Synopses & Reviews
Penelope Yeager is like a lot of sixteen-year-oldsshe wants more independence from her crazy mother; she wants to get her drivers license; and she wants to get out of high school, away from her town. More than anything, Lopi wants to find someone to really connect with, someone to lovebut short of that, she wants to have sex. Shes already figured out how to graduate a year early, but the rest isnt so easy. For one thing, her mother, Vivian, isnt just crazy: shes young, vivacious, and beautiful. No one can resist Vivs charms, but Lopi knows its all just an act. Viv is only pretending to be happy, trying to ignore Lopi and the horrible accident that changed everything between them. Lopi tries to pretend too, as she navigates the murky waters of sex and love and growing up, but she cant fool herselfLopi has a secret that sets her apart: the accident was her fault, she is evil . . .
Review
"Those interested in the psychological landscape will appreciate the moments of kindness from strangers, the sympathetic portraits of people who fit best in the margins, and the overall optimistic vision of human nature."
—Horn Book
Review
"Those interested in the psychological landscape will appreciate the moments of kindness from strangers, the sympathetic portraits of people who fit best in the margins, and the overall optimistic vision of human nature."
—Horn Book
"With clipped prose of intimate detail and keen insight, Jahn-Clough crafts an authentically adolescent first-person narrative. . . . With tight pacing, motley characters, and touches of the spiritual, this is a furious, illuminating adventure."
—Booklist
"The plotting and the exploration of a teen's suddenly being stripped of everything she owns and everyone she loves will elicit interest."
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Jahn-Clough offers a fresh take on the literary device of amnesia in this gripping novel. . . Readers should find this resilient heroine's poetic observations about survival and identity as memorable as the details of her harrowing ordeal."
—Publishers Weekly
Review
Lively prose, humorous situations, and certain quirks in the plot that surprise.
KLIATT
By the book's end, Lopi has truly come of age by reconciling her past, making peace with her present, and finding confidence in her future.
Booklist, ALA
At once brutally cynical and achingly naive. . . . Jahn-Clough's prose is artfully stilted--reflecting Lopi's uncomfortable approach to life--but infused with startling flashes of beauty, while her doodle-y heart-themed spot art opens each chapter with thought-provoking visual symbolism.
Horn Book
Review
Jahn-Clough shows insight into Phoebe's developing personality.
—Kirkus Reviews
A shy unpolished girl in the throes of growing up having something to offer to a fashion maven will be a welcome idea to the many girls for whom glamour and popularity seem as distant as the moon.
—School Library Journal
Smoothly told, with feminist sensibilities and references to Grimms' Fairy Tales, this novel engages readers with a fully developed protagonist who demands sympathy from her reader.
—VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates)
Review
"If you ever thought reading peoples minds would make it easier to understand other people, Amy Kathleen Ryan is here to tell you that youre dead wrong. Funny, fresh, and heartfelt,
Vibes zigs when you expect it to zag, and will have you laughing out loud."—Barry Lyga, author of
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl and
Boy Toy " . . . the surprising details make this a worthwhile addition to a teen romance collection . . . Kristi's eccentric habit of crafting her wardrobe from found objects, the content of her psychic visions, and the mismanagement of the relationships in her life add personality, and the result is a sweet, undemanding, yet consistently entertaining read with a good deal of insight into the way slightly off-center teenage girls construct their manic inner worlds."--The Bulletin
"Ryan's novel humorously explores the mind of a teenager grappling with issues of self-esteem, creativity, and self-worth. Teens will identify with Kristi and care about what she's going through."--KLIATT
Review
"Nolan leavens this haunting but hopeful story with spot-on humor and a well developed cast of characters, and she shows with moving clarity the emotional costs of mental illness, especially on teens forced to parent their own parents."—
Booklist, starred review
"In this distinct and effective blend of sorrow and humor, Jason, once invisible to his classmates and used to the chaos at home, suffers the effects of change when he's enrolled in a lunch-hour group therapy with other wayward teens and his father is taken away...he slowly learns, with the help of his new friends and foster parents, normalcy and how to care for himself first."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Nolan balances weighty subject matter with humor, offering an intelligent portrayal of a boy's slow release of burdens too heavy to carry alone."—Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Sixteen-year-old Penelope Yeager only wants a few things in life: get out of high school, get her driver's license, fall in love, forget what happened ten years ago, and see her mother happy. Shes figured out how to get out of school a year early. If she can figure out the rest, maybe shell actually be happy. Unfortunately, the rest isnt nearly as easy.
