All Rivers Flow to the Sea, by Alison McGhee

Rose and Ivy were in a car accident and Rose survived. Ivy ended up nearly brain dead and kept alive with ventilators -- not quite dead and not quite alive. In the months after the accident, Rose tries to piece together her life, but all she can find is a textbook about wars, a series of boys who she tries to use to take her pain away, and an older man who has also suffered loss, and teaches her to drive.

Beautifully written, but largely pointless. My synopsis does more credit to the plot than it deserves as this is largely an exercise is writing pretty prose, not really in telling a story. Be prepared to snoooooooooooooooze.

The Queen of Second Place, by Laura Peyton Roberts

Cassie believes everyone has a talent. Whether it's Quentin's ability to find parking places, Fitz's ability to find the longest line, or Casiie's own talent at always coming in second place. But those ideas are all about to come under serious fire when Cassie meets Kevin and decides that she will be his girlfriend, even so uber-sexy Stirling has already set her eyes on the guy.

All of which makes this novel sound like a vacuous boy-crazy book, which it really isn't. Roberts's writing is great and witty and Cassie is so much the best friend that you wish you had in school. That makes her trials and tribulations really fun to follow her through and the payoff in the end when things end up...well, end up pretty much as you have to expect them to (enough said!). It's a pretty long read, but it's a good one!

Half and Half, by Lensey Namioka

When Fiona Cheng has to indicate her race on a class registration form, she doesn't know which box to check. She's half Chinese and half Scottish. And as the Folk Festival comes up, Fiona gets an opportunity to explore her notions of her own identity and those of her friends as well.

Fairly basic by-the-numbers middle reader about racial identity. No major crises, Fiona solves all of her family's problems, and everyone is very happy in the end. It's warm, it's caring, it may even teach a valuable lesson or two, but it doesn't really have much substance behind it and the clunkiness of the prose will keep this out of the limelight.

Light Years, by Tammar Stein

Maya leaves Israel to come study in Virginia, but she is leaving more than her homeland, she is leaving behind the place where her first love, Dov, was murdered by a suicide bomber. Unable to cope with the grief from that loss (and her role in causing it), she retreats into nightly runs and her love of astronomy.

An almost certainly autobiographical look at being a foreign student in the US and coming to terms with a homeland that offers both beauty and pain (whether the dead boyfriend actually happened or not is irrelevant), Stein creates a world that is probably unknown to most Americans. The chapters that take place in Israel, in particular, portray a world that will be fascinating to anyone who has never been there.

My major reservation is that I don't think this is really a YA book. It will probably be most of interest to younger adults, but most likely in the 18 and up category. That doesn't mean that kids shouldn't read it (and won't enjoy it), but as a story that begins when Maya is already 18 and out of school, people will enjoy this book as an adult book.

Bittersweet, by Drew Lamm

Taylor has always had plenty of ideas for pictures, but after her grandmother is taken to a nursing home, Taylor can't deal. She loses all inspiration and falls into a slump where she can't manage to draw a thing, and where she loses interest in life itself, casually accepting whatever comes her way, whether it is her friends or a guy hitting on her.

This is a soul wrenching rumination on loss and how we cope with it. It starts off very strong and ends on a predictable sad note. But in between, the story meanders, not that much unlike Taylor's own depression. The problem is that a meandering plot just isn't all that interesting to read. There's very little dramatic arch and characters wander in and out without sparking much interest. A distant father suddenly becomes less distant and then just fades away from the story, as if life going well isn't worth living or talking about. Aimless and in need of serious editing.

Missing Abby, by Lee Weatherly

When Abby goes missing and Emma realizes that she's the last one who's seen her, it triggers a torrent of memories -- about the fun they used to have together, and about how Emma ran away from their friendship because Abby got too embarassing to be with (with her Goth fantasies and other non-trendy stuff). As days turn to weeks, and the chances of finding Abby diminish, Emma comes to the realization that she's lost a real friend.

Moderately predictable, but satisfying story with an edge of suspense (about as much danger as Brit YA Lit ever seems to allow -- have you ever noticed that the kids in UK children's lit are on such tighter leashes than the Yanks?). Some nice unorthodox friendships (where things don't necessarily work out) and less unusual parents (who go rather abruptly from being unreasonable to being totally cool). A mixed bag, but not a wasted read.

Peaches, by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Reluctantly, three girls (Birdie, Leeda, and Murphy) find themselves spending Spring Break and then the entire summer together at the darlington peach orchard, where they learn a lot about boys, peaches, and friendship.

