BOY TOY by Barry Lyga

Summary: Five years has passed since Josh was molested by his teacher and the crime was brought to light. Now, eighteen-year-old Josh gets help with Eve's release from prison when he finally tells his best friend everything.

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What I thought of this book... Well if you really wanna know... I loved it!

Of course, I will state that BOY TOY was a little bit more than a little graphic. Words were used and the description was more than the real deal. However, if the author didn't go all out and write the way he did, it wouldn't have felt so real. Even though the language is so blunt, the author handles everything with honesty and nice sensitivity. You'll read this book and be amazed. BOY TOY is just so real--Josh's voice is just so hard to forget (in a more than good way.)

BOY TOY will just get you thinking and wondering and well... It's more than an influential read.

Now, I'm done repeating myself... So now you need to go and get it and read it... Or else. (I'm only half joking.)

-- Chances vs Pills

Gravity by Leanne Lieberman

Ellie Gold is an Orthodox Jew and a gay teenager. But she's confused. She doesn't know whether she should embrace her sexuality or deny it. That is when she meets Lindsay, a girl she becomes obsessed with.

The plot of the book is overdone. Too many authors are writing about homosexuality as a problem and it's boring. Besides that the main character should get help. She was a stalker and was obsessed with Ellie, to the point that it was hard to believe. -- Anne

Icecore by Matt Whyman (2007)

This book is about a 16 year old British hacker who broke through the security at Fort Knox for a laugh. But, unexpectedly, when this happened many gold bars were stolen by an unknown person, and since then they have ended up funding terrorists across the world. He is taken from his home and flown to a top secret military prison deep in the Arctic, where is to be interrogated so that such a mistake can never happen again. And if he ever wants to see home again, he has to escape.

Andrew: I thought this was a great book, well written and well thought out. The characters seemed individual, and they had a decent amount of realism to them. 9 out of 10

Partly Cloudy - Gary Soto

I picked up Partly Cloudy by Gary Soto for a few reasons. One, it was short. Two, it was poetry. Three, it was about love. Certainly, the book delivered all of these things. It didn't rise far above them, but it delivered them.

The book, which is exactly 100 pages long, is divided into two equal sections; one written from girls' points of view and one from boys' points of view. It seemed to me as if all of the poems, none of which exceeded three pages in length, were written from a 13-year old's point of view. This, however, guaranteed that the poems were clean, lacking any references at all to sex. I enjoyed this; it gave me a sugary rush. I actually enjoyed the girls' section more because the characters were more diverse and developed in their voices (even though, of course, they were all written by Mr. Soto). The boys' section lacked depth and the characters either seemed stereotypical or stereotyped. Still, it wasn't bad by any means. One detail that was irksome to me, however, was the solely heterosexual point of view. All of the girls loved boys and all of the boys loved girls, as they lamented in their poems.

Regardless of these things, I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, and an enjoyable one. If you're bored, pick it up. If you're lovestruck, pick it up. If not, maybe skip it.

Posted by Collin Knopp-Schwyn

Sonia Levitin- The Goodness Gene

In the year 2305, a boy named Will has been raised from birth to believe in something that they call The Goodness and to follow in his father Hayli's footsteps as the Compassionate Director of the Dominion of the Americas. He takes a trip out into the less sanitary, primitive outposts of the Dominion, and discovers that his father is actually a malevolent despot. A girl known as Leora accompanies him on his trip and, as she exposes him to things she takes for granted, he starts to question his upbringing. He also finds out something extremely disturbing about himself, and things begin to change.

Andrew: I thought that this book was extremely, not scary exactly, but disturbing. It also expresses some interesting ideas about clones, both for and against.

Skim -- Mariko Tamaki

Mariko Tamaki's Skim was the poignant coming-of-age tale about a teenage girl attending an all-girls high school in Toronto. Known as Skim (ironically, of course, because she's mildly overweight), she battles internally with conflicting desires and externally with the seeming naivete and glossiness of friends and classmates. The story is illustrated in a traditional Japanese ink-painting style by Jillian Tamaki and is presented in black and white.

I appreciated the artistic style of the illustrations, and the realistic skin it lent the story, as Skim was Asian in descent. The characters, especially Skim's English teacher with whom Skim develops a romance, are presented in a strong, articulate style while remaining tender, weak and human. The climax of this story brought good closure to the story of Skim's classmate who suffers the loss of her boyfriend, although also was forced thru the suffering of her bubbly friends swarming around her. It was a moving story, and I recommend it to people who enjoy "this is life" tales.

Posted by Collin Knopp-Schwyn

Planet Pregnancy

This book was as dry and as dull as three day old fish. There was no pizzazz in the writing structure and the author seems to try too hard to rhyme the poetry. Only, that didn't work because there was no basic structure like stanzas, and all the main character did was complain from the very first sentence. Consequently it may remind readers of people who are constant downers, and have no joy in living.

Posted by Lauranadella