Party by Tom Leveen

Moving Day for the HHS Library is Monday, Nov. 1st! I'm excited to get into our new and improved home. I am ready for everything to have a permanent place; it is frustrating when every corner is filled with stuff just waiting to move. And it will be great to have the Reference section our of boxes and back on a shelf where we can find things--YEA!!!!!

Party by Tom Leveen is a really good book. It was one of those books that I pulled because I thought it might have some questionable content in it and I thought that I should know what it was before I put it on the shelf. However, I did not find too much to be worried about. It is a book about a party and there is drinking, sex and some talk of drug use but the way it is written puts all of it into perspective.

The book is about the last big party of the year! The 11 main characters are all going to be Seniors or just graduated and they are celebrating the end of another school year. We get the story of the party through the eyes of each of the characters. The plot progresses as we meet each character and see what happens at the party through their eyes. There is Beckett whose mother has died and is going to have to drop out of school to go to work; she feels that she is invisible and goes to the party just to see if anyone even knows she's alive. Morrigan has just broken up with her boyfriend and decides to meet someone new at the party. Josh is Morrigan's boyfriend and he is depressed over the break up. Anthony is the star football player who had a terrible year, but only a few people know why. Max and Brent are skateboarders. Azzize is a Turkish American who just wants to see what a high school party is like. Ryan goes just to hook up. And Ashley is the one person who kind of connects them all. The story hooks the reader as they find out about each character and the terrible thing that happens at the Party!

The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

Sonia wants to be the first in her family to graduate from high school and go to college. Her parents are illegal immigrants and did not have the opportunities she has, and Sonia know that in America, education equals opportunities. She has big plans for her future.

However, Sonia’s plans are disrupted by her life. Her father works three jobs to support his family. Her mother is pregnant with twins and is on bed rest and her drunk uncle has come to live with them. Sonia is forced to cook, clean and take care of her family. She often has to miss school to help out at home and things look bleak for the possibilities of graduating. The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez by Alan Lawrence Sitomer shows what Sonia must do to find her future while dealing with her family, avoiding her drunk uncle and falling in love.

A Kansas Year

A Kansas Year by Mike Blair is a beautiful book of pictures showing the beauty of one year in the state of Kansas. Blair goes through the year with incredible photographs that show Kansas at its best. January includes pictures of an ice storm and a couple of raccoons in their den. The author gets it right when he writes, "The reader should not be confused if one January entry is shirtsleeve warm, while the next is cold and snowy. The beauty of a Kansas year is found in its diversity, and that's why it's a compelling journey." Everyone who has ever lived in Kansas knows how true this statement is.

From the snow covered cattails to the Ninnescah on an August morning to a December sunset over the prairie. This is a breathtakingly beautiful book.

Sequels

I just finished the third book is a couple of series and enjoyed them both a lot!

Kiss in the Dark by Lauren Henderson is the third book in the "Kiss" series.

Having solved the mystery of Dan’s death, Scarlett thinks that life will finally settle down. She is happy with her best friend Taylor and her boyfriend Jase and is even dealing with her archenemy Plum now attending Wakefield School. Of course, things do not remain calm in Scarlett’s life. Jase’s father and grandmother and Scarlett’s aunt do not want Jase and Scarlett to see each other. Jase’s father reacts almost violently to their being together and Scarlett’s aunt hauls her home in the middle of a date. However, when Jase’s father is found dead, everything blows up and Scarlett again needs to investigate what really happened and how his death is connected to her past and the death of her parents years ago. Once again Henderson presents an interesting mystery to be solved and Scarlett is right in the middle of it.

Although the mystery of Jase's father's death is solved in this book, another mystery is brought up about Scarlett’s parents. This opens the door for another book in the series.

The other book I just finished was the final book in the "Hunger Games" series Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Like the other two books--Hunger Games and Catching Fire--Mockingjay kept me on the edge of my seat; I couldn't stop reading because I had to know what would happen to Katniss.

