Yowza, Crazy European Chick

I've been reading lots of books lately. Good books, some are even really good books, but nothing that I'd throw into the "Great" category. Until today.

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schrieber is everything you're looking for in a book. Humor... hijinks... hopeless romanticism? (Yeah, the third seems out of place in that alliterated list, but it fits in the book.)

Joe Schreiber, who's past is mostly genre writing, has stretched himself into the thriller (YA) category and come up with a story that's entirely implausible and non-stop fun. He's developed characters that are totally believable and represent the kind of people that you would want to be best friends with. (As an aside, I didn't know there were so many ways to describe minuscule shifts in the gastrointestinal tract that illustrated nervousness until having read this book.)

I'd recommend this book for fans of slick spy movies that involve lots of hand-to-hand combat (think Mr. & Mrs. Smith) because his writing is so well told that it reads like watching a movie.

I'd also recommend that everyone read this book and then expectantly wait for next fall when the sequel comes out.

Happy reading!

Vibing on This Book

Yikes-o-rama, have I just finished reading the best book ever, or what? Literally. Just finished reading a true gem of YA genius and (I remind you, this is literal) jumped up off my bed to post this blog because the book is so stinking awesome. The book? Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway.

Trust me, I realize that I'm so painfully behind the times that this book is out in paperback and Benway has another book out that I haven't read yet, and everyone else in the entire world has already blogged on this book, but I still have to. Have to.

Because it's that good.

Think: (King Dork + Vinyl Princess) * 9,000,000 pounds of awesomeness. That is roughly the equivalent of Audrey, Wait! Trust me, you need to read this book. Now.

I've read two other YA books since my last blog post, but I'll refrain from mentioning them because, even though they were "cute", they didn't touch Notes From the Blender and they don't touch Audrey, Wait! Seriously.

By the way, and as a bit of an homage to the book, I feel compelled to tell you that, as I'm typing this up in a flurry of this-book-is-so-good-that-I-must-blog-before-I-lose-any-glimmer-of-the-joy-that-is-bursting-from-my-heart blogging, I'm listening to Weights & Measures by Hyland. Goodness all around on the album, especially records 4 and 5.

Enjoy the book(s) and music, fat cats.

(P.S. Did you notice that I didn't really tell you what the book was about? At all? Yeah, just trust me: you need to read it.)

Book Review: Mostly Good Girls

Title: Mostly Good Girls
Author: Leila Sales
Genre: YA Literary/Commercial Fiction
Rating: A+

140-Character Summary: Straight-laced Violet is growing apart from her straight-laced friend, Katie, as they embark on a hilarious year of hits and misses.

First 140 Characters of the Book: "Poor Mr. Thompson. Mr. Thompson is my precalc teacher, and he is also the only male at the Westfield School. Unless you count Mr. Roebeck..." (p.3).

140-Character Review: Did I mention hilarious? A tale of navigating an elite high school without any elite tendencies and a lot of self doubt. And misconceptions.

140-Character Recommendation/Market Placement/Entry Point: People who enjoy other laugh-worthy books like Lost It and Carter Finally Gets It will enjoy Violet's tale. If you don't laugh, you're dead.

Book Review: The DUFF

Title: The DUFF
Author: Kody Keplinger
Genre: YA Literary/Commercial Fiction
Rating: A+

140-Character Summary: A messed-up high school girl meets an equally-messed-up guy who tells her she's the DUFF, which she sort of accepts. And sort of changes.

First 140 Characters of the Book: "This was getting old. Once again, Casey and Jessica were making complete fools of themselves, shaking their a**es like dancers in a rap..." (p.1, edited).

140-Character Review: Great book where all of the characters had a deeper motivation that was worth uncovering. I expect good things from youngster Keplinger.

140-Character Recommendation/Market Placement/Entry Point: Fans of realistic YA fiction with no "physical" punches pulled. A sexed-up version of Lauren Myracle's or Susane Colasanti's relationships.

