Werewolves of Montpellier by Jason YP FIC JASON

Sven is an émigré in Paris living as a daring jewel thief, but mainly just hanging around with fellow expatriates and pining after his neighbor Audrey, but she already has a girlfriend. He travels the French rooftops dressed as a werewolf, because werewolves scare people even more than burglars, but when his picture gets taken after a crime the real werewolves try to hunt him down. Mainly he’s still just worried about Audrey though, in this totally unique, thoroughly weird comic about animal people trying to make sense of their lives.

This is a weird and wacky gem. It is filled with quirky humor and a quiet sadness. Jason uses a lot of very 2D and flat images that work well with the understated delivery the characters have. It reminds me a lot of Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, because the animals spend most of their times dealing with coming to terms with the day to day challenges of life. It is sort of odd that everyone in the comic are animal people. It doesn’t seem to be a metaphor like in the brilliant Holocaust graphic novel Maus (940.5318 SPIEGELM); it just seems like Jason likes cartooning with animals. This is like a quirky indie movie but in comic form. It is also my new favorite werewolf comic.

Center Field by Robert Lipsyte YP FIC LIPSYTE

Mike Semak knows his Junior year is going to be his time to shine. He’s dating Lori, one of the prettiest girls in school (the other being her twin Tori), he’s the top choice for center field, and is respected by the whole school. Everything changes when a new kid from the Dominican Republic joins the team and takes Mike’s shot at center field. Mike’s frustrations lead him to lash out at an unpopular student. This gets him community service working with the Cyber Club where he learns his coach isn’t the man he thought he was. Now his coach wants him to be a spy against the club and Mike isn’t sure if he can, especially since he has developed feelings for a strange and troubled girl in the club. As his life on and off the field becomes more and more complicated Mike has to decide what kind of team player he wants to be.

This book is (forgive me but I truly cannot help myself) a home run (again, sorry)! The baseball scenes are exciting and so is the off field action. I picked this up because its baseball time and I was looking for a good baseball book, but this is just a great read all around. The central conflict between Mike and his coach gets very tense and had me racing through the last chapters. Mike’s character changes a lot through the book, but he’s not a boring boy scout. He’s a great example of the dangers of wanting to win for winnings sake. But it’s really the adults that have caused all the problems that Mike and his friends are grappling with. This is really a story about the abuse of authority and what harm it can cause even on a small scale, so it really fits well with the world we live in. A great read for baseball fans or people that like good drama.

How to Ruin Your Boyfriend’s Reputation by Simone Elkeles YP FIC ELKELES

Amy Nelson Barak is a spoiled princess about to learn that love can be war. Especially if your boyfriend is in the Israeli army and you decided to surprise him by going on a ten day boot camp trip at his base. Unfortunately for Amy, her boyfriend is her training officer and has to treat her like any recruit and to make things worse than terrible he has a secret that could rip their relationship apart. Amy will have to roll up her Gucci sleeves and trade in her Jimmy Choos for army boots to fight for her man.

How to Ruin Your Boyfriend’s Reputation is a cute and fun romantic comedy. It has a really good Legally Blonde in the Israeli Army feel to it. It's the third in a series, but it's very easy to pick up from this one and I never felt lost. Amy is a great narrator and very likable despite her materialism and childishness. The plot itself is predictable, but the characters and dialogue are good so it makes for a perfect light and romantic read. I also like the original and unique setting for the novel and it was interesting to learn about Israeli mandatory military service. If you want to read the first two books How to Ruin a Summer Vacation and How to Ruin my Teenage Life check them out in YP FIC ELKELES.

Ever by Gail Carson Levine

Ever, the latest book from Gail Carson Levine, is told in two voices. Kezi, a well-to-do mortal girl from the city of Hyte, and Olus, an Akkan god of the winds, tell the story of how they met, fell in love, and the challenges they faced coming from two different worlds.

Olus leaves the mountain of the Akkan gods, to live among mortals. At 17 he is the youngest of the gods by hundreds of years and is often lonely. While living disguised as a herder, he falls in love with Kezi, a beautiful dancer and rug weaver, who is cursed to an early death to her god, Admat. The two meet and fall in love, which is when the story’s pace quickens.

In order to be together, Kezi must become immortal and Olus must become a champion. The power of their love provides each the strength to face fears and fight fate. If they pass, they will have all eternity to be together. If they fail, Kezi will lose her life and Olus will lose his true love.

Levine has created another fantasy tale that is sure to charm younger teens. Although the book does question faith in religion, it is done so in an intriguing, intelligent a manner.

Gail Carson Levine is also the author of Ella Enchanted, which received the Newberry Honor award. She has also written a number of books, which are available at the library. Ever is available in the Young Adult books section in print and audio.

