The Program by Suzanne Young 405 pages A YA novel (Gateway nominee 2015-2016)

First, a personal disclosure:  I am not a teenager.  It has been a looong time since I have been a teenager, or even had a teen child. Having said that, you can take my review of this book with a grain of salt.  I found this book dark and disturbing and will NEVER recommend it to a teen.  After I read it, I went back and read reviews to see what it was I missed, but I still do not see why everyone so loves this book...everyone but me!

Picture a future society where there is an epidemic of teen suicides.  So much so that "the Program" has been created.  Now if your teen so much as sheds a tear in public, you can have a handler haul them off to have all their unpleasant memories erased.  They will not remember how their brother died, instead, they will believe any lie you tell them.  They will not remember their boyfriend or their best friend if, by association, it will make them remember something sad.  The teens are constantly being watched and "The Program" has turned some of their friends into such zombies that suicide seems a viable alternative.  Antidepressants are bad, but drugs that erase your memories are good?  This book is the first in a series, but needless to say, I will not be reading any of the others.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson 384 pages 2015-2016 Gateway Nominee (YA novel)

 This one was a tough one for me to get through, but then I am not an adolescent male.  If you love dystopian/sci-fi, if you love video games, if you love good vs evil, you will love this book.  I would recommend it to every gamer you know.  

David lives in Newcago.  The "Epics" have taken over the world.  These are super human beings with super powers.  Steelheart runs Newcago and, as his name might suggest, he turns everything to steel.  Steelheart killed David's father 10 years ago, but each Epic has a weakness, and somehow David's father was able to wound Steelheart.  David has spent the last 10 years studying Epics, their powers, and their weaknesses.  Now, he is hooking up with the Reckoners, a group of rebels who specialize in killing Epics.  But while David has gained a wealth of knowledge over the years, he still has a lot to learn.  Not one of my favorite YA novels, but as I said, I am sure there is an audience for this read. 

eleanor & park by rainbow rowell (YA novel) 2015-2016 Gateway nominee

The jury is still out on this one.  I am not sure how I feel about it.  It definitely does not rank as one of my favorites.  I struggled to get through it and about gave up on it but it does have a good morale to the story.  Eleanor is a misfit.  She has bright red hair, freckles, and dresses like a hobo.  She cannot help it.  She has a dysfunctional family (and that is putting it kindly).  Her step-father is a creep, there is no door on the bathroom.  She shares a room with 3 other siblings, the list goes on and on.  She is bullied at school and made fun of because of her looks. Then she sits next to Park on the bus.  Slowly their friendship grows and becomes a romance.  Park is a bit of a misfit too, only because he is 1/2 Korean in a white-bread world.  But the bullies leave him alone.  He knows taekwondo and they are a bit in awe of him.   Anyway, this is a book of beauty is in the eye of the beholder and love conquers all.  Can't wait to discuss it with the teens to get their take on it!

Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown 272 pages (YA novel) 2015-2016 Gateway Nominee

This book should be required reading for every High School freshman.  Ashleigh is your typical high school girl.  She runs track, tries to keep out of trouble, has a close knit group of friends, and a boyfriend. It is August and boyfriend Kaleb is getting ready to head off to college.  Ashleigh is at a friend's pool party.  She is exhausted from running, has not eaten much and has had a couple of drinks when someone talks her into sexting Kaleb a nude picture of herself so he will not forget her when he goes off to college.  NOT a wise decision!!  Sure enough, a few months later they have a nasty break-up and the picture that was intended for his eyes only goes viral.  Ashleigh is suddenly the town slut.  Her father, who is the school superintendent, could lose his job, Kaleb may have to register as a sex offender for distributing porn and Ashleigh is sentenced to 60 hours of community service. Not to mention the loss of pride, reputation and trust.  While doing her community service, she makes friends with a "loner" Mack, the one person in town who when he received the text of her picture, did not look.  Mack offers a fresh chance at friendship.  Just what Ashleigh needs to weather this storm.  I especially liked the Author's comments at the end of the book.  She reflects on the fact that for people "of a certain age", this was something we never had to deal with.  It wasn't even possible.  There are a lot more chances for teens to make tragic, senseless decisions that can follow them the rest of their lives. 

