Two Parties, One Tux and a Very Short Film about the Grapes of Wrath By Steven Goldman

Two Parties, One Tux, One Very Short Film about the Grapes of Wrath by Steven Goldman is a hilarious novel about the end of Mitchell's Junior year in high school. Mitchell and David are best friends. They do everything together; they are even taking a film-making class where they create Claymation-type films. But everything changes when David informs Mitchell that he is guy. Suddenly Mitchell doubt the direction his life is headed.

Although Mitchell has always been a good student, he decides not to read The Grapes of Wrath (a book that I love, by the way) and instead of writing the three page papers assigned by his English teacher, he turns in one of his film projects. Although the film is very short, it contains violence and nudity and causes Mitch's life to spin out of control. As a result he finds himself being called into the head master's office with a threat of suspension, dating one of the hottest girls in school, and trying to figure out what to do about David.

Michell's narrative shows his dry wit through his observations of the high school social scene and how he resides at the bottom of the social ladder. You will laugh as everything that can go wrong does and how Mitch deals with his life in a very humorous manner.

Devil's Paintbox by Victoria McKernan

Aiden is fifteen years old and living with his younger sister Maddy in a dugout on a homestead in Kansas. Their parents and brothers and sisters have all died and a fire has burned up any possibility of a crop this year. They are barely surviving on grasshoppers, dirt and other things that they can catch. The outlook is bleak in The Devil's Paintbox by Victoria McKernan.

Hope for the future comes in the form of Jefferson J. Jackson who is recruiting men to be loggers in the Pacific Northwest. Jackson will pay for Maddy’s and Aiden’s journey on a Wagon Train to Seattle and then Aiden will work for two years as a logger to pay off the passage. Maddy and Aiden know that this is their only hope for survival, so they join the Wagon Train on the Oregon Trail.

The journey is not easy as they have problems with wolves, dangerous river crossings and small pox along the way. Their adventures are both exciting and horrifying. Aiden makes friends with an Indian along the way who wants to vaccinate the Indians for small pox—what the Indians call the Devil’s Paint—and Aiden gets mixed up in his dangerous scheme.

This is not a happily-ever-after book, but it does a good job showing the struggles faced while the pioneers crossed the United States looking for a better way of life. Living in Kansas, this book hits close to home as I think of my relatives who homesteaded in Kansas and tried to survive when things were tough. In fact, the old dugout where my great grandparents lived is still there in Rush County.

Crash into Me by Albert Borris

Crash into Me by Albert Borris is a very interesting novel. This is one of those books that I just couldn't put down, but had to read cover to cover. I had to find out what was going to happen at the end.

Owen wants to kill himself; in fact, he has tried to kill himself seven times. While spending time in a Psych Hospital, Owen meets Jin-Ae who also wants to commit suicide. Together they meet two other suicidal teens—Frank and Audrey. Together the four of the form, what they call, a suicide pact and a suicide pack. They decide to take a road trip where they will visit the graves of famous people who killed themselves. The trip will be a cross country journey starting in New Jersey and culminating with the four of them committing suicide in Death Valley, California. On this trip the four of them share secrets and learn many things about themselves. They discover truths about themselves and about life and love. Ultimately they each must decide whether life is worth living or if there is no turning back.

Kisses and Lies by Lauren Henderson AND Me, the Missing and the Dead by Jenny Valentine

For those of you who have read, Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson, I just finished the sequel Kisses and Lies. In the first book, Scarlett gets her first kiss from Dan who dies as a result. As she deals with this death, she discovers that it was no accident, that someone murdered Dan and used her to do it. In Kisses and Lies, Scarlett uncovers the secrets surrounding Dan’s death and with the help of her friend Taylor, she works to discover who really killed Dan. This investigation takes her to Scotland to visit Dan’s family. Once again this novel is Gossip Girl meets Nancy Drew and it is a great mystery. Although the ending suggests that there will be another book in the series, the mystery of who killed Dan is solved by the end of this book.

Me, the Missing and the Dead by Jenny Valentine is a book I picked up because it was short and looked like a quick easy read. It was a quick easy read, but this is also a great book. Lucas Swain is 16 years old and one day he walks into a cab office to get a ride home and there he meets Violet Park. The kicker is that Violet Park is old and dead. He sees the urn holding her ashes on a shelf in the cab office. After some investigation, he discovers that someone had left it in a cab nearly 5 years ago. Lucas feels that it is his mission to discover who she was and where she belongs. To complicate things Lucas’ father disappeared 5 years ago and no one knows if he is dead or if he ran off, but there has been no sign of him for five years. The mystery of Violet Park leads Lucas to the truth about himself and his father. It is a great mystery the way the pieces all fit together

Witch and Wizard by James Patterson

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break. I did, but I was ready to get back into the swing of things. The weather was too cold over the break to do much except eat, watch football and read. Of course, I did get to spend some time with my family which is always fun. I had a chance to read several books that have been sitting on my desk waiting for me to have some time. One of these was Witch & Wizard by James Patterson.

Before I go any further, I need to say that I love James Patterson. I have read every Alex Cross novel he has written and enjoy some of his other series too. I picked up Witch & Wizard as an ARC at the American Association of School Librarians National Conference in Charlotte earlier this year. In fact I spent part of the conference stalking him trying to get my picture taken with him. That didn't work, but here is a picture of him speaking at the conference--I did get a seat close to the front row, but that is as close as I got--too bad!

Witch & Wizard is different from most of the Patterson books I have read, but it is an interesting book. The book begins with the Allgood family standing in a large arena waiting to be executed. The New Order has taken over the government and the Allgoods are considered enemies of the state. After this brief flash, the reader is taken back to the beginning and what happened to get them in such a predicament. Like many books written now, this book has two narrators and the chapters alternate between them. Wisty and Whit Allgood are arrested for being a witch and a wizard. The problem is that neither of them knew that they had supernatural powers, but these powers seem to develop as they are put on trial and work on their escape. Wisty and Whit eventually join a group of young people who are working to overthrow the New Order.

Like all of Patterson's books, this is an easy read with short chapters and lots of action. It also sets things up for this to be a series of books. Whit and Wisty are interesting characters and it will be fun to find out what happens to them in the future.