Book Review: The Book of Luke

Title: The Book of Luke
Author: Jenny O'Connell
Genre: YA Commercial Fiction
Rating: C-

140-Character Summary: Nice girl Emily Abbott is going to try, with the help of her friends, to not be so nice any more. And not-nice-guy, Luke, is her guinea pig.

First 140 Characters: "My parents waited in the cab with TJ while Sean and I stood together on our front walk. It was the same front walk where we'd shared..."

14(1)-Character Review: Nothing ground-breaking with the plot or character development--pretty standard YA stuff--but not a bad read per se. Just an okay, NICE book.

[Sorry, I couldn't get it down to 140 exactly.]

Hogwarts Challenge Notes: Charms... Emily goes from nice to mean (and Luke does some changing), but then she realizes her understanding of nice and mean were what needed changing.

Book Review: The Cupcake Queen

Title: The Cupcake Queen
Author: Heather Hepler
Genre: YA Commercial Fiction
Rating: C

140-Character Summary: Penny moves from NYC (after parent's separation) to a small town. Mom opens a bakery and Penny goes to school. (And meets people and bakes.)

First 140 Characters: "The fact that I wasn't surprised when my mother handed me the sheet pan filled with pink frosted cupcakes is possibly more disturbing..."

140-Character Review: This book was pretty typical YA stuff (boys, mean girls, etc.), but the characters were diverse enough for me to want this to be a series.

Hogwarts Challenge Notes: Transfiguration
Lots of things change in this--perspectives, etc.

Book Review: Ophelia

Title: Ophelia
Author: Lisa Klein
Genre: YA Literary Fiction
Rating: B

140-Character Summary: Retelling of Hamlet from the perspective of Ophelia. No change in the Hamlet-related plot (from the play to the book). Change in end.

First 140 Characters: "I have always been a motherless girl. The lady Frowendel died giving birth to me, depriving also my brother, Laertes, and my father,..."

140-Character Review: The book is good, overall, but drags A LOT when Ophelia escapes Denmark for France. The end with Ophelia and Horatio is fitting for the friend.

Hogwarts Challenge Notes:
Defense Against the Dark Arts (Murder Mystery... Although if you've read the play, it's not much of a "mystery," but still good)

Tweet-Style Reviews

I have a million (nay, bajillion) books that I've read recently and not reviewed. So you'll all get short-changed on the reviews. Sounds fair, huh?

To help you out in this massive review round-up, I've lumped them into two categories: "Greek Mythology-ish" and "Dairy Queen-ish". Sounds like weird categories, but just trust me on this one.

Greek Mythology-ish

1. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 4)
Weakest book in the series. Bad descriptions of sword play battles. If I weren't invested in the series, I'd have given up. But I didn’t.

2. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 5)
Best book in the series. Great use of minor gods; good battle descriptions. I actually thought somebody else was the spy. Glad I finished.

3. Troy High by Shanna Norris
Modern YA retelling of Illiad. “Cassandra” was a good narrator. “Agamemnon” and “Menelaus” had their personalities reversed. “Hector” was true to the original.

4. Troy by Adele Geras
YA retelling of Illiad from woman’s POV. Different perspective on tried and true story. Great read. (Good intro to Iliad for new-to-mythology readers.)

5. Ithaka by Adele Geras
YA retelling of Odyssey from Ithaka's waiting POV. Another good work by Geras. (Good intro to Odyssey for new-to-mythology readers.)

Diary Queen-ish"

1. The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Book #2 in the Dairy Queen Trilogy)
I already knew (and sort of liked) the characters. Kind of repetitive (always saying, “Schwenks don’t make decisions”) with telling, rather than showing in her writing.

2. Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Book #3 in the Dairy Queen Trilogy)
Best conflict in the series. Wasn’t sure how D.J. would decide. Glad D.J. started to stand up for herself (especially to Brian). Good resolution of the trilogy.

