Read This!: THE BFF BUCKET LIST by Dee Romito

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The BFF Bucket ListThe BFF Bucket List by Dee Romito

Summary: Ella and Skyler have been best friends since kindergarten—so close that people smoosh their names together like they’re the same person: EllaandSkyler. SkylerandElla.
But Ella notices the little ways she and Skyler have been slowly drifting apart. And she’s determined to fix things with a fun project she’s sure will bring them closer together—The BFF Bucket List. Skyler is totally on board.  The girls must complete each task on the list together: things like facing their fears, hosting a fancy dinner party, and the biggest of them all—speaking actual words to their respective crushes before the end of summer. But as new friends, epic opportunities, and super-cute boys enter the picture, the challenges on the list aren’t the only ones they face.
And with each girl hiding a big secret that could threaten their entire friendship, will the list–and their BFF status–go bust?

Ella and Skyler are best friends. Even though they both know that Ella is the one who doesn’t like change, both girls have their worries about moving into high school next year – and how it will affect their friendship. Frightened of what Skyler’s new enthusiasm for hanging out with other friends might mean, Ella proposes the ultimate list – a series of challenges for them to take on together over the summer. Skyler’s in, and a series of adventures ensues, from a best friend photo shoot to temporary tattoos to shopping cart races in their pajamas. But when Ella makes some new friends of her own, and both girls keep secrets for fear of hurting the other’s feelings, their friendship flounders. We see the story through alternating narration from both girls, and their personalities leap off the page. Both are likeable and their struggles are layered and believable. In the end, they must learn to trust the power of their friendship amidst their changing worlds.

THE BFF BUCKET LIST is out now.

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Read This!: SWING SIDEWAYS by Nanci Turner Steveson

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Swing SidewaysSwing Sideways by Nanci Turner Steveson

Summary: Annie has been promised a summer of freedom in the country. Freedom from a difficult school year, freedom from her fake “friends” back in the city, and, most of all, freedom from her mom’s life-governing spreadsheets and rigid schedules.  When Annie meets California, who is visiting her grandfather’s farm, it seems she has found the perfect partner for the summer she’s always craved. Especially when California offers Annie a real-life adventure: if she and Annie can find the ponies her mom rode as a girl, surely it will remind her mom how wonderful the farm is—and fix what’s broken between her mom and her grandfather.  But Annie’s summer of freedom is sprinkled with secrets, and everything she has learned about bravery and love will be put to the test when the truth behind the ultimate secret changes her life forever.

This is the heartfelt story of Annabel, a girl who has been scheduled within an inch of her life by her well-meaning, spreadsheet-obsessed mother – so much so that she has developed an eating disorder. The family’s therapist convinces Annabel’s parents to give her a summer of freedom in the country, and her mom does her best to overcome her own control issues to let that happen. Annabel soon meets California, the wild granddaughter of a local farmer, and gets drawn into California’s quest to find the ponies her mother rode as a child. California is convinced that finding them will bring together her own mother and grandfather, who have been estranged from one another since long before her birth. Inspired by California, Annabel asserts her independence by christening herself Annie, and soon learns to stand up for herself in her own family. The shifting patterns of family relationships are beautifully chronicled – Annie’s mom adjusting to her daughter’s new confidence, Annie’s dad putting aside his peacekeeping tendencies for the greater good, and Annie herself gaining the courage to be honest with her parents. And the deepening friendship of the two girls grows them both as people, even as the secret behind California’s quest forces them both to face the unfairness of the world. A beautiful coming-of-age story of friendship, family, loss, and hope.

SWING SIDEWAYS is out now.

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Read This!: THE ART OF NOT BREATHING by Sarah Alexander

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The Art of Not BreathingThe Art of Not Breathing by Sarah Alexander

Summary: Since her twin brother, Eddie, drowned five years ago, sixteen-year-old Elsie Main has tried to remember what really happened that fateful day on the beach. One minute Eddie was there, and the next he was gone. Seventeen-year-old Tay McKenzie is a cute and mysterious boy that Elsie meets in her favorite boathouse hangout. When Tay introduces Elsie to the world of freediving, she vows to find the answers she seeks at the bottom of the sea.

