Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World

Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World  by Ashley Herring Blake

Ivy is 12 years old (almost 13!), and feeling adrift following the birth of baby twins in the family.  Her friends are just starting to think and talk about boys, but Ivy is starting to think about girls.  Then, Ivy's world literally flies apart:  a tornado flattens her house and leaves her family homeless.  

Ivy is a smart, talented, and creative protagonist who finds more than a little help from friends--new friends and familiar friends.  

This is a beautiful, sweet middle-grade book about Ivy and her family and friends, and their attempts to find their own places in the world.  Highly recommended for readers ages 10 and up.

I Kill the Mockingbird

I Kill the Mockingbird  by Paul Acampora

Inspired by Fat Bob the English teacher, eighth graders Lucy, Elena and Michael decide that not nearly enough people read and enjoy Fat Bob's favorite book, To Kill a Mockingbird. 

To motivate more people to read the book, the teens make the book...disappear: they mis-shelve copies in bookstores and libraries, and they create a website, a Facebook page, and a Tumblr account to give the appearance of a conspiracy to keep people from reading Mockingbird. 

Soon, bookstores and libraries all over the country are reporting that their copies of the book are missing...and readers all over the country are discovering that they actually do want to spend their summer reading about Scout, Jem, Dill, and the elusive Boo Radley.

If you've ever dreamed of a literary conspiracy, here's your book.  Fast, funny, and full of quotable one-liners that readers will love to share with friends. 

Recommended for ages 14 to adult; two sweet kisses, no cussing, no bloodshed, and no mockingbirds are harmed.

Keeping the Castle

Keeping the Castle  by Patrice Kindl

17-year-old Althea needs to marry for money. 

She knows that the fate of her noble-but-impoverished family as well as the fate of the family castle depends on her ability to make a successful--i.e. a wealthy--marriage match.  At first, Althea is willing to marry anybody who is rich enough to pay the bills and repair the dilapadated ancestral home, but gradually she realizes that she would prefer to marry someone who is not only rich, but also well-bred, well-educated, well-mannered, good-looking, and smart enough to recognize those virtues in Althea herself.

Fans of Jane Austen's literary world will adore Althea and her eccentric family, and astute readers will immediately identify the character she should marry, even when Althea seems impossibly blind to his fine qualities.  This quick, charming book can also be a stepping stone to the world of Regency romance made so popular by Downton Abbey.

No sex or cussing (heavens forbid!); the sweet and funny romances in this story will mostly appeal to gently reared female readers ages 12 to adult. 

Drama

Drama  by Raina Telgemeier, with color by Gurihiru

Middle-school student Callie loves everything theatric. 

She loves the lights, she loves the music, she loves the audience, she loves the costume vault, and she loves being set designer for the school production of "Moon Over Mississippi." 

Although Callie and her friends focus a lot of attention on the play, there is still plenty of time and energy to devote to the other kind of middle school drama:  the boyfriends, the girlfriends, the getting-togethers and the breakups.

Callie's friendship with the other drama kids is absolutely on-target, and the graphic novel portrayal of life behind the stage is note-perfect.  Racial and sexual diversity is portrayed realistically and with charm; no cussing, no violence (except a bit of social back-stabbing from the leading lady), a few sweet kisses, and a bunch of growing up for almost all the characters.

Highly recommended for drama kids, aspiring drama kids, and retired drama kids, ages 12 to adult. 

Bumped

Bumped  by Megan McCafferty

In this up-tempo dystopian novel, teen pregnancies are not only normal, they are vital.

A virus renders everyone over the age of 18 infertile, making teen pregnancy essential for the survival of humanity. Humanity has responded to the crisis by dumping societal norms upside-down, and now pregnant teens and pre-teens are considered the apex of beauty and the center of importance.  Children and pre-adolescents play at "bumping", young girls wear "MyTurn Tees" and and Preggerz FunBumps (with real skinfeel and in-uterobic activity!), and 16-year-old twins Melody and Harmony have only two years remaining until obsolesence. 