Hogwarts Challenge Notes:
Percy Jackson Books 4 & 5 - Both are Care of Magical Creatures (Lots of Magical Creatures in these books)
Troy and Ithaka - Both are Defense Against the Dark Arts (War)
Troy High - Muggle Studies (The war is too metaphorical, in my taste, to be "Defense...")
Dairy Queen Books 2 & 3 - Both are Muggle Studies books

Book Review: Whip It

Title: Whip It (Formerly [aka, before it was optioned as a movie] Derby Girl
Author: Shauna Cross
Genre: YA Commercial Fiction
Rating: A+

Summary: Bliss Cavendar couldn't be less blissful about her life in the pageant-crazed small town world of Bodeen, Texas. She has a dynamite best friend, Pash, who aids and abets Bliss' desire to escape the doldrums of their town and drives her north (not too far) to Austin where Bliss discovers the fabulousness that is roller derby. She also discovers the fabulousness of dating indie rock stars. But, as comes with roller derby, Bliss takes some hits.

First Line: "I don't know how it happened or what sort of back-room deal went down, but apparently I'm living in a small Texas town with two culturally clueless impostors for legal guardians, when I just know my real parents are out there somewhere."

Review: When I saw the trailer for Whip It, I knew that I wanted to see it. (I'm not a huge Ellen Page fan, but Kristen Wiig is pretty fantastic in my book.) But then I found out that it was based on a book and I had to put the brakes on. I'm strictly a read-it-before-you-see-it kind of gal when it comes to adaptations (if I know it's an adaptation).

So I picked up this little gem and sucked it down during a flight (~2 hours). It was that good. Seriously.

Bliss' life is far from, well, blissful, but she does her best. She remains plucky and hopeful. Too often in YA literature the narrators who aren't caught up in the trappings of beauty and popularity come across as completely "above it all" and have a voice that is too superior and esoteric, but not Bliss. She's hilarious (as is Pash) and, sure, she doesn't like her parents, but she's at least moderately respectful.

The scenes in the roller derby world were so perfectly described that you wanted to be there. Seriously. We have a roller derby league in Indianapolis that I've never seen, but now have pretty high up on my priority list. It's that good.

The love/romance angle of the book is awesome. It has everything you need and the ending is (to avoid spoilers) simply kick-butt. I cried with Bliss and cheered with her at the end.

I'm sad to say that this book was actually so good that now I can't stand to see the movie. Even though it looks like a really (really, really) faithful adaptation, I loved this book WAY TOO MUCH to sully it with the movie.

Recommendation: You'd probably like this book if you're a fan of John Green (smart, funny, thoughtful). On another recommendation angle, if you read this and like it, I recommend reading The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz. I haven't read this one yet, but (according to this write-up), it seems to have a similar tone/voice. It's on my TBR for sure.

Book Review: Ex-mas

Title: Ex-mas
Author: Kate Brian
Genre: YA Commercial Fiction
Rating: B-

Summary: Lila Beckwith is planning to have a smashing Christmas, including having her gorgeous, Stanford-attending boyfriend return home just in time to attend her event-of-the-year Christmas party. Of course, none of that goes right. Everything goes wrong. But, because this is fluffy YA fiction, everything turns out just right.

First Line: "Mr. Geary had to be kidding. It was literally moments before the last bell was supposed to ring on the last half-day of classes--three seconds to Christmas break and the holidays and freedom--and the earth science teacher was handing out homework with every indication that he expected people to be paying attention. Had he finally lost it?"

Review: I picked this book up as my 2009 Christmas read. (Last year I read [and reviewed] Let it Snow, a series of intertwined stories by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle.) This book fell pretty far short of the high standard set by the JGM trio.

If judging solely on the basis of YA contemporary fiction, this book wasn't bad. You had some good angst-y love/hate relationships going on (Lila's ex, Beau, seemed like a loner dreamboat), social drama, and some family dynamics that made for a fun, light (roughly three hours total) read.

If judging on the basis of a Christmas story, this book flopped. Maybe it was because this book was set in California (so we didn't get much Christmas-y weather) or because it all happened before Christmas, but the holiday wasn't central to the story. I think this book could have been set in any time of the year and still worked. (Frankly speaking, I think it was a gimmick used to market the novel around Christmas for increased sales).

If you're looking for a YA book that will get you in the Christmas spirit, don't bet on this one. But, as far as YA books go, Brian's not a bad little author.

