Every Moment After by Joseph Moldover

For Matt and Cole, everything change the day a shooter entered their first grade classroom and killed their classmates. Matt was sick at home and feels guilty for not being there. Cole was rescued by the police chief, a moment that was captured in a photograph that became famous. And their friend, Andy...he didn't survive. Matt and Cole are now graduating from high school and must decide what to do with the rest of their lives.

The shooting is never far from their minds. How could it be living in the same small town where it happened. Matt and Cole tell their stories in alternating chapters. Cole is trying to work up the courage to tell Viola (who moved into town way after the shooting) how he feels about her. He thinks an end of summer grand gesture is the way to go. He is depending on Matt to get the money needed to pull it off which unfortunately may lead to doing questionable things (like selling Cole's dad's old pain medication).

Matt is forever questioning whether he should even by alive. He escaped the shooting because his diabetes kept him home that day. He still regrets it, and it has made him more impulsive than Cole. He feels left out of the dominant conversation of his life. He looks for answers in sex, in indifference to his glucose levels and in physically pushing himself to the brink of death.

I have read more than few books about school shootings, but they usually cover the tragedy itself. This one delves into the long, painful aftermath: the survivors, the permanently injured, the parents of the victims, the children of the heroes, the broken families and even the childhood home of the shooter. It excruciatingly relevant in the time we are living. A shooting happens somewhere and the world moves on. For those directly affected, the trauma never truly ends.

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

Hope and Other Punch Lines by Julie Buxbaum

Abbi survived the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. That day was Abbi's first birthday. She is Baby Hope captured in a famous photograph holding a red balloon and being carried by a fleeing woman. That photo has become a symbol of hope.

But Abbi is not really Baby Hope. She was that baby, but now she is 15 and does not feel connected to the photo. At this point in her life, she just wants to put it behind her.

Noah wants to know more about that day. He is interested in the other people in the photo who are running in the back ground. He feels it is fate that he and Abbi end up working at the same summer camp as counselors. Maybe he can get her to help him find the others and interview them. Her involvement will give his project credibility. Noah's best friend Jack thinks the whole idea is stupid.

Told in the alternating voices of Abbi and Noah, we learn how each is coping with the day that changed the world. Will Abbi get the illness that has already taken so many 9/11 survivors? Why is Noah so interested in the other people? Why does his mom never talk about his dad who died in the attack that day?

Those of us old enough to remember September 11 do not need reminders. But younger people should know what happened that day and understand why the aftermath will reverberate for generations. This story does a good job of bringing the horror and sadness of the day without recreating the actual events. Readers can experience the personal loss through these characters.

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

Summer of '69 by Todd Strasser

As the title states, this story takes place in the summer of 1969. Lucas has just graduated from high school, but doesn't know what comes next. He is one of the growing number of young people who are against the establishment. He has long hair, smokes weed, takes LSD, drives a psychedelic VW bus and protests against the war in Vietnam. You would think being of the hippie mindset would be make Lucas pretty mellow, but no. Lucas has a lot on his mind.

Let's start with Robin, his girlfriend. For the summer she is heading up to Canada to work at a camp. She has already expressed dissatisfaction with some of Lucas' choices (his drug use, for example), so being apart all summer has him concerned.

Lucas' dad. Lucas doesn't like his dad. His dad owns businesses and can set his own hours - most of them he spends playing tennis (obsessively, so). Lucas also knows that his dad has been frequently unfaithful to his mother. And Lucas certainly has not turned out to be what his father wanted him to be.

Tinsley, the free love photographer Lucas meets through his cousin. With Robin so far away...Tinsley is so tempting. Is she flirting? Is there something between them? Lucas is definitely thinking about her.

And Vietnam. Lucas does not want to get drafted and sent to war. The letters from his friend who is there remind of the daily horrors. The problem for Lucas is that he didn't get accepted to college. He should have studied more when had the chance. Now, he is desperately trying to find away to avoid military service.

Other books I have read for young people set in the same time period tend to focus on Vietnam or Woodstock, but this one is a slice out of a young person's ever day life and deals with multiple issues and events. It is refreshing to have a story for young people that provides a glimpse into the late 60s without glorifying it.

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.

Bang by Barry Lyga

When Sebastian was four years old, he accidentally killed his infant sister with a gun. Ten years later, Sebastian is waiting for the right time to use a gun on himself. The voice in his head will tell him when.

Sebastian lives with his mother in the same house where the accident happened. She won't talk about his sister Lola and what happened that horrible day even though Sebastian needs her to. By trying to avoid it, neither can ever escape it for long. His dad left long ago.

