My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park
by Steve Kluger
Published 2008 by Dial Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780803732278

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Jacket Notes:

Meet T.C., who is valiantly attempting to get Alejandra to fall in love with him; Alejandra, who is playing hard to get and is busy trying to sashay out from under the responsibilities of being a diplomat's daughter; and T.C.'s brother Augie, who is gay and in love and everyone knows it but him.Dial Books

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 02/25/2008

Three teens complete an English assignment detailing their "most excellent year" in this big, warmhearted tale about musical theater, political organizing, baseball, friendship and love. Tony Conigliaro Keller (named like everyone in his family for a Boston Red Sox player) and Augie Hwong have been self-declared brothers since age six, when T.C.'s mother died. Entering high school, everyone but Augie knows that Augie is gay, which finally dawns on him when he falls for another student. Meanwhile, T.C. develops an intense crush on the novel's third essayist, Alé Perez, daughter of a Mexican diplomat now teaching at Harvard. While T.C. and his father share a baseball obsession, Augie and Alé get close when both are cast in Kiss Me, Kate. The essay segments are spliced with diary entries (T.C.'s are addressed to his mother, Alé's to Jacqueline Kennedy); e-mails from and between parents, teachers and Alé's former Secret Service agent; reprints of Augie's mother's hilariously excoriating theater reviews; transcripts of IM sessions. The characters are a little too good to be true, and there's a distracting and improbable subplot about a deaf motherless child obsessed with Mary Poppins. The protagonists sometimes sound more like 40-year-olds than teens; however, the results are unexpectedly positive, opening up the audience to adults as well as the target reader. Ages 12-up. (Mar.)

04/01/2008 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Gr 8-11-Three bright and funny Brookline, MA, eleventh graders look back on their most excellent year-ninth grade-for a school report. Told in alternating chapters by each of them, this enchanting, life-affirming coming-of-age story unfolds through instant messages, emails, memos, diary entries, and letters to celebrity divas and to a deceased mom. T.C. (Anthony Conigliaro) Keller, whose mother died when he was six, is in love with baseball and Alejandra (Alé) Perez. She and Augie Hwong, who is gay and in love with Andy Wexler, are passionate about the stage and screen, and Augie and T.C. have been "brothers" since they were six. The teens mount a fabulous talent show, launch a couple of grassrooots political movements, and bring hope and love to a deaf, six-year-old foster child. What's more, Augie and T.C. have a refreshingly positive relationship with their parents. Similar in storytelling style to Kate Klise's classic Regarding the Fountain: A Tale, in Letters, of Liars and Leaks (Avon, 1998), this is a rich and humorous novel for older readers. The teen and adult characters are quirky and charming, and their adventures are involving without being over-the-top. A fun, feel-good story with star quality.-Sharon Senser McKellar, Oakland Public Library, CA

Reincarnation
by Suzanne Weyn
Published 2008 by Scholastic Press

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780545013239

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Jacket Notes:

It starts with a fight in a cave over an elusive green jewel and then travels over time and lives to a pair of modern-day teenagers. For readers who believe that love is stronger than time or death, this is an unforgettable historical romance.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 01/28/2008

Readers with a romantic bent will be drawn to this story, which pushes the notion of eternal love to its limits: two spirits find each other again and again, at different moments in history. The cycle begins at the brink of civilization as a man and a woman from different clans scuffle over the possession of a valuable green stone. Their battle ends as their intertwined bodies tumble over a cliff toward death, whereupon the female character briefly describes the path her soul takes: "That part of me that is me at its center gives way. I am scattered, dispersed among the stars." Each subsequent episode recounts a similar pattern, with a green stone and a tragedy preventing the union of the couple. Weyn (The Bar Code Tattoo) keeps things interesting with bits of history about ancient Egypt, colonial America and 1937 Paris. However, the suspense diminishes as the outcome of each chapter becomes increasingly predictable. Readers (along with the ethereal hero and heroine) will breathe relief when the spirits find peace as a pair of contemporary high school students who meet in New York City's American Museum of Natural History-where they can tour the gem collections and get another perspective on mysterious green jewels. While this love ballad plays on a little too long, the inventive ending redeems it. Ages 12-up. (Jan.)

