All the Feels by Danika Stone - OPTIONAL

Stone, Danika All the Feels, 295 pgs. Swoon Reads (Feiwel and Friends), 2016. $9.99 Language – R (95 swears, 7 “f”), Mature Content – PG13; Violence – PG; 

Life is built by where you invest your passion. But what happens when the object of that passion dies—or, at least, ends without warning? Liv breathes the Starveil movies and is deep in the fandom that orbits them; when the fifth movie surprises its viewers with the announcement that it is the last one, Liv’s world comes unhinged. Without Starveil, Liv doesn’t know who she is. To right herself from this gross interruption of the world as she knows it, Liv heeds the wise counsel of a fortune cookie: It’s up to you to make your happy ending.

The bittersweet taste of this book comes from how contemporary it is. Bitter because of the uncommon jargon that I had to search the urban dictionary to understand or else lose out on key details of the story; sweet because of the utter uniqueness of the circumstances. I loved reading about the influence we the people have on the media in a way that has never before been possible, and I loved how the unprecedented circumstances of our day helped Liv discover herself and her future. While the vulgar language caused me to flinch as it popped up, Liv’s modern adventure was one worth reading.

HS – OPTIONAL. Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Internet Famous by Daniel Stone - OPTIONAL

Stone, Danika Internet Famous, 336 pages.  Swoon Reads (Macmillan), 2017.  $11.  Language: R (89 swears, 0 ‘f’), Mature Content: G; Violence: G. 

Madison’s blog has really taken off.  Her  #rewatch #funemployment has been doing double duty as her final project for her online Language Arts final project and connected her with a wide fan base all over the world.  Online school has been god-sent, allowing Madi to help her parents navigate the peculiarities of her younger, autistic sister.  Madi’s life starts to implode, however under a confluence of events:  her mother leaves for a teaching stint at Oxford without letting Sarah know until the night before; a new assistant principal has decided that Madi’s blog, because she earns money from followers clicking on links, violates the rules of her class contract and is not admissible for credit; she starts messaging a new MadLibs follower, Laurnet, and agrees to come to New York City for a live MadLibs rewatch – kind of falling for  Laurent and exposing her to MadLibs followers in person for the first time ever; an internet troll starts flaming and trollingcontroversy on her site, including trying to hijack the blog.

Had Stone eliminated the whole love-interest part of the story, I would much more enthusiastically endorsed this.  I see how it kind of helped with a part of the plot, and romance is a big seller for some types of readers, but it was one more issue in a book brimming with plot points.  At times I was rolling my eyes at Madi’s egocentric behavior – enough that I almost wanted the troll to take her down.  But, Stone does a pretty good job of showing the “look at me” attitudes of people who are internet famous.

HS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

14 Hollow Road by Jenn Bishop - ADVISABLE

Bishop, Jenn 14 Hollow Road, 280 pages.  Knopf (Random), 2017.  $17.  Language: PG (5 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.

One minute Maddie is worrying about her best friend/crush, Avery dancing with one of her friends at the sixth grade dance,  The next she has to worry about a hurricane ripping through her small town.  When the winds stop, the problems have only begun, because both her house and Avery’s have been destroyed.  A kind neighbor has offered to let both families stay at their house for the summer – until they can figure things out.  Now Maddie has to LIVE with Avery?  He might hear her in the bathroom?  See her with bedhead?  This is a recipe for disaster!

Bishop has an uncanny ability to get right into the head of a pre-teen girl and show how the angst of growing up can intersect and interact with crises big and small, feeling overwhelming at times.  The title doesn’t really help convey the plot or action of the book, so you might to handsel it a few times first.  But for girls who are looking for a realistic book with a protagonist who sounds like them, this is pitch perfect.

EL, MS - ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher

Dancing Queen by Thalia Kalkipsakis -- ADVISABLE

Kalkipsakis, Thalia Dancing Queen (Go Girl! #1). CHAPTER BOOK. Square Fish (Macmillan), 2006. $5.99. Content: G.

Ballet-dancer Charlie is thrilled to begin a modern dance class, but when she sees how fancy the other girls are, she suddenly feels out-of-place. Then another girl is injured while preparing for an upcoming recital. Can Charlie prove her ability to fill the role? Or will she be backstage forever?

This is a fun, rather gentle story about finding one's place in life and taking risks. The focus on dancing will likely interest many readers, and Charlie's efforts to navigate friendships have a good lesson to them. The very frequent references to "the trendy girls" did pull me out of the story quite a bit, however; the phrase seemed outdated, and it also didn't show what, exactly, made the girls "trendy." The rest worked very well, however.

EL (K-3) -- ADVISABLE. Reviewed by Sydney G., K-6 Library Media Specialist

Things I Should Have Known by Claire LaZebnik - OPTIONAL

LaZebnik, Claire. Things I Should Have Known, 311 pgs. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. $17.99 Language – PG13 (44 swear, 2 “f”), Mature Content – PG13; Violence – G; 

Ivy might be three years older than Chloe, but Chloe is the one protecting and defending Ivy. Ivy could never intentionally hurt someone, but her autism makes others uncomfortable to the point of being rude. With college and the idea of not living at home anymore on Chloe’s mind, she sets off on a mission to help Ivy become more independent—by getting Ivy a boyfriend.

This book was enjoyable enough. I didn’t not like it, but I also didn’t connect very well to Chloe’s and David’s experiences because I have not interacted with anyone who has autism. However, I feel that I now better understand those who have autism and their families. Of course, that’s assuming LaZebnik portrayed them accurately, I wouldn’t know. 

HS – OPTIONAL. Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Write This Down by Claudia Mills - OPTIONAL

Mills, Claudia Write This Down, 248 pgs. Farrar Straus Giroux (Margaret Ferguson Books), 2016. $15.99 Language – PG (3 swear, 0 “f”), Mature Content – G; Violence – G; Nothing is going right for Autumn anymore: her brother, Hunter, was the best brother ever a few months ago, but is now unkind at every turn; her dream of becoming a writer was no question, until she sent in some of her work and started receiving rejection after rejection; and her secret crush may now know that she’s in love with him. With problems like these, what is a twelve-year-old to do?

As I was reading, I felt connected to Autumn and her problems that seem so overwhelming as a middle schooler; however, now that I’m finished, I’m not sure I can pinpoint the main idea of her story. The struggle the resonated with me most is the fear of being passionate and having a dream, but becoming discouraged with every step forward. Autumn is used to praise and encouragement for the things she writes, so, when the rejection starts, it’s hard for her to adjust—it’s easier to quit. I admire her courage to continue, even when her dream became more difficult to achieve. 

MS – OPTIONAL. Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen