Merry Wanderer of the Night:
YA

I have more mini-reviews today, because these both also fall under the category of wanted to/should have loved these books, But.

First is May B. by Caroline Starr Rose. This is a book that I really should have loved. It's written in verse, which I'm pretty sure most people know how much I absolutely adore. It's historical fiction — life on the prairie — which I've been totally fascinated with for as long as I can remember. And it's a survival story taking place in the midst of a crazy, nasty blizzard. Oh ya, and, the importance of reading and language plays a large part in the growth of the main character. Umm, yes please.

I was in love with the idea of a historical fiction story being told in verse. I feel like non-Contemporary verse novels are rather rare, so I was really excited for this one. But for some reason, the execution was really lacking for me. May is sent by her parents to live/work with a newlywed couple because her family needs the money her servitude will bring. But shortly after May gets there, the wife (who is from the city and really struggling with the vast prairie life) decides she is going to leave, and the Mr. goes after her. He's only supposed to be gone for a day, but he never comes home. May is left completely alone as winter approaches and she has no idea how to get home.

That is enough for a compelling story. But there were other things added to the story that I assume were meant to give depth to the story and to May's character, but instead just felt underdeveloped and tacked on to say — Look!! Character growth! May should have been a strong character, but I never really believed that she was, I only ever believed that I was supposed to think she was. I just never felt a true sense of connection with May and honestly thought the inclusion of May's struggles to read were overdone and unnecessary, constantly pulling me out of the story and severing whatever connection had started to form. I don't know why that was. Reading is (obviously) a big deal to me, but it never felt natural or necessary. It always felt to me like a plot device, and a poorly disguised one at that. This is actually a story I think might have worked better in traditional prose (although it pains me to say this) and although, overall, I did enjoy the story well enough, it's not a book I'll be recommending much, although if you are already interested, I suggest you give it a try anyway. I will definitely try the author again, and I think this is a book worth giving a chance, even if it didn't quite click for me.

On a completely different note, I have always been completely fascinated by true crime stories, and serial killers and other morbidly interesting stuff. So when I saw Green River Killer: A True Detective Story by Jeff Jensen on Netgalley, I was like — Yes! Win! The Green River Killer was a big deal for a lot of years, killing a tragically large number of women and eluding the police for a very long time. And, because I really am morbid, I was excited to read a story written by the lead detective's son and told as a graphic novel.

Unfortunately, the idea behind the book was the most interesting part of it. I found myself very disappointed in the actual contents of the book. The story had a very strange chronology that didn't flow well and it made it really hard to be interested in the story. There were random and unexplained jumps in time and setting that were never explained and it made the story really awkward to read.

And, the illustrations, while well drawn, weren't very distinct, and I'll admit that there were times I wasn't sure who was actually depicted. They all kinda just looked the same to me.

I feel like this is a story that could have been amazing. As the son of the lead detective on such a high profile case, you would have a lot of different information and a different view of the case than most people, and I feel like there could be a lot of really solid material for a book. Unfortunately, this one just didn't work for me and I ended up spending a good 85% of the book bored and wishing it were over.

*Disclaimer: Both of these books were electronic ARCs received via Netgalley.

I was so excited for Don't Say a Word by Holly Cupala because I absolutely loved Tell Me a Secret. And for the most part it SO delivered. Almost the whole way through Don't Say a Word, I was convinced it was going to be a new favorite, a five star rating, Basically Amazing. Everything about it was like Tell Me a Secret, only more. The cover is better, the emotions more intense, the danger more real etc. But, unfortunately, everything was more, which also means that the complaints I had about the ending of Tell Me were more in Don't Breathe as well, and I was left disappointed by the end.

In Don't Breathe a Word, Joy, so desperate to get away from the problems in her home life, fakes her own kidnapping and runs away, determined to find the homeless boy in Seattle who once offered her help. The pieces to why Joy is so desperate to get away, and why it's necessary that it not seem like a voluntary absence, are slowly revealed as the story unfolds. You know there is something sinister about her boyfriend, Asher, but we don't know the extent of it until much later in the story, but still, my heart just ached for Joy as I thought about all that she must have gone through, all that rested on her shoulders. But, then, she escapes and she finds Creed, who welcomes her into his 'family'.

Joy (now called Triste) knew that being homeless would be hard. But she thought more about the physical hardships — no shelter, little food, no money etc and less about the dangers from other people. Before she finds Creed, she has close encounters with several dangerous persons and in one encounter, loses her backpack with all her money, but more importantly, her asthma inhalers, which she needs to live. She's been hospitalized numerous times because of near fatal asthma attacks, and it's one more reasons Joy felt completely smothered at home. This is something that saddened me, because her parents don't realize what her life is like. She tries so hard to be a help, not a burden to her parents that she doesn't tell them about what's going on with her and they either don't notice, or they choose not to. Everyone is constantly afraid she will have an asthma attack so her freedoms are nonexistent and her boyfriend is controlling, manipulative and creepy. And her parents have no idea, instead pushing her closer to Asher, because he takes care of her and can protect her. Broke my heart. It's something that I'm genuinely afraid of — having a child going through something so horrible and not having a clue about it.

This book, this story was intense. Living on the streets is not a picnic, not something easy, and a decision to leave your home to live on the streets is not something that should be easily reached. Joy thought she was prepared for what was waiting, but she wasn't even close. I was constantly afraid for Joy and I was so happy when she found a group of people who accepted her and helped her. She really connected with the people who made up her new family; Creed, the leader who found her and was the first to welcome her, Santos, who keeps his dark secrets close but finds Triste the asthma medicine she needs, and May, initially wary of Triste and unwilling to welcome her, but they soon reach a friendly understanding and May even gives Triste a better (much better) haircut. But, life on the streets cannot remain happy for very long and the four are faced with regular challenges and dangers, some that they cannot escape from.

And it's told beautifully. I mean it. Guys, I was always so caught up in this story, so moved, so worried for these characters. I felt so much of this story, so strongly. Cupala writes hard and painful emotions perfectly.

But as I mentioned earlier, I didn't feel the novel as a whole maintained that level of emotion. For such a powerfully intense and gritty story, the ending was far too tidy. The story was so realistic, so believable and so hard to read because of it. But then the ending took all that away from me. Real life does not hand you packages wrapped with bows, which is what I got from this book. If I want bows on my endings, I read light-hearted Contemporary, maybe some fantasy, or some middle grade. If I want realistic and honest endings, I read Contemporary YA. And this book delivered all that I desire in an emotional Contemporary read, right up until that ending. And the ending that was delivered here cheapened not only the experiences of every single character, but the people and teens who have to live through something like this in real life too.

I'm a firm believer in the power of endings. Ofttimes for me, they can make or break a book completely. I still loved this book, I really did. The writing is too honest and powerful to ignore but the ending significantly lessened the impact of the story for me.

But even with my disappointment in the ending, this is still a book that I'm going to highly recommend reading. Cupala is a gifted writer and I plan to read her for as long as she writes (although, not gonna lie, I am hoping that her endings get a little more... authentic with future books).

Cinder by Marissa Meyer is a book that has been on my radar since April, when Marissa participated in Fairy Tale Fortnight (linked for any of you who missed it). And I'll be honest, I spent a long time going back and forth on where or not I was really interested in this one. I was always interested, because it's a fairy tale retelling, and that always grabs by attention. But this is a futuristic Cinderella, a Cinderella who is a cyborg. I haven't read a lot of science fiction, and I'm always a little bit wary of it. So I went back and forth between — Ya, I'm excited (shrug, I guess) and Yes! Of course I'm excited!

And then I read the book.

No more debates for me! This book was so amazing. It freaking rocked my face! Meyer manages to take the Cinderella story and turn it into something new and unique and futuristic and different while still keeping that magical feel of a fairy tale.

Cinder is a great character. She's confused about her role in the world, because according to the rules and laws of their world, being a cyborg makes her somewhere between a second class citizen and a possession. So she knows that, according to the laws & prejudices of her world, she is less than human. But other than the metal in her hand and leg and a few 'upgrades' here and there, she feels human. And how do you reconcile something like that?! Feeling like a person but being treated as a machine. My heart so went out to Cinder, because that would be so hard!

I was also really excited, because we get to see some chapters narrated by Prince Kai. It made him more real to me, made him a much stronger character, and it gave me a reason to root for him. Kai is in a terrible position because of the story's villain — the proverbial rock and a hard place — and no matter what decision he makes, it's going to end badly. And we get to see him struggle over that. He desperately wants to do right by his people, but how can you really do right, when no matter what choice you make, bad things will follow. There is bad, and then less bad, but that might lead to worse. Hearing Kai's narration takes him from Love Interest to Real Character. I love seeing a love interest who is developed beyond why they are, or should be, in love with the main character.

