Dancia Lewis spends her time trying to be ordinary. She knows she has a mysterious power that helps her protect people she cares about, but it also can hurt others. Dancia tries to control that power by not having close friends and trying not to care about anything at school. So she’s surprised when she’s offered a full-ride scholarship to attend high school at prestigious Delcroix Academy, where the super-smart children of super-wealthy and distinguished families go.

Even though most of the kids at Delcroix are nice and talented, her new friend Jack convinces her that something is not quite right. He believes there’s a sinister reason behind the tight school security, and he’s sure they’re being watched wherever they go. Dancia also begins to suspect that she may not be the only student at Delcroix with special powers. She works to find out the truth, and finds a few surprises along the way.

Delcroix Academy: The Candidates is the first in a new series for young adults by Inara Scott. It blends the concerns of normal teenage life with that of intriguing superpowers that can be used for good or evil. Dancia makes an interesting heroine who is learning how to have a social life for the first time and trying to determine her interest in both Jack and Cam, who appears to be perfect. Areas for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up to discuss include making friends and being a good friend, the attraction “bad boys” may represent, and learning how to be true to yourself.

As the first in a series, Delcroix Academy: The Candidates went just far enough to satisfy my need to feel completion at the end of the story, while still dangling the promise of the next book. I, for one, can’t wait for the second book in the series.

Kim Culbertson’s young adult novel, Songs for a Teenage Nomad, features a teen girl, Calle, who uses music to make sense of the events going on around her. The book really struck a chord with me (so to speak), because I also remember turning to music often when I was Calle’s age. I recommend Songs for girls aged 14 and up and their moms (see my review and reviews from other readers), and I was especially happy when Culbertson asked if I would write a blurb for the newest printing of her novel, which is releasing this month.

I’m thrilled to be able to share with you the following essay from Culbertson, where she offers her thoughts about how reading books with her mom has affected her writing and other areas of her life. for more information about Songs for a Teenage Nomad, check out Culbertson’s website.

People often ask me where I came up with the idea for my first young adult novel, Songs for a Teenage Nomad. While it would be simple to start with the genesis of that particular story–the way that Calle’s story came to me and took hold of me until I wrote it–it would not be the whole story. The whole story is that everything I write is the result of everything I have read up until now, of all the stories over the years that have become the foundation upon which I write. Calle’s story started long before I knew I was a writer. It started with the books my mother read to me as a little girl, curled up next to her in the big reading chair by the window.

The other day I took my mom out to lunch. I love going to lunch with my mom and even though we live in the same small town, both of our busy lives don’t often give us the spare couple of hours to enjoy a lunch together. But the stars aligned that day and I found myself sitting across the table from my mom and talking about the books she used to read to me. There were ones I remembered instantly–the Dr. Seuss, Where the Wild Things Are, Amelia Bedelia, the Frances books–and there were others I hadn’t remembered reading. But what I realized as she and I spoke was that I didn’t really have a favorite book. Rather, it was the collective of all these stories and characters and words that really made me first a reader and, later, a writer. It was the sum of all these books that mattered. I remember crawling into the chair next to her and letting her voice wash over me, the pictures wide in front of me, and there was something in the closeness of our reading together that made it a safe space for me. I feel it now when I read to my own daughter, that intimate bubble that being read to creates.

In Songs for a Teenage Nomad, Calle’s story is both a unique and universal one–my little added voice to that collective of story that I grew up building. It’s why books matter so much to me–each one so special–because they have always built that safe space for me, the space that started in my mother’s lap.

Will Grayson #1 believes in two rules: 1. Don’t care too much. 2. Shut up. He’s pretty sure if he follows those he can make it through high school. But he’s not always good at following them. The last time he violated his rules was to defend his best friend Tiny Cooper, who is gay, in a signed letter for the school newspaper. Now he doesn’t have any friends but Tiny, who’s trying to set Will up with Jane. But to accept would violate Will’s rule #1.

