Abundance of Katherines by John Green

"When it comes to girls (and in Colin's case, it so often did), everyone has a type. Colin Singleton's type was not physical but linguistic: he liked Katherines. And not Katies or Kats or Kitties or Cathys or Rynns or Trinas or Kays or Kates or, God forbid, Catherines. K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E. He had dated nineteen girls. All of them had been named Katherine. And all of them--every single solitary one--had dumped him."

Colin is a child prodigy--or rather was a child prodigy. Child prodigies are young people who can memorize an extraordinary amount of information. It takes a leap of original creative thought to mature from a prodigy to a genius--and how humiliating would it be if Colin, child prodigy, never moved on to become a genius? On the heels of his most recent Katherine break up, Colin embarks on a road trip with his closest friend, Hassan. ("Hassan Harbish. Sunni Muslim. Not a terrorist.") During that trip Colin and Hassan meet new friends, cope with impending adulthood, and make a discovery that just might take Colin to the realm of genius. John Green's clever use of footnotes and mathematical formulas...and his off beat sense of humor...make this a one-of-a-kind coming-of-age story.

SLJ recommends grades 9 and up.

Learn more at HCL, Amazon, and here.

Hit the Road by Caroline B. Cooney

"A police car was behind her.
No way! she thought. It's a mirage.
She looked a second time. Definitely a police car.
Brit could hardly hold on to the wheel.
The diamond-and-emerald bracelet felt very stolen.
Aurelia felt very kidnapped.
The Safari felt very illegal."

While her parents go on vacation, sixteen-year-old Brit will be spending the next few weeks with at her grandmother's house...or so she thinks. As soon as Mom and Dad are out of sight, Nannie unveils her plan to kidnap one of her oldest and dearest friends from her nursing home and head up to their annual college reunion. Before she knows what's happened, Brit finds herself behind the wheel of a rental van, responsible for four elderly women, and on the run from the cops! On that road trip, Brit begins to understand the heartbreak of getting old and being forced to give up your independence. Fans of the prolific Caroline Cooney will not doubt love this book, too.

SLJ recommends grades 8 to 10.

Learn more at HCL, Amazon, and here.

First Part Last by Angela Johnson

"Fred and Mary sat real still, and for a while I thought what I just told them about Nia being pregnant had turned both of them to stone.
It had been a long time since either of them ever agreed on anything.
So I waited. I waited to hear how they'd been talking to me for years about this . How we all talked about respect and responsibility. How Fred and me had taken the ferry out to Staten Island and talked about sex, to and from the island. And didn't we go together and get me condoms? What the hell about those pamphlets Mary put beside my bed about STDs and teenage pregnancy?
How did this happen? Where was my head? Where was my sense? What the hell were we going to do?
And then, not moving and still quiet, my pops just starts to cry."

Three-time Coretta Scott King Award winning author, Angela Johnson is a master at packing a powerful wallop into just a few short pages. The First Part Last is the powerful story of a Bobby, a 16-year-old parent, told in alternating chapters--"then" and "now". "Now", of course, deals with bone-tired Bobby's foray into the first few weeks of parenthood. Not only is he a teen parent, but he is a single parent, too. It is unclear what became of the baby's mother, but she is definitely not in the picture. And Bobby's mother makes it quite clear that "in the dictionary next to "sitter", there is not a picture of Grandma." "Then" deals with the months leading up to fatherhood: their parents' disappointment, their plans to give the baby up for adoption, and their mad, deep, young love. Eventually past and present collide and we come to understand exactly what this baby means. I have already used more words than Johnson, and with only a fraction of her efficiency or emotion. Just read it.

SLJ recommends grades 8 & up.

Learn more at HCL, Barnes and Nobel, and here.

Girl, 15, Charming but Insane by Sue Limb

"Whizzer, however, pounced. He put his arm round her and stuck his tongue down her throat. Jess was disgusted. He tasted of cigarettes. And Ben might be watching from somewhere nearby. She struggled slightly. It was hard to make a polite excuse while a guy's tongue was down your throat. Jane Austen's heroines didn't have to put up with this kind of thing."

It's a story as old as time...or at least as old as Pride and Prejudice. Girl meets boy. Girl obsesses about boy. Girl makes complete silly git out of self in front of said boy. Girl never notices the whole time that the right boy has been waiting patiently the whole time. And so it is with Jess. She's 15, fixated, and funneeeeee! In addition to the boy problems, Jess' Grandmother has moved into her bedroom, her mum's gone mad, and then there was the minestrone soup incident. Jess is the Bridget Jones of her generation.

When you finish with this book, go on to read Girl, Nearly 16, Absolute Torture and Girl Going on 17, Pants on Fire.

