stephxsu's Booklist 2007

I know I'm joining this a bit late but I know it won't be too hard for me to read 50 books... so this will be more like a way for me to keep track of the order that I read the books! =)

Thinking back to the beginning of the year, and what books I have read and reviewed since then... hmm... this will be a bit random and not chronological at first...

1st - 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

The Self-Discovery Journey Everyone Dreams Of

Romantic, interesting, tender, and enviable: Ginny Blackstone’s journey of geographical and self discoveries in 13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES is one that we all dream of. Who wouldn’t want to be sent on a backpacking trip across Europe and do things we’ve never thought we were capable of doing?

Ginny’s free-spirited artist aunt, Peg, died from a brain tumor. After Peg’s death, a package containing 13 sealed blue envelopes is delivered to Ginny. They send her on various missions across the seas in foreign lands. All of a sudden, Ginny finds herself lugging a heavy purple-and-green backpack onto a plane and into the London flat of a man named Richard.

Peg’s instructions in the envelopes further mess with Ginny’s once passive existence as they instruct her to, for example, find a struggling artist whose work she admires to give money to. How does Aunt Peg seem to know that Keith, the artist Ginny chose, would be so cute and steal her heart like that?

Despite the crazy, un-Ginny-like adventures she’s having, Ginny still has doubts every once in a while of what the heck exactly is she doing in Europe. Will Ginny ever come to terms with the fact that she IS capable of everything her aunt had once done?

13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES is more than a fun ride through several European countries. It’s a journey of self-discovery for Ginny, as a shy girl learns exactly what she is capable of. For those of us who do not have a wild aunt who will send us on an adventure through Europe, we can live through Ginny. I have read this book twice, and both times I could not put it down, preferring to lose sleep rather than wonder about what happens to Ginny.

2nd - The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson

Touching

It’s the summer before their senior year and Nina, Avery, and Mel are not spending their time together. Nina is going to leadership camp all the way in California, and Avery and Mel are working at a local Irish diner. What happens to all of them over the summer is so unexpected that no one can predict how it will change their friendship forever.

At camp, Nina falls in love with Steve, her eco-warrior boyfriend. Steve is her first love, but he also happens to live in Oregon, 3000 miles away from where she lives in New York. Both are determined to remain together until they can see each other again the following year when they both get into Stanford for college, but until then they have to get through senior year.

Nina comes home with her head full of Steve, only to stumble into shocking news: over the summer, Avery and Mel have kissed, and now they’re a couple! Nina is left feeling like a third wheel, but all is not paradise in her friends’ land. While Mel is certain she’s a lesbian, Avery’s having mixed feelings. Is it possible she only likes girls when the girl is her best friend, Mel?

Senior year is a time of maturation and understanding for the three members of the “Bermudez triangle” (called that because Bermudez is Nina’s last name). While I found the ending a little too perfect, THE BERMUDEZ TRIANGLE is an excellently written book that explores the complications of love and friendship.

3rd - The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart

Painfully Real Roo

Sophomore Ruby Oliver went in a matter of days from having a boyfriend and a best friend and being reasonably popular to boyfriendless, best-friendless, and social leper and rumored slut. You could say this was all the fault of her therapist, Dr. Z, who made her write up a list of all the boys in her life. Boys who never even knew she existed were on the list.

THE BOYFRIEND LIST is not a chronological collection of short stories about the 15 boys that are on it. Instead, Roo simply uses the list as a starting point. It’s more an exploration of her friendship with her best friend since second grade, Kim Yamamoto, and her relationship with her first boyfriend, Jackson Clarke. Jackson broke up with Roo a few weeks before the Spring Fling, then got together with Kim, both of them claiming that they were each other’s true loves and that they couldn’t fight their mutual feelings.

This leaves Roo stranded in a confusing and awkward place: she’s heartbroken over Jackson, and yet Kim makes her feel as if she should be happy that her best friend has found her “true love.” Nobody is perfect in this book, which is why THE BOYFRIEND LIST was such a pleasure to read. E. Lockhart has created a cast of memorable characters that readers will want to learn more about. In the process of the story, Roo realizes that love and friendship are not easy to define, and that sometimes, in the process of growing up, one must leave behind some things that were beloved to him or her.

4th - The Boy Book by E. Lockhart

Hooray, Roo’s Back!

Ruby Oliver is back and more beloved than ever! At the start of junior year, Roo’s ex-best friend Kim is in Japan, and she’s still not speaking with her ex-boyfriend Jackson, whom Kim “stole” because she believed they were meant for each other. The only two people she’s sort of friends with are Noel, a guy who can be in any social group or none at all anytime he wants, and Nora, the only one out of her original group of four friends who will still speak with her. Roo continues her therapy sessions with Dr. Z and starts an internship at the zoo.

Here are the boys in her life: Angelo, a hot family friend whom she’s scamming with, meaning that they make out but aren’t technically “together”; Jackson, the dreaded ex who’s been sending her notes although he’s Kim’s boyfriend; and Noel. Roo can’t figure out her feelings for Noel. Sure, there have been moments when she thought he was going to kiss her. But Roo’s not in therapy for no reason; she has to work out her feelings. With her reputation and social life only beginning to recover from her leper-like end of sophomore year, she has to do the right thing so that she won’t end up alone again. And sometimes the right thing isn’t always the thing she wants.

I enjoyed THE BOY BOOK so much more than its prequel. In this book, Roo and her friends come up as more rounded and human characters. Anyone can relate to someone in the book, and I can understand each character’s actions, though they may not be the best ones. E. Lockhart is a master of teen dialogue, and there is something in this book for every reader.

5th - Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Too Smart, Too Good!

After too-smart-for-her-own-good Jane’s best friend Allison humiliates herself at their all-girl school’s Big-Little event, the Allison Jane knows disappears. All of a sudden Allison has cute clothes, a new hairstyle, and a trendy cell phone. She’s also hanging out with a new sophomore, Lanalee. With their friendship teetering, Jane finds out, with the help of a freshman boy, that Allison has sold her soul to the devil, who is masquerading as a—you guessed it—sophomore at Saint Teresa’s.

Now, Jane’s not one to believe in ridiculous things like devils. She jokingly enters into a contract with Lanalee to get Allison’s soul back. However, strange things begin to happen: her history book bursts into flames, and her freshman friend, Owen, kills himself…and lives. Jane is forced to realize that her soul is in danger. And now the only way she can reclaim it is if she gets a kiss from her ex-boyfriend, Elton, by midnight at the very mysterious Poodle Prom.

DEVILISH is fast-paced and slight out there at times, but I loved reading it. Jane, with her wit and semi-acerbic commentary on everything, makes for a wonderful protagonist. I found myself laughing out loud many times. Anyone who has enjoyed Maureen Johnson’s previous books or anyone who loves a fast and wacky read will not regret reading DEVILISH.

6th - Diary of a Crush, Book 1: French Kiss by Sarra Manning

Obsessive Crush

This is, quite literally as the title says, a diary of a crush, a crush that’s probably very obsessive as Edie is completely immersed into it. 16-year-old Edie’s family has just moved to a new town. Edie finds her new classmates hard to know, but there are several who intrigue her most. One of them is Dylan, the hot but moody artist who’s the guy of every girl’s dreams. The other is Shona, Dylan’s best girl friend since childhood, a cool girl who’s got it all together.

Edie develops an epic crush-to-end-all-crushes on Dylan upon first sight. She chronicles in her diary the awkwardness of becoming friends with Dylan. This is the boy who grabs her and kisses her senseless one minute, then simmers and ignores her the next. When will she ever figure out what his feelings for her are? Perhaps a school art trip to Paris, the city of romance, will help reveal the truth.

This is a good book for those who liked Gossip Girls and the A-list. More serious readers, however, will find this book lacking in substance and style. Edie is a petty protagonist, way too obsessed with her crush in my opinion.

7th - Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

Shocking and Tender

This book should definitely be required reading for health classes teaching about dating abuse. With her signature spot-on teenage voice, Sarah Dessen once again crafts a masterpiece. Her novels are not merely novels; they are works of art that I hope will last forever.

Caitlin’s perfect older sister, Cass, ran away from home on Caitlin’s sixteenth birthday. Brilliant, proactive, and beautiful, Cass was everywhere in high school. On the soccer field, leading her team to state victories. On the high honor roll. On the Homecoming Court. On TV to lead student protests. Caitlin is used to playing second fiddle to Cass, and maybe now that Cass has run away, she will be able to be noticed by her parents.

But Caitlin’s mom is still obsessed over Cass’ running away. To have something of her own, Caitlin joins the cheerleading squad at the insistence of her best friend Rina. Then she meets Rogerson. He isn’t like the other bland football players that all the cheerleaders date. Rogerson is sexy, dangerous, and secretive…and best of all, he is all Caitlin’s.

Caitlin’s relationship with Rogerson seems like the perfect way for her to break away from Cass’ shadow. However, she never anticipates all of the harm that Rogerson does to her, emotionally and physically. Can she not escape this abusive relationship because she is weaker than her sister?

While not everyone has gone through an abusive relationship, Sarah Dessen describes Caitlin’s thoughts and fears so genuinely that readers will feel as if they ARE Caitlin themselves. They will feel all of Caitlin’s pain and confusion, wrapped up in a world so well written that it’s easy to forget you’re reading a book.

8th - The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

Virginia Rocks!

Virginia Shreves is certain that she was accidentally switched at birth. That’s the only way she can account for the differences between her and her parents and two older siblings. She’s sure that somewhere in the Tri-State area there’s an obese, blond-haired, pop-culture-loving family wondering why they have a slim, brown-haired, and culturally enlightened daughter. Because that’s what Virginia knows she is. Fat.

Being fat is a huge handicap for Virginia. She can’t make her weekly make-out trysts with Froggy Welsh the Fourth into a serious relationship. She is fearful of imposing herself upon unfriendly classmates, and so she’s all alone this year, her best friend Shannon having gone to Walla Walla for the year.

Then Virginia gets some news that shatters all of her beliefs. Her brother, Byron, whom she used to worship, was accused of date rape, and her family struggles to pretend everything is normal. But Virginia has had enough. She is tired of her parents making light of Byron’s criminal offense when they rag on her to lose weight all the time. It’s time for Virginia to begin to love herself.

It’s hard to summarize up this extremely good story in a few short sentences. Virginia’s tale is a hearty cry for self-acceptance. Thoroughly believable and utterly uplifting, don’t miss this great book.

9th - Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman

Not Darcy and Elizabeth, but Romantic Enough

From the book jacket description, I had expected that ENTHUSIASM would follow the general plot of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. However, Pride and Prejudice is merely the starting point for this charming book.

