Sass & Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler

This book came out the year Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility turned 200. This novel plays homage to the classic with a modern twist.

Gabby and Daphne are sisters with nothing in common. Gabby, the older sister, has stepped up to help her mother after her father left them. She's the sensible sister who works hard, studies to get good grades, and does her best to make sure her sister behaves. Considering how her father broke her mother's heart, Gabby doesn't believe in love and wants nothing to do with boys. Daphne, on the other hand, lives in a romantic fantasy world of happily ever afters. She meets the new boy in town and instantly believes he's her soul mate. She is spoiled and irresponsible because she's so wrapped up in her dream world to pay attention to the harsh realities of her family's situation. Then a financial crisis leaves the family dependent on the one boy in town Gabby can't stand - the person responsible for the death of the only boy Gabby ever had feelings for. When her mother has to go out of town, Gabby is forced to be even more responsible for her oblivious sister. Pretty soon everyone has boy issues, whether they want them or not.

This book does a decent job of maintaining the gist of Austen's novel. There are modern issues that fit nicely into the story that all seem realistic. However, for two-thirds of the novel I couldn't stand either main character. Daphne is a spoiled brat who desperately needed a reality check and Gabby was so narrow-minded and critical of everything she was just downright unlikeable. I could understand where each girl is coming from, but they were both so extreme that they were annoying. In the last hundred pages both girls received a bit of a slap in the face which thankfully brought them around to some resemblance of sanity.

Aside from some unbearable main characters, the book wasn't horrible. You could relate to the character even if you couldn't stand them and the book makes you believe change and happily ever afters are possible.
MMK

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

Although this book was written in the 70s, it is a timeless tale with themes that are still relevant today.

In an all boys school there is a secret society called the Vigils that creates "assignments" for select boys to complete. Archie creates the assignments and is relatively revered in the school. A change is coming at the school, though, when the headmaster is out and the current man in charge, Brother Leon, sets out a plot to sell 20,000 boxes of old Mother's Day chocolates. While the school is used to chocolate sales, it was only half this amount and Brother Leon calls upon the Vigils to make sure every box is sold. There's only one flaw in his plan and it's a new boy named Jerry Renault. At first Jerry says no to selling chocolates because of an assignment but when the time period is over, he continues to refuse to sell. Brother Leon is furious because this boy is disrupting the system and soon others begin the start thinking like Jerry. The Vigils aren't happy either, especially after they told him to start selling and he continues to refuse. Can order be brought back or will free will reign?

This novel plays on a lot of important themes for teens such as peer pressure, bullying, free will and standing up for what you believe in. That said, the message at the end of the book isn't that uplifting, even if it is a bit realistic because sometimes the bad guys to succeed and wills are broken. Some of the ideas in the book are a bit perposterous and the characters caricatures, but maybe you have to go extreme to get your point across. I would have liked a little bit more character development. I wanted to know a little bit more with regards to motivation for certain characters. Most of all though, I wanted to see the bad guys taken down a peg and that never really happened.

This book is realistic in the point that the good guys don't always succeed, but unrealistic in certain situations. My expectations and hopes left me disappointed with the book, but I think it has merit for the themes that it presents.
MMK

Boys, Girls & Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman

The author of the book that inspired the movie Mean Girls comes out with a novel that switches from mean girls to mean boys and the world of hazing. The novel starts out being so typical it was not memorable, but it turns around...a bit.

Charlie is the new girl (that's right - girl) in school after she decided to go to a different high school than her 8th grade class in order to get away from her bully friends. She's surprised to see her former best friend Will who moved away a few years ago and Nidhi - a girl from 8th grade who was an unfortunate victim of Charlie's former friends Lauren and Ally. The new school, though, is a new start for Charlie as past mistakes are forgiven with Nidhi and she reconnects with Will. In the meantime, she falls for Tyler - a friend of Will's and his fellow soccer and lacrosse player. Typical high school live ensues - including the disappointment that the boy she likes doesn't like her. Then, the mean boy dynamic come through as Tyler and Will try to get accepted in the lacrosse team and are ordered around/humiliated by the upperclassmen. Tyler also becomes a mean boy as he lashes out a girl who rejected him. Charlie, worried about Will though, warns him about getting too involved in the hazing and Tyler's immature behaviors. It all escalates to an almost fatal accident where Charlie has to decide whether to expose the players or keep her mouth shut since lacrosse players are worshiped in the school - even by teachers.

It takes a while for the book to get truly interesting since it is so typical and unmemorable. For a while I kept waiting for the "mean boys" to appear and that wasn't really until the second half of the book. It was briefly mentioned in the beginning, but not much really happened. I almost felt that this book would have done a better job showing the troubles if it had been written from Will's perspective instead of Charlie's. With Charlie telling the story it's all a reaction to things she's seeing and stories she's hearing. If Will told the story, the audience would have seen things first hand. But I can't rewrite the story so I'll just have to deal. I think the author did a good job of showing Charlie's struggle at the end. Many times athletes are worshipped in schools to the point that they can do no wrong. If she told, she'd get Will in trouble and she risked no one believing her - which does happen. There is also a good comparison of of mean girls vs mean boys as Charlie reflects upon her friendships last year.

This book could have been better. Showing it from Will's perspective definitely would have done a better job allowing the reader to experience the hazing. Also, it could have picked up the pace and gotten to the point quicker. A little less adjusting to a new school and typical high school life would have captured my attention a bit more. Then again, I'm not a teenager, so maybe the pacing is just fine for that generation.
MMK

The Flowers by Dagoberto Gilb

Gilb gives an authentic voice to the young Chicano teen narrator. I would liken this to that which Sherman Alexie did for Native American Teen boys in his book Absolutely Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Sonny is a likable, compassionate kid who lives in the Flowers Apartments with his mother and stepfather. He experiences the comings and goings of many of the residents as he does chores around the building of which he has many. He has his first sexual experiences and his first romance (not at all the same thing). He is witness to prejudice and other not so legal activities in the run down neighborhood. So many, many of the books for Chicano kids revolve around gang activity this is a refreshing book filled with colorful imperfect characters worth getting to know.
I read this because folks were questioning its appropriateness for teen readers. I think its exactly right on. I'm happy to have it in the teen collection for teens to find. JDW 1/8/10