A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend

Reader: Guananí
Age: 15
Title: A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend
Author: Emily Horner
Publisher: Penguin
Pub Date: June 2010
Galley: No
Nominate for Teen's Top10: No
Recommend: No
Convince us to read the book: I would not recommend this book because even though it tried to tackle several big themes like dealing with grief, forgiveness, figuring out your sexual identity and slapstick ninja musicals, the story and main character just weren't convincing. Most of the prose was the main character complaining, explaining and griping about her romantic and grief confusion, which was fine at first but became exhausting after sixty pages. The style of switching back and forth every chapter between the epic bike ride in June and tedious theater work and relationship slogging in August was confusing and made me frustrated because I kept wanting things in order. Then again, without the switching the book would have lost the little suspense it had. I ended up skimming and skipping many chapters, and by the end only a couple predictable things had changed.
Compelling aspects of the book: The one thing I liked about this book was when Cassandra kisses the random bass player in the motel hallway. It was the most descriptive scene and was funny and interesting at the same time. I think I would have rather read a short story adaptation of that scene than the rest of the book.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: Yes
Reasons why you were disappointed with the book: I think I covered my disappointment. Since I skipped or skimmed about half the book, I think it doesn't count as actually finishing it.
Cover: I picked up this book because the style of the cover made me think it would be a silly, slightly dumb but fun summer kind of book. It also had "dead" in the title, which always gets my attention. The image of the motel and the bike fit the content physically, but was too cheerful for the book's mood. The pictured girl looks very happy, fashionable and giddy, almost the complete opposite of the grief-stricken,conflicted main character trying to pedal away from her thoughts and obsessing about not being cool and pretty.
Age Range: 12-15
Quality: 2Q Needs more work

Cinder

Reader: Emily

Age: 17
Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pub Date: 01/03/2012
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teen's Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: Cinder is a fascinating story about a cyborg mechanic in New Beijing. Hundreds of years in the future, Cinder is in the guardianship of a spiteful stepmother and two unpleasant sisters. New Beijing is under the threat of invasion by "Lunars," people from the moon. Cinder is a fascinating tale that embraces the old cinderella story and takes it on a quirky twist to the future. Cinder is the first teen novel I've read in the past few years that is a action packed, romantic, robotic, quixotic novel that keeps you at the edge of your chair. The rest of the series better be as good as this. A+
Compelling aspects of the book: Even though this is a futuristic novel of Cinderella, it is not just a retelling. Ms. Meyer creates an entirely new story.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: No
Cover: Fantastic cover! (and I don't say that often) The red shoe and older font acknowledge the original Cinderella story, but the leg with cyborg parts perfectly represents the science fiction, cyborg main character.
Age Range: 14-17

Genesis Alpha

Reader: Emily
Age: 17
Title: Genesis Alpha
Author: Rune Michaels
Publisher: Athenum Books
Pub Date: 04/26/2011
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teen's Top 10: No
Recommend: No
Convince us to read the book: N/A
Compelling aspects of the book: I think the psychological aspect of this book is fascinating, especially when the reader's find out (spoiler) that Josh is Max's clone. For most of the book, the reader is bewildered as to why Max murdered the girl, but with the clone coming out, it makes sense. The book is bizarre and confusing, but manages to make sense by the end of the novel
Cover: The cover is fairly busy, not attractive and quite confusing. Although, to be fair, the book is confusing as well. The cover fits the book, but is not an attractive cover.
Age Range: 14-17
Quality: 3Q Readable

The Way We Fall

Reader: Emily
Age: 17
Title: The Way We Fall
Author: Megan Crewe
Publisher: Hyperion
Pub Date: 01/24/2012
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teen's Top 10: No
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: The Way We Fall is a novel about Kaelyn, a girl with a solid family and warm community...until people start dying. A mysterious sickness leaves people falling ill and going crazy as a sickness spreads throughout the island. The government prevents any evacuation and through their paranoia, end up killing several citizens. Kaelyn tries to keep her family from falling apart as no cure is created and people resort to violence.
Compelling aspects of the book: As a virus, biological, government threat, natural selection, etc novel, I was quite impressed. I think that the plot was well written and believable, and didn't have people turning into zombies or running around like headless chickens. There was a sense of order to the story, which made it believable and enjoyable to read.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: Yes
Reasons why you were disappointed with the book: I don't think that this novel needs to be part of a series, it reads as if it were meant to end when it did, without a follow-up.
Cover: The cover is very bland and washed out, which is the opposite of the book. Some color would be nice, or just not a giant face on the cover.
Age Range: 14-18 up

Saving June

Reader: Emily
Age: 17
Title: Saving June
Author: Hannah Harrington
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pub Date: 11/11/2011
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teen's Top 10: No
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: Saving June is a poignant story about Harper Scott, a teenager whose older sister June just died. Left with her single mother and a religious aunt, she wonders why her sister did it and what was wrong with her life. At the funeral, she runs into Jake, a moody 19 year old who must have some connection with June. After contemplating on her life, Harper, Laney (Harper's best friend), and Jake take a spiritual journey to California to release June's ashes. Saving June is an emotional story that is both somber and tender.
Compelling aspects of the book: Ms. Harrington writes a deep novel that takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster. Reading the novel, you feel as if the characters truly come alive. Saving June is not a light hearted book, but it is a beautiful story.
Cover: Peaceful cover. The overall effect is melancholy, which sums up some of the undertones of the novel. I enjoy the falling petals, which seem symbolic of letting something go. I think this cover fits the book as it is.
Age Range: 14-17
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 5P Everyone wants to read

The Gathering Storm

Reader: Emily
Age: 17
Title: The Gathering Storm
Author: Robin Bridges
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pub Date: 01/10/2012
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teen's Top 10: No
Recommend: No
Convince us to read the book: N/A
Compelling aspects of the book: I think what is interesting about this book is that Robin Bridges chose to write about 19th century Russia. Instead of creating a hypothetically historical route (although this book is full of historical ideas), she wrote about magic, necromancy and the undead. Bridges starts the book in a conflicting manner, but manages to tie in vampires, werewolves, and all manner of strange beasts by the end of the book.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: Yes
Reasons why you were disappointed with the book: First, the first few chapters of this book are quite confusing to the reader. The book starts off as a historical novel, but quickly changes into a story of the supernatural. The reader will feel confused about the direction of the story, perhaps the vampire princesses and princes could be tied in better? Second, the synopsis on the back of this book barely suggests supernatural beings, only the main character having the powers of necromancy. The reader would be misguided when first reading this book and think it was more of a historical romance than an historical paranormal novel
Cover: This cover could do with some improvement. The title's font contrasts with the crisp image on the cover. When viewing the cover, it can be difficult to focus in on either the girl or the title. Also, a little less snow on the girl, it would be nice to see more of what she is wearing and perhaps give the reader a better sense of the time period. I suggest a more angular font which would better represent the book.
Age Range: 12-17
Quality: 2Q Needs more work
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal