Teen review of "Twenty Boy Summer" by Sarah Ockler

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

When I started reading the book Twenty Boy Summer I did not know what to expect. I really enjoyed reading this book, and could not put it down once I started reading it. This book is a mixture of realistic fiction, and romance. I would recommend this book to teenage girls who like to read heartfelt books that they could relate to. Twenty Boy Summer is a heartfelt book about a teenage girl learning to love and let go.

Anna and Frankie are best friends. What Frankie doesn't know is that Anna has been in love with Frankie's brother Matt since she was ten years old. Their whole lives, Matt, Anna, and Frankie have been really close and really good friends. At Anna's birthday party, Matt and Anna finally share a kiss. After that, they spent many nights sneaking out, and talking under the stars. Anna had made a promise to Matt that she would not tell Frankie about their love, because Matt wanted to tell her himself. When Matt tragically dies in a car crash that the two others survived, Anna is forced to keep that promise forever. A year later, Frankie and Anna are going to spend 20 days in Zanzibar Bay. Frankie is set on making sure Anna has a summer romance. But Anna believes that if she does, she will forget all about Matt.

This book's author, Sarah Ockler, did a very good job in writing this heartfelt, emotional book about love and loss. I could relate to the pain of losing a best friend and that kind of relationship. I would be lying if I said I didn't shed a few tears reading this book. This book explains how it feels to lose someone that is close to you and that is someone you love. I know that there are many people that can relate to that pain. In Twenty Boy Summer, Anna is trying to let go and learn to love again. This is what makes this book inspirational in a way. I would definitely recommend this book, and I loved reading it.

- Julia

If you like books by John Green: Book recommendations

On the current display in the teen area, you'll find recommended books for fans of The Fault in Our Stars and author John Green. I previously posted a Fault in Our Stars readalikes list, and now here is part two. If you've read books by John Green and enjoy his realistic dialogue, humor, and authentic characters, check out these titles. (Find an easy-to-print version here.)

