Anna and the French Kiss 

by Caitlin O’Dea, staff writer for Bremen Blue Blaze

Anna and the French Kiss, at first glance, looks like your everyday average clichéd teenage love story. There’s a boy, there’s a girl, and there’s Paris. Anna has been sent away by to France to spend her senior year at a boarding school. Of course she doesn't want to go - her life, her best friend, her potential boyfriend, her little brother and her mom are in Atlanta. She’s just starting to figure her life out- she’s a senior, after all- and now she has to go live in a foreign world where her knowledge of the culture is limited to “Madeline and Amelie and Moulin Rouge,” in the words of Anna herself. Needless to say, she is less than thrilled at this prospect. That is, until she meets Étienne St. Clair, French native that seems to have it all going for him. And suddenly, Anna is transfixed…

   Just on this basic synopsis, any avid young adult reader would become apprehensive. A romance book based in London? With the word “kiss” in the title? How very amateur! There is simply no way that a book with such a plot could possibly be different than any other cheesy and ridiculous love story that everyone (correction: every girl) has read a thousand times. Could it? Prepare to be surprised. Stephanie Perkins, author of Anna and the French Kiss, has truly shaken the young adult fiction world with her first published work. Not only has she shocked readers with her uncanny ability to slip into the mind of a young college aged girl and take on an amusing and brilliantly relatable persona in Anna, the book’s protagonist, but she also manages to craft a believable, endearing, and entirely unforgettable love story. Anna and the French Kiss has gained much attention in the world of young readers and book lovers alike simply because of the fact that it is a stunningly relatable narrative of the trials that one young girl faces. Perkins tells the tale of Anna with a sincere and true voice; the plot is not god-modeled, the characters are believable, and the story is a page turner for sure. The romantic plotline is one that leaves the reader transfixed with jealousy and longing (Anna’s love interest, Etienne St. Clair, is swoon-worthy for sure). Rarely does a reader come across characters that he immediately falls in love with, but Anna and the French Kiss provides the perfect medium for such indulgences. It is the type of book that you wish would never end. It is the book that you read again and again, every so often, just because it was that good. It is the type of story that you wish were your life. It leaves you dreaming, in the best way possible.

   Perkins’ book has already earned several awards and is currently a nominee for the Georgia Peach Book Award.  It can, of course, be found in the High School library and is certainly worth the read.

The Sky is Everywhere, by Jandy Nelson

From Booklist

Lennie has always been the companion pony to her sister Bailey’s race horse. When Bailey dies suddenly while rehearsing the lead in Romeo and Juliet, Lennie is thrust into the spotlight. A normally reserved band geek who reads Wuthering Heights like a manifesto, Lennie is not prepared to deal with her grief. Nor is she equipped to confront the affection she feels for her dead sister’s fiancé. Adding to her emotional roller coaster is the gorgeous, musically gifted new boy in town who is clearly in love with her. Lennie is sympathetic, believable, and complex. Readers will identify with her and root for her to finally make the first steps toward healing. Nelson incorporates poems, written by Lennie and left for the wind to carry away, that help readers delve deeper into her heart. Bonus: teens unfamiliar with Wuthering Heights will likely want to find out what all the fuss is about. A story of love, loss, and healing that will resonate with readers long after they have finished reading.

God Is In the Pancakes, by Robin Epstein

Grace Manning, 15, gets her first job at a local nursing home as a candy striper. She starts to enjoy her job when she meets Frank Sands, a resident with Lou Gehrig's disease. He teaches her to play poker, and is a surrogate for her father, who recently walked out on her family. Their relationship builds, and they have fun together in spite of their surroundings. And Frank asks a favor of her—"to help him die." Her inner struggle about this request is played out against her everyday concerns of school and relationships with her sister, mother, and male best friend who is slowly becoming something more. This is a great story that asks difficult questions and doesn't shy away from direct answers, or the reality that answers may not exist.

Th1rteen R3asons Why

Hey guys! This is Zeb here. I'm this year's Voyager president, and from time to time, I'll be posting reviews of books I dig. A book I've been reading lately is Th1rteen R3asons Why, by Jay Asher.

Th1rteen R3asons Why, by Jay Asher, is a fictional novel about a teenage boy dealig with the recent suicide of his friend, Hannah Baker. Hannah records thirteen cassettes, and they act as a suicide note to specific people in Hannah's life. On her tapes, Hannah explains the exact details as to why she chose to end her life. She refers to the series of events as a "snowball effect", because each incident occurs because of the previous.

Her stories are about everything from "peeping toms" to crimes she witnessed, but didn't report to the police. In her notes, Hannah explains how every event exacerbated the situation, and why she chose certain events to talk about. In Asher's novel, the reader follows along as Clay listens to these tapes, and listens to his thoughts, feelings, and actions as he struggles to cope with what he's listening to.

The reader may ask, "Why would Clay listen to the tapes if he can't cope with it? And why do the tapes continue if the stories are that bad?"The answers to these questions are explained in depth within the novel. In short, however, Clay continues to listen to Hannah's tapes because he wants the change to truly understand the reasons why a girl he thought he'd never be able to hear speak again decided living life wasn't good enough. The tapes continue to be passed around the list because Hannah threatens the listeners with a second set of tapes if they stop listening to her tapes. This second set of tapes contains information which could incriminate several people on her list.

Overall, Th1rteen R3asons Why is, in my humble opinion, one of the most well written and entertaining books ever nominated for a Georgia Peach Award. Without a doubt, this is one of the best books I've read in quite some time. I can safely say that you'll want to read it several times over to get the full effect of this book.

Zeb Ott, over and out!

Evermore by Allison Noel

hello again!!! C.R. here to tell you that Allison Noel has done it again. She has yet again written a book to be loved by teens and adults alike. Evermore is about a teen girl named Ever who has recently been orphanized. Though, sadly, things like that happen all the time, she is a little different. she not only lost her parents that fatal day she gained the ability to read mind and see peoples auras. this book gets an even better twist when a mysterious and very good looking guy shows up, he has no aura!! This book is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

hello Bloggers!!! C.R. here again to tell you of a HAVE TO READ book. The book Unwind by Neal Shusterman is a fantastic read and one for anyone, whatever you enjoy. this book is set the future of the world where if your parents choose they can have you unwound. this process is something of nightmares but you will have to read to find out why. I am a bookworm to the highest extent and this book was so good i read it twice. So look it up and enjoy. :)

Oh.My.Gods by Tera Lynn Childs

Hello Bremen High School!!! C.R. here to tell you about a wonderful book that I read. The book is Oh.My.Gods by Tera Childs. This book is very good but very girly. The young teenage girl in the story faces a sudden upheaval when her mother remarries to a Greek man. Her mother forces her to move to Greece with her (at the start of her senior year no less). From there she learns of the interesting truth of the island and of herself. This book is an easy read and one worth reading.