The Gifted, the Talented, and Me by William Sutcliffe

Sam's younger sister is a budding artist. His older brother has potential as a musician. And Sam is good at...well, he excels in...he likes soccer. That was perfectly fine in his old public school. But once his family comes into some money, his parents move them all to London where the three children will attend an exclusive arts academy. Yay for Sam. 

Sam is miserable at the new school. His mom (who starts writing a blog about her parenting) constantly pushes Sam to the point where he feels like she doesn't understand him. He is not like his siblings. He has no talent and does not fit in at the school. She's not even trying to listen to him. 

There is Jennifer who is way too talented and popular and pretty for Sam. Through a chance pairing up with her in class, he thinks maybe getting involve in drama wouldn't be too bad. He could at least see her. 

Of course, there's Jennifer's boyfriend, Felipe, who thinks he is the greatest actor ever. He was already bullying Sam before Sam showed any interest in acting. 

Sam's struggles continues with moments of light and hope. Sam is a sympathetic character who pushes the limit of being frustrating only to be redeemed by the atrocious behavior of his mother. Stay with Sam through his story; it is worth it. 

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog. 
 

Time Travel for Love and Profit by Sarah Lariviere

Time travel is tricky at best. Have you ever read or seen a time travel story that didn't have something go wrong? No exception in this story. 

Nephele uses her supreme grasp of math to make an app on her phone that allows her to travel back in time. She will tell you that her long term goal is to save the planet by stopping pollution, but in truth she wants a do over of her freshman year. It just doesn't turn out like she was hoping. 

Without giving away too much, Nephele's travels make her a freshman again while everyone else moves on. Her friends (the few she has) don't know her. Her parents can't tell her when she was born. Things are not quite right. Sure, Nephele doesn't get stuck with that horrible nickname this time around, but she has not become popular either. 

Nephele is concerned about the potential harm she has caused her parents, but ultimately is blinded by her need to get the math right with her app. She is not always the most caring person. 

Like most stories involving time travel, you shouldn't think too much about inconsistencies or logic bending plot elements. While this is not the most intriguing time travel story I have ever read, I was interested to see how it was resolved. Nephele is a little out there, but so is this story. 

For more info check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.