Doing It by Melvin Burgess

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4Q 3P S

Burgess, Melvin. Doing it. Square Fish, 2012 (reprint). 352 pages. $9.99. 978-0-312551353.

This angsty, humorous novel follows the romantic happenings of best friends Dino, Jon, and Ben; as they discover what they do and do not want in their respective relationships.  Dino, gorgeous, popular, and conceited, constantly pressures Jackie into having sex she isn't ready for. Jon has difficulty coming to terms with his attraction to overweight Deborah, which makes him a target for ridicule among his friends.  Ben has been harboring a secret for the last few years: his relationship with their teacher, Miss Young, who becomes steadily more unhinged as the story progresses.

While the sexual content itself is abundantly obvious, the copious amounts of British slang may cause confusion for American audiences, making familiarity with foreign vocabulary somewhat essential to fully understand the text.  Still, given the nature of the text, curious teens will likely continue on, in spite of the unfamiliar word choices, and laugh throughout the book.  However, given its raunchy subject matter, professionals may be wary of recommending this Burgess novel, and teens themselves will be secretive while seeking it.

Matched by Ally Condie

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3Q 4P M S

Condie, Ally. Matched. Dutton Juvenile, 2010. 369 p. $17.99. 978-0-525423645.

Cassia Reyes, like most teenagers in the Society, is excited to be Matched to her perfect mate. When her Match turns out to be her best friend, Xander, she is very pleased.  But when she inspects her microcard at home with her Match's information, she sees another face on the screen: her childhood friend, Ky.  How can Cassia have two Matches?  The Society does not make mistakes, and the Officials are quick to try to clear up the incident.  But when Cassia starts falling for Ky, everything becomes unclear.  Could this be the most perfect mistake of them all?

In the midst of many dystopian novels, Ally Condie spins a romance in a world eerily similar to that of Lois Lowry's The Giver (1993).  Cassia's Society gives its people very little choice, under the guise of efficiency and structure.  While Condie may draw in readers with the promise of a love triangle, it is decidedly one-sided from the beginning.  Readers will have to continue on in the series if they are devoted to seeing all sides of Cassia's potential relationships. 

Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan

4Q 3P J M

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Shan, Darren. Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare. Little, Brown Young Readers, 2000. 266p. $15.95. 978-0-316603409.

An illegal freak show has come to town, and school friends Steve, Darren, Alan, and Tommy must get tickets.  Too bad they're only allowed to get two with their flyer.  When Steve and Darren are chosen to go, they concoct a plan to sneak out to see the show--and, oh, is it worth it.  Giants, contortionists, monsters, and more leave the entire audience in awe--and fear.  Things take a turn for the worse when Steve demands to be turned into a vampire and threatens to blackmail one of the show's performers.  And when Darren steals a venomous performing spider, and his friend is bitten, he'll have to do the unthinkable to save him...

Shan weaves a simultaneously creepy and humorous story with his autobiographical tone and frank descriptions of fear and death.  Readers will be on the edge of their seat with excitement as Darren trains the vicious spider, attempts to cure his friend's deadly condition, and interacts with various dark creatures.  This dark and creepy series will be a favorite for readers that want to get a little scared.

Summer of Secrets by Paul Langan

3Q 3P J M S

Langan, Paul. Summer of Secrets. Townsend Press, 2004. 160p. $3.99. 978-0-439-90491-9.

Secrets are consuming Darcy Wills.  Her parents are fighting a lot, but will not tell her why.  Her sister, Jamee, has been lying about where she's been lately.  Darcy herself has dark secrets of her own.  She can't sleep or focus, and can't bring herself to tell her friends and family why.  Her anxiety multiplies when her old friend Brisana gets romantically involved with an older boy who does not seem to care about her at all, but when Brisana finally comes to her for help, will there be an easy solution?  This summer off from Bluford High just might be their most difficult one yet.

Readers will be totally immersed in this fast-paced summertime drama, written in an engaging, yet no-frills style by series editor Paul Langan.  Summer of Secrets does not skimp on the excitement, letting the tension build up until the very end.  Occasional typos and spelling mistakes may temporarily distract the reader, but they will continue eagerly to find out what becomes of Darcy and Brisana.

A must-read for fans of the TV series Degrassi: the Next Generation.

The Valley of the Wolves by Laura Gallego Garcia

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4Q 4P M J

Gallego Garcia, Laura. The Valley of the Wolves. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2006. 247 p. $16.99. 0-439-58553-8.

*translated into English by Margaret Sayers Peden

Dana has grown up on a farm with a very large family, and yet has always felt very alone.  Her strange friendship with a boy that only she can see has prevented her from forming relationships with those around her.  Still, with Kai, her unusual friend, by her side, she is happy enough with her lot in life.  However, when it becomes apparent that Dana has an aptitude for magic, she is whisked away to a faraway academy of sorcery known as The Tower, and begins her training to become a maga.  She moves through her lessons with grace, and she steadily gains confidence in her talents.  The mystery of Kai's origins still elude her, and she becomes even more curious when she is visited by the image of a powerful female sorcerer who comes to her with a request.  In her efforts to learn more about her visions, she may find out more than she originally bargained for.

The Valley of the Wolves is a fast-paced tale of magic with a strong focus on friendship, the love we have for those closest to us, and what we will do to protect them.  There are few typographical inconsistencies in an otherwise smooth translation, but readers will nonetheless wait with anticipation to find out Kai's secret origins, Dana's true magical ability, and the loyalties of the mysterious Maestro and Fenris, her fellow student of sorcery.  The magical atmosphere is not alarmingly present in the text, but those looking for a Hogwartsian setting may be pleasantly surprised.

