Review: The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Isn’t that what they say? But how close is too close when they may be one in the same? 

The Seven Stages War left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the next generation’s chosen few who must rebuild it. But to enter this elite group, candidates must first pass The Testing—their one chance at a college education and a rewarding career. 

Cia Vale is honored to be chosen as a Testing candidate; eager to prove her worthiness as a University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on the eve of her departure, her father’s advice hints at a darker side to her upcoming studies--trust no one. 

But surely she can trust Tomas, her handsome childhood friend who offers an alliance? Tomas, who seems to care more about her with the passing of every grueling (and deadly) day of the Testing. To survive, Cia must choose: love without truth or life without trust.

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I keep hearing people say that they're becoming burnt out on the dystopian genre... Well, let me tell you, Joelle Charbonneau's The Testing might just rekindle your love of the genre. 

The Testing has been pitched as a must read for Hunger Games fans and does feel very similar... even the cover shares the same simplicity and a similar focal concept sure to catch the eye of HG fans. But I assure you, The Testing is not The Hunger Games. Charbonneau introduces readers to an entirely new dystopian society that, at least initially, feels quite safe, but turns out to have a much darker, sinister side than our heroine ever imagined. 

The novel follows Cia, a mechanically gifted girl who has been chosen to participate in The Testing, which is a means of determining which individuals from various parts of the United Commonwealth will be able to continue their education at university and eventually become an important leader. Only a very small number of individuals are selected to compete in The Testing and most individuals know they will never be chosen, even if they dream of the honor. Cia hopes to be selected, like her father once was, but knows her chances are slim. When she learns that she, and three others from her district have earned a spot in the competition, she's amazed and incredibly proud - and is confused as to why her parents seem less than excited. Before she leaves for the capital, her father takes her aside and shares one of his deepest fears: that the testing is not the dream that it seems. He reveals to her that, while participants minds are wiped after they've completed the testing, he's been left with terrifying nightmares that he fears may be lingering memories rather than products of an overactive imagination. With this knowledge now lodged in her mind, Cia leaves for The Testing, anxious and guarded. She soon learns that her father was correct to fear The Testing and that she'll need to use everything in her to survive.

There is a romantic plot line within The Testing and, while it does contribute to the story, especially when considering the complications a romance can cause when an individual is unsure who can be trusted, it isn't the main focus of the novel. That is to say, this is not a love story, though it does contain one. In this way, it is much like The Hunger Games. 

Some may wonder how like Cia is to THG's Katniss. While both heroines are strong and capable of taking care of themselves, Cia, in my opinion, is definitely more motivated by emotion than Katniss and is more naturally trusting and sympathetic. It always seemed to me that Katniss wasn't above manipulating or using others for her own gain when she knew they were emotionally attached to her (for example, Peeta); Cia, on the other hand, is more likely to be the one manipulated, not because she's weak, but because she feels deeply for others. There was never any point where I felt she was weak or unintelligent, though she does have weaknesses.

For the most part, The Testing had really great pacing and twists. Although, it did take me perhaps 50 pages or so to be completely hooked. It is around this point that Cia has reached the capital and has begun the testing... and then all hell breaks loose!

Whether you're a Hunger Games fan, a dystopian junkie, or just looking for a great, action packed read, The Testing is for you. Do not miss this book!

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, June 2013, Hardcover, ISBN: 9780547959108, 336 pgs.

Bookish Viewing: The Buccaneers

I really, really love shows like Downton Abbey, movies like Pride & Prejudice, and BBC minseries. I enjoy all of it: the history, the unavoidable romance, the costumes and hair, the accents, and the engaging plots!

Additionally, many (if not most) of these stories are retellings of novels - novels that are on my miles high to-be-read pile. As most of us readers know, we won't ever get to half the books we plan to read - it breaks my heart just thinking about the amazing stories I'm missing out on - and, for me at least, I know that many of the books I will end up not having time for are those huge, often dusty, tomes that such shows and movies are based on. It isn't at all that I don't want to read them, but, at least in my case, that there are other things that I feel I should be reading to keep up with the patrons in my library. While some readers will be searching for older, classic titles, many have found them on their own and are now looking for more recently published read-alikes... inevitably, I end up reading those newer titles so I'm able to confidently recommend them. 