Book Review: Dairy Queen

Title Dairy Queen (Unabridged Audio Version)
Author Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Read by Natalie Moore)
Genre YA Commercial Fiction
Rating B

Summary D.J. Schwenk is sixteen years old and doing her best (with a little help from her selectively-mute younger brother) to keep the family farm going. Her dad's hip replacement surgery is taking longer to heal than planned, her mom's busy working two jobs (perhaps just to stay away from the house), and her two older brothers are definitely staying away from the house (they have been ever since "the big fight"). And on top of all of that, D.J. has to deal with pain-in-the-butt, knows-he's-too-cool-for-school Brian Nelson being forced to help her on the farm. D.J. had usually been able to count on her best friend Amber to decompress, but Amber's been acting, um, weird. Really weird. Mostly about D.J. spending so much time with Brian. And when D.J. announces that she wants to be the starting running back for her high school's football team, well, everybody starts acting weird.

Review There were a fair number of good or really good things about this book. The characters were all genuinely interesting and complex, but totally believable. D.J.'s inner struggle about doing what makes her feel empowered, rather than just always doing what's expected of her, was engaging enough to keep me listening. The rest of D.J.'s family (parents and three brothers) and the two other characters that we get a fair amount of time to look at (Amber and Brian) are fraught with their own problems. We look at their problems through the first-person lens of D.J., but Murdock wrote her insightful enough (without being an adult) that we get a broad perspective.

And the inner-personal relationships are what it's all about when it comes to this book. You're left with a wee bit of a cliff-hanger. All throughout the book the tension and build-up between D.J. and Brian simmers (it wouldn't be YA without angsty love, would it?), and at the end you're wondering, "Wait, are they together or are they friends? Because I'm really not sure." But never to worry because there are two more books in this series (The Off Season and Front and Center), both of which are already released.

I'll be picking those books up for reading because the characters grabbed me. (I actually teared up at a couple of points.) But please note that I said I would be reading the books.

This was my first real foray into audio books and they're just not for me. I know a lot of people listen to audio books in the car, but I commute, so that wasn't an option. (And it would be rude to download it onto my iPod and not converse with my co-rider. That's not how we roll.) So I ended up listening to while laying on my bed (which is often how I read a book), BUT with a book, I can read a lot faster silently than an actress can dramatically read a book.

And a little bit more about the actress: Her Wisconsin accent was good (in so far as I could tell, never having been to Wisconsin). And she had a pretty wide range of "voices," I could keep all the characters straight (which was something I wasn't sure I'd be able to do during the dialogue with an audio book), but not all the characters' voices had much emotional range. It was most noticeable for Brian (who was a really important character to the book, with a lot of dialogue). I thought the actress always made him sound stoned. He could be saying something funny or getting vulnerable about his parents' marriage problems, and he always sounded like he was baked.

That's why I'll be reading the next.

None the less, thanks to the lovely ladies at Stacked who gifted me this audio book in a give-away on their blog. I enjoyed the book, appreciate getting exposed to great new YA series, and having a little audio book experience officially under my book belt.

Book Review: Freshman

Title Freshman
Author Michael Gerber
Genre YA Commercial Fiction
Rating B-

Summary Hart Fox is a high school senior with promise--promise to get into the prestigious Stutts University. He has his acceptance nearly in hand until a wealthy alumnus steals the coveted spot for his wayward son, and Hart's nemesis, Tripp Darling. Mr. Darling cuts a deal for Hart to get into Stutts also, if he'll take all of Tripp's classes for him. And when it comes to Stutts, carrying two students' academic loads is the least of Hart's worries.

First Line "Sleepy with boredom and gassy from lunch, Hart Fox sat in the hard plastic chair outside his dean's office."

Review This book was a humorous and irreverent look at college life amongst the elite from an outsider's perspective. (The author went to an Ivy League school, so I'm not sure how much of this is his revisionist's history.)

The characters in this book were over-the-top, but they were meant to be. (Hello? One is a vampire. Obvious farce.) And it worked. The caricatures all played off each other--the motivated one, the jaded one, the "President," etc.--and created a campus full of life and color.