Melody is a contracted pro-pregger, who has signed with an agent to produce a very expensive delivery that will pay for a top-notch college as well as her adoptive parents' debts.  Harmony, raised in a conservative Amish-esque community, has run away from her adoptive family to bring her newly-found twin into a state of grace with God.

Absolutely nothing goes as planned.

The twins trade the narration back-and-forth as the situation gets increasingly complicated.  Fun slang and the twist on cultural values almost mask important messages about teen sexuality, sibling rivalry, religious tolerance, and the difficulty of living a life different from the life that parents and society expect.

Lots of talk about sex and sexual situations, but nothing happens on the page. Recommended for readers ages 14 to adult. This book would be interesting to discuss and contrast to Libba Bray's Beauty Queens.

In a Heartbeat

In a Heartbeat  by Loretta Ellsworth

This is the story of two girls. 

16-year-old Eagan, a figure skater bound for the Olympics, is dead after she hits her head on the boards during a competition.  In life, she loved to skate, loved her boyfriend, and loved her parents--even though she frequently fought with her mother.  Now Eagan experiences a series of flashbacks in a "grey between-place". 

Shy 14-year-old Amelia has lived with a failing heart for several years, and knows that in order  to receive a heart transplant, somebody else has to die.  She wants to be normal, but has been so ill for so long that she doesn't know where to begin.  After Eagan's heart is transplanted into Amelia, the girl is able to walk, and even run...and she begins to dream of Eagan's life, to act like Eagan, and even to crave Eagan's favorite purple lollipops.

The concept of "cellular memory" has plenty of anecdotal support, but real research is still pending.  Still, the idea is interesting enough to keep readers turning the pages to see the many ways that Eagan is able to assist Amelia from beyond the grave.  No sex, drugs, or rock and roll, but there are a few tactful scenes of teen snuggling.

Recommended for middle school and high school readers.

The Espressologist

The Espressologist by Kristina Springer

17-year-old barista Jane Turner has a theory: people's personalities are reflected by their coffee drinks, and she keeps a notebook to keep track of her observations to support the theory.

Medium Iced Vanilla Latte
Smart, sweet and gentle. Sometimes soft-spoken but not a doormat. A good friend...

One day it occurs to Jane that a person who drinks a medium iced vanilla latte would be a great romantic match with a person who loves to drink a medium dry cappucino.

Medium Dry Cappuccino
Smart and simple....A little timid and soft-spoken but probably a powerhouse if ever tested. A good friend.

Thus, Jane invents a new "science" (which also happens to be a terrific marketing tool for the coffeeshop where she works): Espressology.

Soon, Jane is busy matching up hopeful singles by comparing their coffee preferences, with remarkable success. But will she ever find a romantic match of her own?

No sex or cussing or bloodshed, but a few kisses and a LOT of caffeine-induced drama. Readers (mostly girls) ages 14 and up will enjoy this cute, funny, frothy book.

This World We Live In

This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
(sequel to Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone)

Nearly a year has passed since the moon was struck by an asteroid and knocked slightly out of a normal orbit. The tides have changed, destroying much of the Eastern Seaboard. The volcanoes have erupted, filling the atmosphere with grey grit that blocks sunlight. The weather continues to worsen: temperatures are dropping, and the rain and snow continue to fall even in summer. Crops are failing, livestock have been slaughtered for food until very few remain, and survivors of the cataclysm scavenge for necessities from the homes and bodies of the dead.

In the third (and possibly final) volume of the series, Miranda and Alex meet for the first time. Alex and his sister Julie have travelled with Miranda's father, stepmother and stepbrother for months, and arrive at Miranda's home weary...and hungry.

The bleak landscape described in the first two books becomes more bleak, but the will to survive has become even more strong as the family struggles to find food and shelter in an uncompromising world. The sudden marriage of Miranda's older brother is a reminder that times have changed--but have times really changed enough to allow Miranda to fall in love?

The story starts slowly, and will be confusing to readers unfamiliar with the first two books. Fans of the series, however, will want an update on the post-moon-change world.

No on-page sex, but there is definitely hanky-panky among the wreckage. No drugs or drinking, though--that stuff got used up early in the catastrophe. Recommended for readers 13 to adult.