Alex As Well by Alyssa Brugman

Alex was born with a rare condition that makes her physically both a boy and a girl. When she was very young, her parents decided to raise her as a boy, but at fifteen she knows she's a girl. She stops taking her hormone medicine and starts wearing girl clothes. Her mother freaks out (as usual) and her dad walks out.

Alex enrolls herself in a new school where no one knows the truth or that she was recently a boy. Her hopes for a clean beginning are dashed when the school asks for a birth certificate. It's not her fault she was declared a boy at birth, but it is her burden to bear. Alex stops at the first barrister (aka lawyer) she sees to learn how she can change her birth certificate.

Even though Alex lives in constant fear of being discovered, she likes her new school. She meets a group of friends including the beautiful Amina (yes, Alex is crushing on her from their first meeting). She gets the opportunity to be a model and wear amazing clothes and make up. It is such a girly thing to do and Alex loves it.

Alex's parents have never dealt with her condition in the best way for Alex, and this new decision has pushed them beyond their limits. Her mother (who we follow in her blog posts) is convinced it's just a phase and Alex is too young to know what 'he' really wants. Her judgment is questionable at best. Alex's father tries and is more accepting but still struggles with the change. Of course, guilt is weighing on them as well.

Alex has had a tough road and it's never going to be as easy as it should be. Society has a difficult time dealing with things that do not mesh with the perceived norm. Alex is just another teen with more obstacles than most struggling to find her place in the world.

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

Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers

Eight people flying around the world to historic locations, solving riddles, tackling physical challenges - the latest reality show? No, it is Avery's life, at least until she or one of her family members wins this contest.

After a nearly successful escape from her boarding school, Avery is returned to the mansion where she grew up under the watchful eye of her Grandmother VanDemere. For Avery, the mansion was like a prison - no sleepovers, no dating, no leaving the house except for school.

Grandmother is obsessed with family history and preserving the name VanDemere. Avery's existence is a black mark on that heritage. Her father had an affair with the nanny and Avery was the result. After that her alcoholic father disappeared, so Avery grew up with only her grandmother and occasional visits from her snobby cousins who look down on her.

Grandmother Vandemere is not happy with her sons or grandchildren and decides the only way to find a worthy heir to the family fortune is to pit them against each other. If it means Avery doesn't have to return to school, she will try her best at the competition. She faces backstabbing, cheating and uncles more knowledgeable in family history.

With the family lawyer's attractive son at her side, Avery sets out to the seemingly impossible task of taking on the family she loathes. Avery is not prepared for the things she discovers about herself and her family along the way.

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

We Should Hang Out Sometime: Embarrassingly, a True Story by Josh Sundquist

Have you ever thought about tracking down all your exes to find out the real reasons you broke up? If you have, why stop there? Why not ask all the ones you dated one time or kissed a few times or held hands with once in 6th grade? Josh Lindquist wanted to know why by the age of 25 he had never had a girlfriend, so he decided to investigate and yes, this is a true story.

Before we delve into Josh's quest, it is important to know that Josh had his leg amputated at age nine due to cancer. As much as he tries to not draw attention to it being an amputee definitely affects his behavior and psyche.

Josh contacted each significant girl from his past and analyzed their reasons for not wanting to take their relationship further. We get the background of each 'relationship.' Sarah is the first. During a game of Truth or Dare on a school bus, Sarah said she didn't like Josh, but he found out later that she did. We learn how awkward Josh can be when trying to figure out if Sarah wants to be his girlfriend. Josh is clueless about girls which makes him a normal eighth grade boy. Of course when you are in the middle of your awkwardness, you don't realize that you are a normal teenager. You only know that you are embarrassed and feel completely stupid.

Josh follows up with a hypothesis on the reasons the relationships ended. He then recounts what happened when he met each girl (who are now women) again. He calls this part the 'investigation.' Charts and graphs are included (although they are not really based on data).

