For Your TBR Pile - Summer of Supernovas

Summer of Supernovas
by Darcy Woods
Crown BFYR / Penguin Random House
Published May 10, 2016

The Characters

WILAMENA (WIL) is a fun and spunky girl who has a closet full of vintage dresses and a heart she wears on her sleeve. She's mapped out her romantic future by the stars.

GRANT is the guitar playing, duct-taped shoe wearing brother with a tattooed sleeve and a lime green car.

SETH is the more buttoned-up brother who knows all the right things to say. He'll take you up in a hot air balloon and make you swoon.

When astrology determines your best match for romance, Wilamena is sure she knows which brother is right for her. While Seth wines and dines her, Wilamena continues to bump into Grant at every turn. Does she stay the course of the stars or does she pave her own path? 

For Readers Who

• Are looking for a super-swoony, light-hearted romance
• Loved Stephanie Perkins' Anna and the French Kiss / Isla and the Happily Ever After
• Knows their Pisces from their Capricorns

What I Loved

That Darcy Woods writes such fun characters, witty dialogue, and soft-hearted relationships. Not only were the boys fun to read, but Wil's relationship with her Grams was so wonderful. It reminded me a lot of the closeness I had with my own Grandmother. 

Wil's friendships with boys, as well as girls, is really refreshing. She mingles well with all the characters, not just focusing on the boy de jour. My favorite non-romantic character was Mannie, the drummer in Grant's band. He was overly flirtatious and comically charming.

Plus, this book won The Golden Heart Award from RWA (Romance Writers of America) in 2013!

For Your TBR Pile - The Nightmares! Series

Nightmares! and Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic
by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
Random House
Published September 8, 2015

Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller's Nightmares! series has been on my TBR pile ever since it debuted last year. I was super excited when Random House asked me to review the sequel, The Sleepwalker Tonic. I fell in love with this series. Charlie Laird is a fantastic protagonist for both kids and adults.

In Nightmares! we meet Charlie after his mother has died and his father has remarried and moved them into his stepmother's purple mansion down the street. Charlie is sure his new stepmother is probably a witch, and battles terrible nightmares with her every night. Refusing to sleep, he's cranky with his Captain America-loving little brother, Jack and finds extra trouble for himself at school.

After crossing over into a portal into the nightmare world, Charlie faces his fears with the help from his friends (both human and not-so human).

Nightmares! - The Sleepwalker Tonic is a fantastic sequel to the world Segel and Miller have built. When sleepwalking zombies take over the neighboring town, Charlie knows where he can find the culprits.

What is awesome about this series is how easily the talents of Segel and Miller come together to create a powerhouse writing team. The characters are fun, quirky, and hilariously developed. The story has a lot of heart that will appeal to both kids and parents. This is a great series to read aloud.

Bonus: if you get the audio book, Jason Segel reads and has a variety of fantastic voices. Along with his involvement in the Muppets movies, the Nightmares! series shows that Segel knows how to develop awesome stories for children and parents alike. I'm excited to see what he'll continue to do in this space.

For Your TBR Pile - Paperweight

Paperweight
By Meg Haston

Published: July 7, HarperTeen

From GoodReads: Seventeen-year-old Stevie is trapped. In her life. In her body. And now in an eating-disorder treatment center on the dusty outskirts of the New Mexico desert.

Her dad has signed her up for sixty days of treatment. But what no one knows is that Stevie doesn't plan to stay that long. There are only twenty-seven days until the anniversary of her brother Josh’s death—the death she caused. And if Stevie gets her way, there are only twenty-seven days until she too will end her life.

Thank you Epic Reads for choosing me to be a part of the Early Readers Group!

My Thoughts:

There have been a lot of great issue books in the market recently, and Paperweight definitely makes the list. What I liked most about this book is how it handles such a serious topic like eating disorders and doesn't shy away from the parts that may be dark and scary.

