Being a Teen

Being a Teen   by Jane Fonda                     

978-0-8129-7861-2                            Random House, 2014            $15.00             

                                 

Being a Teen: Everything Teen Girls & Boys Should Know About Relationships, Sex, Love, Health, Identity & More is the full title of this bright yellow book.  Jane Fonda is the famous actress, outspoken, politically active person you know.  What qualifies her to write a book on sexuality is the work she has maintained in her clinics, the Jane Fonda Centers for Adolescent Reproductive Health.

The book covers all the basics of anatomy, complete with pictures.  It also covers standard teen questions about sexuality in a short answer, non-judgemental style.  Nothing in depth here.  She addresses, (not deeply), the GLBTQ question.  If you are looking for answers here, this is not for you.

Geared mainly toward girls, this is helpful for boys as well.  However, there are many better books on the market, for example, Safe Sex 101 : an overview for teens by Margaret O. Hyde and Elizabeth H. Forsythe or The “What’s Happening to My Body?” Book for Boys and The “What’s Happening to My Body?” Book for Girls by Lynda Madaras with Area Madaras.

My Last Kiss

My Last Kiss   by Bethany Neal                     

978-0-374-35128                   Farrar, Straus, 2014                        $17.99                      

In the prologue, Cassidy relives her first kiss with Ethan.  

In the first chapter we find out that Cassidy is now dead, looking up at the silhouette on the bridge (the killer?) and her mangled body on the rocks below.  

Cassidy is now a ghost, visiting the important people in her life, unable to communicate.  Except for Ethan.  They can talk and Ethan can see her.  

Problem #1:  Cassidy was cheating on Ethan and her last kiss was with Caleb, not Ethan.

Problem #2:  Cassidy doesn’t remember what happened that night on the bridge, or who was there with her.

Problem #3:  everyone thinks Cassidy’s death was a suicide.  

Together, Cassidy and Ethan set out to find out what happened and set the record straight.  Even if it is painful for Ethan.  Even if it means that Cassidy will “solve her problem and leave the world of ghosts.”

Of course there is kissing!  The rest is mystery- and understanding relationships, the underlying real theme.  For readers 12 and up (unless the drinking is a problem...)

Rebellion

Rebellion.:The Tankborn series, #3 by Karen Sandler

Tu Books, 2014.  978-160060984-8   $19.95,  394p.

The Tankborn  (GENS) are those genetically modified humans who can receive special powers.  They are also various shades of brown to black.  And have tattoos on their face so you will be sure to understand that this is a slave.  The trueborns are a caste above, whiter in skin, with all the privileges. There is a caste system within each of these groups..

Kayla is a GEN, although originally trueborn.  Devak is trueborn, now moved down in the caste system to pay for his treatments after the bombing.  In the first two novels, they have fallen in love but separated by a bomb blast in the rebellion where each thinks the other is dead.  This last in the series brings the rebellion to a close in a satisfying, commanding tale.  While you probably want to read the first two, this last is so well scripted, extra reading isn’t necessary.

The parallels to our society are obvious.  What saves this from being stereotypical is the handling of the nuances within the caste system.  The political intrigue is spot on, and the creatures are fantastic:  bhimkays, for example- giant spiders that are trained for riding.  This is a very realistic and striking world.  The novel moves between the two stories, and each is totally intriguing. Well done by an adult fiction writer entering the YA field.  Hopefully more are coming.

While we would like to have had more romance, there is also a side romance between two of the "lowborn" boys in the rebellion.  Some kissing, a little cussing- and that in the language of the world- "those denking spiders..."

For readers 12 and up.

The Truth About Alice

The Truth about Alice    by Jennifer Mathiew                                

978-1-59643-909-2     Roaring Press, 2014           $16.99                   199p

Alice lives in a small town in Texas.  Rumor has it that she slept with two boys at a party.  That rumor spreads like…well…the internet at warp speed. Rumor also has it that she sent sexually explicit texts to one of those boys later that ended in his death- reading texts while driving.  Rumor went on to say that she had an abortion.  