The pacing of the book kept you reading consistently with plenty of hijinks spattered throughout to ensure that you didn't have to read too much anti-elitism without a laugh or too along the way.

Hart was a good narrator, he was never whiny, even when any normal person would have been. (Hello? He was dragged behind a hearse in an attempt to kill him. Let the complaining begin.) But he wasn't Mary Sunshine either. He saw the crap that was going on around him, but he knew that griping never really did anybody any good. He had a good (fictitious) upbringing in that regard.

All those things said, an enjoyable book that includes laughs, some thoughts on society's classes, melancholy, and friendships. Nothing ground-breaking, but still a fun read.

Recommendation This book is a mix of Looking for Alaska and Carter Finally Gets It. So if you enjoyed either of those books (like me), then you'll probably like this one as well.

Book Review: Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape)

Title Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape)
Author Carrie Jones
Genre YA Fiction
Rating C+

Summary Following the characters from Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend, this book explores the new relationship of Belle and Tom and shows how having a straight boyfriend (and a very problem-prone best friend) isn't much easier than having a gay boyfriend.

First Line "George Burns said, Don't stay in bed unless you can make money in bed, which sounds like a good song..."

Review Warning: If you're the kind of person who hates to read a book, and not read any really great stuff until page 256 (of 284), then don't read this book. Let me give you a little break-down of how this book goes, for reference:

Pages 1-42: Introductory scenes to remind us of characters and relationships and events that ocurred in Tips... and set up the scenario/scene/timeline for Love...
Pages 43-82: Set up of the "big hook"/problem of this book
Pages 83-256: Belle thinks a lot about the problem(s) in this book, thinks some more, some interesting kissing, etc.
Pages 256-275: Climax
Pages 276-280: Resolution-ish

The book doesn't sound that great, right? Well, here's why I gave the book this rating: I am somebody who can fall in love with characters and can stand to read about them doing not too much of anything.

Granted, I think that Belle was way too whiny in this book (instead of just being honest about stuff, she whined and complained and internalized and freaked out about stuff), and I think that this book was a vanity piece because Jones loved these characters, she saw an idea for a climax via a country music video (which she admits on her website) and she filled the bulk of the book (the "rising action") with whining.

But I really, really like Tom. And the hook of the book could have been so awesome--and I wanted to read that. Sure, I wanted way more in the way of resolution--I wanted to know what Shawn thought about "the problem" and how it worked out, etc., but that's probably why I sent an email to Carrie Jones asking, "Can you please write another book so I know how things turn out?" That's how much I like these characters.

Also, she does a better job of making Dylan less of a gay charicature. (Plus, I gave her a decent score because she did the repetitive writing thing, thing, thing a lot less in this book.)

Recommendation Fans of Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend could probably enjoy reading more about these characters. Otherwise, don't bother.

Book Review: Tips of Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend

Title Tips on Having a Gay (ex)Boyfriend
Author Carrie Jones
Genre YA Commercial Fiction
Rating C

Summary Belle gets dumped by her (thought to be) soul mate Dylan because he's (shocker) gay. Actually, it did come as a shock to Belle, but not so much to a bunch of other people. The way that this revelation upsets the lives of so many in small-town Maine takes another 250 pages to digest.

First Line "We walk outside first."

Review My thoughts on this book could not possibly be more mixed. No siree. That would not be feasible.

On the plus side: I am so hard-core loving the relationship between Belle and her rebound guy (Tom) that I'm going to rush to the library tonight and get the second book in this little saga (Love (And Other Uses for Duct Tape). And I'll probably read it tonight. Other pluses are that I totally think that Dylan's angst is semi-believeable (in so much as I know what it's like to come out as a gay guy in a small town at the age of 17); I like a lot of the other supporting characters and the narrator doesn't completely get on my nerves. Several of her lists are well-balanced (whiny, depressed, etc., without being too whiny, depressed, etc.).