While a lot of the eating disorder books I've read have focused on the character spiraling in their disease and struggling to seek help, Paperweight shows the recovery process. It was sad and a little fascinating to see the therapy these girls went through and the different struggles they faced both physically and mentally in their recoveries. I also loved that while the challenges they faced were dark (abuse, trauma, pain, death), there were plenty of good moments too, such as the scene where they break into the pool for a midnight dip.

The pacing was tight. The characters were really engaging and felt well-rounded and nuanced. I especially liked Stevie's roommate Ashley and the flashbacks of her brother. However, the only thing that didn't sit quite right with me was the cover design--which is no fault of the author. At first glance, I thought this would be a lighter contemporary along the lines of Sarah Dessen's early books. Once I started reading and was pulled into the story, it went to a much darker place than I had first been expecting.

Recommended for those who enjoy darker issue books such as Wintergirls, Stolen, and Live Through This, and fans of the show Red Band Society.

For Your TBR Pile - Reimagined Shakespeare

YOLO JULIET by Brett Wright
SRSLY HAMLET by Courtney Carbone
Published: May 26, Random House

My Thoughts:
These books are SO cool! I love reimagined classics, but have a hard time reading them because sometimes I never understood the source material.

I was really familiar with Romeo and Juliet, but had never read Hamlet before. Surprisingly, srsly Hamlet wasn't hard to follow as a first read.

These were so well done and flawlessly executed. Told in texts, voice memos, check ins and group chats, Shakespeare's work comes to life in a whole new way. They're the kind of books you want to shove into someone's hands and pass along right away. In fact, I'm sending my copies to a friend who works in a high school library. I can't wait to see how kids and Millennials respond to these books.

Recommended for those who love reimagined classics, such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and William Shakespeare’s Star Wars. I was actually quite surprised Random House snagged these books before Quirk Books. 

For Your TBR Pile - Every Last Word

Every Last Word
By Tamara Ireland Stone

Published: June 16, Disney Hyperion

From GoodReads: Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off. 

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

Thank you NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for the eARC!

My Thoughts:

Every Last Word cracks open the life of a teenager living with a very specific type of OCD. As Samantha tries to hide her condition from her friends, she wanders into a secret poetry club that meets in a hidden room underneath the school stage.

I enjoyed this book, and feel Stone portrayed the main character in a positive light--as a girl seeking help and actively attending therapy to find new coping mechanisms and make decisions about her relationships. When Sam attends Poet's Corner, a group of misfit characters with deep, emotional issues, they are able to vent their frustrations and share their fears with each other through their songs and poems.

Not only was the writing creative and fun, but the story's pacing was quick and plot twisted in all the right places. Not an issue book in the least, Every Last Word explores common teenage fears of being socially accepted and navigating toxic friendships. 

For Your TBR Pile - Watch the Sky

Watch the Sky
By Kirsten Hubbard

Published: April 7, Disney Hyperion

From GoodReads: The signs are everywhere, Jory's stepfather, Caleb, says. Red leaves in the springtime. Pages torn from a library book. All the fish in the aquarium facing the same way. A cracked egg with twin yolks. Everywhere and anywhere. And because of them Jory's life is far from ordinary. He must follow a very specific set of rules: don't trust anyone outside the family, have your works at the ready just in case, and always, always watch out for the signs. The end is coming, and they must be prepared.

They begin an exhausting schedule digging a mysterious tunnel in anticipation of the disaster. But as the hold gets deeper, so does the family's doubt about whether Caleb's prophecy is true. When the stark reality of his stepfather's plans becomes clear, Jory must choose between living his own life or following Caleb, shutting his eyes to the bright world he's just begun to see.

Thank you NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for the eARC!

My Thoughts:

Watch the Sky hooked me immediately. Jory's family is fascinating in how they blindly trust Caleb, Jory's stepfather, whose former military experience has influenced his paranoid prophecies. In her middle grade novel debut, Hubbard explores how Jory trusts in what he's been told from his parents, teachers, and friends, and how he begins to think for himself.

