Exposed by Kimberly Marcus

Liz loves the way the world looks through her camera. She's most comfortable when she can photograph the world. Some of her best pictures are of her best friend, Kate, a dancer. One night Liz and Kate have a big fight, and before they can make it right again, everything changes. Kate is accusing Liz's brother of something terrible, and Liz is caught between her best friend and her family. Everything is blurry and out of focus, and Liz has no idea what's true - and who's right.

The verse novel format of this book seems to swirl around Liz as she struggles to make some sense of her life. She doesn't know what to think and the idea of questioning her relationships with the people she loves most is tearing her apart. The guilt of whatever role she played in "that night" weighs heavily on her, and her family seems to be falling apart even as it puts on a show of solidarity. Exposed was one of YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults picks for 2012. 




Check out Kimberly Marcus' website.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
You Against Me by Jenny Downham
Scritch-Scratch A Perfect Match by Kimberly Marcus
Inexcusable by Chris Lynch

Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Dancing has always been Sara's dream. An audition leads a scholarship to study ballet in another state. She's nervous about leaving her family while still in high school and moves into a new life with her host family. Her new ballet school is difficult and she must constantly prove herself. One bright spot is Remington, a dancer/choreographer who's drawn to Sara. As she takes on a new role as Rem's muse, she struggles to keep her sense of self. How can she make choices about the rest of her life when she doesn't even know who she is? Are the dreams she had as child still her dreams now?

There's something about a verse novel that lends itself so nicely to a book about ballet. The short lines mimic the precise movements of dance while evoking the emotion needed to convincingly play a role. Sara's confusion about feeling like she's continually auditioning will resonate with teens and young adults who aren't involved with a competitive world like ballet as well as those who are. It's very clear that Stasia Ward Kehoe has a deep understanding of the ballet/arts world and it comes across in an accessible way. This book is a nice read-alike to another October release, Bunheads by Sophie Flack, but despite the similarities between the two books I think that each one has enough going for it that it can stand on its own merits.



I received an advance review copy from Penguin Group Canada.

Check out more from Stasia Ward Kehoe at her blog and her website.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Bunheads by Sophie Flack
The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
Tara Lipinski: Superstar Ice Skater by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Addie on the Inside by James Howe

Everyone thinks they know who Addie is. They've created these opinions based on what they can see: what she looks like, what she wears, how she acts in class, who's she's friends with. But does anyone know the real Addie? Her friends, her family, her boyfriend? Can any of them understand who she is on the inside?

Verse novels work so well at showing the inside thoughts and concerns of characters. Do people think in prose or verse? Maybe a bit of both, which is what Addie on the Inside has. It's a strong look at a strong female character who is just starting to think about who she is and what she wants her life to be. She struggles with the pressures of high school, dating, and friendships while wanting to stay true to herself. This book can definitely stand on its own (this was my first introduction to Addie), but I think readers of The Misfits and Totally Joe might understand more of the references than I did.

I read an advance review copy courtesy of the Simon & Schuster Galley Grab.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
The Misfits by James Howe
Totally Joe by James Howe
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
With You and Without You by Ann M. Martin

The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder

All Amber wants is one perfect day. Well, no, that’s not quite right. There’s a lot that she wants, but she knows it’s not going to happen. So she’ll settle for one day, alone, where she can do whatever she wants. She needs this day, because starting tomorrow, everything is going to change. But all of her plans are thrown for a loop when she meets Cade, a guy who needs to escape as much as she does. As they end up spending the day together, they just have one rule: don’t talk about why they’re there.

I’m still getting used to reading verse novels, but the form worked really well for this story. Amber doesn’t want to dwell on her thoughts; she spends a lot of time in her head, thinking, rather than describing what’s going on. Yes, it was a bit confusing at the beginning, but the good kind of confusing where I was eager for all of the pieces to fit together. I couldn’t help myself – I kept coming up with ideas for what would happen to Amber ‘tomorrow’ (none of them were right). When I finished the book I wanted more: more from Amber about what happens next, more from Cade’s perspective, even more from Amber’s sister Kelly’s perspective. I didn’t want to say goodbye to these characters, and that’s just so thematically perfect and satisfying.

See more at Lisa Schroeder’s website.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Far From You by Lisa Schroeder
Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams
Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
The Miles Between by Mary E. Pearson

A Bad Boy Can Be Good For a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone

Josie can hardly believe it when she catches the eye of a hot, popular senior - she's just a freshman. She's excited by the attention and ready to explore this relationship. But when she finds out that all he wants is sex - and that he's made that clear to all of his friends - Josie is embarrassed, hurt, and angry. She decides to use the library's copy of Forever to write a warning to other girls.

Josie is one of three teens featured in this book; Nicolette, a girl who likes exploring her sexuality but is concerned about how other people see her, and Aviva, a smart senior unaligned with any clique, also get their turn at the narrative, sharing how they too began relationships with this guy. I'm still adjusting to reading verse novels, but I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a great way to delve into the different voices and headspaces of all three characters.


Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Forever by Judy Blume
Boys, Girls, and Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman
The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell
Almost Astronauts by Tanya Lee Stone
The Best and Hardest Thing by Pat Brisson

Crossing Stones by Helen Frost

From Amazon:
Eighteen-year-old Muriel Jorgensen lives on one side of Crabapple Creek. Her family’s closest friends, the Normans, live on the other. For as long as Muriel can remember, the families’ lives have been intertwined, connected by the crossing stones that span the water. But now that Frank Norman—who Muriel is just beginning to think might be more than a friend—has enlisted to fight in World War I and her brother, Ollie, has lied about his age to join him, the future is uncertain. As Muriel tends to things at home with the help of Frank’s sister, Emma, she becomes more and more fascinated by the women’s suffrage movement, but she is surrounded by people who advise her to keep her opinions to herself. How can she find a way to care for those she loves while still remaining true to who she is?

I didn't really know what to make of this title. It's a verse novel and the book itself is oddly shaped - it's between the size of a regular juvenile hardcover and a picture book. But I decided to give it a shot and ended up reading it all in one sitting (or laying, because I was in bed when I read it). The story grabbed me fairly early on, and Muriel's voice was strong enough to keep me interested. She's the force behind the story. Occasionally the narrative shifts over to Ollie and Emma, and they have powerful stories of their own, and it all works so nicely together with the theme of self-discovery in a very different time period. At times it does feel like there's a lot going on, especially once the setting shifts from Michigan (I think it's Michigan?) to Washington, but since I was most interested in Muriel, it all kind of worked. Frost has created an intricate work that I didn't even fully appreciate the first time through; thankfully, there are notes at the end of the book. I won't spoil that, because it's part of the sense of discovery that comes along with the book, and it gave me another way to approach the book. The best thing I can think to say is that I don't usually like verse novels, but I really enjoyed this Crossing Stones.

Pair it with:
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Suffragist by Fiona Macdonald

I got this book: from the library