Of course, this is why I am so incredibly thankful for things like BBC miniseries and PBS! They're the perfect way to experience those books I'm forever (sadly) pushing lower on my TBR pile! Sure, the television or movie version probably isn't as good as the original book and there are probably differences between the two that would annoy me if I had read the book, but I'll never know (well, unless I do get to read the book, in which case, hurrah!). 

Now perhaps I'm just late the party and everyone else has already watched these various miniseries and movies, but I've decided to post about what I've been watching. Of course, in some cases I won't actually be sure whether or not the movie or show is a very accurate representation of the novel (though BBC does tend to be quite true to originals), but I will be able to recommend that you do (or don't!) spend your t.v. watching time on this or that particular movie, show, or miniseries!

And, if you're anything like me, you might just be even more motivated to make time for that classic novel... and everything else the author has written!

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The Buccaneers (IMDb) (Netflix)
Based on: Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers
Released: 1995 - BBC
Description: Nan and Jinny St George have both wealth and beauty in generous supply. In the New York society of the 1870s, however, only those with old money can achieve the status of the elite, and it is here that the sisters seem doomed to failure.
Nan's new governess, Laura Testvalley, herself an outsider, takes pity on their plight and launches them instead on the unsuspecting British aristocracy. Lords, dukes, marquesses and MPs, it seems, not only appreciate beauty, but also the money that New York's nouveaux riches can supply.
A love story of love and marriage among the old and new moneyed classes, The Buccaneers is a delicately perceptive portrayal of a world on the brink of change.

Review:

I watched this miniseries after it popped up on my Netflix recommendations around the same time I was compiling a list of read-alikes for fans of Downton Abbey, which ended up including Edith Wharton's novel by the same title.  Someone, I hadn't ever heard of The Buccaneers before - in either novel or miniseries form - but I'm now very curious about Edith Wharton and her writing. 

The 4-part series, set in the 1870s, follows the stories of four well-off American girls. For the most part, all four girls are well off and, during this time, wealth bought status, but not necessarily respect (especially from those born into positions of status). Nan, arguably the main character of the series, is the youngest of the girls and under the care of her new governess, Miss Testvalley, who her mother has hired to achieve the manners and class required of the family's new social status. Miss Testvalley convinces the St George's that a season in England is just the thing to raise Nan's prospects and lure in a marriageable match.

In no time, all four girls have found husbands. The girls assume that now they're set to experience happy lives full of leisure and love, but live is never simple and marriage doesn't necessarily equal happiness... and money, which brought their supposed happy endings in reach, might just end up being the cause of their unhappiness.

When I started watching The Buccaneers I had no idea how scandalous it would be. Those who have watched or read P&P are familiar with the fact that marriages were often made for reasons distinctly unrelated to love, but it's the love matches that are the focus of the stories and the part that we readers and viewers remember. The Buccaneers, in contrast, is bursting with these unhappy matches and stories, but they're, at least at the beginning, completely unexpected. The girls are so full of hope and romanticized ideals that you can't help but believe they'll all get their happily ever afters. And their is true love and happiness, but there are horrible things that happen to. Affairs, illegitimate children, STDs, rape, longing, hate, forgiveness... 

There is so much drama and emotion in this 5 hour series. I watched it over a period of 5 days, but I thought about it constantly and even now find myself reflecting on the events of the story, the characters, and the themes. When I first started part one of the series, I wasn't sure I'd like it, but, by the end, I was enthralled and completely blown away. 

Of course, now I'd really like to read the novel and other works by Edith Wharton. I've found a couple short story collections of her work, so I might start there. I've also done some reading and it turns out that Wharton never finished The Buccaneers, she died before it was finished and it was later completed by Marion Mainwaring. I'm not sure how Wharton would have finished the novel, but, in my opinion, Mainwaring's conclusion was perfect. The novel ends on a hopeful, even happy, note, which soothed my heart after the roller coaster of emotion I'd experienced during my viewing.

Rating: 5/5

Favorite Character: Nan (Played by Carla Gugino) (though I also really loved Conchita and Lizzy!) 

Crush: Guy Thwaite (Played by Greg Wise)

Interview: Lois Metzger, author of A Trick of the Light

Today Lois Metzger, author of A Trick of the Light, visits The Hiding Spot to answer a few questions about herself and her book! Check out the interview to learn why writing about characters with anorexia was a challenge, how three books in particular influenced Lois as a writer, and why "odd" is her favorite word.

