Blume, Judy, (1975). Forever. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN: 0671695304. 220 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Katherine's got a boyfriend. His name is Michael, and over their senior year they become inseperable. It's Katherine's first true love and involves more than just handholding. Katherine has her first real sexual experiences with Michael. Though they say it's forever (hence the title), the old adage "absence makes the heart grow fonder" doesn't work in their case. When seperated for the summer, Katherine develops feelings for someone else.

Now over thirty years old, Blume has added an author's note to the newest editions to inform her readers that pregnancy is no longer the only possible consequence of sex. This book is widely in print and widely debated. By some, the book is lauded for it's frank and informational discussion of teenage sexuality. By others, it is criticized and banned for these same reasons.

Like other books by Judy Blume, the writing is quick and straightforward. She goes after her topic of first love from its early beginning to its sad end. Weaving in the secondary narratives of Katherine's friend Erica who wants to go further with the ever-theatrical Artie, and promiscuous Sybils pregnancy, Blume offers her readers other types of teenage relationships.

Still, this book is about sex which is clear from the very first line of the book. I have a clear and vivid memory of reading that line over the shoulder of a friend in front of my house one day during junior high. I have a similar memory of reading V.C. Andrew's book Flowers in the Attic. Both books carry with them "forbidden" appeal. At the time, I never read more than that first line of Forever, but I did become much more interested in Blume's other books. Now, having finally read more than the first page, I can see why it remains in print.

Blume's subject matter could titillate, inspire, embarass, or repel a reader. But her characters and their situations feel real and believable, as are any of the responses that readers have toward a subject that we still struggle to address cohesively with young people.

Booktalk: I think I would introduce this book as a love story. And what's something that sets this book apart from some others? S-E-X.

Gantos, Jack, (2002). Hole in My Life. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. ISBN: 0374399883. 200 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Perhaps storytelling is the only profession that doesn't punish a person for being a criminal. Gantos, a well respected children's author pulls a lot of skeletons out of his closet in this memoir about his late teen years. Certainly this book is not aimed for his most young readers, but older readers will certainly enjoy it.

Gantos, an aspiring writer, spends his senior year miles from his family, living in a motel. He is a feverish reader and regular candy shop for small children at the motel. His new independence makes him a pretty regular drinker, and he picks up a pot smoking habit. When he joins his family in St. Croix, he finds a country is political upheaval, with little available in terms of jobs. His best bet out is to take a job smuggling drugs into the US.

Gantos does bad stuff. He drinks too much and does drugs. He smokes pot at Hemingway's house in Key West. He breaks the law--various laws, various times. A part of me wanted to shake him through and through for continuously making bad decisions. At the same time, Gantos writes with such clarity and honesty that he endears the reader to his character. He rarely makes judgment calls about his former self. Instead he explains his reasons in terms of his surroundings and situation. I rooted for him on more than one occasion, especially once he was in prison and found ways to stay out of the general population. There were elements of this section that were particularly graphic.

Through it all he's has the desire to write, but he isn't writing. This is perhaps the most frustrating aspect of reading about his teen life. He is reading great books, and keeps talking about wanting to write, but does nothing. Any writer will tell you that reading is a good start to writing, but a writer also needs to write. Only when he goes to prison does he finally begin to write. This becomes a strange but believable irony.

It might be nice to pair this book with Walter Dean Meyer's Monster, as both stories address teens that make poor decisions and then have to work with the consequences of these actions. This would also be an interesting pairing as one is a fiction and the other nonfiction.

Booktalk:I might begin by asking readers what they would do if they were offered $10,000 to help said a ship from St. Croix to New York City. I might then ask them if their decision would change if they knew the boat would have hash that then be smuggled into the country. I could then tell readers that this is a book about someone who was given this option, he said yes, and this is the true story of what happened.

Abbott, Hailey, (2004). Summer Boys. New York: Scholastic, Point. ISBN: 0439540208. 214 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Three cousins, Jamie, Ella, and Beth, spend their summers in Maine at the beach. While they live in different states during the rest of the year, all the families meet up for the summer at Pebble Beach. This is the story of meeting boys like Mr. Right, Mr. Right Now, Mr. Wrong, and Mr. Anybody.

Jamie aspires to be a writer, makes her own clothes and is otherwise very creative. While she starts the summer with a boyfriend, it takes her the entire summer to come to grips with the reality of that relationship. Ella is bombshell gorgeous and loves to have a good time. The only trouble is, she wants to have that good time with her sister Kelsi's summer boy Peter who is more than willing to oblige. Athletic Beth comes to the beach with her best friend George. It's only when another girls points out his hotness factor that Beth gains clarity of her own feelings.

Because Abbot spends a good amount of time creating three separate girls, and reinforces those differences from the various points of views of each girl, a reader can begin to identify with, if not all, at least one of the main characters. In addition as they are cousins, the characters weave in and out of each other's stories, which create nice links throughout. For each of these characters Abbott concocts a growing-up cocktail: some part happily ever after, some drunken hook-up, some self-awareness and confidence building, and some part poor decisions. All in all a packed summer drink.

