Deader Homes & Gardens, by Joan Hess (on CD)

Breakdown, by Sara Paretsky

Good. As usual, I was pretty annoyed by V.I. at times, but it's very fun to watch her careening around a city I know pretty well, getting irritated at traffic and some of the same stupid things that irritate me.

This is about a group of teenage girls doing some sort of vampire ritual in a cemetery at night when they happen upon a dead body. And then things get crazy: between a FOXNews-like local network, rabid right-wingers trying to dig up dirt on the Democratic candidate for Senate (or House?), and her supporters trying to keep their private lives private. There's a lot of stuff about a large mental hospital that houses the criminally insane, an old law school classmate, Vic's ex-husband...and WWII, sorta.

Coffin Man, by James D. Doss

Good. Not quite as good as the last one, but fun primarily because Daisy loses her ability to see 'beyond', though she can still hear the ghosts and the Little Man. I just wish Charlie would get a grip and figure out how much Sarah likes him.

Betrayal of Trust, by J.A. Jance

Beaumont and his wife Mel are asked to investigate the Washington State governor's step-grandson's activities when the governor finds an apparent snuff video on the kid's cell phone.

From that, the case explodes into the death of the boy, the death of the girl in the video, the intermixture of the rich and poor at a teenage sort-of-halfway-house, and politics. Not a strong plot, but the characters are so well-drawn that it feels like more than it is. And I do like Beau, even as he gets old and creaky and his knees get more and more painful. Oh, and he gets to meet his father's side of the family finally, too.

The Center of Everything, by Laura Moriarty (on CD)

Wow. There's a lot in this book to think about, which is a nice counterpoint because nothing much actually happens in the sense of plot. A 10-year-old girl grows up into an 18-year-old young adult. Think about those years in your life: full of potential, much sturm und drang, self-definition, drama, etc. For most people, most of the time, it's also a period of fallowness that is where you become You.

And so, Evelyn at age ten is relatively happy living with her young mother in a run-down apartment complex, being visited by her evangelical-Christian grandmother (but never her grandfather) regularly, and trying to make sense of the nearby and distant currents of life in Kansas in the 1980s. That year is a pivotal year: she comes to understand that family is complicated, that adults make horrifically bad judgments that turn their kids' lives upside down, that people are usually hypocritical about something in their lives, and that sometimes moms don't have all the right answers. Her mother gets pregnant, again, loses her job, becomes depressed, tries to go on welfare but her temper and pride cause problems there, and eventually gives birth to a boy with serious birth defects.

By the time Evelyn is 18, her best friends have ended up married to each other because Travis gets Deena pregnant when she is just 15. Evelyn has always assumed that she and Travis would be together, yet given the opportunity to do just that...she turns it down.

This is not a girl you always like; she does some pretty typically teenaged 'mean things' to people, but in the end she is what we all are at 18: complex and beautiful, not-yet-fully-formed, yet showing the outlines of potentiality. Gorgeous book.

Fallen, by Lauren Kate

Book one in the Fallen Trilogy. Book three got great reviews, so I figured I should start from the beginning. This is a pretty typical YA novel, similar in outline to the dreaded Twilight books, but "starring" angels instead of vampires, et al. Lucinda transfers to a reform school after she is involved in a tragic and deadly event at her former boarding school. Sword and Cross is not a typical prep/reform school: untidy, ugly, weird-but-not-criminal kids, and apparently lots of very hot guys, one of whom is quite charming and attentive, another of which seems to hate her on sight.

Of course, she is drawn more to the latter boy, who ends up being more attentive than he seems while Mr. Charming turns out to be a...well, demon.

War breaks out, her best friend turns out to be mortal after all, and the librarian, while not at all stereotypical, is definitely a villain.

Book Two awaits!!

Gym Candy, by Carl Deuker

High school football + steroids = YA problem novel.

Good book, though--Deuker really gets to the heart and brains of athletes. And it's not at all conclusive at the end; what does Mick do after he leaves rehab?

Do Hard Things : A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations, by Alex & Brett Harris

The concept is VERY good. The execution of the book is massively flawed, however, in that it seems to presume that all Christian teens [should] feel precisely the same on all social and political issues. [Disclaimer: by and large, I disagree with most of those political points of view.] As many books like this are, it's also incredibly didactic.

