Imaginary Enemy by Julia Gonzalez

It's been a long time since I have so disliked a protagonist who was supposed to be ultimately loveable. Jane White has problems with everything and everyone. She doesn't like her name, she gets teased by her boy neighbors, she doesn't get good grades, and she gets in lots of troublesome scrapes. When she feels ashamed or slighted, she writes to her imaginary emeny, Bubba. (Named for Beelzebub) Life goes on (with many dragging chapters about her girlhood), setting her up for a teenage awakening when she realizes that her slacker ways have alienated all the people she loves. The turnaround was predictable and the characters lacked real depth.

Thumb's Down

Airhead by Meg Cabot

Emerson Watts didn’t even want to go to the new SoHo Stark Megastore grand opening. But someone needed to look out for her sister, Frida, whose crush, British heartthrob Gabriel Luna, would be singing and signing autographs there—along with the newly appointed Face of Stark, teen supermodel sensation Nikki Howard. How was Em to know that disaster would strike, changing her—and life as she’d known it—forever? One bizarre accident later, and Em Watts, always the tomboy, never the party princess, is no longer herself. Literally.

This book was a big improvement over Cabot's other recent books, but it still had some pacing problems. It took about a third of the book to really get into the story, which doesn't really deliver all that it promises. reads more as a first installment to a series than a stand alone. I enjoyed the book but I don't think it is really worthy of the TU. So, Thumbs Down.

Exodus by Julie Bertagna

In the year 2100 the Earth's polar ice caps have melted. The steadily rising ocean waters first envelop the cities of Tokyo and New York, setting off international panic as the inundation shows no sign of receding. Global warming has conjured storm after storm, hurricanes continually battering what remains of inhabited lands. On the island of Wing, fifteen year old Mara has spent much of her life indoors behind shuttered windows with her family, wondering how long her shelter can withstand the gale force winds. The sun is a rarity, and much of her days are spent in darkness with the wind whipping outside.

As the waters continue to rise, Mara urges the other islanders to set sail for the "New World" which she has seen in a holographic, advanced version of the Internet known as the Weave. This New World is a city that rises into the sky, far above the deluge. Out on the violent open sea, Mara is separated from her family and many of the other islanders. When she arrives at the city in the sky she is part of a fleet of refugee ships that are blocked from entering by huge walls, and hunted by armed police. Racked with guilt for leading her fellow islanders into a bobbing horde of pestilence and death, Mara decides she must find a way in, to save herself and her fellow sojourners...

While the apocalyptic storyline would seem to be rather gripping, and the dystopian setting engaging, the character of Mara ultimately turned my thumb downward for Exodus. Steadily unsure of herself, Mara is in a continuous state of doubt. While this may be a normal character trait for some - the way that Bertagna portrays it grows wearisome - and whiny. The length of the book, at 325 pages, is stretched even further by passages that are seemingly scooped up from one chapter and dropped into the next. It is one thing to illuminate a character's interior conversation, but it is another to have the character repeat the same interior conversation every ten pages. Like the "New World," Exodus is built on a towering foundation for a fantasy, but it is ultimately too airy to relate to its "hero."

Thumbs down.

Sunrise over fallujah by Walter Dean Myers

Robin "Birdy" Perry went against his dad's wishes and joined the army. he is now serving a tour at the beginning of the Iraqi war. Bad things happen and so do good things. He bonds with his fellow soldiers who dub him "Birdy" and he writes frequently to his parents and uncle. But he is a long way from Harlem and has a lot to learn. He sees people die and he sees people live but the book ultimately shows that people are people anywere. Tehnically a sequel to "Fallen Angels" it seems to stand alone. I never read the first book and I don't feel lost (the uncle he writes to, I believe is a character in "Fallen Angels."). Myers seems to show a fairly balanced view of the war, the good and the bad but it is a story not of politics but of the soldiers who are there day to day, streches of boredom, times of sheer terror and what it is like to lose those you have come to count on and consider family. Good book but I say maybe to TU for now.

Petshop of Horrors: Tokyo v.1 by Matsuri Akino

This first book in the sequel series to "Petshop of Horrors" by Akino, takes place in Neo Chinatown in Tokyo. Count D. has moved and established a new petshop. This wasn't a bad first book in a new manga series but it dosen't seem to cover any new ground. The book has an over all story arch but contains shorter individual stories. Count D. owns a petshop that sells wierd and exotic pets. The cutomers always end up getting more than they bargained for. The strories were similar to the previous series nothing really stood out to me to make this exceptional. I vote nay.

Paper Towns by John Green

Quentin is only weeks away from graduating high school, moving on to a good college and starting a successful life. However, he hits a little snag before that can happen. The unrequited love of his life, Margo Roth Spiegleman, who just happens to be his neighbor and childhood friend, un-expectantly shows up at Quentin’s window in the middle of the night. This visit sparks a night of pranks, revenge, and fun. It is one of the best nights of Quentin’s life, but it also sets him on a mysterious search that will change how he looks at the world forever. I was really excited to read this book and ecstatic when I got my hands on an ARC. It lived up to all my expectations. The characters were very well developed and the story kept me reading all night until I finished it. John Green has a wonderful grasp on what it means to be a teenager, especially a teenage boy, and he does a very good job making his characters seem very real. I would definitely give this a Thumps up, or YAY.

Confessions of a Serial Kisser by Windelin Van Draanen

Evangeline's life is spinning out of control. Her father cheated on her mother and so she and her mom moved out. Her father keeps trying to talk to her but she wants no part of him. She does have a goal. She wants to find her crimson kiss, that one perfect kiss. So she starts ramdomly kissing guys including the boy her best friend likes. She ruins her rep., her gpa and her friendships. Of course she makes it all better and learns a valuable lesson out of it all. I also have to add here that the music mentioned in this book would make an incredible soundtrack. It makes you want to investigate and either hear the songs again or, for the majority of teen readers, hear them for the first time. This was a fun book. I give it a yes, for now.