Review of Keeper of the Night (Hardcover)

Isabel was the first to come upon her mother's lifeless body and the empty bottle of sleeping pills.Since that day, Isabel's dad-her Tata-is emotionally haunted by the ghost of his dead wife to the point where he can no longer function as parent to his three young children, choosing instead to spend long hours our on his fishing boat.

Isabel's brother, Frank, has chosen to deal with his sorrow and anger through self-mutilation; and Isabel's little sister, Olivia, is now wetting her bed at night and waking up with nightmares.

Though she needs time to heal and find herself within the remains of her life, Isabel has discovered that her new role in life is of caretaker of the family.To make matters worse, a new American girl has arrived in Guam and threatens to take apart the comfort of Isabel's high school world, her native culture, and her traditional lifestyle-the last things that she felt she had ownership of.

The beauty of this book shows in the easy flow of the words, in the detailed descriptions of the island of Guam, and in the souls of the characters; yet it is unmistakable anguish seen in the pain of the children that stays with you long after the book has ended.The dialogue is honest, so honest that it almost feels as though the reader is invading the privacy of Isabel and her father-a father who still sleeps on the floor of his bedroom, comforted each night by the blanket his daughter lays over him once he has fallen to sleep.

There is nothing assuming or ridiculous about Isabel's thoughts on life, friends, or her mother's death.In fact, her feelings about her friendships leave the reader both annoyed with her childish ways and reminiscent of similar patterns from youth. It's hard to think of a young adult novel that uses its secondary characters so fittingly-Auntie Bernadette, Mrs. Cruz, Teresita, Mary Kelly, and even Mrs. Johnson are all responsible for moving this novel along at a pace that keeps the reader transfixed and hopeful.

While Kimberly Willis Holt is best known for her gentle southern characters, she has introduced the island of Guam with definite exotic warmth.



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Review of Brand X: The Boyfriend Account (Hardcover)

One sick day changes Jordie's life. The day she's sick is the most important day for determining the required school internships. She really wants the newspaper intern, but misses out on the interviews. Instead she's offered one of the more unique internships, which comes directly from the principal's brother. He works for an advertising agency that makes toys for fast food meals. Fighting to let out her creative side, Jordie is happy to take the position. She just needs to get her mom on board.

Once the position is officially hers, Jordie's mouth gets her into a tad bit of trouble. She lets out some personal information about the "perfect" boy in her pre-calculus class. Convinced that she has a zero chance of dating him, she agrees to try different techniques her bosses suggest. Shared milkshakes, a sombrero, a fake pizza delivery, and a push-up bra episode all end up humiliating Jordie. Can she figure out a way to juggle both her personal life and her internship without becoming a social outcast?

BRAND X: THE BOYFRIEND ACCOUNT takes a typical internship and adds high school drama, creating a book not to be missed. In a strictly science and math school, Jordie struggles to fit in and accept her differences. In understanding herself better, Jordie's outlook on life gains a fresh perspective.

Reviewed by:Jennifer Rummel

Product Description
Landing an internship at an ad agency isn't what her principal or her mother wanted for Jordie Popkin, aspiring journalist. At sixteen, Jordie is glad of the chance to collect "real world" experience and finds working with the "creatives" at the agency a nice break from her math and science curriculum. And the team likes Jordie, too. When her new colleagues decide to make Jordie's business their business, Jordie is flattered but skeptical. They will come up with a plan to market Jordie to the hottest guy in her grade. From situation analysis to "sex sells," the team assures Jordie that they know what they're doing.She shouldn't get upset if their ideas cause her an embarassing moment or two. Jordie knows that the course of true love never did run smooth and that the ad game isn't a simple set of rules to follow but she can't help wondering about the advantages of letting professionals try to turn her from Brand X into a hot item. The principles of marketing might apply to a bar of soap, but finding the right guy...?

In this humorous novel, Laurie Gwen Shapiro reveals with candor how one girl who feels like "Brand X" not only learns the secret of a successful marketing campaign but also discovers how to assess her true market value to become the brand of choice.

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Review of Small Avalanches and Other Stories (Paperback)

Oates, Joyce Carol.Small Avalanches and Other Stories. HarperTempest, 2003. lib ed 0-06-001218-8 $17.89

Oates collection of previously published short stories thought to have teen appeal is dedicated for the bad girls. Quite fitting, for protagonists include sisters who deliberately destroy their twice-divorced mothers relationship with a new potential mate, a is pursued by a stranger, Melissa, who willingly trades a friends life for her own; Sunny, whose refusal of a marriage proposal drives a boy to suicide; and Melanie, who lets her beautiful but naïve cousin Steff take off with a man met on the Internet. Stranger danger abounds in these stories as girls on the brink of womanhood lose their innocence through interaction with pedophiles, crazy neighbors, and other shady characters.
Oates adeptly portrays that tensions of wanting to be a grownup and a little girl all at once, and chronicles the way girls change sleekly change personas, depending on whom they are talking to. The literary merit of the collection is to be expected from the winner of the Pen/Malamud Lifetime Achievement Award in Short Fiction; the language feels surreal in most stories, and dialogue is not typical casual teenspeak. The stories are technically flawless, but wouldnt be my first choice for a booktalk.



