"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

"I Could Chew On This: And Other Poems by Dogs" by Francesco Marciuliano

Following I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats comes I Could Chew On This: And Other Poems by Dogs. I loved the cat book, but this one is even better (though, as a dog owner, I could be really biased). The book is filled with poems that perfectly capture the panic a dog goes through when it's owner is missing (also known as: in the bathroom) or starts to prepare dinner and then stops to take a phone call, the embarrassment of having a human that insists on dressing their dog in clothing and what's it like to chase after a tennis ball that was never actually thrown. Dog lovers will fall in love with this book.

Francesco Marciuliano has really hit a home run with this book. I am quite the sucker for a cute dog story and I laughed quite a bit while reading this book. It is very cute though I must say it is likely not for everyone. I am certain that the only people who will enjoy this book are dog lovers so if there is a dog lover on your Christmas list and you aren't sure what to get them, there is a good chance that this would be a well received present.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Tilt" by Ellen Hopkins

This is likely a very biased review as it is no secret whats-so-ever that I am totally in love with just about everything Ellen Hopkins writes.  But I'm going to review it anyway.

Tilit is the companion to Triangles.  It follows Mikayla (Holly's daughter) and her relationship (and sometimes lack-thereof) with Dylan and the complications brought on by an unplanned pregnancy, Shane (Marissa's son) and his relationship with Alex who is HIV-positive, and Harley (Andrea's daughter) and her desire to have a relationship with just about anyone that will have her. This book takes place during the same time as the events in Triangles.  Told from the perspective of the teens, we get to see why they do the things they do and how they react to their parents actions.  Though you don't need to read one to read the other, I do recommend the two novels one right after the other.  I didn't and my memory of the first book was a little fuzzy.  Something else that I liked about this book was that I could see it being perfect for a mother-daughter book discussion.  I like that we see the adult and the teen perspective and think it would be really interesting to discuss these books with someone (sadly I haven't caused a total Hopkins-craze in my community...yet...).  As always, the poetry in this novel is superb.  Something that caught my eye as I was reading was that each characters section always ended on the same side of the novel and was followed by a poem from the perspective of a (mostly) minor character.  The kind of planning it must have taken to always have the right number of papers per character astounds me.  Hopkins has got to be the most brilliant writer of my generation and I look forward to all of her future work.

Happy Reading! 
-Melly 

"What My Mother Doesn't Know" by Sonya Sones

I've loved this book for a long time now.  I first read it when I was in high school and my copy is covered with underlined and highlighted passages.  As I re-read it this time it was interesting to see the different colored ink marks and to know what I was thinking each time I had read it way-back-when.  I'm glad to say that I loved reading Sonya Sones' What My Mother Doesn't Know as much now as I did then.

Sophie is a very average teenager.  She's dating a rather hot guy, hangs out with her best friends, and has great artistic ability.  Like many teens in YA lit, her home life isn't so great.  Her parents clearly aren't in love anymore- her dad travels a lot on business and her mother does little more than watch television.  Sophie is set apart because she is pretty much the only one at her school that doesn't make fun of the outcast student, Murphy.  Told in verse, this novel perfectly captures the emotions of a teenage girl.  I can easily believe that Sophie is a real person.  She isn't perfect.  She has flaws just like any teenager would.  Her feelings toward her boyfriend Dylan begin to waver.  She realizes that she doesn't know everything about life.  She also adapts to the obstacles life throws at her, even giving herself a "staycation" when her family doesn't go out of town for the holidays.  

I just have to rave about this book.  I have read all of Sones' Young Adult writing and just love her style.  She has the great ability to take what it is like to be a teenager in a not so great situation and place it beautifully onto a piece of paper.  I am so glad that we get to revisit Sophie and Murphy in the sequel What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know.  It's been awhile since Sones has put out another YA book so it looks like I'm going to have to make some time to read her novel, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus while I wait for more.   

Happy Reading!

-Melly