Teen Idol

Teen Idol by Meg Cabot

Imagine that you live in small town Indiana, not hard for this blogger since she does. Now, imagine that you have been given the secret task of watching over the most famous teen movie star in the world! Sweet little Jenny Greenlee, everybody's best friend, doesn't have to imagine any of this, because this is her life!

Jenny, a high school junior, has to keep lots of secrets. Not only, can't she tell her friends that Luke Striker, teen heartthrob, is coming to their school in disguise, but she also can't tell them that she is Dear Annie. Annie is the school's advice columnist, the trusted advisor to the entire student body. As Annie, Jenny must not only give out advice, but keep the problems of individual students confidential.

One such student is Kara, a nice girl who wants to be accepted by the popular kids but gets picked on for being overweight. Jenny must daily wipe away Kara's tears as her fellow students moo at her in the cafeteria. The relationship between Jenny and Kara is an emotional one for anyone who was picked on in high school or was friends with someone who was picked on.

Skipping the part about the movie star, Cabot does a terrific job of portraying high school life, from the catwalk in the cafeteria that students must walk down and be judged, to the boredom of the senior prom. I really recommend this book for anyone who is in high school, or has survived it.

Avalon High

Avalon High by Meg Cabot

Have you ever felt like you have done something before? I'm not talking about deja vu. I mean, do you ever feel like you have lived life before? That you were someone else in a past life?

Well, that is how Will Wagner feels. Even though he is the star quarterback of his high school football team, has the prettiest girl in school, and is a straight A student, he still feels like his life is missing something. The only one he can talk to about his feelings is Ellie, the new girl in town.

Ellie's parents are Medieval history professors. They are completely obsessed with King Arthur and other Medieval stories. Ellie cannot stand this time period, that is until she starts noticing weird coincidences between Will's life and King Arthur's.

Will and Arthur are both leaders. Will's best friend is name Lance (maybe Lancelot); his girlfriend is named Jennifer (a form of Guinevere), and he even has an evil stepbrother named Marco (a form of Mordred). Could Will's feelings be linked to King Arthur?

There is this secret organization called the Order of the Bear, who believe that Arthur will rise again and will finally defeat evil. Ellie of course, does not believe any of this. especially not the part about her being supposedly, Elaine, the lady of Schlott, lover of Lancelot. She can't even stand Lance!

What do all of these coincidences mean? Is Will Arthur? Will evil rise again? To find out you will have to read, Avalon High by Meg Cabot.

Just as a note, Cabot has created a Manga graphic novel off of this book.

Life As We Knew It

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Not often does a book touch me so much that I can't stop thinking about it. Even less often does a book scare me so much that I can't stop thinking about it. Life As We Knew It is one of those rare books.

This is the story of Miranda, a girl from Pennsylvania, and her family. It is not your typical story about a family and its dysfunctions, but more a story of survival. You see, in Miranda's world the moon has crashed into a closer orbit to the Earth and it has drastically changed the climate of the world.

The moon has caused huge tidal waves, destroying Australia, Hawaii, other islands, and America's coastal states. It has also caused devastating earthquakes and great volcanic eruptions. You may wonder how this all affects someone in Pennsylvania. Well, the ash from the volcanoes has blackened out the sky. This makes it extremely cold (think nuclear winter) and since there is no sunlight, plants can't grow.

Miranda's family has no electricity, no heat, everyone around them is dying, and they are running out of food and water. To find out if Miranda and her family survive, you will have to read this book. I warn you, this book is not for those who get scared thinking about a post-apocalyptic world.

Flirt: Write Here, Right Now

Flirt: Write Here, Right Now by Nicole Clarke

Sixteen-year-old Melanie "Mel" Henderson loves her granola-eating, free-spirit life in Berkley, California. To everyone around her, she lives a charmed life. A life that has just got better thanks to her winning a prestigious internship at a New York fashion magazine called Flirt. Melanie's dream in life is to be a writer and she sees this internship as a stepping stone to her journalistic career.

However, Melanie is about to slip off that stepping stone. She starts off by coming in late for her first day of work, did I mention that she was a little drunk on champagne as well, to top it all off, it turns out the cute older guy she flirted with (and drank the champagne with) on the plane works at Flirt. Let's just say she doesn't make the best first impression with her new boss, Josephine Bishop.

One of the bright spots in Mel's bad first day is meeting her fellow interns and roommates. You see during this summer long internship Mel and five other girls will live in a loft with a housemother. Her roommates come from all over the world. Olivia is from England, Kiyoko is from Japan, and Alexa is from Argentina. Her other two roommates, Charlotte and Genevieve are from Connecticut, but they aren't exactly friendly to Mel.

In fact, Mel is about to learn that life in the New York fashion magazine world is a lot different than Berkley, California. To find out what happens to Mel and her fellow interns, and what backstabbing Genevieve and Charlotte are up to, you will have to read, Flirt: Write Here, Right Now.

Just as a note, this is the first book in a series. It is also a lot like The Devil Wears Prada for teens.

Point Blank

Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz

This is the second book in the Alex Rider series (see my previous Stormbreaker blog for the first book). Just like the first book, Alex Rider is thrust into another spy mission by MI6. This one takes him to the mountains of France and a boys' school called Point Blanc.

Alex is sent to Point Blanc when the fathers of two of the pupils are murdered. Alex quickly learns that this is not your average Prep School. It only has seven boys enrolled at a time, they are all delinquents, and they are all the children of rich and powerful parents.

Alex is forced to taken on the identity of Alex Friend, the son of a wealthy English noble. However, the fictional Alex Friend is nothing like the real Alex Rider. Alex has to change his entire appearance and attitude to appear the part of a troubled teen.

This book is action-packed and hard to put down. Like any spy book, some of the events are unbelievable, but there is depth in Alex's relationship with MI6, which we begin to explore in this novel. Beware when reading this book that the ending is a little bit of cliffhanger, presumably to be picked up in book three, Skeleton Key. I will do a blog on that book as soon as I have read it. Overall, another great teen spy book.

Wuthering High

Wuthering High by Cara Lockwood

Oh my gosh, I couldn't put this book down!!! This is one of the best teen books I have read in a while. Sure, it might not be what you would call high quality literature, but it was such a fun book.

Wuthering High is the story of Miranda, a girl who is sent to the remote Bard Academy. It is a school for delinquents, but Miranda doesn't feel that she belongs there. You see, all 15 year-old Miranda did was crash her dad's BMW and max out her stepmom's credit card. No big deal, right?

Well, Miranda is in for more than a strict boarding school. When she gets to Shipwreck Island (where the school is) weird things start happening to her. Her room is haunted, her roommate worships Satan, her teachers all have names like Ms. W and Coach H, and there is this weird boy named Heathcliff that keeps following her around. If all of this isn't enough to stress Miranda out, she finds out her teacher are keeping a big secret and she even has the school bully after her.

If you want to find out what happens to Miranda, you should read this book. I can't wait to read the sequel, The Scarlett Letterman. There is even a third book coming out next year called, Moby Clique.