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!

Such a pretty girl--reviewed by Nallely S.

Such a pretty girl by Laura Wiess

* * * * * Stars

"Today my time has run out."-Meredith

For Meredith, that day changed everything. Her father became somthing that constantly haunted her. For three years she was kept safe, because they promised. Except it was suppose to be nine, they only gave her three. At 15years old Meredith was no longer innocent, having been thrown into darkness by none other than her father. Meredith seeks to break free from what happened that day, three years ago. Yet, her nightmare was returning...and he wasn't going to stop.

Follow Meredith in her conquest to finally be free from the pain and darkness.

I gave this book 5 stars because although it's painful to think about..It was a good book. It was straight to the point and it made me realize people..really go through things like this, out there in this small world. It made me sad to think that there are sick people in this world. Yet Meredith's character broke free from her pain and actually did something to stop her father, whom she once loved. She turned her pain into her strength and that takes a lot from someone who went through what she did. ^ ^ A brave person acts, not sit there and wait for someone to take action. I liked this 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.

It's Kind of a Funny Story - Review by Halea Coulter

It's Kind of a Funny Story

by Ned Vizzini

* * * * Stars

What kind of story includes kids that actually study, attempted suicide off the Brooklyn Bridge, crazy people, stress vomiting, a girl that cut her own face, and an Egyptian guy that won't get out of bed? A funny one!! Even though It's Kind of a Funny Story does touch on serious subjects, it is actually funny.

The story opens with Craig, who really wants to jump of the Brooklyn Bridge. But Craig, being one of the smartest kids in New York City, calls the suicide hotline, which tells him to check into the hospital, so he does. The story winds around in an interesting way which starts of switching between how Craig is pushed to end up in the hospital and him actually getting there. But once he does the story stays mostly in the present. While in the hospital, Craig, meets an interesting cast of characters, most of whom are adults in the psych ward, but of course there is Noelle, his love interest, a girl who cut her face. Craig is only in the psych ward for six days, but thats enough to really turn his life around, he learns how to work things and there is plenty of funny along the way.

I love It's Kind of a Funny Story. I do like the story line, to me, it is simple and clean. The story goes from point A to B without tons of irrelevant things getting in the way. The book was very easy to read. I read it in two days I think and it was just easy because the authors tone was very enticing. I feel like the author of the book, wrote kind of like I think, so for me, it was a very enjoyable book. I gave it four stars, which is pretty solid, it's definitely worth picking up and reading, especially if you plan to see the movie!

Tales of the Madman Underground -- Review by Hope Austin

Tales of the Madman Underground
by John Barnes
****stars

The year is 1973 and it's the first day of senior year, and there's one thing Karl Shoemaker wants to be: normal. No funny looks, no forced sympathy. That's easier said than done. Normal kids don't have boozers for parents, nor do they have to work five jobs to support themselves. Worst of all for Karl, normal means distancing himself from the Madmen, a group of kids who, for whatever reason, are sent to group therapy from people who don't know how to deal with them to people who don't want to deal with them. Over the years, they've been like a slightly more stable family for him. Luckily, Karl has has his two best friends, Paul and Squid, and the new girl Marti (a "genius" whose parents were forced to let "take it easy" for a year) to help him figure out what normal really is.

There is a definite Catcher in the Rye-esque feel to this book. Not so much in the subject matter, but more so in the tone of the story. Karl is an angry, angry boy and has every reason to be. The thing I like best about this book is the realism. No one is cartoonishly evil, nor is anyone ridiculously beautiful. it also really ties in to one of the main themes of the book: you never really get the whole story; everything has layers. As for the setting, you don't really notice that it's the seventies that much. There aren't obnoxious pop culture references on every other page reminding the reader that the story does, in fact, take place in 1973 and like that. Overall it's a pretty phenomenal coming of age story. Definitely check it out.

Bee Season - Review by Halea Coulter

Bee Season
By Myla Goldberg

* * * * 3/4 stars

Eliza is a nobody. She isn't very smart, not very pretty, and not noticed, at least, not until she almost wins the national spelling bee. Aaron an ex-Jew turned Hare Krishna. Miriam is a lawyer, and a kleptomaniac, on a mission to become whole again. And Saul in an ex-hippie Jewish rabbi that loves studying mysticism. So what do these four people have in common? They are one big dysfunctional family.

Saul was a Jewish hippie that did a lot of acid and did a lot of girls, but when he met Miriam, it was the end of that. She enticed him intellectually and she was innocent, she was the one. For Miriam, a very smart, and slightly unstable girl, Saul was an intellectual match and he made her feel a bit more whole. Years later, they have two children, Eliza and Aaron. Aaron is the perfect child, smart like his mother and like his father, poised to become a rabbi. Eliza on the other hand, is a let down; she isn't very smart and shes nothing special. But when suddenly Eliza starts winning spelling bees, she gains the attention of her parents and send the whole family spinning off into directions that made the book very interesting. Saul becomes obsessed with his daughter winning, so he pushes Aaron aside. Aaron feels like he doesn't matter anymore, and strays away from Judaism, and Miriam, like always, she's off in her own little world, it's just worse than before.

This isn't a YA book, it is adult fiction, and I absolutely am in love with it. This is probably one of my favorite books I have ever read, and that is saying something. The family dynamics in this book were very interesting. The relationship between the children and the father changed so rapidly after Eliza started winning spelling bees it was incredible. I felt terrible for Aaron, who starting having issues with his religion around the time his father stopped focusing on him. He turned to a very different type of religion which later in the book created an interesting tension between father and son. There was also the relationship between Saul and Miriam, the mother and father, it was just so strange. Mostly because Miriam was off her rocker, but still, the relationship between them was tense at times and at other times they really just floated around each other. Their sex life was interesting to hear about, mostly because it told us a lot about who Miriam is and how screwed up she really was. Overall, the four main characters were amazing, the book constantly switched from one to another and I always found myself eager to get to the next one. They all had such interesting point of views and story lines, and they were such complete and well developed characters that not only could I not put the book down, it was the only book I've ever read that I consider close to perfection. Between the struggles with faith, and family, and all the terrible things in between, this was an amazing book. The reason I did not give it a perfect five stars is because the ending wasn't exactly what I was looking for but it wasn't bad. The ending to the book was excellent, to me though it just left a few things unresolved, but looking back, they were things that were fine left the way they were. My advice is to read it, Bee Season was amazing.

She's Come Undone -- a review by Hope Austin

She's Come Undone

by Wally Lamb
*****

Dolores Price has had tough childhood. As if being bullied and picked on wasn't enough, she also has to contend with her parents' divorce and her mother's subsequent institutionalization, among other things. Dolores copes with them the only way she knows how: by sitting in front of the television and eating junk food. By the time she's deemed ready to enter the "real world", she weighs a little over 250 pounds. Now Dolores is on her own and determined to make it.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I love reading about people's life stories, real or fictional, and this one is no exception. Even though my life is nothing like Dolores's, I could really relate to how she was feeling. What's really amazing about this book is that the author is a man yet gets inside the head of a girl so easily. Anyone who's interested in books about the personal struggles of others should definitely read this one.