Friday, June 28, 2013

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

I have to admit that I tend to like sweet romance novels, and this one totally satisfied my summer romance needs. It's your basic romantic comedy for teenagers. The young couple "meets cute" via an accidental e-mail about feeding a pet pig. They connect and continue to e-mail each other for several months, never even asking each other's names. Graham happens to be a 17-year-old Hollywood superstar and Ellie is a girl with a secret who lives in the "middle-of-nowhere" Maine. Graham manages to discover the name of the town where Ellie lives and maneuvers to make it his next movie location. He shows up in the town and goes right to the ice cream shop where he knows his mysterious friend works, hoping to finally meet her. From there you will have to read their story. Definitely fluffy and fun–and totally appropriate for middle and high school readers.

Athlete vs. Mathlete by W.C. Mack

This is the story of Evan and Russell, fraternal twins who never had much in common. Evan is a basketball player and Russell is a smart, nerdy guy on school's academic team. But when the new basketball coach asks Russell to try out for the team (only because he's really tall), the brothers come into competition with each other. This is a quick, easy-to-read sports story that will appeal to 3rd-6th grade boys. It's fast-moving and full of dialogue. As an adult reader I thought it was a little trite, but younger boys will love it (my own 8-year-old couldn't wait to finish it and will be reading the sequel).