Sebastian is the guy who shot his sister. Everyone knows it even if they don't talk about it anymore, so Sebastian is pleased when he meets Aneesa, a new girl in town. He is immediately taken with her face and how it is framed by the scarf wrapped around her head. Aneesa is different and doesn't know anything about Sebastian's past. They begin hanging out and quickly bond.

Aneesa suggests that she and Sebastian start an online video series of Sebastian making pizza (after impressing her with his cooking skills). They hope they will eventually be able to make money if the videos become popular enough. Is his friendship (and maybe more?) with Aneesa enough to stop the voice in his head?

The horrible death of his sister has eaten away at Sebastian, and it has come to define who he is. Heart wrenching but with hope - just what you expect from Barry Lyga.

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

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

Marin is alone. She stayed in her college dorm (with special permission) over the holidays while everyone else went home. Marin feels like she has nowhere to go. Her mother died a long time ago while surfing and her grandpa (who she lived with) is gone now, too.

Marin lived in California until she fled to her college in New York two weeks before the semester started. She left abruptly and came with few possessions. She has tried to escape what happened back home. It is with mixed feelings that she awaits a visit from her best friend Mabel who she has not had any contact with since she left.

Something happened back in California that only Marin can explain and she has not been ready to do that. What will she say to Mabel? They were so close for so long and now they seem almost like strangers. In the middle of a snow storm, the two friends only have each other.

This is not a story of action; it is a sorrowful story of a lost young woman. Marin's story is peeled back in small bits. Her secrets are revealed slowly through flashbacks and conversation with Mabel. It is a remarkable story that is worth the read to find out why Marin left everything behind. To tell more would be unfair to you.

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

Three Day Summer by Sarvenaz Tash

For three days in 1969, the Woodstock music festival made the small town of Bethel, New York, the center of the rock world. Thousands of people gathered in the name of peace to hear some of the biggest names in music. Two of those people are Michael and Cora, and this is how they met and spent those three days.

Michael drove from Massachusetts with his friend Evan, his girlfriend Amanda, and Amanda's two friends. He's not sure what to do with his life. Go to college? Join the military? He's also not sure about his girlfriend Amanda. Sometimes it seems like she doesn't even like him, so why is she with him at all?

Cora lives in Bethel on a farm. Her dad has nothing but disdain for the people coming to the festival. He is a veteran with great pride in his oldest son's current service in Vietnam. He's not as happy with Cora and her war protesting twin brother. Cora wants to be a nurse...no, she really wants to be a doctor, a lofty goal for a woman from a small town in those times. She works as a candy striper in the medical tent at the festival.

Michael takes some acid with bad results, so his friends take him to the medical tent where he is attended to by Cora. Michael doesn't remember much about their first encounter, but soon realizes Cora is nothing like Amanda. Separated from his friends, Michael asks Cora to hang with him.

The festival allows to Michael and Cora to escape their worries for a bit: Cora's strict father and her brother in Vietnam; Michael's future and his issues with Amanda. Michael gets lost in the music and takes Cora with him. They run into famous people and share in the generosity of their fellow festival goers. Neither, of course, knows the mythical quality that Woodstock will one day represent to generations. But we do, so we can go along with them to feel just a little bit of what it could have been like for those three days of peace, love and music.

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

I'm Glad I Did by Cynthia Weil

JJ Green wants to be a professional songwriter. Her mom is a lawyer. Her dad is a judge. Her brother is in law school. Hmmm...I wonder what they want her to do?

Luckily for JJ, she lives in New York City. In 1963, there is no place better for aspiring songwriters than the Brill Building, home to successful music composers and publishers.

JJ's mom has nothing kind to say about the music business (largely due to her brother Bernie), but has agreed to let JJ work the summer as an intern in the Brill Building with the stipulation that JJ has to write a song that becomes a hit record by the end of summer or she gives up her dream of becoming a professional songwriter.

JJ often has lunch with her estranged Uncle Bernie (who is a big executive in the building). She is happy to learn from him, but she would never tell her mother about their contact. She meets Luke, who at first is aloof and mysterious, but turns out to be a lyricist who immediately understands her music. JJ befriends the night janitor who turns out to be the once famous singer Dulcie Brown herself. It is a fateful friendship that reveals much about everyone's past. And then there is the murder...

...Or is it suicide like the police think? This is not just a story of a girl trying to prove something to herself and her parents (with a little romance thrown in, too). JJ must solve the murder of someone close to her - it becomes more important than anything else that summer including songwriting.

Cynthia Weil, the author, is a songwriter who worked in the Brill Building in 1960s and along with her husband wrote some of the most famous pop songs of the time.

