Born Confused, by Tanuja Desai Hidier

Dimple Lala has lived her entire life in America, but as the daughter of two Indians, she doesn't really know if her sense of self somes from the US or from India. And with her best friend being a blonde goddess and her parents anxiously trying to set her up with a "suitable boy," she's more confused than ever. It's easy at first to hate her parent's choice for a match, but when her friend falls for the boy, Dimple begins to realize that she really likes him after all and now she must worry about whether she is going to lose everything in her confusion.

It's a story way too much in need of an editor (at 500 pages, this gigantic tome is about 250 pages too long). There are some charming parts, but many that could have been trimmed out to make a better story. And the ending is way too neat and convenient. These rather major flaws aside, there's lots of fun in this book to recommend it and its unusual setting makes it charming and memorable.

Donorboy, by Brendan Halpin

Following the same formula as Breakfast with Tiffany, we have the story of Ros, who lost her two Moms to "a tragic accident involving foodstuffs." And while that sounds a bit like a joke, the story is actually a pretty serious one about learning to adjust to a new family, as Ros goes to live with her biological father (the sperm donor). There she must cope with her grief, some annoying kids at school, some even more annoying administrators, a few bad decisions, and an overly anxious new Dad. Dad, meanwhile, has to cope with Ros. Told through emails, journal entries, IMs, and random other media, the story unfolds through multiple viewpoints.

It's clever without getting saccharine and insightful without trying to be too cool. Again, it's hard to say what younger readers will think of it, but adults (and parents in particular) will enjoy the father's attempts to cope with his feelings and failures. So, maybe not a good YA book, but a good book all the same.

Stay With Me, by Garret Freymann-Weyr

Leila's sister killed herself and now each family member must deal with the loss. For Leila, this means looking for a reason to explain the event. She believes the answer must lie with a mysterious man her sister was with before she killed herself. But that search opens other doors as Leila meets Eamon, a man 14 years older than herself, who offers things that Leila had never considered before.

While marketed as a YA book, this lacks the humor and insight to really be one. Not only is it not YA, but it's also not terribly interesting as a read either. Instead, it's full of numerous (largely pointless) subplots and inner dialogs of the type that tend to plague modern adult fiction as "clever" and "intellectual" but isntead are just dull and tedious. Not worth the read!

Every Time A Rainbow Dies, by Rita Williams-Garcia

Thulani has lived in a child's world, caring only about the pigeons he keeps on the roof and dreaming of his long-gone mother. But when he rescues a girl who is being raped, his life begins to change in subtle and then major ways. In the process he explores who he is and what he wants from the world, and how his life could be very different. The story doesn't end with any answers, but plenty of possibilities.

I tend to not care for books set in urban settings (preferring more familiar suburban and rural places) but this is a nicely woven tale with plenty of color and details. It's also a mature and respectful story that can open doors to readers (like me) who don't know much about Haitian and Jamaican culture. Recommended.

Heartbeat, by Sharon Creech

Annie loves to run and loves to draw. Through a series of prose poems, she describes her runs, the 100 apple drawings she has made, her grandfather who sometimes forgets who he is, the boy she runs with, and the baby her mother is having. By the end, her mother has had the baby and her running partner has discovered the secret to running well from the grandfather.

Another YA poetry story. Sometimes these work well but this one really doesn't stand out much. There are some cute plays on words with footnotes and a thesaurus, but nothing so dramatically different or original. Average.

A Long Time Ago Today, by Sally Warner

Six years ago, Dilly's mother died, leaving her a place in the Adirondacks that she and her father return to every summer, reenacting rituals that her father believes that Mom would have wanted them to do (Dilly isn't so sure). But when an old family friend tells Dilly that she has a letter that her mother wanted Dilly to have when she was older, Dilly struggles with whether she wants to read it and have her understanding of her Mom changed forever.

Poignant and moderately engaging for a a book in which very little actually happens. The setting (Upstate NY) resonates with me personally because my family had a country place in the area, not so much unlike Dilly's when I was growing up. But the story suffers from its plot, in which lines never really connect and not much memorable occurs. In the end, we are left with a bit of emptiness.

I Am the Wallpaper, by Mark Peter Hughes

Floey has always lived in the shadow of her popular older sister. But when her sister gets married and her Aunt drops off two bratty cousins to live at their house for a few weeks, Flooey has a brush with fame that changes the way she views herself, her friends, and her perception that she is "wallpaper."

This is a pretty much by-the-numbers coming of age story where the quiet neglected one realizes that she has a lot more going for her than she thought. There's a few clever twists but no major surprises. Satisfying and engaging, so worth the read.

