Title: Speak

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Date: 16/08/09

About:

From her first moment at Merryweather High, Melinda Sordino knows she’s an outcast. Her old friends won’t talk to her, and people she doesn’t know glare at her. If only she could explain-but she just can’t find the words…

Review:

So I decided to read this after I saw the movie (with Kristen Stewart). I think it really lived up to its potential. Speak was really something special. In the story Melinda, the main character, struggles with a dark secret. She is tormented by depression and the memory of something that happened over the school holidays. Laurie really captured all the character’s emotions and wrote in a way that made you feel apart of the book and feel the emotions that people in the books would feel. The book is incredible and one of the best books I’ve read in quite a while. I highly recommend it for people 13 years and above. Excellent book and overall I give it 4.5/5.

Title: Lost It

Author: Kristen Tracy

Date: 14/08/09

About:

What would you do...

...if your best friend were plotting the annihilation of a small, furry neighborhood poodle? Or if your parents up and moved to an Outward Bound-type survival camp in the middle of the desert? How about if your grandmother bought you new bras and underwear -- and you actually thought they were a teensy bit, umm, sexy?

Most people would not react well.

Tess Whistle's junior year of high school is off to a fairly bizarre start. One might even say her life is spiraling out of control. But with her sense of humor firmly intact and her first real boyfriend on her arm, Tess is dealing with the ridiculous twists quite well, thankyouverymuch.

Just wait until her shoes explode.

Review:

Lost It was an excellent book right from the beginning. It had a brilliant storyline and was written very well. The book involved love, lies, escape and a teenage girl trying to find herself, so you know it’s easy for teenagers to relate to the book without problems. Although, I would recommend strongly not allowing people under the age of 15 to read the book as it has rather descript, explicit sexual references. The one problem I did have with the book was the ending. Tess made a big mistake and didn’t handle it at all well and even though she accepts this it’s never really fun to see an ending that isn’t terribly happy, and could be titled rather miserable in fact. So overall, the book was addictive and hard to put down. I recommend it and I’d give it 4/5 stars.

Title: My Life And Other Catastrophes

Author: Rowena Mohr

Date: 14/08/09

About:

Erin's pretty much your average teenage girl ... except that her mother has all the maternal instincts of a black widow spider, and her dad is out of work and completely clueless. That's probably why they're divorced. Not that anyone except Erin seems to care. Certainly not Erin's sucky little brother Ben, who's too busy making money, or her best friend, Rami, who is turning into a fanatical environmental activist - with the emphasis on mental. And definitely not Creepazoid - Erin's mum's new boyfriend - who may or may not be a drug-dealing pervert disguised as a mild-mannered PE teacher! It's an eventful year for Erin Costello, but is her imagination running wild?

Review:

My Life And Other Catastrophes is the first of the ‘Girlfriend Fiction’ series. It is set as the diary of Erin Costello as required by school. Whilst reading I found that the first 4 or 5 chapters were extremely frustrating and quite easily off-putting. But with almost all books eventually I got to the point where I couldn’t put it down. Erin was constantly jumping to all the wrong conclusions and causing all sorts of trouble. If this wasn’t annoying enough she was constantly self-pitying and failed to see the troubles and sadness her friends were facing, being quite selfish. But eventually, as the months go by, Erin begins to mature and grow and finally begins to make the right decisions, but not after nearly destroying friendships, possible romances and others which I won’t name. Although the book was fairly well written it could have been better. Also the story was extremely predictable. Although I will give Rowena props for managing to fill in all the holes and answer any pending questions before ending the story. Overall I would really only recommend it to a younger age group and if older only to pass time. I’d reward it a simple 2/5 stars.

Title: Cruel Summer

Author: Alyson Noel

Date: 14/08/09

About:

Having recently discarded her dorky image—and the best friend that went with it—Colby Cavendish is looking forward to a long hot season of parties, beach BBQ's, and hopefully, more hook-ups with Levi Bonham, the hottest guy in school. But her world comes crashing down when her parents send her away to spend the summer in Greece with her "crazy" aunt Tally. Stranded on a boring island with no malls, no cell phone reception, and an aunt who talks to her plants, Colby finds herself worrying that her new friends have forgotten all about her. But when she meets Yannis, a cute Greek local, everything changes. She experiences something deeper and more intense than a summer fling, and it forces her to see herself, and the life she left behind, in a whole new way...

Review:

Cruel Summer was a decently well-written novel. The storyline was addictive and quite passionate in the descript difficulties of the relationships. It was easy to tell that the Alyson has written from experience, as the storyline was easy to relate to. It involved mistakes, regret and love. Although, one thing I was disappointed about was the lack of information in some parts. The book was formatted as though it were a record of the main character’s (Colby) thoughts, a record of everything she wrote in her diary, her emails, letters and her blog (called “cruel summer”), but you were never given the emails or letters she received, therefore you were forced to fill in the holes yourself using as much information as possible that ‘Colby’ had written herself. The book was very entertaining and I would recommend it. I would also say that it is probably only suitable for those 15 years and older as it does contain some rather sexual content. Overall I’d rate it 3½ /5 stars.

Title: Grist

Author: Heather Waldorf

Date: 14/08/09

About:

This summer, 16 year old Charlena (charlie) decides to hightail it to the north woods to spend the summer with her Grandma in Lake Ringrose. Not wanting to stay with her father and his girlfriend in Toronto, (her mother passed on when she was around the age of three?)

When in Lake Ringrose, A new boyfriend quickly overwhelms her with his attention- and his lips, and well, eventually his love. But, this guy, Kerry, is trouble, in a way that Charlie, and he never would have expected. Charlie needs someone to tell her the truth, before her family is torn apart, and looses Kerry Forever.

Review:

So at first glance the book really didn’t look interesting enough to read, but I guess I should have known not to judge a book by its cover. The cover of the book would make it seem to look like some horror tale, yet the story couldn’t be any further from the first idea. Although Grist begins slowly it soon moves to a faster pace and eventually you get the twist. Although I won’t reveal too much I will say that although the blurb makes out that Kerry is some psychopathic creep, he really isn’t but there is a dark secret surrounding them. It’s an impressive story and although the twist is slightly predictable it was written very well and made you feel apart of the story. Thankfully, Heather Waldorf took the time to fill in all the holes leaving you with enough information at the end to decipher what happens next. It was entertaining to read and although some parts moved slowly and some could be repetitive, the story had enough punch and style to make up for it.

Overall I’d say that Grist is well worth the read and I recommend it strongly. I’d give it 4/5 stars.