The Girl Who Fell--Reviewed by Sarah Roberts

                                       “Darkness doesn't have fingers that twist into my flesh."

We all want the guy that we fall in love with to be perfect, or at least perfect for us. We hate when we don't see the warning signs that our friends see, or at least when we do see them it could be too late. Well that is unfortunately the case for Zephyr Doyle.

 Zephyr Doyle is focused on two things. First is leading her field hockey team to the state championship. Second, is getting into Boston College, her dream school.

But love decides it wants to intervene in the form of Alec. He's cute , he's charming, and most important he doesn't judge Zephyr. He understands all her weaknesses and even shares them. Soon their relationship becomes bigger than Zephyr, something she can't control, something she doesn't really want to control. 

Zephyr believes it has to be love. Love is powerful and....terrifying?

But love should not make you abandon your friends or your dreams. And it shouldn't make you feel guilty or ashamed. 

So when Zephyr final sees the person Alec really is she decides to take control back.

Only problem is it might be too late.

I absolutely loved this book!!! It made my emotions change so many times. The characters were well developed, and the plot line was superb. I loved how it seemed like this story could happen in real life. I love the whole story and was hooked by the first word. The plot of this story will grab you and leave you wanting more after each chapter. During each chapter of this book, you will be able see each character develop and grow. Zephyr will definitely develop throughout this story. S.M. Parker did an outstanding job of making the storyline feel realistic and even added points of advice that will help each reader through relationships that are similar to Zephyr and Alec's. I would highly recommend "The Girl who Fell" to each and everyone of my friends and family members. It is a must read.



Breaking Beautiful - Reviewed by Maggie Devero

Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

Reviewed by Maggie Devero

One day you wake up, and everything you know about your life had changed....but you can't remember any of it?

Allie wakes up in the hospital after being in a fatal car wreck, lucky to be alive. Only she doesn't feel all as lucky as she probably should; her boyfriend Trip was also in the same car when the accident happened and he did not end up surviving.  Overwhelmed with grief for her lost boyfriend, and anger at herself, Allie struggles to remember what exactly took place that evening that caused Trip to lose control of the wheel and send the two plummeting over the side of a cliff. But the real question is, does she even really want to remember? Or is it better off that the unpleasant series of events that took place that night are lost on her forever? Allie decides to do all she can to try to remember, as she slowly involves herself in the real world again, after a couple months or so, when the Pacific Cliffs Police Force reopens the case. They hound Allie, and her friend Blake for any information, that Allie is just unable to give them. Will Allie be able to heal over time, or with this torturous past haunt her forever? Read the book to find out!

I honestly didn't have much hope for this book when I first picked it up, but once I got into it a little bit it actually turned out quite to my liking! I was between giving it three and a four star rating, but I figured I'd be nice and since the plot was pretty decent I'd give it a four, since overall it wasn't too bad. When you first pick it up, it's a bit slow to start off, with the struggle Allie is facing of just getting out of bed and back into a normal life. But then it picks back up after a third of the way into it or so. The major twist of the storyline is easy to miss (like I did) but also really easy to pick up on if you're focused and intuitive, and it adds a nice change of pace to the story. The writing style was decent, and the characters were very individual and their development throughout the story helped it along. I liked the book! Four stars! 

Perfect reviewed by Molly Varney

By Ellen Hopkins *****

What would you do to be perfect? For four high school students, they can't seem to find perfection. Cara's brother, Conner was put into Aspen Springs after he tried to kill himself and she was left at home with their parents. While dealing with her mother, who expected nothing but perfection from her, and her father, who offered no emotions whatsoever, she found herself dealing with her feelings for another girl, Dani. Sean was Cara's old boyfriend before she left him and felt like the only thing he could do was play baseball. His problem was steroids- lots of them. After Cara broke up with him he started to do more than he normally would. Andre finally found the one thing he was good at, which was dance. Although his parents disproved of it he wanted to pursue his dream. His new girlfriend, Jenna was a bit of a problem. She was beautiful and liked showing it off, but she was getting into a bad habit of drinking away her problems and Andre felt compelled to help her. Kendra thought that her whole life revolved around winning pageants and eventually becoming a professional model. She doesn't know how far she will take it to get to the top though. She already had an eating problem and her mother ignored it because she also wanted her to accomplish her dreams, at any cost. All four of these teenagers are trying to be perfect, but how far will they go?

