Boy2Girl by Terence Blacker

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was intrigued by the idea of a boy dressing up as a girl to attend school. The premise could have gone in a lot of directions, but this is one is fun and thought provoking. Before I go further, let me give you some details.

After Sam's mother dies, he goes to England to live with relatives including his cousin, Matthew. Matthew has a tight knit group of friends and the intrusion of his brash American cousin is not really welcome. The group decides to test Sam (who desperately wants to be in the group) by challenging him to be a girl for the entire first week at the prestigious Bradley Hill School. Sam is not just dressing up; he has to be a girl and convince everyone else, too.

The problem...Sam is good at being a girl, really good. Much to Matthew's (and his friends') dismay, Sam becomes good friends with the girls they despise. Sam catches the attention of the guy everyone girl wants to date. He becomes a model student to one of the teachers. He transforms the school.

But inevitably in a story like this, the truth must be revealed. I'm not going to tell you how that happens or what amazing things Sam and his new friends experience.

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

A Really Awesome Mess by Trish Cook & Brendan Halpin

What does it take to be sent off to a secluded reform school called Heartland Academy? For Emmi, it is refusing to apologize for blitzing a guy's Facebook page with insults after he posted naked pictures of her on the internet. For Justin, it is taking a bunch of pills. At least those were the tipping points.

Really, they both have deeper issues. Emmi was adopted from China just before her new parents found they could have children and gave birth to Emmi's sister, a beautiful tall athletic girl who looks like her parents. Emmi has always felt like an outcast (physically, anyway). She's short, has dark hair, and is Asian.

Justin is caught by is father (who he rarely sees) in a compromising position with a girl he just met. He's never done anything like it before, but it in the wake of his parent's divorce it is seen as a big deal. He's pretty angry about all of it.

Both are in total denial as they arrive in their new 'home' (located in the middle of miles of farmland). They meet the members of their new therapy group and are expected to bond with them - even though some of them appear to be really messed up. It's all about perception.

Emmi and Justin alternate telling the story as the group breaks the rules to help each other get what they really want. The trick is to not get caught. All the while, the adults are doing what they can to help each group member work through their own issues. It is messy, but worth the journey.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the site for Brendan Halpin.

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.

Sketchy by Olivia Samms

Bea can see into other people's minds. Not like reading other's minds, but when she looks at them with her sketch pad and pencil in hand she draws what they are thinking about. It started when she was in rehab. Bea is a recovering addict - 3 months sober when the book starts and heading to public school after getting kicked out of private school. Her mother no longer trusts her and makes her test her urine regularly.

It is fortunate for Bea that Chris an old acquaintance from art camp goes to the school. He doesn't judge her like everyone else. She only confesses her 'power' to him when she thinks she can help catch a rapist.

One of the popular girls, Willa, is found alive after having been attacked like two other girls (except they were killed). Bea saw the rapist face in Willa's mind but can't convince her to come forward and tell the police everything she knows.

This is the start of a new series, so hopefully some questions will be answered in future installments. It's a promising start with a smart, no-nonsense character.

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.  

The Gettysburg Address: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey & Aaron McConnell

It is amazing how a graphic novel can take a complex subject and not only make it understandable but truly enjoyable. My first thought was how could they make a graphic novel from a such a short speech (lasting less then 300 words). The author expands upon the speech's text by examining the meaning behind each line. It is a trip through a sad, violent and shameful part of our history where slavery was legal and by some people's arguments moral.

I have never read an account that covers the events leading up to the civil war, the war itself and the aftermath with such clarity. Looking from our current place in history,  it is hard to read some of the arguments made in favor of slavery. People used economics, religion, politics and any other number or reasons to keep the institution of slavery preserved. People passionately believed in the reasons, too. It's why the Civil War was so bloody and much longer than people predicted.

But the Civil War was not driven just by slavery. The long struggle (going back to the creation of the Constitution) is also about the role of the federal government and how much power it should wield over state governments. Like so many other times in history, this is a complicated series of events involving many people across many decades.

The words Lincoln spoke 150 years ago are still relevant. We live in a world full of people who are persecuted, held captive and killed for nothing more than their race or gender or sexual orientation. I highly recommend this to anyone - it may help us understand where we have been and how we can shape where we are going.

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

Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

Rafe is tired of being the 'gay kid.' He came out a few years ago and everyone in town of Boulder, Colorado, has been mostly cool with it. His parents were more than supportive - meaning they have gone out of their way to support him and gay rights. Sometimes it is too much for Rafe to be the symbol for being an openly gay high school student. He just wants to be a guy (because no one seems to treat you normally when you are gay).

So Rafe decides to go to a New England all boys private school and not tell anyone he is gay. He will avoid all possible situations where his sexuality may be an issue. To do this, he must lie to his parents and best friend, Claire Olivia because they would never understand.