Let's Get Crafty: The Big-Ass Book of Crafts by Mark Montano

4Q 3P J S

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Montano, Mark. The Big-Ass Book of Crafts. Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2008. 384p. $19.95. 978-1-4169-3785-2.

Montano's enormous book of craft ideas gives even the novice crafter a plethora of possible projects.  Covering a range of themes, from body beauty products, to wooden masterpieces, to the just plain artsy, and everything in-between, Montano ensures the reader that there is certainly a craft for them.  With bizarre chapter titles (Artsy Fartsy, You've Been Framed, and I Made This for You... So You Better Love It, among others), out-of-the-ordinary project ideas, and the book's ridiculously blatant title, it will be difficult not to attract teens.

The Big-Ass Book of Crafts will certainly keep project-seekers busy and entertained.  However, there is a definite possibility of frustration when the crafts' instructions require the use of a jigsaw or drill bits, which may not be easily accessible (or affordable) for the young audience the book targets.  Still, teens may find it fun to flip through the book and admire the many crafts, and use them as a base for their own original craft ideas.  Advanced crafters will certainly be in their element.

Share this with the crafty teen looking to keep their hands busy, those with a lot of free time, and anyone up for a bit of a challenge.

Every Day by David Levithan

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4.5Q 4P J S

Levithan, David. Every Day. Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. 324p. $16.99. 978-0-307-93188-7

What if you woke up in a different body every day?  What if your life always had to be lived under the guise of someone else?  What if you fell in love with someone while in someone else's body?  And what if you wanted nothing more than to be with that person every single day?

A knows exactly how this feels.  This has been A's life for sixteen years.  Never truly a boy or a girl, A wakes up in a new body each day and borrows the life of someone else, trying to disrupt as little as possible...  That is, until A wakes up as Justin, and discovers Rhiannon.  But how can they be together when A has never had a body to call home?

Levithan tackles this beautiful love story with fluid, poetic prose and the ability to foster a deep connection not only between the story's main characters, but between the story and its reader as well.  A's ambiguous identity, being neither male nor female, allows the reader to consider a love that transcends all labels and all boundaries.  A's involvement in others' lives allows us to consider our effect on the world around us, and the people whose lives we touch, however minimally.  Readers will be hard-pressed to abandon Every Day for even a moment, desperate for Rhiannon and A to find a way to be together.

For anyone who enjoys a good "what if" story, and the excitement of a new and powerful love.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

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4Q 4P J S

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Little/Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009. 229p. $13.50. 978-0316013697

Growing up on the Spokane Indian reservation in Washington state has been no easy task.  In Arnold Spirit Junior's fourteen years, he has seen the harsh reality of poverty, alcoholism, and hopelessness through his friends, family, and fellow tribe members.  Life has never been easy on the rez, where depression and drug abuse run rampant, and no one is exempt from the cycle of violence.  Born with water on the brain, Junior was left with a stutter, seizures, and a general gangliness that the rest of the rez saw fit to mock him for.

On his first day of high school, Junior realizes just how hopeless everything really is on the reservation.  He throws his "new" 30-year-old textbook across the classroom, hitting his teacher, and is promptly suspended.  When the teacher shows up at his house, begging Junior to make something of his life by leaving the rez, he makes the bravest decision of his life: to go to a mostly white school in a farm town away from the home he's always known.  But which is worse: to be a stranger in a strange land, or a stranger in your home town?

Junior's brutal honesty about life on the reservation will make readers cringe and cry out in sympathy.  His determination to change his life, no matter how the rest of the world protests, is both encouraging and enlightening.  Through his explicit narrative, Alexie reveals to us that even those who are supposed to have the strongest bond with us can also be the most detrimental to our livelihood.  We do, however, stand a chance at hope when we take our futures into our own hands and plow through the opposition and keep moving forward.

Highly recommended to those readers that are unafraid of serious subject matter (racism, addiction, and violence), appreciate humorous, honest narration; and anyone who roots for the underdog.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

4Q 4P J S

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Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. Simon Pulse, 2005. 406p. $17.99. 978-1-4169--3638-1

In a highly unusual society where everyone is segregated into groups based on appearance, and sixteen year olds have a surgery that turns them beautiful, we meet those who accept and eagerly anticipate these changes, and those who reject them and try to escape.  Tally Youngblood, a not-quite-sixteen "ugly," can't wait to have her surgery and join her best friend Peris as a "pretty."  How exciting it will be to finally be beautiful and normal!  However, when she meets Shay, a fellow ugly awaiting her sixteenth birthday, she is introduced to the idea of natural beauty--the idea of people choosing not to go through with the surgery and running away.  When Shay decides to escape, Tally is recruited to find her and bring her back--or be an ugly for the rest of her life.

Scott Westerfeld's Uglies (Simon Pulse, 2005) stands out among the first of its kind in young adult literature--dystopian fiction.  Westerfeld brings the reader into this strange world with no pause for explicit explanation, instead letting the reader gradually become absorbed by the story and picking up meanings along the way.  Tally's interactions with the runaways gives a good message to teens about the way we think about our own body image and appearances: do we have to conform to what society wants if we already think we are fine?  Following Tally through self-discovery mirrors the growing up process we all must go through, and readers will appreciate being able to relate to her story.
 
A must-read for those who enjoyed series like Divergent, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and those who like a little rebellion in their lives.