Make Me Over, edited by Marilyn Singer

In a series of 11 short stories, the authors explore the many various meanings of remaking ourselves and changing who we are. The highlights include a wallflower who gains confidence by tricking a group of cheerleaders into imagining that he's French; an owl that transforms itself into a human being to win the love of an Indian maiden; and a newly arrived immigrant at Ellis Island who must choose what parts of her past to keep as she pursues her future.

As with all collections, some of the stories are stronger than others, but what I was impressed with overall was the very different interpretations each author took of the collection's theme. I expected to read 11 angst-ridden stories of young women doing make-overs. But instead was treated to some amazingly creative visions of the various ways that people (and animals!) can change themselves to become something better. Inspiring reading.

A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl, by Tanya Lee Stone

In a series of poems told by different people, three girls dish up the dirt on "T.L." -- a guy who knows all the right moves and buttons to push to get what he wants. In sum, he's a jerk, but each of these girls has to learn that lesson on their own, convinced as they are that they will be different.

It's fairly well-trod ground (both the format and the story) although Stone does a decent job of explaining how passion, hormones, and dreams can cloud your judgment and make you do stupid things that you learn to regret. And she adds a nice piece of sisterly solidarity at the end to underline for the readers which side they should be on. Functional, but hardly earth shattering.

Climbing the Rainbow, by Joy N. Hulme

After years of struggling with muteness, Dora Cookson gets a chance to attend school for the first time. Kept back for four years, she has a lot of catching up to do. In a series of anecdotes, she retells the highlights of that first year, as her family adapts to its second year of homesteading in New Mexico.

A story that seems to be largely based upon the life of a woman the author knew, this makes for interesting history but not terribly interesting story telling. There is little suspense here and no drama. Small children might like the fact that not much happens (and what does happen is fairly benign) but older readers will find the whole thing terribly dull.

Light on Snow, by Anita Shreve

Another adult lit book with a teen character....

When Nicky and her father find an abandoned baby in the woods behind their house, it triggers a series of events and a visit from a young woman with a secret which cause them to confront the delicate balance in their own relationship.

Unlike the Picoult book I just finished before this one, this novel is more likely to appeal to younger readers. The story is a bit slow, but it reads quickly and has interesting characters and a satisfying conclusion.

My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult

All of her 13 year life, Anna has had to be there to take care of her sister. In fact, this is the reason she exists: when Kate gets sick, Anna donates bone marrow, blood, and other body tissues to fight off the effects of Kate's leukemia. But as their mother asks Anna to donate a kidney, something breaks, and Anna turns to a lawyer to get legal permission to say "no."

Picoult is an adult lit writer with a great grasp of how adults interract, but really not much of a sense of what makes teens tick. Anna and Kate swing between being portrayed as petulant brats and being simply young (but very well-spoken) adults. They talk like (very intellectual) grown ups and have very adult motivations for their behavior. Picoult has a great story here (albeit with a contrived ending) but no real sense of her younger characters. Read this as an adult book, not YA. And I'll wait for a good YA version of the story.

Claiming Georgia Tate, by Gigi Amateau

In a lyrical narrative, Georgia tell us about life with her grandparents, growing up in rural MS in the 1970s. About finding jesus, the truth about her absent mother, and her ability to make friends and rise above adversity. But this is not a story for the faint of heart, because Georgia will also have to endure being molested, humiliated, and raped before she can return to her loving family.

It's a beautifully told story, but really very intense and not intended for younger readers. One might even argue that it's not a YA book at all. But beyond that, I was frustrated by the many loose ends and a bit too much melodrama for my tastes, so I'm not sure that I'll give it a perfect rating, but it is a near miss and I'll look forward to Amateau's next novel.

Sixth Grade, by Susie Morgenstern

Margot describes the highlights of her sixth year of school in Provence. From the harder grading, to the critical teachers, to her unsympathetic older sister, Margot struggles with being a good student and wanting to be popular at the same time. She experiences a boy with a crush and boys who want to crush her backpack over her head. And, in the end, she manages to survive the year.

A rather disorienting novel for American readers who will find the cutthroat nature of French schooling (and its overly bureaucratized character) a bit of an anathma. This is actually a translation of an apparently highly popular French YA book, but apparently the key issues for French children involve dealing with teachers. Their peers and their parents don't seem to play nearly as central of a role -- at least as far as the novel's focus is concerned. Odd.

A Greater Goode, by Amy Schor Ferris

Addie is a pretty average 12 year-old and nowhere as bright as her friend Luke who is going away for a summer program for six weeks. But when she encounters a lone pregnant woman in an abandoned church, she gets an opportunity to do something special and to rise above everyone's expectations, including her own.

Moderatly interesting story set in rural PA with a sort of hillbilly twang to it that might make more sense in Western PA than the Poconos where it allegedly takes place. The book's real shining part is its rather matter-of-fact portrayal of various minorities without much significant comment. As if Ferris wanted to make a point that just because a character is a lesbian, doesn't make that particular characteristic vital to the story. But beyond that small niceness, there isn't a lot in this story.

