interpersonal (3)

If You Really Loved Me by Anne Schraff

If You Really Loved Me (Urban Underground #4)If You Really Loved Me by Anne Schraff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Part of the Urban Underground series, I liked Destini, who was really hard on herself as not being as pretty, smart and having nice clothes as her friends at Harriet Tubman High. She dislikes school, her teachers and her classes. Until she meets Tyron who is her first boyfriend and gives her such good feelings of love that she overlooks his faults of anger. It is after Tyron hurts her two times that Destini realizes she can't change Tyron and has supportive friends and and a mother that Destini breaks free. Recommended.

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Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti

Something Like FateSomething Like Fate by Susane Colasanti
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The characters in this romance novel are all really finely drawn by Colasanti and I found Lani very believable as a teen who doesn't follow the crowd and realizes she has angered friends by distancing herself (they think Lani thinks she is too good for them) and becoming very involved in her own club to save the earth. Her good friend, Blake is gay but hides it for fear of his father's anger. Lani and Blake are compulsive about checking their horoscopes and Lani truly believes in fate (hence the title). As the narrator, we find out from Lani about how her best friend, Erin, saved her when they were younger and they have been inseparable since. Lani has also become friends with Danielle in her ecology club. But Lani is insecure and also unaware of herself as being interesting to guys. She has never had a real boyfriend and when she meets Erin's latest flame, Jason, she has no reason to believe he might be interested in her. But it becomes obvious to Blake that Jason is interested in Lani and when they start hanging out together, Lani likes Jason but just sees him as a friend and nothing more. It is when Jason finally tells Lani he cares about Lani, that things get really interesting. Jason is a great guy;athletic, funny, a mentor to younger kids and a lifeguard during the summer. With only 2 months left before summer, Lani and Jason stay friendly; when Erin leaves for summer camp, Jason breaks up with her in an email and Lani and Jason begin seeing each other and it is a pretty perfect summer, what will happen when Erin returns? A great book for girls.


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Trouble by Gary Schmidt

bookshelves: read, multicultural-fiction, realistic-fiction, ya status: Read in January, 2009 review: Just finished this 3rd book by Schmidt and I was sooooo moved by this tense, funny, suspenseful story and you really get to know each character and will love them, hate them or decide you can just plain accept them. Henry, just like Holling in The Wednesday Wars, is unforgettable. I love the way they both look at the world, their families and how they make decisions, good, bad or indifferent. Schmidt really has a way with words----just love him. Keep the great books coming. This will be one...more Just finished this 3rd book by Schmidt and I was sooooo moved by this tense, funny, suspenseful story and you really get to know each character and will love them, hate them or decide you can just plain accept them. Henry, just like Holling in The Wednesday Wars, is unforgettable. I love the way they both look at the world, their families and how they make decisions, good, bad or indifferent. Schmidt really has a way with words----just love him. Keep the great books coming. This will be one of my favorites to booktalk, hope the students like it just as much. I learned you can't run from Trouble (just like Henry) but you have to learn how to live with it and learn to find happiness with life as it really is. Also, people need to accept immigrants and not judge them on what their race, origin, etc. is but to get to know them as people, just people, like you and me
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