On the hugely negatively side: I cannot stand the author's writing. I read the back flap which says this lovely lady used to edit poetry magazines and it comes through in her writing (I think). And not in a good way. In a way that she tried to make this prose sound like poetry and was repetitive. I was over, over, over it. (Because she did that thing I just did where she uses the same word three times.) She does this over, over, over again in the book. It drove me batty!

Also, I was thoroughly annoyed that we got fantastic "remembrances" of romantic and/or hot scenes between Dylan and Belle and I can't get a second base with Tom? C'mon. That's why I'm reading the second book. I need to see if this girl can do her business with a straight guy. (Plus, have I ever mentioned that I have a very weird interest in reading books about sexually-confused young adults? Please do not speculate in the comments regarding what you think that may or may not mean about me.)

[Plus: I want to see if Jones can overcome her deep reliance upon gay stereotypes and really develop the characters. The (former) boyfriend likes Streisand and is in show choir. Enough said.]

Recommendation I'm holding off on this until after I've read the next book. Check back later for edits.

Book Review: Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks

Title: Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks
Author: Lauren Myracle
Genre: YA Commercial Fiction
Rating: A

Summary: Two sisters spend a summer apart and start to grow apart. When Sophomore Carly is joined at Holy Redeemer High School in an exclusive suburb or Atlanta, GA, by her Freshman Sister, Anna (who got mega boobs over the season), her view of herself and her sister (and pretty much the whole world) starts to change.

First Line: "I'm out by our pool with my sister Anna and my best friend, Peyton. Anna and Peyton are working on their tans; I, on the other hand, am carving a 'peace' symbol into a potato."

Review: I loved this book and sucked it down in one night of self-abandoned reading. (I even skipped watching the Gossip Girl season premiere (for shame) to read this book.)

Is that not enough enticement of how awesome this book is?

I'm afraid that anything I write won't be truly awesome and it'll make you think that the book isn't completely awesome, and that would be (for shame) too bad. I'm half-tempted to just repost the fantastic review of this book from the (fantastic) blog Forever YA (which is what I read that got me to check the book out).

But I won't.

I'll tell you the characters were entertaining (and there was a huge variety--every race and country represented in this rainbow kaleidoscope) and their dialogue was believeable. As were their interactions (for the most part). All the girls were spot-on in their jealousy; the only thing that wasn't perfect was the long-suffering Roger (who crushes on Carly). Seriously, no 15-year-old guy is that patient. He shoulda knocked some boots (do the kids say that these days?) with another chick to get Carly to be jealous (that's what a normal guy would have done). Or is Myracle trying to make a statement that the Dutch aren't normal? Could be... Rose Nylund was definitely the wackiest lady on Golden Girls.

But all that aside, the relationship between Carly and Anna was awesome to read. Maybe it's because I'm a sister (and I know that deep down, in the part that never gets talked about, you are jealous of their successes and/or popularity), but I loved this book. And I can say that from a "grown-up" place where my sister is my best friend (and annoys me endlessly sometimes, as do I to her).

Recommendations: I don't know what else to recommend because this book might be one of the first books where the relationship between sisters was the big deal. Even still, check this out.

Book Review: Goy Crazy

Title Goy Crazy
Author Melissa Schorr
Genre YA Commercial Fiction
Rating B

Summary What happens when a semi-traditional Jewish girl (Rachel Lowenstein) in NYC falls for an Aryan Race poster child from the local Catholic high school (Luke Christensen)? Why, silliness and fun will ensue, of course. (Oh, and she might break her grandmother's heart, who will die.)

First Line "There is no way I'm dancing with Howard Goldstein."

Review I adored this very cute and fun read. I appreciated that I didn't see absolutely everything coming from a mile away, that the parents were dynamic characters (maybe I only love that because I'm an adult), and that the love triange was fun to read. I loved Rachel's voice--she was quite spot-on in her YA voice, but also not 100% self-absorbed or whiny. She was funny. What you'd hope your diary would have sounded like when you lamented having huge hair.

