Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have by Allen Zadoff

Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have

Author: Allen Zadoff

Publisher: Egmont

4½ out of 5 stars

The stares bore into you from all directions like laser beams.  It feels as if everyone is looking right at you, judging you.  How could they not, you’re kind of hard to miss in the first place.  You try to walk faster, but it’s difficult with all of your fat weighing you down.  It feels as if you take up the entire hallway, and with every step the ground trembles under your weight.  You wish you could just sit on everyone and crush them.  Then you wouldn’t have to deal with the names and cruel jokes that never seem to end.  But you know that’s not going to work.  So instead, you just take a bite of your cookie, and keep on walking…

Midnighters: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld

Midnighters: The Secret Hour

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Publisher: Eos

4 out of 5 stars

Tick tock.  It’s starting.  You glance over at your clock, midnight, just as usual.  The second, minute, and hour hand are all frozen in time, pointing straight up to the number twelve.  They’ll be like that for quite some time.  For an hour to be exact, giving you more than enough time to splash in the raindrops that dot the sky, or walk around as if you were the only one left on Earth.  But there are many things that inhabit the secret hour.  You are not alone.  The original nightmares are still alive and well, and they want to play.

Ghost Medicine by Andrew Smith

Ghost Medicine

Author: Andrew Smith

Publisher: Square Fish

4½ out of 5 stars

Smoke curls around you, forming a curtain of cloudy gray.  As the breeze clears it away, the stars come back into view, as do your friends sitting across the fire.  They’re smiling, and you feel the ends of your straight mouth picking up and curving into one as well.  This may be your last summer as boys.  This may even be your last summer together, but you know that what you have right now is worth it.  As you lean your head back against your hands and readjust your feet propped up against the rocks, a feeling of complete bliss envelops you.  You don’t know quite what you were searching for, but you know that this is it.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life of Bees

Author: Sue Monk Kidd

Publisher: Penguin

5 out of 5 stars

An insistent humming fills the air.  As she gets nearer, it’s as if she can feel the vibrations in the air.  She can’t believe how all those tiny, delicate wings can come together to create a noise that demands her attention in such a way.  Everywhere she looks there are bees, and more bees.  They swirl in the air, lazily cutting through the thick, summer heat.  They appear to be so free, doing whatever they please.  Sometimes Lily wishes she could sprout wings and fly through the air just like them.  Maybe she can, just without the wings.