The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

Meet Prenna and Ethan. Two teens from two different time periods. Prenna is from the future (year 2087) and Ethan is from the present. Prenna has a list of rules to follow and people that are in charge and watch every move she makes. She immigrated to New York when she was twelve from a future that was ravaged by a pandemic caused by the mosquito. Ethan was the young boy that saw her entrance into the world and hasn’t been able to get her out of his mind for years, that is until she sits down in front of him in Pre-Calc.

There is a magnetic pull that Prenna and Ethan feel for each other, yet Prenna must abide by the rules of not falling in love or being intimate with anyone outside of her own community. This is an engaging yet somewhat somber story about the possibilities of our future. Can Prenna make the changes to save the future? And can Ethan help her?

Written by Ann Brashares, the author of the fabulous coming of age series, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, this is a very different story. An exhilarating yet haunting and heartbreaking look into the future. The story was gripping at times and it was definitely a book I couldn’t put down, but it also really brings up issues that we need to think about as we head into the future of the 21^st century.

     “There is Earth Day and all kinds of green products that make people feel good- as though organic        cotton sheets and hemp socks are going to do the trick. But nobody does the hard things. Not if it          costs them anything. Nobody calls for any real sacrifices. Politicians aren’t very brave. I mean,              eventually they will demand sacrifices-they’ll have to, there will be no choice- but by then it will be        too late.“ (pg. 166)

This is a recommended read for Sci-Fi and Dystopian readers. Recommended for ages 12 and up. Look for this book on sale April 8^th! It is one not to miss!

A Part to Play by Jennifer Fry

“She was lost, where all she could see, all she could hear, was him. The music filled every part of her; the holes left by her parents and Kate.” 

Lucy was an ordinary teenager until the accident, BA (before accident). She had a wonderful older sister, Kate, who she adored and admired. Then suddenly Kate has a terrible car accident and dies. Lucy’s family just stops and life can’t seem to go on without her sister Kate. Lucy’s mother falls apart and her parents separate. Lucy feels the blame for her sister’s death like she should have been the one in the car; she should have been the one to die. Subsequently, Lucy is shipped off to a Performing Arts boarding school where she tries to deal with her grief. Lucy comes close to getting expelled from school when suddenly she finds a young muse, a talented musician, who she falls in love with. Through this love she recreates her love for acting and finds the ability to push through the pain and the nightmares. But at what cost? Unfortunately as her relationship begins to become much more intense with this young man they both struggle to become their own people and Lucy begins to lose herself.

This is a heart-wrenching story with raw emotion and real characters.  I couldn’t put this book down. I laughed and I cried throughout the story. A Part to Play is a beautiful coming of age story about a young girl who has loved and lost and the power she finds deep inside of herself to put her life back together again.  There are many wonderful themes including romance, family problems, bullying, and death.

I would recommend this story for Grades 7 and up.  This book is available in eBook format as well as paperback, and audio. This would make a wonderful present for your favorite teen this holiday season. Check out this young new Marin author, Jennifer Fry. 

Book Trailer

Author website

Twitter: https://twitter.com/frygurl

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Audible

Time Between Us By Tamara Ireland Stone

This is a very unique love story between two 16 year-olds during two different time periods and in two different cities. Anna and Bennett are meant to be together or are they? Bennett lives in 2012 in San Francisco but he has the ability to travel through time and space which accidentally brings him into Anna’s life, which is 1995 in Evanston, Illinois. He shows up on day on the track while she is running and yet she doesn’t know him but she feels like she does. But then he literally disappears. That same day he appears again in school, right behind her in Spanish class. She knows he must be the same guy, but why is she so drawn to him. As their relationship builds, Bennett tells Anna the truth about himself, and as they fall in love they wonder if their love can withstand the test of time? But with this new love brings adventures and many possibilities. But the biggest question is can fate keep these two together?

This first time author has created a very romantic love story between two very normal fun-loving teenagers. A book that I promise you won’t be able to put down. The dialogue is fresh and realistic. And then once you finish the story you will want to go back and reread some of the chapters just to confirm that understood the ending.

A wonderful read for grades 7 and above. I loved this book!

To learn more about this new author, check out her blog at Tamara Ireland Stone

To view the book trailer Time Between Us

every day

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“Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.”