At the start of their sophomore year, best friends Ashleigh and Julie are obsessed with Jane Austen’s world. That is, Julie had always loved Austen, and Ashleigh, who was famous for her constantly changing wild obsessions, decided that it would be her latest craze. However, Ashleigh takes Austen to another level, wearing Victorian clothing, speaking like the characters in the books, and setting off on a quest to find the ever enigmatic True Love.

Like all of Ashleigh’s crazy plans, this latest quest involves the friends crashing a formal dance at the all-boys’ boarding school, Forefield Academy. There, they are rescued from the clutches of a rule-loving teacher by C. Grandison Parr and Ned. Ashleigh believes that the two young men are, in fact, their True Loves—the Darcy-like Parr for Ashleigh and Ned, the Bingley of the story, for Julie.

Julie feels the same way…just not exactly as Ashleigh had imagined. Julie finds herself falling in love with Parr, but she keeps her feelings to herself, not wanting to be disloyal to Ashleigh. Keeping silent turns out to be harder than she thought as the four friends participate in a school musical together and Julie must see Parr every day. Will Julie ever find her True Love without losing her best friend?

In the style of most teen romances, Julie and Parr’s circling may have readers frustrated at the characters’ obliviousness and awkward situations. ENTHUSIASM is a nice read, but Parr doesn’t have anything on the real Mr. Darcy, of course.

10th - Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Smart Lesson from a Fairy Tale

When we think of fairy tale heroines, we usually imagine a beautiful, graceful young woman with massive amounts of hair down to there and angel eyes. Aza is none of the above. Tall, wide, and pasty, Aza was abandoned at an inn when she was only a few days old. The innkeeper’s family adopted her and she has lived and worked with them ever since. The inn’s guests are rarely kind with their comments about her looks, but even after 15 years of hearing them, Aza is still uncomfortable with her looks.

However, Aza has a special gift: her voice. She is an amazing singer, even by Ayorthaian standards, and secretly she masters the art of illusing, or what we refer to as ventriloquism, or “throwing” one’s voice. She journeys to the king’s castle to witness the marriage of King Ascaro to Queen Ivi, a foreigner. There, her voice captures Ivi’s attention. Ivi is determined to remain the fairest in all the land, and blackmails Aza into becoming her lady-in-waiting so she can illuse over her own weak voice.

Aza is unhappy at the castle, where her only source of happiness is the prince Ijori. Ivi owns a magic handheld mirror named Skulni which can make gazers look beautiful, and Aza is obsessed with becoming beautiful through any means, including spells and potions. When her life is in danger due to Ivi’s manic selfishness, Aza flees to Gnome Caverns where she learns the truth about herself and must grow to accept her looks and gain self-confidence.

FAIREST is a good story, notwithstanding certain things I would have liked better explained, such as Skulni. While it’s a retelling of Snow White, Gail Carson Levine makes it clear that the moral is that no one should judge their worth by their looks.

11th - Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

Brilliant

To be honest, I felt like FOREVER IN BLUE start off rather slowly and depressingly, but in fact the novel is so astounding and fitting for the final book in this amazing series that I am still reeling from reading it.

The Septembers—Carmen, Tibby, Bridget, and Lena—haven’t really gotten together since the summer before they each went their separate ways to college. Now, it’s the summer after their freshman year of college and once again they’re apart, though together in spirit. Still, though, each girl has her own mistakes to make and lessons to learn.

Tibby is taking a summer screenwriting course at NYU. At the same time, she takes a big step forward in her relationship with Brian…with consequences that shatter their old ideas of almost blind love. Lena opts for an art studio class at RISD, where she develops a crush on the intense, incredibly talented artist Leo and asks herself whether she has, in fact, actually moved on from Kostos.

Carmen has tagged along with her college friend Julia to a theater camp Julia is excited to attend. In a move completely unlike the invisible background person she’s become over the course of the year, Carmen tries out for a highly esteemed part in a play…and gets it, much to Julia’s dissatisfaction. Finally, Bee is on an archaeological dig in Turkey, where she has feelings for her older, married professor and tries to learn how to miss someone and remember to have a home.

The ending of FOREVER IN BLUE is bittersweet and excellent. It’s realistic, touching, and satisfying, all at once. All the years we’ve loved these four girls, here is one last time to see them mature and learn how powerful their bond with one another is. It’s a bond that can outlast anything, even time and distance, and that is what makes this series so special.

12th - Good Girls by Laura Ruby

Smart, Funny, and Good

GOOD GIRLS is a gem of a good read. Super-smart Audrey does something completely out of character for her before school starts: she hooks up with Luke, the well-liked, athletic playboy. Party after party, they hook up, yet hardly ever speak in school. Audrey feels more for Luke than she’s felt for any other boy, but as she watches Luke talk to other girls, she can’t help but draw back from a possible romance between the two of them.

Then someone takes a picture of Audrey doing something with Luke, and the picture is passed around to everyone. Even Audrey’s teachers and parents see it. Audrey goes from having a fairly decent reputation to being labeled as a slut. The consequences of the photo are far-reaching: Luke isn’t talking to her and her parents don’t know how to act around her.

However, some of what happens in the picture’s aftermath surprises Audrey. She befriends several girls she had always considered as slutty before, and she learns that she does have the ability to be strong while people snicker behind her back.

GOOD GIRLS is snidely hilarious and a surprisingly feel-good read. It’s raw and explicit; I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone not in high school yet. However, Audrey is a great, strong protagonist with a wonderful voice. Not everyone has been in Audrey’s particular situation, but I’m sure that everyone knows how it feels to be hurt, and then to rise above it.

13th - I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

A Spy Not Worth Spying On

The title is intriguing, and so is the concept: a spy-in-training at an all-girls’ spy school falls in love with a normal boy, whom she can never tell her true identity. But this story failed to live up to my expectations.

Cammie Morgan is a sophomore at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, which is a spy school posing as an elite all-girls’ private boarding school. Her normal course load includes PhD-level chemistry, Countries of the World, and hardest of all, CoveOps, which is taught by a ridiculously hot but severe Joe Solomon. It’s almost a good thing that the Gallagher Academy doesn’t train guys to be spies, because in between work for her classes and trying to put up with her new suitemate, Macey McHenry, a rich delinquent-like wannabe rebel who takes pleasure in others’ pain, Cammie has no time to worry about guys.

That all changes when, in the midst of a failed Covert Operation, she is seen by Josh. She, Cammie Morgan, nicknamed the Chameleon for her ability to blend in anymore, is seen by a cute guy. Josh is a normal townie who lives the perfect suburban life. He believes that Cammie is homeschooled, has a pet cat, and likes the same things he does. What he doesn’t know, however, is that Cammie is not who she says she is; she’s fed him a web of lies about herself because she cannot tell him who she really is.

Trying to keep up her relationship with Josh without her headmistress mother or Josh finding out her secrets while struggling to please Joe Solomon in CoveOps class is almost too hard to do. Something has got to give. What will Cammie choose: her love for a normal boy or her loyalty to her life’s calling?

This book makes for a quick and light read. More than a few times, the author seems to try too hard with her random humor, which doesn’t succeed in making the story funny. That being said, there IS a decent amount of advice on guys that girls might like to read about.

14th - Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Be Honest: Accept the Past to Change the Future

Over the course of just one summer before her junior year of high school, Annabel Greene has managed to lose all her friends. Always the quiet, “nice” one, a misunderstanding at an end-of-school party results in Annabel losing her gregarious best friend, Sophie, a complicated go-getter with many mood swings and only two sides to friendship. You’re either her friend, or you’re her enemy. Being Sophie’s friend has caused the nice Annabel to lose several of her old friends as well, including her former best friend, Clarke, whom Sophie indirectly deemed “nerdy” and thus dropped like a hot potato.

Suddenly, Annabel finds herself all alone. She sits on the wall at lunch next to Owen, the loner boy who exudes an aura of intimidation for his gigantic stature and the omnipresence of earphones in his ear. Meanwhile, Annabel’s situation at home is not too great either. The past year was focused mostly on middle sister Whitney’s eating disorder, and Whitney and eldest Kirsten’s constant clashes and subsequent falling-out in the face of Whitney’s anorexia/bulimia.

Now, Whitney’s at home and slowly recovering, but she’s still taking up most of their parents’ attention. Thus, Annabel feels unable to tell her mother that she wants to quit modeling, something that all of her sisters have done and grown out of. Annabel is the last one left, and as a result, she feels pressured to stay on it in order to make her mother happy.

In the middle of Sophie’s attacks, her mother’s inattention, and Whitney’s glowers, Annabel strikes up an unexpected friendship with Owen. Turns out Owen is obsessed with music—and telling the truth all the time. With him, Annabel feels like a different person, one who can say what she wants to say all the time, instead of holding everything back like she usually does.

That is, until her past catches up to her. By trying to suppress all horrible memories of what happened to her that night at the party, Annabel is gradually but steadily ruining her future, including a possible romance with Owen. She must first admit to herself the truth before she can tell others and start on the path to recovery.

Like all of Sarah Dessen’s books, JUST LISTEN is chock full of important lessons. There are parallels between Annabel and Whitney’s predicaments, as well as symbolism in the form of the Greene’s glass house. While I did not find this novel to be as good as her other ones, I nevertheless could not put it down both times I read it. I recommend taking this novel in short breaths, instead of devouring it as you will most likely want to do. Just read…then go back and look for the deeper messages. JUST LISTEN will grow with you.

15th - The Keys to the Kingdom: Mister Monday by Garth Nix

I Was Hooked

12-year-old asthmatic Arthur Penhaligon was supposed to die that Monday. That’s why the unfulfilled Will—created by the Architect, broken by insubordinates—managed to infiltrate the body of Mister Monday’s butler and convince his master to hand half of his clock-hand-shaped key to Arthur. Mister Monday does so, believing that he will be able to quickly retrieve the key back after Arthur dies and thus fulfilling the Will.

However, once Arthur accepts the key, he is mysteriously tied to it as the rightful heir to the Will. The key heals him and gives him powers, but throws him into a frightening strop with Mister Monday, who infiltrates the world as we know it with a deadly plague and scary dog-faced Nithlings. In order to save the human race and discover the answers to his many questions, Arthur enters a House that only he can see.

This brings him to another world, one whose main object is to keep records of everything that is happening in our universe. There, he befriends Suzy Blue and the Will, who is in the shape of a frog in this world. Monday and his cronies are determined to take the key back from Arthur, though, and so Arthur must endure many trying episodes on his journey to claim the other half of the key from Mister Monday.

MISTER MONDAY begins a series that looks to be extremely interesting. Fans of high fantasy or science fiction will appreciate this book.

16th - The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld

Creepy and Mesmerizing

Scott Westerfeld is arguably the master of modern-day sci-fi. His books, whether they are set in this present world, or in a future place, are always easy to relate to and understand. Even readers who have not read PEEPS (and you should) will enjoy this one.

