Penny Blubaugh

Every night it's the same dream. I'm sailing along the calm seas of the south pacific when suddenly, without warning, the temperature drops. Brrr. . . I'm disoriented by the sudden change and lose all sense of direction. Drawn to some inescapable desire -- CRASH -- and before I can turn around . . . it's too late.

From TeenBoat by Dave Roman and John Green (It's better when you see the pictures!)

Review from Comicsgirl (comicsgirl.com)

TeenBoat is about a teenage boy who turns into a boat named TeenBoat (in case, you know, the title didn’t immediately tip you off to that), Originally a series of (Ignatz Award-winning) minicomics, creators Dave Roman and John Green pull in amazing amount pop culture influences (Turbo Teen is an obvious reference point, as are teen dramas like Dawson’s Creek) into something that’s still fun and original. Trust me when I tell you that Teen Boat! is really one of the best things ever.

Why this book is here:

Because he's a teen who can turn into a boat! How cool is that? Read More 

I adore this story. I love the fact that they still don't know who the mystery sculptor is. Scroll down a bit and look for mysterious paper sculptures for the first installment of this story, then click on the link labeled mysterious paper sculptures 2 to your left. Enjoy.

Ca-chunk, ca-chunk, ca-chunk.

The sound drifts through my bedroom window. Pokes through my homework haze. It's not loud, but it's impossible to ignore. Because it doesn't belong here.

From Candor by Pam Bachorz

Review from Kirkus Review

Everyone is on-message in Candor, Fla. (a planned community not unlike Disney’s Celebration), and Oscar Banks’s father decides that message through mind-controlling music. For teenagers who have the money and the motivation to escape from Candor, Oscar offers his own rebellious subliminal messages. After falling in love with new arrival Nia, Oscar weighs his perfect persona against Nia’s survival, watching as she falls victim to Candor’s illusion of perfection. Bachorz’s premise causes a momentary chill: Given music’s ubiquitous presence today, readers can easily wonder if there’s a message lurking in every melody. A nicely paced plot keeps the narrative moving and successfully builds tension.

Why this book is here:

Exactly because it's so creepy, just like the review says. And because it could be true. Read More 

My father is always talking about how a dog can be very educational for a boy. This is one reason I got a cat.

From It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville

From Wikipedia:

The main character of the kis Dave Mitchell, a 14-year-old who is growing up in mid-20th century New York City. Dave lives with his father and his asthmatic mother and her attacks worsen when Dave and his father have their frequent arguments. Dave's refuge after a clash with his father is with Kate, an elderly neighbor whose apartment is filled with the stray cats she loves. Dave adopts one of the cats, names it "Cat" and takes him home. "Cat" brings both joy and adventure into Dave's life.

Cat's presence brings Dave into contact with several new people, including a troubled college-aged boy named Tom and his first girlfriend, Mary. While documenting Tom's growing maturity, the book also provides glimpses of a few of New York's neighborhoods and attractions, from the Fulton Fish Market to the Bronx Zoo and Coney Island.

Why this book is here:

I love the view of a normal kid growing up in the New York of the 1960s and I love this cat. Read More 

I grew up in what some people would call a mobile home and what other, snobbier people might call a manufactured home, but I was always fine with calling it a trailer. That's right, I said I grew up in a trailer. Fuck you.

From Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick

From Kirkus Reviews:

Acute, wickedly funny observations on appearance and identity punctuate this sprawling, caustic fairy tale that cheerfully skewers the fashion and film worlds and their celebrity-culture spawn.

Something magical will soon befall checkout clerk Becky Randle, 18, her mother tells her, making Becky promise she’ll say yes to it. After her mother’s death, the mysterious yet ubiquitous designer Tom Kelly flies Becky to New York, proposing to create three dresses for her guaranteed to make her the most beautiful woman on the planet. With, at best, average looks, Becky’s understandably skeptical, but Kelly delivers, and Rebecca is born. Though Rebecca’s gorgeous, confident and smart, Becky stubbornly hangs onto her identity (she sees her glamorous alter ego in mirrors only when others are present). Supermodel Rebecca lands a movie role alongside the star Becky’s crushed on since middle school (veteran screenwriter Rudnick’s film scenes are hilarious). Soon, smitten with Rebecca, the heir to the English throne captures Becky’s heart—but which of her is he in love with?

Why this book is here:

It's compulsively readable, fun, funny, sad and poignant all at once. Read it!  Read More 

It was a dark and stormy night.

In her attic bedroom Margaret Murry, wrapped in an old patchwork quilt, sat on the foot of her bed and watched the trees tossing in the frenzied lashing of the wind.

From A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle

From Indiebound:

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

"Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I'll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract."

A tesseract (in case the reader doesn't know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L'Engle's unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe in search of Meg's father.

Why this book is here:

Because it's brilliant and classic and I love it! Read More 

The snake is lying on the front porch like a present or a warning, blood pooled at its throat, glistening against the blackness of its leathery skin.

From An Infidel in Paradise by S. J. Laidlaw

From Indiebound

Set in Pakistan, this is the story of a teen girl living with her mother and siblings in a diplomatic compound. As if getting used to another new country and set of customs and friends isn't enough, she must cope with an increasingly tense political situation that becomes dangerous with alarming speed. Her life and those of her sister and brother depend on her resourcefulness and the unexpected help of an enigmatic Muslim classmate.

Why this book is here:

It's a fascinating look at the diplomatic corps, international schools, and rotational kids who, in this case, never know from one day to the next if it's safe to go outside.  Read More 

It was one of those nights in Hollywood, the kind that made gossip columnists and newspapermen and the announcers on newsreels say, "It was one of those nights in Hollywood."

From Starstruck by Rachel Shukert

KIRKUS REVIEW

Intrigue and ingénues abound in this delightfully frothy period drama.

Teeny-bopper Margo Sterling (born into Pasadena society as Margaret Frobisher) spends her days mooning over Hollywood's A-list celebs until a chance encounter at a soda fountain starts her whirlwind transformation into Tinsel Town’s new it girl. Along the way, she meets Gabby Preston, a former child actress who will do whatever it takes to get the role of her dreams, and Amanda Faraday, a gorgeous, up-and-coming actress who wants to escape her shadowy past and find true love. But in 1930s Hollywood, secrets run deeper than the pockets of the studio executives, and nothing is what it appears to be. Shukert's foray into the teen market is well-plotted and carefully nuanced; historical details are crisp and vivid without being too obtuse; the narrative is tight and masterful, mixing just the right amount of cattiness and salaciousness with secrets that reveal themselves one after another. The result is a compulsively readable piece sure to appeal to fans of Anna Godbersen and Judy Blundell. Though there is no mention of a sequel, some plot threads are left swinging like the fringe on a flapper's gown: Expect readers to clamor for more.

Historical fiction that's both smart and sassy.

Why this book is here:

It's sexy, it's glitzy, it's steamy and sordid. It's like the best of the gossip magazines that Margo used to read before she became a part of them. Read More 

The Tragic Events at Temple Israel Set the Stage for my Own Inevitable Doom

"Today, I am a man."

Right then I knew that something was seriously wrong -- I mean seriously wrong with Eric Weinberg.

From Sons of the 613 by Michael Rubens

KIRKUS REVIEW

This is a book every bar-mitzvah boy will want to steal.

"What's the first thing you say up there onstage during your bar mitzvah?" asks Josh. Josh is holding his brother Isaac over his head. Josh is taking a break from his wrestling scholarship at NYU and taking care of Isaac while their parents are in Italy. Isaac is supposed to say, "Today, I am a man." They both think that's pretty stupid. "Are you a man?" Josh asks. Isaac: "Um...no?" Josh: "No, you're not. You're still a boy." This may be the least interesting statement in the book, because every bar-mitzvah boy already knows it. But no parent will ever give this book as a bar-mitzvah gift because of the bar fights, the strippers and the vomit. Josh has decided to turn his brother into a man, and he's decided to do it in the three weeks before Isaac turns 13. Isaac will meet Josh's friends: strippers, an African-American pool player in a porkpie hat and Patrick the Meth-Dealing Punk. Parents will expect a bar-mitzvah book to inspire their child, teach him something and make him proud to be Jewish. Surprisingly, this novel accomplishes two out of three.

This book won't make readers proud to be Jewish. It will make them proud to be a pool player in a porkpie hat, a tattooed punk or anyone who survives all the way to 13. Everyone should read it the moment he becomes a man.

Why this book is here:

It's funny, it's heartbreaking, it's tear-producing -- it's everything Isaac experiences put down in perfect prose. Read More 

I used to go to thrift stores with my friends. We'd take the train into Boston, and go to The Garment District, which is this huge vintage clothing warehouse. Everything is arranged by color, and somehow that makes all of the clothes beautiful.

From The Faery Handbag in the anthology Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link

KIRKUS REVIEW

Although some of Link’s work appears in other YA and adult short-story anthologies, this is her first collection wholly aimed at a young-adult audience. Weirdly wonderful and a touch macabre, the nine short stories take readers into worlds with elements of reality but also supply a fantastic twist. The opening story, “The Wrong Grave,” plays into the current trend of books featuring the dead and the undead; in it, a boy whose girlfriend dies wants to dig her up to retrieve the poems he put in her coffin. “Magic for Beginners” centers on a boy whose closest friendships form around a TV show with a loyal following but no set broadcast time or channel. Erudite, economical word choices give readers a strong sense of setting without drowning them in adjectives. The humor is dry and the characters are easy to relate to, even in alien (literally and figuratively) settings. Fantasy readers used to long, single tomes may hesitate at the short-story format, but once they see these, they will want more. Read More