Every Day by David Levithan is one of the most captivating teen love stories that I have read in a very long time. It is a complex story that takes the reader into the unknown. Levithan has created a beautiful, well-written story about life and how it changes from one moment to the next. The story has a science fiction twist in that the main character, called “A”, isn’t really a boy or a girl. We are lead to believe that he is a boy but we aren’t sure. Everyday “A” wakes up in a different teenager’s body, boys and girls, rich and poor, ugly and beautiful. “A” experiences their life for just 24 hours and then goes to sleep to wake up in another body the next day. But while “A’s" soul skips around from body to body he falls in love with a young girl name Rhiannon. Suddenly “A” can’t enjoy the rules of his life anymore and has found someone that he wants to spend everyday with, but can he? This is an unbelievable story people and their lives: the good, the bad, and the ugly. This is a story that makes you think about your own life.

This fabulous teen and adult read makes the reader really think deeply about how we love and how we judge people by our looks on the outside, not always what is on the inside. This story makes you think about what it would be like to be someone else even for a day. It is a very thought provoking, creative, imaginative story. A great recommendation!

Grades 8^th and above.

Check out this wonderful e-book

Cousins Forever is such a sweet book for young adults, grades 7-9^th. It is about everyday life in the world of 15 year-olds. It is a coming of age story but also full of real teenage situations. Most importantly, this story is about family. The author really shows the reader the importance of family as well as the importance of respecting one another’s differences.

The story begins with 15 year-old Lainey’s eccentric cousin from California and Aunt decide to move in. Her sister is away at college and suddenly her cousin with candy apple red-hair is sharing a room with her. Lainey doesn’t know why her cousin Tick and her Aunt Trudy have left California to come live clear across the country. And Lainey isn’t sure her closest friends are even going to like Tick. Tick is the complete opposite of  Lainey, she enjoys drama and she likes to get into trouble. How is Lainey going to survive having her cousin at school and in her house? A wonderful story by Dalya Moon that is very current in how teenagers interact with some subtle but important messages for young readers.

Some great teen reads

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Wonder by RJ Palacio

A very powerful read, yet one that I would highly recommend for kids in grades 6-8^th. This is a story about a young boy that has been born with some serious malformations of his face due to a genetic disease. Yet inside he is a very normal 5^th grade boy. Like we always say in life, don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t judge a person by his/her face. This is a story with many lessons in it; this is a story that can provide for many conversations in a classroom. This is a story about life, for good or for bad. But mostly it is a story about kindness. I highly recommend this remarkable book!

The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Another powerful yet soulful story that I would recommend for teens, grades 8^th and up. This is a story about cancer, cancer in teenagers. It is about life, death, and love. Hazel is 16 with terminal cancer when she meets Augustus at her kids-with-cancer support group the two fall in love. The only caveat is they both don’t know how much longer they each have. A deeply moving story that will make you laugh and cry at the same time.  A powerful story written by an amazing author, a New York Times bestseller as well as a Printz Medal and Honor and the Edgar Award.

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Macker

This is not only a great story for teens, but also a quick easy read for those of us who were teenagers during the mid-1990’s. It is a story that shows us what life was like when the Internet just became popular. When AOL sent discs in the mail so that everyone could go online and sign up for an AOL email account. Remember those days? Now think ahead, what would life been like in the 1990’s if you could see into the future, “Facebook” future. This is a story about two teenagers, Josh and Emma, that suddenly see into the future after logging onto their AOL account and find facebook 15 years later. They see what their life might be like. For good or for bad. a cute story that really shows us how Facebook has changed our lives.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

This is a very powerful book about teen suicide full of suspense and emotion. Hannah Baker is dead but before taking her life she talked about the reasons why she wanted to die and recorded them onto cassettes that she later sent out to the young people in her life she felt responsible for her death.  When Clay Jensen receives the box of her tapes in the mail he doesn’t want to have anything to do with the tapes. He feels her secrets should be buried with her but instead he begins listening to the tapes and his life is changed forever. This is truly a book that you will never get out of your mind but at the same time a book that probably has saved many lives as well. The author has created a story that many teens and parents should read on such an important topic. 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This month on March 23^rd, the popular teen novel, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins will be released nationwide as one of the biggest films to hit the screens since Harry Potter. While this story takes place in the not so distant future, it shows the U.S. as a collapsed world weakened by drought, famine, fire, war as well as a corrupt government. The world has now been divided into 12 districts with one capital and each year, two young teenagers are representatives from each district where they participate in the Hunger Games. It is similar to a reality show, although the stakes are much higher. You fight until the death and only one survivor remains. This is a story, the first in a trilogy, where a young 16-year-old girl, Katniss, volunteers herself to participate in the games in order to save her younger sister who has been originally chosen for the games. This is a story not only of survival but also of friendship and love. The recommended reading level for this book is for grades 7 and up.