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

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King

I have no idea how A.S. King comes up with her ideas. Her characters are so different from anything I could ever think up and they live in such unique circumstances (that are often somber). And the things they think and do are so intriguing. For all these reasons and more, she is one of my favorite authors.

So much to say about Glory's life. Let's start with her mother who committed suicide by sticking her head in the oven when Glory was only 4. Her mom was talented photographer with a deep interest in the process of developing pictures. Glory takes picture, too, and aspires to be like her mother.

Glory lives with her father in the same house where the suicide occurred (the stove is gone and never replaced). He was an artist who now spends his time sitting on the couch doing tech support from his laptop. He does not talk about Darla (Glory's mom) and has left Glory with a lot of unanswered questions.

Across from their house, there is a commune where Glory's best friend, Ellie lives. Ellie's mom, Jasmine, runs the commune. Ellie stopped going to school a long time ago and will not be graduating with Glory in a few days. Glory wonders if their friendship should continue. Pretty normal stuff so far...

I will not elaborate how, but Glory and Ellie do something that allows them to see a person's past and future when looking at their face. Not just the person, but generations in the past and future.Glory sees what is going to happen to people and society in the not too distant future, and it isn't pretty (if its even real).

Glory's life is in transition as she is graduating. She wonders about her mother, discovering more about her through things left behind in her dark room. She questions her relationship with Ellie. She writes down her visions of the future. She wonders where she fits in the world. It's confusing enough for any teen without having to see the future of mankind.

Another good one from this author who bends reality just enough to make things interesting.

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

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

This has been on my radar for quite some time. I heard about it at a couple of conferences I attended, but didn't think much about it. Fortunately, a young person at my library recommended it to me, and I cannot wait to tell her how much I liked it.

Once again I found myself in the pages of a book. Ari, our narrator, says things that I have thought in my own head (and even said out loud to a few people). I always pause when I hit one of those lines. It is a moment of clarity and wonder. I am always surprised that others have felt the same way that I have. But enough about me...

Ari doesn't have any friends until he meets Dante. And he questions their friendship often (for a long time). Dante is so different. He seems so sure of things and thinks about life a unique way. Dante's father is a professor; his mother a therapist. They are outgoing and friendly. Ari's dad doesn't say much; he was in Vietnam and never talks about it. His mom is a teacher and more open with Ari, but she, too, keeps things locked inside. Neither talk about Ari's older brother who is in prison.

Ari wants nothing more than to know about his brother. He was just a child when his brother was incarcerated, so he has only possible memories of him. Ari wants someone to at least acknowledge that his brother exists.

With Dante, Ari's life is more interesting and frustrating at times. They are both growing and learning about themselves as tragedies happen and events separate them.

If it seems like I am being purposely vague, that would be because I am. I don't want to give anything away in this amazing story about these boys and their complex relationship with each other and their parents.

Books fascinate me. If you read enough and you are lucky, you might find one that speaks to you on levels you never could have imagined. This is one of those books for me.

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

I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora

Is there a better way to make a book popular than by making it hard to get? Three friends in a small Connecticut town do not think so. The summer before they start high school, they decide that the only book from their summer reading list that anyone should read is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

It seems like a crazy notion at first (even to them), but Lucy, Michael and Elena love books and want to pay tribute to their favorite teacher, Fat Bob, who died unexpectedly during school the past year.

So how does one make a classic book that can be found in any library or bookstore disappear? They can't steal them. Breaking the law is not an option. They decide to hide them among books in other sections of the stores and libraries. They are committed to the cause, taking the bus to as many surrounding stores and libraries as possible. Wanting people to know it is being done, they leave fliers in place of the missing books and become a presence on all the major social media outlets. Keeping their identities secret is a must.

They never meant to start a movement, but books start disappearing all over the country (ah, the power of the internet). What is driving people to participate and how can our trio stop it before it gets truly out of hand and their secret is revealed?

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

Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Here we go...another teen book set in a Revolutionary War reenactment tourist destination. I mean, really, how many of these can you read? OK, just kidding. I actually chose this one because it was different. I like the idea of modern teens dealing with their usual issues but having to exist in another historical period.

Chelsea has spent every summer in Essex, where it is always 1774 and the colonies are on the cusp of the Revolutionary War. Her parents are reenactors, too. Her dad is a big time history buff (it's pretty much all he talks about) and works as the silversmith in the village. Chelsea (colonial name Elizabeth Connelly) has always worked in the silversmith's shop playing the (surprise!) daughter of her parents, but this year she requested a change and will be in the graveyard.