The villains of this story are the Lunar's — The Moon People. And boy — are they a villain worth reading about. Creepy, bad nasties. And that's all I'm going to say about that. (Mostly, because in early January, I'm part of the Cinder blog tour and Marissa is going to give me a whole post about them to share:) )

I will say that the story was, to me, more than a little predictable. I had most of the major plot points figured out rather early on in the story, and only some of those were because it is a retelling. I've mentioned this before, but I am very forgiving of predictability in my fairy tale retellings. Very forgiving. So being able to predict parts of the story didn't bother me at all. Because watching the characters get their on their own, being there as they learned their secrets made it so worth while. Meyer is a talented writer. She's created characters I adore and want to get to know better and she placed them in this situation where they have to act and become strong or do nothing, and then she lets them choose! There were honestly moments when I felt like they were real people making their own decisions.

This is a book that has something for everyone. The threads of the original fairy tale are woven so perfectly into the story that you can feel the fairy tale but it isn't as blatant as other retellings. It is part fantasy, part science fiction, full or magic and mystery and I am so in love with this book. I'm probably not doing the book justice, but believe me when I say it is awesome. I am already eager for the remaining books in the series. I can't wait to see the end of Cinder's story, as well as meet the new fairy tale characters and watch their stories intertwine. Meyer is definitely an author I'm going to keep my eye on, and I highly suggest you do the same. If you haven't read this one yet, I highly recommend you work on remedying that as soon as possible. This is a story it would be a shame to miss.

I decided to do these two books as "mini"-reviews because I don't have anything good to say about either book and you know that old saying — If you can't say anything nice... Well, I've never been very good at not saying anything at all...

Brooklyn Burning by Steve Brezenoff is, in my opinion, a book that tried too hard. It wanted to be this big grand and mysterious book but instead managed only to be a rather dull and vague detail-less story that bored me.

Kid lives in Brooklyn and has spent the last year or so on the streets because Dad decided he didn't want to deal with Kid's issues anymore (specifically sexual questioning) and kicked Kid out. But we don't know any specifics about Kid. Not real name, not even gender. We do know that Kid falls for a musician that's more than a little rough around the edges (heavily into hard drugs). But something happened (a mystery, possibly involving fire) and the musician is always referred to in the past tense and now Kid develops a new love interest. (Also blurry around gender lines).

I appreciate what Steve is trying to do here. It is an interesting idea — making a genderless novel and leaving details almost completely out of the way. But instead of being a story that pushes boundaries and makes you think, it was instead, for me, boring and pointless. I didn't care about a single character in the story. I didn't really know anything about them, so what was there to care about?! A lot of the story is written in also 2nd person, which I've read and enjoyed before, but it made this book feel even weirder than it already was. I have to have a sense of character for a 2nd person narrative to work. I also need a sense of and connection to the characters for a romance to be effective and interesting and something that I care about. But Steve didn't give me that.

This probably sounds rude, but I felt like this was a book full of its own cleverness and importance. You know people like that, right? Who are always walking around "saying" — Look at me!! Look at how funny I am or how clever and smart!- and really, rather than thinking them funny or clever or smart, all you can think is — Oh my gosh, shut up! — or -Seriously, who invited you?! This was a book trying so hard to be mysterious and murky that it completely missed its mark and landed in the realm of vague and uneventful.

It's a book that left me with a feeling of, Oh. That's all then? and I am pretty much positive that unless someone else brings it up, I will never think about this book again. BUT I will say that this is a polarizing book. All of the reviews I've seen are either like mine, or are completely enamored by and in love with this book. So if it's something you think you would like, might as well give it a try!

Lie by Caroline Bock was, unfortunately, even worse for me.

It is a book that should have been important and powerful and gut wrenching and soul hurting and empowering. It's about the repercussions of a vicious hate crime in a small town ending with the victim in critical condition and the boys under investigation. The MC's boyfriend is the main suspect (and if I remember right, is in custody throughout the book) and she saw the crime but has been lying to the police, because her boyfriend and best friend asked/told her too, and Jimmy is a good person who loves her and needs her support.

But, Jimmy is not a good person. I was expecting this to be a book that explores grey areas and tries to explain how good/normal kids can become involved in vicious crimes. But nope. Jimmy is scum. Seriously. And very possibly mentally unstable. But then again, the notes I wrote to myself upon finishing this book say that I felt that every single character was emotionally and mentally unbalanced. And awful. Lisa Marie is the worst best friend in the history of human beings and I hated her. ALL the way. Skylar is also a pretty weak character, seemingly incapable of making any decisions for herself or seeing people as they really are, and I'm not going to say anymore than that because I've tried to rewrite it three times and I keep sounding really, really mean.

What I think would have made this novel better is development. Rather than really developing the characters, Bock just gave them each their own chance to 'talk' and there were a lot of narrators in this book (like 9, I think). But having them speak doesn't necessarily give them depth and it doesn't do anything to make me relate to or believe them. Part of my problem is also that I never, not once thought that Skylar's decision was hard. Not once. You know pretty early on what she witnessed, although more details do come out as the book progresses and for me, that choice is black and white.

I wanted to like this one. Really, I did. But I just couldn't do it and I can't recommend it.

*Disclaimer: Both of these books were electronic ARCs received via Netgalley.

Thou Shalt Not Road Trip by Antony John is one of the books I was most looking forward to in 2012. So when I invited Antony to take part in Just Contemporary and he sent me an ARC, to say I was ecstatic is an understatement.

I am going to warn you in advance that this review is all over the place and it's long. Although my feeling are overall positive, they range from surprised to shocked to disappointed to confused to annoyed to thrilled to amazed to Seriously? to pleased and pretty much everywhere in between. So.

To be perfectly honest, a part of me is devastated that I didn't love this book the way that I absolutely adored Five Flavors of Dumb. This doesn't mean I didn't like it, but this book lacked a certain authenticity in everything except the religion talk. Which makes that a great place to start.

I was surprised when I started reading this book to realize just how much religion plays a part in the story. I don't know how I missed it, because the title includes the words 'thou' and 'shalt' and the main character is on a book tour for the book he wrote called Hallelujah. So, I was instantly wary. Because, for a lot of reasons, that I'm pretty sure I don't need to numerate, books with really strong religious themes are not always my favorite and, in my experience, they aren't always done very well. But for me, this was actually the best part of the book. Rather than being a book about RELIGION it is more a book about a boy who happens to be religious. He believes in God, says his prayers, wants to see other people happy and he also questions his faith and beliefs. As someone who has been religious my whole life, this was incredibly refreshing to me. Here we have a mostly normal teenage boy, who is religious and it isn't this huge thing or problem or issue or whatever. It just was.

And Antony gets the full Ashley stamp of brilliance, because he managed to talk about religion a lot (Luke is on a book tour through Christian book stores) but he never, not once, came across as preachy to me. There were morals to the story, and life lessons learned but none of them were strictly brought about because of a religious lesson. They were normal. And it was amazing. Here is a book with religion in the summary that didn't turn into either an excuse to hate on religion and demonstrate its utter evil OR a 300+page Sunday School lesson. There are a lot of people and a lot of teens who go to church every Sunday. It an important but normal part of their lives. It's nice to have a book that gives us a religious character and handles it well. So, serious awesome points to Antony for that. Seriously.

However, I had a really hard time with just about every character in this story. Luke is supposed to be on tour for his book and his older brother, Matt, is brought along to act as his chauffeur. But Matt decides to bring along his girlfriend, Alex, and her little sister, Fran, who happens to be Luke's ex-best friend and major crush. Awkward. Fran has changed physically a lot in the past year, and Luke interprets this to mean that everything he knows about Fran has changed. And since she is a large part of the reason he's questioning a lot of his decisions (including his faith) and feeling disconnected from his life. So the author of this inspirational best-selling Christian self-help novel finds himself feeling... less than charitable as their road trip advances.

I found myself really frustrated with these characters. Luke's disinterest in his own life, his naivete and his complete and total self-centeredness were incredibly frustrating to read. Not that he didn't grow as a character, because he did and by the end of the book I was absolutely rooting for him. But it was a struggle getting me there. Fran has made some drastic physical changes — outrageous hair, piercings, tattoos, drinking etc. All things that usually signal a cry for help. But all Luke can see is that his best friend is suddenly different and he feels so wounded. When he talks to her, even when he thinks he is being so magnanimous and gracious, he's judgmental and feels as if her problems are all about him. Again, he grows as a character but it's a bit rocky in the beginning.

Matt was probably my least favorite character (although undeveloped Alex isn't far behind.) He is supposed to be in charge of organizing Luke's schedule and getting him places on time. Instead, he regularly took long detours, made decisions about where they would stop without saying anything about it to Luke and there were a few times he outrighted lied to him. While it's very true that Luke needed to lighten up a bit, Matt's behavior drove me nuts. He ignored phone calls from Luke's publicist, used the emergency credit card too often and ignored Luke's distress without even trying to alleviate it. Pretty much every time he did anything, Matt frustrated me. You understand him and his motivations better by the end of the book too, but he still never really grew on me.

