All the Things We Do in the Dark

The book opens with a trigger warning so you know exactly what you're getting into before you dive into the story. This young adult book covers: trauma, rape, murder, and PTSD to name a few. It's not for the faint of heart, but definitely worth reading if you can handle all that.

Ava has a past, something happened to her when she was a kid and she has the facial scar to prove it. The bad thing is that it isn't much of a secret. Everyone knows. But now she has a new secret. She found a body. An honest to goodness dead body. While the obvious response would be to call 911, she can't bear to. At least not yet. You would think finding a body would take priority, but Ava has a lot else going on in her life. Her friend is acting up, she's crushing on a girl, and her mother is being more protective than usual. What could possibly go wrong? Dark but worth the read!

The Prom

Admittedly I have never seen the musical or listened to the soundtrack so I went into this blind. I was NOT disappointed! Emma is the only out teenager at her high school. It's tough being the only openly gay kid in a small Indiana town. She isn't exactly the most accepted kid, even her parents kicked her out. Her girlfriend, the super popular class president, Alyssa, is still in the closet, as her mother is the head of the PTA. All they want to do is go to prom together and dance, but that's about to be a lot harder now that Alyssa's mother has started meddling. As a conservative Christian she is aghast when she finds out Emma plans on bringing a female date (can you imagine how much more upset she would be if she knew that date was her own daughter!), she swiftly changes the rules so that only boy/girl dates are allowed. Once the news picks up on it, two Broadway stars lend themselves to Emma's cause. They want to fight for justice (and a little free publicity too). Soon the whole situation has spun out of control. All Emma and Alyssa wanted to do was dance together. Wonderfully written, this is a must read for teenagers. It shows just how harmful discrimination is and begs readers to be more open minded and empathetic. Prom is for everyone! I definitely want to see the musical now!

Wild

A modern day twist on the Tarzan tale for teens and adults alike. Cleverly executed, the story will engage readers as they rush to find out the full story of the "primitive boy." Dara and her boyfriend Josh decide to skip Florida for their senior spring break and spend some quality alone time camping in the middle of a national park. All goes well until Dara gets the uneasy feeling that they're not alone, because get this, they're not. Cade has always lived in the woods. His parents escaped from the world and raised their son in the world away from the contamination and disease of humans. When Cade's parents die he continued to live in the forest without them because he didn't know any better. But now that he's seen Dara he is so full of questions. "He's from the woods. She's from the world." is the tagline. And it pretty much summarizes the entire story.

It wasn't incredibly fast paced and lagged in the middle, but it was a new take on an old tale so that was cool. Also, I would have liked to see some better resolution with Dara's boyfriend at the end (rather than nothingness), but oh well. In all likelihood, most reader's will likely forget all about Josh when they start to imagine how hot primitive boy Caleb is:

"Someone had bought him jeans that fit, and his T-shirt clung to his still damp skin. Tied into an intricate knot, his dreads kissed the back of his neck. His skin was paler, all the grim scrubbed away. But he was still golden-brown and keen-eyed. It's just now that he looked like he walked out of an H&M ad."

Overall, imaginative fun summer read. Great for teens and fans of Tarzan or primitive living.