Young Adult Books

The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms, #4) by Cinda Williams Chima A thousand years ago, two young lovers were betrayed — Alger Waterlow to his death, and Hanalea, Queen of the Fells, to a life without love. Now, once again, the queendom of the Fells seems likely to shatter apart. For young queen Raisa ana’Marianna, maintaining peace even within her own castle walls is nearly impossible. Tension between wizards and Clan has reached a fevered pitch. With surrounding kingdoms seeking to prey on the Fells’ inner turmoil, Raisa’s best hope is to unite her people against a common enemy. But that enemy might be the person with whom she’s falling in love. Navigating the cutthroat world of blueblood politics has never been more dangerous, and former streetlord Han Alister seems to inspire hostility among Clan and wizards alike. His only ally is the queen, and despite the perils involved, Han finds it impossible to ignore his feelings for Raisa. Before long, Han finds himself in possession of a secret believed to be lost to history, a discovery powerful enough to unite the people of the Fells. But will the secret die with him before he can use it? A simple, devastating truth concealed by a thousand-year-old lie at last comes to light in this stunning conclusion to the Seven Realms series. (goodreads.com) The conclusion to the Seven Realms series sees a war brought to Raisa’s front door and all sorts of deception and bad guys abound. Thankfully, there are also an abundance of secret tunnels and passageways for our heroes to travel through. Brilliant planning on their ancestors’ parts, I say! The Crimson Crown helped me pinpoint something that had been bugging me throughout the series. I was so mad and annoyed by the Clans’ complete dislike and hatred towards Dancer and Han. Dancer, especially, since his mother was Clan and he was Clan-born. As soon as they found out he was a wizard they wanted to put him to death and they exiled him. This boy grew up with them and showed no signs of being evil, but then they all turn on him just because of what he can DO. Clans have their own magic but apparently the kind of magic Charmcasters (or, jinxfingers, as they call them) can do is evil and never done for good. These Clan people just can’t give up on their past. A THOUSAND years go by and they still mistrust and hate the wizards. I’d have thought that maybe since one of their own flesh and blood showed signs of magic that they’d try and see if he could do good for them. But no. And the hypocrisy with which they treat Han is just infuriating. Not once did I warm up to anyone – other than Willow – in the Clans. I couldn’t stand Raisa’s father or grandmother. I hated Nightwalker and Bird wasn’t really that interesting to me until she sort of started to think for herself – but I still didn’t like her much. I mean, even some of the WIZARDS were willing to listen to reason and see that things needed to change. Not all of them, but some. I could see how the new generation would be forming together to rule with more mixing of the people in the Queendom and around. It made more sense how they should work together and not against each other and because of Raisa and Han they were brought together. Few of the older generations wanted Raisa’s plans to work, but it was time for the younger ones to take up the leadership roles and start to breakdown the walls that had been built between people and races if they were to stand strong as a country. Raisa surprised me throughout the series with the head she seemed to have for getting things to work out, even if she did make mistakes. She is certainly a strong female protagonist and I truly enjoyed reading her. Another thing that stuck out to me in this series is the characters’ – both male AND female – reference to how much they like kissing and kissing before getting married. Raisa surprised me by how many kisses she s

Emily of New Moon. L.M. Montgomery. 1923. Bantam. 352 pages.Have you met Emily Starr? Fifteen years after introducing children to the oh-so-lovable Anne Shirley, L.M. Montgomery introduces another young orphan to the world: Emily Starr. While Anne Shirley had no memories of her parents, Emily Starr remembers her father very well. In fact, readers meet him as well. When Emily of New Moon opens, Emily is about to learn the devastating truth: her father has only a few more weeks to live. He is dying; there is no cure, no hope for a cure. After her father dies, the relatives gather together. They hated Emily's father and have had nothing to do with Emily all these years. But now there is one question to be settled: who will get the "privilege"of taking Emily Starr home to raise?! She goes with Aunt Laura and Aunt Elizabeth to Prince Edward Island.How does Emily Starr compare to Anne Shirley? Well, she's imaginative, spirited, struggles to adapt to school at least at first, loves to write...but in many ways she is quite unique. While