After 3 months of maternity leave and 1 month back on the job, I finally can sit back, breathe, and think about posting again! Also, I have a little time to read now. You'd be surprised how much you can get read during a midnight nursing. It's great for keeping you awake, too, so you don't fall asleep with baby!Over the summer, I read a few "older" YA novels that had been on my To Read list for a while. Among them, Double Helix, by Nancy Werlin, Define Normal, by Julie Anne Peters, Flipped, by Wendelin Van Draanan, and King Dork, by Frank Portman.
I was slightly disappointed by most of these, in particular Double Helix. This was given to me by a good friend of mine, and fellow young adult lit reader. It was not much of a difficult mystery and resolved much too quickly and easily. I guess it's a great short read for reluctant readers, but otherwise I wasn't impressed, which is unfortunate because I know what a great author Werlin is purported to be. In fact, I met her at a YA Lit conference a year or two ago, and everyone was very enthusiastic about her work. I look forward to reading Impossible and Rules of Survival, two more of her highly recommended and recent novels.
Otherwise, King Dork was the only one I would call a great read. A riff on Catcher in the Rye, which I hated, it poked fun at The Catcher throughout, while simultaneously being a similar story of teen angst with a rather random plot. This is not a book to skim, quick-read, or bring to the beach. Every line is meant to savor and laugh at. Hidden sarcasm, great characters (Little Big Tom - "Rock on!") and a satisfying while inconclusive ending made this something I would actually read again (had I the time!) just to catch more of the author's great lines. The band names and song titles at the end, along with the glossary of terms, really cracked me up.
Now I'm in the process of reading many excellent titles for our Cafe Book program, where public librarians like myself visit middle schools for book discussion groups. I've actually read several "guy books" with lots of blood, gore, and death, and not minded! Here are some that I think you might like (not all are guy books specifically, but could appeal to all types):
Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins is a must read but of course you have to start the trilogy with The Hunger Games and then continue on to Catching Fire before you pick up this amazing conclusion.
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher is an incredible fantasy that I couldn't put down. The worlds are intricate and she is consistent with the details, the way fantasy writers need to be.
Girl in the Arena, by Lise Haines is a great action book with a girl protagonist. Brought up in an era eerily present-day, 18 year-old Lyn is the daughter of seven Gladiators. A celebrity lifestyle and media frenzy are things she has learned to live with, as Gladiator fighting (to the death) is a popular sport. Although Lyn has become a skilled fighter (unusual for a girl, as they typically become Glad wives) she has no desire to continue in her mother's footsteps, remarrying after each husband's death, but chooses pacifism instead. I'm looking forward to some more new YA titles on my To Read list, including The Killer's Cousin, by Werlin, because everyone deserves a second chance.