	The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler It's 1996, and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet. Emma just got her first computer and Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on--and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future. Everybody wonders what their Destiny will be. Josh and Emma are about to find out.
	Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.
	Beauty Queens by Libba Bray When a plane crash strands thirteen teen beauty contestants on a mysterious island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island's other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.
	Going Bovine by Libba Bray Cameron Smith, a disaffected sixteen year-old who, after being diagnosed with Creutzfeld-Jakob's (aka mad cow) disease, sets off on a road trip with a death-obsessed video gaming dwarf he meets in the hospital in an attempt to find a cure.
	Swim the Fly by Don Calame Fifteen-year-old Matt Gratton and his two best friends, Coop and Sean, always set themselves a summertime goal. This year's? To see a real-live naked girl for the first time--quite a challenge, given that none of the guys has the nerve to even ask a girl out on a date. But catching a girl in the buff starts to look easy compared to Matt's other summertime aspiration: to swim the 100-yard butterfly (the hardest stroke known to God or man) as a way to impress Kelly West, the sizzling new star of the swim team. First book in a series.
	Beat the Band by Don Calame Paired with the infamous "Hot Dog" Helen for a health class presentation on safe sex, tenth-grader Coop tries to regain his "cool" by entering his musically challenged rock group in the "Battle of the Bands" competition. Second book in the series.
	Call the Shots by Don Calame Coop is cooking up another sure-misfire scheme (big surprise), and this time the comedy plays out from Sean's point of view. Third book in the series.
	The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky Most people think 15-year-old Charlie is a freak. The only friend he had killed himself, forcing him to face high school alone. But then seniors Patrick and his beautiful stepsister Sam take Charlie under their wings and introduce him to their eclectic, open-minded, hard-partying friends. It is from these older kids that Charlie learns to live and love, until a repressed secret from his past threatens to destroy his newfound happiness.
	Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan When her mother dies, sixteen-year-old Molly moves from Indiana to California, to live with her newly discovered father, a Hollywood megastar, and his pampered teenaged daughter.
	Messy by Heather Cocks Brooke wants to start a blog revealing the inner workings of Hollywood in order to be in the spotlight but has no time to write one, so she enlists the help of a ghost-writer, seventeen-year-old Max McCormack, who needs the money but not the hassles when the adorable actor, Brady Swift, comes between them. Sequel to Spoiled.
	Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe by Shelley Coriell When big-hearted Chloe Camden's best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project, Chloe is forced to take on a "more meaningful" project by joining her school's struggling radio station.
	Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford Awkward freshman Will Carter endures many painful moments during his first year of high school before realizing that nothing good comes easily, focus is everything, and the payoff is usually incredible. First book in a series.
	Carter's Big Break by Brent Crawford Fourteen-year-old Will Carter's summer gets off to a bad start when his girlfriend leaves him, but then he is cast opposite a major star, Hilary Idaho, in a small movie being filmed in his town and things start looking up. Second book in the series.
	Carter's Unfocused, One-Track Mind by Brent Crawford Fifteen-year-old Will Carter's sophomore year at Merrian High presents new problems, from the return of Scary Terry to friends-with-benefits negotiations with Abby, but when Abby considers transferring to a New York arts school Carter's world is turned upside-down. Third book in the series.
	Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler Sixteen-year-old Min Green writes a letter to Ed Slaterton in which she breaks up with him, documenting their relationship and how items in the accompanying box, from bottle caps to a cookbook, foretell the end.
	And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard Sent to an Amherst, Massachusetts, boarding school after her ex-boyfriend shoots himself, seventeen-year-old Emily expresses herself through poetry as she relives their relationship, copes with her guilt, and begins to heal.
	Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard In 1982 Buncombe County, North Carolina, sixteen-year-old Alex Stromm writes of the aftermath of the accidental drowning of a friend, as his English teacher reaches out to him while he and a fellow boarding school student try to cover things up.
	Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King When her best friend, whom she secretly loves, betrays her and then dies under mysterious circumstances, high school senior Vera Dietz struggles with secrets that could help clear his name.
	The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth LaBan While preparing for the most dreaded assignment at the prestigious Irving School, the Tragedy Paper, Duncan gets wrapped up in the tragic tale of Tim Macbeth, a former student who had a clandestine relationship with the wrong girl, and his own ill-fated romance with Daisy.
	Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins When Anna's romance-novelist father sends her to an elite American boarding school in Paris for her senior year of high school, she reluctantly goes, and meets an amazing boy who becomes her best friend, in spite of the fact that they both want something more.
	Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins Budding costume designer Lola lives an extraordinary life in San Francisco with her two dads and beloved dog, dating a punk rocker, but when the Bell twins return to the house next door Lola recalls both the friendship-ending fight with Calliope, a figure skater, and the childhood crush she had on Cricket.
	Withering Tights by Louise Rennison Self-conscious about her knobby knees but confident in her acting ability, fourteen-year-old Tallulah spends the summer at a Yorkshire performing arts camp that, she is surprised to learn, is for girls only. First book in a series.
	A Midsummer Tights Dream by Louise Rennison Now that Tallulah Casey has been officially admitted to the Dother Hall performing arts program, she knows she must stay focused and ignore the boys at Woolfe Academy if she wants to win this year's grand prize for best student performance. 2nd book in the Tallulah Casey series.
	The Taming of the Tights by Louise Rennison Tallulah Casey has returned for another term at her performing arts school, but after sharing a secret kiss with the local bad boy, Tallulah is now determined to find her perfect leading man.3rd book in the Tallulah Casey series.
	Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber Perry's parents insist that he take Gobi, their quiet, Lithuanian exchange student, to senior prom but after an incident at the dance he learns that Gobi is actually a trained assassin who needs him as a henchman, behind the wheel of his father's precious Jaguar, on a mission in Manhattan.
	The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp In the last months of high school, charismatic eighteen-year-old Sutter Keely lives in the present, staying drunk or high most of the time, but that could change when starts working to boost the self-confidence of a classmate, Aimee.
	Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley Seventeen-year-old Cullen's summer in Lily, Arkansas, is marked by his cousin's death by overdose, an alleged spotting of a woodpecker thought to be extinct, failed romances, and his younger brother's sudden disappearance.
	Pink by Lili Wilkinson Sixteen-year-old Ava does not know who she is or where she belongs, but when she tries out a new personality--and sexual orientation--at a different school, her edgy girlfriend, potential boyfriend, and others are hurt by her lack of honesty.

Teen review of "Into the Wild Nerd Yonder" by Julie Halpern

Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern
TEEN HALPERN

I don’t read much realistic fiction. It just doesn’t appeal to me. But when I saw this at the library book sale, I just had to get it. I mean, Dungeons & Dragons, nerds, skirt making? Yes please! I was a little wary when starting the novel, but upon completion, I wanted to start over and read it again. This rarely happens.

