Sea is a story about a girl named Sienna. Sienna’s mother died a few years earlier in a plane crash. Since her mother’s accident, she has refused to go on an airplane and a part of her hasn’t healed yet. Her father is a psychologist with a humanitarian bent. The story is set shortly after the tsunami. Her father hands her a plane ticket for her birthday with the added bomb shell that they will be going to a remote village in Indonesia to help the kids there grieve after losing most of their family in the tsunami. After some drama, she acquiesces.  Once there, she meets Deni, a very handsome boy who makes her palms sweat.

Although this book has received glowing reviews, I will not be adding to the embers. This novel is Ms. Kling’s first attempt and I feel that she could have written a better novel. Parts of the book were so descriptive it read like a text book, other parts were glossed over. Near the climax of the novel Sienna chooses a path that I cannot believe she would choose. It felt as if Ms. Kling had wanted to take us to a certain part of Indonesia and couldn’t figure out how to get us there. The way the story panned out, didn’t make sense. I don’t want to say more because then I’d have to give a spoiler warning. I also felt that once Sienna falls hard for the handsome Deni, the story really just went off the rails. The rest of the story was spent thinking and obsessing about a boy, whom it was clear, she could never have a future with. If the author would have had Sienna meet and befriend a girl, she may have been able to more believably tell us about the plight of Indonesia after the tsunami. As it is, Sea is nothing more than the obsessions of a fickle, spoiled American girl in a far away country. Not really a book I would consider worth reading. That being said, you’d be hard pressed to find another bad review of this one.

Sea

Heidi R. Kling. Putnam Juvenile 2010, Hardcover, 336 pages, $10.20

At the start of the novel, Frankie attends a party on the golf course that was put on by a group of boys, one of them being her new boyfriend Matthew. The party was lame, just people drinking beer in the freezing cold. Matthew spent the entire party talking with everyone but her. She wasn’t very upset by this, just bored because she had no one else to talk to. The narrator pops in at this point saying that girls usually had three different reactions to parties dominated by boys. One, the girl may find no value in it and decide to stay home from the next one preferring instead to bake or knit. The second type of girl would pretend she was having fun just so she could hang out at the same party as her guy. And the third type asserts herself into the world of the boys, drinking or playing video games along with them. Frankie’s reaction was different from all three. She dreamed about what she would do if she were in charge. The story tells us how she infiltrated a secret all boy society and took charge.

I loved the way the story was told, the writing was witty, the pacing was good and the characters developed through the book. I honestly could not put it down once I started. Definitely a great read.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

E. Lockhart. Hyperion Book CH 2009, Paperback, 352 pages, $3.45

So basically, the story had bad pacing, underwhelming world building, unbelievable characters, boring and unbelievable conversations, and plenty of hitting over the head preaching, which frankly, marred the book’s goodness for me, not to mention the head ache it gave. I fought through the first half of the book (since I keep hearing about this series), but thankfully, it picked up in the second half. Overall though, the book was a waste of my time. I like knowing how a story ends and this one is part of series, so I couldn’t resist reading the plot summaries of the other books on wikipedia. I’m glad I won’t have to waste more time reading the other books to know how unresolved it ends.

Uglies (Uglies Trilogy, Book 1)

Rodrigo Corral (Designer). Simon Pulse 2005, Paperback, 448 pages, $4.68

Anyway, we start the story with a mystery, and the mystery is slowly revealed through flashbacks and action. There’s enough mystery in the writing to keep you wondering and enough action to keep the tension high. My heart really got going there for a bit. The teenagers were believably written and I liked the main character in this one. And the love interest, yes, I may have fallen in love with him a little as well. In my opinion this one was a great read.

The Dark Divine

Bree Despain. EgmontUSA 2009, Hardcover, 384 pages, $9.55

What I liked about the book? This is a hard question for me to answer. I think I liked that there was a love story and that that love story didn’t drown the rest of the book like so often happens in YA fiction. I liked Clary’s complex relationship with Simon (her best friend). I liked Clary, especially since my name is Clarissa. It’s not often I get to read a book with my name in it, much less as the main character (my nickname is Lissy though, didn’t love the name Clary). I totally fell for Jace too, so much so that I went on wikipedia and read all the spoilers.

What I didn’t like? Cassandra Clare, was obviously  borrowing from Star Wars and other authors, and I really didn’t like the love story angle she chose. I think she might have been able to leave that part out. Creepy. Unnecessary. I should clarify, this is a CLEAN romance, just read the book.  At times it also felt as though, just as Eric’s  (a character in the book) poetry, she swallowed a dictionary and spewed up words at random.

I am having a hard time figuring that out why I liked it so much. I read it twice. I flew through it both times. I am baffled. But still super excited for the next installment and even the companion novel coming out in August.

City of Bones (Mortal Instruments)

Cassandra Clare. McElderry 2008, Paperback, 512 pages, $4.38

Jellicoe Road…where the tops of the trees reach across the street to form a canopy that the light shines through…Taylor Markham describes her almost home. Just 11 years old when she was abandoned by her mother at the Jellicoe Road boarding school, Taylor is now a senior and a reluctant leader of her dorm.

Marchetta creates vivid characters and a story that wraps you up and keeps you reading. Teens will definitely relate to Taylor who has many struggles including, authoritarian and untrustworthy adults, first love, annoying peers, and abandonment. Haunted by dreams that and hint of her past, Taylor determines to discover her roots. She sets out on a journey to find her mother and finds much more.

Marchetta tells this story through viewpoints of the past, present and future. While this tactic is interesting, builds suspense and lends itself to mystery, there were some small gaps in the story that made it difficult to follow.

It is a dense read and I would not recommend it to younger teens or reluctant readers. Overall, the story was interesting and I stayed up until 2am because I simply could not go to bed without finishing it…I especially enjoyed the Australian colloquialisms.

Do these, teen issue driven stories make for good reading? Yes. She keeps the tone in check, so it’s never too emotional. I wouldn’t consider it misery lit or chick lit. It’s somewhere in the middle. There is usually a love story, but that doesn’t dominate. Her stories tend to be about self progress that is facilitated or not (in the case of Dreamland) by a someone. Her leading men are not usually considered super hot either. In This Lullaby, the love interest is funny and kind of cute but not hot. In this novel, the guy is tall, has small dark eyes and blond hair. That’s what we got. I guess my point is, that these stories are not your typical teen drama. There is some substance to them and not a lot of whipping cream.

Just Listen

Sarah Dessen. Speak 2008, Paperback, 400 pages, $2.98

The tone of the this novel had a depressive feel to it. A pallor was cast on the parts that were meant to be funny. It even put on damper on the climax, if there was one.  I kept waiting for something to happen. The love story was sweet, but that’s pretty much it. It was just a love story with not much else happening.

Shiver

Maggie Stiefvater. Scholastic Press 2009, Hardcover, 400 pages, $8.98