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Review of Catalyst (Hardcover)

... ...

But, getting back to Laurie Halse Anderson and to Merryweather High, the setting for SPEAK, and now for CATALYST... What? Yes, indeed, Laurie returns us to the land of the infamous Mr. Neck, and Hairwoman, and Andy the Beast--none of whom we get to see here. The story is set at the end of the school year following SPEAK, and Melinda, in another of Mr. Free-man's classes, does actually make a cameo appearance. So, knowing all of this ahead of time, you are possibly going to open this book and look for it to grab you by the throat and mystify you the way you were immediately mystified by Melinda Sorrentino's treatment on the bus and in the auditorium on her first day at the school.

Right?

Well, get over it! This is a whole different chemical equation:

Kate Malone, minister's daughter, star student, and runner, is a senior who lives for her acceptance letter to MIT--the only college she has bothered to apply to.

"Insomnia rocks, actually. You can get a lot done if you don't sleep. I've turned into a hyper-efficient windup Kate doll, super Kate, the über-Kate. I wish this had happened last year. It would have given me more time to study for my AP exams."

She introduces us to her family:

"Toby and I are the proton and neutron of our atomic family unit. Dad is the loosely bonded electron, negatively charged, zooming around us in his own little shell."

She introduces us to her group of friends:

"Sara slides her sunglasses across the table. I take off my glasses and put them on. The room mellows to a golden, SFP-protected glow...They are all out of focus now, but...I'd recognize these shapes anywhere. Sara Emery, my BF, is a self-described Wiccan Jewish poet. This would send most parents screaming to the therapist's office, but the Emerys are totally cool with it. I've been asking them to adopt me for years.
Travis Baird is to Sara as water is to fire: opposite and necessary. Trav is a freakazoid good guy with a taste for body art. The vice principal in charge of discipline has been aching to bust him for four years. He refuses to believe that good things can come in colorful packages.
A warm hand snakes around my waist. My knees buckle and the hand pulls me down into the very familiar lap of Mitchell A. Pangborn III--my friend, my enemy, my lust."

She introduces us to the story's outcast, a tough female named Teri Litch:

"The ugly girl, the one who smells funny, studies carpentry at vo-tech, stomps around with sawdust in her hair, and has fists like sledgehammers. Teri beat me up every year in elementary school, fall and spring. I turned the other cheek for a while, then I learned to run. Intelligent life pursues self-preservation."

And she introduces us to her "sad excuse of a motor vehicle, a Yugo named Burt."

But who or what is the catalyst here is one of the things you're going to have to read the book to find out.

...

CATALYST, which alternately had me crying and laughing, is a moving story that seeks to knock us off our little career tracks long enough to see what's really important. <P...

Laurie Halse Anderson has once again crafted an unforgettable young adult novel filled with literary brilliance. This CATALYST sure got one [heck] reaction out of me! ...



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Review of No More Us for You (Hardcover)

On his first day at his new job working as a security guard at the Long Beach Contemporary Museum, 17-year-old Carlos finds himself cleaning up a pool of urine left by some random guy that just walks in and goes on the floor.

Surrounded by some of the strangest "art" he's ever seen, Carlos is sure that this will be a much easier gig than bagging groceries, and will be a great way to buy some nice things for his girlfriend, Mira. During the urine incident, he meets Vanessa, a relatively new classmate at his school who works as the museum's receptionist.

Another classmate, Isabel, also meets Vanessa for the first time shortly afterward. The one-year anniversary of the car accident that took Isabel's boyfriend's life is approaching, and Isabel can't keep her mind from wandering off from time to time, where it ends up exploring ideas of death and fate. When she and her best friend, Heidi, befriend Vanessa, Isabel ends up in the middle of a friendship triangle while she tries to sort out her own mind and come to terms with Gabriel's death.

Vanessa can tell that Isabel needs some distraction, and she tells Isabel that a guy at her job, Carlos, would be perfect for her. Carlos, on the other hand, is still reeling from a friend's difficult situation, and the hard blow that Mira has just dealt him.

On the fateful night of the Valentine's dance, Isabel and Vanessa meet up with Carlos and his best friend, Snake.Both Isabel and Carlos look forward to this opportunity to get to know one another and forget their troubles, but then tragedy strikes, throwing everyone's lives into turmoil. Is this relationship over before it has the opportunity to start?

