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!

The Rules of Survival reviewed by Molly Varney

By: Nancy Werlin * * * * *

Matthew's rules of survival are 1. Sometimes, the people who mean you harm are the ones who say they love you 2. Fear is your friend. When you feel it, act 3. Protect the little ones 4. If you coped before you can cope now and 5. Always remember: In the end, the survivor gets to tell the story. These are the rules Matthew, Callie, and Emmy have to live by each day. Their mother, Nikki, is crazy they think. She says she loves them then goes and has one of her horrible fits. She'll lock them in their room for hours or dissapear for a couple days. None of them even think about telling someone else. Until one night, when Callie and Matthewsnuck out to get popsicles, they met Murdoch. You wouldn't look twice at him, he was just another man. But when he stood up to a man hurting his son in the store, Matthew felt someting. That was hope. Hope for a future without crazy Nikki, without having to watch what you say and how you say it. Where he could think about talking to girls and not keeping him and his sister out of harms way. Matthew's story begins with meeting a man who gave him hope for a future where he could be normal.

I thought this was a great book. The story was sad and almost scary sometimes but I enjoyed reading it. I liked how it was written, because Matthew was writing it all down after everything had happened and it was really cool. I really liked how all of the characters were portrayed. My favorite character was probably Matthew because he was the oldest and the strongest out of the three siblings. The story was very realistic and it held a very powerful message. It also wasn't very long and took me no time to finish it.

How to Save a Life reviewed by Kaitlin Kimbrell

how to save a life

By Sara Zarr

We all meet each other in different ways. This different way let us know about the person we are meeting. Many people don't like me new people and other's couldn't live without it. Jill and Mandy have had two different ways of seeing each other.

All Jill wanted was her life back to the way it was before her dad died. She loved her dad and thought it was the end of any true connnection she would have with any other person. When Jill found out her mom was planning on adopting a baby she knew that her mom was just trying to start over and begin her own life. Jill felt betrayed when she met Mandy. If Jill would have been picking the girl giving her mom a baby Mandy would have been the last person she ever would have picked.

For Mandy life was different. She didn't feel loved and got pregnant even though she didn't want to be her mother. When Mandy found Jill's mom she was glad to be giving it to a woman who would truly care for her child. However, meeting Jill was a different story. Mandy took one look at Jill and didn't really want anything to do with her. How was she going to manage til the baby was born.

Will this new life change their lives forever?

Personal this book to me was very average. I did relate to how the girls felt about each other, but couldn't fully get into the book. I do believe, however, that you should think about reading this book. You might get a different feeling from it.

Better Than Yesterday reviewed by Kaitlin Kimbrell

better than yesterday

by Robyn Schneider

"Sometimes, when we are not looking for a solution, but rather a different way of viewing the problem, it is permissible, even appropriate, to break the rules." Skylar, Marissa, Blake, and Charley became best friends’ freshman year and had together created a group called the Hell Risers, but much has happened since then. Skylar became known as the dirty girl, Marissa was more of just a nerdy girl, Charley had to please his parents with everything he did, and Blake left Hilliard. Now, however, Blake is back and wants to put the old gang of Hell Risers back together again. Since Blake has been gone though he has changed too much and they are scared that something might happen to him, plus they need to keep a secret from him so he won't hate Skylar. Will they stay best friends? Will they fight for what they believe? Will they just forget about each other and never look back? What will happen? To find out read the book.

This book was good! I enjoyed it and it was a quick read because of how interesting it was. There was such a mix of feelings and everything that happened will make you love each character. I honestly loved this book and am thinking about looking into this author for more books. Love and scandal all in one, what could be better? This book really kept me intrigued the whole time and I am glad I chose it to read.

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.

