The List by Siobhan Vivian

Nobody knows who writes "The List" each year. The Tradition has been passed on for years. The week before Homecoming "The List" appears with the names of the ugliest and the prettiest girls in each grade. Nobody has ever claimed to have written "The List." Years before the seal of the school was stolen and is used to officially emboss "The List." Each year it is passed on to someone else in secret. That person doesn't know who was the list maker before them, but then it is their turn to make "The List."

For the 8 girls on The List life changes dramatically during the week before Homecoming. This year Bridget Honeycutt is chosen as The Prettiest for the junior class. Immediately the pressure is on Bridget to look her best. This manifests in an eating disorder that she thought had been put behind her over the summer. But she is determined to fit into that smaller dress size by the end of the week. Jennifer Briggis becomes the first four-peat girl as ugliest. Her former best friend Margo was chosen as prettiest which puts her in the top running for Homecoming Queen. When Sarah finds her name on the ugliest list she is determined to fight back. She decides to not bathe for the entire week much to the disgust of the student body that have to be in classes with her. Each girl handles their fame or rejection in her own way, unfortunately letting The List change them whether for positive or negative. With one girl determined that this will be the last List EVER.

My Thoughts:

There were a few things that I disliked about this story. The cursing, the sexual situations, and the drinking/smoking. BUT, I think the story brought out a lot of how fragile young adult self-image can be. And then to have their flaws or assets brought out in public like "The List," how damaging it can be even to the most put-together teen. This was not a "feel-good" story, it didn't end with everyone experiencing their "happily ever after." High school is messy, egos and self-image are fragile and the author was able to show that in this story. And there were moments when friendships and relationships weathered the storm which made the story more palatable for me.

Curveball The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick

Peter and his best friend AJ are the best baseball pitchers for their team. Their pitching skills are going to take them far. When Peter is pitching, AJ is catching then when AJ pitches then Peter is catching. They are quite a duo. That is until Peter messes up his arm and is told he can no longer pitch~EVER.

This does not seem to be Peter's year. Not only can he no longer pitch, but he is also starting his freshman year of high school. Also, there seems to be something disturbing going on with his Grampa. Peter's Grampa is a famous photographer. He has taught Pete everything he knows about cameras and taking the perfect picture. When his Grampa seems to miss the most perfect shot of all and then up and gives Pete all of his equipment Pete knows there is something terrible going on. His Grampa also seems to be frequently forgetting things.

Pete's mother insists that he enroll in an introductory photography class. Since he can no longer play baseball then she feels he needs to be in a "club" of some sort. Pete meets Angelika in class. They are soon put together as partners and things start to look up for Pete. Even though Pete has always told his best friend AJ everything he somehow can not bring himself to tell AJ about not being able to pitch again. The only one he really talks to about that is Angelika. She encourages him to not only be honest to AJ about his arm, but also to talk to his parents about what is going on with his Grampa.

Once again I love the emotions that Jordan Sonnenblick explores in his stories! Peter's relationship with his Grampa is so special and you feel for him as he watches his Grandfather fade into the world of Alzheimer disease. You feel for Pete in his awkward 9th grade self wondering what he is going to do with his life now that he can't play baseball. You admire AJ and Angelika for being Peter's best friends and helping him through his emotions. I have to say that once again Jordan Sonnenblick was able to bring a smile and tear to my eye in Curveball The Year I Lost My Grip.

I received my copy as an ARC from ALA in January.

Home For The Holidays(The Mother Daughter Book Club) by Heather Vogel Frederick

Emma, Jess, Cassidy, Megan, Becca and their mothers are all back for a new season of the Mother-Daughter book club. This season the girls and their mothers will be reading the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. Since they will all be in different places for the Holidays they decide that they will celebrate together on New Year's Eve.

The girls have picked names among themselves to be Secret Santa to. As each girl opens their gifts each day they are disappointed in their Secret Santa. It seems that their Secret Santa does not know them at all. When the "big reveal" on New Year's Eve comes around tempers are right under the surface.

Becca and her family spend Christmas on a cruise with Megan and her family. Becca's family has a secret that they do not want to share with anyone until after the Holidays. Becca can only think of how this secret affects her.

Megan's boyfriend has just broken up with her over email. She is heart-broken, but when she meets Phillipe the captains son she thinks that maybe life will go on.

Jess is disappointed as she was going to spend the holidays in Switzerland. An unfortunate accident keeps her in the States. When her aunt and uncle invite her family to come to their hotel in New Hampshire they decide to go there.

Emma is invited to go with Jess and her family. Her parents let her go, but she finds that it is not as fun as she thought it would be to be away from her family during The Holiday.

Cassidy and her family go out to California. Her step-father Stanley has a job offer that could take them back to California(where they lived before moving to Concord). Cassidy had longed to go back to California, but now she has established her home in Concord and is not sure that she want to move again.

Through all of the bumps and trials the girls' family and friendships stand the tests of time. I absolutely love The Mother-Daughter book Club series and recommend it as a great read for young girls. My daughter is 19 and when we got this new book in the mail she was so excited! She wanted to read it before I got to it, but was gracious enough to allow me first dibs! This 5th book was just as good as the 1st and I'm looking forward to future books in the series.

Famous by Todd Strasser

Jamie Gordon is famous for being the youngest paparazzi. She has a knack for getting just the right pictures of the stars. Her fellow paparazzi think that she is just a one-hit wonder. Her mother refuses to call her photography skills a career. And her boyfriend seems to be distancing himself from her. 

When superstar Willow Twine requests Jamie come to LA and do an exclusive photo shoot for a week, Jamie is thrilled. Willow is trying to boost her career. After coming out of rehab she has one last chance to clean herself up or she becomes a has-been. Willow is bent on destruction though as she has her former boyfriend Rex come stay. When Jamie finds some unexpected pictures on her camera she must decide what to do, betray a friend to boost her own career or delete them and miss her opportunity for fame.

Also while in LA, Jamie tries to get in contact with her best friend. Avy moved to LA when he was 15 to seek his acting career. When Jamie finally meets up with him she is shocked by what he has done to himself. Plastic surgery has made him not even look like the Avy she used to know.

On the positive side I liked Famous very much. I was engaged with all of the characters. I wanted to know what was happening in their lives. On the negative side the book was written so choppily that it sometimes got hard to follow. One minute we were reading about something that happened in 9th grade and then the next chapter we were in the present, then the next chapter we would be early in Jamie's 10th grade year. Somehow though I managed to become involved in the story and then it was hard to put down.