“Jahn-Cloughs prose is infused with startling flashes of beauty”—Horn Book
"Fast-paced, well-written story."—School Library Journal
Synopsis
An honest and open look at a young girl experiencing and questioning her sexual awakening.
Phoebe Sharp lives on a small farm in Maine, where she reads fairy tales to her goats and snaps pictures with her Instamatic camera. Phoebe doesnt have a single friend, never mind a boyfriend. Then she meets Melita. With her caramel-colored skin, stylish clothes, and urban attitude, Melita seems as different from Phoebe as two teenage girls could be.
But over the summer, the girls grow to know each other. As their friendship develops, so do other, more confusing feelings. Could their friendship be deepening into something more?
[This novel] will appeal to fans of Nancy Gardens Annie on My Mind.”VOYA
[Lisa Jahn-Cloughs] descriptions of Phoebes colliding emotions ring true.”Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
After seeing her house destroyed, Blue suffers acute memory loss. She decides to head back to her childhood home, unsure of where it is, who she is, or what's waiting for her when she gets there.
Synopsis
She wasn't always Blue. Before, she was a normal teen-age girl. She had a boyfriend, a mom and a dad, a house near the ocean. A normal life. Then something happened; she can't remember what exactly. She just knows it was very bad and nothing is left. Now she's Blue. Nothing but Blue. And all she wants is to get back home. Stark and powerful, Blue's journey to re-discover who she is and where she comes from will make readers appreciate what they have.
Synopsis
All dead. No one survived. All dead. This morbid chant haunts seventeen-year-old Blue as she trudges through the countryside with just the clothes on her back, heading to her childhood home on the ocean. Something absolutely awful has happened, she knows it, but she doesnt know what. She cant even remember her name, so she calls herself Blue. This gripping survival story—peppered with flashbacks to bittersweet times with her boyfriend, Jake—strips life down to its bare bones. Blue learns, with the help of a seemingly magical stray dog and kind people along the road, that the important thing is to live.
Synopsis
Phoebe Sharp has long red braids. She wears old beat-up sneakers and clothes from Goodwill. She lives with her father and brother on a small farm in Maine, where she reads fairy tales to her goats and snaps pictures with her Instamatic camera. Phoebe doesnt have a single friend, never mind a boyfriend—that is, not until she meets Melita.
Melita arrives at the Sharps farm in a see-through T-shirt and strappy platform sandals that show off her drawn-on “tattoo.” With her caramel-colored skin, stylish clothes, and urban attitude, Melita seems as different from Phoebe as two teenage girls could be. Through the summer, the girls grow to know each other. As their friendship develops, confusing feelings also begin to emerge. Could their friendship be deepening into something more?
Synopsis
Nothing is beyond Kristi Carmichaels disdain—her hippie high school, her friend Jacob, her workaholic mom. Yet for all her attitude and her mind-reading abilities, Kristi has a vulnerable side. She can hear the thoughts of her fellow students, calling her fat and gross. Shes hot for Gusty Peterson, one of the most popular guys in school, but of course, shes sure he thinks she is disgusting. And shes still mad at her father, who walked out on them two years ago. Soon, a school project brings her together with Gusty, her father comes home and drops a bombshell, and a friend comes out of the closet, and suddenly she is left doubting that she can read people at all.
Bitingly funny but ultimately poignant and positive, this YA novel is completely on the mark.
Synopsis
National Book Award winner Han Nolan brings us a powerful story of a young boys intriguing method of emotional survival as his father slowly succumbs to mental illness.
Synopsis
Fifteen-year-old Jason has fallen upon bad times—his mother has died and his father has succumbed to mental illness. As he tries to hold his crazy father and their crumbling home together, Jason relies on a host of imaginary friends for guidance as he stumbles along trying not to draw attention to his fathers deteriorating condition.
Both heartbreaking and funny, CRAZY lives up to the intense and compelling characters Han Nolan is praised for. As Jason himself teeters on the edge of insanity, Nolan uncovers the clever coping system he develops for himself and throws him a lifeline in the guise of friendship.
Synopsis
The road to independence has never been easy, but sixteen-year-old Penelope Yeagar is determined to get there no matter what.
About the Author
Lisa Jahn-Clough has written and illustrated a number of books for young children, including Alicia Has a Bad Day, My Friend and I, Missing Molly, Simon and Molly Plus Hester, and On the Hill, as well as her debut young adult novel Country Girl, City Girl. She is the chair of the illustration program at Maine College of Art and also teaches at the Vermont College Writing for Children and Young Adults program. She lives in Portland, Maine.