Still, there are nuggets of goodness here that I agree with: teens have a great deal going for them that society as a whole prefers to repress--at worst--or discount. I'm still trying to figure out if there is a way to salvage the main point to present as a series of Sunday School or youth group topics.

School Days, by Robert Parker (on CD)

I *heart* Spenser! He is hired to find a way to prove innocent a teen who, along with another kid, entered a school and shot several people, holed up in the library, and later turned himself in. He has admitted doing it, but won't speak otherwise about the day. It becomes obvious quickly that he actually isn't innocent of the crime, but Spenser bulldogs through to find out why the shooting happened.

Despite similarities, this is not about Columbine. Thank you, Robert Parker. Seriously.

Dog On It, by Spencer Quinn

Cute mystery in which the narrator is a dog. His human is a private detective, and this dog is no dummy, but he is definitely a dog.

Very light, but in a good way.

Chasing the Bear : A Young Spenser Novel, by Robert B. Parker

Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon, Debbie Fuller Thomas

I think this is the last book from last year's ALA swag pile. A nice story about kids who were switched at birth which is only discovered when one is diagnosed at about 12 with a genetic disease that doesn't run the family she has lived with. When one family sues, the other girl is ordered by the courts to move in with her biological family. That's where the book starts. A little preachy, but heartwarming, if you can believe that.

The Devil's Paintbox, by Victoria Mckernan

This YA novel follows two orphaned teens west with a wagon train. I'm a huge sucker for this kind of thing, and this book did not disappoint. In fact, were it not for the ending and some classic "YA overtones" I'd be tempted to think this isn't a YA novel at all. The people seem relatively realistic and the events are portrayed with accuracy too. I learned a lot about the Civil War and logging, among other things, too.

I Can't Tell You, by Hillary Frank

This book takes place all in written communication: the main character, Jake, has decided to stop speaking since talking has gotten him into "so much" trouble. In the process of note-writing, Jake finds out that more important than talking, it is critical to tell the truth about what's going on in his head, and how to do it appropriately, i.e. not when you're angry and just shouting out facts.

Fun book to read. I've just remembered why I like "young adult" novels.

Ridiculous/Hilarious/Terrible/Cool : A Year in an American High School, by Elisha Cooper

A loving portrait of what it means to be in high school nowadays. Cooper managed to capture about 8 kids' school years at Walter Payton High School in Chicago. Most of them were seniors, but there were a couple of juniors as well. Not all are exceptional students, but Cooper brings each them out in a perfectly lovely way that brings the reader into their lives. One is an athlete, one is driving to be a politician, one is a dancer, one is a slacker, one is a player, one is an immigrant....

The one problem with this book is that it moves so quickly that there really isn't enough focus on each student to get to know them beyond the sketch, similar to the sketches throughout the book. The good side is that this is a VERY quick read.

Bones to Ashes, by Kathy Reichs

I really should start reading this series in earnest. I like the main character, and since she's a forensic anthropologist I'm interested in the concept as well.

This one is about Tempe's childhood friend who disappeared abruptly. When faced with the bones of a child who was about her friend's age when she disappeared, she starts tracing what might have happened. At the same time, she is involved in a case around the bodies and disappearance of several teenage girls.

Good story, kind of given away by reading the acknowledgements, unfortunately.

Inexcusable, by Chris Lynch

I love Chris Lynch. I've read many of his other books and enjoyed all of them. Of course, with that intro...I didn't finish this book. I'm not a big fan of books that start at the 'end' and this one gives it all away by page 3. By page 30, I have descended into absolute disgust with the main character and his family...

I stopped reading about two weeks ago, thinking that it might just need time to sink in and I'd get back into the groove. No such luck. So I reluctantly have to say that even the best authors don't quite hit it every time for me.

Close to Home, by Peter Robinson (on CD)

I'm in love with the main character in this book, I think. Of course, that means I'll probably have to add Peter Robinson to my Authors list.

So this finds Alan Banks in Greece recovering from a previous case, where he reads a short article in the paper about bones being discovered near where he grew up. As it turns out, the bones are those of a friend of his from his teen years. In spite of having another week of leave, he returns to England to see if he might have any information to help the local police.

He also finds out that a boy in his own area has disappeared. The two cases track together--somewhat obviously--but with entirely different ending points. One takes away from the book as a whole the wishful-thinking of parents who think they know their teens, and how good teens are at concealing from everyone what they are really thinking...and doing.

Really good book.