Fran was an interesting character and probably my favorite of the bunch. Aside from Luke, she has the most depth and personality and meaning, but even then, I felt her main purpose in the story was to bring balance and understanding to Luke and give him the motivation, reason and environment necessary to invite growth and change. Luke has some depth as a character (for good or bad) without Fran, but Fran had very little without Luke. She was the next best developed character overall, and I felt for her, I really did, but not enough.

The book also include excerpts from Hallelujah, Luke's books, and they are seriously laugh out loud funny. Written as Bible passages, full of 'and he spake' and 'thus sayeth' and 'art thou' they are basically stories of inspiration and hope and insight. Some are funny, some are motivating, and some are a little more tinged with despair, but each were placed perfectly throughout the book to build and move the story forward. These were a fabulous addition, one that added a lot of depth and feeling to the story that would have otherwise been missing.

I do have one other confession about this book, lest you think I was totally disappointed. I have been in a bit of a reading slump lately. And when I'm in this kind of mood, I read very slow, I start and stop books frequently, and I have to kind of force whatever book I'm reading. This has absolutely nothing to do with the book I'm reading, and everything to do with my personal mood. And even though I really and truly did enjoy this book, I am 99% positive that if I had read it when I was more in the mood to read, I would have really loved the book. It's definitely one that I'm going to reread. Maybe I'll even reread it soon, so that if my feelings change drastically, like I think they could, I can rereview the book closer to its April release date. Who knows.

What I do know, is that even not being as enamored of this book as I was of Dumb, it is definitely a book worth reading and it's one that I've already been talking about and recommending. I think this book has a lot to offer and Antony John is going to be firmly stuck on my favorite authors list for a long time. It's a story about life and love and second chances, about friendship, looking beyond the surface and being true to yourself. It's a story that makes you laugh, but one that also makes you think. And while it's not necessarily a story for everyone, it is a story that I believe is important. It's a book that is going to stick with me and even though they weren't my favorite, I have a feeling these characters aren't going to get out of my head for a long time

Katelyn is for serious one of my favorite blogger/twitter friends and she's just pretty much awesome. For realz people. If you don't know her already, you really should fix that. I've loved a lot of our conversations and gotten more than a few book recommendations from her. So I'm really excited that she agreed to write a guest review for me for Just Contemporary! So here is her review:

Going Too Far is a wonderful story that has yet again, confirmed my total love for Jennifer Echols. She has this incredible ability to create deep, multi-layered characters, a story line that sucks you in, and a romance that just comes alive with every passing page. This is most definitely the case with Going Too Far!

When we first meet Meg, the main character, we can tell that she has a tough exterior. She acts like a total nutcase. She has blue hair, she rebels against all authority figures, and she has an attitude to go along with it. While it may seem like she could be a pretty easy character to hate, I in fact loved her. Meg will always hold a special place in my heart because no matter how hard she tried to be tough, you could tell that she was hurting on the inside.

While reading the story it was easy to see that she does this to keep people at a distance. No attachments means she can get out of her small town as soon as possible. The more she gets in trouble, the angrier her parents get which in turn means they will be happy to let her go. The more she hangs out with losers like Eric who only use her for booty calls means she won’t have a boyfriend to keep her tied to her small town. The more she ignores her only friend, Tiffany, the fewer goodbyes she’ll have to say when she finally leaves. Meg’s whole scheme works out perfectly until one fateful night on the railroad tracks.

One of Meg’s rebellious acts leads to a ruined spring break that she now gets to spend with Officer After. It is at this point in the story, ladies and gentleman, which my heart started to melt. John goes against everything that Meg stands for. He is straight-edge, follows the rules, and always thinks ahead. Even though their personalities couldn’t be further apart, there is a chemistry that sizzles beneath the surface every single time they are together. I flipped page after page wondering when their feelings for each other would ignite the whole book.

John and Meg are one of the greatest matches I have ever seen in a Y.A. Contemporary book. They like to push each other’s buttons. Meg says little comments that she knows will grate on John’s nerves. John does things just to tick Meg off. They do all these things to each other just to see how far they can go but at the end of the day, you could see the chemistry continually build between the two of them. John secretly loves Meg’s harsh personality and blue hair. Meg secretly loves John’s devotion to his job. Together they are an unlikely couple but they just work.

Another reason I love the two of these two, they were both devastated by something in the past and it is this similarity between the two of them that eventually becomes one of the main driving points behind the story. For Meg it is an illness that struck her years ago. This sickness affected her more than she lets on and it really controls a lot of what she does. For John, it is more complex. For most of the book he seems calm, cool, and collected but near the end you can definitely sense that something heartbreaking happened in his past. The book would have been good without this element but when you add this to the already GREAT aspects of the book, it is pure genius.

Looking back on this book there is not a whole lot of negatives to say about it. I was in love with Meg and John from the very first chapter. Their constant bickering and obvious chemistry kept me interested throughout the whole book. I turned page after page hoping they would be able to work out their differences. I hoped so desperately that they could face the ghosts of their pasts so they could finally see what needed to be done to make the other happy. As I stated earlier, this is another book that proves just how great of a writer Jennifer Echols is. It is because of this book (and all her others) that I will be a total fan-girl for the rest of my life!

Thank you so much Katelyn! This is an awesome review, one that would make even me want to run out and grab a copy, if I hadn't already read it! Thank you again!!:)

Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly is another book I had been meaning to read for a while that became a prod from Allison to read now. And I am so glad that she pushed it so hard because OhMyGosh! This book is amazing and if you haven't read it yet you are so missing out and you need to go buy a copy right now because it shouldn't have to wait any longer and OhMyGoodness it's just so good! *deepbreath*

Drea is different. She has ADHD and a touch of Asperger's (on the Autism spectrum). But she's not that different. She processes the world differently from most people and a lot of social cues completely escape her, so it makes it harder to trust people and feel comfortable acting naturally around them. So up until now, she hasn't really had any friends. But her mom drags her to live with her grandmother (Drea is very opposed to this) but it is here that Drea meets both Naomi and Justin, people who will become very important to Drea.

Because Drea is our main character, we get to know what she is thinking and how she interprets things and it was fascinating. She's very high functioning and her diagnosis is actually for a 'touch of Asperger's'. So mostly, for Drea it translates into not understanding why people do a lot of what they do and being completely blunt. She has pretty much zero tact. She doesn't process it or understand it the way most people do. It was so refreshing to read a character who was blunt, but not cruel. Drea has a hard life. She's just this side of 'normal', so it's extra frustrating for her and those around her. It would be so hard to be put into situations again and again when you don't understand the nuances.

But the book isn't really about Drea and her Asperger's/ADHD. It's a huge part of it, obviously, because it's a huge part of Drea, but it's about so much more than that. It's about learning to love and let people in (because normal or not, pretty much all teenagers have a hard time with that) and it's about acceptance and growing up and finding yourself. And Tara Kelly has mastered that. In Drea, she has created a character that everyone can connect to and love and understand, because everyone has felt like they don't belong or don't fit in at some point. It's a part of growing up and I loved watching Drea learn that she really does have a place.

The other characters in the novel and painfully complex as well. Naomi becomes Drea's first and best friend. She shows up when they are moving in and starts chatting with Drea and decides right then that she likes her and she just befriends her, no questions asked. She wasn't my favorite person. She's troubled and she's also a perfect example of why I have never had even a tiny bit of interest in drugs. And, she gets Drea into bad situations too. But no on is perfect and she does some amazing things for Drea. So while I didn't really like her, I loved her.

Justin is another awesome character and he's just a solidly good guy. He's the type of guy that is awesome, but could still be a real person. He's there for Drea and he doesn't really let her hide behind her diagnosis. He pulls her out of herself, makes her recognize that there is more to life and more to her than he thought.

There are also some journal entries included in the book, as yet another way to learn more about Drea and I loved that they were included. The last journal entry is by far my favorite and it was just... just... just so much amazing. And the music. Guys, it's another book that has a lot of music references and it was brilliant. I just loved everything about this book. Seriously. Oh, and also, how can you not just love a cover that shows a girl celebrating the rain. Love. And I feel like that girl is Drea.

This is a book that I will read and reread. I reread parts while writing this review and I just fell in love with the characters over again. This book just leaves you with this feeling of fullness, of rightness and truth. It's a beautifully written story and one of those books that makes you think, makes you feel.

Today, as a guest, I have Kate from Literary Explorations. She was awesome enough to agree to writing a post when school wasn't quite so busy for her, and she read a book I also loved! See what she thinks!!