My minor drawback, and this could be because I'm a gentile, is that it was hard to figure out the significance of the Jewish religion v. ethnicity. It was seemingly very important to Rachel and her family, but then you find out that it's maybe not such a big idea, but it could be, etc. There was some back and forth with that that got to be a little wishy-washy to me, and struck me as trying to make something important sound socially acceptable; if marrying someone with like spiritual beliefs and/or sense of cultural identity is important to you, go ahead and say it. I don't think that means that you're necessarily saying anyone who is not one of God's Chosen Race is bad, it's just that you (personally) wouldn't marry them. However, maybe Schorr was trying to make the point that it's a confusing issue for Jewish girls as they come of age, but that wasn't entirely clear. (Especially based on the resolution of who Rachel ends up with that I won't spoil for you.)

Recommendation Fans of Lisa Loeb's short-lived Reality TV show, "#1 Single." (I think there are similar YA writers, but because the faith/ethnicity/religion is so important to the plot of this book, I'll leave these recommendations brief.)

Book Review(s): Pretty Tough and Playing With the Boys

Title Pretty TOUGH
Author Liz Tigelaar
Genre YA Commercial Fiction
Rating D+

Summary Charlie and Krista Brown (yep, you read it right--Charlie Brown) are sisters who hate each other. Charlie isn't happy with her life; she's a high school sophomore who doesn't have any friends (her best friend spread a rumor about her freshman year), and she thinks Krista is full of herself. Krista is under intense pressure to stay with her uber-popular boyfriend who's already been accepted early admission to Yale, and her best friend (a D-list Hollywood actress) doesn't think that Krista is all that. When Charlie crashes Krista's senior season of soccer, they both learn something.

First Line "For nearly twenty seconds, Charlie was convinced she was dead."

Review Imagine reading a book where you don't particularly like reading the protagonist's POV. Now imagine that the book in question is told in alternating POV's between two sisters, and you don't like either of the voices. Charlie is whiny and Krista is a narcissist. Good times, right?

The story was moderately interesting and the ending, although a little bit obvious from a long ways off, was actually written pretty well. I finally saw why Charlie and Krista hated each other. Too bad it took me 200 pages to get to that point. The author didn't do a good job of fleshing out the sisters--you knew they hated each other, but you didn't know why. This book would have been infinitely better if the author had elaborated on the complexities of the sisters' relationship before page 174. She made me work way too hard to finish this book.

Also, just as a side note, doesn't the cover look like that girl is missing a foot? That might make it sort of hard to play soccer, right?

Title Playing With the Boys (A Pretty TOUGH Book)
Author Liz Tigelaar
Genre YA Commercial Fiction
Rating C

Summary Lucy Malone is transported from Toledo, OH, to Malibu, CA, with her dad after her mother dies. The loss of her mom and the cross-country move are tough to deal with, but she meets Charlie Brown (remember her?) and some other great girls when she tries out for the soccer team. Unfortunately, she doesn't make it, but she can really bend it and when the place kicker for the football team gets injured, Lucy gets goaded into going for the goal.

First Line "Lucy Malone had always felt that she was just one letter short of 'lucky,' and in her fifteen years on this planet, her theory had definitely been proven true."

Review Remember the problems with Pretty TOUGH? (You should. The review's right up above... go read it again if you've forgotten.) Well, Tigelaar cleaned up her act on this book.

Lucy is an instantly-likable narrator. Her problems are complex and you understand why and you care pretty much straight-away. The drama surrounding the boys/crushes/let's just be friends situations were much more compelling in this second book. The only hang-up for me was that the tension about Lucy's dad's prohibition of her being on the football team was too melodramatic. Everything else was pretty good (not high-brow literature, sure, but decent reading), but this just rang as not all that believable.

I almost didn't read this book (because Pretty TOUGH was so bad), but I'm glad I did. Tigelaar is definitely evolving as a writer and I'll be looking forward to future books in this series.

Recommendation People who like their YA literature with a little "girl power" thrown in.

Book Review: Lost It

Title Lost It
Author Kristen Tracy
Genre YA Commercial Fiction
Rating B+

Summary Tess Whistle's life is falling apart... her friend is plotting death to a neighborhood dog, her parents are running off to "find themselves" in the wilderness, her grandmother is forcing Tess to learn to drive, and Tess's first boyfriend doesn't know how long he can put up with her insanity. (And her shoes explode.)