So you might think that working in a historic village answering questions, telling stories of George Washington and posing for pictures would make for a nice summer job. Not for Chelsea. Her best friend, Fiona, is working at Essex for the first time (although not in the same area), but so is her ex-boyfriend Ezra. Yes, she is over him...mostly...ok, not really. Even bigger is the war being waged with the Civil War reenactment place right across the street. The adults must never found out about the war even when the 'pranks' lead to injury and vandalism.

Maybe Chelsea should have worked at the mall like she planned.

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

Roomies by Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando

Two girls, one on each coast, are counting down the days until they start college where they will be each other's roommate. They e-mail each other to get acquainted and share more than just who is bringing the microwave.

Elizabeth lives in New Jersey, and even though all her friends are staying in state she cannot wait to leave for California. She wants to escape her beach town life and her mom and, who knows, maybe she will even get to know her dad who left years ago to live in San Francisco.

Lauren lives in San Francisco with her parents and her five younger siblings. Even though she is just going across the bay, she worries that her parents will not be able to deal with all the children without her. She has never had room to herself, so she was disappointed when she learned that she had been assigned a roommate.

A complication neither girl foresaw happening over the summer was boys. Yes, they each start dating - if that's what it is. Who wants to get serious over a guy when you only have a few months until you both go away? Just one of the many discussions that happen between Lauren and Elizabeth who find that sharing some topics through e-mail are easier than facing them in person and are sometimes more difficult when you really don't know the other person.

Each girl's story is told in alternating chapters, but is not entirely told through e-mails. We know what is going on with each girl including what they are not sharing with each other.

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

Sex & Violence by Carrie Mesrobian

Sex & Violence - it's a title that gets people's attention. Two words with general meanings that when put together can take on many connotations.

For seventeen year old Evan, sex is a casual pursuit. He has never gotten too attached to any of his partners. He has grown to look at women and admire them for the physical attributes and ponder the possibility of sex with them. The thing about sex is that you may not be the only person attracted to someone. For Evan, this is bad. Collette offers herself to him and he takes her willingly. When her ex-boyfriend finds out, Evan is cornered in the shower and brutally beaten.

Evan's dad moves them to the small lake Minnesota town where he grew up. Evan and his dad have moved many times since Evan's mother died, but he has never been to this place. Constantly moving has caused Evan to not form close relationships (with friends or lovers), so he is reluctant to befriend any of the other lake kids. He avoids doing things that bring back memories of his beating (like the shower). He also hesitates to hook up with any girl although the desire is there. It is particularly tricky with Baker who is dating a large athletic guy who could easily pummel Evan if he is not careful.

This book could have fallen into a typical story arc of Evan meeting the right girl and learning to trust in himself and others again. But life is not that easy. There are many issues being addressed in this story. For one, Evan's dad is acting differently. He is more casual and open and seems interested in the married woman next door. Two, the specter of Evan's uncle is never far away. Evan explores an off-limits island and finds things that bring him closer to an uncle who has just disappeared.

It's an amazing, complex story that does not tie up solutions to life's problems in neat little boxes.

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

The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle

When I read teen books, I often think about my life as a teen. I did not do wild things - no drinking or partying. So when I read about those things (which I know actually go on) I can't really identify with them. I suppose I live vicariously through the characters. Every once in awhile, I read a story that touches me because it does relate to my own experiences (when I was a teen or older). This is such a story.

Lauren Myracle (who have already admitted to being one of my favorite authors) writes with such honesty. She creates characters with true experiences that I can feel because I have lived them, too.

Wren is graduating from high school. She has been the model daughter following her parent's wishes. She has applied and gotten early acceptance to the school of their dreams. She has refrained from dating to focus on her school work. So it is the summer before she heads off to...well that's the big secret Wren is keeping from her parents.

Charlie is also graduating. He works in his adoptive dad's wood shop. He grew up in foster homes. He was fortunate to find his current parents. He is devoted to his brother (who is confined to a wheelchair). He is hard working and honest and well help anyone. Charlie has more experience dating including one girl who cannot take no for an answer.

There is a moment on the last day of school when Wren's gaze meets Charlie's from across the crowd. They meet up by chance later and a real connection is made. The summer turns into an unexpected romance for both.

The real truth in the story, the parts I have felt, were between Wren and Charlie: the touches, the longing when separated, the first kiss, the physical awkwardness. Does she feel the same way I do? Is this really happening? As I read those moments, I relived just a little bit of my own life.

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.  

Lemonade Mouth: Pucker Up by Mark Peter Hughes

This book is a sequel to Lemonade Mouth (made into a Disney Channel movie - no, I did not see it). It has been a long time since I read the first one, and I had forgotten much of the story. I remembered liking the tale of some high school students who make an unlikely music group. I know there was something about a protest involving drinks allowed in school, too.