Rating: ★★★★★ Review: Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala was the first audiobook I'd picked up in years, and I'm so glad that I gave it a fair chance. Jenna Lamia's narration was flawless and in my mind she perfectly captured Rand's voice. Since I downloaded this to my iPod I was able to take it anywhere and found myself listening to it whenever I had a spare moment.

Rand was a great character and she definitely grew-up throughout the novel. Her pregnancy was scary and I couldn't believe how heartless her friends and family were. I also wanted to punch Kamran in the face many times because he was such a jerk to Rand. Her so-called friends weren't any better, especially Delaney who spread rumors about her, which idiot Kamran believed to be true. My favorite character was Shelly, for awesome reasons that I can't go into without spoiling the book, but just trust me, she is amazing.
Tell Me a Secret totally changed my mind about audiobooks and now I listen to them all the time. This was a wonderful contemporary read that drew me in and left me in tears once it was all over. I will now listen to anything that Jenna Lamia narrates and cannot wait to read Holly's second book, Don't Breathe a Word, that is due out in January.
Check out these fantastic reviews:

Ashley @ Basically Amazing Books
April @ Good Books and Good Wine

Past Perfect by Leila Sales was such a perfectly cute book. Chelsea has worked at Essex, a Colonial Reenactment village since she was a small child, because her parents are the blacksmith and wife. Chelsea wants something different this year, but allows her best friend to talk her into working again, so that they can be together.

Chelsea was such an interesting character. She's strong and smart but she's also insecure and afraid of change. I loved listening in on her conversations as well as her thoughts, because she has such an interesting view of life and the past. The Colonial Reenactment village has been a huge part of her life and it's given her an interesting perspective on the past, an idea of living history, both figuratively (they are reenactors, after all) but also literally.

But, perhaps because she has spent so much time being IN the past, Chelsea has a hard time with change. She is still hung up on her perfect ex-boyfriend (who is maybe not so perfect), she wants to do something, anything else than work another summer at Essex, but because it's safe and familiar, she lets her best friend talk her into working again and she shies away from anything that might be changing.

But the nature of people is to change and there is a lot this summer that Chelsea has to face up to.

I've read some reviews where people just didn't like Chelsea, found her to be whiny and obnoxious, and while I can see where they are coming from, this book didn't read that way to me at all. To me, Chelsea's voice was authentic and realistically teen. She is hung up on her ex-boyfriend, makes some stupid decisions and cares too much what other people think about her. I actually loved Chelsea's voice. I cringed more than a few times watching her interact with people and my heart went out to her but watching her start to learn about her mistakes, watching her realize that things aren't always as they seem, and aren't even always as we remember them being was awesome. I love great character growth and Chelsea's was gradual and believable.

I also have to say that I absolutely loved the war between the Colonial reenactors and the Civil War reenactors across the street. Each thinks their time period is the superior time and the summer is full of pranks and jokes. And seriously. Some of the pranks that they pulled had me laughing out loud. But it does add a little extra drama to Chelsea's life. She's elected as Lieutenant of the Colonial War effort AND on their first night of meetings, the Civil War kids kidnap her. The captor left to guard her is Dan. And, he's cute. They connect. There could be something there, BUT he's Civil War, she's Colonial and that should just. not. happen.

This is the type of book that is absolutely perfect to just curl up and read for a few hours. It's lighthearted and fun and just plain enjoyable. There is just enough depth to the story that it's kept from being considered total fluff, but it's also definitely on the lighter side of Contemporary. It's a book I'd recommend to pretty much anyone, Contemporary lover or not, because the writing is such spot on and there is something in this story that pretty much everyone will be able to relate to. I'm definitely going to be checking out Sales previous novel and will be watching her for whatever comes next.

I like mini-reviews. I don't do them terribly often, partly because I talk/type too much to be consistent with 'mini' anything, but I also have a lot of books that I would love to spotlight during Just Contemporary, so I'm chearing and doing three.:)

These three books are completely different from each other, and have pretty much nothing in common besides being Contemporary and books that Ashley very much enjoyed and since those are the 'requirements' for posts in November, I'm totally doing it!

It is not even kind of a secret that I love Lisa Schroeder. Like, a lot. I've read all her books, I've loved all her books and I talk about her all the time. But I was a tiny bit nervous to read It's Raining Cupcakes because it's very different from her other books. Not only is it MG, but it's also written in prose, not verse. But, it was a Lisa book and I wanted to read it, so I did. And it was seriously so charming and delightful and just so much fun.
At first I thought it was just going to be a light fluffy book about cupcakes and baking, but there was quite a bit more to the story, which surprised me. Isabel want to enter a baking contest that will get the winner sent to New York. She has always dreamed about going places and this would be an absolute dream come true for her. But her best friend, Sophie, who always seems to get whatever she wants is going to enter too. And Isabel has some great ideas for recipes to send, but her mom, who has just opened up a cupcake shop wants her to submit a cupcake recipe because it would be great publicity. And Mom is heavy on the guilt trip, and Mom is (in Ashley's opinion) depressed (although it's hard to nail down exactly what she is, or how to explain it) and Isabel needs to decide where her priorities lie. And that's something that's hard for a 12 year old to learn, and in this instance, while I totally understood where the mom was coming from, I was also really upset at how selfish I felt she was.
So, this is yet another win from Lisa Schroeder. It's completely and totally different in style, feel, and tone than her other novels but it's definitely worth a read.

Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens is a book that really surprised me. I've always been pretty upfront about the fact that I don't generally read books that are very romance heavy, but I won a copy of this from the author and it just really appealed to me for some reason, so I picked it up and I just loved it! It was exactly what I was in the mood for (how great is it when that happens?!) and it just made me happy. I don't know that I would have liked it so much if I had read it at any other time, but as it stands, I seriously enjoyed it.
It's very definitely a romance novel for teens and the romance is the most important part of the story. But it didn't really bother me this time around. It was a fun book with interesting characters (even if I probably wouldn't want to know a single one of the IRL) and the 'danger' that Ashlyn's father perceives her to be in is just real enough to be believable. But I will say that Ashlyn's dad is a major creeper. He didn't really feel like an overprotective father to me. He felt more like a jealous and possessive lover/ex-boyfriend which seriously igged me out. He's obsessed with her, with keeping her close and making sure that she belongs to him. Seriously — CREEPY!
I will also say that I was initially worried about Colin and Ashlyn falling for each other, because how could you want to be with someone that is not only okay with creeper dad keeping you totally locked up, but being the one who enables the locking up. But Daddy misleads Colin and he is not aware of the full extent of his job until he gets there. He thought he was going to be more bodyguard, less prison guard, which made me feel better about their situation.
I honestly wasn't expecting to like this one as much as I did, but it was the perfect book at exactly the right moment and I had a lot of fun reading it.

Choker by Elizabeth Woods is the most different and the heaviest of these three novels. It's a Contemporary story but it is also a bit of a thriller type. (which are also Contemporary, but seem to get their own genre... Greedy, aren't they). In Choker, Cara is kind of an awkward loner. She hasn't had any really good friends since she moved away from her best friend in 5th grade (or thereabouts) and now she is either ignored or teased by the other kids at school. It's tough being that kid. There's nothing necessarily wrong with her, she's just that shy, quiet kid that no one really talks to. But then her old best friend shows up in her room. Some bad stuff was happening at home and she's run away and come to Cara for a safe haven. They don't tell Cara's parents because Zoe is very probably in some real trouble and doesn't want anyone to know where she is. And then some seriously weird and freaky stuff starts happening.

I was surprised by this book because a lot of it caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting the story to go where it did, and watching the dynamic between Cara and Zoe was very unsettling. Zoe is not a very nice person and although she's the best friend Cara ever had, even Cara is starting to get weirded out by her. Cara is a character that I think people can, at least initially, relate to. She's an outsider with a crush on one of the cutest boys in school, no one notices her and when they do finally start paying attention to her, it's to be mocking and cruel. My heart went out to her, but she definitely makes a bunch of bad decisions.

And then the ending. I kept waiting for something to happen and I thought I knew what it would be. And then, it wasn't. At all. And maybe I should have seen it coming, but I totally didn't and it was definitely one of those, like, whoa moments for me.

If you are looking for something a little out of the norm, this is one that is definitely worth looking into. It's not going to be for everyone, and I get that. But I for one was most definitely a fan.

Break by Hannah Mosowitz is a story about a boy who wants to break every bone in his body. It's a goal he is actively working on because he heard once that a broken bone grows back stronger and he needs all the strength he can get right now.

I'm really kinda torn about my feelings for this book. I want to say right now that overall I genuinely liked the book. It's one I would recommend and, for the most part, I found it to be believable with a believable and realistic main character. I really like books from the male POV and this book does a surprisingly good job.

