Category Archives: Contemporary

Review: The Scar Boys by Len Vlahos

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

The Scar Boys by Len VlahosThe Scar Boys by Len Vlahos
Egmont USA

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A bullying incident leaves Harry scarred and terrified of lightning storms. When a popular boy suggests that he and Harry form a band, Harry jumps at the idea. But as Harry gets to know Johnny better, he realizes that their friendship isn’t the salvation he once thought. As long as Harry is willing to play the role Johnny carves out for him, everything will be fine. When the band’s success takes them all by surprise, Harry’s world opens wider than ever before, and for the first time, he finds he might not need Johnny to bridge the gap between him and everyone else. Stepping into his own spotlight changes his relationships in ways beyond what he imagined.

The story begins as a 250 word essay on a college application that Harry is writing. It quickly goes way beyond the required word count as Harry explains what’s led him to apply for college. I like the way the college essay frames the story. It struck me as vaguely reminiscent of the way S. E. Hinton uses a similar approach in The Outsiders, in which the protagonist writes his story as an English assignment for school. (True story: I once finished reading The Outsiders, which closes with Ponyboy repeating the opening lines of the story as the beginning of his English homework. I then flipped the book over and read it again trying to imagine him crafting it as his school paper. I know. I didn’t get out much.)

From the get-go, Scar Boys is a gritty, brutally honest tale about a boy whose life was irrevocably changed when neighborhood bullies tied him to a tree and left him. The tree was struck by lightning, leaving Harry with terrible scars that even challenge his own father’s love for him. So it gets a bit dark. But at his core, Harry is a pretty sweet guy who wants what we all want: love, friendship, adventure. I liked that the story isn’t strictly about him recovering from his childhood trauma, but that Vlahos takes us so much further into the murky depths of a complicated friendship. What price is Harry willing to pay to continue his friendship with Johnny? I like that Johnny isn’t the selfless charmer that we initially believe him to be. I loved where Vlahos took Johnny and Harry’s relationship – the breaking and redemption the boys both face.

I think I had some really ridiculous expectations going into the story because of the hype I’d seen. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy it, and I thought it was pretty great. I think I had expected an earth-shattering, life-altering experience, and it wasn’t that for me. While I think it was really well done, it won’t live on in my top favorites, and I’m a little (perhaps foolishly) disappointed because I kind of expected it to. Over all, though, there were a lot of great moments and great lessons about courage, friendship and love. I enjoyed reading it and look forward to reading Vlahos’ next, Scar Girl.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
Harry gives a very brief description when he (accidentally) witnesses his best friend having sex with a girl. Harry mentions masturbation.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Bullies tie Harry to a tree and leave him during a storm. He is left with horrendous scars when lightning strikes the tree. Since then, he’s had a lot of trouble with bullies picking on him, but nothing so extreme as that first incident.

Drug Content
Teen drinking and references to smoking pot.

Review: Summer by Summer by Heather Burch

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Summer by Summer by Heather Burch
Blink YA/Zondervan

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After tragedy turns Summer’s life upside down, a summer in Belize caring for a charming young boy seems like the perfect escape. Then she meets her charge’s older brother, Bray. His smooth talk and good looks only remind her of everything she wanted to leave behind.

Bray doesn’t get Summer. He doesn’t understand why she hides herself beneath miles of ugly flower print dresses and avoids fun like it will bite. He resents her assumptions about him, even if some of them may be true.

When a boat tour and a terrible storm leave the two stranded on an uninhabited island, they have only each other to lean on for survival. Summer must learn to trust Bray and depend on his strength. As they grow closer, Bray must decide the kind of man he wants to be. When hope for rescue fades, the island give up a dangerous secret. Summer and Bray risk their lives to find a way home.

This book is every bit a romantic fantasy. A handsome guy and a heart-wounded girl trapped alone on an island. Let the romantic tension begin! While Summer and Bray keep boundaries on the physical part of their relationship, the struggle is pretty plain, especially for Bray. Despite the romance being decidedly in the forefront, some unexpected twists in the plot keep the pages turning.

