Saving Juliet, by Suzanne Selfors

Mimi is the fourth generation of an acting dynasty and none too happy about it. She'd rather be getting ready to go to college (pre-med) and not stuck doing Romeo and Juliet with shallow pop idol Troy Summer. And then things take a turn for the weird when a magic charm transports her and Troy into Verona itself. To escape, they end up rewriting the greatest love-tragedy of all time.

I imagine that books like this exist on two planes -- to provide an author with a cute setting to tell a story and also to entice young readers to read classics. But like Ophelia, this story transcends its Shakespearean setting to become both a decent adventure and a heartfelt coming-of-age story. I liked this story a lot, except for a far too conveniently tied-up ending (I would actually recommend skipping the last too chapters altogether -- what was her editor thinking?!).

Exodus, by Julie Bertagna

In under a century, Earth has been almost entirely submerged under water from the melting of the polar ice caps. As Mara's island shrinks away, she becomes convinced of the existence of sky cities where the people of her island can find a new home. But leading her people to this promised land, she finds a situation this is horrifying. And now she has a mission to do more than just save her people -- she must find a way to right a historical mistake.

A great premise with an imaginative vision of what the world could become. But like that old Kevin Costner gem Water World, this novel suffers from incoherent storytelling. Bertagna is obviously impatient to get her story from one dramatic turn to another, and she sacrifices character development to do so. The result is reader confusion and exasperation. A missed opportunity.

All We Know of Heaven, by Jacqueline Mitchard

Bridget and Maureen were both cheerleaders in their small Minnesota town and also best friends, until an accident claims the life of one of them. A case of mistaken identity causes the town and the families to mourn the passing of the wrong girl. And the aftermath of this second tragedy tears apart friendships and kindles new ones.

Billed as a YA novel, this really isn't one -- it has teen-aged characters but the story is neither specific to adolescence nor told in an adolescent voice. This is not in itself a problem, but for me the story mostly fails for being plotless. Instead of telling a story, Mitchard starts with the seminal climax and just wanders for a year or so afterwards, bringing up interesting vignettes. It's a popular modern writing convention, but one that doesn't work for me. I was left wondering what was the point of the story?

The Patron Saint of Butterflies, by Cecilia Galante

Agnes and Honey are close friends but have been growing apart. Agnes still adheres to the rules of the religious commune in which they grew up, while Honey is straying from the path. A surprise visit from Agnes's grandmother leads to an equally unexpected trip and causes both girls to confront their pasts and what they really want in their future lives.

The not-so-kind portrayal of religious fanatics is probably a bit too much, but it sets up an interesting background for this fairly by-the-numbers adventure. Suspense is kept to a minimum and the plot twists are predictable, but this is a decent read and we can look forward to more from Galante.

Hush, by Donna Jo Napoli

In this sprawling epic, based loosely on a real Irish princess of the Tenth Century, Melkorka goes from Ireland to captivity as a slave in Russia to a new life in Iceland -- a grand journey indeed! But she is also an unusual heroine: finding strength (and her "voice") through silence even as she loses everything around her that she values and everyone that she loves.

Napoli continues to be one of the strongest writers of YA historical fiction (and also myth/fairy tale retellings), combining rich details about the epoch and its customs with good storytelling. While this particular novel never really rises above the genre to make a significant point, it is an entertaining read and an engrossing story. As fair warning, the events in this novel may be a bit intense for younger readers, but even at those moments, Napoli is never exploitative.

The Missing Girl, by Norma Fox Mazer

There are five girls in the Herbert family, which is a lot of mouths to feed and times are not good. But as the family struggles with money and the girls go through typical sibling issues, no one notices the man in the gray coat who is watching them. He's the kind of person you pay no mind to until it's too late. One day, one of the girls goes missing.

