Title: Where You'll Find MeAuthor: Natasha Friend
Published: 2016
Source: NetGalley
Summary: After her mother's suicide attempt, Anna winds up living with her father and her brand-new stepmother. She's determined to hate it (among other things, her father left her mother to be with her stepmother) but she soon finds that things aren't uniformly awful in her father's house.
First Impressions: Gaaaaaaaaah this was honest and tough. I liked the stepmother, Marnie, a whole lot more than I expected to.
Title: March Book 1Author: John Lewis, Nate Powell, Andrew Aydin
Published: 2013
Source: Public Library
Summary: The civil rights leader and congressman's early life and first forays into peaceful demonstration, presented in graphic novel format.
First Impressions: Interesting to see the intra-movement divisions of the mid-century civil rights movement as well as the intensive training they went through in order to hold to their credo of non-violence.
Title: The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon GirlAuthor: Melissa Keil, comic sections by Mike Lawrence
Published: 2016
Source: Edelweiss
Summary: A dot on the map in Australia is supposed to be the last holdout of humanity when the apocoalypse hits on New Year's Day, or so says a sketchy TV psychic. Alba watches with her friends as hippies and doomsday believers flood to their tiny town. At the same time, she tries not to brood about the end of high school and the beginning of her adult life, and the changes and separations that will inevitably go with it.
First Impressions: Awww, this was sweet. It felt realistic especially set on the end-of-the-world backdrop because it did feel like her world was ending.
Jacket description (from ARC):
"For sixteen years, Josie Gardner and her mom, Kate, have been a team. It's been the Gardner Girls against the world, and that's how Josie likes it. Until one day, in the pet-food aisle of Shop-Co, they run into the parents of Paul Tucci, Kate's high school boyfriend-the father Josie has never met. If Mr. and Mrs. Tucci are back in town, it's only a matter of time before Paul shows up.
Suddenly, Josie's mature, capable mother regresses to the heartbroken teenager she was when Paul moved away. Meanwhile, Josie's on the verge of having her first real boyfriend, while her free-loving best friend Liv begins yet another no-strings-attached fling.
When Josie learns some surprising truths about Paul Tucci, she finds herself questioning what she's always believed about her parents-and herself."
The part about For Keeps that really kept me reading and enjoying the book was the realistic characters author Natasha Friend has created. Josie, along with all of the secondary characters (Liv, Kate, Paul, Matt), came across as real people, with completely believable dialogue. It felt honest and not forced. The kids acted like the teens that they were (imagine that), picking at each other, focusing on relationships of peers, being snarky and mean at times, and just being KIDS. I was very pleased by that.
The plot was good, nothing spectacular (and at times a tad outlandish), and really not a whole lot of "new," but that's ok. It's a well-written teen novel with engaging, realistic characters, and a little romance. Your teen girls will enjoy it and it's a nice choice for fans of Sarah Dessen, Elizabeth Scott, and the like.
Overall rating: 3 out of 5
Enjoyable!
For Keeps
Natasha Friend
272 pages
Young Adult
Viking
9780670011902
April 2010
Review copy received from publisher
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