I AM THE WEAPON by Allen Zadoff (YA novel) (Gateway Readers Nominee 2015-2016)

Wow!  This was a great thriller and I predict a crossover YA novel adults will enjoy as well.  Boy Nobody is a well-trained killer.  He receives his instructions, becomes the new kid in school, befriends another student, and within weeks, there is a tragic death in that student's life and their new best-friend had disappeared.  But this time things are different.  The target is New York's well-loved Mayor and Boy Nobody is sent to befriend his beautiful daughter.  This is a tough assignment.  "Sam" is not only beautiful, she is smart and Boy Nobody begins to have feelings, not just for Sam, but normal feelings. Like he is a normal teenage boy again.  Like maybe he wants to change his life.  But "The Program" has control over him...and they are watching.

Out of the Easy by Ruta Supetys 346 pages

This is a YA novel and a 2015-2016 Gateway nominee.  I would recommend it to older teens.  Set in 1950, this is the story of Josie, daughter of a prostitute, named for a famous prostitute.  She has grown up in New Orleans under the watchful and protective eye of Willie, the madam.  Josie is a smart girl, street smart and intellectual.  Her one goal in life is to get out of New Orleans and into Smith College in Massachusetts.  However, we all know how sometimes life does not go as planned.  Josie's mother takes up with a gangster and when they skip out on a debt owed the mob, the mob comes after Josie.  Will she abandon all her principles to pay the debt?  Will she have to abandon her dream of Smith College?  Oh, you do not really expect me to answer those questions for you, do you?  

Boy21 by Matthew Quick 250 pages

This book is another 2014-2015 Gateway Readers Award Nominee.  While I have some issues with this book, I will say I would have no problem recommending it to a male reluctant reader.  It is about 2 boys, one white, poor, and the very talented point guard on his all black high school basketball team.  The other boy is black, comes from a wealthy family, and was a student at a prep school, where he was the only black basketball player.  Tragedy throws them together and they both learn life lessons about friendship, family, loss, and things more important than basketball.

Trafficked by Kim Purcell 384 pages

This book is another 2014-2015 Gateway Nominee, and another one about a young Russian (actually Moldovian) girl. Hannah's parents were killed in a terrorist bombing and her favorite uncle has disappeared. She lives with her "babushka" but they are very poor and seventeen year old Hannah cannot continue school. When she is offered the chance to move to Los Angeles to be a nanny, she takes it. But things are difficult from the start. She is issued fake documents, her money is stolen from her, and the family treats her like a slave. She works 16 hour days, is not allowed to leave the house, lives in the garage and the wife is insanely jealous of her youthful looks. Things go from bad to worse until Hannah ends up in the hospital, badly beaten by the wife. Only then is she rescued and given a chance at a new life.

This book was okay. I don't feel the characters were well developed. Kudos to Kim Pucell, though, She is donating 20% of sales from this book to organizations that help trafficking victims. She says that 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States every year and at least half of them are children and teens.

Dark Eyes by William Richter 373 pages

This debut novel by William Richter is a 2014-2015 Gateway Nominee, and a good one, at that. This story of a young Russian girl, adopted and brought to the United States is a well written thriller that would also hold the attention of many adult readers. Wallis Stoneman remembers very little of her life in Russia. Adopted at age 5 and brought to the United States, she is the privileged daughter of wealthy parents in New York City. When she reaches adolescence, she becomes rebellious and curious about her real parents. She ends up on the streets, her parents divorced. One day, when she tries to score a new fake ID, she is sent to Brighton Beach. Instead of a fake ID, she is given a folder with clues to her true identity. However, this folder is the proverbial can of worms! When she sells a valuable stone hidden inside the folder, she sets in motion dangerous events that will forever change her life, and the lives of her "crew". Certainly a contender for the Gateway award.

Burning Blue by Paul Griffin 291 pages

 

 

This books is a Young Adult Gateway Nominee for 2014-2015 and is the first book by Paul Griffin I have read.  Nicole Castro is the perfect teen.  Beautiful, inside and out, she is a senior in high school and very popular.  Then one day, she is attacked in the hall way and acid is thrown in her face, destroying one side.  She does not see the attacker.  In an instant her world changes.  How do you go on?  How do you continue through school when everyone sees you differently?  You are the same inside!  Nicole is befriended by social outcast Jay Nazzaro.  Jay has been labeled a freak because he has seizures, sometimes publicly.  But Jay is a tech whiz kid and can hack into anything.  He makes it his personal mission to find out who did this to Nicole.  What he discovers is the terrible truth about what some people will do to hold on to those they love.  Look out!  All is not as it seems.