To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Imagine if everybody you ever crushed on suddenly learned about your feelings. That's what happens to Lara Jean in To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han.

Lara Jean has never had a boyfriend. Instead, she has a habit of crushing madly on a boy, suffering in silence, and then writing him a letter to get over him, hiding it away in an old hatbox. She thinks her secrets are safe, but one day, the letters somehow get sent out, and all the boys she's ever had unrequited feelings for discover them. Unfortunately, one of them is her older sister's recent ex and their next-door neighbor, Josh.

Frantic to convince him that she doesn't feel that way anymore (even though she kinda does), Lara Jean enlists the help of one of her other crushes, one she's totally over. Peter just broke up with his own girlfriend and wants to make her jealous. With the agreement that their relationship is just for show, Peter and Lara Jean make a production of holding hands, snuggling, and smooching where everyone can see them.

But then Lara Jean actually starts having feelings for Peter. What if he doesn't feel the same way?

Worse yet: what if he does?

Book Review: Played by Liz Fichera

The stars of Played, by Liz Fichera, seem to be diametric opposites. Riley Berenger is a pampered rich kid from Phoenix, and socially she's light-years away from Sam Tracy, who lives on the Gila River reservation. But then they both go to a leadership weekend in the mountains and get trapped in a mountain cave together during a violent monsoon storm. In that intense experience, they become unlikely friends.

Now, back at school and back to normal life, Riley is determined to pay Sam back for saving her life, by turning him into one of the popular kids. He only goes along with it because Riley is also trying to help him attract the notice of a girl he's loved forever (who happens to be Riley's brother's girlfriend). But maybe he's starting to forget about that girl, and thinking about Riley instead.

How often do we get to see Arizona in books? Not that much, honestly, and that's why I was so happy to read this book. It's also a great, sweet love story, so if that's what you're looking for, pick this up!

-Maureen K

Book Review: Perfect Escape by Jennifer Brown

In Perfect Escape, Kendra has always known she has to be the perfect child. Her older brother's crippling OCD creates enough problems for her family without her adding to them. She has the perfect friends, the perfect grades, and the perfect future. But keeping perfection going is hard.

When Grayson returns unexpectedly from residential treatment, right as Kendra's life is falling apart, she impulsively decides to hit the road. She gets in her crappy car and heads to California in search of an old friend, and she takes an unwilling Grayson with her.

Since I have two brothers of my own, my favorite part of this book was the relationship between the brother and sister. Kendra and Grayson snipe at each other, have private jokes, and remember stories of childhood. While they have real problems that no road trip is going to fix, their sibling bond is strong enough to help them face just about anything.

-Maureen K.

Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

At the beginning of Deadly Cool, Hartley thinks she has the perfect boyfriend. Then she discovers that Josh has been cheating on her. And not only that, it's with Courtney, the president of the school Chastity Club. Cue one breakup.

Then she discovers Courtney in Josh's closet, strangled to death with the cord of her iPod headphones. Oh yikes! Did Josh kill Courtney? Or is this all an elaborate frame job, meant to send Josh to jail for murder? (And if it is, does Hartley really care?)

Mangaman by Barry Lyga and Colleen Doran

Ryoko Kiyama, the title character of Mangaman by Barry Lyga and Colleen Doran, doesn't really think much of it when he falls through a rip in reality and into another world. He's a manga character. This stuff happens to him all the time.

But the new world he's fallen into is very, very strange. Everyone is so . . . rounded. And they think monsters and karate fights, sweat drops and surprise lines, are incredibly weird and he's nothing but a freak. Only one girl, Marissa, seems to like him exactly the way he is. But the rip between his world and hers is starting to close. He has to make a terrible choice. Should he stay with the girl he's falling in love with? Or should he go back to his own familiar world, and leave her forever?


If you love manga, this book is for you. It both honors and pokes fun at the crazy conventions of manga, and what we think of it, and it's also a great love story. With bonus monsters!

Koi Out of Water

With MangaMania!! coming up this weekend, my mind is full of anime, Japan, and all the neat things that go along with it. So naturally, I thought of this book: Ink by Amanda Sun.

It's not manga, first of all, but it does take place in Japan. It follows Katie, who got moved there willy-nilly to live with her aunt after her mother's death. Not only is she grieving and lonely, she feels out of place, a tall blond American who barely speaks any Japanese and can't quite grasp all the different subtleties of life in a new country.

Then she meets Tomohiro Yuu. One day he's a jerk, dumping his girlfriend in the most callous way possible. The next he's a sensitive artist, creating drawings that almost seem to come to life. Wait . . . they are coming to life! What exactly is Yuu, and what does Katie herself have to do with his mysterious abilities?

If you are a die-hard Japanophile, pick up this book to become immersed in everyday life in Japan, with a little magic, mystery, and romance thrown in.

Angel of Death

Assassin nun.

Oh, yes, you read that right.

Assassin. Nun.

That's the character at the heart of Grave Mercy, by Robin LaFevers. Ismae had a fairly bad early life. Born in 15th century Brittany (a tiny European country, now part of France) to an abusive father and a mother who tried to abort her, she was married very young to an equally abusive husband. When she ran away, she discovered the convent of Saint Mortain, where nuns live in service to their patron saint and, by the way, also learn the arts of murder. That's because Saint Mortain is the new name for the old god of death, and he helpfully marks the people that he wants his nuns to kill.

