The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

16-year-old Macy witnessed her father's death, but has never figured out how to mourn. Instead, she stays in control–good grades, perfect boyfriend, always neat and tidy–and tries to fake her way to normal. Then she gets a job at Wish Catering. It is run by pregnant, forgetful Delia and staffed by her nephews, Bert and Wes, and her neighbors Kristy and Monica. "Wish" was named for Delia's late sister, the boys' mother. Working and eventually hanging out with her new friends, Macy sees what it's like to live an unplanned lifestyle, from dealing with kitchen fires to sneaking out at night, and slowly realizes it's not so bad to be human. Wes and Macy play an ongoing game of Truth and share everything from gross-outs to what it feels like to watch someone you love die. They fall in love by talking, and the author fully develops their characters that way. All of Dessen's characters, from Macy, who narrates, to Kristy, whose every word has life and attitude, to Monica, who says almost nothing but oozes nuance, are fully and beautifully drawn. Their dialogue is natural and believable, and their care for one another is palpable. The prose is fueled with humor–the descriptions of Macy's dad's home-shopping addiction are priceless, as is the goofy bedlam of catering gigs gone bad–and as many good comedians do, Dessen uses it to throw light onto darker subjects. Grief, fear, and love set the novel's pace, and Macy's crescendo from time-bomb perfection to fallible, emotional humanity is, for the right readers, as gripping as any action adventure.

The Best War Ever by Michael C.C. Adams

Was it really such a "good war"? It was, if popular memory is to be trusted. We knew who the enemy was. We knew what we were fighting for. The war was good for the economy. It was liberating for women. It was a war of tanks and airplanes—a cleaner war than World War I. Americans were united. Soldiers were proud. It was a time of prosperity, sound morality, and power. But according to historian Michael Adams, our memory is distorted, and it has left us with a misleading—even dangerous—legacy. Challenging many of our common assumptions about the period, Adams argues that our experience of World War II was positive but also disturbing, creating problems that continue to plague us today.

When It Happens by Susane Colasanti

In the first chapter, readers find out that Sara is entering her senior year hoping that she'll find true love. She is ecstatic when Dave asks her out. He is part of the in crowd, and she begins to hang out with his friends, at the expense of her relationships with her friends. Next, readers hear from Tobey. He has had short flings with a couple of girls, but is uncomfortable with that kind of relationship. He thinks Sara is his real thing, and he asks her friend Laila to help him win her over. Tobey and Sara become partners in music class and find they have much in common. Dave, on the other hand, is a disappointment to her. When he pressures Sara, she finally realizes that she confused her attraction to his good looks and connections with honest feelings. Through alternating chapters, readers get the perspectives of Tobey and Sara about their developing relationship. Owing a lot to (and even referencing) the 80's movie Say Anything..., this is a good romance with a lot of promise. This is Colasanti's debut novel and, reading her other novels, you can see the improvement.

From Crime Scene to Courtroom by Cyril H. Wecht and Dawna Kaufmann

In this movie-like book, famed forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril H. Wecht and veteran true-crime journalist Dawna Kaufmann offer never-before-published information on the mysterious deaths of Michael Jackson and Caylee Anthony, plus five other ripped-from-the-headlines criminal cases. Based on their long investigative experience, these two insiders offer revealing insights into the following high-profile cases:

Casey Anthony
An assessment of the Trial of this Century, during which a Florida mother stood accused of killing her young daughter, Caylee. At stake were issues that included accuracy of air sampling and cadaver dogs, post-mortem hair banding, chloroform, duct tape identification, computer clues, and deep family secrets.

Michael Jackson
The authors provide never-disclosed data on the autopsies of Jackson's body and a microscopic view of the singer's life and career, plus analysis of the cardiologist charged with his death: Was Dr. Conrad Murphy recklessly negligent or a fall guy for a hopelessly addicted celebrity?

Drew Peterson
Heroic Illinois SWAT team cop or wife killer? Did his third wife slip and fall in the bathtub, or was she beaten and drowned? The controversy over her death led to an exhumation and the filing of homicide charges against him, but can prosecutors prove their case? And what happened to his fourth wife, who remains missing?

Rolling Stone Brian Jones
Was the rock musician's death an accident or something more sinister? And was he impaired by drugs or alcohol when he died? After more than forty years, there is finally an answer.

In addition, Wecht and Kaufmann examine the tragic death of twelve-year-old Gabrielle Bechen, whose rape-murder changed her community; Col. Philip Shue, whose demise was a battle of suicide versus homicide until Dr. Wecht solved the case; and Carol Ann Gotbaum, a respected Manhattan mother who died in police custody in Phoenix.

From crime scene to morgue to courtroom, and finally the court of public opinion, this riveting narrative is essential reading for true-crime enthusiasts.

Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Kim is a story of an orphan in India (the part that is now Pakistan) in the late 1800s. Kim is the son of an Irish soldier raised by locals, familiar with the customs and languages of the Hindus and Muslims of the area who gets recruited by the British to spy for them. Kim acts as a guide for a Tibetan Buddhist priest who is on a quest in India, broadening his knowledge of the cultures of his world and giving him an excuse to travel even further. He comes upon his father's regiment, and the officers of the regiment arrange for Kim to attend a 'proper' British school. Throughout the story, a British spymaster is helping Kim receive an education and arranging for Kim to carry messages and run small but important tasks for him. Kipling's passion for the land he was raised in and his love for the people he was raised with is unmistakable. The language of the book is a little hard to follow, between regional words and the English of the time, but a patient and persistant reader will find the effort rewarded.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Everyone I know seemed to be really excited about this book. After I read it, I saw why. It's pretty amazing. Even though a medical miracle has happened to her in her very short life, Hazel has never been anything but terminal. After her near death experience with a tumor, she has begun to think of life as an event leading up to death. This changes when she meets the alluring Augustus Waters at the Support Group her mother makes her go to. As she gets to know the young cancer survivor, she finds herself wanting to spend more time with him. But, because there's a threat of him falling for her too, she decides that she can't let this happen. She doesn't want to be a "grenade": a person who hurts everyone nearby when she blows up (aka dies). The breaking point for her is when their mutual friend, Isaac, loses his second eye to cancer and both him and his girlfriend end up hurt. But, just as she's decided to keep herself away from him, he's decided that he wants to be very near to her. As they start exploring their new found friendship, they start to find themselves falling in love with each other. But, just when their diagnoses is looking good, Hazel realizes that she may not be the "grenade" after all. Awesome book! Warning: you probably will cry.
Grade: A++
SC: 5
V: 4
C: 2

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

This book starts out with Amy, a girl living in the future, being cryogenically frozen. Important people, like her parents, are being transported to a distant planet to become the first civilization on this planet. 50 years early, however, Amy is yanked out of her frozen state and is almost killed. She is saved by Elder, the second in command of the giant ship heading to the new planet. Amy is suddenly thrust into a new world, with something sinister lurking in every corner. The ruler of the ship, Eldest, is ruling the ship with an iron hand. All of the "peasants" are drinking water that has been spiked with a drug that causes no emotions, everyone can communicate with everyone else by devices inside their ears, and they are informed that they are 50 years behind schedule. But, the situation worsens when Elder finds out that the ship isn't functioning properly and they are actually 250 years behind schedule: not even halfway there. As Eldest becomes even harder to deal with, Elder and Amy try to find a way to take control away from Eldest and protect the other "frozens" that are being yanked out and killed one by one. Overall, a good book. Lags a little in the middle but picks up again at the end.
Grade: B+
SC: 6
V: 7
C: 5