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The Interview

Did you have trouble writing any of your characters or specific scenes within the novel? Or, were any characters or scenes particularly easy to write? 

There was something I was aware of the entire time I was writing A Trick of the Light (over what turned out to be almost ten years) -- a whole culture out there that glamorizes anorexia, complete with web sites that proudly call themselves "pro-Ana."  One of my characters, Amber, is someone who sees anorexia as "a lifestyle, a choice" and not a disease.  Writing Amber was tricky.  I didn't want her to be a "trigger" (something that sets off an eating disorder in people).  I wanted readers to find her sad and lost, certainly not a role model.  I omitted particular details about anorexia for fear that readers would copy them.  That balancing act was the hardest thing -- being true to Amber as a character and letting her be herself, while not making anything she does appear desirable.

Has the title changed or stayed relatively the same as your novel journeyed towards publication?

The original title was Stop Motion, and that was its title for many years.  The main character, Mike Welles, and his best friend are interested in stop-motion animation, particularly the films of Ray Harryhausen.  I liked that title because it made Mike sound caught, stuck, unable to break free.  Then, while rewriting, the phrase "a trick of the light" began to appear.  Mike's grandmother calls up frantically and says there's a mouse in her living room; Mike and his mother rush to her place -- and there's no mouse to be found.  Mike's grandmother shrugs it off and says, "It must have been a trick of the light."  Mike knows she's lying.  Later, Mike says the same thing to himself when he clearly sees something (a boy in an eating-disorder wing of a hospital) and convinces himself he's seen something else (a girl who looks like a boy).  That phrase, "a trick of the light," was truer to what the book was about, deep down.

What book or author has most influenced you as a writer or in general? 

There are three books I can directly credit:  The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner), Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov), and The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger).  What these three have in common is a perfect link of structure, character, and voice, with no false notes anywhere.  Each part of The Sound and the Fury has a different narrator, and I particularly like Jason, who tells the third part.  Jason starts out furious and he only gets madder.  It's the most sustained burst of anger I've ever seen.  In Lolita, the foreword, written by a fictional character called in to "edit the manuscript," basically gives away the whole story but you don't realize it until you finish, which is both very funny and very sad.  And after reading The Catcher in the Rye and listening to Holden Caulfield, you certainly get to know him as well as you ever know anybody.

What jobs did you have on your way to becoming a writer/published author? Is there a certain work experience that has shaped your writing? 

I've had tons of jobs, but the best experience was a five-year stint at The New Yorker Magazine.  I was in the typing pool (this was pre-computers); it was called the Walden Pond because the boss was a kind, motherly woman named Harriet Walden.  When I typed in editors' corrections, I learned grammar and punctuation; I saw how the editors fixed something when it didn't make sense; I listened to the rhythm of the sentences of some of the world's finest writers; and I acquired an almost-obsessive attention to detail (frankly, take out the "almost-").

If you had to pick a favorite word, what would it be and why? 

I've always liked the word "odd."  It looks odd.  It's off balance (one "o," two "d"s).  It sounds odd, ending in a thud.  It's only three letters long (two of them the same), but it has a big meaning: differing in nature from what is usual or expected, peculiar, eccentric, fantastic, bizarre, leaving a remainder of 1 when divided by 2 (from Webster's College Dictionary).  For its size, it packs a punch. 

My blog is dedicated to my personal hiding spot, books. Who, what, or where can be credited as your personal escape from reality? 

Definitely going to the movies.  Leave the house, turn off the cell phone; no one can find you, no one can reach you.  Just . . . disappear into the story.  Also I like riding the subway.  I always see something new (though maybe sometimes I wish I hadn't).  It's a private experience in the midst of strangers.  Nothing better for daydreaming.

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Author Bio

Lois Metzger, author of A Trick of the Light, was born in Queens and has always written for young adults. She is the author of three previous novels and two nonfiction books about the Holocaust, and she has edited five anthologies. Her short stories have appeared in collections all over the world. Her writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, and Harper's Bazaar. She lives in Greenwich Village with her husband and son. Find out more about Lois and her books here and follow her on Facebook!  

 © 2013 Lois Metzger, author of A Trick of the Light

Book Trailer: Canary by Rachele Alpine

The book trailer for Rachele Alpine's upcoming August release, Canary, released today! Check out the trailer and find out more about this title below:

About the book:

Staying quiet will destroy her, but speaking up will destroy everyone.

