The absolute best part of Una LaMarche’s Don’t Fail Me Now is Michelle’s voice.  It is aided by LaMarche’s terse storytelling abilities, keeping the action moving along without a single chance to pause.  In the 1st chapter of the story, readers learn that Michelle is a 17 year old senior with a mom who returned to jail on drug charges and two younger siblings to take care of while avoiding CPS.  Michelle is a quick thinking, AP classes kind of student stuck in her mother’s grasp of bad choices.  Extended family actually complicate the situation.  Michelle dad has been MIA for since she was 6. But now he’s dying, which she finds out through Tim, the step brother from another marriage to Leah, who is Michelle’s 1/2 sister of the same dying dad.  Michelle and Leah had never met, though they live in the same town, but Leah wanted to get Michelle the news…and the hope for an “heirloom” which could be money, something that would help Michelle dearly as she tries to hang on to her siblings.  While the realities of the cross country road trip storyline are totally far fetched, LaMarche’s character’s voices are so authentic that readers will want to see how the story ends.

Kris Dinnison’s premise in You and Me and Him is very possible in any high school around the world today, which is what kept me anticipating how the conflicts would be tied up.  Unfortunately, for this reader, the ending is where it falls apart.  “You” refers to Nash, the gay best friend of “Me”, Maggie.  Nash and Maggie have been besties since their preschool years.  Dennison captures the voice of a frustrated gay student quite well.  And it complements that of Maggie, who is overweight and proclaims from the opening sentences “I am not one of those shrinking-violet fat girls.  I don’t sit alone in my bedroom playing Billie Holiday albums while drowning my sorrows in a carton of ice-cream.”  But Maggie needs a Nash so together they can survive being slight outcasts in their teenage years.  Along comes “Him”, or Tom, a new kid who is drawn to Maggie and Nash his 1st day.  Tom is considered a hottie—to both Nash and Maggie. Nash calls dibs and Maggie will try to avoid the obvious sparks that fly, but there will be drama and some passionate kissing. No sex.

I really liked each of the characters independently through 3/4 of the book, though I felt an editor could have encouraged less description of cookie eating after the 1st encounter.  But I don’t feel Tom got a fair shake at the end.  There weren’t enough shady comments or actions on his part to get the ax that he did.

Besides that, this colorfully covered novel will give colorful insight into the complexities of teen life today.  With a western Washington setting, schools up and down the Puget Sound corridor might especially like this pick.

Harper Lee, by Alexis Burling, a biography that is part of the Essential Lives Series, succinctly details the highlights and controversies that surround one of literature’s best-love, yet little known writers.  Nelle Harper Lee’s first novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, was a literary sensation from the moment of publication, garnering the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1961.  The immediate acclaim for the book and the huge success of the movie put Lee in an unwanted spotlight.  Being essentially a very private person, Lee stopped granting interviews and became very wary of the intent of strangers.  The biography addresses the questions and speculations about Harper Lee and her status in American literature.  Side bars, photos and interviews highlight specific details about her life including speculations about the authorship of Mockingbird as well as legal battles concerning royalties.  It also discussed is the current  controversy about the publication of her “lost” novel,  Go Set the Watchman , in May of 2015. Source notes by chapter facilitate further research.  In a brief 106 pages, this is an excellent non-fiction book about the author of an iconic American novel.

In the RIVER DARKNESS, by German writer Marlene Röder, is a young adult drama that does not live up to the intrigue that gripes the reader in the opening paragraphs. The cover and the opening chapter lead the reader to expect that the book will be a mystery or thriller. But the reader is let down by the predictable plot and so-so ending. It almost seems as if In the River of Darkness was written to lead into future sequels. This quick read (222 pages, easy to read) can be read in just a couple of hours.

The plot centers around three teens: a new girl to town, Mia, and two brothers, Alexander and Jay, who live next door. The story is told from these three teens’ points of view. There is a bit of romance, a bit of mystery, but overall, there is no thrill in this story.

Teenage girls are sure to fall for Burn Girl and her ambivalent attempts to pursue the search for self, bought to light by Mandy Mikulencak’s persuasive writing style and her ability to build tension right up to the very end.

After her mother’s mysterious death, Arlie’s struggle to find her place in the “normal” world turns out to be a true emotional roller coaster ride. Stuck between abandonment issues and confusing emotions around family, friendship, and love, Arlie’s irrational behavior reflects her traumatic upbringing perfectly. Durango, Colorado is where her mother last took her when she ran away with her hiding from her mean step father. The mysteries around her mother’s death – whether she OD’d or got killed never was resolved but the process of finding truth took it all from Arlie.

The book expresses well that both emotional scarring as well as physical handicaps alike can have deep impact on our development. The author described the tender roots of emotional healing and that it is possible to transform one’s life.

Using various characters offering friendship and help providing a safe space for trust and growth keep the book interesting and alive. A truly heart warming teenage drama with lots of extra twists and turns.

Cam is smart teen.  Living in New York City, he as learned how to take care of himself and those he loves.  Unfortunately, this puts him in bad situations.  Taking out a loan from the Chinese mafia to try to save his mother’s house was a calculated risk.  When his bike gets smashed beneath a bus, his bike messengering income is gone, but the love of his life emerges.  As Nikki, the cause of the accident, bounds away doing Parkour, Cam is enthralled.  What this story spins into is one of intense action and teeming love energy.  Nikki has a path for Cam to follow to be able to make good on his loan, but it will involve legal activities.  This story has life and death twists and turns of a high action movie, which it was compressed into starring Taylor Lautner while being released in print.  It was truly a fun read and both high school boys and girls will race through it. Not recommended for middle school though.