I want to get my few grievances out of the way, before I move on to talk about the rest of the book and what I did like. My main problem with this book was the (IMO) extreme overusage of the f-word. I don't like a lot of profanity and I try not to use much, but the f-word more than any other bothers me. It's ugly sounding and I... well, I just don't like it. But Jonah uses it all the time, and it didn't feel natural. I know that teenagers swear. I promise. I get it. I've heard it, I know. But the cursing in this book didn't feel like natural swearing from a teenager. It sounded like the author intentionally put as much swearing into the book as she possibly could so that she could show the world how edgy and hardcore she is, because Look! I used the f-word. In defense of her writing, what I've seen of the author herself online gives me the same impression so it's probably more a part of her personality than her writing. But still. I didn't like it.

As for the book itself, I was almost completely a fan. There was some of the book that I wish had been more fleshed out. I felt, more than once, that there were important details that were glossed over. Like money — Jonah is constantly breaking his bones and giving himself concussions and all sorts of injuries, which means lots of medical bills. His brother is severely and deathly allergic to everything, and also spends a lot of time in the hospital, and they just had a new baby, which is not cheap. But in all the conversations about why what Jonah is doing is really bad and hurtful, they never once mention the financial strain it must be putting on his parents. Perhaps they are just ridiculously wealthy, but nothing else in the story made me believe that they were, and it would have been nice to see even one paragraph or even sentence mention that. This really is a small thing and I get that. It's why it didn't take away anything from my overall enjoyment of the story. It's just an example of details being glossed over or skipped and I wish there had been just a little more.

But the premise behind the story is very interesting and one that I found myself really captivated by. Jonah pulls stupid stunts all the time and breaking bones becomes his stress relief. Jonah's thoughts leading up to an accident (well, intentional accident) mirrored what I've seen in novels where the main character is a cutter. It's an extreme form of self harm that he has begun to use to give himself some control of his life and emotions. The kid is having a tough time. He's the older brother and he feels like it's his job to look out for and protect his brother. He has taken the weight of the world on his shoulders and it's a severe strain. Poor Jonah. My heart ached for him.

As for side characters — I thought Hannah did a great job giving these people their own personalities and their own blend of troubles. His brother, Jesse, has a really challenging life. He's so allergic to so many things that even touching some of the stuff could kill him. Jonah's best friend, Naomi, is horrid. I hated her. For the most part, she's actually a pretty great friend. But when Jonah hurts himself, she films it and laughs. I get it, at least in the beginning, you are being supportive of your friend and he's going to do it anyway, so you can drive him to the ER and etc. BUT. Later in the story Jonah starts to realize that this isn't healthy, isn't helping and isn't a good idea. So he tells her he's done. And she won't let it go! She hounds him and begs and cajoles him into realizing that he can't just stop. I wanted to punch her in the face.

There is an interesting psychology behind Jonah's reasons for hurting himself (that I'm not going to spoil) and learning more about what Jonah is thinking about was really interesting and definitely made me think. I wish there had been a little more depth and detail to some of the ending and his realizations as well, but overall, it was a strong debut, one that has definitely piqued my interest. Jonah is a strong and compelling character and the strengths of this novel outweigh any weaknesses. If it's one that has interested you at all, I strongly suggest grabbing a copy and giving it a chance.

But I Love Him by Amanda Grace is a novel that really caught my attention. It's a story about an abusive relationship, which we've been seeing a lot of lately, but the telling of the story is something completely different than what I've seen before. The story is told in reverse chronology. It starts exactly one year after the day they met, with Connor doing some serious damage to Ann and walking out of their apartment, leaving Ann beaten and bloody, trying to decide if this is the moment he's gone too far and it takes us back in time, ending with how they met.

I was really intrigued by the idea of the reverse chronology, but was unsure how it would actually work. But it does. The book is basically told in a series of individual stories, snapshots of various days in their relationship, both good and bad. We see the nice things Connor does to show Ann he loves her and then we see the problem of the day before he was making up for. And interspersed throughout these stories of the past, the present day is still happening and every so often, we get another chapter, get to see more of what is happening now. Ann is bleeding on the floor, surrounding by the pieces of her heart (literally and figuratively, since the image on the cover is completely relevant to the book) and she recognizes that she needs to make some decisions about her life.

Because of the way the story was told, I didn't connect to it the way I have to others and most of the book lacked the urgency of a novel with this subject matter. I was never afraid that Connor was going to go too far, because he already had. And I was never worried about what he might do to her, because we had already seen the after, before we got to the before. But the layout of the book was brilliance. Grace mentioned that she wrote this book because people have a tendency to judge the victims of domestic abuse — why don't you just leave? How could you put up with that? Why didn't you just walk away when he hit you? How could you not see that he's such a jerk? and she took that away from us. We can't pick the place we would have walked away if we are seeing it from the end, because we don't know what's happened yet.

I also don't know that I fully believed the actual nature of their relationship. Connor is domineering and controlling and gets really angry a lot but for some reason, I was never nervous for her physically. Which is weird, considering she starts the book completely battered. But Connor went from a single punch or slap to an all out beating and that just doesn't really seem... normal, I guess.

But, in my opinion, the strongest part of this book was the emotional state of Ann. Even when nothing else was completely believable, I felt very strongly, several times, that Ann's reflections on her life and her self were spot on. She gave us insight into what it's like to be in a situation like that, her thoughts broke my heart more than a few times as she sat on the floor of her apartment, trying to make a choice that will determine the course of the rest of her life. I don't normally use quotes in my review, but there is one line that shows how she's thinking and feeling as well as what thousands of others in her situation had to have felt when they become introspective-

It happened in pieces, tiny little turning points. I'll never figure out when it all turned, because it wasn't a single moment. It doesn't matter how many times I look back, how many times I try to figure it out. There is no before and after. Just a year of choices.

This isn't the best book around an abusive relationship I've ever read, but it is incredibly unique and I feel that it is one that has a good message and intent, even if the full impact isn't quite there, I do think that it's a novel that deserves to be read. I think that this is a novel that everyone will view differently. All books are colored by our own personal experiences, but I feel like this one is very much one that will change drastically based around your life experiences. I haven't known very many people who have been through something like this so I don't know how it relates to someone who has, but even if it's not the strongest example of this story line, it is one that you should watch for. I know I'm interested to see if there will be more by the Grace nomer of Mandy Hubbard.

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson is a book that had been on my radar since its release, but one that I hadn't really put any effort into getting a copy of. But Allison and I have a thing going, where we trade book recommendations and this is one that she pushed on my pretty hard.:) So I bought a copy and a few months later I read it. And guys — Let me tell you what — This is so a book worth gushing over.

I'll admit that it's not the best book I've ever read and it's not perfect. There was quite a bit about the book that I didn't love, quite a bit that annoyed me and some that kinda igged me out. But it didn't matter, because the book was told so incredibly well and the emotional confusion, the pain and turmoil in the mind of Lennie after is sister died was so real and honest and just there. The way this book made me feel what Lennie felt made the annoyances fade into the background. I don't know that I have ever read a book that so perfectly and so completely captures inner turmoil.

Lennie and her older sister Bailey have always been incredibly close. They are that rare type of sister that has also always been friends. My older sister and I are good friends now, but when we were younger, when we lived in the same house, we did not get along at all. But just before the story begins, Bailey dies. Her heart gives out suddenly and Lennie feels completely adrift. She'd been really questioning her place in her own life for a while, and the abrupt loss of her sister sends Lennie into complete confusion. She doesn't really know who she is or how to be without her sister and she's scared and lonely and wants her sister so bad she aches with it.

And then life gets even more confusing. One minute, she and her sister's boyfriend are talking about Bailey and sharing pain and the next they are kissing like their whole souls depend on it. Lennie had never been interested in Toby, could barely see why Bailey wanted him, but when they are together now, it seems like a part of Bailey lives again and Lennie doesn't know what to do. To make it even worse, the new kid at school, Joe, is pretty much perfect for her and she finds herself falling hard and fast and is thrilled because Joe is right there with her.

The story line with Toby was my least favorite. I understand it better now, but it kinda creeped me out to be honest, and it is also one of the reasons that the book wasn't higher on my radar when it first came out. I expected it to be a lot more involved and a lot worse than it was, so I'll say that right now for anyone hesitant to read it for that reason. It didn't happen as frequently as I expected it to. And although they are kissing, it's not as sexual as I expected it to be. It's mostly the two of them so desperate for comfort and understanding from someone else who also loved Bailey that they get confused and their emotions take on inappropriate actions. And it creates problems for them too, it's not just some random side note that happens. It matters, and it helps to explain more about Lennie's emotional state.

