FINISHED:
McMann, Lisa. (2012). Island of silence (Unwanteds: Book 2). New York: Aladdin.


[.]


STARTED:
Choldenko, Gennifer. (2013). Al Capone does my homework. New York: Dial/Penguin.


[Reading to see if it's as good as the first two...]


*

FINISHED:
Levithan, David. (2013). Two boys kissing. New York: Knopf.

[Narrated by the ghosts of gay men who died of AIDS, this one cuts between a couple of different storylines:  two young men attempt to break the world record for kissing, two teens (one of whom is transgendered) meet at a Gay Prom and begin to date, a gay teen couple help to normalize gay relationships, and a nihlistic teen who is constantly on gay-hookup sites runs away from home.  Pretty powerful stuff, and an interesting look at a range of current gay youth relationships.  This one also points out how much "better" things are for those who are coming out today (seeing as homosexuality is much more "normalized" these days), versus those gay men who had to live in the shadows, completely denying themselves, in the '70s and '80s. ]


STARTED:
McMann, Lisa. (2012). Island of silence (Unwanteds: Book 2). New York: Aladdin.

[The first in this series is one that I like to booktalk and put in kids' hands... and I realized that I haven't read EITHER of the sequels!]

*

FINISHED:
Rowell, Rainbow. (2013). Eleanor & Park. New York: St. Martin's Griffin.


[.]


STARTED:
Levithan, David. (2013). Two boys kissing. New York: Knopf.


[Reading the SIGNED advanced copy that I got at ALA!]


*

FINISHED:
Crowder, Melanie. (2013). Parched. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.


[.]


STARTED:
Rowell, Rainbow. (2013). Eleanor & Park. New York: St. Martin's Griffin.


[Heard SO many wonderful things about this one.  And it takes place in 1986... when I was a teenager who listened to all of the bands that Park likes...]


*

FINISHED:
Grabenstein, Chris. (2013). Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's library. New York: Random House.


[.]


STARTED:
Crowder, Melanie. (2013). Parched. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Boulle, Pierre. (1983). The whale of the Victoria Cross. New York: Vanguard Press.


[.]


STARTED:
Grabenstein, Chris. (2013). Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's library. New York: Random House.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Larsen, Reif. (2009). The selected works of T.S. Spivet. New York: Penguin.


[.]


STARTED:
Boulle, Pierre. (1983). The whale of the Victoria Cross. New York: Vanguard Press.


[Patron recommendation...]


*

FINISHED:
Nix, Garth, and Sean Williams. (2013). The mystery (Troubletwisters #3). New York: Scholastic.


[After an old town recluse dies in the castle near their grandmother’s house, Jaide and Jack help a local bookseller with cataloguing an extensive book collection there, and the twins discover that the castle may be the location of the “Card of Translocation”, whose purpose is unknown but which their father has instructed them to find.  In addition, the two are led to believe that their father, who’s supposed to stay away from them so that he doesn’t drive their “Gifts” wild, may be involved in the death of the recluse, and their grandmother, a Warden of Portland who is responsible for protecting the world from “The Evil”, ends up in the hospital after being mysteriously driven off the road.   The proceedings are swiftly set into motion in this third installment of the series, and readers who may not have read (or remember) the first two books are brought up to date with some early interspersed catch-ups.  Though most of the action is saved until the last few chapters, fans of the previous installments will find plenty to enjoy along the way, with the cast of characters widening, and the history of the Wardens and Troubletwisters being explored and revealed in more depth, with the twins coming to learn more about their “Gifts” and what connects them to all of the other Troubletwisters that have come before them.]


STARTED:
Larsen, Reif. (2009). The selected works of T.S. Spivet. New York: Penguin.


[Jeunet movie coming soon!!]


*

FINISHED:
Nix, Garth, and Sean Williams. (2012). The monster (Troubletwisters #2). New York: Scholastic.


[.]


STARTED:
Nix, Garth, and Sean Williams. (2013). The mystery (Troubletwisters #3). New York: Scholastic.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Konigsberg, Bill. (2013). Openly straight. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.


[.]


STARTED:
Nix, Garth, and Sean Williams. (2012). The monster (Troubletwisters #2). New York: Scholastic.


[Reviewing Book 3 in the series and realized that I had not read the second one yet...]


*