THE LAST DAYS is essentially a story about five wannabe musicians getting together to form a band. There’s Pearl: musically talented, smart, rich, an entrepreneur, and a little bossy on the keyboard. There’s Moz, the talented but untrained guitarist who along with Pearl saves a rare Stratocaster guitar that a crazy woman was chucking out of her apartment window. Zahler is Moz’s best friend, guitarist turned bassist, who constantly feels as if he’s the band’s weak link and has a penchant for making up new words (fawesome!).

The threesome hire Alana Ray, a talented but neurotically challenged drummer who drums on paint buckets and can see what music looks like. And finally there’s Minerva, Pearl’s friend who was bitten by something and now exhibits vampirish and vaguely cannibalistic tendencies—but whose singing talent somehow connects the whole band together into something paranormal.

When the band rehearses, strange things happen. The ground beneath them rumbles, as if something is struggling to reach them from underground. Meanwhile, the infected Minerva develops a relationship with Moz, as the parasite inside of her tries to spread itself by making her horny and irresistible.

In their journey to find an agent and get signed up to a label, the still nameless band learn that there is something very powerful about their music, as it has a way of summoning up the human race’s greatest enemy from deep within the earth where they reside. Now, the five young men and women must use their musical and supernatural talents to help the peeps, infected humans who can control their vampirish tendencies and who were created to help save humanity. Together, they will summon and fight the enemies until nearly all are extinct. Until next time.

The world that Scott Westerfeld has created is creepily realistic. I got chills from reading this novel, and anything that moves me to such a reaction is extraordinary.

17th - Mediator #5: Haunted by Meg Cabot

Just Gets Better and Better

I swear, this series just get better and better. In this installment of Suze’s life in Carmel, California, the delectably dangerous Paul Slater reenters her life just when she thinks she will never see him again. Paul is the Devil in a hot bod—or so Suze believes as she recalls the past summer when Paul tried to kill her and make her ghostly sweetheart, Jesse, disappear forever.

Paul claims to know what, exactly, they are, why they communicate with ghosts and what else they can do. But Suze doesn’t know why he’s so intent on teaching her about their similar powers. Unless he’s lonely…? Is that why he so creepily continues to talk to her even after her many rejections of him? Is that why he kisses her the day he invites her over to his place under the pretense of learning more about mediators?

Meanwhile, Suze’s relationship with the hot ghost who haunts her room, Jesse, has been awkward and littered with silences. It seems to have been this way ever since they kissed several weeks ago. Despite the strain in their friendship as a result, Suze can’t help but fall more in love with Jesse every day, even though she knows that loving a guy who’s been already dead for 150 years won’t bode well for her future. To make matters worse, once Jesse finds out that Paul has recently transferred to Suze’s school, there could be the blowout of a lifetime, as two hot, headstrong forces collide with one another in a battle for, much to her surprise, Suze’s heart.

HAUNTED is full of fun and romance with a paranormal twist. I am a hearty proponent of the impossible romance between Suze and Jesse, but Paul definitely makes this series all the more interesting. Gotta love Meg Cabot and her wonderful characters.

18th - The Minister’s Daughter by Julie Hearn

Dangerously Good

The novel is enthralling and enchanting, hard to put down once you start. In the English country in the seventeenth century, Nell lives with her wisewoman grandmother, the town herbalist, midwife, and spellbringer. Nell is a Merrybegot, a child sacred to nature, born on May Morning. She likes to frolic and hates restraint, which the new minister has brought down upon the town.

The minister’s eldest daughter, Grace Madden, is a beautiful, proud, conniving girl. After a secret affair with the blacksmith’s son, Grace is pregnant. Fearing the shame will bring down on her family, she pleads to Nell for help in getting rid of the baby. But Nell refuses, suspecting that the unborn might be a Merrybegot like herself.

Suddenly Grace and her younger sister Patience are both shrieking, having fits, and blathering. The minister is beside himself. Grace claims that the Devil has taken over Nell, and that’s who is causing her to feel so ill. Accused of being a witch, Nell finds her life in danger. Everything she does can be used against her. Will her life end at the gallows like the many other accused in nearby towns, or will being a child sacred to nature save her life in the end?

This book is great. The characters feel real and the suspense is in every chapter and never lets up, except for the ending which I felt was too easily wrapped up. Nevertheless, this a great book for anyone who enjoys fantasy, historical fiction, or paranormal stories.

19th - A Novel Idea by Aimee Friedman

Cute, But Not About Books

Junior bookworm Norah Bloom is short on extracurriculars for her college resume, so she decides to start a book club. A group of arbitrary people arrive at the café the Book Nook the first day: Audre, Norah’s cooking-loving best friend; Scott, the gay friend; Francesca, a hot senior whose popular-girl attitude doesn’t seem to fit with why she joined the book club; Neil, mistaking the club for a sci-fi group; and James, Neil’s best friend.

Norah immediately feels a connection with the book-loving James as they converse easily. But due to her lack of experience with members of the opposite sex, Norah resorts to copying the male-snagging methods of a protagonist from a trashy romance novel, her guilty pleasure. This plan involves her writing herself a love note and letting James see it, sending herself flowers, and so on.

However, Norah soon realizes that this is real life, not a perfect fictional world, and that many things can go wrong with her plan—and go wrong they do. How many more interesting secrets will she find out about her book club members before she can finally snag James…if she can get him?

A NOVEL IDEA is 10% books and 90% typical high school awkward love. Don’t read this looking for some insightful views on books and reading, but if you’re in need of a quick, cute read about high school crushes, this book is good for you.

20th - Reality Chick by Lauren Barnholdt

Fluffy but Flat

The “normal” college freshman Ally Cavanaugh auditions for a spot on the reality show that’s being filmed on her college campus. Miraculously she’s chosen and gets to live in a grand, luxurious house with her four housemates: the slutty Jasmine, shy Simone, ghetto-pimp James, and Abercrombie-hot Drew.

Everyone on the reality show seems to have a role, even her. Ally is, according to Drew, whom she thinks is full of himself, the “hot girl with the long-distance boyfriend.” Indeed, she and her boyfriend, Corey, have been together for two years. College is the first time they’ve been separated for more than a weekend.

Ally knows that Corey is the most important person in her life and that they will end up getting married one day. First, however, she must battle changing priorities, the difficulties that come with having everything she does exposed on cable TV, and most of all her growing feelings for Drew, who turns out to be not as bad a guy as she had once thought he was.

Nothing really seems to go on in REALITY CHICK—or at least in the “reality” part of it. The “reality show” spin on the novel seems to be just a phrase thrown in there; we didn’t see much of what it was like to be watched by the nation. It just seemed like a roundabout way to get Ally and Drew together and make Ally fight with Corey. Still, REALITY CHICK is a quick read, and you can sure pick it up for an afternoon of relaxation after, say, taking the SATs.

21th - That Summer by Sarah Dessen

Has Heart and Realism

In her fifteenth summer, Haven is nearing six feet tall and feeling every bit as awkward as a fish out of water. That summer is particularly tumultuous for her: in addition to her embarrassingly rapid growth spurt, she also has to suffer through two marriages, her father’s remarriage and her sister Ashley’s.

It’s hard for Haven to see her father moving into a new life with his new bride, leaving her and her mother behind. Meanwhile, Haven thinks that Ashley is being too selfish with her impending marriage. But it is not only that. Ashley has always been pushing Haven away her whole life and acting like a pain. Wistfully Haven remembers the summer Ashley went out with Sumner Lee. He made Ashley loosen up and allow Haven to get close.

All of a sudden, Sumner’s back being his usual comfortable, friendly self, taking Haven along for the ride. He’s just what she needs this summer, when she feels disconnected from everyone else. In a way, she’s also secretly hoping that Sumner will help bring her and Ashley closer together, just like he did all those years ago.

But sometimes things aren’t always how Haven wants them to be. This summer, she’ll learn that people will let her down, but she can grow into her body, soul and all. It only takes one summer.

Sarah Dessen is a consistently impressive author, and her debut will not let anyone down. It has heart and realism, two things that many YA books nowadays are sorely lacking. Don’t miss this rich story.

22nd - Two Steps Forward by Rachel Cohn

True Voices Shine for a Complicated Family

You will be hard-pressed to find a truer tween voice than that of Rachel Cohn, who wrote THE STEPS, the prequel to this novel. Cohn brings back the very bizarre, intertwined family tree of which Annabel is the center, but this time three more voices join the picture: Lucy’s, Wheaties’, and Ben’s.

Instead of spending her summer in Sydney like she wants to, Annabel is forced to go with her mom, Angelina, to Los Angeles, where her father has just relocated with his new family that includes Annabel’s stepsister and best friend, Lucy. The moody Annabel is determined to hate LA, but she finds it harder and harder to when she learns the good news—the Aussie “footy” god, Ben, Lucy’s ex-stepbrother and Annabel’s first kiss, is coming to California too! In addition to that, Annabel’s current stepbrother Wheaties (real name Al) is also arriving in LA to spend summer with his workaholic mom. It should be one great summer.

However, all four steps must grow and accept. Wheaties is in love with Lucy and must deal with her not reciprocating, as she doesn’t want to be involved with guys at the moment. Annabel and Ben need to work out something for the feelings that start to redevelop between them upon Ben’s arrival. And Lucy and Annabel have to accept that, as sisters and friends, they will inevitably fight in order to learn to live with their differences.

While I felt that the story was slow to start and too abrupt in its ending, TWO STEPS FORWARD is definitely an enjoyable read. Readers will identify with the four main characters—and if they don’t identify, they’ll at least find each character’s thoughts highly amusing!

23rd - What Happened to Cass McBride? by Gail Giles

A Psychological Exploration

Kyle Kirby blames the popular, wholesome Cass McBride for his younger brother David’s suicide. To retaliate, he kidnaps her and buries her…alive. Now, Cass is hanging onto life by a thread, a small hose of an opening in which she breathes and tries (without desperation) to wrangle her freedom with Kyle, and to understand why he blames her.

Both teenagers’ histories are revealed through multiple POVs non-chronologically. We discover that Kyle and David’s mom is verbally abusive, believing David to be the cause of her misfortunes. On the other hand, Cass’ father’s love for her is conditional, so she feels like she must always strive to please him by being smart, popular, and tactical in her (usually successful) attempts to get what she wants—just like her father.

The ending crashes into you with the force of a 40-mile-per-hour gale. Kyle realizes who is really responsible for David’s death, detective Ben Gray scrambles to find the missing girl before 48 hours are up, and Cass brushes against death with fingers and toes scraped down to the bone.

This novel is really an exploration of the characters’ psyches, motivations, and personalities. It has less suspense than I expected, which was sort of disappointing, but the concept is certainly very interesting. Overall, Gail Giles does an excellent job of portraying the complexities of family lives.

