Twelve year old Florine is carefree, roaming her small Maine fishing community with her band of lifelong friends— Bud, Dottie, and Glen. She adores her big, practical father, Leeman, and her beautiful, charismatic mother, Carly, even though the two argue over Carly’s restless nature. Nothing prepared Florine for the tragedy to come. Carly and her best friend went for a short getaway up the coast, during which Carly disappears without a trace. Florine and her father are left with open wounds that torment them with possibilities: Is she hurt? Did she leave on purpose? Or is her body left somewhere? The novel spans the course of Florine’s adolescence, during which the Carly mystery overshadows each celebration and each tragedy. Read more…

It is early summer and Nellie Peck is on the cusp of adolescence – gangly, awkward, full of questions, but keenly observant and wiser than many of the adults in her life. The person she most admires is her father, Benjamin, a man of great integrity. His family’s century old hardware store is failing and Nellie’s mother has had to go back to work. Nellie’s older half-sister has launched a disturbing search for her birth father. Often saddled through the long, hot days with her timid younger brother, Henry, Nellie is determined to toughen him up. And herself as well. Three strangers enter Nellie’s protected life. Brooding Max Devaney is an ex-con who works in her surly grandfather’s junkyard. Reckless Bucky Saltonstall has just Read more…

At 13, Felice Muir seemed like a normal teenage girl, albeit one who looks like a young Elizabeth Taylor, but she descends into depression and finally runs away from home; she can’t even think about the reasons why she fled. Five years later, on the eve of her 18th birthday, the family she left behind is in ruins: her mother, Avis, runs an exclusive pastry business but is losing focus, her father’s successful career as the in-house council for a real estate developer is seeming less worthwhile, and her older brother’s organic grocery store is about to lose its lease. Felice’s life on the streets–the squalid squat she lives in, the drugs, and the dangers presented by men trolling the clubs and boardwalks -– Read more…

Lucinda grows up at the very end of the Cold War, the daughter of a military family who has never lived in the United States. They have moved from one base to another her whole life. This book is about how she copes during her teen years, particularly with a volatile mother, an oblivious father, and unreliable friendships. It is also about her saving grace — rock and roll. The specific time period, circumstances and setting make it feel like historical fiction, as recent as it is. I found myself quite absorbed by this coming-of-age story. There is no struggle to reading Along the Watchtower. The writing is smooth, the characters are interesting yet perfectly realistic, and the setting almost steals the show. A lot happens — a Read more…

by Burd, NickIn his last summer before starting college, Dade Hamilton finally starts figuring out how to be himself. He makes new friends, shaves his head, breaks up with his volatile ex-boyfriend, and falls in love with a charming outsider named Alex. But as Dade's parents' marriage begins to collapse, Dade also begins to understand the sadness of those around him. This pervasive sadness is mercifully balanced by the gentle optimism of the romance between Dade and Alex, and Burd’s wistful, quietly evocative language perfectly captures those moments when the repression of suburban adolescence begins to give way, and the potential for escape finally becomes reality. This moving coming-of-age story will remind readers that Read more…

It is always challenging to judge teen appeal when a book is set in the not-too-distant past. In this case, at least we aren’t dealing with an adult narrator looking back on her teen years, which is often deadly when it comes to appeal. Rather, Jo Ann Beard writes about teens living in the 1970s. Is this likely to appeal to today’s teens? Or only to adults who can remember the era? What makes the difference this time is the wonderful teen voice in which the novel is written. Also, one of its main themes is friendship, how growing up changes childhood friendships. BEARD, Jo Ann. In Zanesville. 287p. Little, Brown. 2011. Adult/High School Step right into the inner life of a 14-year-old girl growing up during the 1970s in Read more…

Bonnie Jo Campbell’s new coming-of-age novel follows her short story collection, American Salvage (Wayne State University Press, 2009), which was shortlisted for the National Book Award two years ago. Set in 1970s rural Michigan, Once Upon a River is about a crucial period in the life of teenager Margo Crane. First, I wanted to share just how much I was affected by this book, which frankly makes writing about it a challenge. I can only hope that I am able to communicate its beauty. It is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time and I expect it will find a place among my favorite books of all time. There is something about Margo’s struggle to find a place in the world that touched me very deeply. That being said, and more Read more…

By Frances O’Roark Dowell’ Ten Miles Past Normal features Janie Gorman, a smart, hilarious, thoughtful narrator. She’s also an unwilling participant in her parents’ modern-hippy, let’s-live-on-a-goat-farm experiment (unfortunately instigated by a younger, much more enthusiastic Janie). Initially Janie was delighted with the move. But that was when she was 9. Sure, she sews her own up-cycled clothes, creating skirts “made out of an old pair of jeans and some killer fabric scraps,” and embraces milking the farm’s goats, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette and Patsy Cline. But to catch the bus on time, Janie occasionally forgets to remove the hay from her hair or scrape the goat dung from her shoes, and it’s getting her noticed. Read more…