Hubbard does a great job exploring how trust can be rooted in a family, how scary the world can be outside that trust, and how hard it is to break away from the things you're told to explore the world you want to know. I was fascinated with Jory's mother, who was scared to be alone and was the most extreme example of trusting blindly. Also, Kit, Jory's near-mute sister, was an amazing character whose inability to speak although she knew the truth was a great contrast to Jory's emotional arc.

I'd put this book in the hand of any middle grade reader, and can see it being a big hit with educators and librarians. 

For Your TBR Pile - Devoted

Devoted
By Jennifer Mathieu

Published: June 2, Roaring Brook Press

From GoodReads: Rachel Walker is devoted to God. She prays every day, attends Calvary Christian Church with her family, helps care for her five younger siblings, dresses modestly, and prepares herself to be a wife and mother who serves the Lord with joy. But Rachel is curious about the world her family has turned away from, and increasingly finds that neither the church nor her homeschool education has the answers she craves. Rachel has always found solace in her beliefs, but now she can’t shake the feeling that her devotion might destroy her soul.

Thank you NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for the eARC!

My Thoughts:

Devoted is a story about a teenage girl born into the Quiverfull movement among evangelical Protestant groups. Known for their modest dress, large families, and patriarchal obedience to God, most look at this group as a cult.

In Devoted, the main character isn't questioning her faith in God, which I think is really important to know. In fact, this book is about faith and finding it within yourself. When Rachel begins questioning her father and the community's rules, she feels guilty and blames herself. It's not until she befriends a girl, Lauren, who escaped the community and is living in a town nearby that she hears that the people around her have been abusive and controlling. Her faith in God, though, never wavers. In fact, it's interesting to see her relationship with her beliefs open up as she begins to see the world around her.

This was beautifully written and so well done. It's a quiet book, that has a lot to say. 

For Your TBR Pile - Inside the O'Briens

Inside the O'Briens
By Lisa Genova

Published: April 7, Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster

From GoodReads: Joe O’Brien is a forty-four-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their twenties, and respected officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family’s lives forever: Huntington’s Disease.
Huntington’s is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. Each of Joe’s four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father’s disease, and a simple blood test can reveal their genetic fate. While watching her potential future in her father’s escalating symptoms, twenty-one-year-old daughter Katie struggles with the questions this test imposes on her young adult life. Does she want to know? What if she’s gene positive? Can she live with the constant anxiety of not knowing?

As Joe’s symptoms worsen and he’s eventually stripped of his badge and more, Joe struggles to maintain hope and a sense of purpose, while Katie and her siblings must find the courage to either live a life “at risk” or learn their fate.

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for the eARC!

My Thoughts:

This tweet sums up all my thoughts about this book:

I hadn't read Still Alice, but was aware of it once it started to appearing on all the movie award nominations lists (Currently, I am number 98 on my library's waiting list for the book).

So when there was an opportunity to read Inside the O'Briens, I snatched it up like the last cupcake at a bake sale. I love patient stories--especially ones that bring to life what it's like to live with illness. My love for medical writing and patient education goes way back to my earlier writing days. Inside the O'Briens takes a look at how a disease can disrupt an entire family and make them question their places in their family structure.

Watching Huntington’s Disease change Joe from being a protective and strong-willed father of four to the unstable patient was heartbreaking. His Boston pride beamed from this book. I loved not only the way Lisa Genova portrayed the city, but the working class, as well. Joe's role as a police officer was firmly rooted in his identity within the social structure of his family, but also his town.

Even more so, Katie's journey from flakey youngest sibling to firmly standing up for herself and her future was heartbreaking and awe-inspiring. I love that she wrote positive affirmations on her walls with a black sharpie. My favorite scene was when she decided to paint over them after having a very emotional breakdown, only to discover her family rewrite each one for her. 

The O'Briens were a very loving family, strongly rooted in their religious believes and blue-collared upbringing, but they weren't perfect. It was interesting not only to learn more about this incredibly debilitating disease, but to watch how the threat of it challenged each one of characters' futures. 