24th - Jason & Kyra by Dana Davidson

A Sigh-worthy Romance!

Jason Vincent is Cross High School’s most popular star basketball player, a secretly talented writer, and a boy with a troubled relationship with his verbally abusive father. Super-smart Kyra Evans dresses slightly funny and doesn’t do much to tame her hair, but she has a loving family and doesn’t care what people think of her, least of all the popular group that Jason runs with. Their lives were not supposed to cross in high school at all…until a fateful English research paper project brings the two of them together, first as partners, then as friends, and finally as something more. Much more.

Jason finds that he can tell Kyra secrets that he’s never told anyone. Kyra, rather inexperienced in the boy department, finds the perfect boyfriend in Jason. Both teenagers discover what love really is in their remarkable relationship, a relationship that, when first announced, brought the entire school to its feet in uproar. A Super-Jock and a Super-Brain, going together? It was unheard of. Impossible. It would never last.

Jason and Kyra’s relationship may be magical, but they must withstand many obstacles thrown their way, particularly their different opinions over sex and the malevolent plans of Jason’s ex-girlfriend, Lisa, the most popular girl whom he dumped for Kyra. Lisa has a plan to separate the couple and get back together with her rightful boy-property. Can Jason and Kyra’s love for each other withstand hurtful assumptions?

Dana Davidson’s voice is easy to read and extremely touching. Readers will find themselves sighing wistfully for a relationship as beautiful as the one Jason and Kyra share.

25th - The Au Pairs by Melissa de la Cruz

Deliciously Trashy Fun

There is more than enough name-dropping in THE AU PAIRS to satisfy the cravings of any reader. However, this series by Melissa de la Cruz stands out from other, similar series because of its character development.

Eliza, Mara, and Jacqui are three girls who are going to be au pairs for a rich family’s four young children during their summer stay in the Hamptons. Eliza was once the NYC It girl, before her family lost their fortune and they had to relocate to (bleeech!) Buffalo. Therefore, this summer is her glorious return…only made not-so-glorious as she realizes she’s working class and struggles to hide her financial status from her old “friends.”

Mara is the small-town girl with big-town looks. She came to the Hamptons to actually work to save money for college and doesn’t realize until later that she’s totally Hamptons material. In the meantime, Mara struggles to figure out her relationship with her boyfriend, Jim, as well as deal with her feelings for her bosses’ son, the hot and nice Ryan.

Jacqui is a Brazilian bombshell who only came to the States to search for her true love, Luca, whom she met when he spent his spring break backpacking in South America. Jacqui finds him, all right, but he’s not the sweetheart he had been over spring break, and Jacqui seems to lose her purpose for being an au pair at all.

This is a really fun read, great for anyone who wonders about the summer lives of the rich and privileged. The characters aren’t exactly lovable, and even sweet, kind Mara becomes corrupted after ten weeks, but there are more than enough hot, sweet guys and shopping sprees to get lost in.

26th - Avalon High by Meg Cabot

Perfect Combination of Humor, Romance, and Suspense

Prolific YA author Meg Cabot introduces something new in her amazing stand-alone book, AVALON HIGH: the reincarnation of an old legend into a modern world.

Everyone has more or less heard of the legend of King Arthur. For Ellie Harrison, however, she practically LIVES surrounded by it. Both her parents are professors of the medieval ages, and have taken a year off from their jobs to write books about their shared passion. That means that for Ellie’s junior year of high school, she’s moving from Minnesota to Annapolis, Maryland, mere miles away from the Naval Academy. Ellie’s last days of summer are spent floating in her backyard pool and running in the nearby park…and that is where she runs into Will.

A. William Wagner is the high school’s star quarterback, valedictorian, class president, and overall well-respected good guy. The day Ellie runs into Will at the park, they smile at each other like they have seen each other before…only Ellie is sure that she’s never met him before in her life (she would’ve definitely remembered otherwise). Much to her surprise, Will ends up showing up at her poolside after the first day of school and hanging out with her.

Of course, Ellie knows that nothing can after happen between her and Golden Boy. After all, he has a girlfriend, the beautiful, blond cheerleader Jennifer. Ellie’s just the friend who can make him laugh, that’s all.

However, there seems to be something strange going on at Avalon High, things that are strangely coincidental to what happened to King Arthur all those centuries ago. It can’t be that Will is the reincarnation of Arthur and that his life is in danger…could it?

And what part does Ellie play in saving the life of the man she loves?
AVALON HIGH is a perfect combination of humor, romance, and suspense. It had been on the edge of my seat as I breathlessly rushed to the finish in order to know what happens…and this is the second time I’ve read it.

27th - One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones

Much More than what the Title says it is

After reading this book, you will want to rush to the library to get your hands on every novel-in-verse you can find, even if you didn’t used to like poetry.
But of course, you will be let down, because no other novel-in-verse can really compare to this one.

Reading the title, I had expected something depressingly deep and serious. However, Sonya Sones’ third novel-in-verse is surprisingly snarky and fun, all the while managing to be poignantly real. 15-year-old Ruby’s mother has just died, and she’s going all the way across the country to L.A. to live with her Oscar-winning actor father, Whip Logan, who abandoned her and her mother before she was even born. Needless to say, Ruby is excited not a whit, especially as this move takes her away from her boyfriend Roy, her best friend Lizzie, and her mother’s grave.

At Whip’s extensive mansion, Ruby determinedly avoids Whip’s bonding advances, instead favoring his personal assistant, Max, who has a big heart. She also has trouble adjusting to her very “unique” school, especially her Dream Interpretation class, because her head is almost always wrapped up in missing Roy, Lizzie, and her mom. Perhaps, though, a shocking severance from her East Coast life will wake her to new possibilities in her new home.

Ruby is funny, emotional, and someone you definitely want to be friends with. I highly recommend this book.

-

I first read this book last year and fell in love with her form of writing. I'm pretty sure that I came up with the idea of writing a novel-in-verse for my creative writing class's final project last year from this book.

Wow... talk about being horrible with updates! So much has happened: my Disney trip with the marching band and choir, the spring musical, and a new (re)addiction to fantasy. So much for wanting to keep my reads in chronological order, lol. Here goes:

28th - American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

3 Different Stories for Everyone

This book became a groundbreaker for graphic novels by winning the 2007 Printz Award, the highest award given to young adult literature. What do a mythical monkey king, a Chinese boy, and a white boy have in common? More than you think!

Jin Wang moves from his almost completely Asian neighborhood to a white suburb. The monkey king (a famous Chinese legend) deals with his arrogance and feelings of superiority, only to be taught humility. Danny, a white boy, must deal with annual visits from his super-Chinese cousin Chin-Kee, who always manages to ruin Danny’s life just enough that he is forced to transfer schools at the end of every year.

Each of their tales is touchingly real and raw with truth, and come together in a somewhat confusing ending. Asians and non-Asians alike will appreciate the myth, mystery, and reality that appear in AMERICAN BORN CHINESE. I highly recommend this novel.

29th - The Au Pairs: Skinny-Dipping by Melissa de la Cruz

Second Helpings are Much More Fun

Our beloved au pairs are back for another summer in the smokin’ hot Hamptons. This summer, however, things are going to be a little different. Eliza’s not working with Jacqui and Mara anymore for the Perrys; instead, she’s gotten herself a bad-paying but prestigious job at the hottest new nighclub, and Philippe, a sexy French guy, is the new au pair, one that Jacqui can’t seem to keep her hands away from, despite her No Boys rule.

Mara broke up with Ryan because she feels like she doesn’t deserve him, but seeing him with other girls still hurts. Luckily, there’s Garrett Reynolds, who likes her because she’s fun, which is what Mara decides to be in order to make Ryan jealous.

Little does she know that over winter break, Eliza hooked up with Ryan. They’re not officially seeing each other, more like friends with benefits, seeing as how both are still stuck on different people: Ryan on Mara, and Eliza on Jeremy, her ex-boyfriend-slash-gardener-turned-businessman. But Jeremy seems distant, and her parents are acting like snobs because he’s not in the same class as them.

With all the secrets and unspoken words going around, is it any wonder that these love triangles and friendships are poised to explode? SKINNY DIPPING keeps up the same rapid, fun pace that Melissa de la Cruz set in the first book of this addictive series.

30th - Breaking Up by Aimee Friedman

High School, Illustrated

For YA lovers with little to no experience in the genre of graphic novels, Breaking Up is a good place to start. This cute, quick, and wonderfully illustrated romantic drama depicts the junior year of four best friends: socially conscious Mackenzie, sassy but restricted Isabel, sweet Erika, and artsy Chloe.
Eleventh grade brings about many changes for the girls. Once, they used to spend all their free time together. Now, however, Mackenzie can often be found trailing after Nicola, the most popular girl in school with the hottest boyfriend, Gabe, whom Mackenzie likes. Isabel struggles to convince her parents to let her date, and Erika has trouble deciding whether or not to go the next step with her longtime boyfriend Kyle.

Meanwhile, Chloe has befriended Adam Stevenson, a certified “geek loser,” according to people like Mackenzie. Chloe and Adam talk every day in art class, and Chloe finds him smart, sweet, and sensitive. However, Chloe is afraid that her friends will not approve of him, and so decides to date him in secret.

What will happen when her friends discover that she’s been lying to them, though? Growing up also means changing. Will the girls’ friendship survive the different people that they’ve become?

Drama most certainly occurs in high school, and readers will relate to Mackenzie, Isabel, Erika, and Chloe’s problems and conflicts. Yet BREAKING UP happily leaves us with hope and the enduring nature of true friendship.

31st - Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan

Terrifying and Fantastic... a Classic

After someone tries to kill Pyrgus, the Crown Prince of the faerie world, his father, the Purple Emperor, sends him off into the Analogue World (aka the world we humans live in) for safety from their political enemies, the Faeries of the Night. However, the translator they used to send Pyrgus into the other world has been sabotaged, sending Pyrgus drastically off course, landing him in the middle of present-day England, in the backyard of a paranoid old Mr. Fogarty. Mr. Fogarty enlists the help of Henry, his helping boy with family troubles, to construct a translator to send Pyrgus back to his own world.

The Purple Emperor and his subjects frantically search for Pyrgus to save him from his death, knowing that the Faeries of the Night are concocting something terrible. However, Pyrgus is sabotaged once again… this time by the demons, allies of the Faeries of the Night and creatures whom we know as aliens. The demons intend to kill Pyrgus and his father, throwing the Faeries of the Light into chaos and thus succeeding in overthrowing the government. Now it seems like the only two who can stop the demons are Henry and Pyrgus’ fearless little sister, Blue, an accomplished spy with intelligence and beauty.