she doesn't automatically love Aunt Elizabeth and her new home, she does come to peace with her new life. And there are many things she LOVES. Aunt Laura, Cousin Jimmy, Ilse Burnley, and Teddy Kent come to mind! But Teddy Kent is not the only boy in her life, there is also that Perry Miller and Dean "Jarback" Priest!I do love Emily of New Moon. I'm not sure I LOVE this book as much as I love the earliest Anne books (Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea), but, there are many things I do LOVE about it. It is always great to spend time on Prince Edward Island. And L.M. Montgomery's characters can't help feeling human. She had such a great gift for bringing all of her characters to life! Favorite quotes:“It had always seemed to Emily, ever since she could remember, that she was very, very near to a world of wonderful beauty. Between it and herself hung only a thin curtain; she could never draw the curtain aside-- but sometimes, just for a moment, a wind fluttered it and then it was as if she caught a glimpse of the enchanting realm beyond-- only a glimpse-- and heard a note of unearthly music.” “Ten good lines out of four hundred, Emily—comparatively good, that is—and all the rest balderdash—balderdash, Emily.""I—suppose so," said Emily faintly.Her eyes brimmed with tears—her lips quivered. She could not help it. Pride was hopelessly submerged in the bitterness of her disappointment. She felt exactly like a candle that somebody had blown out."What are you crying for? demanded Mr. Carpenter.Emily blinked away tears and tried to laugh."I—I'm sorry—you think it's no good—" she said.Mr. Carpenter gave the desk a mighty thump."No good! Didn't I tell you there were ten good lines? Jade, for ten righteous men Sodom had been spared.""Do you mean—that—after all—" The candle was being relighted again."Of course, I mean. If at thirteen you can write ten good lines, at twenty you'll write ten times ten—if the gods are kind. Stop messing over months, though—and don't imagine you're a genius, either, if you have written ten decent lines. I think there's something trying to speak through you—but you'll have to make yourself a fit instrument for it. You've got to work hard and sacrifice—by gad, girl, you've chosen a jealous goddess. And she never lets her votaries go—not even when she shuts her ears forever to their plea.” “Tell me this--if you knew you would be poor as a church mouse all your life--if you knew you'd never have a line published--would you still go on writing--would you?''Of course I would,' said Emily disdainfully. 'Why, I have to write--I can't help it at times--I've just got to.” © 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book ReviewsIf you're reading this on a site (other than Becky's Book Reviews or Becky's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Haston, Meg. How to Rock Break-Ups and Make-Ups25 September 2012, Poppy Kacey is back in the band Gravity and hopeful that Zander might like her now that Molly has broken up with him, but Molly doesn't want anyone else dating him! Zander's friend Stevie arrives from Seattle, and she is so fabulous that Kacey is worried, and also really peeved that Stevie's father is dating her mother and making her go all googly-eyed. There's a dance being planned that Kacey gets Gravity a gig at, a school trip to the Shedd Aquarium, and also a big class election that Paige is running in. At the aquarium, Kacey gets Stevie in trouble for writing graffitti on the glass (Kacey and her friends did it), but when things get serious between their parents, the girls try to work together to break them up.Kace4y breaks into her mother's e mail and offers (as her mother) to interview rock star Levi if he will play at Kacey's school dance because Paige is dying of an awful disease. The star falls for this, so her mother has to miss a hot air balloon trip with Stevie's father, which makes him angry. In the end, Paige forgives Kacey for humiliating her in front of all of Chicago (and Paige wins the election); Kacey dates Zander; her mom dates Stevie's dad; everyone lives Happily Ever After.Strengths: Quick, fluffy read for girls who like Lisi Harrison's Clique series. There is also a television series based on the first book. Weaknesses: Didn't personally like, because it was somewhat ridiculous. The fashions alone were absurd (page 70 "In a sleek black moto jacket, low-slung army-green cargos rolled up at the ankle, and round-toed rose-gold snakeskin pumps... her moto jacket lifted, revealing a momentary flash of belly ring." Seriously? Who sends a seventh grader to school looking like this?), and the whole idea of a school election or kids' band playing at a school dance makes me wonder what planet the middle school was on. That said, I would no doubt have adored this when I was in seventh grade! DeVillers, Julia and Roy, Jennifer. Triple Trouble.1 January 2013, Aladdin Emma and Payton are back for their fifth adventure. Read and enjoyed; again, would