Between Here and Forever

Between Here and Forever
by Elizabeth Scott
Simon Pulse
2011
256 pages
Available May 24, 2011

Pitch perfect, poignant, and provocative, Between Here and Forever is the perfect novel for readers who like a sad/romantic/brooding story.

Abby has always lived in the shadow of older, brighter sister Tess. Tess, the golden child, worshipped by their parents and classmates alike. No boy can turn away from her charm. Now Tess lies in a hospital bed in a coma after an accident. Abby visits her daily, talking to her, singing to her, hoping for her to move, if only an eyelid.

With their perfect child lying in a coma, Abby's parents have a terrible time connecting with their younger child. This family is beyond dysfunctional. Abby deals with all her pent up anger and jealousy by trying to wake up Tess--not that she misses her, she doesn't miss her at all--but she doesn't want to forever be "the girl with a sister in a coma." And she doesn't want her parents spending their every waking hour worrying over Tess; doctors have told them that she'll never wake up but they keep hoping. Abby enlists the help of super-hot gift store guy Eli--they both try to wake Tess.

When a shattering secret is revealed, Abby sees the events of the past couple of years in clear detail. Family secrets can cause harm, pain, and tragedy.

Recommended for high school grades 9-12.
gender issues, same sex relationships

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

Romance Pick: If I Stay

If I Stay
by Gayle Forman
Speak (Penguin Group), 2009
234 pages

Beautifully written and evocative of Love Story, If I Stay will resonate with teen readers.

What choice would you make? Life or letting go? Mia is in the position to choose life with all its tragedies or simply fading away--the easy way out. Mia wakes and finds herself at the side of the road and realizes her body is on a stretcher bound for the hospital. Her body is in a coma after a horrible car accident leaves her without her mother and father and little brother, but her mind is active and alert.

The reader looks back at Mia's life through her eyes: her early years with her semi-hippie parents, her dad's playing in a rock band, her mother's feminism, the birth of her baby brother, her dad quitting the band and becoming "responsible."

Mia loves life and her boyfriend Adam. In her "out of body" experience, she is able to hear and see her grandparents and friends as they visit her in the hospital. A bright musical future awaits Mia, the classical prodigy who may earn a spot at Juilliard. If I Stay tells the story of Mia and Adam meeting and falling in love and how much Adam wants her to live.

Break out the tissues! Readers will be weeping while Mia decides "if I stay..."

Recommended grades 9-up. Mature grade 8 readers will probably be okay with this novel. Some langauge.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my grade 8 romance readers. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Realistic Fiction-YA Pick

Heart to Heart
by Lurlene McDaniel
Delacourt Press, 2010
214 pages


Elowyn and Kassay have been best friends--nearly sisters--since seventh grade. Kassey practically lives at Elowyn's house--a huge mansion with BOTH parents at home--parents who dote on their only daughter and her best friend. Kassey, on the other hand, comes from a quiet home where her mother works long hours and her father has been an absent parent ever since the divorce. It's no wonder, then, that Kassey is invited to go on every vacation with Elowyn.

The friends are insepearable in high school--a force to be reckoned with on the varsity volleyball team. That is until Elowyn gets a boyfriend. Kassey feels like a fifth wheel but continues to support her friend Elowyn. On her sixteenth birthday Elowyn gets a new car. Everything is great until Elowyn has a fight with her boyfriend and crashes her car.

Elowyn survives the accident but never regains consciousness. Since she filled out the organ donor section on her license, her parents decide to donate her organs in the hopes that someone's life will be made better by Elowyn's death.

Arabeth is sixteen and needs a heart. Born with a diseased heart, she has lived a life of loneliness--having been home schooled and much too sick to attend public school or even play with other kids. Arabeth's life is changed when the phone call comes in that there is a heart available for her. After her transplant, Arabeth doesn't quite feel right. She begins to like things she never has before--lilacs and French countryside decor, for example--the things that her donor--Elowyn--loved. Is there such a thing as "cellular memory?" Can an organ- a heart-carry memories of its donor?

Heart to Heart is a poignant tale of friendship, love, loss, and life regained. Highly recommended for teens.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book in a box sent to me by another librarian. She gets many ARCs from publishers. In no way did this influence my review of this novel.