FAERIE WARS, the first in this captivating series by Herbie Brennan, engaged me in the first paragraph and didn’t let go. Brennan does a fantastic job of keeping up the suspense all the way through the novel, purposely alternating points of view to keep readers on their toes. With his vivid writing, I felt like I was actually there alongside the main characters as they struggled against terrifying enemies. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves fantasy, science fiction, action, and Harry Potter (that should cover about everyone, shouldn’t it?).

32nd - The Purple Emperor by Herbie Brennan

More Action and Awe than the First

All of the characters (and many more neat ones) are back from the first book in this sequel that’s even more exciting than the first! Ever since Mr. Fogarty was appointed Gatekeeper by Pyrgus, the Purple Emperor Elect, Henry has been taking care of his home for him.

Until one day, when Mr. Fogarty shows up and asks Henry to come back to the faerie realm. It turns out that Pyrgus’ kingdom is not as peaceful as it should be. Someone has resurrected Pyrgus’ father, the previous Purple Emperor who was brutally murdered! Apatura Iris is a shell of his former grand self, but still powerful enough to sign his agreement on a contract drawn up by Lord Hairstreak, Pyrgus’ worst political enemy, stating the removal of Pyrgus from Emperor Elect. The position will now be transferred to Pyrgus and Blue’s younger brother, Comma, and the two eldest children will be banished to faraway lands.

Henry arrives in the faerie realm, only to discover that Blue and Pyrgus are gone, and the kingdom is in danger of being taken over by their political enemies. To make matters worse, both Brimstone and Chalkhill are back, each involved in their own plan to cause more trouble for Pyrgus. However, with the aid of a very mysterious and powerful group of people, Blue, Pyrgus, Henry, and friends just might be able to right all the wrongs in their kingdom.

Herbie Brennan once again brings readers an exciting and magical world. His books are impossible to put down and hard to forget.

33rd - Fringe Girl by Valerie Frankel

Dare to Change... but at what cost?

Adora Benet and her friends Eli and Liza have always been on the fringe of their high school’s social order: not one of the common people, but certainly not special enough to be treated honestly by the Ruling Class, led by Sondra and Noel. Dora is tired of Sondra always setting trends, including hairstyles, clothing, and even how to think. She wants revenge.

A perfect opportunity to inflict change occurs when Dora must complete a project on revolution for her social studies class. Why not try to usurp the Ruling Class in the very own school through an actual revolution of her own? The more Dora thinks about this idea, the more she is determined to act upon it. She gets her own “Me Style” haircut, riles up the school through satirical editorials in the now-hot school newspaper, and enlists the support of the masses—all following the footsteps of previous bloodless revolutions.

Before long, Dora has succeeded in overthrowing the Ruling Class! No longer do they dictate what everyone else says or does. Dora is seen by nearly everyone as some sort of hero, a leader for their purpose. Life couldn’t be any better.

Or could it? It doesn’t take too long for Dora to realize that the old saying is true: revolutionaries do NOT make good leaders. In the process of her revolution, Dora has managed to anger her two best friends, fall for the wrong boy—twice, and misjudge the people around her. What can she do in order to right her upside-down life?

FRINGE GIRL is imaginative and easy to read. Personally I get sick of books that mention the Ruling Class/Upper Crust/Royalty of high school as the main conflict, but Valerie Frankel works with this too-much-used conflict very nicely, creating for us a unique protagonist in a convincing world.

34th - Sold by Patricia McCormick

This is an Exquisite Book

SOLD is heartwrenching and shocking; it will move you to tears. In simple, poetic prose, McCormick tells the story of Lakshmi, a thirteen-year-old Nepal girl who is sold by her family to an Indian brothel house when her family loses all of their year’s crops during the rainy season. Sold into sexual slavery, Lakshmi must “repay” her “debts” to the woman who runs the brothel house—which in reality will never occur because she will never be free.

Despite this dismal-sounding setting, there are surprisingly vivid and warm pictures of the mountain life, a life that most of us have never known. Lakshmi is observant, determined, and not one to be pitied, despite the terrible situation she’s in. The characters we meet at the brothel house touch our lives in an extraordinary way.

SOLD is not a long book, nor is it very complicated, but it’s amazing how many emotions one can get from so little words. This is the must-read book of the year, hands-down. You will cry and smile, break your heart and repair it with images of the beauty and endurance of human nature.

35th - The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Simply Stunning

This is a beautiful book. It's a war book for those who don't like war books, poetry for those who don't read poetry, an inspirational tale for those who don't read self-help. It's amazing and powerful... a must-read.

36th - Tithe by Holly Black (reread)

Dangerously Attractive Faeries

Holly Black spins readers an enchanting world in her brilliant debut dark fantasy novel, TITHE. Kaye Fierch and her musician mother Ellen move back in with her grandmother in New Jersey after Ellen’s boyfriend mysteriously tried to attack her. Now Kaye is back amongst the friends she had to leave six years ago—both the human and the faerie ones.

In the middle of the rainstorm, Kaye stops to help a wounded faerie knight named Roiben and attracts the attention of two warring faerie kingdoms, the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. The Unseelie Court has recently brought back the Tithe, a human sacrifice for the obedience of the solitary fey, among which are Kaye’s childhood faerie friends.

An even more shocking secret is revealed to Kaye—she is actually a faerie herself, disguised with some very strong glamour! Her fey friends want her to go along with her selection for the Tithe and then reveal her true faerie identity at the last minute, thus making it seem like the Unseelie Queen was trying to kill her own kind.

The trouble is that things don’t go exactly the way they planned. Kaye’s involvement in the faerie war means endangering her human friends, not to mention falling for Roiben, whom her friends warn her to stay away from. It’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe in this exciting world of faerie.
Holly Black is not one to waste words, and so TITHE is written succinctly but beautifully. The plot is sometimes hard to follow, and even after my tenth or so reading this time everything’s still not all clear, but I think that’s part of what makes this book so exciting for me!

37th - Wuthering High by Cara Lockwood

Suicidal writers and their fictional characters come to life in this outrageous book

When her parents send her to a boarding school for juvenile delinquents after she crashes their car and maxes out their credit cards, 15-year-old fashionista Miranda Tate thinks it’s the end of her world. Miranda was born for strolling down the artificially lighted wings of the local mall and NOT for living in a backwards world with no modern devices allowed. Her roommate calls herself Blade and is a worshipper of Satan, and she thinks a ghost is haunting her closet.

Things begin to look ever so slightly better when she befriends Hana and Samir. It also turns out that Ryan Kent, an extremely good-looking boy from her old school, is here as well…and paying her attention, to boot! Life might almost be bearable, if it were not for the strange boy named Heathcliff who always seems to show up right when Miranda needs saving. What is up with that boy?

After nearly losing their lives several times, Miranda, Hana, Samir, and Blade finally stumble upon the truth: Bard Academy is haunted by famously suicidal writers—writers like Virginia Woolf and Ernest Hemingway are actually teaching classes! The students further learn that at Bard, fictional characters can come to life—but only at the risk of ending both worlds.

Emily Bronte seems determined to bring all her characters to life, and only Miranda and her friends have the ability to stop the crazy writer. However, saving the world may involve Heathcliff’s “death.” Is Miranda willing to sacrifice the life of the boy who has saved her so many times?

I didn’t find WUTHERING HIGH particularly exciting. All of the conflicts and characters seem half-developed, and I felt unsatisfied upon the ending. However, what this book lacked in style and flair, it made up in its originality.

38th - No Shame, No Fear by Ann Turnbull

True Love in a Time of Persecution

England, 1662, at the beginning of the Quaker prosecution. 15-year-old Susanna Thorn decides she’s old enough to get a job in town in order to support her Quaker family. 17-year-old William has just returned from Oxford, and his rags-to-riches father is encouraging him to be apprenticed to a good connection in London. Their paths cross accidentally one day in the middle of the road, and their lives are changed forever.

William finds himself inexplicably drawn to Susanna and her Quaker tradition. He begins to attend these illegal Quaker gatherings with the full knowledge that if his father finds out he will have a heart attack and probably disown his only son. Meanwhile, the prosecution of the Quakers is hitting Susanna hard, hurting those she loves, and she fears for her beloved William’s life.

William and Susanna’s relationship is a love that by all means should not occur, and yet with true love, they just might be able to make it out alright. Their story is sweet and full of the tense detail of excellent historical fiction. Anyone who likes historical fiction and a good love story should read this book.

39th - Teach Me by R.A. Nelson

An Affair that stays with you long after reading it

Love, obsession, and revenge all come together in this dizzying and sensuous tale. In her senior year of high school, Carolina “Nine” Livingston falls hard for her new English teacher, the beautiful, poetry-loving Mr. Mann, who quotes Emily Dickinson all the time. Mr. Mann makes Nine feel things she didn’t even know she could feel, and she believes that the two of them will one day live together, marry, and go on their dream honeymoon.

Then a sudden announcement from Mr. Mann changes everything. Nine is left floundering in a world that’s suddenly too big and too small at the same time. Her emotions spiral out of control and she can hardly control them, eventually endangering the lives of Mr. Mann, her best friend, and even herself. When will she learn to stop just doing and to start thinking?

TEACH ME is poetic and scary and reminds me a lot of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak. The characters stayed with me long after I had put down the book. Everything in Nine’s world feels eerily real; you will feel like screaming at her for her actions while at the same time feeling her hurt. The author has done a beautiful, near-perfect job of portraying a devastating affair between student and teacher. If you are not faint-hearted, then pick this book up.

Hope you don't mind me popping in to comment. Your reviews are really great! There are a few books on your list I've already read and I enjoyed those reviews. You also reviewed a number of books I was thinking about reading but I wasn't sure I would like them. Now I have a pretty good idea of which ones I think I'll like.

Thanks a bunch!!

40th - The Au Pairs: Sun-Kissed by Melissa de la Cruz

The Trouble with Boys is…

Things start getting a little crazy in this third installment of the popular and addicting series! Actually, all three girls start out the summer thinking that it will be the best ever. Eliza’s got a killer job working for a famous fashion designer and is determined to spend some quality time with her long-distance boyfriend Jeremy. Mara’s got a press pass into the hottest parties in the Hamptons as part of her job for working at Hamptons magazine. On top of that, she’s living with Ryan on his yacht, a prelude to what she hopes will be two glorious years of being at college with him. Now if only Dartmouth would move her off their waiting list…

Meanwhile, Jacqui’s freshly single and thinking about finding The One. Three Harvard students, self-made millionaires, happen to fortunately live next door, and all three of them would do anything for Jacqui. Trouble is, Jacqui can’t make up her mind as to which one of the three boys is THE One for her. In the meanwhile, however, she guesses she’ll just get together with all three of them…

But as everyone knows, things hardly ever go as planned. The girls’ summer might not be as great as they had imagined it to be. But through loves gained and loves lost, they will always have each other.

