The First Time She Drowned--Reviewed by Sarah Roberts

“I wonder if this is what other people seem to have that I do not—this courage to fall because they have the memory of standing."

Everyone has that one event in their lives that scars them forever. It may be the tragic loss of a parent or going through your first heart break. For Cassie O'Malley, it's being thrown in a mental institute by your family without so much as a goodbye.

Cassie O'Malley  has been fighting to stay above the water-literally and not just metaphorically- since her birth. Her mother threw Cassie into a mental institute just over two and a half years ago against her will. Finally 18, Cassie can get her life back and enter into the world the way she wants to.

Unfortunately, freedom isn't a good match for a teen whose undergone a lifetime of psychological damage. As Cassie swims through the confusing and new surroundings, she uncovers things about her family that make it impossible to cut the ties of the past. As the unhealthy relationship between Cassie and her mother threatens to pull her under once again, Cassie must make some decisions...

Which part of her history is the truth?

And...

Whose life must she save?

I really enjoyed reading this book! The characters made me feel very emotional at times. I especially loved how within the first chapters we were introduced to some of the patients that were with Cassie in the mental institute. These characters were well developed as well. I thought the plot line of this book was very interesting, and I love how the family unit in this story isn't a simple happy family. I like the issues that erupt throughout the story. This book is definitely something I would recommend reading!

Firsts--Reviewed by Sarah Roberts

"People aren’t a chemistry experiment you can tinker with until the proportions are just right.

People are terrifying that way.”

Your first time is something that is not only a big step, but also utterly terrifying. Some people desperately wish that there was some way to get ready or even practice, without their girlfriend or boyfriend finding out. I mean they just want to give that one special person the perfect special time.

Enter Mercedes Ayres.

Seventeen year old Mercedes Ayres gives boyfriends that chance to get the awkward first time over with, and open the door to giving their girlfriends perfect first time. Only catch is the guy has to be a virgin and he can't ever speak of his adventure with Mercedes to anyone. Of course the boys are fine with the secrecy, except for Zach who seems to want more from Mercedes than she is willing to give.

Everything seems to be going quite well that is until Charlie, Mercedes's best friend Angela's boyfriend, wants a turn. Suddenly, Mercedes little "tutoring" becomes public. All Mercedes secretes come to light and she isn't ready for it.

Join Mercedes as she tries to find out who she really is, battles the hatred from her fellow girl classmates, and even love.

I gave this book five stars because I absolutely loved it! This book captured topics that seem to be felt through out high schoolers all over the world. There's self-esteem issues, sexuality issues, bullying, love, and becoming comfortable with our bodies. This book made me really think about things in my life that I have done, and the real thoughts behind them. It gives you an inside view of what people really feel about themselves and how they think their actions affect other people's lives.

Ms. Crawford, I think we should purchase this book because not only does it show you the affects of sexual activity on a teen, but also the affects on the partner of the sexually active teen. This book does not just cover sex, but it also covers the thought process of a teen and how they feel the need to be loved in order to love themselves. It shows us that sex is not supposed to be used for feeling pleasure or a false sense of happiness, but rather for the purpose of expressing your love for the one person you believe will be your first and only love. This book also lets us see the bad affects that sex has on a person, and what multiple sexually partners can really do to a person. I think this book will have a great affect on my fellow peers and believe that this book should be incorporated into our library. This needs to be experienced by our young adults in order to help them find their way through high school and the pressure of sex at our age. 

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! 

Dreamland - Reviewed by Stephanie Best

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
Reviewed by Stephanie Best

                Dreamland by Sarah Dessen follows the journey of a teenage girl and her downward spiral. On the morning of her sixteenth birthday, Caitlin wakes up to find her older sister Cass gone without a trace. Cass was supposed to go to Yale in the coming weeks but gave it up and ran away with her boyfriend Adam. Her mother goes into extreme hysterics and it takes Caitlin’s making the cheerleading squad to snap her out of it. Before she left, Cass had been involved in many extra-curricular activities that her mother was just as involved with. Caitlin hates cheerleading but stays with it because it keeps her mother’s mind off of her sister’s departure. One day, Caitlin meets Rogerson Biscoe and her life completely changes its direction. They start an abusive relationship involving sex and drugs. She quickly abandons all of her friends for Rogerson and starts to lose herself. Will Cass come home? Can Caitlin escape her relationship? More importantly, does she want to?