The characterization in this book was so completely perfect it amazed me. Every character was unique and whole. There were no half filled roles or caricatures. Each character was given their own depth and reality and I believed in each of them completely. And I do mean all of them. Lennie's grandmother (who raised them) and her Uncle Big are some of the most interesting and hilarious and just plain awesome characters I've ever come across. I can't even begin to describe them, you just have to read it to get it. Even characters we never actually meet are fleshed out and given more depth than I expected. Their mother was a wanderer and left the girls with her mother when Lennie was just a baby and she'e never come back, never made contact again. It very obviously affected both girls growing up although it affected them differently.

There is one last thing that I have to mention, because I loved it so much. Lennie writes notes to and about Bailey and what's she is going through right now on random scraps of paper or garbage and leaves them just lying around. They are never really meant to be seen or read, it is simply Lennie's unique way of grieving. A ot of them are included in the book, along with a note of where they were found and I loved this. It was my favorite individual part of the story. The notes and poems that Lennie writes gives us a greater insight into how Lennie is really feeling and what she needs to heal.

Overall, this is just a wonderfully marvelous book. One of those amazing books whose flaws become irrelevant in the face of the story and I, for one, was completely in love with this book. It is so worth reading. If you have been putting it off, don't. This is Contemporary YA at its finest. There is life and pain and love and hope and it is so real and honest that I can't help but love it.

I do not think that I read enough genuinely funny books. I read Audrey, Wait! a few months ago and I seriously cannot get over how funny and awesome and just, basically, perfect this book was.

It's an almost completely unrealistic storyline — Girl has boyfriend. Boyfriend thinks he's going to be a rock star. Girl breaks up with boy. Boy writes chart topping song about girl. Girl's life becomes an absolute mess of fame and paparazzi and annoying suck because gazillions of people now care about the girl who inspired said song.

Chances are, this is never going to happen to you, or to anyone that you know. You might have all the beginning pieces. There are lots of girls with boyfriends, and even a lot who think they are gonna be rock stars. But how many people have a song written about them that makes them famous? And not even a good famous, but that annoying — all we care about is stalking you and finding out what you wear when you eat breakfast — kind of famous. Probably not gonna happen.

So, how is it then, than Benway has taken this idea that, in all likelihood, is never going to happen to anyone you've ever met and made it into this book that everyone can relate to?? Seriously — it's a legit question. Benway is brilliant. Audrey is just such an honestly written character that, even though I will never be able to relate to the actual scenario she finds herself in, the inner teenage Ashley was totally wishing that we could be friends. Audrey's voice was just so... real. I don't even know how to honestly do justice to this book. It was just so much of the awesome.

The other characters in this book were just as dimensional, and just as well written. Her best friend is initially that best friend that everyone wants, that person who totally gets you and knows what you are thinking almost before you do, that you can tell anything to, do anything with and life between you is pretty much always perfect (until that major humdinger of a fight that you think will never end but ends because you both have really great news and fighting is stupid...) . But as Audrey's fame grows, I felt that the BFF started losing sight of all of that. She's still trying to be a great friend, but she stopped being tuned into what Audrey wanted and instead pushed ahead what she thought Audrey should want, and that kinda pissed me off.

The new boy was also awesomely cute and I just loved watching their relationship start to develop. Her parents were pretty much normal parents too, which is awesome. They are active and interested in Audrey's life, but not over zealous or insane about it (although, once people start stalking her, they naturally become more so) but it is really refreshing to read about parents in a YA novel that could have been mine. And really, although I do know that there are a lot of really crappy parents out there, my experience with life has taught me that most parents really are trying to do the best they can. No parent is perfect, but most of them are awful, nasty, crazy-faces either.

Everything about this book just made me smile inside. From the constant music references (which did make me wish I was more into music than I am) to the snarky inner voice of Audrey to the ridiculous and crazy situations she found herself in over and over, I loved this book. And while the storyline itself was hilarious, the really brilliance of this book is Audrey herself. Watching her grow as a person and watching her understanding of what is truly important in life change was something I absolutely loved. Great character growth is essential for me to love a book and I thought it to be wonderfully done in this book. And not just Audrey grew as a person either. There was a lot of change and development in this story and I loved watching it.

It's a book with layers. Pulling apart those layers and discovering the deeper parts to the story is something that I loved and will definitely read this book again. Discovering depth while laughing your face off isn't something to be taken lightly and this is definitely a book I will recommend lots and lots and read again and again.

Read it. Because dude, it rocks.

Today's Memory Monday post is a bit different from the norm. Rather than taking a specific reading memory, in spirit of Just Contemporary month, I want to spotlight some Contemporary reads for kids that I think could really draw them in and introduce them to the awesomeness that is Contemporary Lit at a young age. And next week, I'm going to list some of my favorite older YA Contemps to pull in those more reluctant/hesitant older readers.:)

Many of these are books that I have mentioned before, some of them even have entire Memory Monday posts already (they are linked). But this is a reference-type list so that all these awesome Contemps for kids are in one place. (There are many more books that fully deserve to be on this list, but I had to have some limits...)

First is Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. This is an older book, and it's actually set even farther back than that. It's never specifically mentioned in a timeline, but I get the feeling that the book takes place somewhere between the 30s and 50s. So while it's not actually Contemporary, it is Realistic fiction and it's the book that changed what reading meant for me. This was the first book that really hit me and taught me that there was more to reading than just a fun story, or words on a page. I had always loved books, but this book is what really taught me what it means to read.

Willo Davis Roberts is another great writer who really appeals to kids. I devoured her books. She made me believe that I could be amazing. The young kids in her stories were always the heroes and the most frightfully amazing things happened to them. It sparked my imagination and I had wildly exciting day dreams and my barbies had the most interesting lives, partly because of these books. (My mom was also terrified that I'd manage to get myself kidnapped because I believed so strongly in these kids, and just knew that I could handle it myself). But she fanned my love of reading and I don't know any kids that don't love to hear about how much smarter kids are than adults... :)

The Babysitter's Club by Ann M. Martin is a series I inhaled. I used to check out 15-20 of these books at a time and have them all back to the library within two weeks, usually faster. They were exciting and real and I so wanted to have my own babysitters club, once I was old enough to babysit. (I started reading them in 2nd grade, so...) The girls in these stories weren't perfect. They lied, fought, made mistakes, and there were always consequences. But they learned from them within their short little stories and became better babysitters, better friends and better people because of them, and I know that some of the lessons I learned in these books helped shape the person I am.

Sharon Creech so totally deserves a place on this list as well. Her stories are about growing up, facing challenges, accepting new experiences and just learning from life. They are told with that frank honesty of a childhood with that raw emotion of true knowledge of life. I can't even begin to describe how strongly I loved Sharon Creech, and still do, actually. Hers are stories that never get old.

Although I didn't read as much of them as my peers did, Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary are both great Contemporary writers. Beverly with her Ramona series and Judy with those Fudge books speak to that younger kid and seem able to use an age appropriate writing style to justify and validate what these kids are going through before they really have the words to explain it themselves.

If the kid in your life is able to handle more mature topics in their stories, I cannot recommend Cynthia Voigt's Tillerman saga enough. I know that I have talked about these books before, but they were a hugely important part of my growing up and formative reading years. I think these books helped me to understand the difference between putting on a brave/false front and true strength. Dicey had to be strong for her siblings. She had to grow up faster than any child ever should and even though I was her age or younger when reading these books, I was so incredibly proud of her.

Maniac Magee by Jerri Spinelli has an element of myth or fantasy to it even though nothing magical or fantastical happens. But the title character of the story has that sort of impact on people, even though he's young. There is much that a kid can learn from this story, but it is also a wonderful story, wonderfully told that will appeal to all sorts of kids, interested in all sorts of reading.

Sonya Sones writes in free verse and, if I'm remembering right, she was my first verse novelist. Her books are geared more in the tween spot, I believe, for those who are no longer children, but still not quite into their teens (11-14 or so). Because of the verse, the books read quickly but the stories lose none of their emotion or depth because of the sparsity of the writing. An easy read for those reluctant to pick up a book but still phenomenal stories.

Shiloh and Hatchet are both well written stories that appeal to younger kids, boys especially. Shiloh is about loving a dog and learning to protect creatures weaker than ourselves (and it's a dog book where the dog doesn't die!!) and Hatchet is a story of wilderness survival and strength.

Betsy Byars writes some fun MG Contemporary and she was my 10 year old brothers very favorite author for a long time (his personal favorite was The Cybil War) and both Andrew Clements and Gordon Korman write some really fun stories as well (I especially loved No Talked and No More Dead Dogs respectively).

Rules by Cynthia Lord is about a young girl whose brother is autistic and she struggles with appearances a lot throughout the novel. But it's a wonderfully sweet story that I absolutely adored. Very deserving of its Newbery Honor.

E.L. Konigsburg writes some very real characters, even if they aren't in very real situations. Like the characters in her Mixed Up Files who end up running away from home and spending the night in a museum (among other things). But her books, especially The View from Saturday were amazing reading experiences for me.