41st - The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (Books One) by Cassandra Clare

An Explosive Debut

Up until a few days before her sixteenth birthday, Clary Fray could tell you with certainty that she is a normal human being. Then she witnesses an odd murder when she goes to a club one night with her best friend, Simon. Three warrior teenagers, their skin inked all over with tattoos, kill a blue-haired boy whom they claim to be a demon. In the midst of Clary’s protestations, the dead body vanishes before her very eyes. Clary can’t believe it. What is going on here?

Unwillingly Clary is forced to acknowledge the existence of Shadowhunters when her mother is kidnapped and she is attacked by demons. Shadowhunters dedicate their lives to destroying demons who try to exist in the mortal world. They also happen to be very interested in Clary, who is not who she think she is. In fact, her mind, blocked by a powerful spell, may reveal important information about her past and her true identity.

The Shadowhunters decide to keep an eye on Clary, and Jace, a tawny-haired pretentious jerk, sticks close to her. Jace is a gifted Shadowhunter with a troubled past and a penchant for acting…well, like a jerk, and Clary isn’t sure how she feels about him…until the secrets of their past are revealed with a vengeance.

CITY OF BONES is, simply put, amazing. The characters are engrossing, the dialogue intriguing and oftentimes funny. The writing is not as great as I would have liked, and the author seems to draw quite a bit on already-used fantasy themes, such as Harry Potter. However, fantasy lovers will get a kick out of this one. This is a book with everything: love, war, secrets, mythical creatures. It will draw you in and leave you impatiently waiting for the next installment, as I am.

42nd - The Book of Luke by Jenny O'Connell

Nice Characters, Cute Story

High school senior Emily Abbott has always been nice. That’s what happens when your mother is a nationally known etiquette guru.

Well, look where nice has gotten her. Several weeks before Christmas, her dad makes the decision to move the family back to Massachusetts, where they grew up, and then several days later announces that he is going to stay in Chicago for a little while. Then her boyfriend Sean breaks up with her the morning she is leaving on her front step, in front of her whole family.

So Emily is done with being nice. Her old best friends Josie and Lucy welcome her back, and together they begin boy-bashing. Why are all guys so rude, oblivious, obnoxious, and just plain clueless? The three decide to put together a not-so-nice guide to set the guys straight.

But before they can reveal this information to everyone, they must test it first. And there is no better guy to test it on than Josie’s ex-boyfriend, Luke Preston, the hottest and most popular guy in school, who broke up with her through email. Emily is going to make Luke fall for her, give him a few lessons in guy etiquette, and then dump him to get back at him for what he did to Josie and other girls.

Except somewhere in the middle of her game, her actions stop feeling manipulative and start feeling…genuine. Emily is torn between her love for her sort-of boyfriend Luke and her dedication to her friends and their project. Her attempt to keep both by lying to everyone could just end up losing her everyone she cares for…unless she’s brave enough to come clean to everyone.

Jenny O’Connell has a real ear for teen dialogue a great story going, and the result is a fun and charming book that’s worth reading.

43rd - Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce

High-Quality Fantasy with an Engrossing Heroine

16-year-old Aly, daughter of the professional spy George Cooper and the legendary woman warrior Alanna, is brilliant, flirtatious, and fun-loving. She desperately wants to conduct field work as a spy, which her father does not approve of, thinking it is too dangerous for his only daughter.

However, circumstances arise where it is necessary for Aly to use her spy skills. She is kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in the Copper Isles, a collection of islands off the mainland Tortall, her home. Luckily she gets placed into the Duke and Duchess Balitang’s home. Her masters are fair and gentle, hardly treating her as a slave.

Aly enters into a bet with the disgraced god Kyprioth, known as the Trickster. She must keep the Balitang children alive until the end of summer. When the Balitangs incur the mad king’s displeasure, the whole family escapes into exile in a raka-filled island.

At Tanair, Aly learns more about the political rife between the raka and the luarian. The dark-skinned raka are the original inhabitants of the Copper Isles, taken over in a time of civil war by the foreign luarin. Kyprioth’s plan is to place a raka queen back onto the throne—and who better for the role than Sarai, the Duke’s eldest daughter, a half-raka by way of her mother?

With the help of several loyal raka servants and slaves, Aly protects the Balitang household from dangers. She gets additional help from people like Dove, Sarai’s younger sister who reminds Aly of herself, and Nawat, a crow-turned-man who declares undying devotion to Aly. Will Aly win her bet with Kyprioth and protect the good family whom she has come to love?

Tamora Pierce is known for writing quality high fantasy with endearing heroines, and TRICKSTER’S CHOICE is no different. This novel is full of political intrigue, interesting romances, and wonderful characters. I would highly recommend this book to fantasy lovers, boys and girls alike.

44th - Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty

Hilarity and Poignancy in the Joy of the Envelope

Elizabeth Clarry is not your average private school teenage girl. In fact, she’s anything but. Her favorite hobby is long-distance running. She communicates with her mom through notes left on the refrigerator. Her one and only friend is Celia Buckley, who has a bad habit of running away for weeks at a time.

In the midst of Celia’s latest escapade, Elizabeth’s English teacher sets up a pen-pal project with the public school down the road. The last thing Elizabeth wants to do is to be forced to communicate with a total stranger, but she soon discovers that writing to her pen-pal, Christina, is actually a nice retreat from her increasingly hectic life. Her dad, who ran off with another woman when she was just a baby, has now returned to Australia to work and is interested in bonding with his daughter.

As things with Celia get more and more interesting, Elizabeth is forced to reconsider her friendships. Maybe it’s time for her to grow on. Luckily she’s got Christina, her mom, and an anonymous admirer to make the way easier for her!

It’s impossible to sum up this amazing book in a few sentences. Let’s just say that this is one of my all-time favorite books, and I’ll never get sick of it. Told entirely in letters and notes, FEELING SORRY FOR CELIA will make readers laugh, cry, and wish they could be part of Elizabeth’s crazy but wonderfully interesting life.

45th - Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Memorable Protagonist Sets This Book Apart

In no other book set in thirteenth-century England has such a willful and admirable protagonist starred. Catherine, the fourteen-year-old daughter of a knight whom she claims is a rude pig, is called Birdy, and somehow the name suits her. She’d much rather be a villager, frolicking outdoors all day and not being reprimanded for getting her feet and clothes dirty.

Unfortunately for her, a well-off young lady has but one aim in life, and that is to be married to a well-off man. Throughout the year that she documents in her journal, Birdy’s father attempts to find her a husband. However, Birdy manages to scare away each one with her liveliness and cleverness.

Birdy’s doing pretty well considering the number of suitors she’s managed to send away. Then she meets her match. A rich suitor, affectionately called by her as “Shaggy Beard,” wants to wed her. He doesn’t care that she is willful, independent, and not very ladylike. She’s expected to not care that he’s almost older than her father, ugly, bad-mannered, and gross. What will Birdy come up with in order to escape this most horrible fate for herself?

While not all readers will be satisfied with the ending, thinking that it’s a copout, the ending brought tears to my eyes. Birdy is such a fun main character who manages to also be eloquent and observant. Her concluding realization is wise beyond her years and marks her as a strong character who people should admire.

46th - Cupid by Julius Lester

A Greek Love Story Lives

The likable storyteller, with his countless side stories and wise commentary, delivers to readers the delightful Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche. Psyche is the most beautiful mortal girl alive, and people often liken her to Venus, Goddess of Love. Some even claim that the mortal girl is more beautiful than the goddess herself!

Vain Venus obviously doesn’t like the attention Psyche is getting. She orders her son, Cupid, to make Psyche fall in love with something really stupid, like a boulder, so that she will be humiliated. In the process of attempting to carry out this task, Cupid is so struck by Psyche’s beauty that he wants to share his life with her.

Psyche’s father receives the prophecy that Psyche is to marry a powerful monster. Psyche is transported to a gorgeous castle far away on a mountain, where every night her “husband” comes to her, then leaves in the morning. Their love is exquisite, but Psyche would certainly like to know who, exactly, her husband is.

It is Psyche’s curiosity, mixed with the jealousy of some women surrounding Psyche and Cupid, that causes her future struggles, as powerful forces attempt to separate the happy couple. At the very end, Psyche must rely on her inner strength and love for her husband in order to be reunited with him forever.

CUPID is a masterful retelling of a touching love story. Julius Lester is a wise author who combines wit with wisdom in this tale that is sure to delight readers of all ages.

47th - Sticky Fingers by Niki Burnham

Control Can Only Protect You So Far

High school senior Jenna Kossarian is on the right track of life. She has a perfect long-term boyfriend Scott, an amazing best friend Courtney, and has just recently been accepted early action to Harvard. Life couldn’t be any better, in her opinion.

There’s only one thing that’s annoying her now. Scott keeps on pressuring her to have sex. They’ve been together for more than a year, he argues, and they sincerely love each other. Why not just do it? But every time the situation arises, Jenna hesitates, feeling that something’s not right. Immediately she feels ashamed that she’s being such an inexperienced prude. Her internal conflict over whether or not she should have sex with Scott drives the novel to a scary conclusion.

STICKY FINGERS was a pretty good read. For its rather short length, the characters are remarkably well-developed, dealing with real issues. It’s hard to label the characters as definitely good or definitely bad, which is just fine, since black and whites don’t exist in the real world either. I wouldn’t recommend this book for anyone younger than 14, because it deals a lot with sex, but for high schoolers looking for a good read, this is my choice.

48th - The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Beloved Fairy Tale Gets a Masterful Makeover

First-time author Shannon Hale delights readers of all ages with her stunningly brilliant fantasy novel THE GOOSE GIRL. Anidori-Kiladree has never felt like the true crown princess of Kildenree. She doesn’t have the gift of speaking with people that her mother and her lady-in-waiting Selia do. Instead, she’s more comfortable spending her days with the swans by the royal lake, breathing in nature, feeling always a mere step away from understanding something in the air.

Ani’s mother decides to arrange a marriage for her to the prince of Bayern, the neighboring kingdom, as a part of a peace settlement. Scared, the naïve Ani sets off on the months-long journey through the mountains, accompanied by Selia and several guards.

Ani is thrown for a surprise when Selia and guards loyal to her stage a mutiny, declaring Selia to be Princess Anidori-Kiladree. Lost and friendless, with her life on the line, Ani takes up a job as goose girl, unsure of what to do with herself. Her initial plan is to save enough money to go back home to Kildenree, but as the time passes, she makes friends and understands more about the city and Bayern. Ani—who now calls herself Isi—realizes that as queen she would be able to do so much to help the people of Bayern, and so begins to develop a plan to reclaim her rightful place in the royal court, and to expose Selia as a manipulative liar.

THE GOOSE GIRL is beautifully written, with a wonderful poetic style that lends so much to the fantastical component of the story. Ani’s development from an inexperience girl to a confident young lady is remarkably realistic and will leave you cheering for her.

