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The Perfect Guy. by Ann Herrick. 2013. Books We Love, Ltd. ASIN: B00BB2E0U2

The Perfect Guy is a new edition of a young adult romance novel previously published in 1989 and again in 2005. Like Twisted Window by Lois Duncan and Fog by Caroline Cooney, this book has apparently been modernized from its original form in the hopes of reaching a new, 21st century teen audience. The main character of the story is Rebecca, whose mother has just remarried to the father of Rebecca's crush, Pres. Rebecca is naively convinced that this new family dynamic is sure to cause Pres to finally in love with her. She keeps trying to make up reasons to spend more time with her stepbrother, but despite her best efforts, he always seems to respond in a brotherly way. What Rebecca doesn't realize, though, is that another guy in her life is ready to give her everything Pres won't.

I have to confess that I could tell right away that this was a not a brand-new contemporary novel. Even before I learned that it was originally published in the 1980s, I noticed that all the modern-day technology in the story felt out of place. I also thought the characters' names - Pres, Celeste, and Rebecca - sounded nothing like names that teens commonly have in 2013. This isn't necessarily a flaw, but for me, these things were slight distractions. I also questioned whether it was necessary for Rebecca to be in love with her stepbrother, as I don't know how common a problem that truly is for real teens.

That said, the story itself is easy to read, with straightforward writing, lots of dialogue, and short, fast-paced chapters. Herrick captures that sense of obsession some girls develop when they have crushes, and very realistically portrays how  blind they can become to the reality of the boys' lack of interest in them. Middle school girls - and even some high schoolers - who are reluctant to read will enjoy the interpersonal drama that emerges as the story progresses, and they will be just as pleased with the happy ending, even if they will see it coming a long way off. The story also offers a lot of sympathy and comfort for girls adapting to new stepfamilies, which is always a relevant topic for this age group.

Learn more about  Ann Herrick and her books at her website.

I received a copy of The Perfect Guy from the author.

For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat. 

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The Railway Children. by E. Nesbit. 1906. 208 pages. ISBN: 9780486410227

Roberta (Bobbie), Peter, and Phyllis (Phil) have never been poor before, but when their father must go away unexpectedly, they and their mother move to a more modest home in the country. There isn’t much to do in their new, smaller house, and their mother is always busy writing stories to make ends meet, so the children often find themselves visiting the railway station. There they have many adventures: making friends with Perks the porter, waving to a particular old gentleman who rides the train past their station every day, and even saving a train from a very bad accident! All the while the three children are kept in the dark about where their father really is. When Bobbie finds out by mistake, she uses her railway connections to sort things out and, hopefully, bring her father home.

My husband has been nagging me to read this book for months, and I kept putting it off because I was one hundred percent sure it was an old, sad orphan story. I was completely wrong about this, as it turns out. There is some sadness in the book, but the kids are not orphans, and though the story is now over 100 years old, it reads more like a 1950s children’s novel, such as those written by Eleanor Estes and Elizabeth Enright. It is certainly somewhat old-fashioned compared to contemporary middle grade novels - the children dress in early 1900s garb, they watch a “paper chase” in one chapter, and they lack the modern sources of news and communication that would have made it much easier for them to learn of their father’s whereabouts during his long absence. The narrator also sometimes addresses the reader directly, which is not very common in contemporary kids’ books (unless they’re written by Lemony Snicket.) Even so, the dialogue between the characters sounds very contemporary, and many of the children’s arguments and conversations could easily happen in any group of 21st century children I have met.

The story itself is well-written without being difficult to read. The characters come vividly to life mostly in the way they speak, and each chapter’s adventure moves swiftly by. It is extremely unlikely that any group of kids would have so many opportunities to save lives and cheer up those in need, and it did bother me toward the end of the book that a country town where nothing ever happens could suddenly be the center of so much excitement. Still, kids reading this book would no doubt enjoy seeing kids their own age becoming heroes, no matter how unlikely those events might actually be. They will also relate to the kids’ desire not to seem like pious goody-goodies, and to the mistakes they make along the way.

