Period Pieces: Stories for Girls selected by Erzsi Deak and Kristin Embry Litchman

Great collection of short stories about girls in different situations and different cultures dealing with getting their periods for the first time.

Ghosts of Boyfriends Past by Carly Alexander

Chick Lit

Main character is haunted by her past Christmas relationships as she tries to find love.

Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson

This takes place in the same school as Speak and has a passing reference to that protagonist.

The story focuses on Kate, the daughter of a minister, who is desperately trying to finish her senior year. As she deals with her boyfriend and worries about getting accepted to college, tragedy strikes her community and she is sucked in.

Well written and true to life.

The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith

The latest in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.

Babe in Toyland by Eugenie Seifer Olson

Chick lit

The main character is an employee of a toy company in Philadelphia who falls in love with a local weather forecaster. When she decides to let him know, hilarity and hijinks ensue. Love is eventually found.

The Outsiders of 19 Schuyler Placeby E.L. Konigsburg

Another great novel by the author of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. This one deals with being an outsider, both as a child and as an adult. After Margaret leaves her summer camp to stay with her eccentric uncles, she is sucked into a campaign to save the towers they have been creating from destruction.

Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot

This light, amusing story is told through e-mails, phone messages and other correspondence. The main character works for the personnel department and is embroiled in a controversy over the firing of a beloved employee. Havoc and of course love ensues.

The V Club by Kate Brian

Four girl friends compete against each other to win a college scholarship where "purity" is one of the requirements. As they deal with the pressure of staying "pure", their friendships grow and mature.

Very cool look at high school students and "purity".

Messenger by Lois Lowry

The last of her 'trilogy' that started with The Giver.

Jonah from The Giver is now the head of a new society that welcomes everyone. But things are changing, the villagers are becoming restless and less inclined to accept new people. Does it have to do with the new trading? And what's happening to the forest? Only Matty, a young boy with incredible healing powers, can solve the mystery.

Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers by Alissa Quart

Really interesting look at how companies are marketing to teens by using them as advertisers.

32AA by Michelle Cunnah

Chick lit where the main character has small boobs and just got dumped when she expected a proposal. Works in NYC. Moves in with guy who later becomes boyfriend, of course.

Light, very forgettable

Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

A departure from her previous novels wher she dealt with vampires, vampire hunters, etc. This one looks at two warring "cultures". Both are animal shape-changers. One changes into birds and the other snakes. Very interesting look at stereotypes and understading different cultures. I really enjoyed it. Can't wait for her to churn out the next one.

Muletrain to Maggody by Joan Hess

The latest in the Maggody mystery series. In this one, Civil War reenactors come to the town of Maggody, Arkansas, which is peopled by the inbred Buchanons (including the Mayor) and many other colorful characters, bringing with them tales of hidden Confederate gold. Needless to say havoc and murder ensues and Chief of Police Arly Hanks must get to the bottom of it.
really like this series and the books don't come out to often for me to get sick of. Plus they're a pretty quick, entertaining read. Also recommended is Hess' Claire Malloy series.

Nice Girls Finish Last by Sparkle Hayter

The second in a mystery series. The protagonist is Robin Hudson a thirty-something divorcee who works for an international cable news station. Hilarious, now I need to find the first one.


The Best American Non-Required Reading 2003 edited by Dave Eggers

Definitely continues the fine tradition of the first one. The only piece I didn't finish was "Tales of a Tyrant", just couldn't really get into it. Especially liked "The Guide to Being A Groupie."

Break Any Woman Down by Dana Johnson

Great short stories about black women in the South and LA. Loved it.

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

This is his first children's book and his first book that I have read.

Why is someone determined to keep the Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House from starting construction? And who is the barefoot boy Roy saw running past the school bus? Learn all this and more in a great eco-mystery.

Just Like Beauty by Lisa Lerner

In a world controlled by the Just Like conglomerate and saturated with chemicals, Edie Stein is determined to be Deansville's Feminine Woman of Conscience.

This novel is incredibly great. Wonderful writing. Believable sci-finess.

Disappearing Ingenue: The Misadventures of Eleanor Stoddard by Melissa Pritchard

Interesting set of short stories that are about one main character. Sometimes it was hard to figure out the time-line and there were discrepancies about where grew up and father's occupation. Well, maybe not discrepancies but unexplained changes in different stories.

The Greatest of Marlys! and The Freddie Stories by Lynda Barry

Two great collections of Lynda Barry's comics. I need to find a newspaper around here that carries her.

Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue

Slammerkin: a loose dress, a loose woman. About a young teenager who ends up as a prostitute in 18th century England. Not as interesting as I expected but fairly well-written.

Anonymous Rex by Eric Garcia

This book is hilarious. A detective story where dinosaurs still walk the Earth disguised as humans. Very cool.