Book #5 in the Vampire Academy novel series, Spirit Bound, takes Rose Hathaway on a quest to free her imprisoned true love, Dimitri Belikov, who also happens to currently be a Strigoi, an evil undead vampire.  Strigoi are always hunting Moroi. but Rose has discovered a way to change Dimitri back into the Moroi he once was.  She is hopeful that their passion will ignite again, despite the fact that she has a boyfriend already.  Richelle Mead give just enough of the back story that a reader can pick up this book and read it as a stand alone, until the end of course, where the cliff hanger will make a reader want to find out Rose’s fate that is literally on the chopping block.  There is nothing that should offend anyone in high school or above.  The pace is clean and crisp and a surprisingly good read for another vampire story.  Movie rights have been sold and Rose’s female heroine is worthy of a chance at the big screen.  Book #6 is the end of the series, though there is a spin off series set for 6 books as well.  At 500 pages, these will take up shelf space and will attract a mainly female audience.

Azael Arevalo is a gangster who loves to do his tagging artwork.  He is loyal to his MS13 homies, a Mexican gang in Houston, Texas, because his own family life is so tragic.  So it’s no surprise to the reader as they learn that the alternating then and now chapter subtitles refer to Az’s life before and after landing himself in prison.  But he doesn’t know why he’s there specifically.  In the then chapters, we find out that his mother died shortly after his little sister was born, turning his life upside down.  After his father gives up custody of his sister to an aunt and because of his alcoholism, Az and his brother are pretty much on their own.  In the now, Az is tortured by having to watch therapy sessions of Lexi, a white girl who is also incarcerated.  He quickly figures out that there is a connection between why they are both in jail, but he can’t remember anything.  Az’s language is gritty and authentic, with sex on his mind as much as why he is where his is.  The redeeming qualities in this story come not only from Az as from Lexi as both will be true to themselves, even if it’s a truth the mainstream society rejects.  Ashley Hope Perez catches both the male and female voice of these characters with the spite and tension that teens in prison would hold.  This is an additional selection to add to collections.

With Brother/Sister, Sean Olin takes readers into the minds of two teenagers for whom the world is unraveling fast. Sparely written, deep but easy to read, Olin’s book lets us into the minds of siblings Will and Asheley Baird through their own words as they explain to interrogators how they came to be in the nightmarish fix they’re in: Will is a murderer and Asheley has abetted his crimes, all for what each thinks of as love.

As the plot unfolds, Olin gives us reasons for these two to be almost powerless in the face of their undoing…a disappeared, abandoning father; a drunken, hopeless mother who abrogated her duties, placing impossible burdens on the shoulders of her then-6 year-old son; Asheley’s boyfriend, abused himself, who makes things worse; an ineffectual stoned “step-dad”; and a cast of teenaged characters for whom the world is drinking, party-crashing, crushes, and sports.

Struggling to belong, hoping for happiness, Asheley wants friends but finds only she can control her brother’s increasing anger and violence. Will, desperately alone and torn with self-doubt, fixates on Asheley as the one he must protect at all costs, to whom he must dedicate his life as he inexorably becomes divorced from reality.  Sadly, it is the day of each one’s greatest triumphs that marks the beginning of their undoing.

Many themes make this a worthwhile book for readers, showing that without real parenting, lives can go woefully, tragically astray.

Highly Recommended

With Irises, award-winning author Francisco X. Stork paints the lives of two young women at a crossroads in consciousness and beliefs, faced with decisions that will either allow or destroy their most cherished dreams. Stork’s sensitive handling of an uncommon subject is a valuable journey that will help readers understand the choices we often must make as we weigh the costs of loving against the obligations we have to ourselves of living our own authentic lives.

Kate and Mary Romero have spent two years since the accident that left their mother in a vegetative state, living under the stern, restrictive, limited but loving influence of their father, Church of God Pastor Manuel Romero. His certainty that removing life-supports from his comatose wife would be a sin against God has left the family in service to the all-but-lifeless mother in the parish house provided by the congregation.

The sudden death of their father begins a process of awakening in older sister Kate, who burns to attend Stanford University and become a doctor, and in 16 year-old Mary, a gifted artist whose ability to ‘see the light’ and put it on canvas has vanished since her mother’s tragedy. Mary’s unsuccessful attempt to re-render the famous Van Gogh painting, Irises, has shown her how lifeless and dull her painting has become since her mother’s accident.

Both girls’ dreams, fostered and encouraged by their lively mother, crushed and denied by their father, bring each to the edge of despair at the contemplation of accepting endless servitude to their lifeless mother.

Vivid characters emerge to help the sisters decide whether to sacrifice their hopes to keep their mother “alive”, or to make the leap of faith called for in ending what their mother herself would call no life at all. As the faults of the father emerge, the sisters seek help from distant Aunt Julia, who has health problems of her own.

Having removed life supports from my own dying mother, I connected with the story. Soul and spirit combine in the painful process of letting go, giving this book its own luminous quality.

