Jessica just wants to enjoy her senior year as a normal girl but soon falls under the spell of the very attractive Lucius.  She does her best to help Lucius keep his “condition” a secret but rumors start to fly when Lucius begins to show an interest in Faith Crosse, a shallow airhead cheerleader in Jessica’s opinion!  As action heats up toward a conclusion, Jessica works to convince Lucius he isn’t the evil person he’s been raised to be by his evil uncle.  But what kind of a future is Jessica heading for–college student or vampire princess?  Fun book, lots of humor!

Anything but Typical

Anything but Typical is talking about the main character who is autistic, but the title is also fitting of the book. The main characters, Jason, tells his story which focuses on his family, his writing, and perhaps his new girlfriend. Jason often has difficulties communicating verbally with people but is a fantastic writer. He is most comfortable when he is writing online. This is how he meets Phoenix Bird who he considers to be his girlfriend. Life gets complicated when he has the opportunity to meet with her at a writing conference.

This novel shows the difficulties Jason faces communicating with others. My favorite character of the books is a minor character, Aaron Miller. He is accepting of Jason and engages with him during lunch. Although Jason is autistic he is an intelligent young man, but not everyone takes the time to notice him.

The Juvie Three by Gordan Korman

Gecko, who is incarcerated for driving a stolen get-away car, is surprised when a stranger comes to visit him in the juvenile detention center. This stranger, Mr. Healy, has “a deal” for Gecko. Instead of being in the detention center, he would be in a half-way house. Half-way between jail and freedom. As he leaves with Mr. Healy he is joined by two other juvenile delinquents, Terence and Arjay. The three will live together and depend on each other to stay “on the outside.” This is difficult for all three, especially Terence. Their lives are confined to school, group therapy, and community service. A nosy neighbor and a social worker who follows the rules, maybe a bit too closely, make life difficult for the three. They are also faced with challenges such as school and staying out of trouble. Life soon gets more complicated.

This is a quick read and an engaging book from the beginning to the end. Readers will not be disappointed as they follow these three on their adventures as they try to stay out of trouble.

Shifty by Lynn E. Hazen

Soli, Shifty, is fifteen and moves from foster home to foster home. When he stays with Martha, he finally finds a home in which he feels comfortable. He even has a new foster sister, Sissy, and baby brother, Chance. Shifty is “shifty.” Often he finds himself getting into trouble. For example he drives Martha’s van even though he doesn’t have a driver’s license. Because he would like to stay with Martha, he tries to keep out of trouble especially when the social worker seems to be “uptight” and cops seem to always be around to catch him messing up. This, however, is quite difficult for Shifty and problems ensue.

Temping Fate by Esther Friesner

Llana needs a summer job. She would prefer something out of her boring town, but she is ready to do anything. When she goes to a apply at a temp agency, she gets the feeling that things are a bit strange. After meeting the manager of the temp agency, Llana is ready to leave without a job. The contract she is asked to sign is equally frightening, “… accepts no responsibility whatsoever for employees’ loss of life, limb, lucidity, lawyers, or lemurs…” Then she is given an envelope full of money for her first week’s work. This encourages her to give the job a try.

When she gets on the job site, she realizes things are only getting weirder. Her temp job requires her to use a typewriter (not computer, typewriter) to fill out death receipts. Soon she realizes her summer job will be different. She becomes involved with gods and heroes. Those interested in mythology will notice the myths and characters of the myths involved in the novel.

17-year-old Liam is the son of a former fashion model and a straight-arrow, no-nonsense father who doesn’t approve of anything Liam does.  Too much bad behavior finally gets Liam kicked out of the house and he goes to live with his father’s brother, “Aunt Pete,” a DJ, glam rocker, who is gay, lives in a trailer and has his own issues with Liam’s father and grandparents.  It seems like Liam couldn’t find many more ways to get in trouble, even after moving in with Aunt Pete.  But working with Liam to figure out why he is such a “screwup” is what keeps us reading to the end of this very satisfying story.

Go Liam!

The book is divided into sections based on DeShawn’s age until he reaches 18, and his life becomes more and more complex and challenging.  I had to keep reading to see what would happen to DeShawn, all while feeling the hopelessness of his living situation, which was the author’s purpose in writing this book.  I think students who enjoy reading our “street lit” books will like this one, even though the dialogue and language didn’t seem very authentic–”school-safe” maybe but not authentic.

The author says we as a country need to do something soon about the problems of inner-city youth and families, and gives information and data to support his message. It’s a hard topic to read about and harder still to experience.

If you’ve read and liked Just Ella by the same author or similar “Cinderella”-type stories, you’ll enjoy the twists and turns faced by Cecelia and her friends as they try to figure out this princess mystery.

Arnold has always attended the school on the reservation but a classroom incident in the first days of his 9th grade year prompts one of his teachers to recommend that he leave the rez school for a better school–the nearest public school 22 miles away.  Now branded as a traitor to his reservation family, Arnold faces the many challenges to being a reservation Indian in a very white school.  He doesn’t back down from any challenge and doors open for him in every situation.

In spite of some tough social and living conditions in Arnold’s life, this book is funny, fun to read and hopeful.  It’s definitely for more mature readers who can read beyond just the words to the amazingly courageous person that is Arnold.

Jonah is 13, knows he is adopted and has a younger sister–not adopted–named Katherine.  His friend who lives across the street, Chip, is also 13 and just finds out NOW that he is adopted.  And the other thing they have in common is that they are both receiving mysterious letters in the mail with a one-line message saying, “You are one of the missing.”  The second message that says “they” are coming back to get them–Jonah and Chip–is even more disturbing.  They start asking questions about the adoption agency that placed them and getting very little information. All their questions led Jonah and his parents–and sister–to a meeting with an FBI agent and then things REALLY got crazy–people and documents appearing and disappearing, mysterious meetings with people, and why were their names on a list of “survivors.”  What did they survive?

I can’t say any more about the story but get ready to stretch your mind and your understanding of time and all the possibilities of moving through time that we can’t even imagine.