Life as we knew it - a review by George Morejon

Life as we knew it
by Susan Beth Pfeffer
*** stars

In Life as we knew it, Miranda is just an average teenager living in suburban Pennsylvania. She has a diary she writes in all the time, she worries about her friends, and has problems with her parents' marriage. A huge event that's suppose to be once in a lifetime is happening; the moon is going to be hit by a giant asteroid. This is something everyone's excited for... until it actually happens. The are natural disasters everywhere, and the moon is much larger than it used to be. When the summer came, the weather just gets worse. In the winter, the snow is much higher than normal, over 2 metres. Everyone's getting sick, and Miranda's the last hope for her sick family. Everyone's left the town, and now she has to journey out to see what's left...

I thought this book was alright. I really only got to the summer, but I liked what I read. I'd have to give it 3 stars because I didn't get to finish it.

Rules of Attraction--Review by Sarah Gnefkow

Rules of Attraction

Simone Elkeles

***1/2 stars

Carlos Fuentes has lived many places in the seventeen years of his life. He originally was raised in Chicago before his older brother Alex started to get into gangs trying keep his family safe. Carlos' mother moved their family to Mexico after Alex had left the gang. Now Carlos is moving back to the United States a year later to live in Colorado with his older brother (which is now on the right track) who tried to carve out a life for Carlos that he doesn't want. Carlos doesn't abide to anyone else's rules but his own. Kiara a straight A student was asked to escort Carlos around his new school for the first week. They both are dealing with social situations at school, for Carlos its his current reputation and for Kiara its her stuttering problem. Carlos decides that he doesn't need a guide and blows Kiara off. By doing this Kiara wants to get even, which ends up attracting each other. But will these sparks be enough to get over their social issues?

This book was pretty good, but definitely not as good as Perfect Chemistry. In a way they were both really similar and after reading the first one the outcome was quite predictable. The book goes by alternating speakers. I didn't really want to put it down, but in a way the endings were the exact same so I gave it 3 1/2 stars. It was a pretty good series so I do suggest checking these books out.

Review by Aspen Gates

Please Ignore Vera Dietz

A.S. King

**** stars

Vera Deitz has had it rough since she was twelve. From her mother running off with some other man when Vera was twelve, to her best or ex-best friend winding up dead when she was seventeen. Now eighteen years old, Vera continues on with her life with her dad, or she tries to, but what nobody knows is the secret she's keeping that could clear her dead ex-best friends name from being the one who burned down Zimmerman's Pet Store. However, Vera stays quiet and continues to work delivering pizzas across town ignoring her dead friend Charlie's signals about clearing his name. But what is really stopping Vera from telling the police what really happened to the Pet store? And who was actually responsible for it?

I gave Please Ignore Vera Dietz four stars because even though it turned out good in the end, I had to really push myself to want to read this book at the beginning. However, I really felt that this book showed a lot of what teens go through with peer pressure, and it shows that not every body can overcome it. I definitely recommend this book to those who like books on people trying to overcome there fears. So check this book out in the O'Hara library.

North of Beautiful - Review by Aspen Gates

North of Beautiful

Justina Chen Headley

**** stars

Terra is girl who just wants to go through life normal. However, she feels it's not possible considering her red-wine stain birthmark that covers half her face. Through the years her parents put her through severe pain trying to get rid of her birthmark by laser surgery, but nothing work. Now, her father has come to terms that nothing can fix her face and makes it known that she will be ugly for life, and the only one who supports her now is her mother. So to prevent people from knowing about her birthmark, she layers her face with tons of makeup and stays in denial until she meets Jacob, a chinese goth with a cleft lip, who she can relate with. Terra soon starts to enjoy Jacob's company and learns about geocaching which is where people all over the world bury things for others to find. And she begins to fall for him even though she already has the 'ideal' boyfriend according to her friend Karin. Ignoring what everybody says about Jacob, Terra and her mother take time off from her controlling father and visit China with Jacob and his mother. There, Terra and her mother go geocaching, and discover more than what's in the treasure box, they discover themselves.

I gave North of Beautiful four stars because it was different from what I usually read and I just loved it. At times Terra's father could be such an arrogant man and it literally made me want to through the book at the wall. However, I didn't and I was just happy with the outcome of the book and the path Terra chose. I definitely recommend this book to those who like stories about overcoming defeat. Trust me you will love North of Beautiful so check it out in the O'Hara library.