I gave this book five stars because I love all of Ellen Hopkins' books, although all of them are pretty depressing. Perfect is the companion to Impulse and I loved both of them. The way all of the characters know each other, one way or another, was really cool. I also really liked how the book is set up, so you really know all of the characters. The books are really sad near the end, but the stories of all the different characters are really interesting.

Willow reviewed by Molly Varney

By Julia Hoban *****

"It's hard to keep a secret when it's written all over your body" After a horrible accident killed Willow's parents, she was forced to live with her brother, David, and his wife and daughter. She soon found out after living with David and not feeling any love from him because of what happened, that she could numb herself to any more feelings by cutting herself. After a while, she met Guy, who found out about her secret. When Willow finally made him promise not to tell David he decided to stay with her and try to help her. Willow at first tried to reject any help from him, but after a while she couldn't help but start to have feelings for Guy. As Willow tried to sort out her feelings for Guy she also tried to get her relationship with her brother back to normal.

I loved this book. I thought that Guy's character was realistic because he acted like almost anyone would if they found out someone they knew was cutting themselves. I gave it five stars because I really liked how the story was set. It wasn't a perfect ending because in real life it never is, but it never lost my attention. There were a few parts that I didn't really like because of the cutting but there wasn't too much. Over all I really liked it and I enjoyed reading it.

Candor -- a review by Molly Varney

Candor by Pam Bachorez  

**** Stars

"In this town, you are what you hear." In Candor Florida, everything is perfect. The Children have perfect grades, the families are happy, and nothing ever goes wrong. However, in a town that's supposedly perfect there is one small problem; Oscar Banks. Oscar is the son of the town's founder. He's the perfect Candor child: perfect grades, class president, and a shining example for the other kids. But for him it's all and act. He pretends to be perfect and even has a girlfiend, Mandi. But he knows about the messeges. He fights them with his own messeges and he runs his own business getting kids out before they are brainwashed. And because he's the perfect child, no one suspects him.

For Oscar, everything is runnung perfectly. His disguise is perfect and his new client, Sherman, is almost ready to leave. He had no worries until a new family moved in. Their daughter, Nia, is able to see right through his act. Oscar is immediantly interested in her resistance to the messeges. Now he must either save her from the messeges by sending her away, or help her learn to resist the messeges completely. Will he risk a trip to the listening room where even the most resistant minds are wiped clean? In the end will he choose to trust the wrong people?

I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars because at the end it lets you to decide what happens to the characters. I'm not a big fan of those endings but I thought this book was really good. It was interesting and it kept me interested.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants-- A Review by Sarah Gnefkow

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
by Ann Brashares

**** Stars

Bridget, Lena, Carmen, and Tibby's mothers all met in pregnancy yoga, and they have been best friends ever since. Every summer they spend together but this summer they are all going their separate ways. Before they part they go on one last shopping adventure together where they find a pair of jeans that fits all of them perfectly, regardless of their different body types. The girls decide to make a pact that over the summer they will send the pants to each other with stories of the amazing things that happened to them while wearing the jeans. Each of the girls summer is very different and dramatic and will test their time apart.

I really enjoyed this book and the movie! The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is really a good story about friendship and it has a lot of drama. Some parts of it were kind of slow and boring but most of the time I just wanted to keep reading. If you like dramatic romance books you will definitely like this.

The Sky is Everywhere - Review by Halea Coulter

The Sky is Everywhere

By Jandy Nelson

* * 1/2 out of 5 stars

The Sky is Everywhere is the story of Lennie. A girl living with her uncle and grandmother and her sister has just died. Her sister, Bailey, has left behind a fiancée named Toby. Lennie never understood what Bailey saw in Toby, but after Bailey's death, Toby and Lennie start to take comfort in each other, and not the kind of comfort brothers and sisters give each other. Enter Joe. An American boy raised in Paris, who is not only gorgeous but also very musically talented. And he wants Lennie, and Lennie really wants him too, in fact, shes in love with him. But the problem is that Toby is still around. What is a girl to do? Especially without the guidance of her older sister . . .

The Sky is Everywhere was nice, but predictable. The cast of characters, especially Lennie's grandmother and uncle were very charming. There wasn't really anyone bad in book, not a real antagonist or anything. And as far as the whole love triangle goes, I mean, come on . . . predictable! So it wasn't really a bad book, there just wasn't much special about it. Although if you are a Sarah Dessen fan, it's probably something you'd enjoy.