"Chasing Brooklyn" by Lisa Schroeder

Both Brooklyn and Nico are trying to recover from the death of Lucca. Lucca was Brooklyn's boyfriend and Nico's brother. Almost a year to the day after Lucca's death, his best friend Gabe dies too. Brooklyn and Nico are both being haunted, Brooklyn by Gabe and Nico by Lucca. The two begin a friendship that will help them battle their demons and reclaim their place among the living.

I liked this book just fine, but felt like it didn't need to be written in verse. The poems weren't very memorable in terms of their structure and it almost seemed like a device to have shorter "chapters." Each poem alternates between the point of view of the two characters, so each character only gets a few pages at a time. Despite this, I did enjoy the plot of this novel. It is a very touching and poignant novel and Lisa Schroeder does an excellent job at capturing the lives of those affected by a great loss. I also liked that the ghost element of the story doesn't completely overwhelm the plot so it's still a story about two teenagers dealing with the changes in their lives and not two teenagers dealing with their haunted bedrooms. I have now read several books by Schroeder and have found that I prefer her books for younger readers, but either way, Chasing Brooklyn is still worth a read.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"You Have Seven Messages" by Stewart Lewis

I don't quite know what to make of this book.  I was struck by the initial plot- Luna discovers the cell phone belonging to her deceased mother and makes her way through the seven unheard voicemails to piece together the events leading up to her mother's death.  That is what caught my interest.  That what the book jacket claims the book is about.  But this is really a only a part of the plot in the novel.  Even after she listens to all of the messages and seems to comes to terms with the situations leading up to her mother's death, Luna's story doesn't end.  The novel had several moments where it felt like the novel was about to wrap up nicely.  But instead it kept going and going.  I was looking forward to reading this book, but didn't thoroughly enjoy the experience.

There were several things that I struggled with regarding Stewart Lewis' You Have Seven Messages.  The first being Luna's age.  From the cover, I couldn't help but imagine Luna as being an older teen (before I began to read, I assumed she would be around 17-19 years old) and was quite surprised to find out that she was fourteen at the start of the novel.  The more I read, the more I would forget that she was fourteen (or fifteen as the novel progressed) and in my head she would appear to be nine or so.  Her actions were surprising for someone her age.  I could almost believe that she was able to spend so much time unsupervised, almost.  I also thought that she wasn't very believable as a character.  This made more sense when I realized that the book wasn't penned by a woman and why so many of the scenes (especially those with the love interest, Oliver) came across as awkward and unnatural.  But the thing that got to me the most, was just how long this novel was.  It's not overly long in page length, but it doesn't resolve itself (in my opinion) in a timely manner.  I think had it been titled something regarding Luna's promising photo career then it would have kept my attention better.  But since I was expecting a story more focused on her finding out details of her mother's death, I was turned off when that wasn't the main focus of the story.  I try hard to not judge a book off it's cover, but it's kind of disappointing when I read the description of a book but the plot delivers a story completely different than what I am expecting (now I need to read These Girls, since they have the same cover).

If you read this book: don't expect a total focus on Luna's life without her mother.  Do expect a story about a teenager finding her own way and trying to get there by taking her own path, not because of her parents successful careers.




Happy Reading!
-Melly

"How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous" by Georgia Bragg

I am a biography fan.  When I was in the sixth grade, I spent a good chunk of my free time in the school library going through the collection of biographies.  So, despite the gruesomeness, I was highly intrigued by How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg.  Instead of focusing on the lives of those that filled our history books, it tells the tale of their demise.  That sounds kind of horrible, but this book was pretty fascinating (though at times a tad disgusting).  Sure I knew the history of Mario Antoinette, but didn't know about her life as a prisoner and the last words she spoke as she approached the guillotine.  I also didn't know about Mozart, Einstein or the plethora of other famous people included in this book.

I enjoyed that this book also included random facts that were quite interesting but might not fit into other books.  Each chapter ends with some sort of tidbit- whether is be various words that could be used in a crossword puzzle to mean "dead" or interesting tidbits about the historical figure.  This was a quick read, I polished it off in an evening.  I could definitely see tween boys enjoying this book, there is just enough gross tied in to keep the pages turning.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Tell Me a Secret" by Holly Cupala

This book surprised me in more ways than one.  I am horribly guilty of picking up books (or not picking them up) soley based on the cover.  I guess the cover of Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala caught my attraction.  And I am glad it did.


