Anything but Normal

Anything but Normal by Melody Carlson (Grand Rapids, MI: Revel, 2010).

17-year-old Sophie Ramsay wishes she'd never seen Dylan Morris, let alone allow herself to be fooled into breaking her purity pledge. And at a summer church camp, of all places. Now she's pregnant and not sure what to do about it. First she ignores it, but eventually she has to fess up and tell her family and friends. As she repairs her relationships, including that with God, she feels her growing not just out but up.

Great teen read that deals realistically with difficult issue. Language, sexual situations. Ages 13 & up.

Madapple

Madapple by Christina Meldrum (NY: Knopf, 2008).

This highly fascinating and unusual novel alternates between two perspectives: that of the court room trial of 16-year-old Aslaug and Aslaug's biographical narrative. Meldrum skillfully weaves an illusive tale of intrigue and family drama. While the trial shows some of the "facts" behind the trial, Aslaug's narrative muddies the waters, showing how "facts" conceal underlying truths, or even dispel the possibility of any truth. Aslaug's mother Maren kept Aslaug isolated for years, telling her she was the product of a virgin birth. Aslaug grows up in a world of nature and science, learning much about plants and mythology. The eponymous madapple, or jimson weed, casts a mysterious veil over the plot as well, its hallucinogenic and toxic properties muddling the truth. After her mother dies, Aslaug finds and then lives with her aunt and two cousins. In the end, Aslaug is accused of murdering her aunt and one of her cousins with the circumstances slowly revealed in both the court transcript and the narrative.

Grades 7&up. Sexual situations, drugs, teen pregnancy.