This book made me nostalgic. I was reminded of the mystery and enticements of my own summers away from home. Each year I went away, I returned to school recharged. This is not an amazing or mind-blowing book, but it was good. The characters were believable, and they all seem to grow up a bit, which is what good summers are for, right?

Booktalk: I think I would do a character sketch of one of the three cousins, perhaps Beth. I would introduce her and sporty and athletic, who brings George along to the beach for company. How each of them is all set for their own separate summer flings until George meets Cara. Then I could explain that this is only one of the three stories in the book.

Wasserman, Robin, (2005). Lust (Seven Deadly Sins). New York: Simon Pulse. ISBN:068987782X. 229 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Sex, drugs, and a little bit of rock and roll. This book has all of that. Set in the humdrum town of Grace, California, six high school seniors vie for the "Behaving Badly" award. Harper Grace (related to the founders of the town) is the alpha girl in town who's set her sights on her childhood friend Adam. Trouble is, Adam's already taken by the good-girl and overachiever Beth. And when he's not with her, he's dreaming of the new girl Kaia. Funny how when things get rocky between Adam and Beth, because she's not ready to have sex, Kaia is right there. Kaia's really after the new French teacher who is much more interested in Beth. Strangely, Kaia and Beth seem to have a thing for the same men. When Harper isn't pining for Adam she's cutting class to drink and smoke with her best friend Miranda who adores the school player Kane, and is developing a bit of a bulimia problem. For his part, Kane likes being a player, but has his eyes on Beth--the same one who's dating his best friend, Adam.

So, the story's a bit twisted, very much like a soap opera. The only things important to these six are parties, status, and hooking up. Lucky readers have six more books after this one to follow these characters through their sexual exploits, deceptions, heartbreaks and all that other stuff that happens during a senior year in high school.

Each time I look at the book, I am more interested in the cover design than the contents. Is that the Da Vinci font they use for the title and chapter headings? By moving the narrative between all six characters, it's difficult to much of a sense of any of them as people. Even their "types" are, at times, difficult to distinguish or be concerned about. The best moments in the book are chapters 6 and 12 when the action moves from one character to another so that the interconnected web of the characters is distinctly clear. This web is far more interesting than the characters themselves.

Perhaps this is the point, and if so, than this type of book is just not my type of book. I for one will not be on the ride through the rest of sinville, but I could see that some would follow along as very little actually happens in this first installment. Maybe as the series progresses the characters will flesh themselves out and other readers will be tantalized and titillated. After book one, I have such little sympathy or empathy for any of them (except maybe Miranda--I do wonder if she really is bulimic) that I don't really care to find out what happens next.

Booktalk: I don't think I would booktalk this book. I might recommend it to people who have enjoyed the Gossip Girls, Clique, or A-List series, as it seems to fall into that category of book, but I wouldn't single it out for a group talk.

Cabot, Meg, (2000). The Princess Diaries. New York: Harper Trophy. ISBN:0380314021. 283 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: The first in the series (so far there are 7!) about Mia Thermopolis, a simple New York girl who suddenly finds out she's heir to the small country of Genovia. While other girls might be overjoyed with this news, Mia just wants to keep it secret since she's already seen as gawky and awkward within her school. Still, she makes a deal with her father that she will take "Princess Lessons" with her grandmother (a woman who's eyeliner is tattooed on and someone I imagined looked a bit like a female Yoda without the nice demeanor). These lessons force her to change her appearance, which puts a huge strain on her best friendship with Lilly, since she won't tell Lilly the truth about why she has begun to be driven around in a limo among other things.

On top of the Lilly drama and the Princess mayhem, Mia's love life is nonexistent. Meanwhile Mia's mother (her parents are not married or together) has been dating Mia's algebra teacher--the one subject Mia is failing. One of the best moments in the book is when Mia walks into the kitchen of her house only to find her mom in a bathrobe and algebra teacher in his boxers. With Lilly not speaking to her, the only person she can tell is Lilly's brother, Michael.

Told in diary format, Mia's voice is very humorous, and at times candid. Interspersed between entries are random To-Do lists, algebra problems and instant messages. While I was initially apprehensive of reading this book that spawned two Disney movies, this was a quick and fun read, and I had trouble putting it down. I've heard mixed reviews of the follow up books, so I am not sure I will pursue further books in the series (though I am curious if she and Michael get together), but I would certainly pass this book on to those in search of a romantic comedy.

Booktalk: Because of the movies, this book would be easy to link to those, especially making a comparative difference between the Grandmere in the book and the Julie Andrew's version. It would be nice to use a tiara during the talk, if I had one. Also, I could read have the audience try their luck at being a Princess by taking all or part of "Grandmere's Text" (pp. 167-169).