For Your TBR Pile - My Best Everything

My Best Everything
By Sarah Tomp

Published: March 3, Little, Brown For Young Readers

From GoodReads: Luisa “Lulu” Mendez has just finished her final year of high school in a small Virginia town, determined to move on and leave her job at the local junkyard behind. So when her father loses her college tuition money, Lulu needs a new ticket out.

Desperate for funds, she cooks up the (definitely illegal) plan to make and sell moonshine with her friends, Roni and Bucky. Quickly realizing they’re out of their depth, Lulu turns to Mason: a local boy who’s always seemed like a dead end. As Mason guides Lulu through the secret world of moonshine, it looks like her plan might actually work. But can she leave town before she loses everything – including her heart?

Thank you GoodReads and LBKids for the eARC!

My Thoughts:

I've wanted to read this book forever! I remember reading the PW announcement when it sold and thinking that I hadn't ever thought about moonshining as a hook for a YA. I was so excited to see how this book pulled it off.

What I really loved most about this book was how it captured the panicked feel of being stuck in a small town. Tomp did a great job developing characters who had limited options outside of just poverty--because of their family ties, lack of drive or fear of change. I connected to Lulu right away once she found out her college fund was depleted and her dreams of leaving Dale, VA were squashed.

The book reads as a letter to Mason, which I really liked because I'm really into finding different structural ways to tell a story. My only note was that sometimes the tense slipped (because she's writing about past events through the present-tense letter) and it pulled me out of the story. This was something I could adjust to, but it might take some getting used to when you first start reading.

Mason was a fascinating love interest. I really loved the way Tomp wrote about his addiction, something we don't see enough of in YA, in my opinion. I thought his daily battle to stay sober--while making moonshine--and his deep love of his family's craft came through so well. His cousin, Seth, was a great villain and I wished he was around a little more.

Overall, though, I really liked this book and thought it was a fresh concept with an exciting hook. The ending (no spoilers) was just perfect for me. 

For Your TBR Pile - Kissing Ted Callahan (and other guys)

Kissind Ted Callahan (And Other Guys)
By Amy Spalding

Published: April 14th, Poppy/Little, Brown For Young Readers

From GoodReads: After catching their bandmates in a compromising position, sixteen-year-old Los Angelenos Riley and Reid become painfully aware of the romance missing from their own lives. And so a pact is formed: they'll both try to make something happen with their respective crushes and document the experiences in a shared notebook.

While Reid struggles with the moral dilemma of adopting a dog to win over someone's heart, Riley tries to make progress with Ted Callahan, who she's been obsessed with forever-His floppy hair! His undeniable intelligence! But suddenly cute guys are popping up everywhere. How did she never notice them before?! With their love lives going from 0 to 60 in the blink of an eye, Riley and Reid realize the results of their pact may be more than they bargained for.

Thank you NetGalley and LBKids for the eARC!

My Thoughts:

Kissing Ted Callahan was my first Amy Spalding novel--and I am a complete fan. Amy's characters came across real and hip and so, so funny. Can I be friends with these kids, please?

I love stories about pacts, and what made this story unique was the platonic friendship between Riley and Reid. What I found super interesting was how different their approaches were to dating. Riley ran into relationships without hesitation and with one thing on most teenage girls' minds (making out!). Reid, on the other hand, listed and plotted each relationship. I really enjoyed the non-stereotypical role reversal here.

As for Ted Callahan, I found him to be a little shy in the beginning, especially when paired with loud and colorful Riley. He was more of --what I like to call-- a come around character, who opens up and lets you in slowly, rather than throwing themselves at you from the beginning (like Riley). I found his home situation really fascinating, and actually wished there was just a bit more there so Riley's realization that maybe perfect Ted Callahan didn't have everything so wonderful was a little bigger and more powerful.

