My YA Book Reviews

Be True to Me by Adele Griffin Algonquin Young Readers 352 pp. With two opposing points of view, two girls fight over the same new boy in town, Gil Burke. Jean, a privileged girl who spent her childhood summers vacationing on Fire Island, met Gil at a home party in New York. After showing him around the city, she realized that feelings for Gil had blossomed, and he seemed to return those feelings. However, Fitz, a hardworking girl from outside the privileged gates of Sunken Haven, fell for Gil after he arrived on the Island. Gil, a handsome boy from down south with ties to one of the most powerful families in Sunken Haven, noticed both girls and seemed to send the same signal to both girls. Throughout the book the girls battled for Gil’s attention, whether it was secret meetings on the roof or booking rooms in a motel. The tension between the girls was undeniable. The girls already had a rocky history, but as a reader we wouldn’t have assumed their history alone would have m...

The Impossible Vastness of US by Samantha Young Harlequin Teen 360 pp. One new girl. One posse. One school. One new family. One hot and mysterious boy. India’s life had previously been full of imperfections, but she had finally found her safe spot at the top of social ladder. Her absent mother, Haley, pulled her from her safe zone, and thrust her into a new school in Boston. Everything India had worked so hard to build up had been torn down by her mother and her marriage to a rich man. India said goodbye to California and her old lifestyle as she was shipped off to Boston where she entered a new life of name brand clothes and and new relationships. Her step sister hated her, and she couldn’t trust her new stepfather. The book portrays India’s development as a character shown in her secret relationship. India learns to put others before herself, even if it means hurting herself in the process. In many stories like this the teenagers in love end up together. Though the relatio...