Torn to Pieces, Margot McDonnell

McDonnell, Margot (2008).
Torn to Pieces
New York: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
978-0385735599
Genre: Realistic Fiction

When her mother mysteriously disappears, seventeen-year-old Anne discovers that her family harbors many secrets.
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Two months ago, Anne lived a normal small town life. She had a hardworking, albeit quirky, mother, a loving grandmother, a best friend and a pet cat. After her mother's sudden disappearance during a business trip, seventeen-year-old Anne learns that her family has many dark secrets. When she stumbles across a letter, Anne learns that she is adopted and that her mother's business is illegal. The history of Anne's family is told in alternating chapters that reveal a hidden life. Anne is horrified to learn that her mother is both a shrewd drug runner and dealer in illicit currency and information. When criminals appear and demand reimbursement, Anne becomes frantic and desperately attempts to solve the mystery. While Anne's tries to figure things out, she meets two very different young men, Tal, the handsome movie star, and Evan, the homeless abused boy; she finds herself attracted to both. But the focus is her dangerous mystery, and Anne encounters much violence along the way: attempted rape and potential incest. Gripping with its frenetic pace, Torn to Pieces is definitely difficult to put down!

All We Know of Love, Nora Raleigh Baskin

Baskin, Nora Raleigh (2008).
All We Know of Love
London: Walker Book Ltd
978-1406315516

Natalie, almost sixteen, sneaks away form her Connecticut home and takes a bus to Florida, looking for a mother who abandoned her and her father when she was ten years old.
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Over four years ago, Natalie Gordon’s mother walked out mid-sentence and never returned. Three days ago, sixteen-year-old Natalie first began to wonder what her mother left unsaid. Natalie lies to her father, telling him she is going on a ski trip to Vermont. Instead, she purchases a bus ticket from Connecticut to Florida in the hopes of finding her mother; she wants to learn what her mother thought was so important about love. During her road trip, Natalie meets a variety of people who share their stories and experiences with love. In addition to finding her mother, Natalie struggles to resolve her obsessive and tumultuous relationship with her boyfriend, Adam, who doesn’t treat Natalie very well. To compound her struggle, Natalie may be pregnant. Anyone who has been infatuated or in love will empathize with Natalie’s obsessive need to check her cell phone for any voicemails from Adam. Ultimately, Natalie learns that she can shed the image of the unloved, abandoned girl. This coming-of-age story examines the meaning of love and the importance of giving love without giving oneself away. Assorted verses about love head each chapter; Baskin takes a well-known plot and constructs it so that it proves engaging—particularly to teen readers who have tried and/or may be trying to come to terms with their own understanding of love.

Daemon Hall, Andrew Nance

Nance, Andrew (2007).
Daemon Hall
New York: Henry Holt and Co.
9780805081718
Genre: Horror fiction

Famous horror story writer Ian Tremblin comes to the town of Maplewood to hold a short story writing contest, offering the five finalists the chance to spend what turns out to be a terrifying and deadly night with him in a haunted house.

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The famous author of horror and ghost stories, Ian Tremblin, comes to peaceful Maplewood to conduct a literary contest and find the next generation of suspense writers. He chooses five finalists and invites them to spend the night at haunted Daemon Hall so that he may judge their writing skills and storytelling. The winner will get published—but only if she or he can survive a night in the haunted house. If anyone leaves, he or she will be disqualified from the contest. The novel’s narrator, Wade, suffers from panic attacks; his fellow finalists include Chelsea, the Goth girl, Chris, a sensitive jock, shy and quiet Kara who hates horror stories, and Demairus, a black teen who tries to be less dysfunctional than the others.
The chapters alternate between reality and each character’s story submissions. Strange activities occur as the finalists read their stories aloud. The plot structure of the stories within a story provide tension as each story reveals each narrator’s secret fears. Chills increase and the tension builds as teens begin to disappear and Daemon Hall unleashes its terror. Readers of the macabre and ghoulish will enjoy the thrills and suspense.

Anything But Ordinary, Valerie Hobbs

Hobbs, Valerie (2007).
Anything But Ordinary
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
9780374303747
Genre: Realistic fiction

Bernie and Winifred have been in love since they were fourteen, but when Winifred goes away to college, the two must try to forge their own identity.
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Quirky eighth-grader Bernie Federman moves to a new school in New Jersey and has trouble fitting in. He meets Winifred Owens who is also an outsider. They become friends and become inseparable: playing chess, talking on the phone and trading books. The two realize they are more than friends during their junior year; they plan to attend college together. However, Bernie’s mother dies of ovarian cancer which causes Bernie’s father to drink excessively. Bernie loses motivation; his grades drop, and he starts working at a tire shop. Upon graduation, Winifred leaves for college in Santa Barbara without Bernie. Bernie decides he cannot live without Winifred and drives cross-country. He is unprepared for the dramatic changes in Winifred. Winifred has become “Wini” and changed her appearance and field of study. Her behavior and attitude have also changed, and Wini coldly rejects Bernie. Bernie discovers that he enjoys the college environment; he sits in on classes, sleeps in the library and scrounges food. He decides to stay, enroll in classes and get an apartment. On Christmas break, Wini returns home and discovers what is important to her. Anything But Ordinary is a romantic novel about two people who must first discover their own identities before they are able to find happiness as a couple. Hobbs’ portrayal of college life is authentic and believable. College-bound readers will especially enjoy the college life portrayal and romance readers won’t be disappointed.