The novels reads like a movie treatment and perhaps it would make a good one, but it's all a bit too distant and I never found myself getting inside any of the main characters. I kept being told what they were feeling or deciding, but never quite understanding it for myself, and so I found myself cut off. It might be the multitude of characters or the third-person style, but in any case, not really so much fun to read. Great ideas, occasionally funny bits (especially all the cute random asides), but ultimately unfulfilling.

If We Kiss, by Rachel Vail

Charlie starts the year off with her first kiss. That ought to be a good thing except that the boy (Kevin) then starts to date her best friend Tess. And Kevin's father starts to date Charlie's Mom. And when it couldn't get any more confusing and complicated, it seems that Kevin still wants to kiss her...and she wants to kiss him too.

Both predictable and cliche, yet fun and original, Vail does a wonderful job at producing a realistic story. It doesn't break new ground, it won't teach you life's lessons, and it won't shock the schoolboard, but it is entertaining and fun to read. The literary equivalent of comfort food.

Locked Inside, by Nancy Werlin

Marnie has learned to be very careful how she opens up. It was an important survival technique as soons as she was old enough to realize the way that people would try to use her because of her famous mother. But when she is kidnapped, she must confront that decision to stay closed up, and learn to trust the right people in order to survive.

A thriller. Not my usual choice of genre, but I'm trying to branch out. The whole thing was a bit too long and rambling for my taste, with very little long-term redeeming quality to it, but it was entertaining. The characters never quite sucked me in but the novel wasn't a bad experience. If you like thrillers and mysteries, this one is not bad.

Just Like That, by Marsha Qualey

Hanna breaks up with her boyfriend, blows off her friends' party invite and takes a walk out to the lake during a bitterly cold Minnesota night. What happens next triggers a series of event that compound with others to create a story of sorts as Hanna separates herself from her friends, finds new ones, and seeks out lost family relations for herself and others.

This is an odd book. On its face, it's very poorly organized. Plot twists show up out of the blue, usually with only a few pages foreshadowing (important character information is presented after the fact to justify these twists). It all reeks of bad writer. Yet, this is well-written and one suspects that the poorly announced plot twists are something of a style. That particular style may or may not appeal. I'll give it points for originality, but I'm not so sure it works for me.

Splintering, by Eireann Corrigan

In the aftermath of a random act of violence against a family, the individual members of the family must recover and rebuild. Each one struggles with their own demons and none of them can quite figure out a way to reconnect. Through a series of prose poems which are alternating visions of what brother and sister feel, Corrigan brings to life their conflicting feelings.

Some poetry collections work, while others become excuses for fragmented writing. This is an example of the latter. It doesn't help that the poetry isn't really that good. Long rambling free verse, the language is basically prose written in snippets. That's really an abuse of the form, as if Corrigan can't connect the dots between the various scenes or find a way to connect her characters. Yes, as the title implies, being splintered and disconnected might be the point here, but this is pretty turgid reading. The characters mostly mope around, not really realizing anything about themselves or others, and end up pretty much where they started. Very little payoff here.

Sandpiper, by Ellen Wittlinger

Sandpiper Hollow has a confused relationship with boys. She picks up a new boyfriend, stays with him for a few days, and drops him when she tires of him. But then she meets Walker and his secrets and her life changes. But not before her past catches up with her. Each chapter is interspersed with poetry that expands upon the themes that the chpater before has just introduced.

A fairly explicit and violent story about teenage sex, jealousy, and love, placed in a very realistic and believable setting. When the heroine starts describing giving her boyfriends blowjobs within the first twenty pages, you know you aren't reading Catcher in the Rye anymore! This is thoughtful and respectful fiction, just the type of thing that narrow-minded people like to ban. But while it will give the adults gray hairs, I think YAs will like it.

Overnight, by Adele Griffin

Caitlin's birthday sleepover is the high social event of the year for the Lucky Seven -- the in-crowd at school. But when one of them gets abducted, the whole thing falls apart. By the end of the evening, the old alliances will be permanently broken.

Told from several viewpoints, Griffin captures the pettiness of sixth-graders well. Whether this makes for a good read is a matter of debate. If I was a sixth grader, I'd probably take offense at how shallow and cruel everyone is portrayed. But most of all, too many things were left unanswered, and that's frustrating. I like a few loose ends, but an awaful lot at the end is left unanswered.

