Book 10: Dare Truth or Promise by Paula Boock

Apparently I am just not a picky reader? Either that or I have had really good luck in my literature selections. I thought this book was a worthy read. I found it a little slow at first, but it definitely picked up for me and I soon found it difficult to put down. Length-wise I think it would be a "medium", not too short but I didn't feel like it took forever to get through. Okay, synopsis time:

Louie and Willa are two girls that go to the same school. Louie has been in this particular school system for a while and has made it through without too much damage-she's heavily involved in theater and runs the school's "Comedy Club" with her good friend. Willa is new to the school-she was kicked out of her old one. She has recently broken up with a girlfriend, and now being in a new school, she just wants to finish her time there, graduate, and become a chef. Both Louie's and Willa's plans take a drastic turn, however, when they fall in love. Louie struggles with discovering who she is and coming out to her friends, school, and very Christian family. Willa has been out, but is trying to figure out if she's willing to put herself out there and risk getting another broken heart.

As far as profanity and sexual content is concerned the book was pretty mild. For me one of the most compelling aspects of the book was when the plot included various religious views of an "alternative lifestyle". The book is good at addressing the overall perception of life from an adolescent view-high school, jobs, friends, family, reputation, discovering yourself, etc. I think this is definitely recommendable to individuals and might possibly be okay as a class read, depending on the students, grade level, teacher, and all of that. I give this book a thumbs up :)

Book 9: Cut by Patricia McCormick

This book was good, not too graphic, but I think it goes into the issue enough to get an idea of the situation at hand. It's definitely something that can be a sensitive issue, so I vote "no" for the classroom, or at least if I were a teacher I would let the class do an anonymous vote, so if anyone was uncomfortable with the material we could nix it.

This is a short read, well, short compared to the other books I've read at least. The main character is a teenage girl named Callie. She's in a mental health facility because she had been "self-mutilating", or cutting as it's referred to otherwise. Again, part of this book involves the character going silent. As the reader, you see what life is like for Callie at the Sea Pines facility, where there is no sea and no pines. She reminisces on the days before she was sent there, goes to group therapy, one-on-one therapy, and observes the other girls that are there for various reasons (eating disorders, addiction, anger management, etc.). In the end, you discover along with Callie why she feels the way she feels and does the things she does.

I'd probably keep this in my office. It wasn't the best book I've read thus far but definitely not the worst. I'm not even sure what the worst one is now that I think about it, I don't want to make that decision. Anyways, I'm finding that a lot of these books could be helpful not just for someone experiencing the same issues as the main character, but also if a student came wanting to read about a certain issue so they can try to get a better understanding of it (say, if they have a friend, sibling, loved one, whatever, that might be going through the same thing). Anywho, this is my second to last required independent read...but I'm feeling like I'll probably have a couple extras.