Homecoming 

by Cynthia Voigt

Who abandons their own children in the mall parking lot and never returns?  Their mother did, that's who.  The Tillerman children, Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sammy, found themselves abandoned in their family's car.  If they want to stay together and not be found out, or they will be taken and separated, they must keep moving.  They must continue their journey from Connecticut to Bridgeport to their great-aunt Cillia's house. Dicey, being the oldest at just 13, must figure out a way for them to survive on what little money they have, which won't be easy with 4 mouths to feed with $11.00 just on their first night they spend $4 and are left with $7, and still nowhere near where they need to be. They somehow make it to their destination, after a long trip and a few stops, but are faced with more disappointments, will they be able to survive and still be together? 

Perfect Chemistry 

by Simone Elkeles

This is your typical love story between the girl who seems like she has it all, Brittany Ellis, and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, Alex Fuentes.  It does not start like that, these two couldn't be more different, so they thought. Her family is rich and lives in a big house, while he's in a gang only to protect his family, and lives in a small house where he shares his room with two of his younger brothers.  How do they end up together, you ask, chemistry of course--the class that is, when they are partnered by the teacher to work on an assignment.  We will learn that Brittany's life is not as perfect as it seems and that this is not the life Alex would have chosen for him had he had other options.  This is a nice story, yet the writing of the characters is a bit stereotypical, and a kind of cheesy ending.  Read what brings these two different characters together and will their love survive the test of time?

In a Heartbeat 

by Loretta Ellsworth

During a figure-skating competition, a small mistake ends Eagan's life.  Well for her, her heart lives on in Amelia's body.  When, a usually soft spoken and polite, 14-years old Amelia hears of the news that she has been waiting for what seems like forever she feels guilty since she knows the only way for her to get a heart was for someone to die.  She is happy yet can't help feeling guilty. She is very grateful for the new healthy heart and a second chance at life, at doing things she never thought she could, something as small as going down the stairs at her house, for which she had to use a specially installed chair that took her up and down.  But when she begins to crave things she never had before, such as grape juice, and screams at her mom, which is so out of character for her, she knows she has to find out more about the donor. She has to do this for her and for the person whose heart lives in her.  This novel is all about second chances and loss narrated by both Eagan and Amelia, and is full of surprises. I enjoyed it a lot but I think that's because I like novels by Lurlene McDaniel.

Keesha's House 

by Helen Frost

Keesha's house is a place that kids go to when they need somewhere safe to stay.  It is a place that Keesha went to when she needed a safe place.  The stories of teenagers: Keesha, Stephie, Jason, Carmen, Dontay, Harris, and Katie are told in verse style.  Keesha ran away from home and her verbally abusive alcoholic father and found comfort in what is known as 'Keeshas house' but in reality it is Joe's house, who has a big house and a soft spot for teenagers in trouble since it reminds him of when he was cared for when he had nowhere to go.  Keesha stays there and helps kids who are going though their own issues and houses them until they can sort things out on their own.  Stephie who finds herself pregnant and Jason who is her boyfriend, they must make hard decisions between becoming parents or following their dreams of a college and better life.  Carmen who is waiting for a judge to hear her case, after getting arrested for DUI.  Harris who was disowned by his father because he is gay.  Katie who is angry at her mother's loyalty to an abusive boyfriend.  Dontay who is in foster care while his parents are in jail.  How did they all get there and what will happen to them?  

Matched 

by Ally Condie

This novel is a dystopian novel, it is set in futuristic world where the Society controls everything and where everything and everyone is equal.  Cassia, and everyone in the Society, which is utopian/dystopian, trusts for it to make the right choices for them, choices such as: what to eat, what to read, what to watch, what to believe, and so on.  They are trapped in this society, very true to the cover of the book, but by choice.  That is until her 'matching ceremony.'  This is when Society chooses someone for you as a match, according to your psychological and physical profile.  Cassia, to her relief, is matched with her best friend Xander, but at that second another face, Ky's, flashes at the screen and before the screen turns off.  What does this mean? Is the Society wrong about her match, what about everything else they chose for them everyday?  Ky, who is from the Outter Providence which is where people do not follow the rules of the Society.  What is Cassia to do, should she follow the Society or dare to follow the path that is out of the question and no one else has dares to go down?  Being with Xander is not bad, they are best friends and he loves her so much and will do just about anything for her, but Ky the unknown rebel, who will she choose?  It was interesting, but not my cup of tea, I just wanted to have one different book in here than what I usually read. I am open to all books but have my favorite genres, who doesn't?