There are two reasons I ended up really disliking this book. The first reason is the Ick Factor. The entire premise of the story (kidnapping and child molestation) was totally unnecessary. The second problem for me was the pointlessness of the story. Made up of unconnected ideas and undeveloped plotlines, the story (such as it is) meanders around. What was the point? Entertainment? (that's a sick thought, although the book is actually just boring) Education? (no lesson is ever taught -- neither characters nor reader learn anything) Message? (hardly present, beyond the ol' don't-talk-to-strangers chestnut) Pass!

Wake, by Lisa McMann

Since she was eight years-old, Janie has been able to see other peoples' dreams. But it isn't just about knowing what people dream about, she actually gets sucked into the dreams. And what started as an annoyance on sleepovers has become a serious liability now that Janie is 17 and getting ready for college. Then an encounter with an elderly lady and a friendship with a stoner-outcast boy (who has an uncanny ability to directly communicate with her in his dreams) sends Janie off in a new career direction with fascinating potential.

A strange and interesting premise that veers into weird territory in the end. Things are not helped by the writing style, which is intended to simulate dreaming, but comes out clunky and awkward. The characters never really develop and I found myself feeling cut off from any emotional connection with them. Great idea but the story just didn't deliver. But if you like this one, you can look forward to the sequel coming out in 2009.

What Happened to Lani Garver, by Carol Plum-Ucci

When the majorly androgynous Lani shows up in the Jersey Shore island of Hackett, his looks raise a lot of suspicion. It is only a matter of time before the rumors and accusations start to surface. But Claire doesn't believe any of it and, as she expresses doubt, the hostility she encounters from the people she grew up around leaves her wondering why all of the fuss is happening and leads her to question events from her past. Far too quickly, things come to a deadly head.

This is an ugly story with a nasty edge. It is hard to not come to the conclusion that the author hates small towns with her demonization of the people of Hackett. The characters are overwhelming weak or repulsive and the story shies away from any moments of redemption. There are some nice observations about group think and denial, but they are drowned in an unrelenting mean streak. The subplot about angels becomes rather meaningless in the end, and is largely used as an excuse to temper the horrific ending with fuzziness.

Alive and Well in Prague, New York, by Daphne Grab

When Matisse's father gets so sick with Parkinson's that he can no longer do his sculpture, her parents decide to move out of New York City and go Upstate to the tiny town of Prague, where excitement is a hayride and the art teacher does not know the difference between Matisse and Monet. It's a rough transition for Matisse and she does little to ingratiate herself into Prague's cliques. But then, she is also struggling to accept her father's condition and deal with her mother's denial.

As with the last book I reviewed, this one has a good premise for a story, but Grab's novel lacks subtlety. The narrator's voice (which never sounds authentically adolescent, but rather borders between selfish and jarringly reflective) does not quite work for me and the resulting story is clunky. I liked what the author was trying to do, but I can't really recommend the book.

The Other Half of Me, by Emily Franklin

Jenny is the odd one out in her family. They are all physically adept and athletic, while Jenny is clumsy and uncoordinated. Jenny isn't sure where her talents lie, but it may be in art, if she can ever finish a painting. But even if it is, her family couldn't care less. But there is more: Jenny is the offspring of a sperm donor and only a half-sibling to her brother and sisters. Feeling not only like an outsider, but also as if she is missing a half, she searches for (and finds) a half-sister (from the same donor). But meeting her half-sister has a complicated impact on her family and herself.

An interesting premise with some nuanced understanding of human interaction, but the parents go from clue-less to caring far too easily for me and everything wraps up too neatly. The conflicts are set up a bit too artificially and fall away without a struggle. Without any tension and a minimum of character evolution, this is a functional story, but no more.

How To Build A House, by Dana Reinhardt

Harper decides to spend the summer doing some good for the world by joining a group of teens who are helping a family in Tennessee rebuild their house after it has been destroyed by a tornado. But this trip is more about running away from her disintegrating family at home than learning to build a house. However, as far away from her family as she has gone, she can't quite escape reminders of what is back there. And the friendships she will develop in the summer will simply complicate those issues.