Breaking Dawn
by Stephenie Meyer
Published 2008 by Little Brown and Company

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780316067928

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Jacket Notes:

"New York Times"-bestselling author Meyer returns to her teen vampire Twilight saga with this much-anticipated fourth book in the series. In this riveting novel, questions will be answered and the fate of Bella and Edward will be revealed.

The City in the Lake
by Rachel Neumeier
Published 2008 by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780375847042

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Jacket Notes:

Ever since the Prince disappeared, nothing has been right in the Kingdom. Something has disturbed the strange, old magic that whispers around its borders. After her father journeys to the City to help look for the Prince, but never returns, Timou, a mage, senses that the disturbance in the Kingdom is linked to her.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 07/14/2008

Neumeier weaves an elaborate, albeit slow, tale of magic, legitimacy and love. The Kingdom is in great despair after Prince Cassiel mysteriously disappears. When the King also goes missing, the Queen accuses Cassiel's half-brother and the King's illegitimate son, Lord Neill, of kidnapping them to gain the throne. Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, Timou's father, a gifted mage, journeys to the City ("I think it is with the heart of the Kingdom that this trouble lies," he tells Timou. "I think perhaps the heart has been... lost"). When he doesn't return, Timou, who has unique magical abilities, leaves her new lover, and sets out to find her father. Instead she meets her half-brother and learns the terrible truth about her sorceress mother and the power of the City in the Lake. Neumeier creates explosive and dynamic female characters, but unfortunately, some story details are not clear. A slow pace and repetitive lyrical language also make it difficult to follow the complex plot. Ages 12-up. (July)

09/01/2008 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-King Drustan's heir has vanished. With Prince Cassiel missing, nothing is right: the trees do not bear fruit and babies are stillborn. Attempting to unravel this mystery is Neill, the King's elder son known throughout court as "the Bastard," and Timou, a 17-year-old mage who has learned her art from her father. Though Neill and Timou have never met, they share a common origin: an enigmatic woman with pale hair and dark eyes who bore them to their respective fathers before vanishing. When she does return, this powerful sorceress is bent on using her offspring and her magic to seize control of the Kingdom. This poetically written tale follows its multi-threaded story line through sinister forests, mazes of light, and numerous worlds, including a different facet of the Kingdom-a perfect realm frozen in time and reflected in the lake surrounding the City. Though the how and why of all of this is sometimes vague, Neumeier spins a good tale of two young people coming to terms with a sinister heritage. Give this one to readers who enjoy the dark, dreamlike fantasy of Neil Gaiman.-Christi Esterle, Parker Library, CO

Identical
by Ellen Hopkins
Published 2008 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9781416950059

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Jacket Notes:

Kaeleigh and Raeanne are the twin daughters of a district-court judge and a politician mother. They are identical in almost every way, but each girl has dark secrets. The bestselling author of "Crank" gives voice to victims of childhood sexual abuse, in a moving and disturbing novel.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 07/07/2008

Using free verse as her vehicle, Hopkins (Crank, Glass) takes readers on a harrowing ride into the psyches of 16-year-old identical twins Kaeleigh and Raeanne, both of whom are racing toward self-destruction. The girls' family appears picture-perfect. Their father is a prominent judge, their mother is running for Congress, and both girls do well in school. But ever since an accident, "Mom doesn't love anyone./ She is marble. Beautiful./ Frigid. Easily stained/ by her family. What's left/ of us, anyway. We are corpses." Raeanne seeks escape in sex and drugs; Kaileigh binges and cuts herself. Brief, gutsy confessions reveal a history of sexual abuse and emotional neglect, and it's not clear that both girls will survive it. Hopkins's verse is not only lean and sinuous, it also demonstrates a mastery of technique. Strategically placed concrete verse includes a poem about revenge shaped like a double-edged sword; in another, about jealousy, the lines form one heart reflecting another, until a rupture breaks the symmetry at the bottom. Often, the twins' entries mirror each other, on facing pages: although used differently in the two poems, the same key words are set off in corresponding stanzas ("think./ How/ different/ life./ could be" reads one set of key words). Those for whom Uncle Vampire means something will anticipate the still-breathless climax; all others, including most of the target audience, will be shocked. Ages 14-up. (Aug.)

