The War at Ellsmere by Faith Erin Hicks YP FIC HICKS

The War at Ellsmere is a graphic novel by Faith Erin Hicks about a thirteen year old overachiever named Juniper on a scholarship trying to fit in at the ultra exclusive Ellsmere Boarding School. Juniper quickly makes new friends with her roommate Cassie nicknamed ‘Orphan’ because of her almost always absent parents. Unfortunately, she just as quickly makes an arch enemy of Emily, the most popular (and ruthless) girl in school. When Emily declares war on Juniper she needs all her smarts, the help of her friend, and maybe even a mythical beast.

This book is really excellently illustrated in a unique style that mixes the influence of Japanese manga and American pop art. Juniper is a strong and likeable female protagonist. This is a funny and touching read for all ages and either sex.

L.A. Candy: a novel by Lauren Conrad

Lauren Conrad made a name for herself on The Hills a reality television series from MTV. L.A. Candy: a novel is Conrad’s first venture as a young adult writer and the storyline is seemingly autobiographical. New to Los Angeles, beautiful, blond, 19-year-old Jane and her best friend, Scarlett, are bubbling with excitement over the opportunities await them. Jane moved to LA for an internship with one of the hottest event planners, while Jane plans to attend school and figure her life out. Soon after they arrive in the city they meet a producer at a club, who invites them to a reality TV show audition. The reality TV show changes their lives and sets the girls on a path toward stardom and celebrity.

L.A. Candy is a sweet, quick read. However, the overall story is not entirely fluffy, as Conrad provides insight on the scenes behind reality TV. Clearly your life is bound to change when you allow cameras to follow your every move. Conrad draws upon her personal experiences, both good and humiliating, to create a coming-of-age tale full of hopes and dreams in glitzy LA.

Teens and young-at-hearts who enjoyed the Gossip Girl and It Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar will be sure to enjoy Conrad’s debut novel. L.A. Candy is currently available on the Young Adult New Book Shelf and the Gossip Girl and It Girl series may be found in the Young Adult section near the Reference Desk.

Keeping the Moon / by Sarah Dessen

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Nicole "Colie" Sparks is fat. Even if she no longer looks it, she still lives it; internally condemned by years as a social outcast amid abusive peers and an eroded well-being. It's her mom's fault, really, that she can no longer match her mood to her make. Currently a celebrity success story in the Richard Simmons mold, it was her mom, Kiki, who first deemed their standard of living--a stationary out-of-car existence--as unfit; thusly transforming their exteriors from obese underdogs into thin, healthy go-getters and popularizing a lucrative motivational mantra in the process. It's just that Colie can't quite follow suit (mentally), making it seem right that the 15-year-old spend the summer with Aunt Mira while mom tours Europe with her new boyfriend.

Aunt Mira's fat too, unashamedly so. And she's weird; riding her dateless Schwinn bike around her reclusive coastal town in an equally dateless flowered dress; never missing a meal at her favorite grease-pit restaurant--the "Last Chance". It's here, more or less by "Chance", that Colie's hired on as a waitress, ultimately befriending her two co-workers--beautiful Isabel and down-to-earth Morgan--who also happen to be neighbors (small town). Total opposites but firmly loyal to each other, it's Morgan and Isabel who introduce Colie to 'real life'; a life apart from her severely damaged conscious where confrontations needn't imply defeat and where meanness is exposed as the insecurity it often masks. Timidly at first, but assuredly does Colie realize the truth about herself; while as her first genuine relationships solidify, the morbid self-attention she's always accommodated is replaced by a boldness she never new existed.