There were two main factors, other than the awesome nerdyness, that really caused me to love the story. One was the main character. Jessie sews her own skirts (something I would love to do), loves Harry Potter and audiobooks (I always have an audiobook to listen to), and just has a funny, quirky personality. The only thing we don’t have in common is that fact that she loves math. Numbers allude me… The second factor was the fact that the storyline kind of mirrored my senior year. Not the my-best-friend-betrayed-me part, but all the rest of it. Jessie has to expand her horizons and find a new group of friends to be around, and she finds the nerds.

Despite the premise and the title, it’s not super nerdy. If you absolutely nothing about Dungeons & Dragons, you can totally go into the book without any problems. While I’ve never played D & D (I really want to), I knew enough to go on. What’s really at the heart of the novel is the journey one takes to find oneself. Jessie has to go on a quest to find out where she really belongs, and through that she create an alternate personality, her in game character Imalthia. Imalthia takes out all Jessie’s anger and frustration, and by doing that, I think Jessie becomes much happier. That’s one of the reasons why I love RPGs. You can become anyone you want to be and act a certain way that you probably wouldn’t in real life, but then you can go back to real life with none of the consequences.

I’m really sad that the novel is so short. That’s one thing I would’ve liked: more nerddom. Other than that, I think this has earned the spot of Favorite Realistic Fiction. Into the Wild Nerd Yonder was hilarious, well written, and really nailed the stereotypes of high school. And it also made me realise that I need to find friends who play D & D.

- Caroline
Originally posted on The Attic blog.

Book Bite: "The Spectacular Now"

"But with this February sun, see, the light's absolutely pure and makes the colors of the sky and the tree limbs and the bricks on those suburban houses so clean that just looking at them is like inhaling purified air. The colors flow into your bloodstream. You are the colors."

-- The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp (2008)

Tilt by Ellen Hopkins out today!

Ellen Hopkins is known for her popular novels in verse about issues affecting teens, including Crank, Impulse, and last year's Perfect. I like her style of writing and how she often tells a story from the points of view of several characters. Whenever I read an Ellen Hopkins book, I really feel and understand what a character is going through, which, at times, can be very painful.

Tilt is another book in which the reader hears the story from several characters. In this case, teenangers Shane, Mikayla, and Harley talk about their relationships and love.

Tilt by Ellen Hopkins

More new reads in a variety of genres

From historical fiction to steampunk, here are more of the latest arrivals to the collection!

What She Left Behind by Tracy Bilen Sixteen-year-old Sara's mother goes missing before she and Sara can move to a new town to escape Sara's physically abusive father.
	A Girl Named Digit by Annabel Monaghan After identifying a terrorist plot, a brilliant seventeen-year-old girl from Santa Monica, California, gets involved with the young FBI agent who is trying to ensure her safety.
Wanted by Heidi Ayarbe Seventeen-year-old Michal Garcia, a bookie at Carson City High School, raises the stakes in her illegal activities after she meets wealthy, risk-taking Josh Ellison.
	Sometimes It Happens by Lauren Barnholdt With help from her best friend Ava and Ava's boyfriend Noah, Hannah is recovering from being dumped by her boyfriend Sebastian, but on the first day of their senior year in high school, Ava learns that Hannah and Noah betrayed her while she was away.
Fall from Grace by Charles Benoit Inspired by an intriguing girl who is nothing like his shallow girlfriend, a high school senior whose life has been mapped out by his parents makes some surprising decisions that lead him to take dangerous--but exhilarating--risks.
	Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can.
Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction: An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories One year after the tsunami, this benefit fiction anthology helps teens learn about Japan and contribute to long-term relief efforts.
	Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross #2 in the Steampunk Chronicles. Sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne and her "straynge band of mysfits" have journeyed from London to America to rescue their friend Jasper, hauled off by bounty hunters. But Jasper is in the clutches of a devious former friend demanding a trade ; the dangerous device Jasper stole from him for the life of the girl Jasper loves. One false move from Jasper and the strange clockwork collar around Mei's neck tightens. And tightens. From the rough streets of lower Manhattan to elegant Fifth Avenue, the motley crew of teens with supernatural abilities is on Jasper's elusive trail. And they're about to discover how far they'll go for friendship.
The Doomsday Vault by Steven Harper In a clockwork Brittania, Alice's prospects are slim. At 21, her age and her unladylike interest in automatons have sealed her fate as an undesirable marriage prospect. But a devastating plague sends Alice off in a direction beyond the pale.

