Break by Hannah Moskowtiz

Jonah would be an average teenager if his family wasn't so dysfunctional: his parents should be divorced, his brother Jesse is allergic to everything (no, really), and baby brother Will seriously won't stop crying. The only normalcy in his life is his beautifully calm girlfriend Charlotte and his best friend Naomi. He'd be just another average teenager, too, except for his obsession with breaking every bone in his body: 206 in total. He's gotten almost 20 already, and Naomi is documenting every bit of it on film. Only Naomi and Jesse know that Jonah is hurting himself on purpose, until Jonah finally admits it to Charlotte, who tells the principal and he gets sent to a temporary facility for teens with similar mental issues and self-destructive patterns.

Why does Jonah hurt himself? Well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and Jonah's family needs all the strength they can get. Except, to what end?

The ending is a bit too neat for me, but the journey to get there is fascinating. Plus, Hannah Moskowitz is a teenage author and that's bound to appeal significantly to many readers. Recommended to high school readers.
Call number: YA MOSKOWITZ

Reviewed by kate the librarian

In their own words...

I just finished reading two books that were very similar in style and managed to shed light on the world from almost every angle possible. Both books presented the daily lives of individuals through portraits and interviews. In both cases the pictures of the people represented all walks of life, in their own environments. The quotes spoke from the heart and minds of real people, struggling and enjoying and living out loud.

It's Complicated : The American Teenager by Robin Bowman (2007) depicts black-and-white images of teenagers, ages 13-19, from all geographical regions, socioeconomic backgrounds, races, religions, and lifestyles. They are photographed on their home turf, on their farms and in their city streets. These teens spoke of faith, God, shoot-outs, children (their own, their siblings, their nieces and nephews), sex, drugs, school, their parents, and the government with honesty and respect. The author's disclaimer states "This book contains statements made by these teenagers -- statements I have no verified. I am not making these statements, I am just reprinting them." The statements of these individuals speak volumes about stereotypes, insecurities, and hope for a positive future. For better or worse, one can't help but to see himself on these pages in one way or another.

Call number: YA 305.235 BOW (Nonfiction)

Faces of Sunset Boulevard: A Portrait of Los Angeles by Patrick Ecclesine (2008) gives a broad picture of Los Angeles, California using images of the people that live, work, and play there. In full-color, the reader meets Olympic soccer players, actors, models, unpublished writers, doctors, politicians, drug addicts, and the homeless. Each person has a story to tell about where they came from, how they got here, and where they are going. The fact that it all revolves around the City of Angels and that the majority of interviews are with adults (with a few teenagers and two kids thrown into the mix) limits the teen appeal of this collection.

Request this book through the BCCLS catalog or ask a librarian!

I love fun, real life tidbits of information. These books are easy to flip through, and the people are a blast to get to know.

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd

I have a soft spot for author Siobhan Dowd. First of all, she's Irish, and that right there is about the best thing you can be in my book. Reading books that are set in Ireland and revolve around Irish characters is awesome for me because I've been to many of the places to which they refer. I've been to Ireland three times, and spent 16 days driving around the country on my last visit. Some of my family is originally from Ireland, but I don't personally know anyone currently living in the country; it's just always been a special part of who I am. The other reason that I have a soft spot for Ms. Dowd is because I read about her death right as I was finishing reading her first teen novel. I can't say that her books are my favorite, but I can say that I would never tire of reading her words, and she's an author to respect and appreciate.

Holly Hogan hates being at Templeton House, a place for kids without families. But she soon discovers that she's not a fan of living in a "real home" with Ray and Fiona Aldridge in London either. The home she does like is the one with her Mam in Ireland, so she's on a mission to get back there, convinced she'll be able to find her mother and live happily ever after. Of course, no one can know that she's running away or she'll be put back in isolation at the Home. So, with a blonde wig she finds at Fiona's, she becomes Solace and she sets out on the road.

Nothing is quite as it seems in Holly's world, and being Solace makes her stronger and smarter and more confident, but never for long. Over the course of her travels, she meets a variety of strangers, and she discovers the truth about her Mam and herself. This is a true coming-of-age story, and while the ending is happy, it is also real in a way that allows readers to respect the struggles and pain that sometimes propels us to get to the end of the road.

Recommended to all readers, notably those who like adventure with a touch of melancholy.
Call number: YA DOWD

reviewed by kate the librarian

Night Road by A. M. Jenkins

About this book, YA author Robert Lipsyte says, "Read this as a tense thriller about vampires on a road trip, or read it as a metaphorical tour de force about a boy becoming a man. But read it!"