Kate Franklin’s life changes for the better when her dad lands a job at Beacon Prep, an elite private school with one of the best basketball teams in the state. She begins to date a player on the team and quickly gets caught up in a world of idolatry and entitlement, learning that there are perks to being an athlete. 

But those perks also come with a price. Another player takes his power too far and Kate is assaulted at a party. Although she knows she should speak out, her dad’s vehemently against it and so, like a canary sent into a mine to test toxicity levels and protect miners, Kate alone breathes the poisonous secrets to protect her dad and the team. The world that Kate was once welcomed into is now her worst enemy, and she must decide whether to stay silent or expose the corruption, destroying her father’s career and bringing down a town’s heroes.

Canary is told in a mix of prose and verse.

Review: Taken (Taken (#1) by Erin Bowman

There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

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I'd heard mixed reviews prior to picking up Erin Bowman's Taken, but the colorful cover and intriguing premise proved too intriguing to avoid for long - thank goodness - because I ended up really enjoying this first installment of the Taken books.

The story is narrated by Gray Weathersby, a teen-aged boy who has grown up in the curious town of Claysoot. The town is surrounded by a wall, but whether the wall keeps danger out, protecting the inhabitants, or keeps the people of Claysoot in, trapping them, is up for debate. When Gray's older brother, Blaine, is heisted, mysteriously disappearing from Claysoot like every boy in the settlement at the age of eighteen, Gray starts to question what he knows (and doesn't know) about Claysoot and ends up finding answers he's never dreamed of.

I really liked Gray as a narrator. Given the premise of the novel, Taken would have been a very different novel if told from the point of view of a female inhabitant of Claysoot. I found especially interesting the idea that the boys in the community are "slated" to various girls, month by month, to ensure the continuation of Claysoot's population. I can't say for sure what goes through the head of a teen boy who is faced with forcibly playing musical, uh, beds with the girls in his community, but I felt Gray's reaction was pretty genuine. On one hand, he's a teen boy who enjoys spending the night with girls and all that entails, but he also hates that he's forced to do anything and struggles with the fact that he might have real feelings for one girl in particular. Outside the wall, things change dramatically for Gray, but I felt that the romantic elements of the novel - specifically the discussion and focus on what love is, how it feels, and the confusion that comes with it - to be engaging and well-executed.

I very much looking forward to Bowman's next book, which promises the reader more answers about Claysoot and the (*spoilery*) information revealed in Taken. I wish I could say more about what I think and hope will happen in the next book, but I can't say much without revealing important elements of Taken's plot! Suffice to say, book two has the potential to blow the revelations revealed in Taken away!

HarperTeen, April 2013, Hardcover, ISBN: 9780062117267, 360 pgs.

Interview: Hannah Harrington, author of Speechless & Saving June

Today Hannah Harrington, author of Speechless and Saving June, visits The Hiding Spot to answer a few questions about herself and her most recent release, Speechless! I love both of Hannah's books (I even listed Saving June as one of my favorite books featuring travel), plus she's a Michigan author... YAY, MICHIGAN! 

Check out the interview to discover the original title of Speechless (it was much longer!), which writers her she finds most influential, and her favorite place to lose herself!

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The Interview

Did you have trouble writing any of your characters or specific scenes within the novel? Or, were any characters or scenes particularly easy to write? 

Chelsea was a little rough for me to write, especially at the beginning. Her character is very different from who I am, so I had to step out of the box when developing her character. I really enjoyed writing for Andy the most; I think of all the characters, he is most similar to me.

Has the title changed or stayed relatively the same as your novel journeyed towards publication?

The original working title was The Redemption of Chelsea Knot. Harlequin Teen suggested the change to Speechless, and I agreed with no problem because I thought it was a lot better!

What book or author has most influenced you as a writer or in general? 

There are so many books and authors I found influential growing up. I devoured Sarah Dessen as a teenager. Rachel Cohn, David Levithan, and John Green were also influences of mine. Of more adult authors, Margaret Atwood is so inspiring to me—I marvel at her writing style.

What jobs did you have on your way to becoming a writer/published author? Is there a certain work experience that has shaped your writing? 