The book begins after Katniss has been removed from the Quarter Quell by the rebels of District 13 who are leading the rebellion to over throw the Capitol. Peeta has been left behind and is taken captive by the Capitol. District 13 wants Katniss to become the Mockingjay a symbol of rebellion that will encourage the rebel troops to continue fighting for the good of the people. This throws Katniss right in the middle of the Civil War. In addition to trying to save her own life, she now feels responsible for the lives of the rebels. All the while, she hopes to save Peeta from certain torture at the hands of President Snow.

This book resolves all the open questions from the first two books. It is a good if not particularly happy ending to the series.

Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney

Welcome back to school! The library is still a mess because we are supposed to move in a month at the end of September. However, we have lots of new books for you to enjoy!

“We all inherit someone else’s leftovers. They’re a part of your Blue Plate Special. A part of you,” observes Ariel, one of three teens, each from a different generation, who tell her stories in the novel Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney. Each of the three teens is 15 or 16 when she tells her stories.

The first is Madeline in 1977 who struggles to find love and acceptance wherever she can. Her mother is a drunk and Madeline eats to find happiness, so she must deal with being overweight in addition to her family situation. It is only when she meets Tad at the local McDonald’s that Madeline starts to find acceptance.

Desiree writes in free verse in 1993. Her family life is also a struggle with a mother who refuses to see the world as it really is. She accuses Desiree of acting like a slut while she lives with her worthless boyfriend Larry. Desiree spends her time trying to avoid Larry and dreams of being with her boyfriend Jeremy. But Larry is impossible to avoid and Desiree’s life spirals out of control.

The last teen is Ariel in 2009. Ariel is being raised by a single mother also, but her mother is caring and Ariel feels that she can talk to her mother about almost anything. Anything that is except for her relationship with Shane. Shane is the new kid at school and he is good looking and cool, but he is also possessive and wants Ariel all to himself. She finds that she does not have time for her friends any more and that she spends all of her time trying to make Shane happy instead of doing what would make her happy. Ariel discovers that she must evaluate her relationship with Shane when her mother takes her to see the grandmother she had never met.

The lives of the three teens are told in separate stories until we see how it all fits together about halfway through the book. It is a really good read about love, loss and forgiveness.

The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard

Colt and Julia are from completely different worlds. Julia lives on Black Mountain in her fancy mansion with all the rich people in town while Colt lives down on the Flats with the not-so-privileged. In their school, the two groups of people do not mix. But somehow Julia and Colt fall for each other and they begin a secret relationship in The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard. At school, they act like they don't know each other, but then meet at night by the river where no one else sees them.

But one night Julia is killed in an automobile accident and now Colt doesn't know what to do. He is traumatized by her death, but he is unable to share his grief with anyone. His friends didn't really know Julia and do not feel her loss and they do not know that Colt even knew her so he cannot share his feelings with them. Julia's friends, who are mourning her death, will have nothing to do with Colt. And since their relationship was secret, no one would believe that rich Julia was friends with poor Colt.

Julia's brother discovers the relationship between Julia and Colt and he gives Colt a notebook where Julia wrote letters and poems to Colt. Reading this notebook causes Colt to relive the year with Julia as he works through his secret pain.

Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

I really like DJ Schwenk. I enjoyed reading about her troubles when she decides to go out for football in the book Dairy Queen. I felt terrible for her, but still liked reading about her working with her injured brother in The Off Season. And I really liked the way Catherine Gilbert Murdock finished her story in Front and Center.

Football season is over and her brother is doing better so DJ has returned to school and is looking forward to basketball season. She has a new boyfriend Beaner who is fun to be around and accepts DJ for who she is unlike Brian her first boyfriend. However, it doesn't take long for DJ's life to get complicated. As good as she is at basketball, DJ's coach wants her to be more assertive on the court. He says that she has to learn to be more vocal. But DJ is painfully shy and telling other players what to do is painful for her. Additionally many Division I universities are recruiting her to play basketball for them, but she has to overcome her shyness and participate in the recruiting process. The idea of talking to coaches and playing in front of large crowds of people make her physically sick. To top it all off, as great as Beaner is, DJ finds herself thinking more and more about Brian.

It is fun to listen as DJ tells the problems of her life and watch her make the decision that will affect the rest of her life. Front and Center is a satisfying conclusion to a wonderful trilogy. If you read the first two books, you have to read the conclusion.