49th - Tattoo by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

A Unique Paranormal Tale

The lives of Bailey and her three best friends—smart Annabelle, fashionista Delia, and tomboy Zo—cross paths with an ancient evil through the form of blue-green tattoos, guaranteed to last three days. With these tattoos, the girls mysteriously receive various magical powers. Bailey can set things on fire, Delia transforms one object into another, Annabelle gets mind control, and Zo can see the future.

At first these new powers are fun, but they soon realize that they’ve been given these powers not to enjoy themselves, but to battle an ancient evil that will kill innocent people in order to gain power. The challenge seems insurmountable, but with their strong friendship and belief in one another, the four girls have more power than they ever imagined.

The young author Jennifer Lynn Barnes does a fantastic job of telling an exciting yet relatable story. The writing is easy, the characters well developed. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this marvelously unique book.

50th - Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Wonderfully Real Language and Emotions

At good girl Rachel White’s thirtieth birthday party, thrown by her longtime best friend Darcy Rhone, she gets a little too drunk and somehow ends up sleeping with Dex Thaler, Darcy’s fiancé. After one day of not having any regrets, Rachel feels incredibly guilty for what she’s done to her best friend.

However, it’s not like Darcy doesn’t deserve some of it. Rachel has always played the loyal companion to Darcy’s beautiful, popular, flirtatious, selfish self. Too many times since elementary school, Darcy has stepped over Rachel, made her feel inferior, made insensitive comments. Of course there have been moments when Darcy was loyal to Rachel in the face of mean classmates, but Rachel is slowly beginning to see that their friendship is far from being balanced and healthy.

Rachel feels caught between loyalty to Darcy and her growing love for Dex, who admits that she’s the only girl for her. A part of her wants to retain her image as the passive good friend who always puts Darcy’s interests ahead of her own, but a part of her realizes that she deserves happiness. What she decides to do may make her the happiest she’s ever been, but she may also lose something precious as well.

The first good thing I noticed about this novel from the very first page was that it’s written in a very accessible language, almost as if a close friend of yours is telling you her story. And it gets better from there. Emily Giffin writes with amazing skill and knowledge of humans and their relationships with themselves and others around them.

51st - Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

Werewolf Story So Well Written!

Vivian is a beautiful, self-assured 16-year-old werewolf girl. After a tragic fire strikes the lives of her pack in West Virginia, the remnants of the group move to a city in Maryland temporarily. Vivian finds it hard to make friends; everyone is intimidated by her beauty and self-confidence. Meanwhile, she’s lonelier than ever because she’s starting to feel that her old werewolf friends are becoming immature and dangerous, while her mother Esme flirts too much with younger men ever since her husband’s death in the fire.

Then Vivian meets Aiden. He’s poetic, sensitive, gentle…and a human, a meat-boy. Still, Vivian finds herself falling for him. Her family and friends don’t approve of her “playing with her food,” but Vivian is certain that she and Aiden are wonderful together, and that maybe, someday, she can reveal to him what she really is.

Meanwhile, the pack is uneasy because they must choose a new leader. The strongest candidate is Gabriel, a powerful and dangerous 24-year-old who seems intent on making Vivian his mate, no matter how much she resists him. But Vivian barely has time to think about him. Things with Aiden have turned bad, and she thinks she is becoming a danger to her pack. How far will she go to protect the lives of the ones she loves?

BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE is exciting and unusual; it doesn’t let down for even one page. All of the characters are multifaceted and complex, which I love. Readers of all ages and genders will be able to appreciate this book, which has a little bit of everything for everyone.

52nd - Enna Burning by Shannon Hale

A Fiery Fairy Tale

Enna is not fit to live out her life in the uneventful Forest. One day, however, her older brother Leifer brings home a piece of vellum that holds the secrets of the language of fire. The knowledge brings about his end: in Bayern’s war against their southern neighbor, Tira, Leifer destroys himself in using the fire to help out Bayern.

Enna pledges to herself to learn the magic that had possessed Leifer. The language of fire fills a space in her chest that she didn’t even know was there. All of a sudden, Enna is spurned to make secret missions into enemy camps to set things on fire and destroy. Tira begins to refer to her as the fire witch.

Then, one night on a mission, she is captured. She is the prisoner of Sileph, a wily, smooth-talking commander who charms Enna into falling for him. Sileph wants her to use her fire abilities to make herself feel better, because by then that’s what it has become: an insatiable desire to burn that she must obey. In short, the fire is slowly taking over Enna.

Luckily for Enna, she has wonderful friends. These people include Isi, the Kildenrean princess turned goose girl turned Bayern queen; Razo, a short, playful boy; and Finn, formerly sensitive, now toughened into a world-class soldier, but who always carries a soft spot for Enna. It’s not just that Enna needs to be rescued from the enemy camp: the fire is also killing her as well. How far will her friends go in order to save the spirited, brave young woman?

Once again the talented author Shannon Hale weaves a tale of magic and realism. The characters in ENNA BURNING are well drawn out, and their predicaments are unique. Fans of Hale’s first book, THE GOOSE GIRL, are sure to love this companion.

53rd - Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Tragedy and a Community

No one in the quiet community of Sterling, New Hampshire would have guessed that in nineteen minutes on a cool March morning, their whole world could be turned upside down, and their town could be national news. A judge, her daughter, a midwife, her murderous son, a detective, a defense attorney and his family—these are just some of the lives that cross paths in this very touching story of what drives a poor, bullied victim to commit such a terrifying act of violence.

This is a typical Jodi Picoult novel: touching, tender, and real, with no definitive answers. It also has an equally unsatisfying Picoult-like ending, which was the only part of this book that I didn’t enjoy. Nevertheless, I would read it again, for her pitch-perfect portrayal of different people.

54th - Pants on Fire by Meg Cabot

Liar Falls Flat

Katie Ellison is an accomplished liar. She tells people she enjoys eating quahogs when she actually can’t stand them. She’s cheating on her boyfriend of four years, Quahog football player Seth, with Eric, the drama hottie. Katie is so used to telling lies to let people hear what she thinks they want to hear that it’s almost like she’s forgotten who she is.

Then a part of her unpleasant past reappears. Tommy Sullivan, once a skinny freak who was run out of town for doing something absolutely unforgivable by the townfolk, is back. Only this time, he’s 100% hot. And Katie has a bad addiction to kissing guys, even though she technically already has two boyfriends.

With Tommy, however, it feels like things are different. It’s the way they have conversations that make her think, unlike her conversations with Seth, which are mostly about food and football. It’s the way he remembers all the little quirks about her, back from in middle school when the two had been friends. And it’s also the way she can’t stop thinking about him.

But at the bottom line, it’s time for Katie to stop lying to herself. She has worked so hard to lie her way from social paraihdom to the girlfriend of the most well-liked guy in school and best friend to the most popular girl. Is she willing to give it all up now for the only guy who’s ever made her heart beat fast?

I didn’t enjoy this as much as Meg Cabot’s previous books. Nothing really happens, and the characters are flat. Katie is a typical Cabot protagonist who likes to get off topic and who fails to show any true conflict and resolution, while Tommy is a stereotypical “bad boy hottie” to the point where I want to gag. However, if you want a light read, then by all means, go ahead and read this one.

I just realized I've completely forgotten to include books from required reading at school! Right now I don't have time to put up reviews; I'm just gonna write down all the books I've read so far, and update this later:

55th - Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

56th - The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

57th - The Pact by Jodi Picoult

58th - Timeline by Michael Crichton

59th - His Dark Materials, Book I: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

60th - I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Once in a while you’ll come across a book that really resounds with you and stays on your mind for days after you’ve read it. I CAPTURE THE CASTLE is this type of book.

17-year-old Cassandra lives with her impoverished family in a romantic but run-down castle. Her father is James Mortmain, author of the wonderfully philosophical JACOB WRESTLING, now studied by college students worldwide, who now would rather hole up in his gatehouse than attempt to write another book and thus supply the family with more income. Cassandra’s stepmother Topaz is a stunningly attractive woman very devoted to her husband, and Cassandra’s older sister Rose is a glam girl who dreams of a rich life.

Just when life seems like it has bottomed out, salvation arrives in the form of two young American brothers who own the lease to the Mortmains’ castle. Neil and Simon immediately enter the Mortmains’ lives, and Rose is soon swept up into visions of a glamorous life by marrying one of the brothers. She has her eyes on Simon, the older one who is enraptured by her.

Cassandra observes the courtship amusedly from her position on the sideline, writing avidly in her journal. Her concerns are not so much getting a comfortable life through marriage as they are about figuring out her feelings for family friend/caretaker Stephen and trying to improve her writing skills.
Therefore, she is not prepared for becoming a full-time participant in the game of love after Rose marries Simon and things supposedly start getting better for their family.

Cassandra is a wonderfully witty and thoughtful narrator, the early-twentieth-century equivalent of Jessica Darling, for fans of Megan McCafferty’s writings. It’s hard to put this book down, and Cassandra will be a protagonist you will want to emulate and be friends with.

61st - Dramarama by E. Lockhart

A Dramatic World You’ll Want to Live In

Upcoming high school seniors Sadye (pronounced Say-dee, formerly Sarah) and her gay best male friend Demi are finally escaping their bland Midwestern town of Brenton, Ohio to Wildewood, a top-notch drama summer camp. The two friends are beyond excited to feel like they finally belong, to make new friends with similar interests, and to prove that they have what it takes to make it in the big league.

And the summer goes well—at least for Demi. He, with his insuppressibly big personality, snags leading roles in the camp’s many musical productions and proves he’s a superstar. His love life is a little rocky, but finally Demi manages to land a wonderful boyfriend, with true love, vacations spent with one another, and the like.

As for Sadye, the narrator of DRAMARAMA, well, let’s just say Wildewood is a little more difficult for her. She wants to love it, but can’t help questioning the techniques of her directors, always trying to give suggestions to improve the performances. Not to mention she totally blew her auditions and got stuck in the Shakespearean play production, the totally unmusical performance no one wants to get stuck in. And finally, there’s her persistent crush on Theo, a cute and talented Asian-American piano player whom she can never figure out.

As Sadye’s summer goes from decent to progressively worse, it’s time for her to ask herself: does she really belong in this highly cutthroat world of acting? Or is she destined for a lifetime of blandness in the suburbs of the Midwest?

Like all of E. Lockhart’s books, DRAMARAMA features superb characters, right-on dialogue, and lots of genuine laughs. Wildewood is a world you’ll want to experience, whether you’re a theatre geek or not. Don’t miss this great book!

62nd - Mediator, Book 1: Shadowland by Meg Cabot

I Punch Dead People

Susannah Simon has just moved across the country to live with her mother, her new stepdad, and her three stepbrothers. She loves the town of Carmel and the Pacific Ocean, but she has MAJOR problems with the house. Particularly as there is a very hot ghost sharing her new bedroom with her.