Highly recommended.

The opening of the story with the anxieties of typical high school student such as making the team or worrying about getting into college gives The Combination by Elias Carr an immediate connection to the reader. But the school is anything but ordinary as  bats swoop through the hallways and the doors are locked for the student’s safety. Perched over an ancient sinkhole, St. Philomena High was designed by a brilliant yet mad architect.  With the right combination, it becomes a doomsday machine.  The plot is a bit far-fetched.  Stilted, disjointed dialogue and the stereotypical characters hinder the suspense of the story.  Short chapters with fast moving action in simple vocabulary keeps interest  in solving the mystery and saving the students.  This book could be a good read for an emerging middle school reader.

A witty, self-questioning, authentic teen voice is presented in that of Paisley Hanover Kisses and Tells by Cameron Tuttle.  In this second book of the series, Paisley’s alter ego, Miss UnPleasant, wins as a write in candidate for sophomore class president.  But the dimwit vice-principal won’t let that become official and gives the race to the popular Peter “Hutch” Hutchison.  This is just one storyline that weaves in with three other valid storylines Tuttle creates to bring out issues in high schools today, including bullying, cyberbullying and sexting, and emotional angst when a girl likes two boys and can’t decide.  Overarching it all is the main theme that still continues from the 1st book in the series, that popularity isn’t everything.  No drugs but references to drinking and partying, sidebras instead of sidebars, and somewhat over the top antics lend this story to a Disney or Nickelodeon screenplay, but until then, 9th – 11th grade girls who like the “popularity theme” that encompasses every high school will probably enjoy this read as they see that every character is just as human as the next.  Unfortunately the publisher made such a big change in the cover art between the 1st and 2nd books that I’m inclined to only carry the 2nd one and wait to read reviews of the 3rd that is supposed to be in the works before I would order the 1st.

Nobel Genes, as in being conceived from a Nobel price winner sperm bank donor, is what this teenaged boy believes he has. When his scholastic abilities don’t match expectations, he beings to question the story that his single mom has told him throughout his life. The unnamed boy in this 1st person narrative has unanswered questions which he is afraid to ask out loud: who is father is, why he has no known relatives, and why aren’t the Nobel genes kicking in to make him the brilliant student his mother expects him to be. He also has the daunting responsibility of caring for his mother who suffers from mental illness, alcoholism, prescription drug abuse, and suicidal tendencies.

This is a disturbing and emotionally dark story, poignant and wrenching, but with  hopefulness that the boy will learn to control his own destiny, regardless of his genetic make up.

Spoiler Alert: a scene of incest; implied not graphically shown.

Susan Shaw’s Tunnel Vision can catch a reader in the first three pages.  Liza’s mom is dead and Liza is the next target.  But why?  Immediately rushed into the U.S. Marshall’s protective services, Liza and her dad are on the run from being on a hit list.  Moving from the east coast to the mid-west and back again, Liza must hide her bright red hair and her fear as she feels everyone knows who she is.  It doesn’t help that the mainstream media caught their “story” and made it national news, broadcasting their picture over and over.  While the story is a little far fetched, the “what if” scenario makes a reader keep going.  The minor characters aren’t given much time to develop and be an integral part of the story.  Only one comes back into the picture.  Overall it has an interesting premise but would be a good additional selection for high school and public libraries.

Morris, Rudi, Beck, and Ivan have just graduated from high school.  They are the best of buds and they make pacts with each other.  But the Vietnam War is raging.  So when one is drafted, they all join up.  This is great news for Ivan, the son of a retired Marine Corp Captain.  What begins as a story about four boys who need to stay best friends even though they are now officially adults quickly turns into Ivan’s reality check as he sees the brutality of war first hand.  By the end, Ivan learns how hard he can push himself as well as how soldiers of Vietnam can get through the experience: by just continuing to move, even if the movement is just for the sake of moving itself, by realizing how “close to you are to horror every single day”, and by just snapping.  This is book #2 in a series of 4, with the 1st book focusing on the story of Morris in the Navy.  With a little gore because it is the Vietnam War, this is a worthwhile addition to Chris Lynch’s collection, though not with the depth and literary insight as Tim O’Brien’s novels. Recommended for all high school and public libraries.

Elizabeth Eulberg takes readers into the lives of four teens trying to rise to the top of an exclusive performing arts high school in New York City.  In a world where everyone is in competition with each other, the characters Emme, Sophie, Carter and Ethan have much more in your face lessons to learn on whom to trust in their rise to fame.  Readers will gain empathy for Emme, the true protagonist of the novel.  Self-confidence is what she lacks and it takes a two true friends and one soon to be ex-friend to propel her into the spotlight and literally find her voice.  Chapters alternate between the four main character’s voices.  Eulberg writes each one so uniquely that it is easy to follow the storyline that weaves them all together.  Real teen issues are incorporated, such as alcohol abuse, so that any students will enjoy this read, especially those in the performing arts.  Recommended for all high school and public libraries.