I also really enjoyed the friendship between Riley and Lucy, who have been friends forever and feeling the strain of what happens when one friend's relationship wedges between them. In this case, Riley felt inferior to Lucy, which isn't typically addressed in YA books. It usually comes across as bitterness or embarrassment. Riley's reaction was more realistic. She chose to avoid her friend and cut her off with no explanation.

Also, I thought Amy Spalding did a really nice job incorporating school, family, extra curricular activities, jobs, and all the things that fill a teen's life into this book. It reminded me how much teens have going on and how the pressure of grades and getting into programs and being on time to work is prominent in their lives. Best of all, all of these things weaved around the story to add a nice balance of chaos and missed encounters.

Overall, I really liked this book and I would definitely pass it on to my younger niece who loves realistic contemporary fiction.

For Your TBR Pile - The Walls Around Us

The Walls Around Us
By Nova Ren Suma

Published: March 25th, Algonquin Young Readers

From GoodReads: The Walls Around Us is a ghostly story of suspense told in two voices—one still living and one long dead. On the outside, there’s Violet, an eighteen-year-old dancer days away from the life of her dreams when something threatens to expose the shocking truth of her achievement. On the inside, within the walls of a girls’ juvenile detention center, there’s Amber, locked up for so long she can’t imagine freedom. Tying these two worlds together is Orianna, who holds the key to unlocking all the girls’ darkest mysteries.
We hear Amber’s story and Violet’s, and through them Orianna’s, first from one angle, then from another, until gradually we begin to get the whole picture—which is not necessarily the one that either Amber or Violet wants us to see.

Thank you Edelweiss and Algonquin for the eARC!

My Thoughts:

I read The Walls Around Us in one sitting, and the whole time I thought about how much I missed a Nova Ren Suma book and how the wait for this one was so worth it.

The Walls Around Us splits how Amber and Violet know Ori, the infamous ballerina killer, accused of murdering two fellow dancers. Each girl reveals a fuller picture of Ori than a guilty verdict. What I loved most about this book was how it questioned regret, and asked, not was your biggest regret, but what was your earliest?

Nova did a great job showing a slice of prison life, and the complicated relationships within the juvenile correctional system. This isn't a book that places blame on a broken system or unloving parents, but instead asks the girls to look within themselves for the responsibility of their crimes.

**SPOILER** I do wish there was a little more grounding toward the end. I found the climax to be tense and suspenseful, but was confused as to how all the poisoning happened. Especially how Amber was poisoned. Did she eat the food she prepared? How did the poisonous flower get into the kitchen? If an entire wing was in solitary, how would everyone be poisoned at the same exact time? **SPOILER END**

Those who loved the sisterly relationship of Imaginary Girls and the ghostly voice of 17 & Gone, will love The Walls Around Us.

My Most Anticipated Books in 2015

Hooray! A new pub year is upon us! Here are the books I can't wait to get my grubby hands on.

Skyscraping by Cordelia Jensen

The Devil You Know by Trish Doller

Violent Ends by Shaun Hutchinson

And here are the 2015 books that I can completely vouch for, because I've read the ARCs and they are amaaaazing!

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Review

The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Review

Under A Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

Review

Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows

My Favorite Books from 2014

Oooo...I love end of year lists! One of my favorite things to do is look back and read about all the great books and music and events from the last year.

This year, I've crushed my GoodReads reading challenge goal of 60 books. I'm currently sitting on 125 books read--the most I've ever read in my entire life. Of all those books, here are my favorites in 2014.

Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
GoodReads
My Review
Interview with Alyssa

I love Peter Pan retellings, and did not think anything could ever top Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson..until I read Second Star. Set on the coast of California with surfer kids fighting over beach turf, SECOND STAR spins the story of Peter Pan on its ear, with appearances by Belle, Nanna, but leaves the crocodiles at home. Overall, a strong contemporary retelling full of romance, adventure and mystique.

The Walled City by Ryan Graudin
GoodReads
My Review

After all the BEA buzz about this title, I was thrilled to get an eARC from LBKids! Based on the walled city of Kowloon Walled City in China, The Walled City delivered a heart breaking story about three teens entrapped within it. The pacing was fast, the characters so real, and the writing was beautiful.