When the Mirror Lies: Anorexia, Bulimia and Other Eating Disorders, Tamara Orr

Orr, Tamara (2006).
When the Mirror Lies: Anorexia, Bulimia, and Other Eating Disorders
Danbury: Children’s Press
9780531179772
Genre: Non fiction


The title provides a detailed overview of warning signs, dangerous physical and psychological effects, and available treatment for eating disorders
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The book presents a detailed assessment of various eating disorders with an emphasis on bulimia and anorexia. There are between five and ten million people in the United States who struggle with eating disorders. Orr discusses symptoms and effects openly; she discusses lifestyle behaviors that lead to eating disorders and makes suggestions to change attitudes towards food. She also explains warning signs, common misconceptions, and provides comprehensible recent facts, charts and statistics. Orr includes quotations from doctors and other dietary expert interspersed with personal stories and case studies. The book is well-organized and contains an attractive layout. Chapters include eating disorder triggers, physical and mental consequences, and treatment options. The Food for Thoughts sections ask readers thought-provoking questions. A glossary, index, recommended online sites (that work!) and helpline referral conclude the title. Orr provides valuable information in a user-friendly format.

The Rules for Hearts: a family drama, Sara Ryan

Ryan, Sara (2007).
The Rules for Hearts: a family drama
London: Puffin
978-0142412374
Genre: Realistic Fiction

When he reappears in her life after a four-year absence, Battle Hall Davies spends the summer before college with her brother Nick and learns a lot about Nick and herself, in the moving sequel to Empress of the World.
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Complete with a cast of characters and act and scene chapters, The Rules for Hearts plays out as a drama while the content reads as a memoir. The prologue informs readers that 13-year-old Battle idolizes her brother Nick; he is her most favorite person in the world. When Battle is 14-years-old, Nick runs away. The drama, in five acts, explores Battle’s experiences that take place the summer before she starts college. She reconnects with her brother and decides to move in with him and his thespian-ish co-op in Portland, Oregon. The new environment forces Battle to explore her feelings for her brother as well as her own sense of self with respect to responsibility, obligation and sexuality. While some may find her references to her first and only lesbian relationship off-putting (“She turned me into an oyster”), Battle’s voice is insightful, honest and intriguing. She does not struggle with her sexuality; instead, she accepts it matter-of-factly. In the house, Battle struggles with her crush on older housemate Meryl, who consistently sends mixed signals. While they are intimate (Ryan omits the gory details), Battle eventually realizes that Meryl is merely manipulative, and Battle distances herself from Meryl. Perhaps, her greatest struggle is understanding her irresponsible brother who fools everyone. Battle’s frustration seeps through the text into the hearts of readers; her once idol has become someone Battle loathes. Ryan convincingly captures Battle’s hurt and confusion at what her brother has become. Still Battle proves the most responsible as she attempts to save her brother and sends him home to their parents. Even though the ending seems to come out of nowhere and somewhat tacked on, one cannot help but contemplate Battle’s experiences and admire the young mature woman.

Bliss, Lauren Myracle

Myracle, Lauren (2008).
Bliss
New York: Amulet Books
978-0810970717
Genre: Horror Fiction

Having grown up in a California commune, Bliss sees her aloof grandmother's Atlanta world as a foreign country, but she is determined to be nice as a freshman at an elite high school, which makes her the perfect target for Sandy, a girl obsessed with the occult.
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Fourteen-year-old Bliss moves in with her conservative grandmother when Bliss’ hippie parents seek refuge in Canada from Nixon’s policies. Raised on a commune, Bliss has never used perfumed shampoo or watched television, so her grandmother’s life in Atlanta seems foreign and glamorous at the same time. Bliss cannot wait to start the elite prep school her grandmother has chosen if only to make a friend her own age, and she secretly wonders… will the people be like those on her favorite TV show- The Andy Griffith Show? Myracle creates a naïve young girl who is soon lost amid the catty and superficial girls (from Rhymes with Witches) and the overwhelming campus with its rules and expectations. Bliss, sensitive to the supernatural, immediately hears a creepy voice of a girl who died on campus. Bliss simultaneously befriends some pseudo-popular girls as well as outcast Sandy, who just happens to be obsessed with the occult and death of the student. The novel is set in the 1970s, which may put off some readers, but Myracle includes quotes from the Andy Griffith Show as well as the Tate-La Bianca murder trial (Charles Manson is especially creepy), which foreshadow the action of each chapter and may intrigue some readers. Myracle includes racial issues (and a subplot of the star black athlete secretly dating the white it girl), class issues, prom drama, and the flip of unpopular to popular within months that can only happen in high school fiction. As Bliss matures, she maintains her ideals, witnesses a death at the prom and refuses to offer her blood as sacrifice for Sandy and the ghost that haunts the school.