Eleanor & Park
by Rainbow Rowell
Eleanor and Park are two teenagers at the same school. Eleanor is the new girl, slightly kooky, weird dresser, bright red curly hair, a little overweight, and Park is half Korean, nearly always in black, loves reading comics and listening to British indie music. Park is the only person who befriends her, to start with because he feels sorry for her, but then he realises they both like comics. He introduces her to his music as he discovers she knows no modern music, owns no records or any means of listening to music.
Eleanor is not forthcoming with much information about herself or her life, and we the reader know more about her than Park. She is one of 5 children whose father has left, but her mum has a new partner. Unfortunately, he is an abusive alcoholic, doesn't let anyone out the house to enjoy themselves, all the kids have to sleep in one tiny room, and Eleanor has already been kicked out the house once before for trying to stick up for her mum when he had a violent episode.
Eleanor and Park slowly start to fall in love, battling school bullies and Eleanor's troubled situation. But the abusive stepdad has not yet found out about it. What will happen when he does...
I didn't really warm to Eleanor at all, I was amazed Park put up with her depressive and weird behaviour, and I had too many questions about her home situation. Why weren't the police called at any point during the violent moments? Why is she so overweight if there is very rarely any food in the house?
Despite all this, I enjoyed the romance - I even shed a tear or two at times, and I hoped that they would make it through all the bad stuff.
If you like John Green, you'll like this.
The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green
Teenagers are going mad for John Green, and having read this book, I can see why.
Hazel has cancer of the lungs. She must carry an oxygen tank on a cart everywhere she goes, and her parents know each day could be her last. She attends a cancer support group and is friends with Isaac who becomes blind with his cancer. One day Isaac brings along his friend, Augustus, whose cancer lost him a leg, and Hazel is smitten. So begins a beautiful relationship - but heartbreakingly short.
John Green brings his characters to life, he gives them humour to cope with their situation, but at the same time you will find yourself with a lump in your throat as the end closes in.
Also try Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher, and Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler.
Dash And Lily's Book Of Dares
by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
What a great teen novel! (definitely teen - swear words here and there). Lily leaves a red moleskine notebook on a bookshelf in the town's main bookshop. In it is a dare for anyone who reads it. Dash finds the book and decides to follow it up with his own dare in return. So begins a relationship of words, secret messages and dares between two people who have never met each other. The temptation to meet is strong, but will their own versions of each other match up to the real thing?
A must-read for fans of John Green! Also try Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher, and Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson.
Ketchup Clouds
by Annabel Pitcher
From the author of the very sad but great My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, this is another tear-jerker - I loved it. It was moving, and true to life when describing teenage relationships. I just loved Aaron's character and, with everyone else who reads this, wished that 'Zoe'/Alice would confess her mistake and be with him from the beginning.
'Zoe' is telling her story in the format of letters to a prisoner on Death Row in Texas, partly because she feels the same guilt as him - he has murdered his wife and a neighbour in a fit of jealous rage, and she has caused a terrible accident due to her feelings for two brothers. It's about letting go of your guilt and moving on with your life.
Definitely teenage for bad language.
If you like this, you'll also like The Fault in our Stars by John Green, Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, and Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.
This book has recently won the Waterstones Childrens Book Prize 2013, and deservedly so!
Why We Broke Up
by Daniel Handler
Probably better known as his pseudonym Lemony Snicket, Daniel Handler turns his hand to something more emotional and teenagey. I loved this book - I wanted to read it again once I'd finished it. Min Green starts dating Ed Slatterton, the very popular basketball player at school, infamous for his dating of girls. However, their relationship comes to a hurtful end and Min boxes up all her mementos of their time together ready to give them back to him. This book is a series of letters to Ed explaining each memento and why they now mean nothing to her, and it is in this way that we the reader find out how their relationship had progressed but then come to its sudden painful end. Brilliant. One for fans of John Green (see my review of one of Green's books - The Fault in our Stars). Also, if you like this try Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, and Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher.
