the summer i learned to fly by Dana Reinhardt

Thirteen-year-old Drew Robin Solo spends most of her time helping her mom, Lizzie, in the Cheese Shop; she doesn't have many friends - not including her pet rat, Hum, of course - so there really isn't anything else to do. Her dad died when she was a baby and she only has a few things of his that helps her get to know him. She has an impossible crush on 18-year-old Nick who helps out in the shop when he isn't surfing. And she has three girlfriends who are all away for the summer (and who she doesn't much like anyway). But everything in her world changes when she finds homeless Emmett Crane eating the too-old-to-keep-on-the-shelf cheese late at night behind the shop. Emmett with the curly dark hair, who leaves notes folded up as paper cranes, who disappears for days without any word, and who hangs out on the beach with older kids with tattoos, cigarettes, and guitars. In one short summer, Drew learns a lot about her self and even more about the people in her life and the growing world around her.

I read this book in day, and thought I was going to be really sad and depressed by the ending, but was pleasantly surprised by a positive, inspiring, and completely more realistic conclusion. Recommended to most teen readers, especially girls with romantic hearts.

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

(Two books with pet rats in a week's time? Weird.)

Punkzilla by Adam Rapp

Punkzilla is not your typical road trip novel, and Punkzilla is not your average fourteen-year-old boy.

Through a series of letters – written from Jamie (AKA Punkzilla) to brother Peter; from Peter; from his mom; from his dad, the Major; from his other brother, Edward – Jamie tells a small portion of his life leading up to what got him on a Memphis-bound Greyhound.  At times readers may not be sure of the narrator’s reliability (though that may be the point), but they’ll stay onboard the journey anyway, mostly because Punkzilla is so darn interesting.  The writing style, especially the haphazard or nonexistent punctuation, takes a bit of getting used to, but he’s able to convey his voice so convincingly that the grammar blends into the background.  Punkzilla meets many interesting characters as he rides the Greyhound or hitches rides with well-meaning individuals.  Enough kind-hearted, if slightly strange, people help him out that he eventually does make it to his destination.  And it is in Memphis that he realizes that “home” and “family” are fluid and not always as black-and-white that others’ try to make them out to be.  Each person makes his or her own way in the world, and it’s the journey that’s the thing in the end.

Recommended to high school readers of all types, though this book just won’t be for everyone.

Call number: YA RAPP (Teen Room)

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Amelia Curry's dad died three months ago.  She's having a heck of a time admitting that this is her real life now.  Her mom decided that it was a good idea to move to Connecticut, so she's been there setting things up, and Amy is still on her own in California while they sell the old house.  When her mom decides that it's time for Amy to come "home" to the east coast, she sets her daughter up with a neighbor's son to travel across the country together, since Amy refuses to drive since the accident.  She gives them a strict itinerary, making all of their hotel arrangements and travel instructions.  When Roger suggests a detour, Amy quickly chooses Yellowstone National Park, where her dad used to take her and her brother, Charlie, when they were growing up.  From there, they embark on a journey that no one could have planned, especially not Amy's grief-torn mother, or even Amy herself.  Once Amy's cloud of grief clears just enough to notice how amazing Roger is, she's already comfortable with him in a way that can only come from sharing a car, money, and alternate identities.  In between bouts of 20 Questions, they help each other deal with their individual crises and give each other strength to deal with whatever lies ahead.

Not all loose ends are tied up neatly, and Amy and Roger don't offer any pat solutions to life's problems.  This story is about taking a journey, not always staying on the path that someone else might choose for you, and deciding that it's okay to make your own way, on your own or by accepting help and support from friends and family.  Recommended to all high school readers, mostly girls who are in search of a happily-ever-after (but without the whole "riding into a sunset" cliche).  

Call number: YA MATSON (Teen Room)

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Most reviews would describe Going Bovine as weird.  Complex.  Convoluted.  Intense.  I've also heard the highly accurate (I would assume) comparison to a "trippy acid flashback."  I'd use all of those words to describe this tome as well, but I have to add one: fascinating.  Unquestionably fascinating.

Cameron Smith is sixteen years old and his most outstanding quality is that he just doesn't really care much about anything.  He's not incredibly social, but he's not incredibly awkward either.  Until weird things start to happen to his mind, anyway, and the doctors diagnose him with Mad Cow Disease.  Now, he's oddly the center of attention, but worse than that, he's going to die.  When he's admitted to the hospital (which is supposed to help him how?), he meets Gonzo, a Mexican-American Dwarf gamer, and Dulcie, a punk rock angel.  When Dulcie guides Cam to take a road trip to find Doctor X, the only doctor who can cure Cam's illness, Gonzo comes along for what ends up being the most entertaining and action-packed road trip adventure known to mankind.  

In this story, you'll find drunken college frat parties, talking yard gnomes, Fire Breathers, musicians, scientists, and Viking Gods.  But you'll also find what it means to live life, experience adventure, fall in love . . . even as reality slips through your fingers and disappears before your eyes.

Recommended to all high school readers, though you won't all get it and you won't all like it.  Either way, the audiobook version is worth a shot.

Call number: YA BRAY; YA CD BRAY (Teen Room)

Reviewed by kate.

Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray

Blake, Sim, and Kenny can't believe that Ross is dead. They also can't believe the sham of the funeral that his parents gave him, complete with every loser from school who never even cared about Ross while he was alive. So -- after some graffiti retribution on the homes of a select few -- the trio decided to honor Ross with the funeral he deserves. Ross always wanted to travel from his English hometown to Ross, Scotland because "[h]e thought it would be cool to be Ross in Ross." All the boys have to do is figure out how to steal Ross' ashes (without getting in trouble)and travel a day there and a day back (with one map and not a lot of money. And without getting into trouble). What the boys don't bet on is getting caught out so quickly, the cops, girls, or Ross' own secrets to interfere with their plans. But they also weren't counting on motorbikes, girls, or even really each other to help them get from Point A to Point B in the end. It isn't all about where you wind up, but what you learn from the journey.

This isn't a typical road trip novel. It's also not a guy's guy book. But it certainly is an exploration of the unexpected and the unspoken. Recommended to all high school readers who like their books with a twist, a heartbeat, and an adventure.

Call number: YA GRAY (Teen Room)

Reviewed by kate the librarian.