Like No Other by Una LaMarche
GoodReads
My Review

I read Like No Other in one sitting. I picked it up at ALA Midwinter and couldn't wait to crack it open--and rightfully so. Publishers Weekly, Indie Next, the Junior Library Guild, Los Angeles Times and Entertainment Weekly all had Like No Other on their lists.

Star-crossed romances were kinda my thing this year, and this one was my favorite. I loved how Devorah and Jaxon met and the romance that blossomed between them. Think West Side Story in Brooklyn.

Plus One by Elizabeth Fama
GoodReads
Interview with Elizabeth

I admit that I fell in love with the cover first--and the story did not disappoint. When overpopulation becomes a problem, society's conclusion is to split society into shifts: those who live in the day (Rays) and those who live at night (Smudges). This was a star-crossed love story that trips into a government conspiracy.

Wildflower, by Alecia Whitaker

GoodReads

There's been a lot books out this year about celebrity main characters (or their friends), but this one was my favorite. Bird is young and a little naive, but full of talent and has a good heart. She balances her struggle to follow her dream with the responsibilities she feels for her friends and family. This one has a sequel out next year and I really want to continue reading Bird's journey.

For Your TBR Pile - All The Bright Places

All The Bright Places
By Jennifer Niven

Published: January 6th, Knopf

From GoodReads: Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the eARC!

My Thoughts:

When I saw that this book was being compared to Eleanor & Park and The Fault In Our Stars, I was a bit wary. Those are lofty titles to live up to! Here's the thing, though: it was better.

Romances are commonplace in all teen stories, but it takes something really special for them to carry the entire story on its back. Finch is a compelling boy, full of life but obsessed with death, and a perfect match to help pull Violet out of her dark place after losing her sister. Together, they go on an assigned scavenger hunt around their home state, learning how to live in the present and enjoy what they have today.

I'm a huge fan of heart wrenching, soul shattering contemporaries, and easily related to Violet, who wanted nothing more than to leave her childhood behind and move on to her adult life. Finch was every bit swoony, but different and unique as a wildcard character could be. I couldn't wait to see what he would say or do next. I shattered at the end of this book. 

For Your TBR Pile - Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Blue Lily, Lily Blue
By Maggie Stiefvater

Published: October 2014, Scholastic

From GoodReads: There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up.
Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.

The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost.

Thank you NetGalley and Scholastic for the eARC!

My Thoughts:

This is my absolute favorite series! And it only keeps getting better with each book.

In Blue Lily, Lily Blue, the Raven Boys and Blue are still searching along the ley lines for their buried king as well as Blue's missing mother. The journey takes them to Blue's home and inside caves and into the hands of the Gray Man's ex-boss.

Stiefvater keeps the story twisting and turning so that Blue and Gansey have no where to go but to each other for help. Adam's new role as magician is also wonderfully explored and Noah makes his ghostly appearance more than once. Plus, the squash song!

I can't wait to see where else this series goes in it's final installment next year.

For Your TBR Pile - Under A Painted Sky

Under a Painted Sky
By Stacey Lee

Published: March 17,  Putnam/Penguin

From GoodReads: Missouri, 1849: Samantha dreams of moving back to New York to be a professional musician—not an easy thing if you’re a girl, and harder still if you’re Chinese. But a tragic accident dashes any hopes of fulfilling her dream, and instead, leaves her fearing for her life. 

With the help of a runaway slave named Annamae, Samantha flees town for the unknown frontier. But life on the Oregon Trail is unsafe for two girls, so they disguise themselves as Sammy and Andy, two boys headed for the California gold rush. Sammy and Andy forge a powerful bond as they each search for a link to their past, and struggle to avoid any unwanted attention. But when they cross paths with a band of cowboys, the light-hearted troupe turn out to be unexpected allies. With the law closing in on them and new setbacks coming each day, the girls quickly learn that there are not many places to hide on the open trail.