I could go on and on. There are so many wonderful books out there, so much amazing Contemporary for kids. Do you have any favorites? Books that made you love Contemporary as a kid? Contemps that kids you know love? Let me know!! Leave a comment letting me know if you've read any of the books I've listed and/or if you know of any I've missed!

I am going to admit it... Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez is a book I read because I loved the cover. The summary makes it seem like a romance that just happens to be set during a major violin competition. So I was expecting something fairly fluffy and feel good romancy.

Umm. No. Not at all. There is so much more to the story than that. SO very much more. Carmen is an intensely passionate and complex character. She's an amazingly talented violinist, but she's also a teenager, a person, even though she's never really been given the chance to be normal. She's preparing for a huge violin competition, THE big violin competition and she's the favorite to win. But there is one other person who might be able to take the prize from her, a boy from England named Jeremy and Carmen becomes almost obsessed with discovering who he is so that she can determine whether or not she needs to be nervous. And what happens when they begin to get to know each other completely changes Carmen. And not in that annoying — OMG I like, have my first, like, crush, on like, this boy, like you know, he's like, well, like hot and stuff? — way but in a way that makes her question why she's really doing what she's doing and how far is too far in pursuit of dreams.

This book was so much more than I expected it to be and I absolutely loved it. From the teaser at the beginning where Carmen is contemplating dropping her Stradivarius violin off the balcony (!!!! NOOOO!!!) to the very end when the story comes to its ambiguous resolution, I was completely and totally involved in this story and I felt the story, nearly as strongly as if I were living it.

Almost every part of this story was perfectly blended. The side characters and their stories were fully developed and contained just enough detail that I really felt like I knew them as well. I find that I am lacking sufficient eloquence to do this story justice, but believe me, it is worthy of every bit of praise it has received. One of the most complex relationships in this story is that of Carmen and her mother. I am going to be intentionally vague here, because there is much to this story that you must learn on your own, but it is one of the most toxic relationships I have ever seen. On the surface, all seems fine. They have moments were they are just quiet together, being a mother and daughter and basking in the fact that they have a strong bond. And initially, I actually cheered that a parent in a YA novel was a good influence, active and involved in her child's life. But then things start happening that make you wonder at what is going on beneath the surface and I ended the book with absolute disgust and disdain for that mother and not a small amount of hatred.

My first inclining that all was not as well as it seemed was when young 11 or 12 year old Carmen has her first bout of crippling stage fright and, rather than work through it with her, her mother immediately signs her up for anti-anxiety beta blockers, because there's no way she can cope on her own and her career can't take another performance like that one. What type of mother does that?! Has such little faith in the abilities of their child and makes that painfully clear to them?! Carmen develops a psychological dependency on these beta blockers and her mother encourages this, telling her she is no good without them and that if she needs more, to just take more and all things will be fine. And this ends up being a large part of Carmen's struggles later in the novel.

I do wish that more time had been given to Carmen's struggle with addiction, because it is a dangerous and powerful thing. It seemed too easy for Carmen to overcome her dependency, especially given how strongly her mother pushed her to get back on them and that confused me some. I wish it had played a stronger role in the novel but as it stands, it was a stepping stone of sorts to the larger issue at play, which is her relationship with her mother/agent and where that all went wrong.

For most of the novel, Carmen is torn between wanting to be with Jeremy and not feeling like she is able to trust him (there's that mom again). And my heart hurt for her. It's impossibly hard to feel like the person that you are falling for is out to sabotage you. But really, Jeremy was a great person. He's confused as well, trying to reconcile each of the parts of himself into one person and figure out what is truly important in life. Watching the two of them start to learn together was wonderful and challenging and just made my heart happy.

The climax of the novel, which includes Carmen contemplating the destruction of an irreplaceable violin made me so emotional I had a hard time even reading. I was such a mixture of fury, disbelief, pain and fear. Carmen is not in a good place at that point, and I don't blame her. It was devastating to read but so well written.

Martinez really understands how to write a book, how to fully engage the reader and how to make one care completely for the characters within. I am going to be avidly watching Martinez for whatever she comes out with next. There is no way I can use one review to adequately describe every part of this novel that was great, to talk about each of the things that I loved, that really worked for this book. So just take my word for it (and the word of lots and lots of others who have also loved this one) and go read it. This is one time when even that stunning cover isn't enough for the brilliance of the story within. So seriously guys. Read this book.

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert was a novel I had very high hopes for. When the first novel you read by an author easily makes the top 5 books read this year, you expect a lot.

I asked Stephanie to take part in Just Contemporary month, and because she is awesome, she said yes. I knew that I wanted to read Joey Ramone to review it around the same time I posted her interview, so I did. And, in case you are wondering whether or not it lived up to my expectations, here is (and I quote) what my GR initial review was once I finished the book:

DUDE. Stephanie — THOU ART GENIUS and I am now basking in your glow.

Our main character, Emily, feels music intensely, with every part of her body. It's just her and her dad, because her mother walked out on them when Emily was 4 months old and has had no contact with any of them since then. Her father told Emily that her mom left to follow the music and that's what Emily has grown up believing. And so when the music begins to call to her as well, she embraces it, body and soul and the music gives life. She starts a band with her absolute best friend (the daughter of her mother's best friend, actually) and her friend Regan's crush, Tom. And although the road is rocky getting there, the three of them make amazing music together that the people love.

This book read a little bit like a love letter from Stephanie to Punk Music. And I loved it. I will be the first to admit that I'm not a music junky. I love music, but I don't actively seek out new songs or bands and I often go days without listening to any. (I don't even own an ipod...) . But reading this book made me desperately wish that I felt the music the way Emily does and the way that I suspect Stephanie does as well. The descriptions of the concerts and the sounds and the heightened emotions just sunk into my blood and made me wish that I had been old enough to truly appreciate the Punk revolution in the 90s. (I was in elementary school then. A bit young to be moshing).

Music was a huge part of the story, and it could have been a story on it's own, but the true complexity of the story, what makes it more than another story about kids loving music is the story of Emily and her mother, Louisa. As the book progresses, we learn more about what made Louisa leave and how it eats at her, little by little every day that she is gone. She has not led an easy life since leaving and every decision makes her feel worse and worse and less and less worthy to ever rejoin her family. My heart hurt a little for Louisa, even though I found myself to be incredibly angry at her. I have a really hard time with people who walk out on their family and I tend to be a very harsh judge. So I was quite surprised to find myself feeling compassion for Louisa instead of just disdain. (Don't worry, that was there too, but my feelings were far more complex than that). She convinced herself that she was doing what was ultimately best for her daughter and she never let them see her looking back.

Emily grew up not knowing much about her mom. It's really hard for her dad to talk about it (he still wears his wedding ring) and Emily has convinced herself that she doesn't need a mother and that she doesn't even miss her or care that she's gone. But that pain lingers. When a parent leaves you, whether you ever knew them or not, it changes you and it's pretty much always going to be a part of you. That pain and anger and confusion slips into her music and fuels a large part of her passion. And it broke my heart completely. I cry a lot in books where people die, but I don't often usually cry at other places. But this book, this one made me choke up more than a few times as Emily was struggling internally with her emotions and facing demons she wished didn't even exist.

As much as I loved this book overall, I do have to admit, I was a little (or okay, a lot) concerned by the very casual and completely destructive drug and alcohol abuse in just about every character. Almost all of the main characters have some serious substance abuse problems and aside from two scenes, it's never really portrayed as a problem. It's just what you do in Rock & Roll. Which I understand. It was a huge part of the music scene, especially that punk/grunge era. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a problem. And it was, IMO, far too easy for the characters who did realize they had a problem to just 'fix' it. Addictions aren't really that easy to kick. That's why they are addictions.

But even that wasn't enough to dampen how much I liked this book. Part of that is because I recognize that as a personal choice/preference. But either way, this is a powerful story about growing into yourself, accepting who you are, and loving music. This is another of those books that keeps going for me. I can't stop thinking about what choices each character might make next, where they might go, what they might say or do. And while the book did give you a sense of closure, the story of these characters is by no means over. There is a long way yet for them to go and I, for one, hope that getting there is smoother than their previous journey.

This book has cemented something that I had strongly suspected after reading Ballads. I will read anything, anything that Stephanie will write. She has this way with words that just seeps into your mind and soul, filling your thoughts and popping up at odd moments saying Don't forget about me. As I mentioned before, Stephanie, Thou Art Genius.

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick is, without a doubt, one of the most moving, touching, heartfelt stories of life and grief and pain and love that I have ever read.

Steven is a pretty normal 8th grader. He plays the drums (quite well actually) has a crush on the super hot girl that doesn't even know who he is, he's a little awkward around girls, because he's just now beginning to hit that GIRL! stage and although he loves him, he's often really annoyed by his younger brother Jeffrey. (I believe their ages are 13 and 5, respectively).