have loved in middle school. I got a little confused that the triplets that play a large role in the book were NOT on the cover. As for realism-- we have two sets of triplets in our school right now! Definitely a fun series for girls who like realistic fiction.From the Publisher:Emma and Payton are home from Hollywood, but the drama continues: Not only is the Homecoming Dance coming up fast, but there’s someone new in school! Three someones, actually: triplets. Oliver, Dexter, and Asher look exactly the same, dress exactly the same, and—worse—have exactly the same superior attitude.When the triplets mention they’re participating in a regional Twins & SuperTwins Festival that has a Tweens Division and twin-related contests, Payton and Emma are instantly interested. Emma’s been suffering from competition withdrawal ever since Jazmine James managed to get her disqualified from the upcoming science fair, so she’s got her game face on. And once Payton convinces Mrs. Burkle that the festival is perfect for a VOGScast field trip, the whole gang takes a road trip and the games really get going. But attempts to take down the triplets threaten to land everyone in hot water. Can Emma and Payton switch their way out of trouble, or are they stuck in a multiples mess?

Those big-shot writers could never dig the fact that there are more salted peanuts consumed than caviar. Attribution Mickey Spillane

Under the Light (Light #2) by Laura Whitcomb Hardcover, 256 pages Published: May 14th, 2013 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Source: ALAMW Find the author: Website | Twitter Helen needed a body to be with her beloved and Jenny needed to escape from hers before her spirit was broken. It was wicked, borrowing it, but love drives even the gentlest soul to desperate acts.When Jenny returns to her body, she finds that someone has been living her life while she was away. She doesn’t remember being Billy’s lover or defying her family. But now she is faced with the consequences. And Helen, who has returned to warn Jenny—to help her—finds herself trapped, haunting the girl she wished to save.In this captivating companion novel to A Certain Slant of Light, the love story between Jenny and Billy begins out-of-body—where they can fly and move the stars--and continues into the tumultuous realm of the living, where they are torn away from each other even as they slowly remember their spirits falling in love. It's been years since I read A Certain Slant of Light and I found myself being concerned about whether I would be confused with this book. I remember only a few things about it, but as I read Under the Light I began to remember A Certain Slant of Light and it all came back to me. Initially I didn't remember who Jenny was, but she's the one who's body Helen took in A Certain Slant of Light. So it's more her story, but Helen is still present and tells a bit from her side as well. Jenny's family is super religious and her spirit was being broken by her father. He read her diary and then took everything important to her away. This is where Helen comes in. So we see where Jenny went when out of her body but a good portion of the story is when she comes back and how things play out with Jenny and Billy (who was Helen's lover but whose body was taken by another ghost) and how they have this thing that connects them but they don't remember each other. It's also about Jenny and her family. Her super religious and over the top father and the mother who is lost herself but only knows one thing, religion. I liked Jenny a lot and really felt bad for her. I wanted her to stand up for herself and find her way and we got to see that happen. It was slow, she didn't change over night, but she found her footing and found her voice. She ended up being very strong. We also get to know Helen's past and how she died, which was very interesting and I was glad to know more about her. I really love the concept of ghosts in these books and think that the author did a great job of making it all very believable. I believe in ghosts and have interacted with them myself, so this was something I did connect with. Laura Whitcomb has a very lyrical writing style. It's more along the literary lines of things, which I don't usually like, but quite liked in this book. The story was easy to read and once I got into the rhythm of it I didn't put it down once. I read nearly the entire thing before bed and didn't stop reading until I finished. While this is a companion novel and you don't have to read the first book, I do encourage you to do so. You'll understand things much better and you'll enjoy it more as things regarding Helen will make much more sense. I very highly recommend this series to fans of YA books with ghosts (not scary) and contemporary since the contemporary theme was very important in this one. Disclosure: I received this book at ALAMW. All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way. Thanks for subscribing!

