Me, The Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine YA FIC VALThis brief British novel presents an interesting questions: what would you do if you happened upon an urn in a taxi cab office, and you felt a voice calling out to you from it? Sixteen year old Londoner Lucas Swain finds himself in such a position, and finding a home for the deceased Violet helps him solve a few mysteries of his own. A slight novel that you can tear through in a few hours.
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson YA FIC AND
Laurie Halse Anderon's much-anticipated latest book is intense and not for the faint of heart. High school senior Lia has been anorexic for years, in and out of hospitalization, with little overall change. But when her best friend who also suffered from an eating disorder, is found dead in a motel room, everything starts to change. Lia's wracked with guilt over the fact that the night of Cassie's death, she didn't pick up her phone, and now Cassie's haunting her. With poetic writing, Laurie Halse Anderson takes readers to places they may not have been since Speak. The author has a pretty large fan base, but this one is also recommended to fans of Ellen Hopkins.
Marcelo and the Real World by Francisco X. Stork YA FIC STO Like Wintergirls, Marcelo and the Real World is poised, in my opinion, to be on everyone's short list for the Printz come 2010. Unlike Wintergirls, this one's a little easier to digest. Marcelo's a special case, a teenager that most would say falls on the autism spectrum. He's been attending a special school, Paterson, where he gets to care for the ponies, and he's awaiting his senior year of high school. But it turns out his father has other plans for him. He'd like Marcelo to work in his law office in Boston, to join the "real world" for the summer, and as long as Marcelo cooperates, he can choose if he wishes to attend Paterson for his senior year, or go to public school. Marcelo couldn't be less keen on the idea; the real world baffles him. He's expected to understand everyone's euphemisms and allusions and body language, and get around the city by himself. Working at the law office in the mail room, he meets Jasmine, a beautiful young woman from Vermont, and things look up when a male intern offers something like friendship. But things in the real world are never so simple, and Marcelo finds himself in situations where he's got to make the tough decisions. This is a brilliant, touching, fascinating book. Not to be missed.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney JH KINAnd, to end things on a lighter note, I finally read the most recent DOAWK. Yeah, weird acronym. The latest (mis)adventures of Greg Heffley are covered in Kinney's third book in the series. From his New Year's resolutions -- to help everyone else be a better person, since he's already pretty much perfect -- to failures in team sports, you'll be laughing through this whole book. Personally, it's my second favorite in the series, after the first one. Again, a light read that will make you laugh out loud... a lot.