But then, Jeffrey gets diagnosed with Leukemia and Steven's whole world changes. His mom is never home anymore because she spends all her time in and out of hospitals with Jeffrey and is always exhausted and his dad doesn't know how to talk about any of it, so he kind of shuts down (shutting Steven out, when he needs his dad the most) and Jeffrey is hurting and confused and can't understand why he can't jump and play and be normal anymore. But the kid is a trooper, and my heart broke for all of them.

This book slayed me. Seriously. I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea, but I took this book to work to read during down time and cried. The whole time. I had to put the book down over and over because I couldn't keep the smarting from my eyes. And at a few points, I was just straight up crying. (I had at least 3 people who came into my room ask me what was wrong/if I was okay...)

Steven has a lot to deal with. 8th grade is a tough time for anyone, so many changes internally and externally and you are reaching that stage where you want people to treat you more like an adult but you are still pretty much just a kid. And Jeffrey is that perfect 4/5 year old. He's insanely adorable, absolutely worships his big brother and doesn't really understand boundaries. (But I wanted to play with your stuff, why can't I?!) And even though there are a lot of times that Steven is seriously annoyed by his little brother (like Dangerous Pie...) he absolutely loves his and that, above all things, is what this book is about. It's about that special bond of love between brothers and watching an 8th grade boy step up and grow up so that he can be there for a tiny confused boy who doesn't understand why his body won't do what he needs it to anymore.

Steven is my hero. Seriously. If I have a son, I want him to be like Steven. It would not be easy to be in his shoes. But I don't know how to express enough that he is such a great person. More than once, the things that he did for his brother made me cry. There is just so much love in this book that it fills you up completely. And Jeffrey was so stinkin adorable. I love little kids and he is just an absolute doll. He's a brave little kid, but he's scared too and Steven helps him so very much.

I cannot express in enough ways or enough times how amazing this book is. The writing is perfect, the emotions honest and real. And it's not all good either. There are moments when Steven is resentful or angry about what's happening to him and a few moments when something with Jeffrey will take the spotlight away from him or keep him from getting something he desperately wants. But, even will those feelings of anger or resentment, he's also always aware that Jeffrey needs him to be better than that. He makes some really grown up decisions and I was so incredibly proud of him.

Seriously you guys, read this book. It's been a while since I read this book, a few months at least and I still get a little teary eyed when I talk about it. (not even lying. I convinced my friend to buy it the other day when I got a little choked up while holding a copy). It's amazing. And although it's a hard book to read, (any book that deals with the potentially fatal illness of a five year old boy is going to be a toughy) it is so worth it. So worth it. Because it's real and raw and honest and beautiful. There is more to the story than just these two. Both of his parents face the situation in their own way and need help at times remembering that their older son didn't stop needing parents just because the younger needs them more, the school and community and Steven's friends all play a role in the story as well. But ultimately, it is the story of love between these two brothers and if I had to identify the overall theme of this book, it would be love.

I have never read a book quite like this before and if you haven't read it, you are missing out. It is a beautiful book. One that will make you laugh and cry and ache and cheer and be grateful for the experience. So people, read this book. It is one that should not be missed.

Yesterday, I posted an interview with Jay Asher. It was an awesome interview and asking the questions I did and reading his responses brought back a lot of memories. (You can read it here and enter to win a signed copy!!) I read Thirteen Reasons Why a few years ago, back in my last year or so of college and I loved it. It was such an intensely emotional read and it just buzzed around in my brain for days.

It has been a while since I read this book, at least 2 years I would say and so I'm a little fuzzy on specific details in the story. But I remember this book vividly. I remember picking it up because I had heard a lot of talk about it and it seemed like my kind of story. I remember reading it and not being able to stop. Once I started I just had to keep reading and reading. And, I also remember begging, pleading in my mind for Asher to have thought of some way for it to only have been a fake suicide, so that Hannah could come back at the end of the novel because by the time I closed the book I was so in love with her and I just ached so terribly for her and wanted so desperately for there to be something that could be done to make things better for her.

Asher is a gifted and brilliant writer and the idea of a young girl sending tapes to her tormentors so that they would know what role they played in her suicide is something I had never given thought of. It is so much most impactful than a note, but it is also something rather vindictive and, as much as it should (and does, a little) shame me to admit this, it is something that really appeals to me. If I were in Hannah's place, driven to death by the tormenting actions of my peers, I would want them to spend every day for the rest of their lives with that knowledge. And some of Hannah's tormentors completely deserve that. They are horrid. But many of them probably never gave any further thought to the events that devastated Hannah so thoroughly. They were basically good, normal kids who had a moment of cruelty or disinterest and never understood how their actions affected someone on such a deep level.

I feel like that is true for a lot of people. We have no way of knowing where a person is at, what their struggling or trials are, what triggers melancholy, or even if they are the type of person to be inclined towards suicide. We have no way of knowing and we also have no way of knowing the true impact of our actions toward others. What seems like a tiny moment of fun for one person can end up being something so monumentally damaging to another that they never forget it. I loved that this book expounded on that, that this book shows us what Hannah went through and what Hannah perceived. Perception is a huge part of this story and it touches everything.

The characterization in this novel was completely perfect. Hannah is telling her story through these tapes to her tormentors and Clay is devastated to realize he is on the list. He liked Hannah, really liked her and things almost seemed as if they might start between the two of them. As he walks through the town, listening to Hannah tell her story, ending up in the places Hannah describes, my eyes burned for him. I wanted to just reach out and hug him, because that would be unbelievably hard. I was terrified for his turn on her tapes because Clay had no idea what he could have done, so neither do we. And, as if the fact that he is listening to her again, hearing all the pain and hurt she faced, he spends half the tapes scared and wondering what he could have done to Hannah, crushed that he was a part of her pain.

I know that this review is a little bit all over the place, but seriously you guys, this book does that to a person. It has been years since I read this book, but it's still vivid in my mind and thinking about the book again is playing havoc with my emotions. This is a book that is uncomfortable to read and is going to make you stop and look at your own life, make you wonder if you have ever been that person, the one to say something snide or intentionally hurtful and forget about it, not knowing the impact it had on the other person.

So go out and read this book. It is a book that has a lesson for everyone and I cannot think of anyone that wouldn't benefit on some level from reading this book. It's not by any means an easy read. Its challenging, painful and will freaking rip your heart out and mangle your soul. It's the type of book that changes a person. So read it. Seriously. Go and do it now. And I dare you to not be moved.

I was not at all prepared for Moonglass by Jessi Kirby. It looks kinda like a fairly lighthearted Contemporary about a girl who is spending the summer on the beach. And, most of the reviews I had read of the book didn't quite dispel that. They mentioned that the book had more depth than they were expecting, but I mean, come on... When you expect the emotional impact of jellyfish, it's not that hard to be surprised.

But that is lies!

This book was amazing. Anna is having a really hard time. She has to move — start at a new school and leave all her friends behind because her dad just got a job transfer — back to the beach where her parents first met. Her mom committed suicide years ago and Anna isn't really sure why her dad would want to go back to that beach. She knows that the beach is going to bring back memories for her father, but she also senses that it's going to carry them for her as well, if she can only figure out how to unlock them. And it's hard.

Anna is such a perfect character. Not because she's without fault but because she is real. She hurts, she disobeys her dad but (mostly) still wants and tries to be a good daughter, crushes on cute guys, wants to make friends... She is the every teen but she is also completely herself. There is something compelling about this young girl, trying to accept and come to terms with the loss of her mother. And there is a lot to work through there, much more than we know about in the beginning.

The side characters are also wonderfully complex. While their relationship isn't perfect (she is, after all, a teenager) Anna and her dad have a strong relationship and it is obvious that he cares about her and legitimately wants what is best for her and he wants her to be happy. And he does what he thinks he can to make life easier and better (although he is, very definitely, still a dad.) Can I just take a moment to say Yay! for an awesome, concerned and involved parent in YA!!

Tyler was also a perfectly blended addition to the story. As the love interest, he is a natural part of Anna's life but he didn't overwhelm the story. This is a book that has a romance in it, but is not a romance itself, which is how I prefer my stories to be. I feel like so many books right now are just all about the romance, and it was a nice change reading a book where the story itself didn't revolve around the love interest and would, in fact, still be a story without him. Also, the friends from school Anna makes — endearingly ridiculous Ashley and dedicated runner Jillian (who is fighting her own inner demons) also help to give the story strength and reality. And Kirby adds so much to the setting and the characters within the setting, like the other lifeguards and the Crawler that it is impossible not to believe that this is a real place.

It really is such a beautifully strong novel, and I absolutely love the quote used on the back cover. I think it perfectly describes the emotion of the book. It just feels right.

"I read once that water is a symbol for emotions. And for a while now I've thought maybe my mother drowned in both."