I’ve had a lot of different jobs since I was a teenager. Stable girl, grocery bagger/cart pusher, pizza cook, administrative assistant… I think they all helped my writing in the sense of giving me more life experience to draw from, not just the work itself but the people I interacted with while working those jobs.

If you had to pick a favorite word, what would it be and why? 

Persnickety is a great word. It sounds exactly the same as what it means!

My blog is dedicated to my personal hiding spot, books. Who, what, or where can be credited as your personal escape from reality? 

I do the same with books, too, and films and television shows… they definitely provide some escapism. But music may be my number one. There’s nothing better than losing yourself in a good song!

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Author Bio

Hannah Harrington is a 25-year-old born and bred Michigander. She grew up in the town of East Grand Rapids before later moving to the Lansing area, where she currently resides with three cats and a black labrador, all of whom are named after famous musicians.
She wrote her first book at age nine, a stunning, forty-page Call of the Wild/Black Beauty ripoff ode to her dead dog. She later attempted her second at fourteen (by longhand), but failed miserably. She got the idea for Saving June during the summer after high school, while living out of her car and working as a pizza cook. It wasn't until she was twenty-one that she decided to write a story around the scenes she'd scribbled into a notebook years before.

Saving June, Hannah's first novel, was published by Harlequin Teen in 2011. Her second novel, Speechless, was released in the US on August 28th, 2012.

When she isn't busy writing like a crazy person, Hannah enjoys horseback riding, arguing about politics, watching documentaries, playing guitar (very badly), and speaking about herself in the third person.

Learn more about Hannah and her novel's here! 

Top Ten Beach Reads

This week's topic: Top Ten Beach Reads (however you define beach reads!)

This week's topic feels a bit premature for where I live (in the upper Lower Peninsula of Michigan) because it's still pretty cold here some days, but the sun has been showing its face more and more, so I'm just going to have to channel summer via the warm rays! The books I've picked are books that I feel are summery because of the setting more than tone or subject. Some of them are tearjerkers, others are more lighthearted, but they aren't necessarily "fluffy" books.

Link your TTT post in the comments and I'll stop by your blog as well!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fabulous blog The Broke and the Bookish!

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1. Bubble World by Carol Snow

Freesia’s life is perfect. She lives on the beautiful tropical island of Agalinas, surrounded by idyllic weather, fancy dress shops, and peacocks who sing her favorite song to wake her up in the morning. She has so many outfits she could wear a different one every day for a year and not run out.

Lately things on the island may have been a bit flippy: sudden blackouts, students disappearing, even Freesia’s reflection looking slightly . . . off. But in Freesia’s experience, it’s better not to think about things like that too much.

Unfortunately for her, these signs are more than random blips in the universe. Freesia’s perfect bubble is about to pop.

2. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

A gorgeous debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another

"One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.

3. The Story of Us by Deb Caletti

Cricket’s on a self-imposed break from her longtime boyfriend—but she’s picked a bad week to sort out her love life. For one thing, her mother’s romance is taking center stage: After jilting two previous fiancés, her mom is finally marrying Dan Jax, whom Cricket loves. But as wedding attendees arrive for a week of festivities at a guesthouse whose hippie owners have a sweet, sexy son—Ash—complications arise:
Cricket’s future stepsisters make it clear they’re not happy about the marriage. An old friend decides this is the week to declare his love for Cricket. Grandpa chooses to reveal a big secret at a family gathering. Dan’s ex-wife shows up. And even the dogs—Cricket’s old, ill Jupiter and Dan’s young, lively Cruiser—seem to be declaring war.

While Cricket fears that Dan is in danger of becoming ditched husband-to-be number three, she’s also alarmed by her own desires. Because even though her boyfriend looms large in her mind, Ash is right in front of her....

4. Paradise by Jill S. Alexander

Paisley Tillery is the drummer for a country rock band. If they can make it to the stage at the Texapalooza music fest, then Paisley will be closer to her dream of a career in music and a ticket out of her small Texas town.

Drumming and music are what Paisley has always wanted. Until the band gets a new lead singer, the boy from Paradise, Texas. With Paradise in her life, what Paisley wants, and what she needs, complicate her dreams coming true.

5. Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

I read once that water is a symbol for emotions. And for a while now, I've thought maybe my mother drowned in both.