” He was a doctor, but medicine was not an exact science. There was no cure for everything. As in life. The cause of death was always life. Across many years now, he had comforted people he knew would soon die. He hoped his consoling whispers would do them no harm. ” (3:46) North River is what know as the Hudson that separates New York from New Jersey. In this novel, set in the 1930s, against this river that symbolizes both impermanence and closure, Peter Hamill gives us what he knows best—New York City. Rich in ambiance and period details, North River draws closely and intensely from the city, in the tight grip of Depression, where people are addled, desperate, and lonely. But he had lost prayer somewhere along the way, along with faith. He had been educated to deal with the body, not the soul. In the Argonne, he lost what remained of the affairs of the soul, among the torn and broken bodies of the young, until the day came that he cursed God. (Ch.5, p.94) In winter 1934, 47-year-old James Delancey ministers to poor patients in the tenements of Lower West Side. They are burst-outs who cannot afford to pay him but he treats them nonetheless. Among his patients are old stubborn heads who refuse to go to hospital, neighbors who blame him for loss, and lush husbands who beat their wives. On a snowy morning he finds his toddler grandson at his door with a note from his daughter, who is off to Spain looking her husband, a revolutionary from Mexico pursued by the FBI. Although flustered by his grandson’s impromptu arrival, the little boy infuses life and warmth into his home. To cope with his new domestic arrangement, Delancey enlists the help of Rose, a tough, decent and intelligent Sicilian woman with a secret in her past. But across the days of other people’s illness and damage and painful unhappiness, the days of endless casualties, he carried Rose with him now. She and the boy had formed a current in his life, like a secret stream flowing south through the North River . . . It was a stream that was always in the present, not in the past, nor the future.” (Ch.9, p.164) Indeed the past has haunted him that the nobly beleaguered doctor has transmuted his attention to the poor and needy. The influenza pandemic claimed both his parents’ lives. His wife Molly was furious with him for volunteering duty overseas. Unable to shake off her angry feelings of abandonment, she walks off to the river leaving him with his daughter Grace. This new life with Carlito and Rose is threatened by a mafia who is angry at Delancey’s treating the bullet would of a rival and refusing to reveal his whereabouts. North River is both character- and plot-driven. Stewed in guilt, self-doubt and misery until his grandson arrives, the doctor has always lived in the past, held captive by dreams of his disappeared wife and haunted by the carnage of battlefield in France. Portraits of rouges and rule benders, along with the budding romance with Rose propel the novel, which truly evokes the Irish, for no other ethnic group so easily lends itself to such fertile inner conflict as shown in Delancey and the characters that populate this book. 341 pp. Back Bay Books. Paper. [Read/Skim/Toss] [Buy/Borrow]

The Titanic sank into the ocean 101 years ago, and its tragic story has intrigued the world ever since. Actually even during the period in which the Titanic was being built people were intrigued about it due to all of the press buzz, the size of the ship, and the title of “unsinkable ship” even though it was only its first voyage. Some of the richest in the world were aboard the ship as well as some of the poorest immigrants. There were also countless number of crew members. All together there were countless number of individual stories, some of which are finally given a voice, thanks to Allan Wolf and his verse novel The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic. Everyone has a voice in this compelling interpretation of what happened aboard the Titanic. No one is left out not even the ship rat or the iceberg. Even the undertaker who took care of the bodies gets a voice. There are twenty four voices total. It was so interesting to put a voice to some of the people that I have spent time learning and reading about in the past. It was as if the voices were actually speaking to us, and sharing their secrets and their truths. It was so personable, and kept me turning the pages until the very end. I loved the attention to detail within the book. It was very obvious that Allan Wolf did his research when it came to this subject. His interpretation of the class differences was absolutely fantastic. Also, the way in which he put names and voices to some of the third class passages, which sadly is an often forgotten part of the tragedy, was wonderful. It made me feel like he actually cared about them and that he wanted to have their stories heard which I honestly believe to be true. Another favorite part of mine while reading The Watch That Ends the Night was the word spacing or the layout of the words. I loved how for certain characters the words were written in a certain way, or spaced in a certain way, or how as the action got greater and more intense, the spacing in the words was different. It’s kind of hard to explain without someone seeing it but it is very artistically done, and I thought it helped the poetic verse, and the emotional intensity of the novel. If you have ever had an interest in the Titanic, and want to learn more about it, or if you’ve ever imagines what those voices on the Titanic might have to say, check out this book. It puts a real human face to history in a truly wonderfully unique way. Honestly, I would recommend The Watch That Ends the Night to anyone. In fact, I already have recommended it to one of my residents at work (she loved it), and currently one of my supervisors is reading it (and I’m sure she’ll love it too), and who knows I may just convince you to check it out too. I hope so! Disclosure: Received ARC from April Other reviews of The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolf: April’s Review: “For a sensitive and intriguing, unique spin on the tragedy of the Titanic, definitely read this book.” The Book Babble: “This is a wonderful book that is light-hearted and humorous but still made me cry.” Girls in the Stacks: “If you are fascinated by the Titanic, you will love learning more about the shipwreck through this uniquely told story.

Heist Society by Ally Carter Heist Society #1 Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Release Date: February 9, 2010 Pages: 287 Source: Bought Buy the Book: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository Rating: 5 stars When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected. Soon, Kat’s friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help. For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s history–and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way. Gosh, I just love Ally Carter‘s books. When I first heard about Heist Society back before it came out, I was excited but nervous. I was afraid that it wouldn’t live up to my expectations, since I just love Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series. After all this time, I hadn’t read it for this same reason. What a silly fear since Heist Society surpassed my love for the Gallagher Girls and was just an all around epic read. Oh Hale, you are my new YA crush. What a fantastic character he was. And I love Kat – she is such a spiffy, strong heroine. I love the cast of secondary characters as well – they are all very dynamic, which made Heist Society a blast to read. The plot is so fun – the story of a girl raised in a band of thieves? How awesome! I love Kat’s attempt to leave the family business, yet she can’t quite seem to get away. It’s a part of her and she is just very good at what she does. I cannot wait to see more of their story in book 2, Uncommon Criminals. Ally Carter remains a favorite author of mine and I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next :) Related posts: Waiting on Wednesday (25) – Heist Society by Ally Carter Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter Don’t Judge a Girl By Her Cover by Ally Carter

Jennifer Priester has kindly agreed to guest post here about her work, and share her inspiration for becoming a writer in honor of her debut release, Mortal Realm Witch: Learning about Magic. About The Author: My name is Jennifer Priester and I am a reader and a writer of both fiction and nonfiction books, most of which are about animals, the relationship between humans and animals, magic, the supernatural, and superheroes. My first published book is called: Mortal Realm Witch: Learning About Magic, which is the first in a bit of a uniquely written series called: Mortal Realm Witch. I love animals and have owned many. I currently have a Chihuahua called Taco, two Mini Rex rabbits called Chibi and Kojikaki, and a ten year old Goldfish called Pumpkin. Besides reading and writing I draw and do all my own artwork for my books, ride horses, watch TV/movies, play video games, and spend a lot of time with my pets. I am also a book layout designer so besides my own I also take other people's books out of word document and turn them into either print books, eBooks, or both. Find Jennifer Priester on the Web: Twitter | Official Page | Google+ | Pinterest | Goodreads | Facebook Guest Post: Most of my inspiration comes from animals. At one time or another every pet I have ever owned, including my fish,has inspired either a fiction or nonfiction book. Many other animals both wild and domestic have inspired me as well. It is believed that the inspiration for using a Golden Retriever in my books, may have come from a friends Golden, although the personalities are different. Taco is probably the animal that has inspired me the most. Over time he has made his way into all three of my nonfiction books and has been various Chihuahua characters in 8 stories currently and will probably inspire even more over the course of his life. The animals that inspire me who I don't own are called anipals and every animal that has inspired stories, that I have photos of, have a special section made from them on my website as a dedication to them. Even when I am writing about humans and not animals, animals still often play a big role in shaping my