Teen Pick: Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders

Fat Boy vs the Cheerleaders
by Geoff Herbach
Sourcebooks Fire
2014
320 pages
ISBN: 9781402291418

Available May 6, 2014

Geoff Herbach tells a story like no other YA author can--he tells it with outrageous humor, spot-on teen dialog, and believable snark.

Gabe Johnson is the butt (pun intended) of the whole school's jokes. They call him names, they laugh at his butt shaking dances, and jocks go out of their way to defeat him. Popular cheerleaders Janessa and Emily  take cheap shots at Gabe calling him Chunk. This band geek is about to explode, and when he does, he will enrage fellow band students to stand up to the cheerleaders and jocks.

When the funds from the coke machine are diverted from Gabe's school band to the cheerleaders for a new dance team, Gabe makes a stand...this is not just a stand. It is of epic proportions. Gabe LOVES band--and now the principal is cancelling summer band camp so the cheerleaders can have their dance team? With the help of his friends and supporters, Gabe stirs the entire school and community of small town Minnekota Lake into an uproar.

The novel is told in the form of Gabe's statement to his attorney Henry Rodriguez. Gabe finds himself needing representation after an unfortunate series of events.

The character of Gabe is believable, loveable, and he turns out to be harder than steel instead of soft as a marshmallow. This fat boy is mad and working on himself. He won't be the butt of their jokes forever, he decides. The only reason he's the center of the mean kids' wrath is that he makes himself the center of it. Gabe realizes he has more than one fight on his hands. He just needs to convince himself that he is capable of changing himself. Once his mindset has changed, the kids can't get to him anymore.

Readers who love an underdog will love Gabe and his journey to become a winner. They will be rooting for him and his cause.

Highly recommended grade 9-up. Language. Mature situations. On-line bullying.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

High School Pick: Trinkets

Trinkets
by Kirsten Smith
Little Brown Books for Young Readers
2013
288 pages

Surprising, stunning, and super, Trinkets is a cross between "Mean Girls," "The Breakfast Club," and "Beverly Hills, 90210." The teen set will fall in love with the three female characters: Tabitha, the beauty queen who seemingly has it all, Elodie, the shy newcomer, and Moe, a gothy free spirit.

The high school they attend is clique-ish (like every high school), so these girls would not likely cross paths, but their shared passtime has forced them into weekly Shoplifters' Anonymous meetings. All three girls steal and they're really good at it. They don't need to steal jewelry or clothing; their parents have money. They steal for the high; they steal to fill a void.

The girls decide to hold a contest; the one who outsteals--over the top---theft, wins. Through their escapades, they bond and share their secrets and vulnerable sides.

Writer Kirsten Smith has an ear for teen dialog, and her background in writing and producing ("Legally Blonde," "The House Bunny") has served her well. Ellen Page (actress, "Juno") says, "Trinkets is a beautiful creation. It is raw and full of heart, honest and open."

Older readers will likely remember fond (and not so fond) memories of their own high school years and high school readers will see glimpses of themselves or people they know on the pages of Trinkets.


Recommended grade 9 and up. Bad girl behavior, adult situations, language.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Hilarious High School Pick: Don't You Wish

Don't You Wish
by Roxanne St. Claire
Delacourte Press
2012
360 pages

I almost missed this one! Don't be foolish...go...no RUN...to your favorite bookstore or with a few clicks of the mouse, grab up this sweet read.

Annie Nutter is an invisible. She is a normal high school girl...not popular, not cool, not beautiful, and certainly not rich. Annie and her BFF Lizzie dream of the day when Shane Matthews might speak to them or notice them. When Shane finally speaks to Annie, it's a cruel joke.

When Annie's mom sees her old flame in a magazine spread, she realizes that she could have married the man who is now a billionaire plastic surgeon who lives in a mansion featured in Architectural Digest. Instead, she's married to Annie's father, a hopeless inventor who has more ideas than money. Annie questions her mother and wonders what her life would have been like if her mom had married the other man--her old college flame. Through some sort of magical weird twist in the universe, Annie wakes up in another life. She lives in Star Island, Florida, the pampered, bratty daughter of her mother in real life and her new, billionaire father (Mom's old flame).

Annie is now Ayla Monroe. She is the "it" girl at her snooty school and is surrounded by a circle of vicious harpies who shoplift, curse, and break all the rules they can. Annie is mortified and will not steal anything. She has to pretend to be "Ayla," and she can't imagine why these pampered princesses feel the need to steal just for stealing's sake.