The Nobodies, by Julianna Baggott [N. E. Bode]

In this sequel to The Anybodies, Fern and Howard go to summer camp, where the Mole (a.k.a. BORT -- sorry! no underlines!) has turned everything wrong. It is up to Fern, Howard, Corky Gorsky (secret agent!), and Good Old Bixie to thwart his plot. And with some help from everpresent empty bottle of diet lime fizzy drink, they will do it...that is, unless the author is killed by her ex writing teacher first!

More silly fun here, although of course not as striking the second time around. As sequels go, this isn't bad, but I don't imagine this story line has much left in it. Still, good for a silly chuckle. The storyline is so ridiculous that it really isn't worth following, but it will make for a fun bedtime read.

Ostrich Eye, by Beth Cooley

Ginger is initially distrustful of the stranger in the park who is watching her and her friends, but then she notices how much he looks like her biological father who left so many years ago. Now that she knows who she is, she opens her life to him and helps him figure out a way to confront her mother about her Dad's reappearance into her life. But everything is not quite what it seems.

A functional, but largely by-the-numbers story about family, trust, and a couple other things that I can't reveal because it would ruin the ending, this is a Delacorte prize winning story. I'm not quite sure it lives up to the hype, mostly because the ending is a bit too predictable, but it is a good read.

Contents Under Pressure, by Lara M. Zeises

Lucy's life takes a massive change when her older brother comes home (with his pregnant girlfriend) to live at home. Add to the mix a first kiss and a first boyfriend. Then finish it off with some heartfelt discussions about sex.

Zeises is a wonderful author for niot being prudish or talking down to her readers. Her characters are wonderfully multi-dimensional and realistic. She's not afraid to not only discuss sex honestly, but also discuss passion, lust, doubt, fear, and the whole emotional rollercoaster. Another strong work by a woman who is fast becoming a favorite author of mine.

Project Mulberry, by Linda Sue Park

Julia may be a Korean-American, but she wants to be as American as she can be (and forget about the Korean part). When her best friend Patrick suggests that they do a project raising silk worms, Julia resists the idea as too Korean, but she warms up to the project. Along the way, she deals with managing her annoying little brother, her mother's distrust of Blacks, and her frustration with the author.

The really clever part of this novel is the heroine's chats with the author that take place between chapters. It's an original and (unusually) entertaining concept to shed some light on the author's mind. Otherwise, the story is satisfactory with good writing and engaging characters, but nothing especially extraordinary.

Flipped, by Wendelin Van Draanen

In alternating chapters, Bryce and Julianna tell the story of how they met and how they've grown up together, but with drastically different points of view. And while Julianna has been chasing after Bryce from the very beginning, Bryce doesn't feel quite the same attraction until a series of events causes the two of them to flip their positions.

Very clever and insightful. I have a soft spot for stories where you get multiple perspectives on the same events. It's always so clever and fun to read. Van Draanen creates two very believable and sympathetic characters that you really want to see develop, making this a difficult book to put down. Recommended.

Criss Cross, by Lynne Rae Perkins

A series of overlapping and interrelated storylines about a group of kids in the small town of Seldom. Opportunities found and lost (mostly lost) and several clever asides and digressions.

Doesn't sound like much of a plot, does it? Well, it isn't. If this book had not just won the Newbery (and been written by a really great author), I'd probably just blow this one off as a bit of literary pretension. But instead I feel rather compelled to take it seriously, since others are as well.

There are a number of clever stories (the traveling necklace, the driving lesson, the guitar) and the writing is certainly excellent. There are also some really silly experiments (the sponge, the Japanese chapter). That said, I have a hard time seeing this as children's literature. Rather, it struck me as being as inaccessible as adult lit has become. Perhaps YAs would like it, but it is way too experimental and weird for younger readers and the vocab is a bit too advanced. Think The Little Prince with more SAT-level words. What you have here is a book written by adults for adults with the illusion of being a kid's book because the characters are children. But that doesn't make it a book for kids.

Now, if any young readers would like to weigh in and tell me I'm wrong, and that they really loved this book, I certainly wouldn't mind hearing from them, but my money is on the bet that this book isn't going to get read very much.

Jailbait, by Leslea Newman

Andi is almost 16 and as much of an outcast as she can be. But when an older man starts to pay her special attention and tells her how beautiful she is and how much he loves her, she finally feels appreciated. And as their relationship goes further and further, Andi begins only a little too late to realize how trapped she is.

Newman deftly avoids turning this cautionary tale into sensationalistic schlock. Instead, creating a very tender coming-of-age story set in the early 1970s. It all feels rather autobiographical, but that is its charm: the story is believable and touching. And it will make your stomach churn, but that's what good writing - and this story in particular - are all about.