We pick up the group's story as the band members (and others involved) recount the eventful summer after the previous book. The band is made up of some unusual instruments (trumpet and ukelele, to name two). Following a local concert, the group is approached by the manager of several successful rock performers and are told he wants to make them superstars. It's a rocky road for our group who are new to the world of big time entertainment. As much as they want to be successful and have their music heard, they do not always agree with the decisions made for their career. Being true to themselves is important, so they are often at odds with what they are being asked to  do.

In addition to all the band activities, the members are also dealing with typical teen issues: relationships, parents, summer jobs. Generally, the issues are not too serious (compared to other teen books). These young people are always striving to do the right thing and stand up for what they believe. It is nice to read a book that is lighter in tone and does not get graphic and too serious.

If you are going to read this, you should start with the first one.

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

Reunited by Hilary Weisman Graham

This is a nice story about friends trying to make up for lost time and hurt feelings. Four years ago when they were freshmen, Alice, Summer and Tiernan had a huge event that ended their long friendship. They were connected through their love of the boy band Level3. They spent time in broken down green VW bus (aka the Pea Pod) that sat in Alice's backyard. Over the years, the bus became an abandoned shrine to the band (who also broke up) and the girls' friendship with the numerous collages the created left behind on the bus's walls.

The timing is all too perfect for Alice when her parents fix up the bus and give it to her for graduation at the same time a one-time-only concert reunion is announced for Level3. Finding this out five minutes before the tickets go on sale, Alice impulsively orders three tickets secretly hoping she can get her former best friends to go. Oh and the concert is in Texas - at least a five day drive from her home in New England.

I think I can say without giving anything away that all three girls end up in the bus on the road. They each have their own reasons why. For the ex-friends who have not spoken to each other all through high school, it is bumpy road at best. There is the specter of the night of the winter dance when their relationship imploded haunting them, too. Not speaking about it strains even the best of moments on the trip.

To learn more about this book, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.

Zero by Tom Leveen

Mike's eyes were the first thing she noticed. Even from his position up on stage behind the drums, his eyes were all Zero could focus on. She had never heard of Mike's band Gothic Rainbow, but they were good. Her best friend Jenn would tell Zero to speak to Mike. Jenn was the one with all the experience with guys. Zero had never really had a boyfriend. Too bad she was no longer talking to Jenn (putting an end to their plans of hanging out all summer until they left for college). 

Not that Zero's college plans had worked out. She'd been accepted to the Art Institute in Chicago, but failed to get the needed scholarship. No money meant staying in Phoenix and probably going to community college. It might also mean having to stay with her parents who did nothing but fight all the time.

Zero's summer takes a turn for the better when she decides to talk to Mike after the band's set. To her surprise, he is interested in her. He encourages her to pursue her art and go after what she wants like he is doing with the band. He wants a gold record and is working hard to get it. Gothic Rainbow is on the cusp of making it (at least in Phoenix). So if she wants to be an artist, she should go for it.

So she does. She takes a summer art class. She starts talking to Jenn again. She begins to appreciate her own curves instead of hiding behind baggy clothes. But things get messy again before it can get better.

Zero's hopes drive the story. He desire to get her life in the right direction keep things moving. She is a fascinating character that I cheered for and I hope you do, too.

For more information about this book, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.

Thou Shalt Not Road Trip by Antony John

I love a road trip. I love packing the car and heading out  from home to see things in other places. I would love to see more of Route 66 - all those historic and sometimes wacky sites. When Luke sets out on a road with his brother Matt, he has no idea that's the kind of road trip he is on. He believes he is on a tour for his inspirational book Hallelujah: A Sprititual Chronicle of a Sixteen-Year-Old St. Louisan.

Luke's book started as an assignment for his church's youth group and was quickly published. Partly due to his appearance on the Pastor Mike Show, his book is selling well. His agent has trusted Luke and his brother to make the trip from California back to Missouri making stops at book stores for appearances. Matt has other plans - he wants them to stop at tourist spots to experience Route 66. He also has invited his girlfriend and her sister, Fran, who also happens to be the friend Luke hasn't spoken to in a year ever since she dyed her hair purple and started dressing differently. The trip didn't spiral out of control for Luke; it started that way. 

The book tour becomes a spiritual journey for Luke. He faces his 'fans' who expect so much of him. He gets reacquainted with Fran who he used to know so well. He must deal with the words in the book that he's not sure he believes anymore. He also must deal with the press who are looking for a story .

For more about this book, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog or the author's site.