Ayla (Annie) is being pushed into losing her virginity to hot boyfriend Ryder on prom night. Annie meets quiet, science geek Charlie and is intrigued. Charlie wonders why rich girl Ayla Monroe is now speaking to him, and Ayla's inner circle is wondering why she's acting so weird and talking to all the nobodies.

Ayla/Annie has the chance to choose which life to live. What will she do? What if she can save a life if she makes the right choice. What will Ayla do? What will Annie do?

Highly recommended grade 9-up. Profanity and talk about losing virginity place this book at the high school level, and it's too bad. So much is cool about Don't You Wish, I only wish the author would have made it middle school-worthy. It's a clever, funny book and Annie is a character girls will not forget.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

High School Pick: The Girl in the Park

The Girl in the Park
by Mariah Fredericks
Schwartz & Wade Books
2012
224 pages


Riveting and taut, this YA thriller races on at a breakneck pace as clues are uncovered and suspects questioned. Rain hears about it the next day...her ex-best friend Wendy is missing. Wendy's mother calls Rain's house to ask if Rain knows anything about Wendy's whereabouts. Rain insists she doesn't know anything. She doesn't say anything about Wendy's latest obsession with Nico--a boy who was also at the party and on Wendy's hit list.

Rain really doesn't know anything about Wendy any more. They were friends a year ago but drifted apart. Wendy had become the girl that all the popular girls hate--the party girl who drinks too much and gets too friendly with the boys. Some of the popular clique whisper that maybe Wendy got what was coming to her, but Rain feels terrible. She feels guilty...maybe she should have been a better friend...maybe Wendy would still be alive.

After Wendy's body is discovered in Central Park, Rain thinks back to  the night of the party. What clues is she missing? She visits Wendy's Facebook page and goes through old pages and old messages. The police come to the school and are introduced and some students are questioned. The police show up at Rain's doorstep and question her, too.  Later, Rain begins to suspect Nico. As she searches for clues implicating Nico, a reporter tells Rain that there is a piece of evidence that the police aren't telling the public. A small letter "E" was found near Wendy's body. The "E's" are given out to four outstanding students each year. Whoever killed Wendy was a recipient of an E.

Rain goes to the library and begins looking at old yearbooks. Nico was never awarded an E, but his girlfriend Sasha was. Could Sasha have given Nico her pin? Rain tells the police she suspects Nico.

As Rain searches through clues from Wendy's Facebook page, a new suspect emerges--a suspect that no one, including Rain, ever suspected. Someone Rain trusted. Someone Rain admired. Rain decides to solve the case herself and is astonished at what she uncovers.

Rain has always felt broken and unworthy. Born with a cleft palate, Rain's speech has been affected. Kids make fun of the way she talks, so Rain rarely opens her mouth. Only Wendy gave her a chance; only Wendy was her friend and didn't make fun of her. In the end, quiet, timid, unassuming Rain finally finds her voice and speaks up for Wendy, and readers will be happy to see that the underdog triumphs.

Highly recommended grade 9-up. Partying, underage drinking, sex, extramarital affair, improper teacher/student relationship.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

High School Pick: The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls

The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls
by Julie Schumacher
Delacourte Press
2012
227 pages

Forced into a mother-daughter book club, four very different girls have to spend time together. CeeCee would probably never talk to Adrienne or Jill, but because of a teeny tiny car accident, she’s being punished.

Adrienne feels as if she’s being punished by her mother. Her mother seems distant and argumentative. Adrienne has never known her father, and feels neglected by someone who’s never even seen her. When she tries to get answers out of her mother, her mother answers questions with other questions. Their household is entirely dysfunctional. Adrienne breaks a few rules and curfew, but she’s still a quiet girl with her head on straight. The same can’t be said for other members of the dysfunctional book club.

Wallis is an enigma to the other girls. She lives in the woods, but no one has ever been to her house. Her mother never attends the book club, and Wallis always has an excuse for her absence. The other mothers seem worried but it never occurs to them to investigate.

The book club decides to read only books by women authors and begin with a short story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Then they read Frankenstein and question whether the monster is good or bad; they finish with The Left Hand of Darkness. No wonder the girls were bored, and confused! What a weird list of books/stories to read! No wonder they called the club Unbearable!

A few poignant moments when I almost loved CeeCee, and readers will probably like Adrienne and be stumped by Wallis’s “problems.” Jill is the most “normal” character of them all. Girls with mother problems will empathize with Adrienne.