As we have seen with everything else, once a book has gained immense popularity someone usually buys the rights and makes it into a movie, so there is no surprise that this best selling novel published by Scholastic that has over 16 million copies in print just in the U.S. has developed a massive following. "The Hunger Games" directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik releases on March 23rd. The movie has been rated PG-13 and has already sold more early tickets than the infamous “Twilight Series” so they expect this movie to break some box office records. The movie includes an incredible cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth ,Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci and many more.

The core fans for this movie are teenagers and young adults based on who has read the trilogy. But, let’s not forget that this story is about surviving, killing in order to survive. While many young fans will want to see this movie, there is a tremendous amount of violence as the premise for this story is about kids killing kids. 

 For me personally I read the first book only and yes I couldn’t put it down. While I enjoyed the story and was definitely on the edge of my seat, I didn’t feel the need to finish the trilogy. I will be the first to admit that I am more of a conservative reader and my biggest problem with this story was the concept of kids killing kids while others watched on a large screen. It is a reality show gone wrong. But I also know the audience for this wonderfully written trilogy couldn’t get enough and while I know the movie will be a surefire hit, I would be very careful in recommending this movie to anyone under 13.

I also do strongly recommend that you read the book before heading to the movie. This has always been my policy, read first then see the movie. The book always provides so much more in the way of details and in all instances the books are always better than the movies. There is no possible way to include all the details of a well-written book into a two-hour time frame of a movie. I believe this will be the case with Hunger Games as well. But most important I think about the author, the incredible person that came up with the story first. Don’t you think we owe it to them to read their story before watching it on the big screen? If you haven’t read The Hunger Games yet by Suzanne Collins, you have exactly 27 days until the release of the movie. Go find a copy now! You won’t be disappointed.

Some websites of interest based on the movie and book:

http://www.thehungergames.co.uk/

http://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-Suzanne-Collins/dp/0439023483

http://www.scholastic.com/thehungergames/

http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/index.htm

Meet Laura Resau

I just recently discovered this amazing author, Laura Resau. I was reading a review on her most recent book, Queen of Water when I decided to check it out of the public library. I couldn’t put it down and finished the book within days. After reading this fabulous, intriguing book I decided to do some research on the author to see what other books she might of written. I tend to do this when I find an author that I truly enjoy.  In the midst of my research on Laura Resau I discovered her fabulous website that also includes a writing blog. It really is a wealth of information about her as a writer, her life and her many books. http://www.lauraresau.com/

Laura Resau is an aspiring author with real messages. Her writing is not only beautiful but poetic. She uses rich language and imagery and researches much of what she uses in her books. Most of her stories are about life in Latin America.  Here is her bio from her website:

With a background in cultural anthropology and ESL-teaching, Laura Resau has lived and traveled in Latin America and Europe - experiences that inspired her books for young people. Her latest novel, The Queen of Water (cowritten with María Virginia Farinango) was praised as "riveting tale... by turns heartbreaking, infuriating and ultimately inspiring " in a starred review by Kirkus. Her previous novels - Star in the Forest, The Ruby Notebook, The Indigo Notebook, Red Glass, and What the Moon Saw - have garnered many starred reviews and awards, including the IRA YA Fiction Award, the Américas Award, and a spot on Oprah's Kids' Book List. Acclaimed for its sensitive treatment of immigration issues, Resau's writing has been called "vibrant, large-hearted" (Publishers' Weekly) and "powerful, magical" (Booklist). Resau lives with her husband and young son in Colorado. She donates a portion of her royalties to indigenous rights organizations in Latin America.

To date I have only read two of her books and in the middle of a third one. I can tell you from the two that I have read I will continue to read her other books and will definitely follow this prolific author. She has much to say about the world of immigrants from Latin America and I believe she will continue to write and receive starred reviews on her books. Here are two books that I have just finished reading.

What the Moon Saw (published in 2006)– This is a story of a young girl, Clara Luna, who has been invited to visit her grandparents in a small village of Mexico. Clara Luna, means ‘clear moon’ in Spanish. She receives a letter written in Spanish from grandparents that she has never met before. Her father had run away from home as a small boy to escape life in the small village to find a better life for himself. For many years he was an illegal alien in the United States. He held many small jobs before meeting his wife and starting his family. Now Clara, age 14, has been asked to go and visit this family she knows nothing about for an entire summer. She doesn’t know how she will survive without her friends, her TV, her iPod and her family. Instead what she finds in the village of Yucuyoo with her grandparents and their fabulous bird holds many surprises. She can’t believe her grandparents live in a simple shack in the mountains of Southern Mexico where most people speak Mixteco, an indigenous language. But instead Clara has a summer full of adventures and hears many stories of how her grandmother became a healer. Now Clara believes she has the same power too. A beautiful story of discovering your true self in the most unexpected place. (Recommend reading for ages 10 and up)