After a few years and a lot of skills, Ismae is sent forth to the court of Duchess Anne, the very young ruler of Brittany. She is to assist the girl by killing off those who would do her harm. But the world outside the convent is new and frightening to Ismae, who is used to the safety and sisterhood of Saint Mortain's. The person who scares her the most is Duval, Anne's half-brother. All the men Ismae has ever known have been nasty and brutish, but Duval is intelligent, gentle, and awfully interested in her.

Complex, romantic, and action-packed, this book will stay glued to your hands. I mean, seriously. Assassin nuns!

Fake Love Story

Charlie Tracker and Fielding Withers, who play teen lovers Jenna and Jonah on a hit TV show, are also an item off-screen. They hold hands on the beach, snuggle and cuddle on the streets of LA, and are generally so adorable they make your teeth hurt, in Jenna and Jonah's Fauxmance by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin.

Only thing is, it's all for the paparazzi cameras and gossip columnists. Actually, Charlie and Fielding can't stand each other. For the past four years, they've been carrying on a fake romance in public to bolster their show's ratings, and annoying each other in private.

After an unexpected scandal, their show is abruptly canceled. You'd think it would be a relief, right? Except that Charlie isn't sure what roles she's suited for, besides a cute and fluffy teenager. (She's not even sure she's a very good actress.) Fielding is almost sure he doesn't even want to be an actor anymore, but he has no idea how to strike out on his own. And they're both unnerved at the prospect of losing the person they most love to hate. What they never really hated each other at all?

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Seventeen-year-old Ruby has always been just fine on her own, thanks. She and her mom don't need help from anybody. Then Ruby's mom disappears, and Ruby is sent to live with her much older sister and brother-in-law. In the course of her senior year of high school, Ruby learns that asking for help doesn't mean admitting weakness. Instead, it's the beginning of strength.

Ruby, of course, is the center of Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen. With her shields firmly in place and her clear vulnerability underneath, she's immediately recognizable. Dessen also populates the novel with rich secondary characters. From Cora, the sister who once abandoned her, to Nate, the boy next door who seems to have the perfect life, nobody's what they seem on the surface, maybe not even Ruby.

- Maureen K.

You Wish

Ever wished on your birthday candles? What if all your birthday wishes came true . . . all at once?

That's what's happening to Kayla after her sixteenth birthday, in Mandy Hubbard's hilarious You Wish. She's got a room full of gumballs, a pony of her own, even a life-size Ken doll. Unfortunately, those are all things that she wanted when she was way younger.

She doesn't know what to do with these crazy wish-products (although her sudden ability to speak Italian is pretty cool), but she's got an even bigger problem. Kayla's most recent birthday wish was to get a kiss from gorgeous, funny, cool Ben. This would be perfectly fine, except that Ben is now her best friend's boyfriend. And the one thing Kayla's never wished for is to lose her best friend forever.

For a funny and light-hearted look at how much everyone changes as they grow, try this book.

Advice to my Younger Self

Wouldn't it be great if you could warn your younger self against some of the really dumb choices you've made? In Gimme a Call, by Sarah Mlynowski, one girl gets that chance.

When high school senior Devi Banks drops her phone in the fountain at the mall, suddenly she finds that it will only call to one number--her freshman self. The first thing she does is to warn Younger Devi not to date Bryan, the boy who's just cruelly broken Older Devi's heart. She follows that up with all the things she wishes she'd done so she won't end up where she is--friendless, loveless, and about to go to a really bad college.

But Younger Devi doesn't understand why she has to study harder, join a million clubs, give weird advice to her friends, and most of all, ignore sweet and cool Bryan who really seems to like her. As she follows a  torrent of confusing advice from her older self, both girls find their lives changing around them. But are these lives the ones they really want?

Funny and a little brain-bending, this is a book for anybody who's ever believed that teenagers don't have regrets, and anybody who knows differently.

Feeling Sorry for the Mean Girl

"I'm Gigi Lane, and you wish you were me."

Sounds like a humble and modest young lady, doesn't she? That's Gigi Lane, the star and title character of Adrienne Maria Vrettos's The Exile of Gigi Lane. She's poised to become the social queen of Swan's Lake Country Day School. But then her nastiness gets her knocked off the top of the pyramid. She has to find a new clique to join, or spend the rest of high school floating around the edges with nobody to belong to.

Unfortunately, every clique she tries contains people that remember her nasty treatment, and it's starting to look like she's doomed to the shadows forever. To save herself from a fate worse than death, Gigi has to remake herself: not as a Glossy, a Cheerleader, a Do-Good or an Art Star . . . but as a completely new Gigi Lane. And she has to do it fast, because the girls that took her place at the top of the heap are victimizing underclassmen and making a mockery of cherished school traditions.

Ruin her school? Nuh-uh, not if Gigi Lane has anything to say about it.

Hilarious, sweet, just a little over the top . . . that describes both Gigi Lane and this book to a T.