The emotional journeys of the characters are a bit juvenile, which is probably okay since it’s YA… still, I wanted more depth from the characters. Sometimes it seemed as if I was getting the prettied up version of things rather than a deeper, realistic expression. I tend to enjoy grittier stories, so it could just be that personal preference rather than any flaw in the story. Either way it’s a great, light, summer read. Perfect for the beach, reading poolside or curled up next to a sunny window.

Language Content
No profanity.

Sexual Content
Bray has a history of hooking up with girls at parties, but he doesn’t mention details other than not being a virgin. Things between him and Summer get pretty steamy. There’s a lot of tension between them, but they commit to waiting until they are married to have sex.

Spiritual Content
Summer wrestles with some major doubts about her faith since the death of her best friend. Bray doesn’t seem to have a spiritual background but they do discuss what she believes and how important it is to her.

Violence
A man is shot, and it appears a woman may be held against her will.

Drug Content
Bray and his friends drink alcohol at a party. The legal drinking age in Belize is 18. Summer reflects on how drinking alcohol destroyed the life of someone she loved.

Poetry and Friendship: Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
Disney-Hyperion

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She might look just like another one of the popular girls, but Samantha has a secret not even her best friends can know: she suffers from OCD. She needs weekly visits to a psychiatrist and prescription meds to keep her anxieties at bay.

As her friendships with the top girls becomes more and more toxic, Samantha desperately wants an outlet. Her search leads her to Caroline, a carefree, fashion-less girl whose frankness and kindness may be just the right rescue. She introduces Sam to Poet’s Corner, a place where students gather to share poems about anything from chicken nuggets to the loss of a parent.

Through the healing experience of writing and sharing her own work, Samantha discovers a whole different side of friendship and love. But just when she feels she’s finally making real progress in leaving her OCD behind, new symptoms emerge that could destroy the new connections she’s made. She has to face the devastating possibility that she could be getting worse, not better.

While I loved that her love interest had his own baggage and even had that past connection with her and her friends, I wasn’t totally sold on the relationship. (Moral soap boxes aside…) The scene in which they have sex was sweet in that it’s obvious he cares so much for her, but it felt like, “and here’s the obligatory scene in which the teen couple has sex because that’s what teen couples do.” It didn’t feel necessary. It kind of struck a nerve with me that really doesn’t have anything to do with the story itself.

I think my favorite thing about this book is Samantha’s journey trying to “fix” herself and her OCD. She wants so badly to leave her anxiety behind and be a carefree, “normal” girl. There’s no quick-fix for her in this story. Poetry doesn’t magically cure her. What it does do, though, is allow her opportunities to better understand herself and the world around her. It provides an opportunity for her to see her current friendships in a different light, and to see friendship itself in a different light. She has a chance to evaluate what kinds of relationships she’d like to have and what qualities make a real friend. Those are such powerful moments in the story. She’s also challenged by the openness and acceptance in the Poet’s Corner group. She’s been hiding her own struggles, and they become a barrier to having real friendships.

The poetry was a great addition to the story, too. Some were funny and clever while others were deeply moving. They added balance and depth to a lot of the more minor characters as well as allowing a larger window into Sam, too.

I felt like all those relationship issues were so relevant and well-described. It was impossible not to root for Sam and to want her to ditch the nasty girls and have those friends who valued her the way she deserved. I wish the boyfriend stuff had been handled differently, but I really enjoyed the other elements of the story.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
Sam briefly relates that she’s still a virgin. Her friends have had experience with boys, but no real details are given. She engages in a long, steamy kissing session in a swimming pool alone with a boy. Later, she has sex with her boyfriend. It’s a fairly long scene that focuses more on the togetherness and kissing than the actual sex. Though it’s not described in a graphic way, we know what’s going on, so it’s pretty intense.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
References to teen drinking. Samantha takes medication for anxiety and OCD. She stops taking her sleep aid and has to have words with her therapist about it. I like that her meds or the fact that she’s taking them isn’t really villainized here. It’s not like she discovers a passion for poetry and that somehow cures her, and she has to find balance and face that there’s no easy fix for her. It reads like reality to me.