All rumors.  All spread like wildfire.  She is dumped by her best friend.  She has her own “slut stall” in the bathroom where sharpies spread more rumors.

This story is told in alternating chapters, by all the characters except Alice.  

She does talk in the final chapter.  

Perhaps a cross between Mean Girls and Gossip Girls, this is about the same ilk.  Will you read this as a gossip to find out what is true or not, but still tuned in?  Will you read this sympathetically having been there or known someone who was there?

For readers 16 and up.

The Undertaking of Lily Chen

The Undertaking of Lily Chen  by Danica Novgorodoff

When Deshi's older brother Wei dies accidentally, his parents send Deshi on a quest to bring back a "corpse bride" so that their eldest son will not be alone in the afterlife.  With cash in hand, Deshi seeks out a grave robber...but the search is, ultimately, much more complicated than just digging up some bones to be buried along with Wei.

This story of modern China is full of fascinating, flawed characters.  Deshi and Wei are hardly ideal, upstanding citizens:  Wei is a drunk, a gambler, and a jerk.  Deshi is now working as a security guard having messed up as an army pilot.  Lily is pretty, but is also pretty annoying at times.   The supporting cast is equally dinged-up, and this makes the story much more interesting, and makes the ending much more satisfying.

Beautiful romantically-washed watercolor landscapes juxtaposed with wobbly line-drawn human figures allow the reader's eyes to travel quickly through the book, and the quickly moving narrative suites the illustrations.   

Recommended for readers ages 14 to adult.  The characters are all adults, but the family dysfunction issues will appeal to teens.  No cussing, some (cartoon) blood, the on-page sex scene is tactfully masked with blankets and black ink.

Wild Rover No More

Wild Rover No More  by L.A. Meyer

eagerly-awaited audiobook narrated by Katherine Kellgren

The cover illustration shows Jacky facing a noose once again, and the subtitle is "Being the Last Recorded Account of the Life & Times of Jacky Faber."  Has Jacky come to her untimely-but-not-unforeseen end at last?  

Well, certainly not before she disguises herself as a governess, runs away with the circus, and involves nearly all her friends in a desperate escape plan.  And even then, how could the authorities hang our merry lass?

Jacky's full-tilt adventures are brought to a quick conclusion in this twelfth and final novel in the Bloody Jack Series.  There is a distinct air of abruptness to the last third of the narrative; the author made no secret of his plan to pre-write the final chapters in the series so that they could be clipped on to the existing storyline at almost any point if he became unable to continue writing the story, and that is clearly the case with this book.  Still, the story is fast, fun, and satisfying, and a recommended read for those who love the series and newcomers seeking a ripping good adventure story.

RIP, L.A. Meyer, you did well.  

Ages 13 to adult; some minor cussing, kissing and bloodshed, but all sexual situations are off-page.

Say What You Will

Say What You Will  by Cammie McGovern

Amy is a high school senior with spastic cerebral palsy.  She doesn't walk well without assistance, she talks by using a voice simulating computer, and she has no real friends.

Matthew is a high school senior who has known Amy (kind of) since elementary school.  Matthew is obsessive-compulsive, and his need to tap lockers, count ceiling tiles, wash his hands and avoid the blue squares on the hallway floors is getting worse.  He doesn't have any real friends either.

When Matthew is hired as a peer helper for Amy, the two teens begin talking to each other as they have never communicated with anyone else before.  Maybe they've even fallen in love, despite their catastrophic prom date.

And then...things go wrong.

Beautifully written, here is a compassionate story of two teens who don't fit in. And yes, there is sex in this book -- tactful, and off-page, but there is definitely sex.

Highly recommended for readers who liked the passion and  intelligent banter between characters in The Fault In Our Stars, with the good news:  nobody dies in this book.