Teen Read Week: Favorite Teen Books I've Read This Year

This year I've not read as much as I would have liked to, but I've read a bit. Come on though! I've been revising two books, trying to find an agent, keep up with two teenagers, including teaching one to drive, and have taken on more projects than any normal human should.

BUT, I have read some, and of these some, here are my favorites:

Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay. This is a novel in verse about a girl forced to move to a beach home with her mother after her parents split. She's having to come to terms with the move, making new friends, her relationships back home, her mother's depression, and the reasons behind her parents problems. It's very moving and Sarah's poetry is flowing and beautiful. It was so good I read it in one day.

The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges. This is the first in a trilogy, in fact the second just came out recently (like 9 days ago). Admittedly, you need to be patient in the beginning because while it's paranormal it's authentically historic and introducing the characters and getting used to the way they interact takes a little getting used to, at least for me. Once the story got into full swing, which is about a necromancer in Russia having to deal with all sorts of paranormal creatures as well as coming to terms with her own gift (or is that a curse?), I couldn't put it down.

Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt. The book is astounding. It's about a boy struggling to get along in a new town, new school with a jerk brother, an even jerkier dad, a sad mom, and another brother coming back forever injured from Vietnam. He finds solace in the library among Audubon's birds.

The Wicked and the Just by J Anderson Coats. I'm not a historical fiction person, in fact, I'm not sure I've ever read a historical fiction book in my life. Once I picked this one up though, I couldn't put it down. I'm also amazed by how much research had to have gone into this novel. It's apparent that Ms. Coats did her homework. As she describes it, Medieval Girls Gone Bad. Love it.

Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf. I've always loved mysteries. I devoured my way through Agatha Christie, Dennis Lehane, and Harlan Coben novels. So bring mystery to YA and I'm all over it. Allie is in a car crash which kills her boyfriend, but she can't remember a thing. Through the book, and as her memories start coming back to her, we're given glimpses of her abusive relationship, and start to wonder, as Allie does, if she had something to do with the accident.




Velveteen by Danny Marks. This book is awesome. Velvet is murdered by a serial killer then lives her afterlife in an ash covered Purgatory. What she really wants to do is haunt her killer to death, instead she's stuck trying to find a way to stop a soul rebellion before it destroys the world of the living. She's got her work cut out for her. Tim Burton should make this into a movie. But one of his good movies, not one of his bad movies.



 Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I don't think I really need to say anything here. LOVE.

I've read lots of other good books, but these are the ones that are stand outs for me this year. Tomorrow I think I'll talk about favorite YA books EVA!!!

Don't forget my Drabble contest ends tonight at 5 pm PST! I've got some good entries. It's going to be a tough competition!

We could all learn something from Pee Wee

This is the last time I let my kids pick my blog subjects. Pee Wee's Big Adventure? Oy vey! I do like the fact that she appreciates the movie, it was one of my favorites when I was a teen, but to blog about it? This took some serious thought.

I started thinking about the movie (it's probably been about 15 or 20 years since I've seen it) looked up quotes, and I came to realize this, we could all learn something from Pee Wee.

When something is important to him, he goes for it, he never stops. When his bike gets stolen he crosses the entire country to find it. That is dedication.

Pee Wee is also blind when it comes to our differences. He befriends everyone, (except Francis of course because he's a big fat liar)ghost truckers, waitresses, bikers (I love PW's tequila dance). It matters not that they're dead, French, or haven't showered in weeks.

And Pee Wee is so pure, he doesn't care about sex or women at all. I realize there were loads of sexual undertones, and that the man Paul Reubens was very naughty on his television show, but not Pee Wee. He's as chaste as they come. A good role model for us all. ;)

I think if we all started living a little more like Pee Wee, life wouldn't be the chore it sometimes is. We'd realize what is important and what's folly. Our friendships would be stronger, our lives would be richer.

When faced with a dilemma we could ask ourselves WWPWD?

Live like Pee Wee.

Thanks for reading.

Kisses :*

Megan

Favorite PWBA quotes:
"I don't make monkeys, I just train 'em."
"Sh! I'm listening to reason."
"You don't want to get mixed up with a guy like me. I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel."
"Why don't you take a picture, it will last longer?"

(and I will say, this movie brought together the minds of paul reubens, tim burton, danny elfman, and phil hartman, and nothing could be bad about that)