The Railway Children is to railroads what Swallows and Amazons is to sailboats. Any child who has ever been fascinated by trains will fall in love with the railway station along with Bobbie, Peter, and Phil, and they will enjoy feeling like part of their family. Recommend The Railway Children to realistic fiction readers who enjoy family stories, adventure, and emotional happy endings.

I read The Railway Children free online at Project Gutenberg.

For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat. 

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Love and Other Perishable Items. by Laura Buzo. December 11, 2012. Random House. 256 pages. ISBN: 9780375870002

Amelia is fifteen years old, and she works at a grocery store in Sydney, Australia. Her mother struggles to work, keep the house, and raise Amelia’s little sister, while her father travels for work and fails to pull his weight. Chris is twenty-one years old, and he too, works at the grocery store, which he calls The Land of Dreams. He’s had his heart broken, badly, and in his notebooks he now documents his quest for the perfect woman, as well as his dilemma over what to do with his life after college graduation. Amelia is deliriously in love with Chris. Chris wishes Amelia were older. Can there be any hope for romance between them?

This book is one of the best contemporary YA novels I have ever read. Typically, in stories where the point of view alternates between two or more characters, there is one point of view that I prefer over the other. In this case, both main characters are so compelling, it’s impossible to choose a favorite. I related so closely to Amelia, whose longing for Chris’s affections mirrors the unrequited love of fifteen-year-old girls everywhere. Many times I wanted to shake her and tell her that there is no way someone six years her senior would fall in love with her, but at other times, I wanted it as much as she did. On the flip side, I could understand completely Chris’s desire to be out on his own, to find a woman who will love him, and to stop hanging around a grocery store filled with high school kids. Amelia and Chris represent two ends of an adolescent spectrum, both of which are part of this “young adult” category. I thought it was such a good idea to bring them together in one story, which will appeal to a wide audience, but whose meaning will change depending on the age and experience of the individual reader. If I’d read this book at fifteen, I would have loved Amelia and misunderstood Chris. If I’d read it at 20, Chris would have been the character I loved most, and I would have dismissed Amelia as annoying and immature. Reading it now, at 30, after having lived through both high school and college, my view of the story is more balanced.

Aside from the strong voices, what impressed me the most about this book was the structure. Amelia’s chapters relate events in her life one month at a time. Then we get to look at Chris’s notebook, where he relates some of the same events, and additional ones that matter to him but not to Amelia. While Amelia’s sections feel like confessions directly to the reader, reading Chris’s chapters made me feel like I was eavesdropping, getting the full story without his knowledge. Knowing in every scene that I would eventually get the other character’s side of the story kept me in almost constant suspense, and I loved the way Chris’s chapters often changed my perspective on what happened in Amelia’s chapters, or vice versa. I also thought it was great that Chris had so much more going on his life that Amelia didn’t know about, but that her crush was still so vital to her day-to-day existence.

The Australian setting was also a treat for me. It was neat to experience Christmas as a summertime holiday, for example. I also appreciated that the US edition of the book wasn’t too Americanized, though I know some changes were made, even to the title. (The Australian title is Good Oil.) I was also thrilled by the grocery store setting. I have been trying for years to write a decent story set in a grocery store, but have never been able to get the details right. Thankfully, Laura Buzo nails it.

This is a great YA novel with lots of emotional depth and detail that rings true for the high school experience and the end-of-college experience. There is some language, drug use, and drinking, but nothing too graphic. I’m pretty sensitive about stuff like that, and the only thing that gave me pause was Chris’s cocaine use, mostly because it seemed to come out of nowhere. Literary allusions and discussions of feminism and philosophy abound in Amelia’s interactions with Chris. I bookmarked many references so I could find out more about them later on. Amelia is fifteen, but I hope that doesn’t put off older teen readers, as this is a sophisticated story that deals with many important coming of age issues, from dating and love to family and careers. I truly can’t recommend this book highly enough, and I hope my readers will share it widely with teens they know and love.


I received a digital ARC of Love and Other Perishable Items from Random House via NetGalley.

For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat. 