Elsie is the kind of fantastically real character, likable yet flawed, that we rarely see in fiction. She does dumb things, just like, you know, real teenagers do, and she is sometimes selfish to the point of being oblivious to things her family is going through. But she’s also determined and stubborn and strong. Sure that she can figure out the mystery of what really happened on the day her twin brother, Eddie, disappeared into the North Sea, she takes up freediving and gets mixed up with a couple of boys who know a lot more than they let on. Everyone in Elsie’s family is crumbling under the weight of secrets and guilt, and it’s only when Elsie uncovers the truth – learning a whole lot about herself and her own capabilities along the way – that they can begin to heal.

THE ART OF NOT BREATHING is out now.

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Read This!: I WOKE UP DEAD AT THE MALL by Judy Sheehan

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I Woke Up Dead at the MallI Woke Up Dead at the Mall by Judy Sheehan

Summary: When you’re sixteen, you have your whole life ahead of you. Unless you’re Sarah. Not to give anything away, but . . . she’s dead. Murdered, in fact. Sarah’s murder is shocking because she couldn’t be any more average. No enemies. No risky behavior. She’s just the girl on the sidelines.  It looks like her afterlife, on the other hand, will be pretty exciting. Sarah has woken up dead at the Mall of America—where the universe sends teens who are murdered—and with the help of her death coach, she must learn to move on or she could meet a fate totally worse than death: becoming a mall walker.  As she tries to finish her unfinished business alongside her fellow dead teens, Sarah falls hard for a cute boy named Nick. And she discovers an uncanny ability to haunt the living. While she has no idea who killed her, or why, someone she loves is in grave danger. Sarah can’t lose focus or she’ll be doomed to relive her final moments again and again forever. But can she live with herself if she doesn’t make her death matter?

When Sarah wakes up dead, in an ugly bridesmaid dress, in an afterlife situated in the Mall of America, her story is just beginning. She soon meets the quirky cast of characters who populate this in-between place while they wait to be born into new lives: tough girl Lacey, optimistic Harry, sad, sweet, Alice, dim pretty-boy Declan, and swoony Nick. Watching over them all is a no-nonsense angel named Bertha. Sarah soon learns that she and all her new friends have all been murdered, and worse – her murderer is now after her grieving father. Her quest to save him will take her in and out of the mortal world as she confronts her own hidden powers and makes choices about the kind of person she wants to be. Not even death can take away Sarah’s wry sense of humor, and the mall is filled with delightful details – the zombie mall-walkers, the dead camping out in Crate and Barrel, the elevator to the mortal world. Who knew a story about death could be so funny and uplifting?

I WOKE UP DEAD AT THE MALL is out now.

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Read This!: MY SEVENTH-GRADE LIFE IN TIGHTS by Brooks Benjamin

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My Seventh-Grade Life in TightsMy Seventh-Grade Life in Tights by Brooks Benjamin

Summary: All Dillon wants is to be a real dancer. And if he wins a summer scholarship at Dance-Splosion, he’s on his way. The problem? His dad wants him to play football. And Dillon’s freestyle crew, the Dizzee Freekz, says that dance studios are for sellouts. His friends want Dillon to kill it at the audition—so he can turn around and tell the studio just how wrong their rules and creativity-strangling ways are. At first, Dillon’s willing to go along with his crew’s plan, even convincing one of the snobbiest girls at school to work with him on his technique. But as Dillon’s dancing improves, he wonders: what if studios aren’t the enemy? And what if he actually has a shot at winning the scholarship? 

DIZZEE FREEKZ 4-EVA!

Dillon Parker has the music in him – he loves being part of a dance crew with his friends Kassie and Carson (and videographer Austin), but he longs to learn some real technique, not just the “ninja freestyle” he invented using karate moves. Kassie and Carson, both veterans of years of dance lessons, insist that Dillon’s way is more creative, more true, but he’s not convinced. When an opportunity comes up to compete for a dance studio scholarship, Kassie wants Dillon to use it to take a stand against the creativity-stifling studios – but Dillon *really* wants those lessons. Torn between loyalty to his crew and his own desires, Dillon has to learn how to be true to himself. Dillon is a winning protagonist, willing to put up with ridicule if necessary to do what he loves, and his honest nature is refreshing. Benjamin populates his whole novel, actually, with fresh, realistic characters whom I’d love to hang out with, from good-guy football player DeMarcus to the strong-willed Kassie to the eternally sunny Carson – heck, even complicated sorta-mean-girl Sarah is winningly drawn. A delightful dance from start to finish.

MY SEVENTH-GRADE LIFE IN TIGHTS is out now.

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