What J. J.'s mother wants for her birthday is more time, so he sets off to the enchanted land of Tir na n'Og to find her present. Faerie lore and Irish fiddle tunes add mystery to the clever plot.
Amy, a seventeen year-old from California, believes that the car accident that killed her father is her fault. Months later, still emotionally paralyzed from the trauma, she is asked by her mother to meet in Connecticut. Roger, the son of a family friend, has been recruited to help get Amy to the east coast. An initially tentative friendship quickly deepens and eventually forms into romance between the two as they extend their cross-country adventure. While there are some pacing issues, and other minor quibbles (cream soda is much more available in the author's mind than in reality!), this is a sweet, contemporary, and quite relatable story of growth into young adulthood. Both main characters are largely likable, and a conclusion that neither ties up everything neatly, nor demands a sequel, is appreciated. --Todd Krueger
Aptly titled, this Australian tale of unlikely friendship and first romance oozes with the sort of bittersweet yearning experienced so fully by young people. Two teen girls alternate telling the story of their interactions and the ways they change each other during a summer in a small town outside Melbourne. Music metaphors flow from shy, lonely, private Charlie's narrations while bluntly disillusioned Rose tells it straight up. Complete with a perfect guy ("worth writing songs about") and wild off-road Australian scenery.
Zoe wants to play at Carnegie Hall, but first she must convince her parents to provide both piano and lessons. The would-be prodigy faces multiple surprises in this warm, funny chapter book.
Little Rat wants her violin playing to sound as beautiful as what she hears in the orchestra, but she hates to practice. Jewel-toned, whimsically detailed illustrations evoke a tiny but entire world.
Rousing poems complemented with evocative images of the 1940’s bring to life the story of talented women who defied both the racism and conventions of their time to give joy and jazz to a war-torn world.
The music of rapper Tupac Shakur is the bond between three 11-year-old girls growing up in Queens in the 1990's, but the shadow of loss soon falls across their lives.
Her mother’s mental illness, a friend’s cancer, and her own dyslexia don’t keep 12-year-old Addie from looking on the bright side of life even though home is a trailer and she misses her stepfather and two younger sisters.
