Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

A book review by Madeline Soucie

               

   

A good summer book for summer.

    

Taylor Edwards used to spend her summers with her family at their old lake house until five years ago when their lives became too busy. Taylor never thought they'd be back until her father received some bad news and the family goes up to spend one last summer together on the lake.

    

Up at the lake, Taylor is confronted by memories and people from her past like her former best friend and first crush, who she ran away from before leaving for five years.

    

Taylor soon finds that this summer is all about second chances to fix mistakes and make things right with her old friends and family before its too late.

Find it in APL TEEN Fiction YA FIC Matson, M.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

A book review by Madeline Soucie


Hazel is a sixteen year old girl fighting cancer. She's had cancer for most of her life -- it's what she knows. She doesn't have many friends because when you miss as much school as she does, it's hard to keep up with friends and have a social life. Her main friends are her parents and her favorite book. Her oxygen tank is also something that never changes. She's used to it.

Augustus Waters is a cancer survivor. He used to play basketball before the cancer hit him, now he doesn't. He's a bright star with a big heart. 

One day while going to support group for cancer kids with his friend Isaac, he meets Hazel.  The friendship is almost instant and soon turns into more as the two hang out more and more. The one thing holding Hazel back is that she believes she is a grenade, about to go off at any time and doesn't want to hurt anyone she can avoid hurting. Augustus shows her differently and the pair struggle to overcome the cancer looming around their shoulders and enjoy living now. 

This is an exceptionally good book that will tug at your heart strings, but is a great read nonetheless.


With the movie's release on June 6, the book is currently in high demand.  To place it on hold, click here.

ALONG FOR THE RIDE by Sarah Dessen

A book review by Paige Boehk

Auden West is the best kid you could ask for, although she has a weird schedule -- she stays up all night and sleeps half the day.  She's been doing her own thing for awhile.  She uses her free time to study and take notes for college, even though she's 18 years old and hasn't  gone to college.  She is very mature and isn't like all the other girls her age.  She doesn't care about the latest fashion or who's dating who -- she just wants to do her own thing.  When Auden was 16, she saw her parents nasty divorce.  A couple years after, her father met Heidi, got married and had a baby -- a little girl named Thisbe. Auden also has an older brother named Hollis, who was backpacking around Europe.  Auden's mother was busy with her own life, having dinner parties with scholarly students every night.  That's when Auden chose to move in with her dad for the summer.

The beautiful beaches, the bright shining sun, and clear skies -- this was Colby in the summer.  Auden wanted to spend time with her dad and stay away from her new step-mom, Heidi.  She'd always seen Heidi as the girl who wears pink and high heels, though she found out this was not the case.  Heidi was very tired and emotional from just having her baby.  It was hard on her with no help from her husband.  Auden saw all the popular girls in miniskirts and the popular guys all riding bikes and doing tricks, seeing them all happy.  She still felt left out, like she did at home.

Auden realizes she will have to spend her whole summer with her dad in Colby and knows she needs to meet the kids there.  This is when she meets Jake Stock, a major player who has his eyes on her.  Colby is so small that Auden ends up getting together with Jake, who happens to be Maggie's boyfriend.  Maggie also works at Auden's step-mom's boutique, Clementine's.  After Auden apologizes, Auden and Maggie are able to become friends.  That's when Auden meets Eli, a boy with nocturnal habits and a past like her own.  They form a strong relationship throughout the book. 

Every character in the book needs to face his or her own fears and grow up.  They all make mistakes and have their own problems, which underscores the fact that no person is perfect though at first they may look that way.

Find it in YA FIC Dessen, S.