Review: Running Lean by Diana L Sharples

Running Lean
Diana L. Sharples
HarperCollins/Blink
Published August 6, 2013

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Haunted by a cruel playground song, Stacey is determined never to be fat again. With her best friend Zoe, she embarks on a rigid diet, rejecting the high-calorie, deep-fried southern dishes her family seems to thrive on. But just when Stacey has it all under control, a fainting spell alerts her boyfriend Calvin that things aren’t as well-ordered as they seem. Stacey brushes off the event as “female problems” and hopes Calvin will just forget it.

Calvin just wants Stacey to be okay, and he’s willing to pay just about any price to make that so. He endeavors to support her, but … Continue reading

Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

In a world where faction comes before family, Beatrice must find out where she belongs. It’s a choice which may cost everything. Continue reading

Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys
Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic, Inc
Published September 8, 2012

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Premonitions and warnings about the future have always been a part of Blue Sargent’s life in her small home shared by several psychic women. It’s why she stays away from boys: the first boy she kisses will die, according to the predictions of the clairvoyant group.

Staying away from them has never been difficult for Blue. Especially staying away from the over-privileged boys of the Aglionby school. That is, until an unexpected vision on St. Mark’s Eve and a forgotten journal pull Blue into a dangerous and mesmerizing quest led by one of Aglionby’s finest students.

Though she is at first repelled … Continue reading

Review: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars
John Green
Dutton Books
Published January 10, 2012

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Sixteen-year-old Hazel has lived the roller coaster ride of a terminal cancer diagnosis for the last three years. Now, each breath comes with a price, and she cannot go anywhere without a small portable oxygen tank in tow. Meds prevent the tumors from growing, for now.

At a weekly support group, she listens to tales of other teens fiercely battling cancer. Listens but remains apart, until the unexpected entrance of Augustus Waters.

Augustus draws Hazel out of her self-imposed seclusion with his unflappable visionary nature. He is in many ways the opposite of the quiet, brooding … Continue reading

Review: Trisk by Kenny X

Trisk
Kenny X
Pen and Prayer Publishing
Published June 5, 2013

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Curtis Powell has one goal, one dream for his life: to be a champion Trisk player. His dream is about to come true.

It’s the year 2151, and baseball is no longer America’s favorite game. Trisk, a game that is equal parts sport and war, is America, and the Massi Corporation is Trisk. As hopefuls like Curtis and his friends graduate from training college, though, a startling event occurs, in which one Trisk team defies the granite arm of Massi and becomes independent. When Curtis signs with the gutsy though underfunded team, he isn’t sure if he’s made the right choice, but as the season progresses and his … Continue reading

Review: Glass Girl by Laura Anderson Kurk

Glass Girl by Laura Anderson Kurk

Glass Girl
Laura Anderson Kurk
Playlist Young Adult Fiction
Published December 5, 2013

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About Glass Girl

On a day that began like any other, Meg’s brother Wyatt dies. Suddenly. Violently. Leaving Meg and her parents to creep around the shrapnel and gaping wounds of their grief. In a pitch to create some space for healing, Meg’s dad moves them all from their Pittsburgh home to the wilds of Chapin, Wyoming. In a new home scrubbed of memories, Meg tries to create a new life, one that does not include the story of her brother’s death and the pity which must come as a response. She lands a new … Continue reading