I liked Reinhardt's previous Harmless a lot and Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life was a near perfect pick for me, but this latest effort never quite engages me. Perhaps it is the story itself rather than the writer. Reinhardt, in my opinion, is fast rising to challenge Sarah Dessen's mantle as the Queen of YA, and How To Build A House has the same beautiful writing of her previous works. It still has the great insights that make you sigh. But I found the flashbacks to her past at home to be quite jarring and the housebuilding analogy was overextended. This is a good book, but not her best one.

The Compound, by S. A. Bodeen

Six years ago, Eli's father evacuated the family to an underground shelter to save them as the bombs started to fall and before nuclear winter descended on the planet. But after all these years trapped underground, Eli and his sisters have grown suspicious that there are secrets being withheld from them. This becomes more pressing as conditions grow more desperate. Their food supply is running out and Dad has turned to drastic measures.

A surprisingly gripping story, despite the fact that you really do know how it is going to end. Good pacing and a decent number of twists and turns keep things interesting up to the conclusion. As a result, this story ends up being a decent action/suspense piece with enough of a human element to keep it engaging. A few days after reading it, I'm questioning a few of the weaker plot points, but while I was reading, I was pretty engrossed.

Ghostgirl, by Tonya Hurley

The problem with dying to be popular is that if you want it too much, you may in fact really die. Or, at least, that is the premise of this wickedly funny satire of teen angst. After a fatal choking incident involved a gummy bear, Charlotte goes from being invisible at her school to being dead. This actually changes things for the better as people start to see her and she may yet win a chance to snag the boy of her dreams and go to the Fall Dance with him. But first, she must pass Dead Ed, convince the school's goth girl to switch bodies with her, and deal with the horrid Prue (who is to the Afterlife what snotty cheerleader Petula is to the high school). After all, it's a matter of life or.... (well, you get the idea!).

An extraordinarily clever story that finds the meeting point between self-absorbed adolescent melodrama, gothic romance, and horror -- a surprisingly compatible mixture -- and stirs in some pee-in-your-pants one-liners and cultural references from at least three decades of YA/horror/high school. My personal favorite was the Dead Ed movie (a direct reference to the sex-ed movies of the early 80s that I was subjected to) - yes, your body is indeed changing! OMG! The first 100 pages of this quick read had me dying from laughter.

That said, the cleverness is marred a bit by a plot that veers off into weirdo land in the next 100 pages and never really comes back up for air. Hurley never loses her satirical edge (although some of the puns get tired), but the story could have used some rethinking. That is a terrible shame since the boom is otherwise an enjoyable romp!

A Curse Dark as Gold, by Elizabeth C. Bunce

In this retelling of the classic fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin, the Miller family's spinning mill has survived under The Curse for many years. Ranging from little things like windows that break for no reason to the fact that no male offspring born at the house has lived to adulthood, the family has had a lot of bad luck! But as the last living Miller daughters attempt to keep things together, a stranger shows up who can perform miracles, and he promises to fix their promises. Instead, the truth is somewhat more complicated.

Rich and engrossing, this fairly long novel (nearly 400 pages) is well worth the read. This complex story is blessed with excellent delivery as all of the pieces fall into place as the mysteries are revealed. Add to the deft storytelling some wonderful historical and cultural detail about the period (late 18th century wool spinners) and you get quite a gem!

And what can you say about one of the prettiest covers of the year so far in YA!

The Vanishing Point, by Susan Bonners

Kate comes to the beach to spend the Summer with the Harris family (friends of her parents) and their daughter Alison. Kate and Alison spend the Summer trying out the 44 flavors of ice cream at the Purple Cow, rescuing orphaned animals, and taking art lessons. An impulse purchase at an auction launches Kate on an investigation into the history of a local famed artist.

