The Mother Daughter Book Club

I'm really trying to read a lot of young adult novels this summer. This book starts out very promising. It's essentially about 4 girls who fit certain stereotypes in a middle school. Their mothers make them join a mother daughter book club, in which they read Little Women. I think this type of book would be enjoyable and even helpful for a middle school student to read. BUT the end is a little too unrealistic. I am all about happy endings, but I think this went too far.

Hope Was Here

I loved, loved, loved this book. Hope was here is such a sweet, simple story, but yet it is so complex. It will be the perfect story to read in a literature circle/book club setting. A young girl named Hope and her aunt move from New York City to a small town in Wisconsin. A lot of underlying issues are going on that can be wonderfully brought up in a discussion. There are a lot of issues with right and wrong and just what exactly a family is. This book will stay with you long after it is read!

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

This is the story about one of the young vampires Victoria makes in Eclipse. If you don't do Twilight you definitely won't care anything about this. It was a quick, easy read. It was good, but I think more could've been added places to make it more of a complete story. Overall, an interesting look at another side of the Twilight Saga.

If I Stay

If I Stayed is an absolute gem of a book. It is about a girl who is in a devastating car crash along with her parents and younger brother. Her parents die on impact, and she is removed from her actual body. She must decide whether to stay on earth, or be with her family. The book goes back and forth between the present, which is her in the hospital having various operations, and her life before, which is mixed in with her love of music, her close-knit relationship with her family, and her true young love. The "young-love-soul-mate" aspect of the book reminded me of the strong connections that Bella and Edward have in Twilight, but this book is much deeper rooted in the other aspects of life. I couldn't believe how quickly I flew through this book.