Magic 8 Ball Helps

Signs Point to Yes by Sandy Hall

I bought this for two reasons. One-the cover is pleasant. Two-I enjoyed this author's first book.

This is a story about Jane, but it is also a story about Teo. Jane has a mother who doesn't understand that Jane has no desire to go to college, and sets Jane up to be an intern at the college where she works in an effort to force Jane to change her mind. Instead, Jane finds a job herself watching three little girls for the summer.

Teo is the older brother of the girls Jane is watching for the summer. He is a lifeguard with an insufferable best friend. He also is searching for his biological father. Over the course of the summer, Jane and Teo develop a crush on each other, and Jane decides to help Teo find his real father.

Things don't turn out quite the way Jane and Teo planned, but reading about their budding relationship was sweet.

TAYSHAS 4

We Should Hang Out Sometime by Josh Sundquist

Josh is a grown man looking back on the fact that he has never had a girlfriend. He wondered why, so he revisits a handful of "meaningful" relationships with girls in his life from age 13-his mid twenties. He came close several times, but just never had a girlfriend.

Josh was a pretty interesting character. He had cancer when he was young, and as a result, his left leg was amputated at the hip. He wore a prosthesis for most of his life, and got around just fine. One thing that was common about all the girls that he almost went out with was that none of them seemed bothered by his lack of an appendage. In fact, many seemed to like him more for it because it showed a determination that may have been lacking in other boys.

He was also homeschooled until high school, but didn't seem like the weird homeschool kids that always come to mind. He obeys his parents almost to a fault, which is admirable. On the whole, he was a neat character to read about, and it was kinda sad that he never had a girlfriend.

He does, by the way, figure out why things never worked out with the girls from his past, and that was an interesting take on things because it was so real.

TAYSHAS 3

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Dumplin's real name is Willowdean. Her mother is a former beauty queen who can't seem to accept her daughter's size. Willowdean has a best friend who is practically perfect, and Will feels like she is being left behind.

One day, Will decides to sign up for the local beauty pageant. Her mother is against it, but Will wants to show that anyone can be a beauty queen. So, she enlists some drag queens to help her.

Along the way, she attracts the attention of two boys, loses and regains her best friend, and learns to value herself for who she is. Loved this.

TAYSHAS 2

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King

It's that time of year where I start reading the books on the TAYSHAS list so I can earn ducks, a shirt, and pizza.

Glory is graduating high school, but has no plans for her future. She worries that she doesn't have a future, that she is just like her mother, who killed herself when Glory was four. She has a self centered best friend, and on the day before graduation, she and Glory drink a dried up dead bat. After drinking the bat, they can see things when they look at other people. Glory mostly sees the future, which includes another civil war and world war IV. Ellie sees a bunch of naked people.

Over the course of the week that Glory is affected by the bat, she becomes closer to her father, finds herself, and discovers she is not like her mother. I enjoyed this book so much.

Fairy Tale Poetry

Poisoned Apples by Christine Heppermann

I ordered twelve copies of this for my classroom. One day, a student was reading it, and laughed aloud in class. She showed the poem she was reading to her tablemates, and it became a topic of conversation for several minutes. The poem that caused this sensation? "If Tampons Were For Guys." After seeing this, I knew I had to read these poems.

While that one particular was somewhat funny, most are not. They focus on the dark side of being a girl. Worrying about weight, what people think of us, being pretty, blemishes, etc. I liked these poems because they were more real than most of what we are forced to read in school, and I think that is why my students, the girls anyway, like these poems too.

A Delightful Ghost Story

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

We never  actually  know the  name of the narrator,  but she is a woman who gives  hand jobs  for a living, but has recently  been  moved up to aura reader/spiritualist.  She enjoys reading ghost  stories.

One day, a woman  named Susan  comes into the shop. She thinks something  is wrong  with  her house, and tgat her stepson is crazy and dangerous.  She asks the narrator  to cleanse her house, but then weird things happen.

I enjoyed this  novella.  Ms. Flynn is the  type of writer that you just can't get enough of  her work. This will only take an hour or so of  your time, but it is worth every second.

Not a Cult Classic

Awake by Natasha Preston

Much like another book of hers I read, this could greatly benefit from an editor. Too many misspellings for my taste.

Scarlett can't remember anything before the age of four. This bothered her, but not too terribly until she met her boyfriend, Noah. Then one day after being involved in a car accident, she starts remembering things. What she learns is that her parents aren't her biological parents. No, they used to be in a cult, but when they saw that Scarlett's parents were going to sacrifice her for their salvation, they kidnapped her.

And then there's Noah. He's not supposed to fall in love with Scarlett. He is supposed to get her to trust him so he can take her back to the cult that she narrowly escaped as a small child. He falls in love with her anyway, yet still takes her back to the cult.

Will Scarlett be sacrificed? You'll only know if you take the time to read the book.