The Secrets we Keep by Trisha Leaver

I'm not sure where this book came from...it was just sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.  But boy was it a good one!

The story is about two sisters, Ella and Maddy, identical twins who may look alike, but couldn't be more different in personality.  Ella lives in Maddy's shadow, she's the quieter one, the smarter one, the one with a few close friends.  Maddy is the popular one with the boyfriend, a group of friends that she can always rely on for a good party and is co-captain of the field hockey team. 

One night, after a terrible argument, Maddy and Ella get in a car accident that leaves Maddy dead and Ella confused as to her identity.  When everyone assumes that Ella is Maddy, Ella figures that it is because everyone wants Maddy alive, and not her.  Ella feels she owes it to her sister to live the life she was meant to live, and Ella decides to give up her dreams and her life.  But it isn't easy being someone else, even if that someone is the person you should know the best in the world. 

Ella is such a wonderful character, you really get the sense of the struggle she is facing after not only the death of her sister, but learning the truth behind the person her sister had become. 

I can't wait to give this book to a few of the kids at school in September. 

If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say by Leila Sales

Back in the spring, I read a book This Song Will Save Your Life and I really liked it.  I ordered this book because it was written by the same author.  I've been in a bit of YA book slump trying to find a book to catch and keep my interest. This morning I had a bit of time on my hands, so I grabbed this book and it was just what I needed. 

If you don't have anything nice to say digs into what happens when mistakes are made in today's world of social media.  Winter, is a 17 year old senior.  She is a smart girl who has her future completely mapped out for her.  Then one night she sends out a tweet as a joke that goes viral and suddenly the whole world is mad at her.  She loses her friends, has hurt her family and has no idea what to do next.  The rest of the story explores how Winter deals with the fallout of one mistake that could happen to anyone. 

I thought this story was brilliant from many different angles.  The idea for kids to realize that what you post online stays there forever, and that when you comment or criticize someone, you don't always have the whole story.  I so often see the impacts of words exchanged online, I think people forget that behind the keyboard is a real person.  Hopefully this book will help people realize that their words do have power and can hurt. 

I think this is a book that could be read aloud in an Intermediate classroom for sure- I would suggest you read this one for yourself. 

Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone

This book arrived a bit unexpected (this seems to happen a lot!), but then I realized I finished Every Last Word a few weeks ago and this is by the same author.    I loved this book as much as I loved Every Last Word. 

Hannah and Emory have been best friends for their whole life, they are both very different girls.  Hannah is the daughter of a pastor, and she is committed to her church and the preaching of her father. Hannah has been waiting to go to Boston for University for ever, but dreading leaving her best friend.   Emory is the daughter of a single mother who has recently found love and is currently planning her wedding. Emory is an actress and is in love with her boyfriend Luke, but preparing for their inevitable parting when they head off to different schools. 

Three months ago, Hannah and Emory got into a terrible fight, both of them saying things they didn't mean and they haven't spoken since.  Both miss each other, but can't quite find the way back to their friendship.  One night Hannah finds Luke slumped over the wheel in his car barely alive.  This draws the three of them together as they struggle to come to terms with what happened and how to move forward after the accident. 

I loved the way this story was told from both Hannah and Emory's perspective.  Luke, is the perfect boyfriend- funny, sweet, kind, but also realistic.  I was worried that Hannah's commitment to her religion would be hard to read, but I loved how she was grappling with her faith, and how she wanted to handle religion and faith outside of how her parents handled it.  I loved the glimpses of friendship between Hannah and Emory before the fight and how the girls supported each other even though they were totally different. 

This story does have a bit of mature content, Emory and Luke are a serious dating couple, but it is done in a really sensitive, vague way that leaves me knowing that it would be ok in an Intermediate library.  It reminded me a bit of The Fault in Our Stars - teenagers in love, but committed to each other.   

I'm going to go and order the rest of the books that Tamara Ireland Stone has written, even though I have a shelf full of books to be read!