Anna's life is upended when her father accepts a job transfer the summer before her junior year. It's bad enough that she has to leave her friends and her life behind, but her dad is moving them to the beach where her parents first met and fell in love--a place awash in memories that Anna would just as soon leave under the surface.


While life on the beach is pretty great, with ocean views and one adorable lifeguard in particular, there are also family secrets that were buried along the shore years ago. And the ebb and flow of the ocean's tide means that nothing--not the sea glass that she collects on the sand and not the truths behind Anna's mother's death--stays buried forever.

6. A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley

A summer of friendship, romance, and songs in major chords. . . 

CHARLIE DUSKIN loves music, and she knows she's good at it. But she only sings when she's alone, on the moonlit porch or in the back room at Old Gus's Secondhand Record and CD Store. Charlie's mom and grandmother have both died, and this summer she's visiting her grandpa in the country, surrounded by ghosts and grieving family, and serving burgers to the local kids at the milk bar. She's got her iPod, her guitar, and all her recording equipment, but she wants more: A friend. A dad who notices her. The chance to show Dave Robbie that she's not entirely unspectacular.

ROSE BUTLER lives next door to Charlie's grandfather and spends her days watching cars pass on the freeway and hanging out with her troublemaker boyfriend. She loves Luke but can't wait to leave their small country town. And she's figured out a way: she's won a scholarship to a science school in the city, and now she has to convince her parents to let her go. This is where Charlie comes in. Charlie, who lives in the city, and whom Rose has ignored for years. Charlie, who just might be Rose's ticket out.

Told in alternating voices and filled with music, friendship, and romance, Charlie and Rose's "little wanting song" is about the kind of longing that begins as a heavy ache but ultimately makes us feel hopeful and wonderfully alive.

7. Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler

Things in Delilah Hannaford's life have a tendency to fall apart.

She used to be a good student, but she can't seem to keep it together anymore. Her "boyfriend" isn't much of a boyfriend. And her mother refuses to discuss the fight that divided their family eight years ago. Falling apart, it seems, is a Hannaford tradition.

Over a summer of new friendships, unexpected romance, and moments that test the complex bonds between mothers and daughters, Delilah must face her family's painful past. Can even her most shattered relationships be pieced together again?

Rich with emotion, Sarah Ockler delivers a powerful story of family, love, and self-discovery.

8. Swoon at Your Own Risk by Sydney Salter

You’d think Polly Martin would have all the answers when it comes to love—after all, her grandmother is the famous syndicated advice columnist Miss Swoon. But after a junior year full of dating disasters, Polly has sworn off boys. This summer, she’s going to focus on herself for once. So Polly is happy when she finds out Grandma is moving in—think of all the great advice she’ll get.

But Miss Swoon turns out to be a man-crazy sexagenarian! How can Polly stop herself from falling for Xander Cooper, the suddenly-hot skateboarder who keeps showing up while she’s working at Wild Waves water park, when Grandma is picking up guys at the bookstore and flirting with the dishwasher repairman? 

No advice column can prepare Polly for what happens when she goes on a group camping trip with three too many ex-boyfriends and the tempting Xander. Polly is forced to face her feelings and figure out if she can be in love—and still be herself.

9. Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks

A smart, tense murder mystery twined with an emotional investigation of the ways love, sex, class, and celebrity can forever change friendships.

Thoughtful Pete, tough Pauly, twins Eric and Nicole, strange Raymond: As kids they were tight; now they've grown up--and apart. They agree to get together one last time, but, twisted by personal histories and fueled by pharmaceuticals, old jealousies surface. The party's soon over, and the group splinters off into the night. Into the noise and heat and chaos of the carnival. Days later, a girl goes missing. The prime suspect in her disappearance? One of their own, one of the old gang. Pete doesn't know what to believe: Could one of his childhood friends really be a cold-blooded killer?

10. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

A long, hot summer...

That's what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the library, evenings will be filled with vocabulary drills for the SATs, and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing a silent grief at the traumatic loss of Macy's father.

But sometimes unexpected things can happen—things such as the catering job at Wish, with its fun-loving, chaotic crew. Or her sister's project of renovating the neglected beach house, awakening long-buried memories. Things such as meeting Wes, a boy with a past, a taste for Truth-telling, and an amazing artistic talent, the kind of boy who could turn any girl's world upside down. As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to wonder, Is it really better to be safe than sorry?