Will Grayson #2 says he is trying to get through high school without killing himself or everyone around him. He takes medication for depression, and he hangs out with a girl named Maura, mostly because he doesn’t have other friends. He’s gay, but he hasn’t told anyone yet but his online friend, Isaac.

When Will Grayson meets Will Grayson one unlikely night in Chicago, both their worlds begin to change in unexpected ways.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is written by John Green and David Levithan, two young adult authors known for edgy teen literature. Their joint work is told in alternating chapters, with each Will Grayson penned by a different writer. In less skilled hands the result could be disjointed, but Green and Levithan each create a Will Grayson that is complex and conflicted. In his own way, each Will is isolated and lonely, unsure of his own sexuality and what he’s willing to risk to be friends with someone. In his own way, each keeps his head down until something moves him out of his comfort zone and makes him unhappy with the status quo he has established.

There are big questions for teens involved, and mother-daughter book clubs who take on this book must know what they’re getting into: questions of sexuality, sexual identify, friendship and self-acceptance. There’s plenty of profanity to go around. But it’s refreshing to see an honest look at what it means for a teen to be gay and the challenges a friend of a gay teen faces while supporting his friend. Will Grayson, Will Grayson is also funny, and it will be hard for readers not to fall in love with Tiny Cooper. In fact, at one point Will Grayson #1 says he’s tired of playing a bit part in Tiny Cooper’s life. In some ways, both Wills are playing a bit part in Tiny Cooper’s book. Mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 15 and up should find this book opens up a conversation about lots of issues that may otherwise not come up on their own. I highly recommend it.

Every summer of her life Belly (short for Isabel) has gone to the same summer home with her mom, her brother, her mom’s best friend and the friend’s two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. She’s the youngest of the children, and she always felt let out of activities the boys arranged. Now, she’s about to turn 16, and everything is changing. Boys, including Conrad and Jeremiah, are starting to think of her as something other than a pesky little sister or just a friend. Belly needs to decide if her childhood crush on Conrad still has a hold over her, or if she’s free to explore the attention she’s getting from others.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han will make you want to grab a beach towel, sunscreen, lemonade and head out to a sandy spot where you can read without being interrupted for a while. Belly has the kind of summers that seem dream like, where moms and kids head to the beach house for three months while the dads drop in on occasional weekends. Even so, all is not perfect: Belly’s parents are divorced, her mom’s friend Susannah has battled breast cancer, and the kids are growing up, changing the dynamic of all their relationships.

Belly’s struggle with many teen issues seems very real. She wants to appear cool and older than she is by drinking alcohol at a party, but she doesn’t really want to drink either. She wants her boyfriend to kiss her, but she doesn’t know what she’ll do if he tries to go further.  She feels a nearly constant conflict between wanting to grow up and be a little reckless, and wanting to stay in her comfort zone and do what she knows is safe. These are great issues for moms and daughters to talk about. I recommend The Summer I Turned Pretty for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up.

Mia can’t wait to get to her cousin Corinne’s summer house on Long Island. Even though Mia lives in Georgia, the two girls have always had a special bond. But when Mia arrives on Long Island, she can tell right away that this summer will be different. Corinne acts like she’s too cool for Mia, and she’s invited another friend to stay at the beach house over the summer.

When Mia realizes that Corinne and her friends are into alcohol, drugs and sex, she realizes that she must decide if she’ll go along to fit in. Yet she’s unsure if she’s strong enough to reject her cousin and go it alone. Then she meets Simon, who’s staying at a house next door. Simon challenges Mia in unexpected ways.

The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells explores lots of issues teens face and places them in the world of the wealthy few who own beach homes on Long Island. Issues that come up include teen alcohol and drug use, parents who are too involved in their own issues to notice what their kids are doing, first love, rejection, and fitting in. Many of us can relate to Mia’s desire to be part of the crowd and her discomfort with doing the things that will make her seem cool. She’s not averse to breaking the rules, but she’s not sure which rules she’s willing to break either.