Suze is a mediator. She sees ghosts and tries to help them move on to the next life by helping them complete a task. Sometimes, however, she is forced to resort to violence. And violence and force will turn out to be everything as she deals with her most vicious ghost yet at her new school: Heather, who committed suicide when her boyfriend broke up with her.

Heather is determined to do anything to regain her old life, and she thinks Suze is taking over her rightful place at school. Heather’s increasingly violent nature forces Suze to reluctantly make plans for an exorcism, something that she never likes to do, and something that she hopes Jesse will stay away from, no matter how much he doesn’t want her to do it.

Meg Cabot’s excellent MEDIATOR series has a catchy start in this first book. Suze is a character, and Jesse the quintessential “perfect man.” Suze’s interesting interactions with the people in her life will amuse readers for the whole entire series. I highly recommend these books.

63rd - His Dark Materials, Book II: The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

64th - Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson

Self-Discovery Aboard a Yacht with Strangers

17-year-old Clio Ford wants to make the summer before her senior year her best yet, starting with a job at the local art supply store alongside her longtime crush Ollie. Then her mother delivers the blow: she’s going to Kansas on some art grant. She’s taking her boyfriend with her. And Clio is relegated to spending the summer with her father aboard a boat in Italy. Her father, the man who had made her childhood perfect, but through continuous absentmindedness and impulsiveness had almost ruined them.

Things get even worse. Clio’s shipmates are her dad’s girlfriend Julia, an intense professor/researcher; Julia’s daughter Elsa, beautiful and loyal; Martin, Clio’s dad’s longtime friend; and Aidan’s, Julia’s research assistant with the arrogant attitude. And this motley crew is supposed to live together on a yacht and search for something that nobody has told Clio anything about.

Can this summer, which is shaping up to be the worst one ever, actually end with Clio finding true love, a best friend, and a better relationship with the man who had once deserted her?

Once again Maureen Johnson delivers a winner. Not much really goes on, and all the mystery surrounding the crew’s mission is a bit overdone, but Johnson creates remarkably vivid characters, flavored with snappy, smart dialogue and off-handed snort-out-loud remarks. Fans of her previous books should love this one just as much.

65th - Prom Nights from Hell by Meg Cabot et al.

A Paranormal Lover's Delight

A group of teen chick lit’s greatest writers come together for this altogether unique and interesting collection of short stories—not about perfect, normal proms, oh no, but ones that have been interrupted by, shall we say, the paranormal.

A vampire exterminator rushes to save her friend from her enemy’s evil clutches. A magic corsage delivers wishes gone wrong to a group of friends. A girl is killed by the grim reaper at her prom, which also happens to be her seventeenth birthday. Two very special girls with clashing personalities must stick together to outwit the people who are after them. And angels and demons show up at one school’s prom.

The five stories in this collection delight fans of books such as TWILIGHT—whose author, by the way, is one of the contributors to this short story collection. All the stories are interesting, amusing, and leave you wanting more.

66th - Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

A Chilling Beginning

After the Government purchases the woods behind the Garners’ house from them to build mansions, twelve-year-old Luke is forced to remain inside and away from windows. He looks on with envy as his older brothers complain about going to school and perform outdoor chores on the Garners’ farm, and yet he mustn’t complain, because they are keeping him hidden for his own safety.

Luke Garner is a third child, one of the Shadow Children, illegal under the Population Law. To the rest of the world except his immediate family, he doesn’t exist. His world is his family’s farm, and, after the taking away of their forest, his house.

Then one day, in the window of one of the mansions in his backyard, he spies the face of a young girl in a house he knows already has two children. Luke soon strikes up a friendship with Jenny, another illegal third child.

Unlike Luke, however, Jenny is full of strength and ideas. She plans to gather a group of Shadow Children, found from their online chat board, and march to the White House. She invites Luke along, but he is afraid. Does he choose to stand up for his own rights or to save himself for perhaps a better future?

AMONG THE HIDDEN marks the beginning of a startling new series by acclaimed author Margeret Peterson Haddix. Anyone who enjoys dystopian books should pick up this one.

67th - Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty

A More Insightful Protagonist

CHARMED THIRDS, the third book in Megan McCafferty’s bestselling series, introduces a more insightful and pensive, though not necessarily more likable, Jessica Darling. Diehard fans of the first two books will have trouble coming to terms with Jessica’s growth, though personally I think it’s fantastic.

College is supposed to be better for Jessica Darling. After all, she has escaped Pineville to attend prestigious Columbia University in the greatest city in the world, and she is still with Marcus.

However, things are not as great as it seems. Jessica and Marcus’ relationship seems to hit the rocks. She still can’t escape her high school joke of friends, even with new college friends. She has unsatisfying flings with several different guys. But worst of all, her parents won’t help her pay for college.

How will Jessica even survive her college years, let alone come out a better person?

68th - Cut by Patricia McCormick

A Striking Debut

At Sick Minds a.k.a. Sea Pines, Callie lives with a bunch of other girls like herself with problems they need to overcome. Some girls are anorexic; others are cutters. Callie is a cutter. What’s more, she refuses to speak: during her individual therapy sessions, around the other girls, whenever. Something is obviously eating away at Callie inside. But maybe, with the help of her odd mates, most of who have problems of their own too, maybe Callie will finally break out of her silence and get better.

CUT is perhaps one of the best young adult debut novels of the past five years. Patricia McCormick certainly has done her research well, and is able to, through her characters, empathize with teenagers.

69th - Played by Dana Davidson

Love Worth Playing For

Ian Striker desperately wants to join the FBI, an ultrasecret group of the coolest, most popular guys in and out of Cross High School. To do so, he and the other “recruits” must complete some tests. For Ian, he has to make a random girl, Kylie Winship, agree to sleep with him within three weeks.

At first Ian thinks his test is a royal pain. Kylie isn’t even that good-looking, and she was definitely not the kind of girl Ian wanted his friends to see him with. But as he grudgingly hangs out with Kylie in order to make her fall for him, he begins—much to his horror—to have feelings for her as well.

Kylie knows very well the type of player Ian has always been. But every time they kiss and every time he looks into her eyes, she is pretty sure she sees something in him, an emotion that’s pure and real.

What will become of the two young people when Ian’s task is revealed and Kylie is humiliated?

Once again Dana Davidson writes an easy-to-read, easy to relate to novel about young people nowadays. She is without a doubt one of the most accessible African American writers for young adults, and her books should not be missed especially by romantics!

70th - The Principles of Love by Emily Franklin

Music and Love at Boarding School

When Love Bukowski moves with her principal dad onto the campus of Hadley Hall at the beginning of her sophomore year, she’s determined to have no illusions about her decidedly un-movie-like life. She knows she will have New Student status. There is no way she can do anything with her love of music and singing. And her love life will probably be nonexistent, particularly as the guy she’s singled out as the object of her interest is an extremely hot senior with a serious girlfriend.

But then things don’t turn out the way Love imagines them. The hot guy Robinson Hall’s girlfriend, Lila, turns out to be a genuine, beautiful, and atypical blonde who becomes Love’s good friend. Love lands several commercials on a local radio station. And, most surprisingly to her, it appears that Robinson just might like her as well.

Then again, there are many things that Love doesn’t see. She’s not sure how she feels about her father’s and her aunt’s respective new romances, as they will both affect the two main adults in her life. There are also two guys for her to worry about: one is DrakeFan, an anonymous musician she exchanges email with. The other is Jacob, a sensitive, talented musician whom she enjoys spending time with. And most of all, what if everything she’s thought about Robinson doesn’t turn out the way she thought it would be?

For a book belonging to the rapidly expanding genre of boarding school stories, THE PRINCIPLES OF LOVE is still an enjoyable read. Love is a witty narrator whose well-expressed struggles makes up for the lack of shine some of the other supporting characters. Emily Franklin attempts to be poignant with Love’s questioning her past and the mystery that is her mother, and she succeeds…sort of. Obviously the focus of the book is to be teen angsty and dramatic. Still, it makes for a slightly more intellectual read than, say, Gossip Girl, with its plethora of obscure music knowledge.

71st - The Pursuit of Happiness by Tara Altebrando

Summer Grieving and Growing

The summer before her senior year looks like it’s going to be Betsy’s worst. First, the traumatic event of her mother dying of breast cancer. Then, her boyfriend Brandon leaves her for another girl whom he’s been seeing behind her back. She grudgingly works at Morrisville, a historically reenacted village, and her father and young brother Ben are slowly falling apart (they wind up eating takeout and fast food every night).

Betsy feels like the loneliest girl in the world, but as she moves through the stages of grief, she begins to expand her once limited worldview. She befriends Liza, her fellow coworker-slash-classmate whom she has never spoken to before because they ran in completely different crowds. She also gets to know another coworker, James, an intelligent carpenter whom she believes she can fall in love with. If only the situation wasn’t so…complicated.

This is a wonderfully done story. Sometimes I don’t like how it doesn’t seem to focus enough on the past, but Altebrando masterfully ties everything together in a satisfying conclusion. This book is, above all, real. It is a wonderful read that I highly recommend.

72nd - Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

A Lose-Lose Situation

Aislinn, a fierce and independent girl living in the outskirts of Philadelphia, can see faeries. This is not a good thing. If the faeries find out about her Sight, she and the people she love may be in danger. So Aislinn lives cautiously, fearfully, constantly seeking refuge at her best friend Seth’s living quarters, a large steel train car.

But Aislinn’s anonymity is about to be threatened. She has been singled out by Keenan, the Summer King of the faeries, as The One, the mortal girl who has the power to bring back the full power of summer and defeat the icy grip of the Winter Queen, Beira, Keenan’s mother.

Being the object of Keenan’s attention is not a good thing, however. Just ask Donia, the last chosen girl who decided to risk mortality for her love for Keenan. Instead, she failed the test and is trapped as the Winter Girl, plagued by cold and pain constantly, until the next girl comes along and agrees to take the test.

Beira’s extra-careful attention to Aislinn seems to be a good indication of her fate, though. Aislinn wants nothing to do with the faeries. She would rather stay mortal and be with Seth, who means more than a friend to her, but she has no choice. She must use her brains and courage to accept her fate, while managing to make it as good as possible for herself.

WICKED LOVELY has its moments, but for a debut novel it’s not impressive enough. The concept of being unable to escape your fate is interesting, but I feel that not enough happened in the book. Nevertheless, I would still encourage any urban fantasy lovers to pick this up.

10th - Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
Fairest is my favorite book of all time. It was so enchanting and very good. Aza was very interesting to read about. To all readers I reccomend this book.

10th - Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
Fairest is my favorite book of all time. It was so enchanting and very good. Aza was very interesting to read about. To all readers I reccomend this book.