Literally by Lucy Keating

How much control do you really have over your life? Annabelle likes to be in control and organized. Just look at her color coded schedule. Lately, she feels less in control. Like how her parents are going to sell their comfortable house in Venice Beach because they separating. Selling Annabelle's house? Her parents splitting up?

And then there's Elliott, her brother's best friend who has been hanging around annoying Annabelle since they were kids. Why is she getting this vibe that there is now something between them?

Just to stir things up a little more: enter Will, the new guy in school, who takes an immediate liking to Annabelle. He is gorgeous and is just perfect for her. Maybe too perfect.

Changes are frustrating, but they are just part of life, right? Maybe for most people, but Annabelle is told that someone is controlling her life...

Author Lucy Keating visits Annabelle's fiction writing class and describes her new book. The plot is Annabelle's life - house selling, parents separating; the whole thing. After class, Keating tells Annabelle that she is just a character in one of her books. It has to be a joke. At least, Annabelle thinks so until other things start happening. The author wants to give Annabelle a happy ending, but it may not be the life Annabelle wants for herself.

An author putting herself in her book to interact with the characters is a bit meta and tricky. It could have easily warped into a confusing plot, but Keating treads carefully. It makes me wonder if the author sometimes feels like she is not totally in control of her characters and that her stories ultimately go in directions she was not planning.

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

A Lie for a Lie by Robin Merrow MacCready

As a child, Kendra had a traumatic experience on a boat with her mom, dad and family friends. She likes going to the beach, but to this day she has anxiety when the high tide approaches. Her dad has always been the one to calmer her when the anxiety arises. Attending a music festival with her friend Jenn, Kendra sees her father with a woman who is not her mother. The shock is almost too much.

Kendra and Jenn have decided this is going to be a breakout summer. Jenn is going after the guy she liked, and Kendra will try to break from her routine whenever she feels anxious. Kendra's summer becomes two pursuits: Will, the guy she turned down causing him to turn to his current girlfriend Nicole, and her father to find out who the other women might be.

Kendra stakes out her the apartment of the other woman and sees a young child. Does her father have another family? Jenn worries Kendra is becoming obsessed and reckless in pursuing her father. Kendra's friend, Bo, is the only one who is supportive.

As her interactions with Will become more serious, it's not clear if Kendra is more like her father than she is willing to admit. Whatever happens, it is not the summer Kendra had planned.

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

Another Day by David Levithan

Every Day by David Levithan is one of the most original teen books I have ever read. It is the story of someone named A who wakes up in a different body every day. A only gets one day in that person, boy or girl, it doesn't matter. A knows no other life; he/she has always lived this way. It is difficult to connect to anyone when you are shifting lives all the time, so A is truly surprised when he/she meets Rhiannon while spending a day as her boyfriend Justin. It could be love, but the only way to know is to try to return to Rhiannon (as other people) whenever possible.

Every Day is told from A's perspective; Another Day is the same events from Rhiannon's perspective. Fortunately for me, it has been a long time since I read the first book. I had forgotten enough of the story that this was one was fresh and new to me. The stories are so parallel that you could probably alternate back and forth between them to get the full perspective.

In the first book, we learn about each person that A is inhabiting and the daily struggles of learning all about their lives. We also see A struggle to return to Rhiannon without disrupting the life he/she is inhabiting. In this book, we follow Rhiannon as she struggles with the idea of someone like A existing and how they could ever be together.

I think I would have enjoyed this book less had I just read the first book. Still, I recommend them both. It is a fascinating story about sexual identity and judging people based on their outward appearance.

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

Surf Mules by G. Neri

For surfers, it's all about the next big wave. Hitting the surf whenever possible to ride that perfect wave is a lifestyle. Logan and Z-boy never want to give that up. Just after high school (Logan graduated, Z-boy was short a few credits), they wonder about the rest of their lives. It's tough to make a living as a surfer, so they decide to become drug runners to make a lot of money quickly.