Recommended grades 8-up. Some mature topics and talk. No details. The terms lesbian, slut and hermaphrodite are used in girls’ conversations. Not for younger readers.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my library. Caution: I used Follett’s advice on grade level. Actually, I think grades 8 and up. Parents of middle school may not want to answer questions about hermaphrodites.

Teen Pick: Circle of Silence

Circle of Silence: The Story Turned Deadly
By Carol M. Tanzman
Harlequin Teen
2012
281 pages

Dangerous and dark, Circle of Silence is a teen read that could have been ripped from the headlines. It will leave you uncomfortable and a little sickened.

News girl Val and her news team produce the campus news show. They report the usual things: all the new clubs available for freshman to join, an interview with a new administrator hired on campus, the football team has their first game—just run of the mill typical high school news. When the letters “MP” start appearing tagged all over campus, no one gives it a second thought. Maybe it’s someone’s initials; maybe it’s Marshall Prep, another school nearby who is their upcoming football rival. Kids are starting to talk and wonder who’s behind the tagging.

The next week, a couple of funny pranks occur and the mysterious initials are left at the scene. The news team knows it can’t be Marshall Prep; the big football game has already taken place. Who is pulling the pranks and why?

A group of loners and misfits are secretly meeting and making plans to be the talk of the school. The tension between the members is palpable. When their leader dreams of bigger and meaner pranks, the sheep in the group follow him blindly along until someone ends up in the hospital. The pranks are becoming increasingly dangerous and deadly.

Can Val’s media team break the story before someone else gets hurt? Is Valerie herself a target? Will anyone in the secret group step up and away from the danger? How long can a group keep a secret before turning on each other? Could your biggest enemies be closer than you think?

The cover is bland and a real missed opportunity to attract teen readers who are likely to walk right by the tepid cover art.

Recommended grades 9-up. Mature situations. Language.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Girl Pick: Forever Four

Forever Four
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Grosset & Dunlap
2012
208 pages with illustrations
cover not yet available

Available January 19, 2012

Paulina has a great idea! She will enter her middle school's Curriculum Education Program competition with her project. The best project wins funding for the entire year, and her fabulous idea is to create and publish a magazine about girls for girls. The problem is that three other girls want to do a magazine, too. Principal Finley calls all four girls to her office and puts them on a team. She wants the four girls to work together to bring her one cohesive magazine.

The girls are each horrified! Miko is part of the P-Quits --Prom Queens in Training--and she's a fashionista and a brainiac, her hair, clothes and nails are always runway perfect and her grades superior to everyone else. Tally is the drama queen--both figuratively and literally--she stars in all the school's drama productions and over-exaggerates everything. Ivy is the new girl, fresh from New York City with a hot-shot magazine editor mother and uber-trendy East Village vintage clothes, and Paulina who juggles school, a younger brother obsessed with space aliens, cooking dinner, babysitting Kevin, and now her magazine.

How can four individuals--especially girls who never even speak to each other--Miko and Paulina, for example--come together and create a magazine that will excite middle school teens?

There are other teams in the competition out there trying to beat the girls. The girls' softball team is giving them stiff competition, and when they accuse the magazine girls of cheating, the 4girls come up with a unique way of defending themselves and showing the athletes what they're made of.

The girls highlight Pitch In's project and write a story about how girls' sports are often underfunded. Because of their unselfish acts, 4Girls wins the competition and shows the true meaning of sportsmanship.

Recommended grades 5-up. This is a great read for girls and shows that even if they are different, they can work together to produce something great.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Chick Pick

Karma Bites
by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas
Sandpiper (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), 2010
340 pages

Franny Flanders is having bad karma: her parents are newly divorced, her kid brothers fight all the time, her friends belong to different cliques and she has to walk the minefield at school to avoid angering either clique, and to top it all off, her hippie grandmother has moved in with them and is practicing white magic, yoga, and zen Buddhism. When not in a trace or drinking yak butter tea, Granny is communicating with unknown spirits like the time she came home from Africa and brought back an angry presence who tore up the back yard. Franny is mortified and cannot bear her grandmother meeting any of her friends.

When Franny uses magic from a mysterious box in Granny's closet, things start to unravel in a very bad way. Middle school has never been funnier. Franny is a typical middle school girl trying to fit in and make all her friends get along, so what's wrong with using a little magic here and there?

It's called the Butterfly Effect and it states that if one little thing happens in the universe like the flutter of a butterfly's wings or a panda turning over in his den, it can trigger a ton of reactions that change the universe forever.

Franny is going to need her granny's help to sort out this chaos. The clique system goes awry and Franny has her first grown-up dance.

A totally charming, fun read for girls; appropriate for grades 6-9.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.