Terrorist: Gavrilo Princip, the Assassin who Ignited World War I, a graphic historical fiction novel, is an engrossing account of the young Serbian anarchist whose assassination of Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand led to The Great War (World War I). Henrik Rehr, a Dane who lived in Europe during the early 1980’s, and lived in New York City at the time of 9/11 terrorist attacks, is a well-known cartoonist and author of graphic novels. Rehr spent considerable time researching “old, old books” in the New York Public Library trying to figure out how “a small number of people of limited means carried out an act with broad repercussions.”

Terrorist: Gavrilo Princip, the Assassin who Ignited World War I is a 232-page account, in detailed and powerful black and white drawings and text, of what drove Princip and his fellow Serbian anarchists to plan the assassination of Ferdinand. The account is stark, depressing, and disturbing. While thoroughly researched, Rehr notes “Certain liberties had to be taken for the story to work. I put words into the mouths of my characters that I did not necessarily have historical sources for, but I did my best to stay true to my understanding of the people I attempted to bring to like. There is nothing in the book that I know to be historically false, but there is a lot that came from my imagination.”

The historical information in this lengthy graphic novel is vastly more detailed than what is found in the current McGraw-Hill World high school History text used in the Olympia School District. The historical detail makes this work a good addition to the library collection. The graphic novel format will engage many a teen reader who never would plow through volumes of history books to understand the oppression of the Serbian peoples in the early 20^th century, their struggles for independence from Austria-Hungary, and the backgrounds of Princip and his accomplices.

Some readers may be sensitive to the significant amount of violence portrayed. Additionally there is course language, and scenes with excessive alcohol use, discussions of sex, prostitution, suicide and murder. Teachers and librarians may want to keep this in mind when recommending this book to students. Should the library receive complaints on the content, it may be noted that the book is a Junior Library Guild Selection.

In Earthrise: My Adventures As an Apollo 14 Astronaut, Edgar Mitchell essentially tells his life story.  We may think that today’s kids are growing up in an era of huge technological change, but Mitchell saw changes just extreme.  Born in 1930 in Texas, his family moved to New Mexico where he has vast prairies to explore and millions of stars to enjoy.  At the age of four, Mitchell flew for the first time, an event that planted a see for this farm boy.  Having an Airforce base in his town kept him enthralled as World War II ploughed through Europe.  Even after another move, he kept his love and began flying at the age of 14.  At 17 he became more intrigued in flying and space with reports that a UFO was captured in his old home town. The story continues along his choice to go into the Navy and the path to landing a job at NASA.  By chapter 4 readers will get to the exciting training Mitchell received to prepare him for his mission to space.

Audience was considered when Mitchell wrote this text.  It is not overwhelmingly technical. And what is particularly powerful is the chronological building of his dream.  Student readers can clearly see that Mitchell had a goal and had to work extremely hard to get it, even with some set backs and course re-alignments.  Therefore it is also inspiring to know that with a little planning, patience and perseverance, goals can be reached.

The side bar inserts are slightly repetitive to what is explained clearly within the text itself and would probably be skipped by most younger readers.  Yet the quotations at the start of each chapter are a creative touch to forecast what the chapter has in store.

It is clear Mitchell had a life altering spiritual experience on his decent back to earth.  Who wouldn’t?  This reader appreciates how tactfully he handled his discussion of this.  The resource notes in the back of the book keep it focused on the path and mission rather than his spiritual beliefs at this time.

Most students interested in space travel will like this text.  Recommended for middle and high school libraries.

Dare I say this young adult novel can be both entertaining and educational?  Sophomore Year Is Greek To Me is Meredith Zeitlin’s second young adult novel.  Though the first one is titled with a reference to “Freshman Year”, this is not a sequel.  In this story young Zona Lowell is leaving her beloved New York City lifestyle to be a new student in an international school in Greece while her father does research to write a book.  Zona herself is an investigative writer for her school newspaper, and while she has to let that be maintained by her friends back in the states, Zona throws in plot moving newspaper article inserts throughout the book.  Reading them is mandatory to make sure one doesn’t miss interesting plot points and character insights.  Zona will adjust to life meeting new friends, chasing after a “crush” who wasn’t all that, and settling into a friendly happiness with a boy that just gets her.  But the connection to Greece is not just by chance.  Zona’s departed mother was Greek and Zona has never met her mother’s side of the family. The whole climax of the story involves Zona going to stay with her Greek relatives by herself for the two week Easter holiday break from school.  Not only is this educational and foundational for Zona, but readers can learn a thing or two about Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations and Greek family structure.  I’d be curious what research path Zeitlin took because this reader would have liked to have tagged along.  A charming 15 turning 16 year old, coming of culture novel that girls as young at 7th grade might enjoy.  This stand alone is probably an additional purchase for most school libraries.

Caged like an animal. Training for a mission. This story begins In Medias Res, or in the middle, launching the reader into Nathan’s tortuous life without knowing why he is treated in such a way until 20 pages into his life.  Nathan is a half blood – half white witch and half black witch. Both white and black witches live among the humans in this modern English setting. Nathan has strong ties to his white heritage as he is raise by his grandmother on that side. But his 17th birthday is approaching. With this birthday he should receive his 3 gifts at his Giving ceremony. While he always assumed it they would be given by his grandmother, securing his connection to the white side, the Council takes him away from his family, setting up a struggle that will pit Nathan between his mother’s white side — a mother who committed suicide to avoid the family drama and trauma– and his father’s side — a father who Nathan has never know, who he has been told may want to kill him, and who he still has the strongest desire to meet.   This story has tones of the racial tension of our past as Nathan struggles between his white and black sides early on.  The 1st book in a trilogy, readers can easily sense that the story just won’t be wrapping up any time soon.  If witches are the new vampires, this Sally Green’s Half Bad trilogy should do well with middle and high school grade readers.