Here are the second set of books I perused during the SATs yesterday.THE MISSING GIRL by Norma Fox Mazer. Ever since UP IN SETH'S ROOM, which I was obsessed with in high school (oh, to have a smokin' hot, older boyfriend with...you know...a ROOM!) I have loved Norma Fox Mazer. She recently passed away and her last book is a good one. So good, in fact, that it is kind of freaking me out, and I am a little scared to keep reading! I will, of course, because I have to know what happens when one of the five Herbert sisters goes missing. And the creepy guy who is going to take her (which one is he going to take???) is gearing up for something icky. Pins and needles, my friends, that is what I am on.
GOOD GIRLS by Laura Ruby. Oh dear, Audrey gets her picture taken in an indelicate position without her knowledge. It gets passed around school and all hell breaks loose. I am irritated by the cover of this book (which is inaccurate and creepy) and the jacket copy (too breezy) which make it look like less than it is. (Although I understand the need to market it, blah blah blah... Harper usually does SO much better with their covers.) But the book itself is fantastic. Audrey is likable and usually level-headed. Except when it comes to Luke, a (barely) friend-with-benefits. This book depicts the dark side of technology (Damn you - cell phone cameras!) and the upside of friends who will stick by you. Am I going to finish it? Oh, you know me so well... Put it on the pile!
I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME by Lisa Schroeder. I am just going to put it out there - painful title. However, the book is sweet and sad and lovely. (And the cover is beautiful. And the jacket copy is just the right amount of clever.) This novel in poems about a girl who loses her boyfriend in an accident is slight, but moving. I read this in less than 30 minutes, I should get a free pizza or something. (I am, however a very fast reader.) I should have read it more slowly to enjoy the language, but I really wanted to get the story. There is a nice bit of mystery and a whole lot of romance. I think this might just be a summer reading book this summer.
ALL SOULS by Christine Schutt. I will admit it, I am a big wimp. I just can't bear to read a book about a parent losing a child. This book came highly recommended. When I was flipping through, I found a near perfect scene describing a teen dad on the subway that nearly broke my wee little heart when I thought of the rest of the story. (Affluent girl, dying slowly, everyone freaking out.) Did you ever read TAFT by Ann Patchett? That one snuck up on me... Anyway - so I barely read this one. But I will someday. Wow, this is a non-review - go read SLJ's. They loved it!
SCRATCH BEGINNINGS: ME, $25, AND THE SEARCH FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM by Adam Shepard. After graduating from Merrimack College, Shepard hit the road to see if he could go from homeless guy to contributing member of the work force by using his wits and the safety net available to anyone. He did it as a response to Barbara Erihrich's slightly snotty, but well intentioned NICKLED AND DIMED. I only got as far as page 27, and while the writing is kind of workmanlike, the story has really got me hooked! This might be a summer reading pick.
Huzzah! Time for more coffee.
2 comments:
Isn't Good Girls fab? I love it when a book is MORE than I expected.
Another of my [one million] favorite experiences at ALA Annual last summer was when, after the excellent session on reading that I dutifully attended had ended, I wandered into the tail end of a session on Teens and Sex that was next door. And a woman was talking on the panel. And it was--Laura Ruby!
Now I have to read The Missing Girl. I also LOVED "Up in Seth's Room". I read that book "Discovering Norma Fox Mazer" (or whatever it was) and they posted that great question -- what the heck were Seth and Finn doing out in that field in the very last chapter if it wasn't sex?
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