Love in Writing

Can you fall in love without ever seeing a person? Dash and Lily are starting to think so, with the help of Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithin.

Dash and Lily are two New York City teenagers, who've never met and aren't likely to. Both are on their own and at loose ends for Christmas. Then Dash finds Lily's notebook in the Strand bookshop, and what follows is a whirlwind romance on paper, as they dare each other to take on new and frightening experiences. Sheltered Lily goes to a wild concert. Cynical Dash has to visit Santa. Along the way, they realize that the perfect person may not exist, but sometimes you can get the person who is perfect for you.

Sweet, witty, and with unexpected emotional resonance, the third book from the two authors of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is another winner.

- Maureen K

Liar, Liar

There are many things to love about Megan Whalen Turner's books. For starters, there's her lovingly built world, which draws heavily on ancient Greece and Rome. There are her twisty-turny plots, which deal with the fates of nations and surprise you at every page turn. There are her grand themes, about love and fate and the terrible choices a king or queen must make. But for me, the thing that keeps bringing me back, and actually drove me to purchase my own copies of all four books, is Eugenides. He's the star of three books, The Thief, The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia, and a major character in another, A Conspiracy of Kings.

Eugenides of Eddis is a thief, a liar, and a scoundrel. You really can't trust a word that comes out of his mouth. And yet, you can trust him.

The Walking Dead, at Your Library

No question about it, zombies are hot right now. Here are a few notable zombie books I've read recently.

Ever since the first teenager walked the earth, adults have been the enemy. Now it's even more literally true, when a strange virus has turned everyone over sixteen into mindless cannibal monsters, leaving kids and young teenagers to fend for themselves in an increasingly desperate fight. It's not for the faint of stomach, but for those that like their zombie movies both gory and thought-provoking, The Enemy and its sequel, The Dead, by Charlie Higson are a sure bet.

Reading Across the Pond

Lately, I've been reading a lot of books that were originally published in other countries. These are always interesting because the slang, the traditions, the geography, and the history are all different. Here are a few I really enjoy.


Raider's Ransom by Emily Diamand
This book takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, when the oceans have risen, drowning most of the United Kingdom and hurtling humanity back into a more medieval society where only hints and scraps of high technology remain. It follows Lilly, on a quest to rescue the daughter of the prime minister from the Viking-like Raiders, and Zeph, the son and heir to the Raiders' leader. Exciting, fast-paced, and a little haunting when you recognize pieces of our world in the wreck of theirs.

The Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series
This ten-book series for teen girls is screamingly funny, and will destroy any notions you ever had that the Brits lack a sense of humor. Georgia Nicolson is fifteen, and therefore impulsive, irreverent, often snarky, and terminally confused about who she is and what she wants.

Lost and Found by Shaun Tan
This collection of three Australian short stories are odd, eerie, and thought-provoking, and when paired with Tan's brain-bending collage-style illustrations, makes this a book you won't forget in a hurry.

Welcome to the Future. It Stinks.

Awhile back, the New York Times ran an article about the "new" trend in YA fiction, novels set in a grim and terrible near future, otherwise known as dystopias. I'm sure they're good at any number of things, but the Times is a little late to the game on this one. In the past few years, dystopian fiction for teens has grown from a few books into darn near its own subgenre. Here, have a few of my favorites.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver - Ever had a bad breakup and wished you could just remove all those awful feelings forever? In Lena's world, they have. Everyone over 18 has been surgically relieved of their ability to love, and doesn't that make life just peachy? Strangely enough, no. (Psst! The library owns it in e-book format as well!)

Here There be Adventure!

Often what makes or breaks a book is the main character. Some characters are placeholders, put there for things to happen to. But some leap off the page in three dimensions, tearing through the story, knocking other characters on their rear, and staying with you long after you turn the last page. One of my favorite examples of this is the Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer, well worth reading for history buffs, sailor wannabes, and anybody who likes a ripping good yarn.

Bloody Jack starts out the first book as Mary Faber, a clever urchin from the streets of 1804 London who sees the chance to better herself. So what if that chance takes the form of pretending to be a boy named Jack aboard one of His Majesty's naval warships? She's not going to let a little thing like gender stand in her way.

Over the eight books in the series, she gets in all manner of trouble, including piracy, kidnapping, sailing down the Mississippi, treasure hunting, all the while remaining faithful (well, mostly) to her beloved Jaimy, a fellow sailor on her first ship.

Jacky is a delight and a pain both. She's impulsive, often thoughtless, even more often stubborn. But she's also warm-hearted, generous, clever, and daring, and she will steal your heart.

Then hold it for ransom.

--Maureen K.

The Brothers Torres, by Coert Voorhees

In The Brothers Torres, by Coert Voorhees, fourteen-year-old Francisco Towers has always idolized his big brother. But lately, Steve is going farther and farther trying to fit into the dangerous gang culture in their small New Mexico town. Now, it's time for Frankie to make his own decision about where he stands.

This is a powerful story about a boy caught between not just one rock and a hard place, but several. Frankie is caught between white and Latino, between idealism and hard economic realities, between his brother's example and his own definition of himself.

- Maureen K.