Review: Those Girls by Lauren Saft

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, ,

Those Girls by Lauren Saft
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Alex and Mollie have been best friends since kindergarten. Veronica, whose promiscuous reputation is her claim to fame, has recently joined their ranks. At the start of their junior year, each girl has an agenda.

V longs to turn over a new leaf and be the kind of girl a boy wants to keep around for more than an hour. Her good intentions are pretty constantly foiled by her revealing outfits and her drunken escapades.

Mollie wants to bring romance back into her relationship with her hot-and-popular boyfriend, Sam. She’s willing to do just about anything to keep him.

Alex needs a change. Mollie’s Sam obsession left a hole in her life that she’s ready to fill. A garage band might be exactly the change she needs. The change she doesn’t need? Her best friend (and secret love) Drew going after Veronica.

The drama does not stop, from page one all the way to the end. Rotating narrators (all three girls take turns spilling their guts) keep the story flying forward and reveal what each girl really thinks as events unfold. It’s nonstop gossip, parties, social disaster, love, and heartbreak.

Despite the quick pace and the celebration of friendship between girls, I had a hard time connecting with Mollie. She’s selfish, vindictive and extremely negative. I couldn’t really get why the other two valued her as a friend. I found Alex to be much more palatable, but ultimately disappointing. I had the most sympathy for Veronica. In a home with absent parents, it made perfect sense that she had little sense of social cues and relied on her body to form connections with people, then felt depressed when a one night stand didn’t result in a relationship.

The story definitely captures the catty spirit that sometimes plagues high school girls. While Alex and Veronica seem to have learned some hard lessons and grown personally by the end of the story, there were some elements of the resolution that were not believable. (See spoiler section below.)

Language Content
Extreme profanity and crude language used really frequently.

Sexual Content
Several explicit scenes depicting sexual encounters (one in which two girls make out, another involving two girls and a boy) as well as crude references to sexual situations and encounters.

Mollie’s boyfriend is all about the sexual pressure. Gross.

Spiritual Content
The girls go to a Catholic school. Mollie’s mother is very religious and forces Mollie to attend extra church services and say extra prayers when she misbehaves. (These efforts don’t appear to affect Mollie’s personal beliefs or her behavior.) At one point, Mollie commits to sabotage a fellow student and claims she has Jesus on her side. (I think she was aiming for funny, but because of the nature of her intentions, it fell pretty flat for me.)

Alex’s family is Jewish. She laments not being invited to celebrate Christmas with her friends and being bored around that holiday.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
Lots of scenes in which teens drink alcohol or smoke pot. Someone slips a roofie into a girl’s drink.

Spoiler
Mollie’s boyfriend (total schmuck) cheats on her with Veronica. Alex has sex with Veronica’s boyfriend. These are pretty serious betrayals. Yet, just a few weeks later, they’re all happy and friends again. Totally did not buy that. Did not seem possible, especially for someone as image-conscious as Mollie. Drew’s reaction to the whole thing was a lot more my speed. He pretty much up and headed for the hills. Too much drama. Bravo, dude.

Review: The Truth Commission by Susan Juby

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

The Truth Commission
by Susan Juby
Viking/Penguin Group

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Normandy Pale and her two best friends Dusk and Neil embark on a mission to strip away the insulation around fellow students and teachers’ lives and expose the truth. Rumors abound in their small school of the arts, and the three self-appointed members of the Truth Commission want to get to the bottom of each one. At first, the mission seems pure and helpful, but consequences grow with each truth exposed. Then one confronted student suggests Normandy examine her own life for hidden truths. Normandy reluctantly begins a quest for truth that could tear her fragile family apart, and will force each Truth Commissioner to reevaluate whether uncovering the truth is always worth its price.