As Mia’s road of discovery unfolds, she realizes that people with seemingly perfect lives can be hiding deep problems, and others admire the very things she feels insecure about. The Summer of Skinny Dipping will make you wish for days with nothing to do but lie on the beach and read while giving you issues to think about. I recommend it for girls aged 15 and up.

Mary Richards isn’t sure what’s wrong with her. She got so tired in school she fell asleep…and purred. She’s sprouting fur wherever a cat rubs against her skin. And she’s craving milk. When Nick, the guy she has a crush on, seems to understand what’s happening to her, and he offers to help, she decides that maybe what’s happening to her isn’t so wrong after all.

The Turning: What Curiosity Kills by Helen Ellis is a new teen series focusing on humans who can turn into cats. Ellis pokes fun at Upper-East-Side-priveliged- Manhattan life with her cast of characters—most of whom attend an elite private school populated by scads of fertility drug, embryo implanted twins and children adopted as babies from Asia. Mary and her sister Octavia are the only students adopted out of the foster-child system in the U.S. when they were eight. Their school is super politically correct.

The Turning brings up several issues for Mary: Who can she tell about what’s happening to her? Given the chance to go back to her regular life, will she take it? Can she adapt to her new realities without getting hurt in the sometimes-violent cat life? This first novel is funny and intriguing. While it sometimes feels like a prologue for the books that are to come,  I expect teens interested in finding a new series with an intriguing premise will find a lot to like here.

Merlin’s Harp by Anne Eliot Crompton is a retelling of the legend of King Arthur and his times from the perspective of Niviene, daughter of the Lady of the Lake, known to Niviene as Nimway. They live on Apple Island, also known as Avalon, with Niviene’s brother, Lugh. Niviene is happy in her Fey world, living apart from most of her kind except when she and Lugh and their friend Elana slip into the villages and pretend to be Human.

The basic elements of the Arthur legend are here—Gwen’s relationship with Lancelot (though there is a surprise there), Mordred’s arrival at the court, the forces that ultimately threaten Arthur’s rule. But what sets Merlin’s Harp apart is Niviene’s perspective.

Niviene is 100 percent Fey, or so she believes, and as such she doesn’t understand the Human emotions of love, honor, greed, lust and longing. She has special powers that allow her to see the future through the flames of fire and speak to animals. Her forested world is rich in fantastical elements. And yet, Niviene is drawn into the Human world by Merlin, a frequent visitor to Apple Island and a friend of her mother’s. Merlin asks Niviene to help Arthur by going with Merlin to Arthur’s court. She risks losing her own power, and if she does, she will not be able to help Arthur.

Merlin’s Harp weaves a tale that blends the lines of mythical and historical worlds. Poems of Merlin’s Song and his life history are woven through the chapters, and they create a subtext of interest in Merlin’s birth and adolescence, not just as the old man we usually see him as. While the premise of the story may be well known, the details of Merlin’s Harp make it seem freshly told. Niviene’s perspective made me thing of the Arthur legend in a different way and imagine new possibilities for the reasons behind the actions of each player. The ending surprised me as well, and I thought it was fun to think of new possibilities for a tale so often told. I recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up.

Darina can hardly believe her eyes when she stumbles upon a gathering in an old barn near an abandoned home way out of town. Drawn to the area because of tales around town of strange sightings there, she is shocked to see Phoenix, her recently dead boyfriend, and three other teens from town who have died in the last year, looking very much alive. An older man is with them, and Darina runs when she thinks he’s about to discover her. But the possibility that Phoenix may still be alive draws her back to learn the truth—they are all dead and brought back to earth by Hunter, who protects them. They all have unfinished business to set right before they can rest.

Beautiful Dead, Book 1—Jonas is the first in a new series by Eden Maguire. It imagines a realm where the dead can return, commune with the living, and solve a mystery surrounding their deaths. Anyone living who discovers them has his memory of the event wiped away. Except for Darina. Her strong connection with Phoenix, and her promise to help the group find the answers they’re looking for makes her a vital accomplice. She is under a strict vow of silence about what she knows.

