying to be a friend to her students.

Trouble, by Gary D. Schmidt

This story is set on the Massachusetts coast, a social setting well removed from central Illinois, and it's important in that the main characters are "old money" - their families have been wealthy for 300 years, living in the same historic house, attending the same snobish prep schools, their lives bound by traditions that extend to what sports they go out for (crewing) and naturally what college they will attend and what professions they will study for. But money can only insulate people to an extent, and trouble can enter anyone's life.

The story follows Henry through the storm of trouble stirred up when his older brother is hit by a truck belonging to a Cambodian refugee, Chaun. Class conflict, racial prejudice, sibling rivalry, and, most of all, grief play a part in Henry's perfect storm of a summer between 8th grade and freshman year.

The book gets off to a slow start as the reader gets to know the personalities of the main characters, but once that's established, the reader is hooked into having to know how the storm will resolve itself and who else will fall victim. And a road trip that includes a lovable clown of a black lab doesn't hurt, either.

Notes from the midnight driver, by Jordan Sonnenblick

Alex Gregory is pretty much mad at everybody when this story opens, and he has the smart mouth to let everybody know it. His parents are divorcing (spending his college fund on lawyers), Mom is going out on a 1st date (gross), Dad is shacking up with Alex's third grade teacher (oh so gross), his best friend Laurie is giving him mixed signals about taking their relationship to another level (frustrating). Left alone at home on a Saturday night, Alex decides to show them all how he feels - downing a pint of vodka, he jumps in Mom's car and heads over to Dad's where he hopes to catch him and his lover together and give them a piece of his mind. Bad plan - after the crash he winds up losing his driving priveleges for 2 years and is sentenced to 100 hours of community service at a nursing home where he is to spend the time with an old man who is more than a match for Alex's smart mouth.

Alex's first person narrative is witty and entertaining as he spends the school year grounded, his time taken up trying to cope with his parents, his girlfriend (or is she?), and Solomon Lewis - old crank extraordinaire. I thought the author could have left out the bit about the old man's daughter's identity - life is never that neatly wrapped up. But that is a minor flaw in an otherwise good story - one that made me both laugh and cry.

Geektastic; stories from the nerd herd, edited by Holly black and Cecil Castellucci

A collection of short stories from some impressive authors - Holly Black (Tithe), Cassandra Clare (City of Bones), John Green (Looking of Alaska), David Levithan (Nick & Norah's infinite playlist), Garth Nix (Abhorsen), Scott Westerfeld (Uglies, Peeps) - and there are more.

All the stories relate to geeks defined as 1.a person often of an intellectual bent who is disliked 2. a person who is so passionate about a given subject as to occasionally cause annoyance among others.

The result is as varied as the authors included - a mix of humor, romance, and sharp insights that are easy to enjoy.

City of bones, City of Ashes & City of glass, by Cassandra Clare

This is a trilogy that weaves a complicated fantasy. Clary has been raised in New York by her artist mother and her mother's circle of friends. But as she turns 16 she learns that all is not as it appears. An evening in a club with her friend Simon is the lifechanging moment when a whole new world opens up to Clary and she learns that she is a shadowhunter - a race gifted with the ability to see demons and trained to battle them. But Clary has no such training, and as events spiral out of control she needs to learn fast how to survive. Children of the moon (werewolves), of the night (vampires), of Lilith (witches), and of Faerie all have their roles and must unite with the help of angels to defeat the army of demons being raised by Clary's own father, Valentine. Loyalties are forged and tested, and always there is love. The love between Clary and shadowhunter Jace, love between Clary and her best friend Simon, whose life takes a tragic turn when he is bitten by a vampire. Love between Clary's mother and Lucian, an ex-shadowhunter now turned werewolf. A powerful story well told.

(See September blog of City of Bones)

A big little life; a memoir of a joyful dog, by Dean Koontz

If you have ever had the company of one of those special dogs - the dignified, intelligent, lovely ones - you will appreciate Dean Koontz's memoir of his good dog Trixie. I've enjoyed sharing my home with four dogs, all special in their own way, and one of the four was one of those rare ones that considered it her duty to care for her human family. So I enjoyed reading about Koontz's Trixie, even if I'll admit to skimming bits and doing some picking and choosing among the chapters. I suspect the proceeds of this book will go to a canine charity tho I could not find that it actually said so anywhere in the book. Or maybe the entire book said that.

Front and center, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

This is the third book in the series that began with Dairy Queen and continued with The off-season. D.J. Schwenk is a junior now, and the year is complicated by college scouts, by a new romantic turn in her old, comfortable friendship with Beaner, by her brother Win's expectations for her. And then ex-boyfriend Brian Nelson comes around. And suddenly D.J. is being pressured from all sides, and she's forced from her comfort zone in the back row, out of the limelight right into the limelight - front and center.