Queen of Water is her most recent book (published 2011)

Born in an Andean village in Ecuador, Virginia lives with her large family in a small, earthen-walled dwelling. In her village of indígenas, it is not uncommon to work in the fields all day, even as a child, or to be called a longa tonta—stupid Indian—by members of the ruling class of mestizos, or Spanish descendants. When seven-year-old Virginia is taken from her village to be a servant to a mestizo couple, she has no idea what the future holds. In this poignant novel based on a true story, acclaimed author Laura Resau has collaborated with María Virginia Farinango to recount one girl's unforgettable journey to self-discovery. Virginia's story will speak to anyone who has ever struggled to find his or her place in the world. It will make you laugh and cry, and ultimately, it will fill you with hope. (Recommended reading for ages 12 and up)

The Mailbox

The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer

This is not your ordinary teen read. It is one full of beautiful writing, substance and deals with several serious topics; war, the foster system, and the life of veterans. This is a very touching and emotional story that shows us how people can save each other. Ages 12 and up.

12 year-old Gabe is lucky to live with his Uncle Vernon after spending many miserable years in the foster care system. He grows to love his grumpy old Uncle until one day he comes home to realize he has died. His body is left laying on the floor and Gabe doesn’t know what to do or who to call. He goes to bed distraught only to find the next morning that the body is gone, disappeared. Gabe goes about his business keeping the secret that Uncle Vernon has died, trying to take care of himself, clean the house and go to the store for groceries. He knows this is what his Uncle would want him to do. But suddenly he is receiving strange notes in his mailbox from a secret friend. The story continues with exchanges from this friend that Gabe believes to be his “fairy godmother”. Gabe is a wonderful character and this is really a very touching story about life and love. This could be a great read-aloud because it could lead to some great life discussions. A great recommendation for 6^th grade and up. 

The Sisterhood

What began as a book about four high school girls and their incredible friendship becomes a heartwarming series about growing up, staying friends and lessons of life. Author Ann Brashares began with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (published in 2001) and just recently completed the series with Sisterhood Everlasting (2011). The story begins with the four high school girls finding a soft, ordinary pair of thrift-shop jeans before they each head off on their own summer adventures. These close friends, all-different sizes and builds, not to mention backgrounds and personalities all fit into the pants. The pants settle on each girl's hips perfectly, making each girl feel confident as a teenager can feel. Because they fit each girl they must be “magical pants”. So they decide to make a pact to share them equally, to mail them back and forth over the summer from wherever they are. This is how the story begins and continues throughout the four books concluding in the fourth book, Forever in Blue (published in 2007).  What we learn in this first book is the connection that these girls have through their mothers who took a birthing class together. A very unique but not uncommon situation. And while the parents keep close ties the girls create something even more special, respect for each other. We follow the girls through high school and college, with each summer bringing new experiences, adventures, as well as new loves.

While Forever in Blue (published in 2009) was an ending to the series of the traveling pants, it wasn’t an ending in the author’s mind. Even though she concluded the story of the traveling pants she decided she wasn’t ready to end the story of these four loveable characters and thus created one last book ten years later. Ann Brashares rediscovers her four characters at the age of 29 to create a reunion of the sisterhood, Sisterhood Everlasting (2011). This last installment is extremely heart-warming and very moving. It is a powerful story of friendship, losing your way and then finding the courage to create a new one. Throughout all of her books, the author includes special quotes from famous people that open up each chapter. Each quote really does make the reader think and adds a nice touch to this already funny, perceptive, and moving series. (Recommended for grades 8 and up.)

Girl Teen Books

Sarah Deesen is one of the best girl teen authors around. I absolutely love her books! Her newest one coming out soon is called, What Happened to Goodbye.  Amazon

Her books are all about relationships, family issues, coming of age, self-image and much more. But what I like about her books and the style of her writing as well as the content is that they are classy, appropriately written so that the teens today can relate to what they are reading. Sarah Dessen is a teacher, a writer, and a mom. What more can I say. If you haven't read any of her books, check them out. Better yet, get a few at the library.

"The books I read when I was teenager, the good ones anyway, have stuck more in my mind than anything since. I still love books, but while I couldn't tell you complete plots of novels I read even six months ago, I do remember even the smallest descriptive details from Lois Lowry's A Summer to Die or Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. I think it was because back then books were still somewhat new to me, and when I found an author who seemed to say just what I was feeling, it really struck me and resonated. I hope that my books do that for the people who read them: I think it's the best thing to which any writer can aspire." Sarah Dessen

                                                  I promise you won't be dissappointed!