By Jessi Kirby When Anna was little, she and her mother used to search for sea glass, but since they looked at night, they called it moonglass. Now, ten years after her mother’s mysterious death, her father is working as head lifeguard on the same beach where her mother grew up and her parents first met and fell in love. Reluctant to get close to anyone (including her father) and not pleased about having to start at a new school, Anna begins to spend more time alone, running the length of the beach and wondering about who her mother really was. After meeting a lifeguard named Tyler, she slowly lets her guard down and together they start exploring the abandoned houses that dot the beach. But when learning more about her mother’s Read more…

Laura Harrington’s debut novel makes a powerful anti-war statement, while being entirely supportive of the families personally involved. Alice Bliss is a teenager whose world is turned upside down when her father’s army reserve unit is called up for active duty in Iraq. I will admit that there came a point when I had to put this book down for a day or two when it became too painful. But Alice called me back. She is so wonderfully vibrant and real, I had to finish her story. I admire the author for her ability to bring the reader so deeply into one girl’s world. To further tempt you, I thought I would share an excerpt from an interview I did with Harrington, to be published in the June 15th SLJ Teen Newsletter: What Read more…

John Prendergast and Michael Mattocks relate their very different, but connected, experiences in this joint memoir. Prendergast wrote a Huffington Post article to explain his hopes for the book, including increased awareness of the issues around which he co-founded the Enough Project, which works to “end genocide and crimes against humanity” in Sudan, eastern Congo, northern Uganda, Somalia, Chad and Zimbabwe. The book trailer gives readers a chance to meet both authors and includes blurbs from Wes Moore, whose book The Other Wes Moore (now out in paperback) was reviewed here last year, and Dave Eggers. For a preview of the text itself, click over to Scribd. PRENDERGAST, John & Michael Mattocks. Unlikely Brothers: Our Read more…

Tayari Jones’ new coming-of-age novel is a natural for teen readers. Although Silver Sparrow releases tomorrow, it has already garnered lots of attention, including an interview on NPR’s All Things Considered and the top spot on the June Indie Next List. Greenlight Books in Brooklyn is holding a launch party on Wednesday evening, in the middle of BookExpo and New York Book Week. There is another excellent interview by Roxane Gay on the Bookslut blog. I was also interested to learn about Tayari Jones’ involvement with Girls Write Now, an organization that pairs teen writers attending New York City public schools with adult writing mentors. JONES, Tayari. Silver Sparrow. 352p. Algonquin. 2011. Adult/High Read more…

This week’s big debut could not be more suited to teen readers. In Haley Tanner’s novel, Vaclav & Lena are both the children of Russian immigrants struggling to assimilate. Yes, Vaclav & Lena are both 9 for part one of the novel. But they are such interesting 9-year-olds, and readers will be caught up in their Brighton Beach neighborhood, the idiosyncrasies of Vaclav’s parents, their trials at school, and the mystery of Lena’s somewhat odd behavior. Besides, what’s not to love about a boy who is sure that his magic show will be the hit of the Coney Island boardwalk? Dedicated does not begin to describe his work ethic. Part one ends with a cliffhanger–Lena disappears from Vaclav’s life with no Read more…

Today it is my pleasure to present a review of Kings of Colorado, a book that has flown under the radar up to this point, despite strong reviews. There is a revealing conversation with the David Hilton on the Simon & Schuster website. Hilton used to be a middle school teacher, so he knows young people. And it is interested that he cites Stephen King’s short story, “The Body,” as one of his influences. Some readers have likened Kings of Colorado to Stand by Me, the 1986 movie based on that story. HILTON, David E. Kings of Colorado. 273p. S & S. 2011. Tr $24. ISBN 978-1-4391-8382-3. LC number unavailable.   Adult/High School–William Sheppard is 13 when he stabs his father. The man does not die, and his mother is Read more…

By Lauren Strasnick Meet Fred . . . and Adina . . . and Alex I’m Alex, the worst kind of new girl: the kind who shows up halfway through the school year and has trouble making friends. The only two people who I could consider as friends here in Meadow Marsh are twins: Fred and Adina. Fred is smart and funny, and he always finds cute ways of asking me to hang out. His twin sister, Adina, can be really sweet when she wants to be,sometimes too sweet, but she also seems weirdly protective of Fred. There are a lot of rumors going around about Fred, and everyone is warning me to steer clear of both twins, but there’s something about them that makes me want to be part of their crazy world, no matter what. I probably shouldn’t get mixed up in Read more…

In the award-winning The Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins explore the effects of war and violence on those coming of age. Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don’t live to see the morning? In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by 12 outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s Read more…

By Kristin Billerbeck The prom countdown has begun… Daisy Cristpin has 196 days to find the perfect date to the Senior prom, an event she is determined to attend, so she can have her picture taken with the perfect guy. She even made a list of names, possible candidates to be her date. But there are problems. Number one on the list is that Daisy is somewhat of a nerd. She’s totally invisible at school, possesses no social skills, and her parents won’t even let her talk to a guy on the phone. There is more at stake that the extremely far-out possibility that her parents might let her go to the prom. If she someone did manage to get their consent (thought that in itself would take a miracle) she would need help getting guys to even Read more…