Random and poorly written, this is a rough read. The subplot about the mysterious painting is interesting, but most of the book is jumbled. The plots that do develop are missing key points and at the same time, the author finds space for significant unrelated digressions. A mess!

North of Beautiful, by Justina Chen Headley

Terra is a strikingly beautiful young woman at first glance. But when people see the large flaw on her face, they always cringe. Between that and her abusive father and beatten-down mother, Terra has struggled to come out of her shell. But when an accident and a terrible Christmas gathering send Terra and her mother into the globe-trotting unknown, things start to change.

An unusual premise ripe with potential and a story with a comfortable predictableness. Yes, you know that Terra is going to find herself and recognize her true potential at the end. Yes, the metaphors sometimes come on a bit too heavy. But there are wonderful surprises in this book and scenes (like the one in the orphanage) that will have your eyes welling up. Headley makes the story poignant without being exploitative (a very tricky and important balance). And the ending - while predictable - is satisfying and sufficient.

Don't look for this one in stores yet. It's a rare (for me) advance reading copy (thank you!). It won't be out in general release untyil February 2009. But put it on your wish list now because it is well worth reading!

Reaching for Sun, by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

Josie has cerebral palsy. In verse, Josie tells us about an eventful year, when she turned 14 and was friends with the boy genius Jordan, when her grandmother had a stroke, her Mom got a job, and Josie herself found the voice she needed to confront her family and speak the truth. Kids at school may call her a "retard," but she is no baby.

Verse novels have two basic pitfalls -- being thin on character development and overdoing on pathos. This novel is guilty of both. It's a nice idea though as there are not a lot of books out there about CP. And the verse itself has several clever moments. But it's not enough to save this rather slight story.

Larger-Than-Life Lara, by Dandy Daley Mackall

When Lara comes to Paris Elementary, the kids in 4th grade can't help but make fun of her size. But no matter how much they tease her and how mean they are to her, she just smiles back and responds with a rhyme. Not that it helps any as the kids (and even the teachers) pick on her. But in the eyes of the narrator (her classmate Laney, who has problems of her own) she is a great hero.

A moderately clever book for middle readers, with an obvious debt to Stargirl. It has a few original additions to the formula (the narrator likes to explain her literary devices and her grammar/voice is authentic). But the narrative has so many loose ends that one wishes the author had tried to do less (for example, cutting out the subplot about Laney's home life, which basically goes nowhere).

Get Well Soon, by Julie Halpern

Anna Bloom recounts her twenty-one days spent in a mental hospital. As expected, the story tracks her recovery from an anxious and nervous young woman to one with slightly more confidence, as she discovers that she can make friends and even find a boyfriend in a supportive environment.

Not a bad novel, but not an overly ambitious story either. There have been plenty of good novels about teenagers in mental institutions. This one simply doesn't do much. Anna's problems are never quite articulated and, in fact, seem to have more to do with the incompetence of her caregivers than any real issues. One gets the sense that her entire treatment experience was a waste, but even that particular angle is not explored.

Madapple, by Christina Meldrum

Aslaug has lived a very isolated life in the wilds of Maine, raised and heavily controlled by her mother. When Mother dies, Aslaug is set adrift but finds the aunt and cousins that she never knew she had. But if life with Mother was a bit odd, her new family is even stranger and things quickly descend into madness. Told in flashback (and in the present through courtroom testimony), we gradually piece together what has happened.

A richly textured book with exotic characters, Madapple is densely written and a bit hard to get through. After 50 or so pages, I began to get comfortable with the style and really enjoy the book, but at midpoint the writing descends into some dry religious history and starts to lecture. Apparently Meldrum became really interested in early Christian thought and wanted to share. There is a point to this (it has some bearing on the plot) but she goes way overboard and I lost interest quickly. The ending is a bit convenient (relying upon that weaker courtroom drama device of the surprise witness). Overall an original and provocative book but it gets a mixed review from me.