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Not Exactly a Love Story by Audrey Couloumbis. December 11, 2012. Random House. 288 pages. ISBN: 9780375867835

Vinnie is fifteen, and his life has undergone some recent major changes. First, he and his mom move to a new town, leaving behind the girl Vinnie has loved from afar for years. Next, his mom falls in love with his new gym teacher, and decides to marry him. Then, Vinnie starts to get interested in a girl in his neighborhood named Patsy, and he makes an obscene phone call to her house to try to get her attention. Patsy is more intrigued than horrified by the call, and soon Vinnie is calling Patsy every night at midnight and the two teens are telling each other things they’d never tell anyone else. There is just one problem with their late-night friendship. Vinnie, who is also getting to know Patsy during the day, has never revealed his identity as the midnight caller, and he’s afraid if he ever does, Patsy will no longer care for him.

Not Exactly a Love Story is set in 1977, which is what makes possible the anonymous phone calls at the heart of the story. In 2012, with cell phones and caller ID, it’s a lot harder for teens like Vinnie to make untraced phone calls to the girls of their dreams, so I imagine that this is why the author chose to set the story in the past. I hesitate to truly call it historical fiction, as it reads similarly to a lot of contemporary YA books, but some references to pop culture and clothing, along with the phone calls, give it a 70s vibe, even if the time period is not of major importance.

Vinnie is a likeable character from the very first page. This is especially important because he’s so isolated and in his own head for much of the story. Being new in school has made finding friends difficult, so there’s not the usual best friend character for him to bounce ideas off of. His mom and the gym teacher play their supporting roles well, but for the most part, the reader is in Vinnie’s head as he sorts out his phone call persona from his true self. Many sections of the story are simply debates Vinnie has with himself over what to say or do next. Thankfully, these debates are interesting and raise a lot of questions, not just about communication, but about identity and honesty. Vinnie also makes observations about Patsy, the boys she dates, and her group of friends, which are among the best parts of the book. I love the way he calls Patsy’s boyfriend Biff, and refers to one of her best friends as Brown Bunny based on how she looks.

Some story threads seemed to me to be left unresolved. Patsy reconnects with a girl named Sissy early in the book in a scene that felt significant in some way, and I kept waiting for Sissy to reappear again later on in some final twist. This did not happen, and I was left wondering why Sissy was in the story at all. I felt the same way about the girl Vinnie leaves behind at the start of the book. Why bother starting the story there, when Patsy is the girl we’re meant to care about? It’s fine to have a story that doesn’t package everything up neatly, but in this case, I felt these story lines had been forgotten rather than intentionally left ambiguous.

Not Exactly a Love Story will appeal to girls, of course, because of the romance angle, but there’s also a lot for teen boys to relate to. Vinnie is similar to other great male narrators from this year: Guy Langman (Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinator), Sanskrit Zuckerman (Since You Left Me), and Felton Reinstein (Nothing Special). Fifteen year old boys from any time period can relate to Vinnie’s desire to get the girl of his dreams, and they will sympathize better than anyone with the mistakes he makes on the road to getting what he wants.

Not Exactly a Love Story was published yesterday, December 11, 2012.


I received a digital ARC of Not Exactly a Love Story from Random House via NetGalley.

For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat. 

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Walking the Dog. by Linda Benson. September 21, 2012. Musa Publishing. ISBN: 9781619373426
Walking the Dog is a story of friendship between Sophie, the new girl in class with a history of abuse, and Jared, whose parents have forbidden him to spend time with Sophie because of her premature knowledge of sexuality. The two bond over their love for a new puppy who belongs to the school therapist, and their friendship later blossoms when they volunteer together at an animal shelter. Jared isn’t forthcoming with his parents, however, and he finds himself telling more and more lies and risking more and more trouble just to spend time with his new friend.

I have to say that the overall premise of the story - that Jared’s parents would forbid their son to spend time with Sophie because of her history - really rubbed me the wrong way. I can’t really imagine a set of parents who would blame Sophie for what happened to her, or assume that she would somehow taint or endanger their own child in any way. Perhaps such an ignorant set of parents exists, but the ones in this story seemed otherwise so normal and reasonable that it was hard for me to buy into their prejudices. By the same token, I found myself wondering whether the mentions of Sophie’s sexual abuse were appropriate for the book’s audience. Ultimately, I think the story requires some hints at her past in order to explain her behavior and Jared’s parents’ response to his interactions with her, but I think those moments are more mature than the tone of the rest of the book. I could see a third grader being interested and starting to read this book and suddenly being totally thrown off by the mentions of sexual abuse. The book just struck me as younger than its content.