There are better ways to deal with your future plans than getting involved with drugs, but the opportunity presents itself at moment when their lives aren't exactly stellar. Logan and Z-boy just lost their close friend, Fin. He was an excellent surfer, but took a hit on a huge wave and never came back up. Logan recently fought with Fin and never reconciled. Also, Logan's deadbeat dad has his college fund tied up in debts. Z-boy has nothing to look forward to except the waves.

If the two could make enough money to buy a nice place near the ocean, they could live carefree for the rest of their lives surfing, smoking pot and meeting women. When someone connects them to a big time dealer who will pay them to drive a car filled with pot across the country to be sold, they see the possibilities of a bright future. They've never really traveled beyond California, but now they must drive to Florida under the guise of being young Republicans out to recruit for the party. Two inexperienced surfer dudes crossing the country on their own for the first time with a car full of illegal drugs, what could go wrong?

Even though we know these young men have made a stupid decision (not mention an illegal one) we hope they succeed. We want them to get back safe. They have long lives ahead of them and plenty of waves to catch.

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

The Benefactor by Erin Fry

I don't really watch reality shows, but it is impossible not to know about them and know how they are work. With this story, we get a behind the scenes look at a show that pits eight high school students against each other for a chance to win a scholarship to one of the top schools in the country.

So you know the set up - contestants live in a house together (in this case, boys and girls in separate houses) and compete in a series of tasks after which someone is sent home.

We follow each contestant and the shows creator through its first season. The four boys and four girls each have a compelling reason for wanting the scholarship. For example, Tyrell hurt himself playing football. We know what contestants are thinking and how they are playing the game. We also know that creator (who is unknown to the public) has doubts and struggles he must deal with also.

This story could have been filled with cliche student characters (the jock, the brainy kid, the rebel - think The Breakfast Club), but the teens are more complex which is quite a feat for a relatively short book with so many characters.

I've read a few books recently with reality shows as a part of the story. They usually address how being on the show has messed up the participants. This one has a more positive take on the contestants and its creator. As with actual reality shows, the suspense comes with the question of who will survive to the end. Who will make a mistake and get kicked off? Knowing the characters back stories make the questions all the more compelling. This is a fun quick read with some interesting characters and is probably better than any actual reality show.

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

September Girls by Bennett Madison

Strange book. For me, at least. I kind of knew what was going on from the beginning, but not exactly. I suspected things, but not all the details. Could I be anymore vague? Let me give it a try.

Sam and his brother and dad leave their suburban home suddenly before the end of the school year to spend the summer in a beach town. It has been several months since his mom left them for a different life. Sam's dad has been flailing about since and decided they all need a change of scenery.

Their summer rental home is right on the beach but more run down and weather worn than one might hope. The dad quickly takes up treasure hunting with a metal detector leaving Sam and his older brother, Jeff, mostly on their own. Jeff has been away at college and missed much of the drama surrounding his mother's departure and the aftermath.

So while everything in the small beach town seems old and in need of upkeep, there is definitely something unique happening - the town is filled with beautiful young women (who for some reason keeping giving 17 year old Sam the eye - much to his brother's displeasure). The women are not just the average girl you would find in your own home town. They all have some mystique about them (and they all look very similar). We as readers are given some very ambiguous dialogue from one of the girls (in between chapters narrated by Sam). It is kind of unnerving in that I never knew exactly what was being revealed even after reading the sections. But I kept with it as Sam and Jeff were drawn to the girls, two in particular, Kristle and DeeDee.

Sam hangs out with DeeDee and does normal things (like go to parties), but the girls do not behave like any Sam has met before. He is entranced and frustrated at the same time.

In some ways, reading this book was like sitting on the beach in the hot sun for too long. You were happy you went to the beach, but you wonder if it was worth staying the extra hour. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret reading this book. It's just very different from what I normally read. I will  leave you to decide on your own what you think about these mysterious girls in this odd small beach town and the effect it all has on these two brothers.

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