Rand's sister died five years ago and her family has yet to fully heal from the trauma.  Rand continuously finds herself in Xanda's shadow.  It is clear that Rand's mother is desperately trying to avoid making the same mistakes with her younger daughter but by doing so, she is pushing Rand further and further away.  When Rand finally takes a pregnancy test and her worst fears are confirmed, the relationship with her mother worsens- it is now or never, she must make decisions that will change her life forever.


I have read multiple books involving teenage pregnancy (The Lit Report by Sarah N. Harvey and Dancing Naked by Shelley Hrdlitschka are both highly recommended by me) and they usually follow a similar storyline.  Girl finds out she's pregnant, girl makes decision to have the baby (usually), and then figures out if she will keep the baby or give it up for adoption.  Tell Me a Secret has those same elements, but with a drastic twist.  I don't want to reveal the twist, but it will likely shock readers and have them desperately wanting to know what happens next.  This is yet another book that will stick with the reader for quite some time even after they have finished reading it.  


Find Holly on: Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, YouTube, HarperTeen, and MySpace





Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Tangled" by Carolyn Mackler

Carolyn Mackler's Tangled  is one of the most powerful books that  I read in 2011.  The book is broken into four sections, each narrated by a different teen.

Jena: She keeps and notebook full of inspiring quotes and has been known to read any note she comes across.  While at a resort with her mother, her mother's best friend, and the best friend's daughter Skye (who she can't stand), Jena finds two things- a possible summer fling and a suicide note.

 Dakota: Is learning how to live life after the death of his girlfriend and after learning something about her he never knew.  Dakota gets sent to stay with his grandparents and discovers that there is more to his character than he'd ever realized.

Skye: Dreams of stardom and his well on her way between auditions and indie film roles but she is still not happy.  Skye begins to question her past and seeks out to find out about the father she never had the opportunity to meet.

Owen: or The Loser with the Laptop, gets sent to a conference for teens that has difficulty interacting outside of the world of the internet.  But it is a girl he's met online that has the real impact on his life.

The lives of the characters intertwine in unexpected ways (note the fact that the book is titled Tangled) and the actions of one character inadvertently can affect the lives of the others.  The different sections flow well with each other though I usually wasn't ready for the transition from one to another (I would have been happy to spend a little more time with each character to find out where they ended up).  The book ends very open ended so it is very much up to the reader to decide what happens to each character.  However, I felt that this type of ending worked well for the book.

Visit Carolyn's Website, Blog, and Twitter!
And check out some of her other books: The Earth, My Butt, And Other Big Round Things and The Future of Us (with Jay Asher)

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Before I Fall" by Lauren Oliver

Wow.  I feel like it has been a very long time like I have been so engaged and absorbed in a book.  Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall is very unique (quite a plus!).  Samantha wakes up and has a fairly normal day: she rushes to school with her friends (and Dunkin' Donuts coffee), receives roses from friends and admires as part of the school's Cupid Day, and attends classmate's party (no parents, alcohol, you get the picture).  After the party, Samantha and her friends begin to drive home and thanks to the alcohol and distractions, the girls are involved in a accident.  Samantha is killed.

The next chapter begins with Samantha waking up again, in her own bed.  It is once again Cupid Day, the day of the accident.  Samantha has been given the chance to relive this day over and over again, seeing how her actions affect her life and the lives of her classmates.  Yes, it's a concept that has been told many times, but I enjoyed how Oliver told it.

The book is broken up into seven chapters, one for each day that Samantha goes through.  This was a bit of a challenge for me since I often tell myself that I will read to the end of the chapter and then go do whatever chore I'm putting off, or go to sleep, etc.  This is a little difficult when a 470 page book is divided up into 7 chapters, but I thought that it was an extremely effective way to tell the story.

I am now reading Oliver's Delirium and though I haven't finished it yet, based on what I've read it I highly recommend it!  I have a feeling that I will be reading any book Oliver writes!

Lauren on facebook and twitter!



Happy Reading!
-Melly