Thank you Penguin for the ARC!

My Thoughts:

There are good books, and there are ridiculously good books. Under A Painted Sky is ridiculously good.

A well-researched Western that keeps the pacing tight and the stakes upped around every turn, the entire time I read this one, I couldn't help but think how educators and librarians were going to latch onto this one. The story was ripe with educational material, but woven into a story that kept the pages turning.

The characters were FABULOUS. From Dragon Andy to Tiger Cay, Stacey Lee wove in the Chinese Zodiac into her characters and the decisions they made, readers are sure to think about them long after the book was finished.

The best was that the story had a wonderful ebb and flow of excitement and danger followed by these contemplative character developments. It felt like the story took a breath in between plot points, which I loved. Stacey Lee is a fantastic writer and this book is so worthy of every award I see it winning once it debuts.

For Your TBR Pile - The Last Time We Say Goodbye

The Last Time We Say Goodbye
By Cynthia Hand

Published: February 10,  Harper Teen

From GoodReads: The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be. As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

Thank you Harper Teen for the ARC!

My Thoughts:

This book was love at first sight for me. I read the synopsis and my first thought was, "This book is going to wreck me." And it did on, like, the fifth page.

The funny thing is every time I've talked about this book, people cringe when they hear it's about a girl whose brother commits suicide. But this book is not so much about suicide, and more about how a family can recover from it.

Cynthia Hand's prose is gorgeous and countless times I wanted to start highlighting passages (but didn't because I hear book abuse is bad).

The guilt Lex carries with her is palpable and raw. I loved that the character was so analytical and used her logical skills to overcome grief. It was an interesting how she rationalized her brother's death, pushing away her friends and boyfriend, comforting her mother, and forgiving her father. Most of all, the relationship she had with her brother was loving and wonderful. It completely broke my heart how much she loved him and missed him--and even sought him out when she new logically he wasn't there anymore.

Yes, this book will wreck you. But in a very, very good way.

For Your TBR Pile - Wildlife

Wildlife
By Fiona Wood

Published: September 16,  Little, Brown (Poppy)

From GoodReads: During a semester in the wilderness, sixteen-year-old Sib expects the tough outdoor education program and the horrors of dorm life, but friendship drama and an unexpected romance with popular Ben Capaldi? That will take some navigating.

New girl Lou has zero interest in fitting in, or joining in. Still reeling from a loss that occurred almost a year ago, she just wants to be left alone. But as she witnesses a betrayal unfolding around Sib and her best friend Holly, Lou can't help but be drawn back into the land of the living.

Thank you LBKids for the eARC!

My Thoughts:

Some of my favorite stories have come from Australian writers (Kirsty Eagar, Cath Crowley, Melina Marchetta), and I am so happy to include this one on that list. Told in duel POV, Sib and Lou tell their stories from an outdoor education camp. Popular Sib is still adjusting to her newfound popularity while new girl Lou tries to find her footing in starting over with a broken heart.

I loved getting Sib's POV from her first person narrative, while Lou's was written like journal entries. In the beginning, Lou's chapters come across as distant and a bit confusing at times, but she warms up. Sib also comes across as excitable and jumpy--a bit hard to grasp onto at first, but as the drama at school unfolds, she shows her depth.

I really liked the questions this book tackled about friendship and first love. And I felt like this book examined boundaries very well--How far do we let someone push us before they cross a line, especially if that person is someone we trusted? Who do we let into the most private areas of our lives?

As a picky thing: I had a hard time with some of the Australian words, only because I'm not familiar, but it didn't pull me out of the story too much.

For Your TBR Pile - Kiss Kill Vanish

Kiss Kill Vanish
By Jessica Martinez

Published: October 7, Katherine Tegen

From GoodReads: Valentina Cruz no longer exists.
One moment, she was wrapped in Emilio’s arms, melting into his kiss. The next, she was witnessing the unthinkable: a murder in cold blood, ordered by her father and carried out by her boyfriend. When Emilio pulled the trigger, Valentina disappeared. She made a split-second decision to shed her identity and flee her life of privilege, leaving the glittering parties and sultry nightlife of Miami far behind.