I was surprised at the heavy amount of adult content in this story. The very title is taken from a display at the art museum that reads "No More C***us for You," and rough language is tossed around easily and almost without purpose. This book also focuses on some mature themes, such as drugs, gangs, drunk driving, and teen pregnancy.This is definitely a book for the more mature teen.

Reviewed by:Allison Fraclose



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Review of What are the Odds? (Paperback)

Good, light reading. Jake was actually my counsilor at camp, so I read his book. I thought it was pretty interesting and it held my attention. I would definately suggest it.

Product Description
What are the Odds? follows William Larkin, a high school junior, through six months of his life.The book takes a fresh look at the high school experience, seeing the world through the eyes of a 17 year old.We see Will experience eye-opening revelations, as well as some of the stupidest things he has ever done in his life.Sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic, this work brings about a refreshingly honest take on chasing girls, writing term papers, waiting tables, and going into adulthood kicking and screaming.

About the Author
Born in 1984, Jacob Vos is a graduate of the Milaca High School Class of 2002.As an author and a poet he has had a number of pieces published in anthologies and literary journals, but this is his first full-length novel.

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Review of Mahalia (Mass Market Paperback)

There are many different books about teenage pregnancies and the struggles of raising a child on your own, but the book Mahalia does not fall into the normal catagorie of those books. For the most part most books focus on the girls point of view, or only concentrate on one side of the story. The book Mahilia tells the story from the fathers point a view. Matt(Mahilia's father) takes care of her after Emmy(Mahilia's Mother) leaves from feeling too much pressure from being a mom at such a young age. Matt is constantly struggling from only thinking about the future, and trying to move on from the past. Remembering his past, and how he was raised by his single mother, early on in Mahilia's life Matt decides he wants somthing better. When Matt takes Mahilia and moves back to his town, he does everything he can to keep from letting his mom take over taking care of Mahalia. Matt and Mahalia move into a house with a 22 year old student, and another girl. They all are struggling with bills, and their own lives but the girls take time to watch Mahalia so Matt can have a break. This story shows the struggle the Matt has between his old life, childless and carefree, and his new life, full of hardships. Towards the end Matt relizes that it's love that keep him and Mahalia together.
" Now the man has a child, He knows all the names of the local dogs." - Japanese Poem



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Review of Finn (Paperback)

If it hadn't been for lunch, I would've finished FINN without a break this past Sunday. As it was, it took me just that single day to ride through this fast-paced, scenic series of unforgettable adventures. The waterfall scene, for example, was a peaceful and calming interlude smack in the midst of an underworld of grime and crime, and was, quite literally, a cool episode. Another superb scene was the one near the end with King D. What an odd but memorable environment that surreal character created for himself. And when James was steering Finn and Silvia around the debris of his life, I felt such a sense of immediacy that I wouldn't have been surprised to look up and see him right there in my living room, doing his street dancing between the chalk marks.Chloe Wilder, a fast-thinking and resourceful girl toughened up by a week of unanticipated exploits, still reminded me of many of my female friends. Though vulnerable, she desperately tried to hide her vulnerability. And, with that mask on, she brushed up against a rough world seemingly not far from her own fairly comfortable existence, but in fact a world away. FINN will appeal to teen readers -- male and female -- wherever jagged cities give way to seemingly smooth suburbs.



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Review of Violet Eyes (Mass Market Paperback)

Angel Eastland is different. She always has been. And not just because of her violet eyes, either. She lives in Canada, in the year 1987, at least that's what she's been led to believe. Angel hated Michael Vallant for nine years before she met him. She always had to move every couple of years, but no matter where she went Michael Vallant was there before. So when Angel moved to a town where no one had heard of him, she was thrilled. Until he moved there while she was still there. Angel and Mike immediately start a war with each other, until their common goal brings them together. Escape, ever since they were little Angel and Mike have both wanted out. So when they finally start working together they finally figure out what's been going on. It turns out that the year is actually 2098, and that they are a subspecies of humans. And when a doctor who wants to sell Angel and Mike to the highest bidder decides they aren't worth the trouble, they have to play his games in order to save another of their kind from death. I really liked this book and can't wait for the sequel, Silver Eyes. We really should have known more about Angel sooner since it was from her POV, but not knowing made the book more interesting. The author has a website at http://www.geocities.com/nmluiken/ if you're interested.



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Review of Vampire High (Hardcover)

Vampire High is a rollicking delight from beginning to end.True, the ending is telegraphed waaaaay ahead of time, but in Rees's hands, it is the journey, not the destination that is important. Cody's awareness that having things handed to you on a silver platter is not a satisfying way to live life and his growing maturity as he navigates both adolescence and a vampire high school sends a very clear message to the readers without being didactic, heavy handed or dull.Rees knows his pacing, his humor and his subject well.The teens I have recommended this to came away laughing themselves silly while at the same time realizing that how you live your life and taking responsiblity for yourself is more important than the concerns of our status seeking, easy does it culture.Can't wait to read more by this author.



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