Reading this was like visiting an old friend and I loved seeing how D.J. handled the pressure (besides throwing up). This one is for fans of the first two books tho.

Going bovine, by Libba Bray

This is a wild road trip - kicked off when teen slacker Cameron gets the bad news that he is going to die from Creutzfeldt-Jacob's (mad cow) disease. Every anti-hero needs a sidekick, and Cameron's sidekick is germ-phobic dwarf, Gonzo. And then there's punk angel (or maybe halucination) Dulcie - pink hair, torn black fishnets, and attitude to spare. The lines between reality and halucination are never clear, and in the end it doesn't really matter. Because Cameron really needs to LIVE before he dies, and live he does - reality be damned.

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins

This is book 2 of the Hunger Games Trilogy, and it is just as good as the 1st book, Hunger Games. I hated the cliffhanger ending, only because it is going to be August 24th before book 3 is out, and I hate waiting so long to know how this is going to get wrapped up.

Vast fields of ordinary, by Nick Burd

I've put off writing about this one - it has made me think about the nature of relationships, and the hard truth that just because it's real love doesn't mean it's a healthy relationship. Dade Hamilton proves that not once, but twice as he goes from being abused in one relationship to being adored by another who leads him into a dangerous lifestyle. The characters are gay, but the issues are universal, and thoughtfully portrayed in this coming of age/coming out story.

Candor, by Pam Bachorz

Everything is perfect in the planned community of Candor, Florida. People are happy and upbeat, children are obedient and clean cut - and subliminal messages are beamed to the residents 24/7 to keep residents brainwashed and under mind control.

Oscar Banks is the son of the town's founder(and the head brainwasher), and his model student perfection is a calculated act. He's the only teen in town who knows about the messages, and Oscar fights the messages with his own counterprogramming. For a price, he will help the troubled teens whose parents have moved them to town escape brainwashing long enough to get out of Candor. It's a risky game, and sooner or later there is bound to be trouble. Trouble arrives in the person of Nia. When Nia moves to town, Oscar is attracted to her intelligence and attitude. And Nia sees right through Oscar's good-boy image. But if he helps her escape, he'll lose her forever; and if he lets her stay she will be brainwashed into a "perfect child", and he'll lose what he loves about her forever too.

The author wrote this while living in a "model" Florida town - it's creepy and suspenseful and keeps the reader guessing as Oscar and Nia get further and further into trouble.

Hunger games, by Suzanne Collins

In an ultimate game of Survivor, 24 young people are chosen annually to compete in the Hunger Games. And the residents of Panem (formerly the U.S.) are forced to watch as their children are pitted against one another in a contest that ends with only one contestant still alive.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen watches in horror as her little sister's name is drawn to compete and steps in to take her place in the games. The other contestant from their district is Peeta, a boy she barely knows. Now Peeta is professing that he has loved her secretly since grade school, and Katniss doesn't know if he's being truthful or playing a clever game to win sympathy with the audience and survive the games. But joining forces with Peeta will give them an edge in the contest if Peeta is on the level. And as the games advance, Katniss needs all the advantage she can get to stay alive.

This is an original and well written suspense story. Readers are telling me that the sequel, Catching fire, is as good or better than this one. And the third book of the trilogy is due out next year. A great futuristic, dystopian vision of our country gone horribly wrong.

Leaving Paradise, by Simone Elkeles

Caleb Becker has just served a year in juvenile detention for a hit and run accident in which the girl next door was critically injured.

Maggie Armstrong has just spent a year in hospitals and rehabilitation trying to recover use of her leg after being struck by Caleb's car.

Both are returning to school and trying to put their lives back together and are dreading having to see one another. But both are fighting for their lives, and no one understands that as well as each other.

Told in alternating chapters, the stories of these two damaged people struggling with the after effects of a devastating accident is moving and complicated as it becomes a love story with no happy ending in sight.

If I stay, by Gayle Forman

Don't start reading If I stay until you have time to finish it. If you are like me, you won't want to put it down. Several of you told me that I needed to read this one, and you were so right, I do love this story. The story concerns Mia, a 17-year-old girl and classical musician, who is the sole survivor of a car crash that takes the lives of her entire family. Badly wounded in the crash, the story takes place in the space of 2 days while Mia is hovering between life and death. In flashbacks we get to know her parents, little brother, her best friend, and her indie-rock boyfriend, among others. Yes, it's a sad story, but it is more than that. The relationships are real and interesting - her parents relationship, her friendship with Kim, and especially the romance between her and Adam - all are important to the story. The end is hard hitting. I won't give it away here though.

The movie rights have been sold for this book, and Catherine Hardwicke, the director of Twilight, will be directing this movie. Bring hankies.