Intensely Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Alice is 17 and torn between longing for the past and looking toward her future. Pamela’s pregnancy, Patrick’s departure for university, and Alice’s preparation for going to college and envisioning her future leave the protagonist wishing for the times when all her friends were still going to high school together and living in the same place. Oh, those times when life was simple and carefree. Unfortunately it takes a tragedy to bring everyone back together- a tragedy that is guaranteed to change Alice and all of her friends forever.

Intensely Alice addresses teen pregnancy, sexuality, questioning one’s faith or beliefs, and the fear of the future, which are issues young adults face as they grow toward adulthood. Naylor continues to develop the friendship between Alice, Pamela, and Elizabeth, and Alice’s boyfriend, Patrick, returns after an absence in the past few books. Readers travel with Alice to go visit Patrick while he is off studying at the University of Chicago and get to see if the couple takes their relationship to the next level. Naylor has reconnected with Alice’s voice in Intensely Alice. In the past couple of books Alice didn't sound like a teenager; whereas now her voice is more mature. Long-time fans of the series will have no trouble sinking into Alice’s story and will be left wanting more.

Intensely Alice is Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s 24th book in the Alice series. Naylor began the Alice series with the protagonist in the 6th grade. She later delivered prequels for a younger audience exploring Alice’s adventures in Grades 3, 4, and 5. The author is planning on writing one Alice book a year until Alice is 18. For every year of Alice’s life, the author delivers three books exploring Alice’s events and experiences. Afterward, she will deliver the 28th and final book, which will reflect on Alice’s life from ages 18-60. The Alice books are released annually in May.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has had an extensive career writing for children, young adults, and adult readers. She is known for her other series: The Shiloh Books, the Bernie Magruder Books, the Cat Pack Books, the York Trilogy, and the Witch Books. Many of these books and other publications by Naylor are available at the Moore Memorial Public Library in the Children’s, Young Adult, and Fiction sections.

Driver's Ed / by Caroline Cooney

Best known for her Face on the Milk Carton series, Caroline Cooney's been a longtime stalwart of the genre, even winning a Children's Choice award for her Out of Time books. In Driver's Ed, the teenage pastime of sign-stealing becomes lethal when a freak accident kills four people. As with so many penultimate dates in adolescence, sixteen lingers as one more threshold into adulthood. For Remy Marland, it embodies the long-awaited, much-anticipated privelege of driving as only weeks away from obtaining her license, she lives day-to-day hoping that her next Driver's Ed class will mean her turn to drive. Not just a pre-requisite, Driver's Ed is significant for another reason . . . Morgan Campbell.

Like Remy, Morgan's sanity seems dependent on a license to drive a car. The son of a local politician, he's known all his life that a car meant freedom, an instrument by which he can remove himself far from undesirable authority figures. He may feel sure about what he wants, but he's far less confident about himself. A fact evidenced by insecurity around girls and frequent doubts concerning his family's credibility.

When, during one Driver's Ed class, a loosely arranged night-about-town pits Remy and Morgan alongside each other, it seems fortune has favored serendipity. But when a routine prank ends in catastrophe, the budding romance gets rocky as indescribable pangs of guilt and conscience intertwine within each.
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The author's intuition into the characters is the strongpoint of this psychological suspense thriller where "right-of-passage" invokes more than a few double meanings. As is often the case with Cooney, the story's premise really hinges on a rather rangy "What if?" scenario, straddling the line between practiced realism and unsupported conjecture. But even withstanding any contrived aspects, readers will gravitate toward the story's gothic elements as Cooney's keen observational narrative is sure to resonate with the audience.

Rats Saw God / by Rob Thomas

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Semi-local author Rob Thomas has published several YA novels over the past decade. This, his first, chronicles teenager Steve York at multiple times during high school.

Steve's last day of eighth grade is turned on its head when his parents announce their impending divorce. The untimely schism ultimately places his mother and sister in San Diego leaving him in Houston to live with his repressive (and somewhat despotic) father--"The Astronaut".

Facilitating things the best he can amidst unfamiliar surroundings, Steve carves out his new existence; gradually making friends and learning to survive his homelife simultaneously. His saving grace appears in the form of Wanda "Dub" Varner, with whom a steady-crush morphs into love by the end of freshman year. Until its bitter end his junior year, the reader is let in on all the relationship's details through segmented entries describing the 'then' blissful romance and his 'now' emotionally-reduced, drug-addled life after the break-up.

Though Thomas' later books were less well-received, Rats Saw God will find an audience with its drenched-in-sarcasm attitude and gritty realism. The 'then and now' style really fleshes out Steve's personality and relationships; displaying how both compliment each other and play off his actions. Generation X & Y'ers of the 80's/90's period will identify with the book's cultural aspects.