First Line "I didn't start out my junior year of high school planning to lose my virginity to Benjamin Easter--a senior--at his parents' cabin in Island Park underneath a sloppily patched, unseaworthy, upside-down canoe."

Review This book was laugh-out-loud funny. Tess was quite unlike any character I'd ever read before, her worries and anxieties (and knowledge of survival tactics for freak situations) were a hoot to read. Also, Tess's friend, her parents, and her grandma contributed to the laughs as well. The whole thing was chuckle-inducing nearly the whole way through.

The only drawback to me was that the climax of the book was precipitated on Tess making up a lie (as a survival tactic to not have to admit that she still drank juice boxes) that went on a little too long. I guess it was funny in that the big blow-up of the book was all because Tess told a (really dumb) lie and through a series of crazy and zany events, it blows up in her face. But throughout it all, Tess stays relatively un-whiny (and when she gets a little whiny, she bucks up pretty quick).

How's this for funny: When her grandma suggests that Tess save a whale in her boyfriend's name, because he's reportedly a big fan of marine life, Tess thinks, "Until that point, I'd had no clue that you could save a whale in somebody else's name. In fact, it wasn't totally clear to me how you went about saving a whale to begin with, other than not harpooning one," (216).

Book Review: Something, Maybe

Title Something, Maybe
Author Elizabeth Scott
Genre YA Commercial Fiction
Rating B

Summary Hannah wants to be really normal, but that's hard to do when your mom's job is doing internet chats in her lingerie and your dad is a Hugh Hefner-spin-off. Hannah does her best to be invisible, going through school and work (with her crush-of-ultimate-proportions Josh and irritating Finn) and biding her time until she can start college and get away from home.

First Line "Everyone's seen my mother naked."

Review That's a pretty good first line. And the book's pretty good too. Hannah is an interesting enough character, and you get enough of a glimpse at her home life that her ever-so-slightly whiny inner monologues are understandable. But the best part of the book is that Scott does a good job of portraying Hannah's parents in a two-dimensional light as well--they're clearly not perfect (or even close), but they're sufficiently complex and interesting to read about.

The rising action of the book and the climax were pretty gripping (as far as contemporary YA fiction goes) and caused a lump to rise in the back of my throat. Sure, I knew what was going to happen with Hannah's love interests, but there was enough meat on the bones of this story to make it a satisfying read.

Note: I read this book because I'd previously read Scott's Perfect You, which wasn't that great, but had a teaser for this book in the back, and this book was far better. I'd encourage anybody who had even a little bit of interest in Scott's earlier works (even if it wasn't jaw-dropping awe) to give this one a shot.

Recommendation Anybody who is a fan of light, fun YA fiction (with romantic undertones and family drama) should enjoy a good bit of quick reading in this one.

Book Review: Carter Finally Gets It

Title Carter Finally Gets It
Author Brent Crawford
Genre YA Commercial Fiction
Rating A+

Summary Will Carter is getting ready to start high school and he couldn't be less prepared. He's obsessed with girls, but everything about them makes his latent stutering come back. He gets some action, but screws it up (like he does pretty much everything). But through it all, Carter will learn a lot... and he just might finally get it.

Review Have you ever read a book that, as soon as you were done with it, you wanted to start right over and read it again? That's what reading Carter Finally Gets It was like for me. I laughed so hard. It was so funny, so real. The characters so perfect that I didn't want it to end. The author's website is http://www.carterbooks.com and I hope (hope, hope, hope) that the "S" on the end of that website address means there are more books to come. I want to read about Carter's sophomore year, his junior year, his senior year, and college. I'd probably read about Carter in his golden years if Brent Crawford would write it.

But take heed: the back of the book warns readers that, "This book contains lewd humor, underage drinking, illicit fantasizing, and very bad decision-making." that it does. And then some. But the hilarity is worth it.

Recommendation Fans of YA fiction with fun and charismatic guys as the protagonist, such as David Yoo's books, will enjoy this.