High School

This teen comedy TV series was years ahead of its time and unappreciated when it aired in 1982-83, cancelled before the full first season could be finished. It’s a shame because it’s so smart and funny and different from anything else on TV at the time. It probably would have done better 15 or 20 years later, but it’s so endearingly ‘80s, I can’t imagine it at any other time and being so charming. 

The premise is this: two best friends are freshmen at a typical suburban American high school. Patty is a sweet, shy nerd who is too smart for her own good (played by a young Sarah Jessica Parker

Imagine always being in second place - one step behind the same person over and over again. Juliet Townsend was that second place person to friend Madeleine Bell all throughout high school. They ran track together and Maddy was always the star while Juliet stood to the side. Ten years later, she is still second place to Maddy, although she doesn't realize it until Maddy comes waltzing into the Mid-Night Inn looking as beautiful and pristine as ever. Embarrassed, Juliet agrees to meet with her to talk through some issues from their past. Juliet, however, can't seem to figure out why Maddy has

Not knowing how her family has landed in witness protection is driving seventeen year old "Meg" crazy. But she knows the two rules of being in witness protection... be invisible and don't make friends.  Easier said than done, and after six placements in the last year she is bound and determined to make this placement stick as the constant moving and stress of learning new identities and back stories is tearing her family apart. Meg is determined to figure out what landed her family in this situation and she'll do whatever she can to fix it so they can just go home and everything can go back to

In the conclusion of the Deadly Reunion series, investigative reporter Jillian Carter has decided it is finally time to come out of hiding and return home after 10 years on the run.  On the night of her high school graduation Jillian witnessed a murder committed by her boyfriend's uncle who just happens to be a state senator.  Knowing that she was next on the senator's hit list she ran and has been in hiding ever since.  Jillian is exhausted from looking over her shoulder and frustrated by the stress of being hyper-viligant for all of this time knowing that the senator will never give up until

After famed dragon slayer, Lottie Thorskard, is injured on the job she takes early retirement and moves to the small town of Trondheim to escape her notoriety and the big city. She brings her partner Hannah, and nephew Owen, whose father is out fighting the carbon eating dragons that have plagued Canada since the dawn of time.

Late for his first class on the first day of school, Owen asks Siobhan McQuiad for directions. Turns out, they’re both late for English, and both end up in after-school detention where a friendship is born. As a gifted music student, Siobhan is also good at math and

In the vein of Laura Moriarity’s The Rest of Her Life or Chris Bojhalian’s The Buffalo Soldier, Hilderbrand puts normal, everyday people under a microscope after throwing a terrible tragedy at them.

In Summerland, twins Hobby and Penny Alistair are shining stars at Nantucket High School. But on graduation night of their junior year they are involved in a car accident that leaves Penny dead and Hobby in a coma for seven days. Character portrayals are authentic with each family of the four students in the car getting their share of scrutiny. The town also has a voice and a collective reaction.

This audiobook rocks! Seriously. But if language, blood, bodily functions, and the mind of a teenage boy gross you out, this is probably not for you. However, keep in mind that this audiobook is very entertaining and if you think you can handle the previously mentioned, go for it! Carter manages to get into so many awkward situations and it is HILARIOUS. Usually I find myself relating too closely to characters and cringing when things become too uncomfortable. Not with Carter. Instead I found myself shaking my head and saying, “Oh, Carter, you amuse me with your quandaries.”

What can you

At first glance, One Shot at Forever, is obviously a book about baseball. Don’t let the title fool you, however, because it’s really about so much more. Set against the backdrop of the 1970 and 1971 baseball seasons, Ballard tells to stories of Lynn Sweet, the Macon High School baseball players, their families, and their town. As a new English teacher, Sweet was already causing a stir in Macon, despite his popularity among his students. What with his long hair, bar patronage, and “dangerous reading assignments”, many parents were concerned. When he reluctantly agreed to coach the baseball

Thirteen Reasons Why focuses on the subject of teen suicide. 

Hannah Baker, a freshman, has committed suicide.  But, why?  It is a question that is always asked but many times has no answer.  This time, however, Hannah wants a chosen few to have that answer.  She wants thirteen people to know how their actions affected her and ultimately caused her to make the decision to end her own life.

Clay Jensen, also a freshman, doesn’t understand why he has received the tapes from Hannah.  In his mind, he’s done nothing wrong, certainly nothing serious enough to have been one of the reasons for

Chelsea has always had a problem keeping her mouth shut and loves to gossip. She can’t help it. Once she hears something, without ever thinking twice, she must tell it to someone. She is part of the popular crowd, attending all the school parties with the most revered kids at school. Karma catches up to her when, drunk at a party, Chelsea inadvertently catches two boys in a compromising position while trying to find a bathroom. In shock and having drunk way too much, she runs downstairs and spills a secret that will create an almost unstoppable wave of destruction. Her revelation leads to an

Can’t decide between team Edward and Team Jacob? Try Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan. The town of New Whitby was founded by vampires. While there’s not a lot of mingling between vampires and humans, they have mostly co-existed peacefully. But when Mel’s best friend Cathy seems to be falling for the courtly, old-fashioned vampire who just enrolled at their high school, Mel knows she has to intervene. As it says on the cover “Friends don’t let friends date vampires”.