characters, for instance in the creating of my character DWW, I gave her the ability to shape shift into a wolf naturally without the use of any magic. When I did this I was in no way thinking of making her a werewolf I just wanted her to be able to shape shift into an animal and because the wolf is my favorite, this is what I chose. When it's not an animal I have met or know in real life, I still occasionally get inspiration from them, such as because my favorite animal character on TV when I was younger was Wishbone, and he was a Jack Russell Terrier, I later began to learn about the breed. Wishbone inspired me to learn as much as I could about the Jack Russell breed and because I loved them and wanted one, Jack Russell and Jack Russell mixes began to appear as characters throughout my stories. One of these Jack Russell characters is called Star, and he appears in several books throughout the Mortal Realm Witch series. Another Jack Russell character that appears in Book Three of the Mortal Realm Witch series is called Splash. And even when I am not writing an creating characters, sometimes animals help me remember why I started writing in the first place and inspire me to keep writing; it's because writing is something I love to do and have a lot of fun with. Perhaps it's the horse, Levi, who reminds me of this the most often. Levi was a horse that to some, didn't seem worth working with, but I had a lot of fun with him and wanted to put in the work to make him a better lesson horse. Because I wanted to work with him he improved, and it was because I had fun with him that I never gave up even when it was hard, which is something I often need a reminder of when things such as bad reviews happen, or my book gets a lower rating tha

Title: Catching Jordan Author: Miranda Kenneally (Twitter) Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire Publish Date: December 1, 2011 Genre: YA, Contemporary Pages: 281 Source: Publisher What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But everything she's ever worked for is threatened when Ty Green moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he's also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan's feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart's on the line? Jordan breaks the mold on a daily basis. She's athletic, funny and smart, and she breaks the stereotype that girls can't play football. As the captain and quarterback of her school's football team, she leads with confidence, simply because her life revolves around her sport. Jordan has carefully created a world around her in which she can succeed, but whenTy moves to town and shakes things up, for the first time in a long time, Jordan doesn't know the next play. Will she find her balance again before it's too late? On the surface, Catching Jordan looks like everything I despise in YA contemps. Judging by the cover alone, I assumed the book was barely more than a petty teenage drama involving first loves, heartache and whittling a strong main character down to a shell of what she once was. I couldn't have been more wrong. Miranda Kenneally has written a sweet, empowering, humourous and altogether endearing tale of a girl simply trying to navigate her way through high school without falling prey to everyday drama like so many others. Realistic and refreshing, Catching Jordan is so true-to-life and honest that it makes you feel as though you've stepped back in time, and you're watching the ups and downs of high school play out before your eyes. Jordan was, at first, a character of whom I was extremely dubious. I don't know the first thing about football, and her life revolved solely around the sport, so I wasn't sure I'd be able to fully access her emotions or passion for her sport. However, simmering beneath the surface, we can see that Jordan is just as human as you and I with her quirky personality and charisma that draws others to her. When Ty enters, though we see Jordan's confidence waver just a bit, we manage to access and draw on that vulnerability, finding yet another reason to root for this confident and empowering female character. What I loved most about Catching Jordan is that we're provided excellent characterization in Jordan, never being forced to watch a girl whittled down to a shell of what she once was due to a high school crush. We get to watch as she transforms from someone with a singular focus to someone who learns that she can let someone in and still be as strong as ever - if not stronger. Furthermore, Catching Jordan presents a high school story that is very honest, offering tangible tension, the navigating of first loves and questioning just how far one should go. It's simple, but realistic, and the beauty of the story is that it doesn't just scratch the surface...it gives us so much more. I was completely and utterly surprised by Catching Jordan, and despite the fact that there was some dialogue and subject matter that was a bit too convenient for my taste, I thought this book excelled. I give it a 4.5 out of 5, and I highly recommend it to fans of YA, especially those who enjoy contemporary fiction. I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.