Learn more at HCL, Barnes and Noble, and here.

SLJ recommeds grade 7 to 10.

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

"At 7:46, Marv gets out of the car and stands there. "Good luck" I say. God, I can hear his heart from inside the cab. It's a wonder it isn't bludgeoning the poor guy to death. He stands there. Three minutes. He crosses the road. Two attempts. The yard is different. First go--a surprise."

Ed Kennedy is the epitome of average--a classic example of a slacker--until the day of the bank robbery. After becoming an unwitting hometown hero that day, Ed begins receiving cryptic "messages" that he must deliver. Although the messages are all meant for other people, each one has an effect on our hero. Set in Australia, I am the Messenger is a story about change told with humor and truth.

Learn more at HCL, Amazon, and here.

SLJ recommends grades 9 & up.

Startled by his Furry Shorts by Louise Rennison

"But then she realized I was really upset and she came over and put her arms around me. That made me blub like billio. I told her everything. I said, 'He, I (gulp snort), when he came he said...then I...to the woods, snooged but I didn't fall of the log, then he said no and I went to visit my forest friends, which I don't have.' "

Another exciting installment from the diaries of Georgia Nicholson, consumer of lippy, wearer of strange hats, chaser of Stiff Dylans, keeper of mad highland cats, and all-around offbeat British teen. Laugh at her wild dancing! Cry for her heartbreak! And thrill to her troubles at Stalag-14! Really...she's bright, she's funny, and she's high maintenance. If you haven't met her already, start with Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging and work your way towards Startled by His Furry Shorts.

Learn more at HCL, Amazon, and here.

SLJ recommends grades 7-9.

Pinned by Alfred C. Martino

"Always hoped one day I'd be really good," Bobby said. "And not just good; I'm talking about being one of the best in the state. All the days I've gone without eating. Filling cups with spit. Eating laxatives. Always feeling like throwing up. Always being thirsty. I figured one day it'd be worth it."

"Is it?"

Bobby is captain of his high school wrestling team. Ivan is captain of his. One wrestler is a natural, while the other has worked hard to become good. One wrestler lives in an expensive home in a wealthy neighborhood, the other in a blue collar town. One loves the girl next door, but is afraid to tell her. The other is involved with a young woman who doesn't meet his parent's approval.

Both are headed for the state championship.

Martino paints a personal portrait of two dedicated, passionate high school wrestlers then sets them up for the state championships. Wrestlers or other high school athletes may enjoy reading about their lives in this book. Newcomers to the sport will be discover the discipline, deprivation, and passion surrounding the sport.

Learn more at HCL and Barnes and Noble.

Subjects: Wrestling, Family Problems, Friendship, Competition, New Jersey, Young Adult Fiction.

(SLJ recommends grade 8 & up)

All Rivers Flow to the Sea by Alison McGhee

"Because Ivy and I had an accident. It was the end of the winter, dusk in Adirondacks, and we came around a curve. And then Ivy wasn't moving, and she wasn't answering, and was she breathing? Blood. My window was broken and I broke it more. I punched it with my jacket wrapped around my hand, punched and punched, and I crawled out and fell up. We were upside down? How had that happened? I ran."

Rose and Ivy were in a car accident. Ivy now lies in a vegetative state in a nursing home. Rose must cope with survivor's guilt, her mother's growing distance, and the fact that half of herself, her sister Ivy, won't ever return. Rose is still water, trapped behind a dam, and all she wants is to flow to the sea.

Alison McGhee lyrically, yet succinctly, tells the story of one girl's healing process.

(McGhee is the author of several novels for adults, several novels for teens, and one of my favorite picture books, "Countdown to Kindergarten".)

Learn more at HCL, Amazon, and here.

Subjects: Sisters, Traffic Accidents, First Love, Death, Adirondack Mountains (N.Y.)

(SLJ recommends this for 9 & up.)

Where I Want to Be by Adele Griffin

In the last days of her high school career Jane is hit by a car and killed. All her life she had been unable to discern reality from illusion, becoming trapped in a confusing world of her own creation. Her younger, prettier, more likeable sister, Lily left behind and suffering survivor's guilt falls in love for the first time and finally begins to heal. Their story unfolds in alternating first-person chapters, culminating in a mildly supernatural confrontation.

The Lily portions of the book will appeal to chick-lit fans, while Jane's perspective is considerably darker and weirder.

Learn more at HCL, Amazon, and here.

Subjects: Young Adult Fiction, Sibling Rivalry, Death, Ghosts, First Love, Grandparents

(SLJ recommends this book for grades 7 & up.)