Reading Rants! Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists!

Laura Truman, Jace Torres and Chloe Thomas were best friends all through junior high. Then, high school happened, and they grew apart. Now, it’s time for their senior prom, and Laura wants to bring the three”T’s” together again for old times sake. There’s only one problem: the T’s couldn’t be further apart in the high school social strata. Laura’s a popular beauty, Jace is an accomplished athlete, and Chloe is, well, just Chloe. But when Laura decides to mobilize, nothing stands in her way, not even the fact that Chloe doesn’t have the remotest possibility of snagging a date. Somehow, someway, with lots of miscommunications, coy conversations, and phone calls to total strangers, Laura not only gets Chloe a date, but also plans and manages to pull off the perfect prom night for everyone – except herself. Full of hilarious dialogue, romantic tension, and back-stabbing high school politics, this modern comedy of manners will resound with anyone who a) went to prom, b) skipped prom, c) went and wished they didn’t, or d) skipped it and wished they went.

Victoria doesn’t believe in boys. They just exist to break your heart. That’s why she’s adopted the completely boy-proof persona of her fav sci-fi movie star, Egg. Egg is bad, bald, and tougher than nails, so when Victoria is wearing her Egg cloak, she feels sufficiently protected from the slings and arrows of that troublemaker Cupid. That is, until just the right boy comes along with the ability to crack Egg’s shell wide open…yes, this is that “girl meets boy, girl hates boy, then girl crushes on boy” book. But with a fun twist—unlike many of the pink-lipsticked gossip gurls in bookstores these days, Victoria is a science fiction geek with a professional movie monster maker for a dad, and a failed scream queen actress for a mom. This makes for all sorts of interesting secondary situations that add to Victoria’s boy hating angst. Boy Proof is just different enough to draw your attention away from those 50 thousand other pastel-jacketed teen chick lit books vying for your allowance dollars.

High school senior Ashley Hannigan isn’t anybody’s idea of a princess. She’s just a normal girl from a working class family in Philly, with too many brothers and not enough privacy. Her dad and brothers decorate the house according to the sports season, while her mom drives a city bus and thinks that Madonna’s Like A Virgin phase was, and still is, high fashion. Ashley just wants to graduate and get the hell out of her parent’s crowded house. So how does this blue-collar Cinderella end up not only with the requisite pink dress and “fairy” godmother,(her best friend’s Russian immigrant grandma, who doesn’t speak English) but also being in charge of the entire senior prom?! Well, it’s not easy, and it’s not magic, either! Written in response to readers asking for a story about a “regular girl” who isn’t super rich or a wannabe pop princess, Laurie Anderson’s Prom is a well-crafted tale of a girl who is neither victim or wonder. Just like a girl you know—or are.

Birdie is a selfish, self-involved thirteen year old who practically defines the word, “spoiled.” Morgan is a brooding, dark seventeen year old who has lived her life at sea and scarcely knows how to talk to people. How in the world do these two people, as opposite as they can be, not only become friends but end up saving each other’s lives? It has something to do with beans, pirates, moonlit beaches, and a whole lot of drama. Getting to the bottom of Deep is well worth the literary swim. Take deep breath and dive in!

Jen is pretty depressed. Not just one, but two people very close to her have committed suicide in a short time. The only thing she can do is wear her pain very publicly on her sleeve by forcing people to call her Jinx instead of Jen, because it’s obviously bad luck to know her. Lovingly supported by her mom, friends, and intuitive little sister, Jinx will have learn how to make her way back to being Jen. Told in spare verse format, Jinx is a story that very powerfully illustrates the old adage that the things that don’t kill us make us stronger.

Delia is the woeful “new girl” at school, so she’s pretty much fishing around for someone, ANYONE to be friends with. Unfortunately for her, the only person who bites is Amandine, an admittedly strange girl obsessed with stage and screen. Amandine wears a different costume to school everyday, and can mimic any of their classmates to a tee. But usually her impersonations are so cruel that Delia feels uncomfortable laughing at them, and she hates the way Amandine insists on having her own way all the time. So when Delia decides that this friendship is just not meant to be, Amandine uses all her superior acting ability to trap Delia in a lie that could harm Delia’s entire family. A chilling, thrilling story of a friendship gone wrong—REALLY wrong!

Have you ever felt like you just might EXPLODE from lust? Sophie does—and you can read all about it in her secret verse diary. Each poem reveals Sophie’s feelings about all the men in her life—sexy Dylan (who’s not terribly bright) chat-room Chaz (who may be faking her out) and finally, nerdy Murphy (who just might be her knight in shining armor). Girls, give this one to your guy friends if they want to know how the female mind REALLY works. A tremendously real (and really well-written) read.

Baby Girl lived in her mother’s womb for over 9 months and as a result, has the Sight. She can see everyone’s future but her own, and that’s probably a good thing, since her father keeps trying to kill her. He tries drowning and putting bleach in her water until B.G.’s mom gets wise and spirits them off to a new town. There, B.G. learns her true talent as an accordion player, gets her first kiss, and finally confronts her murderous pappy once and for all. A funny , folky read that will win your heart with its sweetly strange heroine.