It Came from the Sky by Chelsea Sedoti

Gideon and is brother Ishmael are so different. Gideon is a serious science guy who dreams of going to MIT. He even has his own lab in the shed outback. Ishmael is a laid back prankster. Gideon worries; Ishmael goes with the flow. They get along, but rarely see eye to eye... until one of Gideon's experiments blows a huge crater in the backyard, and they decide to tell everyone it was from an alien spacecraft. 

You can understand why Ishmael would do it (he is too enthusiastic - he may have helped increase the size of the explosion). Gideon, though, is supposed to be the level headed one. But he sees an opportunity to do a social experiment that will make his MIT application stand out. The problem is people actually believe the story - people from all over the world are suddenly interested in their small town. 

 Lots of things happen in this humorous story. The brothers keep the people interested by faking other alien activities (like making crop circles). The head of their mom’s company (a health products network that is probably a scam) shows up to exploit the town for marketing and his own self- indulgence. Gideon is secretly dating Owen; secretly because as the only openly gay males in their school, Gideon does not want people to think that they are dating because they have no choice (yes, Gideon is insecure). Oh, there is a giant lave lamp in the center of town.

This is a fun read even though you want tell Gideon to chill out. There is some suspense (like how much trouble are these two going to get into); some romance; a little adventure; fake science fiction. Really, a bit of everything.

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

The History of Jane Doe by Michael Belanger

Ray lives in a weird little Connecticut town, Williamsburg (aka Burgerville). Being the history buff that he is, he knows all about the strange happenings his town's past including the green cows. Were the cows real? Does it even matter when everyone still talks about them?

One day, a young woman comes to town who Ray (the narrator) only calls Jane Doe for this story. She chooses to hang out with Ray and his friend Simon when she could obviously be part of the popular crowd. Jane is unlike anyone.

Jane loves folk music thanks to her Grandma Irene (a somewhat famous singer in her day) who has a connection to Burgerville. The story of the one time folk festival that Irene organized is one of the stories shared between Ray and Jane. Ray takes Jane to all the sites of famous Burgerville historical moments.

I'm finding its difficult to describe this book. Really, it is two young people discovering themselves (ya, I know what teen book isn't). Ray gets to do a rare thing: share his interests with someone who is interested (or at least interested in him enough to listen). Jane...there is more going on with her than Ray knows and for a short time he gets to see her for who she is.

The story is quirky, funny and serious, too. I look forward to another book by this author.

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