As a real life inspirational speaker, Josh tells his story with humor and purpose. I laughed out loud many times and sympathized with his difficulty trying to interact with girls. If you've ever been a teen interested in having a relationship, you will relate to something in this story.

For more info, check out 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.

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.

The Only Thing to Fear by Caroline Tung Richmond

What if Germany had won World War II? The life you know would not exist - you would not exist. There would have been no Beatles, no Martin Luther King, no walk on the moon, no President Obama. Everything we have known for that last 70 years would not have happened.

Knowing the premise, I expected that Germany would have won the war by changing one thing in history (like they built the atomic bomb first), but it turns out that they created genetically altered superhumans. That's how they overran Europe and eventually the United States. The US has been divided up: Germany controls the East, Japan the West, and Italy the Dakota region.

Zara lives in the same year we do now, but you wouldn't recognize it. Nazi's live in big, fancy houses in the center of town. Zara lives with her Uncle Red in a shack on a farm in the country. She is the descendent of Americans - even worse for her, she is part Japanese. Mixed race people are looked down upon even more than non-Germans.

Zara's uncle is a resistance fighter, but lost all energy after her mother was killed for being part of the resistance, too. Zara wants nothing more than to be part of the resistance and fight the Nazi's but her uncle refuses to let her. She lives a dreary life being a cleaning girl in a fancy prep school during the day and working on the farm until dark. The Nazi rule has left little hope for anyone not in step with the regime.

Zara is also an anomaly, a person with special powers (just another bit of science fiction). She can control the wind, even creating a tornado if she chooses. If the Nazi's found out, they would kill her for sure. It is this secret and her family's connection to the resistance that make Bastian's attention so unnerving. Bastian is a student at the prep school and the son of one of a ruthless Nazi colonel. Zara must choose her words carefully when he speaks to her, because she does not know his motive for the conversations.

As the Nazi atrocities hit closer to home, Zara is swept up in the movement to help restore America. The action and suspense will not disappoint.

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

Seconds: A Graphic Novel by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Write down your mistake, eat a mushroom, go to sleep, wake up anew with your mistake erased. If only it were that easy. First, the mushrooms are special. Second, the mistake must have taken place on the premises (in this case, the Seconds restaurant).

Katie is a talented young chef trying to open a second restaurant while not quite able to step aside at the first one - in other words, the staff thinks she's bossy and wishes she would go away.  The construction on her new restaurant is not going smoothly, causing her much stress. In the middle of this, she starts seeing a strange girl sitting on her dresser in the room where she lives above the Seconds restaurant.

In the dresser, she finds a mushroom and the instructions to erase mistakes. An accident in the kitchen that burns one of the servers causes Katie to follow the instructions for a 'revision'. A run in with her ex-boyfriend prompts her to do it again. The mysterious girl on the dresser warns her that she is only entitled to use the power once, but life is full of mistakes so if you have a chance to correct them...

Needless to say, things get out of hand for Katie. What life does she really want for herself? Does she want her ex-boyfriend back? Does she want to renovate the old building for her new restaurant or should she have chosen the other one at better location?

The author/artist (who also gave us the Scott Pilgrim series) has created vibrant graphics to tell this intriguing story. The manga inspired characters inhabit wonderfully detailed panels that only add to the enjoyment of this story.

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

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

I have great respect and admiration for those who participated in the Civil Rights Movement. I am awed by their courage to stand up and say "No more" to laws and people and attitudes so ingrained in society and everyday life. I cannot imagine what it was like for those who marched and boycotted; those who sat at lunch counters and at the front of buses; those who protested peacefully and practiced non-violence; those who fought in the courts and in the streets to obtain the basic rights and dignity that we all deserve.

This story follows the first African American students to attend an all white high school in a small Virginia town. Ten students are finally allowed to go years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of it. The governor and parents fought it. The school closed down for months to prevent it from happening - better for no one to go to school than to let 'them' go.