The Au Pairs, by Melissa de la Cruz

It's Summer in the Hamptons and Mara, Eliza, and Jacqui have been hired to look after the children of an excessively wealthy couple. But they don't spent much time looking after the kids (except maybe the sweet and humble Mara). Instead, it's party after party is hedonistic excess as the rich and famous party every night and shop all day. Oh, and somewhere along the way the girls will each learn a lesson that will help them grow up a little...but not so much that they can't be a bunch of fun-loving girls!

OK, I think when the book carries a blurb from Seventeen on its cover and a picture of three nubile young bods that would make a die hard forget that ol' Britney video, you basically know what you are going to get and deserve all of it. This is pretty light on the substance. It's also a bit repulsive the way it glorifies materialism as much as it does. In sum, it's the type of book that librarians love to hate but which goes out the door faster than anything they'll offer. It will annoy the heck out of your parents. But in the end, it's not terribly good for you either. Whatever!

The Great Good Thing, by Roderick Townley

Sylvie lives in a fairy tale world -- a real fairy tale -- in fact, she lives within the pages of a book. When the book is closed, she's free to explore the pages and go where she likes. But when the book opens and the Reader appears, she has a role to play and a story to tell. She may be a princess, but she's only a character in a book. All of that changes when she violates the rules and meets the Reader. And when disaster strikes her world, Sylvie leads her people on an epic voyage into the world beyond.

This is a clever, although a bit surrealistic fantasy book. Geared towards middle readers, it has some pretty tricky plot twists that may confuse some younger readers and turn them off. But for those who enjoy thinking-person's fantasy, this is a fun little read.

Boy2Girl, by Terence Blacker

When the nice quiet Burton family in London gains custody of Sam, the son of Mrs. Burton's late sister, it's pretty obvious he doesn't fit in. Angry and wound up and terribly "Yank"-ish, he fights and curses at anyone who gets close to him. But then he accepts a dare to show up at school for the first week dressed as a girl -- a disguise that is surprisingly effective. Yet "Mrs. Doubtfire" this most certainly isn't. Sam makes a strange girl, not even trying to act feminine. That's when the fun really starts.

It's clever and funny and surprisingly revealing for a popular novel. Blacker is trying to get at some of the stuff that defines gender identity, without getting too preachy about it, and he largely succeeds. Characters can be a bit two dimensional, but this is one of those odd books where a constantly changing narrator (just about everyone -- except, notably, Sam himself -- gets a chance to tell the story) actually works pretty well. A clever original.

Pretty Things, by Sarra Manning

In ultra hip and trendy London, four young people take part in a summer staging of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. There's the vacuous fashion-obsessed Brie; gay friend Charlie; swarmy womanizing Walker, and angry dyke Daisy. And, as the story opens, Brie has an unrequitted thing for Charlie, Charlie finds himself attracted to Walker, while Walker decides that he wants Daisy. And, as implausible as any of these infatuations seem likely to bear fruit, things start to get a bit wild and a lot of unimaginable things happen.

The book is way too trendy and current. Not only is it terribly regional (American readers will occasionally find the dialogue and references just a bit off-putting), parochial (London IS apparently the center of all things cool), and temporal (the references to Justin Timberlake and George Bush will not age well), it just grates on the nerves for the first half or so. Then the book does something interesting: Manning stops trying to impress us with how hip she is and starts telling a storr - a very interesting story about sexual identity and the fluid and flexible nature of that identity. By the end I was actually hooked, but first I had to get through the first 140 pages or so to get there.

How I Survived Being A Girl, by Wendelin Van Draanen

In a series of anecdotes, Carolyn tells us about her neighbors, the pranks she plays with her brothers, and the trouble she gets in to. Some of the anecdotes are funny, while others are revealing, and some are even both. As for an actual story, there isn't much here: she spends the summer getting into trouble and the school year butting heads with mean teachers and giggly girls. And her mother is having a baby.

I liked Flipped a lot and was hoping for more of the same, but this is an earlier work and not quite as polished. And it is also a bit dated. Although published in 1997, it references vinyl records several times as if anyone born in the last twenty-five years has had any significant exposure to them. The writing style has a nice folksy down home feeling to it and the settings are warm and friendly so it's a good read, but not exactly classic literature.

One other thing that dates the book is a mention of a spanking early in the book. Corporal punishment doesn't find its way into many children's books anymore (much the same way that smoking has largely disappeared from movies). While statistically speaking, most children have experienced getting hit by their parents, it strangely never occurs in literature. I understand the reasons to paint such an idealistic vision, but I found Van Draanen's inclusion of it (neither graphic nor particularly long) a realistic touch and the sort of thing that real 8-11 year old readers (the target audience) would relate to.