Prom

The Bookworm says... Maybe. Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson was an alright book. Ashley Hannigan s a very normal girl. Her best friend is in charge of the prom committee, and Ashley stays as far from prom as possible. When they find out that their math teacher stole all of the money for prom, they need to think quick. Ashley is dragged down into prom buisness, everything is crazy.  Will they pull of the prom, and will everyone manage to attend? This novel is not like other Laurie Halse Anderson book I have read. It is a very normal book, written for the normal kids out there. 

"Prom was stupid for me, but not for them, and I wasn't such a butthead that I couldn't see the difference. But I didn't know what to say or do." 

Previously reviewed: Speak, The Impossible Knife of Memory

Willow

The Bookworm says... Yes! Willow by Julia Hoban was a fantastically real book. It was a dark and rainy night, and Willows parents had an extra bottle of wine at dinner, so they asked Willow to drive them home. On the way home, Willow hit a tree and both of her parents were killed. Now she is stuck living with her older-college professor-brother David and his wife and daughter, and the pain that she killed her parents. She has to move out of her house, and start a new school. The only way she is able to deal with the pain is by cutting herself. She engages in this activity daily, and it is her secret. Until a student she is helping at the library names Guy spots the bleeding scar ripped open. He immediately makes Willow his project- but she eventually becomes less of a project and more of a friend. Will they become more than friends? Will Willow be able to talk to her brother like a normal person? Will she stop cutting? Will she ever turn the page of this tragedy that happens to be her life? This book was brutally honest, which isn't something you see every day. The only thing I didn't like was the ending. The book ended with a "..."  The story actually finished with a dot dot dot. I HATE books that end like that. The three little dots almost killed the book. But, aside from the dot dot dot, this book was stunning. 

Florida Teens Read Nominee

"It's hard to keep a secret when it's written all over your body..."

The Impossible Knife of Memory

The Bookworm says... Maybe. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson was a pretty good book! It is the touching story of a girl named Hayley Blue who lives with her father who struggles with sever PTSD from fighting in the army. Hayley has been traveling the country in her Dads truck, but it's been decided she needs to live a real life. Hayley struggles with depression and anxiety. She very clearly knows how to spot people that are living their lives, and those spending it trying to fit in. She refers to the latter as zombies. She is constantly worried about her dad, and does not try very hard in school. When her dads horrible ex Trish makes an appearance, her life starts to go downhill. Her dad seems to be getting better, but then there's a bar fight. And he starts drinking again. Will she get her dad to turn his life around before he starts playing around with the lines between life and death? This book didn't have a major climax until the end, but it was great! It was also somewhat confusing, but it was great for the most part. 

Laurie Halse Anderson is the author of previously reviewed novel Speak. 

Speak

The Bookworm says...Yes! Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson was a wonderfully powerful book. The summer before ninth grade, Melinda went to a party. A big high school party her ex-bestfriend's brother got them into. When some bad things happened, Melinda called the cops, getting a lot of people in serious trouble. Everyone instantly hated her. She had no friends left. Her parents argue. All the time. The janitors closet she transformed into a little room is the only safe place at school. Her only friend is the new girl Heather. Heather turns on Melinda and the boy from the party invades her closet. She is almost done when the girls lacrosse team runs into the closet and saves Melinda's...life. Finally, the end of the year has come. Only three more years until she can get out of this school, and get out of this town. 

Speak is a great book. It tackles hard issues with much humor. It is a great way to encourage teenagers to... Well...Speak. Thank you, Laurie Halse Anderson, for giving this gift to our generation. 

Paper Towns

The Bookworm Says....YES!! Paper Towns by John Green was an amazing book! John Green is amazing. I have read four books by him and all four were amazing. He is a spectacular author. Margo Roth Spiegelman and Quentin Jacobsen find a man dead and bleeding in a park. They run home to their parents and are terrified. Later, seniors in high school, they don't talk much, but neither forgets. Margo knocks on Q's window in the middle of the night and demand he take her on a crazy trip of revenge. Margo is quite outgoing, the opposite of Q. Margo has run away many times and is known to leave mysterious clues. She runs away again, and it is her longest time ever. These clues are much more vague, including some things about paper people and paper cildren. "All those paper people, living in their paper houses, burning the future to keep warm... I've been living here for 18 years and not once have I come across someone who cares about something that actually matters." Does she want to be found? Is she alive? And will Q find her in time? (Ill stop there as to not give away the ending) Another truly spectacular book. Well done John Green, well done. You will love this book if you are the kind of person that likes metaphors. You will also like most John Green books if you are a fan of Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher or Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

If I Stay

The Bookworm Says...Yes. If I Stay by Gayle Forman was a pretty good book. It was somewhat sad and gory but oh well. It was a snowy day in Oregon, and everything was closed. So, why not take a trip down to your mothers house with your kids for dinner? That's exactly what Mia's family did. But on the way there... Something tragic happened. A car accident. Maybe they slid, maybe the truck hit them. Maybe. When Mia woke up, all she could hear was the radio playing the classical music station she had to fight to get on. She tried to find her family in the wreckage, but failed. She was lifted onto a stretcher and brought to a hospital. Her brother Teddy, her parents...What happened? She finds herself able to step out of her body that is in a coma, and listen to the people around her. The one thing she hears over and over, is that she gets to pick whether she stays alive or not. Of course, it would be easier to leave. It would be more painful to stay, but worth it in the end? What are the pros and cons? What will happen if I stay?
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I would recommend this book to any strings players, or anyone who is into classical music. Also, any hard-core rockers, as Mia's parents and boyfriend are or were all in rock bands. On the cover, it says fans of twilight would love this book, and you would. Even if you hated twilight, you might still love this.