Sarah Dunbar and her sister are among the ten. Through Sarah's voice, we experience her life. We hear the racist chants by students and adults. We feel the spit on her clothes. We see teachers acting indifferent to the bullying if not expressing their own distaste of her presence in their classroom. We feel the ugliness of racism.  Sarah is a senior and one of the top students at the all black school. Her parents moved to Virginia to be part of the movement, but it is Sarah and Ruth who must face daily onslaught and threats.

Had we just had Sarah's voice, the story might have become overwhelming and desensitizing but we also hear from Linda Harrison whose father runs a newspaper and is one of the most vocal opponents to integration. She spouts the same hateful things her father has been saying her whole life about black people. She tries to defend segregation as Southern tradition. She believes it is unnatural for races to mix and be together in the same places. She knows God never meant for that to happen. Linda also blames the ten for messing up her senior year - if they had not riled things up, she could go to prom.

It is only when Sarah and Linda are put together for a school project that Linda begins to see Sarah differently and Sarah gets the opportunity to tell a white person how she truly feels.

This story takes the reader right into the minds of these brave students. We see all they see and hear all they hear. We know the excruciating reality they face every day. It is unpleasant and shameful. The story did go in a direction I was not initially expecting. If the author was trying to draw parallels with today's issues, I don't believe it was necessary. Nonetheless, this is a compelling read.

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

The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

Can rumors destroy you? Can your reputation be so ruined by others that you can no longer function? Alice was popular and now she is called a slut and shunned. One party started it all and the death of the star quarterback made it worse.

Alice lives in a small Texas town where football is everything. So when there is no game, what else is there to do. Parties are not those huge deals you see in the movies where hundreds of teens pack a house. Mostly, people (the popular upperclassmen and a select few of younger teens) hang out and drink. Occasionally, something big happens like at Elaine's party where Alice had sex with two guys in the same night. Brandon, one of the guys himself, said it, so it must be true.

Kelsie didn't go to the party (she was ill), but she has been Alice's best friend for...well, since she moved to Texas from Michigan. She was such a nerd back then and decided to start over in her new home. Alice was the first one to speak to her and they have been friends ever since - until the party. How could she risk losing her semi-popular status by staying linked to Alice the town slut?

Josh is Brandon's best friend. He was in the car when Brandon crashed and died. It was Alice's fault. She kept sexting him. It was that distraction that caused the crash. Josh can't keep that kind of info to himself, so now everyone in town knows (including the adults).

Kurt has been crushing on Alice for a long time. He is very smart and keeps to himself. Yes, he lives next door to Brandon, but Brandon would never admit to speaking to Kurt civilly (like he sometimes does when they are by themselves). And that's just fine with Kurt. He doesn't care about the rumors or whether they are true. He just wants to help Alice.

Through the alternating voices of Elaine, Kurt, Josh and Kelsie, we learn about the events leading up to the party and the accident. They each have their own motives and perspectives. What do they reveal and to whom? And is it too late for Alice.

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

Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir by Liz Prince

Liz knew at young age that she did not want to dress like a girl. She hated wearing dresses and all the frilly-ness associated with being a girl. She never identified with things that girls liked.

This autobiographical tale follows Liz's journey as she deals with her unorthodox feelings. She is bullied by other kids and dismissed by adults. She faces down the cultural norms dealing with confusion, sadness, and frustration. For many years, she wishes she could be a boy. Puberty is rude awakening for her (although not really unexpected).

Fortunately, Liz has an incredibly supportive mother. She gives Liz the strength to be who she is without compromising. Imagine having that support throughout your life - knowing that no matter what others say or do, you the blessing from someone who loves you unconditionally to be who you are.

The black and white illustrations are are simple, but convey the emotions perfectly.

We often think of kids being bullied for being gay or unathletic or smart. This particular gender issue is not one I have ever given much thought to. I am glad the Liz Prince choose to write her story and do so in such an accessible form.

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