Review Time : BROKEN by C. J. Lyons

By Destiny Geddis

Scarlet Killian wants to be a normal girl, but like most novel's which feature a child who wishes to be 'normal', she's got something keeping her from being so. In C. J. Lyons's Broken, that would be the rare but fatal heart condition, Long QT Syndrome. Realizing that time is limited and she could die at any moment, Scarlet begs her mother to let her spend what little time she has left going to public school. Scarlet soon realizes that high school's not really that great. Kids in Scarlet's school are some strange brand of teenager who thinks attempted arson is funny. Plus, during an exercise in her literature class, she realize she can't remember anything from her early childhood. What could this mean? As the days pass and Scarlet is forced to deal with the idea that high school might deadly, will she die before she can solve the mystery of her forgotten childhood?

Review Time: GONE AND DONE IT by Maggie Toussaint

by Kaley Whittle

Baxley Powell is not what most people would call "lucky". With a missing husband and an energetic daughter to watch over, all Baxley wants to do is get the job done. She does everything within her power to keep her little household afloat, whether that means spending hours in the sun doing landscaping jobs or filling her house with other people's animals. Stress has become her devilish companion. Baxley is just trying to finish this hell of a landscaping job so she can get paid, and (god forbid) maybe rest easy for a while. But she's turning over more than mulch, and dead bodies have a tendency to complicate things.

Review Time: AS SHE LEFT IT by Catriona McPherson

By Destiny Geddis
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As She Left It did a miraculous thing that really hasn't happened since Death Spiral: it made us universally agree that we loved this book.
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Something you may not have realized, is that our little YA Review Team is unbelievably picky. One of us, a newcomer who joined during the Jesus Jackson era, had yet to truly enjoy a book that we had read. However, they ended up liking this book so much that when they ended up getting sick and being unable to attend our meeting, they demanded that we Skype them so they could talk about this book. So, while this is not technically a Young Adult novel, we will be reviewing it.

Up Next — MR. SAMUEL'S PENNY by Treva Hall Melvin

It’s 1972 and fourteen-year-old New Yorker Elizabeth Landers is sent to the sleepy town of Ahoskie, North Carolina to spend the summer with relatives. Her expectation of boredom is quickly dispelled when police sirens and flashing lights draw her to a horrible scene at the Danbury Bridge. Mr. Samuel, owner of Samuel’s Lumber Yard, has driven his car off the bridge and into the river, drowning himself and his daughter.

The medical examiner thinks it’s an accident, but the Sheriff finds fresh bullet holes on the bridge right where the skid marks are. Curiously, Mr. Samuel died clutching a unique 1909 wheat penny –a penny that is then stolen from the Sheriff’s office. Lizbeth witnesses Miss Violet’s grief upon learning that her husband and child are dead, and decides she will help by finding the penny.

Her search involves Lizbeth in the lives of many Ahoskie residents. Like the owner of the grocery store, mean old Mr. Jake, who –as all the kids in Ahoskie know –hates black folks. Plenty of pennies in his till. Then there is Ms. Melanie Neely, otherwise known as “Ms. McMeanie,” who thinks the lumber yard should belong to her. And Mr. Samuel’s handsome brother Ben, who struggles to keep the business afloat after his more clever brother’s death. Lizbeth searches through the collection plates at church and in the coin jars of crazy old Aunt Ode, a strange old woman missing one eye and most of her teeth, who keeps a flask in her apron pocket and a secret in her soul.

Review Time — JESUS JACKSON by James Ryan Daley

by Kaley Whittle

On the back cover of Jesus Jackson, a quote from School Library Journal describes the novel as “an engaging, suspenseful read that teens will not be able to put down.” I can personally attest to this fact. It took me a while to start reading James Ryan Daley’s first novel, not because I didn't want to, but because I was focused on passing geometry. When the day of our book club eventually rolled around, I had yet to even open the cover. I worked furiously through my classes, and by lunch I was finally free. I didn't eat that day; I devoured the book instead.

From James Ryan Daley, Author of Jesus Jackson

The author discusses his debut novel in "How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love YA," a fine post about excellence no matter the genre. We're looking forward to Jesus Jackson!

Find his post HERE, at The Poisoned Pencil's blog.

Up Next -- JESUS JACKSON by James Ryan Daley

Our October Pick!

Jonathan Stiles is a 14-year-old atheist who is coping with his first day of ninth grade at the fervently religious St. Soren's Academy when his idolized older brother Ryan is found dead at the bottom of a ravine behind the school. As his world crumbles, Jonathan meets an eccentric stranger who bears an uncanny resemblance to Jesus Christ (except for his white linen leisure suit and sparkling gold chains). Jesus Jackson, as he calls himself, offers to provide faith to Jonathan. He also suggests that Ryan's death may not have been an accident after all. Jonathan teams up with Henry, his new best friend at St. Soren's, to investigate. The two boys find footprints leading to the ravine that match Ryan's sneakers.

They are assisted by Ryan's grieving girlfriend, Tristan, who also thinks the accident theory is bunk. The police, however, will not listen. But Jonathan knows something the police do not know: Shortly before his death, Ryan was doing cocaine with fellow footballer and number one suspect Alistair not far from the ravine where his body was found. An inspired Jonathan battles sanctimonious school psychologists, overzealous administrators, and a cavalry of Christian classmates on his quest to discover the truth about Ryan's death -- and about God, high school, and the meaning of life, while he's at it. But he keeps getting distracted by Cassie -- Alistair's quirky younger sister -- who holds the keys to the answers Jonathan is searching for, but but who also makes him wonder if he should be searching for them at all.