Dear Sweet Pea

This book was precious. Patricia (known to everyone as Sweet Pea) is having a rough end to seventh grade. Her parents are divorced and living on the same street in nearly identical houses. They're trying to be real chill about it, splitting their time with her; but it's making it more confusing for Sweet Pea. Why can't they just be together as a family? To make matters more confusing she's having mixed feelings about her frenemy Kiera (maybe she's not all that bad?) and her best friend Oscar is upset that she's not telling him everything.  The thing is though, Sweet Pea made a promise to her neighbor (the advice columnist) to keep a secret but it may blow up in her face. Cute, charming, and dealing with lots of issues that middle school teens face: bullying, weight, divorce, friendship, and trying to fit in. The reason it's not a 5 star book to me, is that at times, Sweet Pea sounds far too mature for her age, sometimes her voice just seemed to be "too much" for her age and it lost it's believability factor. Other than that it was great! 

Dead Little Mean Girl

I was such a huge fan of The Awesome (Eva Darrow's first book) that I had to get this one as soon as it came out. While it wasn't as good as her first novel (the bar was set too high), it was still pretty damn good. This teen novel opens with a nerdy girl finding her quasi step-sister laying face first dead on the garage floor wearing a skimpy hula girl costume. From there we get the complete back story leading up to the death from Emma's perspective. Emma was a shy, nerdy girl who liked blending into the background. After her parent's divorce her mother starts dating a woman who has a daughter the same age as her, when things get serious they all move in together. Quinn is a holy terror. Pretty, popular, and vindictive she is the typical mean girl. Emma tries to play nice but soon the two become mortal enemies. Quinn keeps upping the ante and trying to screw everyone over. After a blow out fight Quinn is left dead and Emma finds herself feeling.... remorse? An interesting take on regret, bullying, and mean girls. A laugh out loud funny, heartfelt young adult book that should be required reading for teens. I loved it.

Every Exquisite Thing

The latest Matthew Quick novel does not disappoint! Quirky as ever, this young adult novel tackles depression, conforming to society, bullying, and choosing one's own destiny. It's heartbreaking, adorable, and inspiring all in one go. Nanette O'Hare should by all rights be a popular teen. She's star of the girl's soccer team, has the most stylish clothes, and is by all accounts, very pretty. However she could care less about being popular, she's happiest reading her favorite book, "The Bubblegum Reaper" and hanging out with her only real friend, the elderly author of her favorite novel. The out of print cult classic,"The Bubblegum Reaper," brings out Nanette's inner rebel and she starts to really enjoy life instead of just coasting by, especially when her reclusive author sets her up on a blind date with another fan, the strong troubled poet, Little Lex. Together they learn that sometimes teenage rebellion has a higher price to pay than they bargained for. I wasn't always thrilled with Nanette's decisions but Quick does a wonderful job illustrating her state of mind. A wonderful read.

I received this book for free from the publisher in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.

Some Girls Are

This is essentially, "Mean Girls" on steroids. No exaggeration. One of the girls is even named Regina and they wear matching clothes on certain days, plus... they're evil. Regina is almost raped by her best friend's boyfriend, and no one believes her. She goes from being the best friend of the most popular girl to the most hated girl in high school. She is a social pariah. She seeks solace in Michael, one of the boys she used to mercilessly bully and torment but that doesn't seem to be enough. She's angry and she wants revenge. Now that she knows how awful it feels to be bullies, beat up, and laughed at she suddenly has sympathy for all those she used to torture. Rather than lying low and dealing with the bullies (like she deserves!) she keeps trying to get even. Michael tries to get her to stop but she's convinced that it's not fair and she needs to take down others with her. Ugh. Soo much ugh! Thank goodness high school was nothing like this. Super violent, bullying is the norm, and no one seems to learn their lesson. I couldn't stop reading it though, it was a train wreck and I wanted Regina to grow up. I would have even taken a cheesy ending but instead... ugh!!

The Most Painful Thing in Life

A fictional anti-bullying tale filled with religious themes and good morals that would be beneficial to middle school students. It is a short concise read; easy for adults and still a quick read for teens. The book focuses on what it's like to be bullied and be the one bullying, it hits on all angles. The book spotlights Kris, a troubled teenage boy trying to find acceptance, hope, and someone to trust. When his foster parent's best friend gives him a mysterious pendant Kris has no idea how much his life is about to change. Maybe he won't be bullied or worse, ignored, by his peers. Maybe it's possible that he could make a friend. Simply written (and with a handful of typos), this book would be of most use to teenagers. Bullying can take all forms and has a deep psychological impact that can affect people for the rest of their lives. Hopefully this tale will open eyes and hearts of the next generation, especially in the age of rampant digital bullying.

I received this book for free from the author in return for my honest, unbiased review.

This is What I Did

So this is a book discussion book that I'm reading with teens in the juvenile detention facility. I'm hoping they really dig the short breezy sections, the absence of chapters, and intrigue. As an adult reading this, I picked up the "twist" fairly quickly. However, hopefully teens who aren't heavy readers will still be surprised at the end. The story follows Logan as he comes to term with his new school, his shitty life, and his past. Something horrible happened last year. Something soo horrible that he can't talk about it or forget it. He should have stopped it but he didn't. And now it's slowly ruining his life and his reputation. All the kids at his new school think there is something horribly wrong with Logan, are they right? Reader's will try to piece together what happened and have to decide how they feel about Logan afterwards. Is everything black and white or are there shades of gray?