1) "Even When You Lie To Me" by Jessica Alcott
Charlie, an insecure high school senior, finds herself in a troubling relationship with a teacher.
Charlie’s tense relationships with her casually cruel mother and her beautiful best friend pop up occasionally in this story, but the distressing heart of the book is Charlie’s relationship with Mr. Drummond, a man who deliberately blurs the lines between teacher and student by swearing in class, engaging in sexual innuendo, and initiating lots of “playful” physical contact with students. When lonely Charlie blossoms under his teasing attentions, he quickly encourages her crush through inappropriately personal, private conversations with her after school about his failed marriage; his reaction to finding her stalking him at his gym is to take her out to lunch. Though it takes some time, readers will be unsurprised by the graphically depicted sexual escalation of the relationship, especially given the increasingly shocking series of encounters that leads up to it. That is, shocking to readers though not to Charlie, who narrates the story with an all-too-believable, single-minded cluelessness. They are given glimpses of Drummond’s ambivalence and remorse, but a disturbing “what might have been” moment he and Charlie share at her graduation ends both story and Charlie’s character arc with unsatisfying ambiguity.
Ultimately, readers see almost none of the anguish that this relationship would likely have caused Charlie, which dangerously de-emphasizes the predatory nature of Mr. Drummond’s attentions.(Fiction. 14-18)
2) "Truest" by Jackie Lea Sommers
A girl looks for definition during the undefinable time before her senior year of high school.
The arrival of Silas shakes up the small town of Green Lake—and preacher’s kid Westlin's life. Her everyday routine of dating a football star and running an auto-detailing business is upended by the mystery of Silas. He's mercurial, curious, and quirky, and there's something strange about his twin sister, Laurel. The more she learns about Silas, the more West likes him, and good-guy boyfriend Elliot pales increasingly by comparison. Everything about Silas seems perfect, even when Laurel’s bad days intrude: there are long conversations about the future, wacky adventures, and nights spent listening to their favorite radio program (a fictional cognate to such documentary shows asThis American Life). But when tragedy strikes, West is left wondering how she should shape her life. What defines her, and who can help her with this task? Sommers’ debut is languidly paced, befitting the season, and somewhat overpopulated with characters, which further slows things down. Still, many readers will identify with bookish, story-loving West and her frustration with her moment in life.
A satisfyingly realistic portrait of small-town life and one girl's spiritual and emotional maturation within it. (Fiction. 14-18)
3) "Like It Never Happened" by Emily Adrian
Budding actor Rebecca Rivers knows who she is and where she’s going; she’s also shadowed by an old, unearned middle school reputation that refuses to die.
Getting the lead in every school play, the only actor exempt from the director’s caustic criticism, Rebecca knows she’s envied by some, but her theater cohort—the Essential Five —has her back, right? But as rumors based on her past resurface and affect her intensifying relationship with Charlie Lamb, she finds there’s a lot she doesn’t know about her fellow thespian overachievers. Tensions mount as floating rumors accrete to and harm a faculty member. Meanwhile, getting to know her estranged sister, Mary, prompts Rebecca to question her own assumptions and their provenance. In the standard-issue teen-lit template—present-tense narration, narrowly focused time span, text larded with brand names and cultural icons—the past is an afterthought, viewed in brief flashbacks. Here, time passes, opening up new narrative possibilities. Rebecca’s understanding of those around her and her place among them evolves over several years, giving both her and readers access to retrospective wisdom. Her world’s sculpted by contemporary culture’s relentless pace, lack of privacy, and unprecedented need—and ability—to label and respond to every transient permutation of human behavior. Theater’s the single constant in Rebecca’s life, a prism through which to interpret life for others and for herself.
Original and intriguing; a powerful debut. (Fiction. 14-18)
4) "Fans of the Impossible Life" by Kate Scelsa
Failed by the institutions and adults who rule their lives, three stressed-out teens rely on their friendship to overcome—or at least survive—abuse, depression, and homophobia.
Having been brutally outed by classmates, Jeremy dreads returning to St. Francis Prep, but at a teacher’s urging, he reluctantly starts an art club. His first recruit is Mira, whose crippling depression last year landed her in a hospital psych ward. There, she met Sebby, who’d been savagely beaten by school homophobes. Their bond became a lifeline for each; now their friendship nourishes Jeremy. Whether it can replace adult support is another matter. Jeremy’s the child of supportive, emotionally mature dads. Mira’s the biracial daughter of a workaholic black lawyer and white stay-at-home mom; her high-achieving sister’s at Harvard. Their high expectations weigh heavily on Mira. Orphaned, openly gay Sebby has endured multiple foster placements. He lacks a safety net. Terrified to return to school, he lies about where he spends his days to his foster mother. Well-intentioned but unfit to parent a gay teen, she threatens to send him to a group home. Constrained by his teacher role, Peter—the adult best-equipped to offer support—can do little as stresses mount. Rounded characters large and small, drawn with insight and empathy, drive the plot.