By Carol Lynch Williams Twelve year old girl Hope’s life is turned upside down when her older sister Lizzie becomes an elective mute and is institutionalized after trying to kill herself. Ever since their dad died Hope and Lizzie have relied on each other from a young age. Their mother is a reluctant and unreliable parent at best, who turns tricks to support the family. Throughout the course of this lyrical and heartbreaking narrative readers and Hope discover that the mother is prostituting Lizzie and it’s up to Hope to bring the truth to light to save her sister. With raw and haunting writing reminiscent of Ellen Hopkins and Elizabeth Scott, Carol Lynch Williams is a promising new YA voice in Glimpse. Excerpt: In one Read more…

By Kieran Scott Ally and her mother have returned to her hometown after a year of exile to Baltimore due to a huge financial scandal involving her (missing) father. Of course, since all of her former friends are spoiled brats and many several of them from families affected by the finance scheme-gone-wrong, Ally finds herself an outcast among people that she’s known her entire life. There is an exception, however. Jake Graydon, the new “Crest” kid in town, is initially oblivious to the Ally-affair. He flirts with her only to later find out that his new friends deem her off-limits. Oh, the tangled webs! I have to give it to Ms. Scott. Here she’s once again brought us the Gossip Girl-ish, rich-kid spectacle when some new elements. Read more…

By Justina Chen Headley I really liked this story of Terra, a high school senior, who is blond and beautiful, except for a disfiguring birthmark on her cheek, which she tries to cover up with layers of makeup. She has a boyfriend who is definitely not her soul mate but she stays with him because she doesn’t think she could get anyone else and everyone tells her how lucky she is to have him. In addition to her own struggles, she is constantly trying to protect her mother from her father — who is not physically abusive but worse, verbally abusive. Her meeting with a boy – an attractive boy – would normally add the stress of insecurity to the equation…but on closer examination Jacob, the Goth Chinese boy she’s just met has a Read more…

by Michael Wenberg Life hasn’t been easy for Jace Adams, a mixed-race teen whose mom moves them from one place to another so often that sometimes he’s been in four schools in a single year. To cope with all that instability, Jace has vowed to never let himself get attached to anyone or anything–other than his beloved cello. But when his mom takes them to Seattle, where they’re living with tough, sassy Aunt Bernice, Jace wonders if this time things might really change. Because money is tight, Jace plays his cello on the street in downtown Seattle, and one evening, someone throws a folded $100 bill with a business card attached into Jace s open cello case while he’s serenading. That card changes everything; it’s from a famous cello Read more…

by Elizabeth Scott Terrifying. Devastating. Tragic. Those are the three words that come to mind when I think of Elizabeth Scott’s Living Dead Girl. The book is told from the point of view of “Alice” a fifteen-year old girl who was kidnapped on an elementary school field trip when she was 10. Her captor, Ray, has sexually and physically abused her every day since he kidnapped her. He starves her because he doesn’t want her to physically mature, he terrorizes her and tells her that he’ll kill her parents and burn their house down if she tries to escape. I’m putting “Alice” in parentheses because that is not her real name. It’s the name Ray gave her, the same name he gave the girl he kidnapped and killed before he kidnapped the Read more…

The story The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams was inspired by a true story told by a girl who escaped from a Polygamist compound. While this book is a work of fiction I fear the story itself rings true to much of what goes on in this type of cult. In this story thirteen year old Kyra has one father, three mothers and some twenty brothers and sisters with two more on the way. Books are banned in the remote compound where she lives, as books are said to be the work of Satan. Kyra sneaks off to the Mobile Library on wheels where she learns she can borrow books. She only takes (1) book to start so that she will be able to hide it from everyone. Kyra also has been sneaking off to meet Joshua a boy she has come to adore, and the two Read more…

By Jean Kwok Girl in Translation is a coming of age story that intertwines what it means to be an immigrant with the values of family, a sense of duty, and hope for the future. Kimberly and her mother find themselves in New York looking for a better future than the life they’d known in Hong Kong. They are, unfortunately, at the mercy of Kimberly’s aunt and uncle as they are quite indebted to them for arranging green cards and for taking care of medical bills for Kimberly’s mom (who has had TB) as well as paying for their accommodations to New York. When the story starts Kimberly is a middle school age girl who speaks and reads some English but not enough to create any real level of understanding of her surroundings. Her mother Read more…

Dessen, Sarah From the outside Annabel Greene’s family looks perfect, but in reality things have been pretty rough. Annabel’s older sister Whitney has an eating disorder, which is disrupting the whole family, while Annabel is hiding a pretty big secret as well. Annabel hates confrontation and so she tries to make people happy – even at her own expense. Before summer break Annabel and her best friend Sophie got in a huge fight and now that school is back in session Annabel is having to face the consequences of not telling the truth about what happened. But, when she becomes friends with Owen, Annabel realizes just how much her secrets are costing her. Just Listen is a thought-provoking novel that shows the importance of standing Read more…