In the beginning of the story, some elements felt too immature for the ages of the characters. For instance, they “smoke” candy cigarettes, which seemed far too juvenile for high school juniors. In the end, it seemed to work because the characters (Dusk, Neil and Normandy) are all so off-beat and unusual themselves. The power of the story comes through its careful exploration of exposing truth and its outcomes.

As Normandy narrates via “nonfiction narrative,” the truth exploration becomes much more complicated. She wonders whether she and her friends have a right to demand truth from anyone else, and if there are truths best left unspoken. Overall, a complex story with a fascinating cast of characters. Fans of Sarah Mlynowski’s Don’t Even Think About It will enjoy Juby’s novel.

Language Content
Strong profanity used with moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
Normandy and her friends confront a girl whose sister was rumored to bare her body on a web cam. There’s a discussion about how modesty is essentially a bad thing and no one should be judged for what they wear (or don’t wear.) The conversation sparks a school-wide parade in which students undress down to undergarments and label themselves using some derogatory terms. Students are pretty charged up about it, but later the girl who started the parade appears troubled and admits that her sister may not have been the innocent victim that she presented her to be. The bullying that happened around the time of the web cam incident may have had more to do with the fact that the sister was engaging in some risky behavior involving “the wrong crowd” and another girl’s boyfriend. There’s not a lot of judgement passed on these situations, in particular whether the parade was helpful or misguided. Normandy does appear to have very mixed feelings.

Brief discussion about a girl who appears to have two boyfriends. (Vague speculation about threesomes, but no details.) Brief kissing. Brief reference to a girl who was raped. No details.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Normandy sees artwork depicting a man being pushed from a cliff.

Drug Content
The Truth Commission confronts a boy with a reputation for drug use. Normandy finds an assortment of prescription drugs in an empty apartment. No scenes depicting drug use.

Review: Where You End by Anna Pellicioli

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,

Where You End
Anna Pellicioli
Flux

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For some, grief is a quiet void carefully tiptoed around. For Miriam, it is a raging storm that wakes her in the night, chews through her ability to reason. The hungry, empty space inside her where Elliot used to be. Seeing him with another girl sends her over the edge. Almost before she realizes what she’s done, a priceless statue lies on the ground at her feet. Panicked, Miriam flees the scene. There’s just one problem: a girl as mixed up as she is. One who saw what Miriam did. One who wants something in exchange for her silence.

Miriam’s emotional journey is the real force behind the story. Her life spins hopelessly out of control following her breakup with Elliot. She withdraws, experiences depression, makes poor decisions, lies to her parents – all things largely outside her normal character. We watch her struggle to recover, to find her way through those dark moments. To find her courage. The journey is both empowering and refreshingly honest.

In a culture that desperately wants to believe that sex—particularly teen sex—doesn’t matter and is all about living large and having fun, Pellicioli dares to deliver a story with a very different message. Miriam has given herself, heart and body, to a boy and the unthinkable happened: they broke up. He’s moved on to another girl. She’s devastated, possibly pregnant. Pellicioli excels at relating the unbalanced heartbreak that drives Miriam to destroy something that would otherwise be precious to her.

There are lots of books about sexually active teens. There are not a lot of books that tackle the heartbreak that can come along with those decisions as boldly and powerfully as Where You End.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
Miriam had been having sex with her now ex-boyfriend Elliot. She gives some details about frequency, location, and the emotional highs she felt when she was with him. The experiences themselves aren’t much described. She later engages in heavy kissing with another boy and removes her shirt (the scene is a bit confusing… I wasn’t sure what was happening beyond kissing until afterward when she clarified having taken off her shirt.) What’s perhaps most interesting about the sexual content is not the experiences themselves but the emotional roller coaster Miriam experiences in her feelings about Elliot after the break-up.

Spiritual Content
Miriam’s family is Jewish. She shares memories of going to school to learn Hebrew. Her family keeps the Sabbath, and the celebration is deeply important to her family. Miriam throws a fit at the start of one Sabbath meal, which really hurts her mother’s feelings.

Paloma’s mother used to take her to a church to hear the organ practices. She later retreats there for solitude.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
Brief mentions of Elliot being intoxicated at a party.