Beautiful Dead is full of complex, conflicting relationships. Darina feels ostracized at home because she doesn’t get along with her stepfather. Caught in the middle, Darina’s mother mostly frets about the right thing to do. Darina is befriended by Phoenix’s brother, who has promised to look after her. But many in town question his motives. Darina’s old friends aren’t sure if they can trust her, and some lash out as she pulls away from them to keep her secret.

As the story evolves, we find that Darina must help each of the Beautiful Dead find out the mystery surrounding his or her death. The first is Jonas, who has been dead the longest. While Darina looks deeper into what happened the day he crashed his motorcycle, she must also deal with the grief, anguish and confusion of those closest to Jonas. And the outrage of one who has something to hide.

Beautiful Dead is imaginative and intriguing. Issues to talk about in a book group include personal feelings of spirituality and what happens after death, the bond between dating teens, jealousy, and mother-daughter relationships. While I found the descriptions of the rules that existed for the beautiful dead the least compelling part of the book, I was able to read past those and enjoy the mystery and the story enough to look forward to reading the second in the series.

Read an excerpt from the first chapter and learn more about the author at the Beautiful Dead page at Teen Fire.

After our mother-daughter book club discussed The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson, one of the girls wrote this review.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox is an interesting book with a plot that makes you want to read to the end. It covers many difficult topics with a very real and human perspective, mainly how far would you go to save someone you love. It also addresses what could happen in the medical world if we continue on the path we’re on. Though the book had some rough writing style issues the plot is intriguing enough to make you go on and finish it. The Adoration of Jenna Fox is a good book that not only makes you think about what’s going on in our world today and how that will affect tomorrow, but also about finding your true identity. — Franny S., Portland, Oregon

Christina Hamlett’s Movie Girl inspired several readers to send in their own reviews.

A Reader’s Review

I love this book! As a person who graduated from high school over 30 years ago, Movie Girl by Christina Hamlett reminds me of the time when having a bad hair day or getting a zit was social disaster. A time when getting asked to the high school dance was a matter of life or death.

Movie Girl is the story of sophomore Laurie Preston and her crush on hunky senior, Artie Weisberg. When their school gets a film grant and Laurie is chosen to be the lead screenwriter, she sees it as her lucky break to make Artie finally fall in love with her. The trouble is, Artie doesn’t know she exists. She concocts a plan with her best friend, Kathy, to get Artie to ask her to the Winter Dance. She knows if he doesn’t ask her to the dance, she’ll totally die…and the future of their unborn children could be at stake!

Movie Girl is teen angst at its most humorous. It’s so good you can almost smell the Clearasil. – Maggie K., Sheridan, Oregon

A Reader’s Review
The once scrawny, mop-topped Laurie Preston is now a blossoming, quick witted, boy-crazy fifteen year old. Aspiring Junior Miss Cambridge, Kathy, is her best friend except when they’re in a super huge fight, of course. Laurie is full of teen angst; she is deeply frustrated by the immaturity of many of her high school friends.  All of her private thoughts about the trauma of her perpetual “bad timing,” rants about the giggly annoying Keena Nina Feeney, and her intention to one-day marry her dreamboat, Artie, fill up the pages of her diary. Arthur Jerome Weisberg, otherwise known as Artie, is her obsession. He is without a doubt, the most interesting, flawless and cutest guy on this and all other planets.

In school, surrounded by pimple-faced punks, a pensive Laurie pontificates, “Why waste time having homeroom when clearly none of the homeroom teachers have regular classes? Who wouldn’t feel anxious, clumsy and vulnerable about the way their bum looks in those geeky green gym outfits?” Still, the super hot Artie Weisberg is the reason to wash her hair each day. The sad truth is that she is practically invisible to him.

Laurie is chosen to lead a young filmmaker’s project, secretly she romanticizes of casting Artie as her leading man. And when she is not becoming Paul Revere High’s first screenwriter or daydreaming about becoming the future Mrs. Weisberg, Laurie experiences life lessons about friendship and teamwork, as well as the importance of ignoring the gossip and toxic rumors that can ruin relationships.