08/01/2008 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Identical teen twins Kaeleigh and Raeanne share a picture-perfect California life that is rank with dark, dangerous secrets under its surface. Their mother, who is running for Congress, leaves them at home with their father, a district court judge who is addicted to liquor and OxyContin. Daddy regularly molests Kaeleigh, using her as a stand-in for his absentee wife, and controls every aspect of her life. Raeanne sees every detail and reacts to her father's favoritism by acting out sexually and getting high on pot whenever possible. Written in free verse from alternating viewpoints, Identical tells the twins' story in intimate and often-graphic detail. Hopkins packs in multiple issues including eating disorders, drug abuse, date rape, alcoholism, sexual abuse, and self-mutilation as she examines a family that "puts the dys in dysfunction." The tension builds slowly and subtly, erupting in a shattering climax of psychological disintegration and breakthrough that reveals the truth about the twins and their father's own childhood secrets. Gritty and compelling, this is not a comfortable read, but its keen insights make it hard to put down.-Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS

Water for Elephants
by Sara Gruen
Published 2006 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9781565124998

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Jacket Notes:

Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.

Jacob was there because his luck had run out--orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive "ship of fools." It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act--in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

Surprising, poignant, and funny, "Water for Elephants" is that rare novel with a story so engrossing, one is reluctant to put it down; with characters so engaging, they continue to live long after the last page has been turned; with a world built of wonder, a world so real, one starts to breathe its air.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 03/06/2006

With its spotlight on elephants, Gruen's romantic page-turner hinges on the human-animal bonds that drove her debut and its sequel (Riding Lessons andFlying Changes )-but without the mass appeal that horses hold. The novel, told in flashback by nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski, recounts the wild and wonderful period he spent with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a traveling circus he joined during the Great Depression. When 23-year-old Jankowski learns that his parents have been killed in a car crash, leaving him penniless, he drops out of Cornell veterinary school and parlays his expertise with animals into a job with the circus, where he cares for a menagerie of exotic creatures, including an elephant who only responds to Polish commands. He also falls in love with Marlena, one of the show's star performers-a romance complicated by Marlena's husband, the unbalanced, sadistic circus boss who beats both his wife and the animals Jankowski cares for. Despite her often clichéd prose and the predictability of the story's ending, Gruen skillfully humanizes the midgets, drunks, rubes and freaks who populate her book.(May 26)

The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Published 2003 by Doubleday Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780385504201

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Jacket Notes:

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.

THE DA VINCI CODE heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller...utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 02/03/2003

Brown's latest thriller (after Angels and Demons)is an exhaustively researched page-turner about secret religious societies, ancient coverups and savage vengeance. The action kicks off in modern-day Paris with the murder of the Louvre's chief curator, whose body is found laid out in symbolic repose at the foot of the Mona Lisa. Seizing control of the case are Sophie Neveu, a lovely French police cryptologist, and Harvard symbol expert Robert Langdon, reprising his role from Brown's last book. The two find several puzzling codes at the murder scene, all of which form a treasure map to the fabled Holy Grail. As their search moves from France to England, Neveu and Langdon are confounded by two mysterious groups-the legendary Priory of Sion, a nearly 1,000-year-old secret society whose members have included Botticelli and Isaac Newton, and the conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. Both have their own reasons for wanting to ensure that the Grail isn't found. Brown sometimes ladles out too much religious history at the expense of pacing, and Langdon is a hero in desperate need of more chutzpah. Still, Brown has assembled a whopper of a plot that will please both conspiracy buffs and thriller addicts. (Mar. 18)

Ttyl
by Lauren Myracle
Published 2004 by Amulet Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780810948211

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Jacket Notes:

This funny, smart novel follows the friendship of three tenth-grade girls as they experience some of the typical pitfalls of adolescence: boys, queen-bee types, a flirty teacher, beer, crazy parents, and more.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 03/01/2004

Myracle's (Kissing Kate) approach is creative, even if her newest novel is somewhat formulaic: three best friends hash out their lives-from new relationships to conflicts with one another-through instant messages. As they start 10th grade, social Angela catches her new boyfriend on a date with another girl; tough Maddie is befriended, then humiliated, by a popular girl; and "good little Zoe" finds herself crushing on a teacher-who seems to be interested in her, too. Though the main characters and the plotting seem familiar, readers will appreciate Myracle's portrayal of the supportive friends: they listen to one another, plan a surprise party and a road trip, and when Maddie is low, Angela and Zoe make her a care package with a poem that Angela calls "mushy but not 2 mushy." Their messages at times contain too much plotting to seem like realistic chats, but the style makes for an engaging, quick read. Flourishes such as emoticons and Internet lingo add realism; the book's title translates to "talk to you later," and Angela adds stage direction to her messages, writing "*stomps foot*" (when she believes Maddie is withholding information) or "*jumps up and down and squeals*" (when Zoe promises her a makeover). As might be expected, there is a falling-out among the friends. But while Maddie's reaction when she catches Angela and Zoe discussing her behind her back seems too extreme, readers will cheer their reunion, which happens just as Zoe's teacher makes his move. Ages 13-17. (Apr.)