All of those issues aside, though, I think this is a truly well-written story that conveys the complicated emotions kids feel when they know they’re doing the right thing even when an adult says differently. Jared is there for Sophie, no matter the consequences, and in return, Sophie is also there for him, especially when it matters most. Their mutual love of innocent, overlooked, and neglected animals mirrors their affection for each other and provides a great lesson in caring for the weakest among us without judgment or reservation. I appreciated the fact that Sophie’s bad situation gets a fairly positive resolution, but one that is still believable. I also think the story does a nice job of redeeming Jared’s parents, but the redemption felt forced for me since I didn’t really buy into their attitudes toward Sophie in the first place.

Discounting the brief passages about the abuse, this book would make a nice read-alike for some of Andrew Clements’s school stories, and for more serious, literary books like As Simple As It Seems by Sarah Weeks and The Last Best Days of Summer by Valerie Hobbs. It’s also a valuable story to share with kids who are overcoming abusive situations, or to kids who are trying to help friends in similar situations. For middle school kids who like Chris Crutcher, Walking the Dog is another fast-paced friendship story about a kid in a bad situation whose life improves when she makes a good friend.

I received a digital review copy of Walking the Dog from the author. 

For more about this book, visit Goodreads.

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New Firsts. by Diana Gallagher. August 1, 2012. Capstone. 144 pages. ISBN: 9781434245915

Best friends Monica and Claudia have survived middle school, and they are now ready to take on their freshman year. In mostly light-hearted, breezy prose, the two girls recount the events of their first few weeks of ninth grade, which include meeting new friends, flirting with boys and getting into a huge disagreement with each other. Through it all, though, the girls prove that best friends really are forever.

This book is hugely appealing because of its tone and its layout. The bright cover and the graphics at the beginning of each chapter - including the full-page dividers between chapters that show little doodles of hearts - are really eye-catching and teen-friendly. These physical characteristics of the book work with the easy-to-read, straightforward text to draw in girls who might typically shy away from books by putting them at ease. It’s easy to believe in Monica and Claudia as real teens with an interesting story to tell because their characters are contained in such an unintimidating package.

I also think the author does a great job of capturing the confusion, uncertainty, and drama of the start of high school. Not everything that happens in this book is terribly original, but I think that’s part of what might make kids interested in it. It’s familiar territory, and the story sort of helps to navigate those uncharted waters. Actually, I think the story is as relevant to girls starting middle school as it is to high schoolers, since the subject matter is very tame and focuses mainly on friendships and budding interest in boys. Stone Arch Books describes its contemporary fiction as “safe,” and I think that’s a good word for it. Reading New Firsts is a positive experience, with a focus on the good, and the healthy.

New Firsts was published on August 1. Prior to that, Claudia and Monica were also stars of their own respective series, set during middle school: the Claudia Cristina Cortez series  and the Monica series. This new book is part of a series as well, entitled Freshman Girls. There are three more books following New Firsts: Homecoming, Haunted Love, and Tested.

I received a digital ARC of New Firsts from Capstone via NetGalley.

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The Encyclopedia of Me. by Karen Rivers. September 1, 2012. Scholastic. 256 pages. ISBN:  9780545310284 

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The Face on the Milk Carton. by Caroline Cooney. 1990. Random House. 192 pages. ISBN: 9780385323284

The Face on the Milk Carton - the story of a teenage girl who realizes she is a kidnapping victim after seeing her own face on a carton of milk - was published in 1990, and I think I first heard of it just a few years later, when I was in 6th or 7th grade. I remember how popular it was with the girls in my class, even the ones who didn’t ordinarily like books, and I’m sure I read it, though I didn’t have any specific memories of the plot, or of how the ending was resolved until picking it up again recently.

Here’s what I’d forgotten: (If you’ve never read the book, these might be spoilers, but I don’t really like to worry about spoilers for books that are 22 years old.)