Cole has been summoned back to Manhattan to the Building for a meeting with Johnny, where he is given the responsibility of caring for and teaching newbie Gordo how to survive as a hemovore. ("'Hemo, meaning blood. Vorare, meaning to devour.'" Never VAMPIRES.) Since becoming a heme, Gordo has been allowed to live within the safety of the Building, feeding whenever he wants, without the worry of taking too much blood and making a willing participant a victim instead. He doesn't understand self-control, self-sufficiency, or self-discipline. In order to teach Gordo the ways of the world, Cole and Sandor take him out on the road; no destination in mind because, really, it's the being out in the real world that's the thing. Of course, now that he's stripped of security, he's forced to fully grasp the facts of his new life and finds that he's lonely and homesick. His self-hatred and desperation drives him to make a decision: to fast . . . no feeding, at all, ever again. The problem is, hemes HAVE to feed. Eventually he will break and then self-control will be impossible.

The ending of Night Road is a bit rushed and too neatly concluded, some elements don't really add up to much of anything, and the suspense falls short of expectations, but the relationships among the characters are beautiful, and experiencing the lives of the hemes could make us think about our own. I'll admit, as a coming-of-age metaphorical tour de force, I am a big fan of this book. Where the suspense was lackluster, the writing was thrilling.

Recommended to high school readers, especially boys who either won't admit to liking the Twilight series, or those who really didn't like it because of all the romance and drama.
Call number: YA JENKINS (Teen Room)

Reviewed by kate the librarian

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

Sutter Keely lives in the moment. He spends most days of his senior year cutting class, drinking whiskey and smoking pot with his best friend Ricky, cruising around town, and enjoying the beauty that life has to offer. Most days are spectacular. When beautiful Cassidy dumps him because he can't even follow the simple request to try to think of her feelings before he does something, he's a little bit lost. On top of that, Ricky begins dating Bethany, who doesn't find a lot of humor in Sutter's drunken antics. Luckily for Sutter, there's Aimee, the girl who finds him sleeping on a neighbor's lawn early one morning and offers to help him find his car. As the two learn more and more about each other's lives, an emotional attachment forms; only Sutter knows it's not going to last.

This National Book Award finalist offers some truly spectacular writing. Sutter seems to have a way with words that is both charming and frustrating. :: For concerned adults, the alcohol abuse is part of Sutter's life, but it certainly isn't glorified or condoned by his friends or family. In many ways, Sutter knows that he is the one sabotaging his own future and his own happiness. ::

This book serves a dose of deep, with a light, accesssible presentation, and should be recommended to all high school readers.
Call number: YA THARP (Teen Room)

Reviewed by kate the librarian

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

For a Teen Librarian, I am behind the times when it comes to reading. I know this, and for the most part I've accepted it. I'm grateful for when I can read what I want, and the "popular books" often don't make it to the top of my pile. And "popular books" isn't just the Twilight series (which I have read) or the Percy Jackson series (which I haven't); "popular books" is pretty much anything that gets a lot of favorable talk, and doesn't need much hand-selling to teens looking for something to read from the library. That's why I tend to be slow to read books like the Harry Potter series, Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian or, apparently, Sara Zarr's Sweethearts

Talk about a book you can read in a day! I knew that when I opened Sweethearts last night and read the first few pages that I should never have started what I couldn't finish. I had to sleep, so I only read about halfway through the book last night . . . and couldn't help but finish it this morning.

Cameron Quick was Jennifer Harris's only friend. They stood by each other when other kids called them weird (Cameron) or fat (Jennifer), and they really believed that they didn't need anyone else in order to be perfectly content. One day in third grade, Jennifer goes to Cameron's house after school, and what Cameron's dad makes them do changes both of their lives. And then Cameron and his dad disappear. The kids at school tell Jennifer that Cameron is dead, and Jennifer has no options left except to become Jenna and be a survivor. But what has really become of Cameron?

Sweethearts is, in many ways, a typical teen problem novel. But rather than being overly-dramatic or stuffed too chock-full of issues, there is nothing in this story that exists just to shock readers or pull at their heartstrings. Cameron and Jenna are real, three-dimensional characters who deal with their problems in the best ways they can, and they learn to live their lives with or without each other. The past is over, but the love never ends.


Recommended to high school readers, the insecure, the lonely, the loved, and the hopeful.
Call number: YA ZARR (Teen Room)


Reviewed by kate the librarian

My Name is Jason. Mine too: Our Story. Our Way. by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin.

My Name is Jason. Mine Too. tells the genuine story of two men -- black/white, poet/artist -- struggling to get by and find some food and some happiness in a world of creativity. Drawings and words mingle together to lead the reader through a real life experience of what it's like to have a dream, but not necessarily a plan.

This is my favorite poem from the pages in this book; it reminds me of an artist friend of my own, and sometimes of myself, too:

It's so hard

To explain to people

The beauty in brokenness

The scarring in sweet salvation

The lovely lacerations

Of the unlimited

Unlaminated

Illuminated

Few

Who dare to do don'ts

Miss a few meals

But will to do won'ts

While well-to-dos

Whisper questions

Regarding

Who I think I am

And who they think I should be

I laugh and hope

They leave

Me alone

Because it's just

So hard

To explain to people

That my life

Is not unhard

But not unhappy

--[from My Name is Jason. Mine Too: Our Story. Our Way.]

Visit the authors online, too.