New mystery and suspense

Stunning by Sara Shepard #11 in Pretty Little Liars series. Struggling to return to normalcy after surviving Alison's attempt to kill them, Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna endure a series of disasters before realizing that they are being stalked by a new "A" who knows all of their secrets.
	The Girl in the Park by Mariah Frederiks When a teenaged girl with a bad reputation is murdered in New York City's Central Park after a party, her childhood friend is determined to solve the mystery of who caused her death.
Ripper by Stefan Petrucha Adopted by famous Pinkerton Agency Detective Hawking in 1895 New York, fourteen-year-old Carver Young hopes to find his birth father, but when he becomes involved in the pursuit of notorious killer Jack the Ripper, Carver discovers that finding the truth can be worse than ignorance.
	Dark Eyes by William Richter Adopted from a Russian orphanage by a wealthy New York family then growing into a rebellious street youth, fifteen year-old Wally resolves to find the birth mother who stole a fortune from her murderous, dark-eyed father.

New realistic fiction

	The Story of Us  by Deb Caletti After jilting two previous fiances, Cricket's mother is finally marrying the right man, but as wedding attendees arrive for a week of festivities, complications arise for Cricket involving her own love life, her beloved dog Jupiter, and her mother's reluctance to marry.
We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han (new in paperback) The summer after her first year of college, Isobel "Belly" Conklin is faced with a choice between Jeremiah and Conrad Fisher, brothers she has always loved, when Jeremiah proposes marriage and Conrad confesses that he still loves her.
	Jane by April Lindner In this contemporary retelling of "Jane Eyre," an orphaned nanny becomes entranced with her magnetic and brooding employer, a rock star with a torturous secret from his past.
I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler Brainy Tess Smith is the younger sibling of the beautiful, popular, volleyball-scholarship-bound Kristina. When Kristina is diagnosed with bone cancer, it drastically changes both sisters' lives. Sometimes the things that annoy us the most about our siblings are the ones we'd miss the most if we lost them.
	What Boys Really Want by Pete Hautman Lita and Adam are "just friends". They might never agree on what happens in this book but they do they manage to give the world a little more insight into what boys and girls are really looking for.
The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour Colby's post-high school plans have long been that he and his best friend Beth would tour with her band, then spend a year in Europe, but when she announces that she will start college just after the tour, Colby struggles to understand why she changed her mind and what losing her means for his future.
	The Summer of Firsts and Lasts by Terra Elan McVoy When teenaged sisters Daisy, Violet, and Calla spend their last summer together at Camp Callanwolde, the decisions they make--both good and bad--bring challenges to their relationship as well as opportunities to demonstrate their devotion to one another.
Kiss Crush Collide by Christina Meredith Leah's path has been laid out for her by her controlling mother and perfect sisters--prom queen, valedictorian, college, country club wedding--but when Leah meets a boy who is not in her social class, she begins to question what she wants for herself.
	Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler Hudson Avery gave up a promising competitive ice skating career after her parents divorced when she was fourteen years old and now spends her time baking cupcakes and helping out in her mother's upstate New York diner, but when she gets a chance at a scholarship and starts coaching the boys' hockey team, she realizes that she is not through with ice skating after all.
Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler After she is in a horrific car crash when drunk, Los Angeles high school student Gabriella Gardiner assumes she stole her rich boyfriend's car and smashed it into a tree, but she cannot remember anything about the events of the evening.
	How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr Told from their own viewpoints, seventeen-year-old Jill, in grief over the loss of her father, and Mandy, nearly nineteen, are thrown together when Jill's mother agrees to adopt Mandy's unborn child but nothing turns out as they had anticipated.
The Final Four by Paul Volponi Four players at the Final Four of the NCAA basketball tournament struggle with the pressures of tournament play and the expectations of society at large.
	The Daughters Join the Party by Joanna Philbin Emma's senator-father is running for president, and when her rebellious style and indifference to rules and convention create problems, she relies on her good friends, who are also the daughters of well-known people, to help her gain perspective.
Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard Bria, an aspiring artist just graduated from high school, takes off for Central America's La Ruta Maya, rediscovering her talents and finding love.
	Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick After an injury ends former star pitcher Peter Friedman's athletic dreams, he concentrates on photography which leads him to a girlfriend, new fame as a high school sports photographer, and a deeper relationship with the beloved grandfather who, when he realizes he is becoming senile, gives Pete all of his professional camera gear.
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith Hadley and Oliver fall in love on the flight from New York to London, but after a cinematic kiss they lose track of each other at the airport until fate brings them back together on a very momentous day.

Also check out the mysteries we've added to the teen collection!