Pies & Prejudice

Pies and Prejudice (The Mother-Daughter Book Club) by Heather Vogel Frederick (NY: Simon & Schuster, 2010).

This installment of the excellent Mother-Daughter Book Club series finds the girls starting high school and facing the loss of one of their friends. Emma is moving to England for a year! Luckily, videoconferencing will enable their discussion of this year's book--Pride and Prejudice. Frederick does an excellent job of incorporating elements of Austen's classic into this modern rendition as hockey player Cassidy overcomes her initial dislike of ice dancer Tristan, whose family has moved to Concord for the year and is living in Emma's house through a house exchange program. Emma loves Austen and England, but clashes with snooty Annabelle, who happens to be Tristan's distant cousin and dance partner. As a surprise, the girls in Concord decide to start a pie business to make enough money to bring Emily home for spring break, hence the book's title (and the name of their business).

Good clean fun for younger teens. Recommended for ages 11 & up.

Violet in Bloom

Violet in Bloom: A Flower Power Book by Lauren Myracle (NY: Abrams, 2010).

I missed the first installment of this cute tween series, but had no problem following this adorable story about a diverse group of friends who share flower names and computer savvy. Their new website, Luv Ya Bunches, is up and running and now they want to devote their FFF (Flower Friends Forever) power to good projects. The nasty cheese crackers at school become their focus as they decide to protest the poor nutrition and rally for healthy snacks. The girls also have individual problems to overcome, including boy troubles, social embarrassment, pushy classmates, and an institutionalized parent. Perfect tween reading material! Recommended for ages 9 & up.

Choker

Choker by Elizabeth Woods (NY: Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2011).

Cara Lange sits with her track teammates at lunch, but doesn't really connect with any of them. She still misses her best friend Zoe from when she was younger. She and Zoe lost contact after Cara's family moved to a different house in 5th grade, and Cara has never really made another friend, just acquaintances. So when Zoe shows up on Cara's doorstep and asks to stay for a few days, Cara is delighted to reconnect and have someone to talk to about what's going on at school, where she is being bullied by the mean girls. Just having Zoe around boosts Cara's confidence and she starts standing up for herself more, even when the mean girls are calling her "Choker" after a cafeteria mishap where super hotty Ethan, who Cara's been crushing on all year, saves her life. Zoe sympathizes and talks Cara out of her doldrums. Cara's parents are never around, so it's easy enough to keep Zoe hidden in her room, and Cara would be totally happy, except that first one classmate and then another is killed. Could Zoe be a murderer? As the few days of Zoe's visit lengthen into weeks, Cara becomes more and more suspicious.

Elizabeth Woods has crafted a suspenseful psychological thriller that's sure to keep readers turning the pages. The characters are well drawn and engaging, even the stereotypical mean girls. Highly recommended for teens, ages 13 & up. Sex, alcohol, language.

Wanted

Wanted by Sara Shepard (NY: HarperTeen, 2010).

This is the final installment in the Pretty Little Liars series, and it's as compulsively readable as its seven predecessors. Lots of snark and snotty label name dropping from these teen queen wannabes. As the novel opens, Ali's killer is finally behind bars and the new drama is that Ali's secret twin sister Courtney has moved in with her family after years in a mental hospital. Should Aria, Hanna, Spencer, and Emily befriend her? Well, duh! Of course they should! Only Aria puts up much of a struggle as she recalls Ali's duplicitous nature and has qualms about trusting her lookalike twin. Courtney says all the right things, but Aria feels as though there's something off. And what about the Polaroid pictures she finds in the woods? The face doesn't really look like the killer who's being held. It looks more like a girl....but who is it?

Nothing deep here, but great easy reading. Recommended for teens and tweens, ages 12 & up. Sexual situations, drugs, alcohol, narcissism, greed.

Real Live Boyfriends

Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart (NY: Delacorte, 2010).

I loved all the previous Ruby Oliver novels, so it's no surprise that I enjoyed this one, too. There are some side splittingly hilarious scenes involving Ruby's hapless parents, especially her dad's howler of a Halloween costume that Ruby's mom expects him to wear on public transportation (since neither of their costumes will allow them to drive). Despite the title, Ruby does have some boy troubles--mainly a huge misunderstanding with her main squeeze Neil that takes the whole novel to get straightened out. Most interesting is Ruby's realization that she's no longer as crazy as she had been. Yup, Ruby is growing up, leaving some (but not all, thankfully) of that crazy teen drama behind her. Highly recommended for teens, ages 13 & up. Sexual situations, alcohol, language.

Room

Room by Emma Donoghue (NY: Little, Brown, 2010).

This is a chilling novel told from the perspective of a five-year-old boy who has spent his entire life confined to a room with his mother, who was abducted at age 19. Jack's voice is captivating, and the scenario is absolutely heart rending. Don't start this book unless you have time to read it straight through because you will not want to put it down. And you will cry at the end. It's like Plato's Allegory of the Cave in a contemporary, ripped-from-the-headlines setting. Definitely for adults only.

Three Quarters Dead is DOA

Three Quarters Dead by Richard Peck (NY: Dial, 2010).

Ugh. Don't bother with this one. I mean, look at that lame cover, just for starters. I guess the story is supposed to be scary, but honestly, it was just lame. The main character Kerry is a pathetic sophomore with no friends who sits alone at lunch (boo hoo!) but then miraculously gets selected to be friends with a ruling clique. There's no rhyme or reason for this sudden elevation, except her very lameness, as it turns out. The writing is dry (of all things) with plenty of telling, but no showing, and I never connected with Kerry. She felt more like someone's wrong-headed idea of a a real teen-aged girl than an actual girl with whom one could empathize. There's not even any romance to redeem this novel. I've read some of Peck's other novels, and they're plenty lively, so who knows what happened here. It's a desultory attempt at catching the paranormal wave that falls flat. Not recommended.