She doesn’t know how to explain to herself what she saw. All she knows now is that nothing she believed about her family, her heart, or Emilio’s love, was real.

She can change her name and deny her past, but Valentina can’t run from the truth. The lines between right and wrong, and trust and betrayal, will be blurred beyond recognition as she untangles the deceptions of the two men she once loved and races to find her own truth.

Thank you HarperTeen for the ARC!

My Thoughts:

Each and every single Jessica Martinez book gets better and better. Not only does Jessica cover a wide range of characters, from violinist prodigy Carmen in Virtuosity to Mo in The Vow, but her stories always read as fresh and new. Each one is so different, I'm always excited to see what plot line or topic she'll cover next. Valentina's story was gripping and suspenseful, all while maintaining a contemporary storyline.

Looking back at Martinez's span of novels, she centers the heart of her stories around teens coming to terms with the decisions their parents make. In Kiss Kill Vanish, Valentina discovers the truth about her father's art trading--as well as why Emilio is working for him. By vanishing to Canada, she lives with the little money in her pocket, the love of a stolen mandolin, and the guilt of what she's seen and who she's left behind.

Kiss Kill Vanish is a lonely novel, one that reminded me of the first few months I lived on my own. But the heaviness of the beginning speeds up into a pulse-racing thriller as Valentina gathers her strength and confronts her demons.

This was definitely a growth novel for Martinez and I can't wait to see what she writes next. Don't miss out on this one when it releases in October.

For Your TBR Pile - The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley

The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley
By Shaun David Hutchinson

Published: January 20, Simon Pulse

From GoodReads: Andrew Brawley was supposed to die that night. His parents did, and so did his sister, but he survived. Now he lives in the hospital. He serves food in the cafeteria, he hangs out with the nurses, and he sleeps in a forgotten supply closet. Drew blends in to near invisibility, hiding from his past, his guilt, and those who are trying to find him.

Then one night Rusty is wheeled into the ER, burned on half his body by hateful classmates. His agony calls out to Drew like a beacon, pulling them both together through all their pain and grief. In Rusty, Drew sees hope, happiness, and a future for both of them. A future outside the hospital, and away from their pasts.

But Drew knows that life is never that simple. Death roams the hospital, searching for Drew, and now Rusty. Drew lost his family, but he refuses to lose Rusty, too, so he’s determined to make things right. He’s determined to bargain, and to settle his debts once and for all.

But Death is not easily placated, and Drew’s life will have to get worse before there is any chance for things to get better.

Thank you Simon Pulse and Edelweiss for the eARC!

My Thoughts:

There's something really temporary about hospitals. The entire time you are there, you're waiting: to be seen, to be healed, to find out what comes next. For Andrew Brawley, he's waiting to die because he cheated death once. Now, with nowhere to go and no one to go to, he makes a his own temporary home inside the hospital befriending the staff and patients.

To cover his tracks and to explain to anyone who questions why he's there so much, he works under the table in the cafeteria and visits his grandmother who is in a coma. But death (aka the social worker) is still looking for him, waiting for him to slip up.

I was completely captivated by Andrew's story. The premise is brilliant, and had me questioning how Hutchinson was going to pull this off in the end. How could a boy slip through the cracks and go entirely unnoticed in a hospital with so many people bustling around?

But what I loved the most about this book was while Andrew's stuck in his purgatory, he's not living his life. When you're waiting, you're not falling in love or having adventures or seeing or experiencing new things. Slowly, he experiences these things through his make-shift hospital family: the ER doctors who keep him updated on the patients, his boss in the cafeteria who is grieving the loss of a son, and friendships with the teenagers in the pediatrics unit.

This was a brilliant story, full of heart and enough suspense to keep you guessing until the very end. I highly recommend this one to readers of David Levithan.