Then there’s the troubling mystery of what happened to the father of Anna, another close friend of Mel

In Dare Me, Megan Abbot delivers a dark insider’s peek into high school cheerleading. But more than cheers and stunts, the real story is in the relationships developed, manipulated, and reconciled as the characters vie for control. For the most part, males play only a secondary role while the females steer the storyline.

It’s through cheerleader Addy Hanlon, right hand to frenemy Beth Cassidy, whom we experience these girls’ lives, cast in a fairly adult plot. If you liked Amy in Gone Girl, Beth could be her protégé. She’s a character you love to hate, but Addy’s insight compels you to give

Will Grayson is your average high school student—just trying to get through school while not attracting too much attention. This plan doesn’t always work very well because his best friend, Tiny Cooper (who is not tiny, by the way), is loud. And Tiny is about to attract way more attention because he wants to put on a musical about his life . . . for the entire school.

On the other side of Chicago lives another Will Grayson, also in high school. His plan is a little more complicated. This Will Grayson wants to get through high school without anyone finding out he is gay. Will Grayson hates

Holden Harris has autism and is a great high school student. Holden is 18 years old and being bullied by the high school football team. Holden is happy, healthy, and loves music. The childhood friend of Ella Reynolds is a cheerleader, she is dating the popular football player, and she also sings in the play. Ella is realizing somehow she knows Holden and she saw him being picked on by the football team one day. Will Ella Reynolds take a stand and what will happen to Holden? Can she be strong and courageous?

Before I Fall could be titled "A day in the life of Sam". Sam (Samantha) Kingston is just your ordinary popular, somewhat mean and snobbish high school senior. She has three best friends and a boyfriend who is also popular (and who Sam has had a crush on for years). Life is good. Until the aftermath of a high school party sends Sam into a rabbit hole, leading her to relive the same day over and over. What would you do if you could keep reliving one day, possibly your last day alive? You could go wild since whatever you do will be probably be erased when you fall asleep that night. You could

The Clearing by Heather Davis is a kind of time travel romance. Amy, a senior in high school, has moved to a small town to live with her great aunt after her suffering physical and mental abuse at the hands of her boyfriend. Amy hopes that by moving to this small rural town she will be able to put the past behind her. Being a city girl, Amy explores her aunt's farm and discovers a thick mist that has settled over the clearing behind the wood pile.

Henry is stuck in June 1944, the summer he turns 18 and will be drafted into the army as his brother Robert was before him. Ever since Henry

Sue Wyshynski’s debut novel Poser is a light hearted and funny page turner. Tallulah is a sophomore who has recently moved from Florida to California. She is eager to fit in at her new school and find new super cool friends. Little does she know that by dressing up like a surfer and lying about her superior surfing skills to Jenna, the most popular girl in school, will bring her huge embarrassment in front of Jenna and her hot older brother Corey. Thanks to her humiliation, Tallulah gains a title of the “Poser” and harassment from her fellow students, especially from Jenna’s best friends. It

Kevin is an 8th grader at a small rural school and the star of the track team. The school is so small that the whole 8th grade class is on the track team except for two students. Kevin hates track but he’s good at it and as all his friends are on the track team he goes along for the ride. One cold spring day the team is at an away meet, where Kevin lets a team mate run for him in his best event. That night a new state record is set in the 800 meter run by “Kevin Schuler”. Following the meet Kevin rides home with his parents while the rest of the team, including his girlfriend, Ellie

Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs is another fun read. Pheobe's world is turned upside down when her mom comes back from a vacation in Greece with a fiance and the announcement that she has to leave Los Angeles to move half way across the planet! She leaves behind her two best friends during her senior year and has to adjust to a new school - that's quite unique - a new cross country team and a new step-sister. Many secrets about her school, her heritage, her new friends (and her crush) are revealed! The follow-up to this book is Goddess Bootcamp.

Miss Match by Wendy Toliver is part of The Romantic Comedies series from Simon Pulse publishing. Sweet 16 Sasha has a gift of finding true loves (or homecoming dates) for her friends and classmates. After getting into a fender-bender with her neighbor, she uses her gift as a way to make money to repair the car she hit so she doesn't have to submit an insurance claim on her dad's SUV.

Her trusty sidekick and BFF, Yas is there to help with her new client, Derek who wants to get matched with (gasp!) Sasha's older sister, Maddie. Wackiness ensues per usual.

This is a fun book however, I do have

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters is another take on teen vampires. In this vampire tale, teens, and only some teens, who die are coming back as the living dead. These living dead teens have lost a lot of their previous personality and functionality however, in Oakvale; there is a significant number of "living impaired" or "differently biotic" teens attending Oakvale High. For the most part they are ignored by the rest of the student body and tolerated by the teachers until Tommy Williams, living impaired junior, tries out for the football team. Goth girl, Phoebe takes an interest in Tommy

Undiscovered Gyrl  is the blog of a young woman who has decided not to go to college directly after high school. Her life as a drifting HS graduate is confused and not a little sordid. She becomes involved with three different men, and eventually becomes pregnant and has no idea which man might be the father. ****Spoiler Alert **** As her blog comes to a close, we learn that her entries are largely fabricated, and her whereabouts unknown. Her large and oftentimes disapproving readership makes the ending a gut-puncher, and leaves more questions than answers.