On The Book Shelf

Fade and Wake by Lisa McMann - A girl can enter other people's dreams. She has a hot boyfriend. I think Owen from Just Listen is still my favorite teenage lit boyfriend character, but Cabe is definitely a close second. Bestest Friend and I had a small Facebook war over who gets lustful possession of Cabe. These are the first two books in a series that follows the falling into other people's dreams girl. I read these on a never ending bus ride while visiting Chicago recently. I was fascinated by the concept and truly enjoyed these books. So read them.

Need and Captivate by Carrie Jones - Bestest Friend put these in the mail for me. And. Huh. I didn't love them. There are evil pixies and our main character must deal with this. And. Well. I just felt like the author backed herself into a plot corner with this one and I was not shocked when that plot line was followed through in the second book. Plus, the plot line almost exactly parallels that super popular Twilight series. You might have heard of that series, right? Girl moves to cold, dreary place with a somewhat oblivious guardian. Weird stuff happens. (SPOILER) Her boyfriend turns out to be otherworldly. Um. Really? Really? Carrie Jones, how have you not been sued?

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart - This book is what I wanted Prep to be. It was so so so funny. I nearly peed my pants laughing during this book. Girl is at boarding school. There's nothing wrong in her life - no abusive or neglectful parents, no alcoholic/anorexic/dying siblings, no monsters she sees in the night - but she's just a discontented teenager. Who wreaks hilarious havoc. Plus, she creates false positives and false negatives with her words which completely cracks my shit up and reminds me of this Buffy scene:
Giles: Punishing yourself like this is pointless.
Buffy: It's entirely pointy.
I highly recommend this book. I'm immediately requesting every Lockhart book from the library that I can.

Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff - Um. No. Just no. Read Push (the book the movie Precious was based on) and avoid this mess. This book follows the story of two girls who live in the inner city and the trials and tribulations that they endure. I just felt it was too too, if you know what I mean. Trying too hard to cover too much with too much preaching. Too too. Don't read it (although I know this is a super loved book, I can't recommend it).

Falling by Dough Wilhelm - Typical teen with a serious family problem suffers silently until his breaking point book. Yawn. But, but, but, there is this one scene. It's on page 121 in my edition. This scene? It's so poignant and tender and written so well, I forgive Wilhelm his trite plot and fall into the words.

Everything is Fine by Ann Dee Ellis - I bet you won't be surprised to learn that everything is not fine in the main character's life. As a matter of fact, nothing's fine, nothing's right. It was a quick read and perfectly acceptable teen lit, but I don't remember so much as the main character's name three days after I've finished it (but, oddly enough, the sister's name is Olivia).

I just picked up some new books from the library yesterday, so a new batch will be up within the next week or so!