Upon his arrival, Rafe quickly becomes one of the guys playing touch football on his first day there. He joins the soccer team and hangs out with all the jocks. It feels great to just be Rafe for awhile. It's not always easy, though. For one of his classes, he has to write all about himself for the entire semester. How does he keep such a huge part of himself hidden and stay true as a serious writer? And of course, there is that really attractive guy who becomes Rafe's best friend at school...can Rafe tell him the truth and could they possibly be a couple?

It's tricky road for Rafe, but a satisfying one for the reader. It is all handled with great care.

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

Message to Adolf Parts 1 and 2 by Osamu Tezuka

This is an amazing complex story set in Japan and Germany in the 1930s and 40s during the time of the Nazi regime and World War II. There are three Adolfs in the story. One is Adolf Hitler. The other two start out as young boys in Japan. One is a Jewish boy whose family owns a German bakery. Having always lived in Japan, he feels like he is Japanese even though he was born in Germany. The other Adolf's father is a German official living in Japan and his mother is Japanese.

Each boy struggles with the rise of the Third Reich as Jews become persecuted
throughout Europe and life in Japan becomes affected. Friendships are tested and loyalties questioned as the Nazis become more powerful and Hitler's views spread. After the United States enters the war, the Japanese people must deal with rationing and bombing raids. This portrayal of every day struggles I found fascinating. It is not a view we often see when learning about the 'enemy.'




A thread throughout the story involves secret documents that some believe could bring down Hitler. The documents pass through many hands and are hidden and secretly moved about throughout the country. People will torture and kill to obtain the documents before they become public.

You have no idea how much more I want to share from one of the best graphic novels I have ever read, but it would spoil key elements of the intricate plot. There is action mixed with deeper questions of identity and loyalty to country and race. There are moments of humor, too; mostly in the forms of character overreactions to situation (as depicted in the way the characters are drawn). These reactions are very much in the manga tradition. No surprise since the author is a pioneer of manga and anime.

Make no mistake, this is the Holocaust and the Nazi persecution of the Jewish people is graphically portrayed. It is not just the actual violence, but the thought of how human beings were treated that is sickening.

For more info about these books, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog for part part 1 and part 2.

Who Done It? An Anthology by Various

This is not a conventional story by any stretch of the imagination, although it is full of imaginative musings by many authors. The premise is that Jon Scieszka and we, the readers, are interrogating various people in the murder of a loathsome book editor named Herman Q. Mildew. The deceased was a lover of pickles and cheese (the smellier, the better) and a collector of toenails. He was often known to leave the check for others to pay and worst of all, he gave scathing reviews of his client's work.

The interrogations take place at the Old Abandoned Pickle Factory where all the guests (or suspects if you will) have been gathered. So who is on the 'guest' list? Some of the biggest young adult authors around right now. Fortunately, the list includes some of my favorites: John Green, Lauren Myracle, Jordan Sonnenblick, Mo Willems and Gordon Korman. If you read teen books, there is probably someone you like in this book.

The entries are usually no more than a few pages, but all explain the author's relationship with the late Herman Mildew. It is funny to read author's pointing the finger at other authors (there are probably several inside jokes known only to the writers). Some deny involvement in the crime and others practically confess to it.

This is a must read for anyone who knows and loves authors of young adult books (and purchasing one will help a good cause - money goes to 826NYC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging student creative writing and inspiring teachers). By the way, you must read the author bios in the back - they are amusing, too.

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

Going Underground by Susan Vaught

Del digs graves in a cemetery. It is a solitary job and that's how he likes it. He puts on his earbuds, turns on his music and digs. It is his escape from the world that has pushed him away. He has a few friends like Marvin who never abandoned him in the worst of times and his talking parrot Fred (who's a girl). Some adults in his life say Del needs to think about his future and move on, but Del feels he will be cursed for the rest of his life for something that happened when he was 14.

This thing that happened almost four years ago has changed his whole outlook. His plans to be a veterinarian...well, now he will be lucky to be accepted to a community college. Dating...he can't even think of asking a girl out. Playing baseball, hanging out with his friends...all gone because of that night long ago. Spending time with the dead is appropriate for his life.

And then she appears. One day in the cemetery, he sees this mysterious fairy girl. Not a real fairy, just a beautiful girl who visits the cemetery. Del can only dream of ever talking to her, so he continues dig and everyday she appears. It is his parrot (who sits in a cage beside the graves Del digs) that gets the mystery girl's attention. Del knows it would be asking too much to see this girl.

The event that changed his life is slowly revealed over the story as Del struggles to reach his 18th birthday so he can...well, he has no idea what he will do. It is difficult for Del to be punished for something he didn't know was illegal. It is a scenario that is not too far fetched to be real. But do not despair - there is hope for Del.

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