The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E Pearson

Jenna lost a year and a half from her life. Something terrible happened and she's just now, at the age of 17, learning how to walk again, speak again, get her memory back, and function. Nothing around her looks familiar, and she can't believe her two best friends (when she remembers that she has best friends) aren't coming around to see her. But her parents moved her from Boston to California while she was still out of it, and she believes that's why she hasn't seen anyone else.

As her memories start to come back, Jenna really wonders what happened to her. Why her grandmother--Lily--can't seem to stand the sight of her. Why she's not allowed to go outside. Why her mother spends so much time hovering. And why they moved from Boston, where her father still works.

Slowly those questions are answered, but only bring up new ones. Including when it's ok to let someone go.

A combination of prose and poetry, Jenna's story is powerful and heart-wrenching. We learn as Jenna does about her condition and exactly how far her parents go to save her life. And the lives of her friends. This did remind me a bit of Robin Wasserman's books, but it is definitely not the same. A good sci-fi novel.

Grace by Elizabeth Scott

Grace is an Angel. To the People, Angels are used to bring justice to their world. By taking out government officials. By suicide bombs.

It's an honor to be chosen. Or so Grace and her fellow Angels have been taught to believe. Grace can't accept they were chosen for death. She doesn't want death. So when her chance arrives, she leaves the bomb and walks away before setting it off. She shames her father and the man she was promised to by this act alone.

Shunned from her people, Grace must escape before the government finds her. She is given a traveling companion--Kerr--and a story to get them across the border. What she doesn't realize or even suspect is Kerr is one of the men she's been taught to fear, hate, and kill her entire life.

Sometimes things aren't always what they seem.

Told from Grace's point of view, the story jumps from present day, to the past, and back again. You get the full story in bits and pieces. Grace is a likable character, even if she struggles to understand everything going on around her and where she fits. There are a few plot skips, but the perspective is interesting--what goes on in the mind of a suicide bomber (a young one) and are they ever given a choice.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Brittany and Alex can't be farther apart in appearances. Brittany is upper middle class, from the north side, and has everything. Alex is Mexican-American, belongs in a gang, and lives on the south side. Unfortunately for both of them, they are stuck as chemistry lab partners for the year.

They do have a lot in common though, as they realize. Brittany has a hard home life with a sister with cerebral palsy and parents who fight constantly. Alex lives in a tough neighborhood and the only way to save his family is to be a member of the local gang, like his dad. They both spend more time thinking about the other than they should. Their different worlds threaten to tear them apart right when they can't live without the other.

Told from both points of view, this is a fabulous love story. It reminded me a little of West Side Story, with a much better ending. Brittany and Alex fight the odds to be together. There is a lot going on here though--not just love and romance. I could barely put it down, and can't wait to read Rules of Attraction.

You Don't Even Know Me by Sharon Flake

A collection of short stories and poems about African American guys. Each story or poem highlights the difficulties guys face in expressing emotion, surviving the streets, being a man, or just making it through the day.

Even though I'm not a guy, I still think the stories reflect the difficulties and strains guys go through most days. There are a wide variety of stories to tell, and even though Flake can't cover all of them, she hits the mark on some of the most important.

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

Kaylee has a special gift--only she sees it as a curse. When she sees someone who is about to die, she has an almost uncontrollable urge to scream. She manages to keep it inside, since the last time she actually screamed, she was sent to a mental hospital for months.

But one night, she and her friend Emma sneak into a nightclub and Kaylee sees a girl she knows is going to die. Somehow she manages to escape without screaming, and Nash, a guy from her school, calms her down before she can let the scream go. And then another girl dies, and then yet another. Kaylee can't help but think they're all connected--and all her fault. Nash seems to know more than he's letting on, but he hesitates to tell her what's going on.

Until Kaylee decides she has to figure out the connection between all the deaths and herself. Something that pulls everyone she cares about into the mess.

An interesting story. Kaylee doesn't know what's going on for a little bit longer than the reader might catch on, but that's to be expected. There's some romance here, but most of it concerns the mystery surrounding the deaths of the young women and Kaylee's family history.