The acclaimed author of TYRELL and KENDRA returns to PUSH to continue Tyrell's astonishing story.Tyrell's father is just out of jail, and Tyrell doesn't know how to deal with that. It's bad enough that his brother Troy is in foster care and that his mother is no help whatsoever. Now there's another thing up in his face, just when he's trying to settle down. Tyrell's father has plans of his own, and doesn't seem to care whether or not Tyrell wants to go along with them. Tyrell can see the crash that's coming -- with his dad, with the rest of his family, with the girls he's seeing -- but he's not sure he can stop it. Or if he even wants to.

Nick Pearson is hiding in plain sight…My name isn’t really Nick Pearson.I shouldn’t tell you where I’m from or why my family moved to Stepton, Virginia.I shouldn’t tell you who I really am, or my hair, eye, and skin color.And I definitely shouldn’t tell you about my friend Eli Cruz and the major conspiracy he was about to uncover when he died—right after I moved to town. About how I had to choose between solving his murder with his hot sister, Reya, and “staying low-key” like the Program has taught me. About how moving to Stepon changed my life forever.But I’m going to.

Sometimes, the greatest comebacks take place far away from the ball field.Meet Peter Friedman, high school freshman. Talented photographer. Former baseball star. When a freakish injury ends his pitching career, Peter has some major things to figure out. Is there life after sports? Why has his grandfather suddenly given him thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment? And is it his imagination, or is the super-hot star of the girls' swim team flirting with him, right in front of the amazing new girl in his photography class? In his new novel, teen author Jordan Sonnenblick performs his usual miraculous feat: exploring deep themes of friendship, romance, family, and tragedy, while still managing to be hilariously funny. Reading Level: Age 12 and Up

Right Behind You starts out strong, interesting and well written. It is the story of Kip, a guy who set fire to another kid when he was only nice years old. The thing is, Kip isn’t a psychotic kid. He has some anger control issues and some family issues… but for the most part, he is a normal kid who through circumstances beyond his control was in a position to set fire to the other kid, and Kip did it without a second thought. Until said kid burnt up and Kip’s life was forever altered. For all of the tough issues this book brought up and addressed, in the end it shied away from anything too dark and gritty. We see a little bit of Kip’s life in a ward for dangerous and psychotic minors. Then the majority of the book takes place as we follow him after he is released. Oddly, this is where the book goes downhill. No matter how normal Kip may have been before the fire incident and the incarceration, and no matter how much psychotherapy he may have had, the bottom line is Kip is still a teenager who should be struggling with normal teenager bad behavior in addition to his hot mess of issues from killing a kid and spending his formative years in a ward for dangerously mental ill boys. But when Kip is in the real world, he does pretty well. When he makes a mistake, he eventually realizes it and alters his behavior. He strives to be a good kid and do the right thing; and he frequently succeeds. Sorry, I’m not buying that. Author Gail Giles shows us Kip and other kids (in the ward) at their worst, yet she is unwilling (or unable) to show Kip truly having any difficulty adjusting to the real world.  Don’t get me wrong. I loved Right Behind You while reading it, and it is a well written book. But for all of the interesting issues it brought up (child murderers, appropriate punishment, the media, forgiveness, teenage drinking, sexuality… just to name a few!) in the end, I couldn’t help feeling that it glossed over the truly tough aspect of dealing with any these topics. Three stars while reading this one, but ultimately a two star book. 

Books