Finding love in high school can be heartbreaking; Christina Hamlett’s, Movie Girl also makes it funny. The surprise ending flashed me back to the good ole days, like the time when I received my driver’s license for the first time. I remember the moment was something like how I’d imagine receiving the Oscar or the Nobel Peace Prize would be; funny, sweet memories. Marci W., Maui, Hawaii

A Mother’s Review

In Movie Girl, Laurie Preston is a sophomore attending a high school that has just won a grant to write and film its own movie. Laurie has been elected to write the script. To Laurie, this is a dream come true because her master plan is to create a script starring Artie Weisberg. Artie Weisberg is Laurie’s senior heartthrob who is totally oblivious to Laurie’s crush. Unfortunately, to Laurie’s dismay, she learns that writing a script is a lot more burdensome than she first anticipated. Between Kathy, her self-centered best friend, the chess nerds Dean and Ellis, her best guy friend Gus, and Lyn, the new girl from Vietnam, all fighting for parts, she almost quits the movie committee altogether. But the wisdom of her grandmother Sylvia, the support of her mother and father, and the learning she does along the way, all helps her pull through.

In this book we see the author, Christina Hamlett, touching on typical teenage challenges. We see the growing apart of long time best friends to the agonizing torture of being in puppy love with an unknowing senior hunk. There is the budding friendship with an outsider and the confusion of starting to look at that all-too-comfortable guy friend in a whole new way. The book even touches on the poignancy of a refugee fleeing from the poverty of a foreign country to seek safety in America.

Each chapter begins with a journal entry from Laurie that gives the reader a personal touch. The author is very loyal to teenage lingo, which makes the reading very fun. For example, Kathy’s outcry to Laurie’s dad’s offer to make s’mores for the girls during a sleep over:  “Puh-leeze, that is sooo second-grade!”  The book is quite entertaining and the pages flip quickly. I almost caught myself chewing gum with my mouth open and twirling a lock of hair around my finger while reading this book! Turning to the final page is definitely very bittersweet. I’ll be tapping my toes in anticipation of the next book in the series!

A Grandmother’s Review

Movie Girl by Christina Hamlett is a book which every teen/tween (and some older) girls would love to have on their bookshelves. Hamlett’s writing evokes a sweet and innocent period of adolescents of the past, their “girlie” talk, and whispered confidences about boys. The writer sympathetically captures the inner-mind and the whirling emotions of adolescent girls.

Laurie Preston, a high school student, experiences the highs and lows of all teenagers, and the bittersweet feelings of first love … and the angst of her love unreciprocated. She writes long romantic, self-conscious passages in her diary, weaving dreams around her one and only true love, Artie Jerome Weisberg, her future husband and father-to-be of her children.

Receiving a grant to make a film, Laurie’s high school selects her to write the script to be produced by her class. Laurie also sees this is an opportunity to be noticed by Artie.

In writing the screenplay, Laurie assigns herself and Artie leading roles in a romance—Lauren True Heart and MacArthur Wedlock. Puppy-like, she follows Artie around using clumsy pretences to coincidentally bump into him. Laurie’s life devolves into chaos. The film-making committee has to come to the rescue of storyline of the script. She nearly loses the friendship of a truly nice boy.

With humour and light touch Hamlett skillfully brings to vivid life Laurie’s family, her friends, and other characters at her school. Laurie is particularly close to her patient father and her grandmother. These family dynamics enable Laurie to grow and resolve her dilemmas her own way.

Kathy, Laurie’s best friend, Lyn a Vietnamese, her pal Gus, a young artist, Ellis and Dean, members of the chess club, and others—all in their different ways contribute to Laurie’s growing awareness and maturity. Drawing on her own experiences in the film industry, Hamlett gently guides the reader on formatting a script. In introducing two names, Robert Burns and Ogden Nash, on opposite sides of the poetry genre, Hamlett also opens a vista for curious young readers to explore.
For anyone tending to buy that special gift for a teen/tween, I highly recommend Movie Girl by Christina Hamlett. –  Danielle J., Australia