Buoyant writing and wry humor balance the pathos in this powerful debut, a moving tale of friendship as refuge and shield against a hostile world. (Fiction. 14-18)
5) "Twisted Fate" by Norah Olson
In this bracing tale of modern teenhood, the lives of estranged sisters Ally and Syd become re-entwined through an obsession with a mercurial boy.
With photonegative personalities, the sisters fill opposite dark and light spaces. Ally, the compliant, helpful, muffin-baking sister, is flattered by the attention the new neighbor, Graham, is paying her. On the other hand, Syd, the pot-smoking, rebellious, brainiac, is both fascinated and repelled by Graham’s strangeness and tousled good looks. Syd guesses immediately that the glaze in his eyes comes from drug use. Plagued by his past, Graham sees the sisters as a fresh start in what he believes to be his genius filmmaking career. Syd becomes suspicious when a little boy in the town goes missing, and her terror mounts as Ally’s relationship with Graham becomes increasingly intimate. In short chapters that switch point of view, each character describes events in disconcertingly different ways; the story is compelling in its shifting focus. It’s a riveting scrutiny of a youth culture raised on a regimen of prescription drugs such as Ritalin and compelled to record and share every moment. The ending blindsides readers, shedding a clarifying backward spotlight on the plot and leaving a haunting afterimage.
A goose-bump–raising psychological thriller that will engross even the most jaded mystery enthusiast. (Thriller. 14-18)
6) "For the Record" by Charlotte Huang
Eager to leave her small-town life behind, a high schooler embarks on a whirlwind tour as the new lead singer of an established rock band.
Huang’s debut novel delves into the typical turbulent relationships between teens but against an unusual backdrop. Even after losing a reality TV singing competition, Chelsea jumps at the opportunity to replace the lead singer of popular band Melbourne. She’s thrilled about her band’s summer tour but has a tough time breaking into the group’s well-established chemistry. Her new rock-star status earns the attention of teen movie star Lucas, whose narcissism threatens to derail her fragile relationship with her band members. Chelsea is determined to embrace the adrenaline rush, and she has a real passion for performing. However, her growing feelings for a fellow band member make things even more complicated….Huang is married to a music agent, and she draws upon her knowledge of the industry to create a behind-the-scenes look at tour life. This, realistically, includes drinking and sex but more as backdrop than plot elements. Just as Chelsea’s excitement about joining the tour quickly fades when reality sets in, the novel’s glamorous atmosphere loses its luster due to its slow pacing.
A pleasant read for teens who dream of a glamorous lifestyle. (Fiction. 14-17)
7) "Ruthless" by Carolyn Lee Adams
Can 17-year-old Ruth’s relentless drive to win save her from a serial killer?
When she’s competing or training Tucker, her horse, Ruth Carver pushes herself to the limit to be the best. In fact, the other girls who take lessons from her mother at the stable, part of Ruth’s family’s farm, call Ruth “Ruthless.” Waking in a dark vehicle and sure she has a concussion, Ruth knows she’s been kidnapped and vows to follow her sheriff grandfather’s advice to do anything to escape. When she meets her wolflike abductor and learns she’s not his first victim and that he wants to show her the error of her high-and-mighty ways, Ruth knows this fight will take every ounce of resolve and smarts. She escapes, naked, into the Blue Ridge Mountains’ wilderness, but the “Wolfman” has plans to get his seventh victim back. Seattle screenwriter and sometime stand-up comic Adams’ solid-enough debut plumbs the depths of serial-killer and bitchy-teen psychology in alternating chapters of back story that trade off with Ruth’s present-tense narration of her harrowing experience. Ruth is a strong character, but her nickname fits, and even in extremis she may be more unlikable than sympathetic. Several high-adrenaline set pieces dot this at-times improbable and repetitive thriller.
A between-books read for avid fans of survival fiction and serial-killer tales. (Thriller. 14-18)
8) "The Weight of Feathers" by Anna-Marie McLemore
The Palomas and the Corbeaus are more than traveling circus performers; the two families have magical bloodlines, and as with all magical acts, they have their secrets.
The white-scaled Palomas bury their secrets deep underwater; the black-feathered Corbeaus send them flying up to the highest boughs. One thing that’s not a secret: how much these two families hate each other. Lace Paloma and Cluck Corbeau first meet when she saves him from a beating at the hands of her cousins. After a chemical-rain disaster, Cluck repays the favor but ends up accidentally binding Lace to him and causing her exile from her family. Hoping to cleanse herself of Corbeau “black magic,” she ends up working for them, growing close to the deformed, scarred Cluck. The fabric of lies woven by both their families becomes unraveled, untangling long-standing myths as their own stories entwine. It seems Lace and Cluck are destined to repeat history when an unlikely event leads to answers to questions long left open. Slow momentum early on makes it hard to form attachments to the characters, but readers beguiled by the languorous language—a striking mix of French and Spanish phrases, wry colloquialism, lush imagery, and elevated syntax—will find themselves falling under its spell. The third-person narration alternates between Lace and Cluck, doling out twists and building to a satisfying, romantic conclusion.
A contemporary, magical take on an ever compelling theme. (Urban fantasy. 14 & up)
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