                I thought Dreamland was okay. It was good if you like that kind of stuff, but it wasn't one of my favorite books. I've read many of Sarah Dessen’s other novels and I've like all of them but I didn't like this one. It surprised me by how different it was to her other stories. From what I’ve read, most of her stories are more about young romance with an obvious happy ending and I enjoyed those. This was not one of those stories. Personally, if you are one to like any of Ellen Hopkins books, then I would recommend this novel. Overall, the book didn’t grab my attention and didn’t really make me want to continue and finish the book.

Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid Review by Liz Hill

Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid

Tanya Nicole Kach and Lawrence Fisher

****

Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid is about a girl, Tanya Kach. She is a strong fighter and this book tells her haunting true story. When Tanya was in grade school she was kid napped by her school's security guard, Tom. She thought Tom was her hero and she was brain washed into believing he was there to help. Tanya was held in Tom's house for over ten years. He abused her sexually and mentally. Tom never let her out of his very small room. Tanya didn't try to get away because she was to scared. Tom told her he would kill everyone she loves and then her if she left. Did Tanya get away? Where is she today? Read more and find out what truly happen in Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid.

Between Shades of Gray-- A Review by Sarah Gnefkow

Between Shades of Gray
by Ruta Sepetys

*** Stars

Lina is a sixteen year old who has a normal life just like any Lithuanian girl. She does normal activities, she lives the same way as everyone else, and she even likes boys. All is normal until the Russian Invasion tears apart everything that her and her family has ever known by barging in their home one night. Lina is separated from her father and shoved in a train car with her mother and her brother. The three of them head to the coldest work camp in Northern Siberia. While they are in this work camp they have to dig for beats and fight to stay alive under the horrible conditions they are given to survive. Lina has been drawing to try and communicate with her father who is at a different work camp thousands of miles away. Will her will to survive be enough? Or will the harsh conditions of work camp life defeat her?

Between Shades of Gray was a pretty good book. Sometimes it got way too boring but overall it was pretty interesting. Keeping up with what was going on was sort of a challenge but if you like work camp stories I really do think you will like this. 

Here is a video of the author discussing her novel. (added by Ms C)
http://vimeo.com/12589530

Bitter End- Review by Aspen Gates

Bitter End

Jennifer Brown

**** stars

Ever since Alex's mother died, she has felt alone and unloved. Her father neglects her and her siblings so Alex tries to take comfort knowing that her two best friends, Zack and Bethany, have her back. Yet, it's still not enough so she hopes that by going to Colorado, the place her mother was trying to go to before she died, everything will make sense. And it seems that Alex's wish of being loved comes true when a new student Cole Cozen becomes her new student that she must tutor in English. She automatically falls in love with him and everything seems to be going perfect until Cole starts expressing his opinion about Alex's best friend Zack and he is always around her. Alex tries to tell Cole that nothing is going on, but he doesn't listen and instead hits her. Alex, confused is trying to understand why Cole would hit her and assumes it's something Zack and her did. But what is she supposed to assume is Cole's reason for hitting her again? Read this painful and agonizing novel in the O'Hara library to see the outcome.

I thought Bitter End was a very sad and emotional book. The main character Alex made me feel so sorry for her and angry the same time. Alex kept trying to understand his violent outbursts towards her and could only come up with an answer that everything was her fault. This book really made me emotional and wanting to understand Alex and her reasoning better and for that I gave it four stars. Jennifer Brown has really created a story that I believe affects many people and will touch many. Definitely think that this would be an amazing book for book club Mrs. Crawford