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Third Grade Angels. by Jerry Spinelli. September 1, 2012. Arthur A. Levine Books. 112 pages. ISBN: 9780545387729

Third Grade Angels is a prequel to Fourth Grade Rats, a beloved Jerry Spinelli chapter book originally published in 1991. As of writing this review I have not yet read Fourth Grade Rats (though it is on my to-read list), so my evaluation of this book is based solely on the story itself, and not how well it does or does not complement the first one.

George, better known as “Suds” due to his love for taking long baths has always heard the rhyme that says first grade babies/second grade cats/third grade angels/fourth grade rats. This year, as he enters third grade, he learns that his teacher, Mrs. Simms, literally wants her students to be angels, and that she will award one student per month with a halo for their efforts. Suds, who never likes to come in second, decides that he must be the first one to receive a halo, and he immediately starts doing extra nice things with the sole intention of impressing his teacher. But it turns out that being an angel is a lot harder than it sounds, and it might involve more than simply being good when the adults are watching.

I have no doubt that the lesson of this story - that being good is less about ourselves and more about how we treat others - will be the delight of parents and teachers alike, especially those who believe the purpose of children’s literature is always to instruct and to educate children on how to be better citizens. I like it for that reason, too, because I’m an adult, and I like knowing there are books out there still protecting childhood innocence and promoting good morals. For kids, though, the moral will probably not be as appealing as the other positive qualities of this book - mainly its sense of humor, fast-paced dialogue, and memorable characters.

Suds is by far my favorite character of the story. He just comes across as so real, with all the innocence and mischief of a real eight-year-old boy. A great example of why I love Suds comes early in chapter three:

[Joey] held out his first. I stared at it. “Bump me, dude,” he said.

“Oh,” I said. I bumped him. I guess I did it right because he didn’t laugh or sneer. It my first-ever fist bump.

I love that he is the kind of kid who has never fist bumped, but who would take note of the first time he does so.

I also love the connection he was with his mom, and the discussions they have while he is in the bathtub, especially about Suds’s longtime crush on Judy Billings. These moments remind me quite a bit of the discussions between Clementine and her parents in the Clementine series. Another similarity to Clementine is that Suds call his little sister Zippernose in the same way that Clementine calls her brother different vegetable-related nicknames.

Third Grade Angels is the perfect early chapter book. Its sense of humor, characterization, and storytelling style are all spot-on, and there is never a dull moment in the entire story. This is definitely one of the best books I have read this year, and I’m eager to see how it compares to the first book, especially with 20 years between the two.

Third Grade Angels will be published on September 1, 2012.

I received a digital ARC of Third Grade Angels from Scholastic via NetGalley.

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 Liar & Spy. by Rebecca Stead. August 7, 2012. Random House. 192 pages. ISBN: 9780385737432

Liar & Spy, the forthcoming new novel from Rebecca Stead, is, in some ways, the complete opposite of When You Reach Me. When You Reach Me has a girl protagonist; Liar & Spy’s main character is a boy. When You Reach Me involves science fiction and historical elements, Liar & Spy is completely contemporary and realistic. When You Reach Me has a pair of old friends who aren’t speaking; Liar & Spy has a pair of new friends just getting to know one another. The two books share one thing in common, however - both feature Rebecca Stead’s unmistakable writing style.

Georges is named for his parents’ favorite artist, Georges Seurat, but most of the kids in his school don’t know that, so they tease him, calling him Gorgeous and generally bullying him until school becomes insufferable. Georges’s family has also just lost their house, and they have had to move into an apartment while his dad finds work and his mom works double shifts as a hospital nurse. Only one exciting thing has happened to Georges: meeting Safer and his sister, Candy. They live in Georges’s apartment building with their free-spirited parents and spend much of their time spying on their neighbors. One in particular, whom Safer calls Mr. X, is a frequent target, because Safer says he smuggles dead bodies out of the building in duffel bags. Georges is drawn immediately into the excitement of spying on a potential murderer, but as Safer becomes more and more reckless, Georges wonders just how far he will be asked to go toward exposing Mr. X’s supposed crimes.