04/01/2004 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Gr 8-10-Three high school sophomores, lifelong best friends, are now facing a variety of emotional upsets in their personal and social lives. Angela is boy crazy and emotive, but able to lend support to her friends when they need it. Zoe is the quietest and most self-effacing, considered by some to be a goody two-shoes but in fact headed full speed into a very dangerous relationship. Madigan is the hothead, less certain of how to grow up than she allows anyone, including herself, to see. The entire narrative is composed of the instant messages sent among these three, from September into November, as they each get involved with dating, sort out how to have friendships with others, cope with disasters that range from wardrobe issues to getting drunk, and offer one another advice and defiance. Each character's voice is fully realized and wonderfully realistic in spite of the very limiting scope of the IM device. Page layout mimics a computer screen and each girl IMs in a different font and in her own unique verbal style. (The title is IM jargon for "talk to you later"). Myracle not only sustains all this but also offers readers some meaty-and genuine-issues. Both revealing and innovative, this novel will inspire teens to pass it to their friends and will suggest to nascent writers that experimenting with nonnarrative communication can be a great way to tell a story.-Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
by Rachel Cohn
Published 2006 by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780375835315

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Jacket Notes:

Told in alternating chapters, teeming with music references, humor, angst, and endearing side characters, this he said/she said romance is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story about one date over one very long night, with two teenagers who are just trying to figure out who they want to be.

REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 05/01/2006

This compulsively readable novel takes place in less than 24 hours. At a New York club one night, Nick convinces a stranger to pose as his girlfriend in order to fool Tris, the girl who broke his heart. He does not guess (though readers may) that kissing Norah will lead to a long, complicated evening, and a new chance for love. Levithan (Boy Meets Boy ) and Cohn (Gingerbread ) reveal the clever construction of the book in an authors' note: they sent chapters back and forth, he writing as Nick, she as Norah. The novel has that pumped-up feeling of a story passed among friends who each add a section, spontaneously incorporating unforeseen elements. Levithan again creates outrageous characters and witty wordplay (a "Playboygirl Bunny" bouncer asks Nick, "How long have the two of you been the two of you?"), and Cohn brings to life another rich punk rock girl. The two see a secret show on the Lower East Side, pig out in a Russian diner, and get caught making out in an ice room at the Times Square Marriott, all the time wondering if they can let go of their past loves and risk another heartbreak. Much of the novel's energy comes from the rapid-fire repartee between the two leads, plus perhaps the most vivid character, Tris-Nick's Id-driven ex and a classmate of Norah's, who ends up giving Nick advice and Norah kissing lessons. Readers will likely enjoy the ride, even if it is obvious where these two are headed. Ages 14-up.(May)

05/01/2006 REVIEW: School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up -What happens when two witty, wise, but vulnerable teens meet by accident at a chaotic punk rock club? They fall in love, of course. While both are dealing with the fallout of failed relationships and the infinite hurt that accompanies them, they are questioning everything about themselves, their friends, and their future paths. The passion and intelligence of these characters, along with the authors' intimate knowledge of and complete respect for their audience, make this novel unique. Told in alternating chapters over the course of a single night, the narratives create a fully fleshed-out picture of both teens, informed by their love of music, their devotion to their friends, and their clear-eyed view of the world. These kids don't drink or do drugs and it's solely their obsession with music that takes them to these clubs. One of Norah's relatives calls her a "potty mouth," and that's no exaggeration. Throughout the book, the expletives fly fast and furious, but they are more about personal expression and in-your-face attitude than about strong emotions. Yet, there is also considerable depth and sensitivity. Norah explains the Jewish concept oftikkun olam -the responsibility to heal a fractured world-and Nick comes up with an original spin on it. There are many heart-stopping, insightful moments in this supremely satisfying and sexy romance. A first-rate read.-Tracy Karbel, Glenside Public Library District, Glendale Heights, IL