Heartstopper Volume 4 by Alice Oseman

When the web-series that turned into books goes on a hiatus, so you don't have your weekly dose of new fluff...
Ok but the way we're dealing with mental health. Nick's mom is just. The best. Nick being the adorable loving cutie-pie that the world needs. The concerned golden retriever baby.
Just let them text! Yes this could be seen as kind of dependent on each other but like....they teenages. mere youts. This relationship is statistically way more healthy than a lot of others. Let the babies talk. 
The New Years scene.
I have to remind myself that they're Brits so like...their idea of vacation and I don't know...self-care, view of work and school-life, lifestyle mentality, are different than the U.S. that and they have British accents and are like....right next to a gazillion countries so it makes sense and that they can walk everywhere because stuff is close. 
The dogs. I'm always here for the dogs. 
I feel so seen for reasons. Also I would die for Charlie (and Nick, always Nick, but we're specifying Charlie today). I would kill for him. Either way what bliss. 
Tori is so cool and I hope to be as amazing as her one day....
My children. Just trying their best. Just:

384 Pages

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez

Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family.

But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role. 

Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.

But it’s not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend Lorena, and her first love, first everything boyfriend Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister’s story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal?

Let's start with the 'yays'.  This book has voice, y'all.  And it's good, in both meanings of the word.  The protagonist, Julia, is excellent.  She acts and sounds like a teen, warts and all.  She's selfish but insightful, insecure but confident in what she wants, and angsty but not without compassion.  I found  myself identifying with Julia and being reminded of what it was like in my world when I was a teen.  In addition, the author has a unique way of making you feel the story.  I often mentally paused to appreciate a turn of phrase, metaphor, or image.

The bad?  The massive amount of issues shoved into this book.  The timeline moves fast, and I wasn't always sure just how much time had passed.  The 'main' conflict, the mystery of her dead sister, was meh at best.  It wasn't engaging, and I mentally checked out as the book went on during those parts.

Overall, I found depth in Julia's relationship with her family, and I was moved by the sheer 'teenageness' of Julia. 

352 pages

4/5

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.
So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.
I'm not kidding, he says.
You should be, she says, we're 16.
What about Romeo and Juliet?
Shallow, confused, then dead.
I love you, Park says.
Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.
I'm not kidding, he says.
You should be.

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits-smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you'll remember your own first love-and just how hard it pulled you under.

During the years I taught high school, this book made the rounds.  I have always avoided it because my students warned me it was romance based, and I have always been vocal about how idiotic I find most YA romance.  However, I think this book has an entirely different vibe from other YA romance I've read.  There is a realness to the main two characters and their families (both bad and good), and the teens sound and act like teens (to the point that I felt frustration often).  This may be the only romance novel in my entire life that I've stayed up past bedtime for.

4.5

336 pages

"Out of Nowhere" by Roan Parrish

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, called "In the Middle of Somewhere," and this story focused on Colin Mulligan, one of the brothers of Daniel (the hero in the first book).  In the first book, Colin was a mean, homophobic jerk to his brother.  This story is told from Colin's point of view and explains why he was that way.  We learned at the end of book one that Colin is deeply in the closet; this book shows how that happened.  While Colin isn't nearly as likable as Daniel, the author clearly shows his mental anguish at hiding such a large part of himself from his family and friends.  Although not as good as the first book, mostly because the main characters weren't as sweet as Daniel and his boyfriend, Rex, it was still a compelling story.  300 pages (Kindle edition).

"Shotgun" by Marie Sexton

This is book #7 in the Coda Series, and I really liked it for several reasons.  The story itself is an unrequited love story between two men who first meet when they are seventeen and are only together for a few hours.  Fifteen years later, they meet again in the same town, Coda, CO, where Dominic Jacobsen has lived his whole life, and where Lamar Franklin has just moved.  When Lamar's car is vandalized, the garage that Dominic's family owns ends up fixing it.  Lamar is out, and he's just moved to Coda to take a teaching job and to get away from the married man with whom he was having an affair.  He's also depressed.  Dominic lives with his 13-year-old daughter, Naomi, and is still in the closet.  He believes that having a gay father will hurt Naomi, so he sacrifices is love life to protect her.  It has worked fine until he sees Lamar again, and all of the emotions he's kept hidden for 15 years come flooding back.

There was a lot of angst and drama in this story.  Lamar is being stalked by someone who vandalizes his car numerous times and breaks into his house.  Dominic has a big family, some of whom are homophobic, especially his father.  Staying in the closet hasn't been a problem until Lamar arrives, and Dom goes back and forth with coming out, which hurts Lamar.  However, it was worth the read to catch up with the couples from previous books in the series.  Matt and Jared as well as Angelo and Zach all play important roles in helping Lamar and Dominic, especially Matt since he is the police officer working on Lamar's stalking case.  And there was a cute kitty with the silly name of Missy Prissy Pom-Pom Paw!  Another great story from Marie Sexton.  260 pages (Kindle edition).

First Love by James Patterson

Posted for Paul Mathews

Sixteen-year-old Axi finds out a lot as she travels across country with the boy she loves. They enjoy and encounter many adventures. Very nice romance novel.

Audio:  5 hrs. 11 min.
Print:  560 pages                                                     

OCD, the Dude and Me by Lauren Vaughn

Danielle tells her story through the English papers, notes, e-mails and other correspondence. She writes with a very true and clear voice, which is quite refreshing. The way she sees and describes the world around her is striking, like "His girlfriend looked just like Juno, except she wasn't pregnant. Well, truthfully, I couldn't really know that. Maybe she was and that's why they were kissing the way I saw. I am sure making a baby together can inspire that kind of kissing." 

Danielle struggles with OCD and the repercussions of a traumatic incident in the 8th grade. She hates herself; for her weight and for her own very existence, as she feels guilty for living while others are not. I really enjoyed this book, and I love the way Danielle describes the inner-workings of her mind and the intimidating world around her.

My favorite quote of the entire book (an e-mail from Aunt Joyce to Danielle), which made me cry: 

"...then you wouldn't be with us at all. That is not an option any of us can accept. And so, it is you, your existence, your presence in my life that has helped to heal this situation for me. You mean so much to me, and now you know even more why. You are the child we are meant to have. Yours is the life that is meant to be here."  


234 pages