This book is so well-crafted that every character and every place the characters visit, including school, feels somehow magical. Stead chooses such strong, substantial details in her descriptions that the reader can’t help but visualize each sentence. I read this book over several days, riding the train to and from work. Each time I had to put the book down, I would look around dazedly, as though surprised to discover I was not actually living inside the world of the story. When I returned to the story each day, I could feel myself sliding back into the story with ease, eager to absorb every detail.

There are some twists and turns to the plot, with two major mind-blowing reveals toward the end that cause the reader to really reevaluate his/her take on the entire story. Though twists are fun, the more impressive thing is the way in which the mood of the story shifts depending on how Georges is feeling. Georges sees things one way at the beginning of the book, but when his attitude shifts after the events of the story, the very same people and situations look totally different. That kind of subtlety is what sets Stead’s writing apart, and it’s what really pushed me over the edge from a four-star Goodreads rating to a five.

I can’t say that I love Liar & Spy as well as I love When You Reach Me, but it’s not a disappointing follow-up at all. I’ll be curious to see whether Liar & Spy is also recognized by the Newbery Committee; I suspect it will turn up in a lot of this year’s Mock Newbery discussions. Liar & Spy will be available in bookstores beginning Tuesday, August 7.

I received a digital ARC of Liar & Spy from Random House via NetGal

2 Comments on Review: Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead (ARC), last added: 7/31/2012

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Tahleen said, on 7/31/2012 5:21:00 AM

Thanks for the review—I was wondering about this one. I'm glad it's good!

Betsy said, on 7/31/2012 7:37:00 AM

I loved this book, too! I hope it gets some attention from the awards folks. In some ways I like it better than When You Reach Me, but in other ways not. Hmm...

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Katie and the Cupcake Cure. by Coco Simon. May 3, 2011. Simon and Schuster. 160 pages. ISBN: 9781442422766

Katie never spent any of her summer vacation worrying about the start of middle school, so she is more surprised than anyone when her best friend, Callie, ditches her on the first day to join The Popular Girls Club (PGC). Katie is really upset, but she channels her sadness into baking cupcakes, a pastime she and her mom have shared over the years. Eventually, her cupcakes lead her to a group of new friends - Mia, Alexis, and Emma - who join with her to form a cupcake club and business.

Though this book is set in middle school, it’s actually written to appeal to a younger audience. Girls in grades 3 to 5 who enjoy the Baby-sitters Club, How I Survived Middle School and similar series are the most likely candidates to read this one, and their parents will be pleased to have them do it. Not only does the story portray involved moms who are strongly attuned to their daughters’ social lives, but the girls themselves have wholesome interests, positive attitudes, and strong work ethics. They’re not caught up in fashion, cliqueishness or (at least in this volume) boys. They maintain a sense of innocence and focus on the good they can do instead of how to exact revenge on their popular enemies.

The writing in this book is similar to that in other paperback series - mostly generic, with no real frills - but that isn’t necessarily a problem. Everybody needs a little fluff now and then, and younger tweens looking to ease into their summer reading will - excuse the pun - eat these up. Only two things might cause confusion. One is that the series is not written in diary format, even thought it’s called Cupcake Diaries. The other is that there is another series available now that is called The Cupcake Club, but which is not related to this series. It seems that no matter which one I’m searching for on Barnes and Noble’s website, I get the other one, so it’s a good idea to keep track of the authors if you’re looking for these in the bookstore or library.

Katie and the Cupcake Cure was originally published in 2011, followed by Mia in the Mix, Emma on Thin Icing, Alexis and the Perfect Recipe, and Katie, Batter Up. The most recent additions to the series are Mia’s Baker Dozen, published in February 2012, and Emma All Stirred Up, published in April 2012. New books will continue to be published through the end of this year, as follows: Alexis Cool as a Cupcake (June 26), Katie and the Cupcake War (August 21), Mia’s Boiling Point (October 16), and Emma, Smile and Say “Cupcake!” (December 4.)

Visit Simon Spotlight’s Cupcake Diaries page to learn more about the books and view the adorable trailer.

I purchased Katie and the Cupcake Cure from Barnes and Noble for my Nook.