Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers

Parker Fadley went from being the girl who wanted everything to be perfect to the girl who wanted nothing to be perfect.  If anything is going well, she makes sure she ruins it.  She alienates friends, fails classes and gets caught drinking in school.  The question is why.  Why does she have to sabotage everything? 

New student Jake asks Parker for directions to class.  She is rude to him and won't help him.  When they meet again the next day, she is still nasty.  In spite of her behavior, he is intrigued by her.  He's curious about everything, and constantly questions Parker about different aspects of her life. 

Parker is also pushing ex-boyfriend Chris away too.  Chris clearly still loves her, so Parker sets him up with her enemy Becky.  Parker probably hates Becky more than anyone else at school.  Becky has terrific grades, good behavior and she is now the captain of the Cheerleading Squad.  Yes, Parker really hates Becky.

This book has lots of tension, some sexual situations and explicit language.  The tension of the characters who are drawn to and yet pushed away from Parker creates a strong story. 

Cracked Up To Be on Amazon

Sparrow Road

Sparrow Road by Sheila O’Connor. Published by Penguin Young Readers Group, 2011.

Sparrow Road is the last place Raine wants to spend the summer. She hates leaving her grandfather but her mother accepted a new job at an artists retreat in the country. Raine knows she will be lonely (no other kids are living there) and bored (no TV or radio) and probably go crazy not being able to talk at all (except on Sundays)! What was her mother thinking?

But Sparrow Road turns out to be a pretty interesting place. Raine likes most of the artists, especially Josie. Raine discovers her imaginative, creative side. This is especially true when she learns about the unusual past of Sparrow Road- it was an orphanage for many years. Soon, she is able to not only imagine what it was like for those orphans, but she finds herself developing an unusual relationship with a boy from the past.

Raine is still puzzled by her mother’s decision to accept the summer job. Repeated attempts to ask her mother are ineffective but Raine is determined. She discovers someone she had given up on meeting- her father. The truths she learns about him, his alcoholism and the bad choices of his past continue to reverberate in Raine’s life.

This realistic fiction is recommended for grades 6 and up.   

Visit author Sheila O'Connor's website

Brooklyn Burning

Brooklyn Burning by Steven Brezenoff. Published by Learner Publishing Group, 2011

Kid’s life is complicated. He is not getting along with his father at all. He questions many things in his life and is making unsafe choices for himself. When he becomes friendly with a bar owner named Fish, she tries to help him. This is where he meets Felix, a musician Kid likes a lot. Unfortunately, Felix is an addict and not a good influence.

After Kid and his father get into another huge argument, Kid is homeless so Felix takes him to an abandoned warehouse . When Felix dies, Kid sinks into a deep depression and he doesn’t deny the accusations that he started a fire in the warehouse. This has profound ramifications for Kid.

One day, he meets a young woman named Scout and discovers someone who loves music as much as he does. She has am amazing voice and Kid loves going to the basement of Fish’s bar to practice with her. She is mysterious and evasive, which only serves to increase Kid’s longing.

But the police are still coming after Kid, Fish can't help him anymore and he is worried about Scout.

This realistic fiction is recommended for students who like edgier stories.  

Visit author Steven Brezenoff's website