The Ghost and the Goth 

by Stacey Kade

This is a humorous ghost story. We have the character of Alona Dare, the most popular, fashionable, beautiful, senior, voted homecoming queen 3 years in a row, co-captain of the cheerleading squad, "IT" girl of her high school; that is until she is dead.  Hit by a bus full of band geeks no less.  Even though she is dead she does not seem to leave this life for the afterlife or wherever she must go. She is surprised to see that her 'best friends' do not even seem to really care that she is gone, in fact her closest friend is already making a move on her boyfriend.  It cannot get worse than this, to be stuck here to see all of this happening and everyone moving on with their lives unaffected by her death.  The only person who might be able to help her is Will Killian, who according to Alona is a total loser and an outcast, but beggars can't be choosers.  That is if Will is willing to help her.  Will can see, hear, and touch ghosts and life for him sucks, especially after he saw Alona, the homecoming queen.  Once Alona realizes this, there is no way she is going to leave him alone until she gets what she wants.  Will she trust Will with her secrets, and with another ghost trying to kill Will, how can Alona help him? If these two opposites stop hating each other and trust one another, they might be able to help each other.  This book is full of surprises and each will see a part of the other they would have never seen otherwise. People are not who they seem to be at first sight; by the end of the book you will be rooting for this couple. 

Hate List 

by Jennifer Brown

Five months ago Valerie's boyfriend Nick opened fire in their school, killing classmates and a teacher, in the craze of the shooting Valerie got shot as well.  She is a victim of the shooting just like everyone else in the school yet she is being questioned in the crime because of the list she and Nick made of people and things they hated, the list that had apparently become Nick's target list. She didn't mean to, did she? It was just for them to take out their anger on, the list, it was not a 'hit list', was it? Had it always been that? Valerie is confused, with the whole thing, the shooting, the fact that she still loves Nick, and if she ever really knew who Nick was.  She must return to the same school, the halls, the students, and this time she does not have Nick to protect her from the cruel bullies.  I liked this book, it deals with bullying and if not dealt with what it may lead to, which is a sad but true. Is Valerie a victim? Was Nick? The last chapters are very emotional.

Thirteen Reasons Why 

by Jay Asher

When Clay Jenson sees the package addressed to him, he gets excited.  Once opened he finds tapes, once he hears the voice on the tapes, is when he is shocked.  The voice of Hannah Baker, Clay's crush.  Hannah, the girl Clay had a crush on for as long as he can remember, a girl he went to school with, the girl who worked at the local movie theater with him, who Clay thought had changed in the last months, the same Hannah Baker who had committed suicide two weeks ago. You will find yourself finishing this emotionally draining book in a day, just like Clay finishes listening to all 13 sides of the tapes, just to know "Why?"  Hannah has 13 reasons why she did what she did and they are the ones the tapes are being sent to.  Clay, with the rest of you once you get to know him, will be wondering why he is on the list.  You will feel for Clay, for Hannah, be mad at Hannah, why did she chose to take her life, surely there was another way?  This book is very emotional.  I personally LOVED this book, let me know what you thought of it.  

Wintergirls 

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Lia and Cassie have been friends since they were little girls, now each with their own eating disorder and in competition with one another to see who can be thinner. Lia, at 18, anorexic cutter who feels guilty for not being able to save Cassie, bulimic, even though they were technically not friends anymore.  Cassie was found in a shady motel room, by herself, dead on the night that she had called Lia 33 times but Lia never answered.  Now she is left with the guilt and the voice mails her former friend left on her cell phone before she died.    Could Lia have saved Cassie had she answered her phone, and how did Cassie die?  She lets her guilt take her down a dangerous path of self-destruction, she pretends like she is ok and makes sure to make her family believe this too.  She goes as far as drinking crazy amounts of water before weighing-ins and sewing quarters into her robe so it adds weight to her own weight, which keeps going down.  Is it too late to save her life does she even want to?

Breaking Night:A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and my Journey from Homeless to Harvard

by Liz Murray

This is the real life story of Liz Murray who went from being a homeless at the age of 15 to getting accepted into Harvard. This is an emotional page turner, powerful and a very motivational story for anyone to read.  It is a great read for teenagers who do not think they have what it takes to turn their lives around, it shows that if you want something so bad, nothing in life can stop you, except you yourself. The things she has been through in her life, and if she can make it anyone can.  

Liz Murray was born in 1980 to drug addicted parents, who later contracted HIV.  They couldn't even take care of themselves, any money they had went to drugs, how were they supposed to take care of Liz and her older sister Lisa.  She writes that drugs were the 'wrecking ball' that destroyed her family.  So she dropped out of school by the time she was 15 she ended up on the streets homeless and by herself and depended on some friends for shelter.  After her mother died she realized that in order for her to have any sort of a normal life she needs education.  So the girl who hated school enrolled to get her high school diploma instead of a GED.  She eventually graduated high school in a matter of 2 years instead of the 4, she had teachers who were rooting for her.  The book ends with her waiting and about to receive her acceptance letter to Harvard University. Read the book if you would like to know more about what Liz Murray has been through and how she came out of it on top.  It is amazing how she never plays the victim card, or blame her family for the life she has, in fact it is not until she is safe in her own apartment getting ready to enroll that she allows herself to grieve over the way she was raised.

This blog is created for a course I am taking towards my master's degree, Trends & Issues in Literature for Children and Young Adults.  The books on the blog are some of my favorite ones I picked from the books we were assigned to read, which were a lot and I wish we had more time to read all of them.  I think I realized, by the book lists help, that I gravitate towards certain books that deal with YA Gritty & Edgy novels and novels where the character is in between worlds dead but not gone yet.